First Day with a new blog and already I have a dilemma.  I want to post some of what I have written.  Really I do.  But what I write is not what a friend would call “rainbows and ponies” Often the themes, or the characters themselves are very dark.   Is it not a good idea to post this?  Perhaps.  But this blog is about being open.  And so I post.

Disclaimer: The character introduced here is not a nice person. This is a work of fiction that I created while working through the example exercises from the book 3AM Epiphany.  My main goal, aside from the challenge of the exercise itself was to introduce a believable evil character.  Previous works of mine would get up to the plate but ultimately do a lousy job at driving home, driving home the concept of evil because in many of my stories evil is needed.  Its the evil character that makes the good character shine, or perhaps there are no good characters and its the evil that brings about the sense of ambiguity that although disturbing is alluring at the same time.

So without further blabbing, here’s Nix.  Once again, this is all fiction.  If you are easily offended you should stop reading right now.

3AM Epiphany – Challenge 1 – Write a first person story in which you use the first person pronoun (I, me or my) only two times. Keep the ‘I’ somehow important to the narrative you are constructing. The point is to imagine a narrator who is less interested in himself than in what he is observing.

My daughter’s best friend, Analisa came into the bar only a half an hour ago.  She was crying that her asshole boyfriend had dumped her when she told him that she was pregnant.  Some people really can be cruel, Analisa deserved better than that.

“Care for something from the bar?” I asked her

“Can I have a diet coke please”

“Sure”

The trouble started when a stranger came in and sat down next to Analisa.  No one seemed to recognize her and most people it appeared, just assumed she was either new in town or passing through.  Most people were good, and you could tell that was the case just by smiling at them and looking into their eyes.  You’d see a glimmer of something about them and receive a smile in return.  Smiling at this new stranger returned a far different response.

She returned the smile, but there was no glimmer of who she was; there was nothing at all – just an indescribable darkness.  She widened her smile, acknowledging that she was aware that someone knew of her dark secret.

“Hi, I noticed you were upset” the Stranger asked to Analisa “My name is Nicole, but people call me Nix”

“Oh, Hi Nix” Analisa responded “Yeah, I’m pretty upset about my boyfriend.  I shouldn’t say anything though, you don’t want to be bothered with my problems”

“No don’t be silly, I want to hear about what is making you so sad” Nix said as she ran her fingers through Analisa’s hair.  “Let’s have a drink, then we can talk” she said as she ordered a bottle of Jack Daniels and a couple glasses.

“Thank You Barman” she said as she took the bottle off the bar.

Analisa should not be drinking, she was pregnant.  One beer might be ok, but jack daniels didn’t seem to be like a good idea.  Nix poured two shots.

“Here you go, bottoms up, like a good girl.  Then we’ll talk” Nix said as she watched Analisa drink the first shot.  “That’s right, very good”

Coughing, “I don’t drink hard stuff much, usually just a glass of wine or an occasional beer.” Analisa said.

“Well sweetheart, if you’re having man troubles there’s nothing better than a good stiff drink or two” Nix said as she looked down at Analisa’s belly and smiled.  Clearly she was somehow aware of the unborn child which she carried. “Let me get you another one”

Analisa took the shot that Nix poured in her hand.  “I don’t know if I should, I just found out that I’m pregnant.”

“Analisa, you have nothing to worry about I’m a doctor, and judging by the fact you’re not showing its completely safe.”  Nix lied to her.  She placed a finger over her mouth mimicking the “Shh” sign.

I stood there screaming, “Get away from her, run as fast as you can out of this place!” But no words came out, there was no sound made.

“You don’t have to worry, alcohol can’t affect the baby at this stage” Nix lied again.

“Well if you’re sure its ok, I guess I will then” Analisa said drinking another shot.

It was hard to watch, but Nix fed Analisa shot after shot, they each had six of them.  Analisa was now slurring her words badly but Nix looked as if she had been drinking water.

“You should go talk to him, your boyfriend.  Don’t let him do that to you, give him a piece of your mind.”

“I I Ssh-should?” Analisa slurred.  “You ssure that’s a good idea?”

“Oh absolutely you should” Nix encouraged her.  “Be aggressive, you have to be assertive with guys like that”

“You’re right, I have to be aggressive” Analisa shouted.

“Yes! You do!” Nix encouraged

“I’ll kick his Ass!” Analisa announced aggressively

“Go do that, go now, seize the night!” Nix told her

Analisa got up off of her seat and headed toward the door.  She was clearly intoxicated and with car keys in hand.

“Why did you do that? She could get hurt or worse.  She’s in no condition to drive”

Nix glared at me with fire in her eyes “Because I can and I was bored.  And there’s nothing you can do to stop me.  Any other questions?” Nix sneered at me as she walked out toward the door “I’m going to go watch my latest handy work, but I’ll be back.  I think I like this town.”