Chapter 18: Carrots, Shaken Not Stirred with Akumakaze

The farmer awoke before dawn. Stepping out onto the front porch, filling his lungs with a deep breath of the crisp morning air, he continued his morning ritual; ambling on over to his work shop in the back of the barn; located next to his freshly planted crop.  A lone pony wandered out in the hayfield, freely. 

  This year he had big plans for all the varmints whom continuously destroyed the harvest, year after year; now he had quite enough of it and plotted his own sweet revenge.

  Question 1: If you could have someone famous read you writing  ( even if they never told you what they thought about it )  whom would that person be?

  To answer that question, I would have to say Sean Connery. After watching his many roles in movies such as Indiana Jones, the Rock and a few others, his portrayal as James Bond has cemented in my mind a vocal character that few could ever achieve. His British accent just helps with the facade of being that role. Their were a few others in contention with this choice, but he won out the more I thought about it.
His delivery of the lines in nearly every movie has a sort of resonance that echoes within your mind making the words more believable than some actors, so after careful deliberation he became my top choice, plus I've always wanted to say this...my name is Kaze. Akuma Kaze. Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!! 

  "Ya' see, Mabel, what we have here is my newest hybrid of a concoction. I think I'll name it 'Clockwork Orange' ," Mabel, an old blue tick hound, had succumbed to gravity, her jowls and ears glued to floor, the only reaction she gave to the Farmers words were the raising of her droopy eye brows. The chain she was always attached to didn't help either.

The Farmer holds up a clear mason jar of bright phosphorescent orange liquid and gives it a whiff.

  "Just like Grampy's moonshine, Mabel ! I think I finally found the right balance of growth hormones and pesticides to protect this years yield and ward off those damn critters. You stay here, I'm gonna' go spread a little around on the patch outside." Mabel had no intentions on moving, even if she wanted to.

Question 2: What is your favorite word ?  

  Out of the multitude of words to choose from, this question is really hard to answer. I'm wondering do I choose a English word, a Spanish word, or a Japanese word. I had another word picked out, but it felt too somber for me so I'm going to go with Scatter.

It seems to invoke a suddenness and immediacy in its connotation even when spoken softly. It can be a command or a action, plus it shows up in a shikai of one of my favorite characters in Bleach as 'chire' which sounds really weird at first, but when you pair it to the animated action it involves you truly understand the meaning. To be assaulted by a thousand cherry blossom blades of spiritual energy is going to seriously hurt at the end of the day. 'Nuff said.

  The farmer scatters a few drops, here and there on the green plumage that had begun to spring up, protruding out from the tilled earth. He remembers planting each and every carrot, thinking, there's nothing better than becoming one with the earth and working the soil with his own hands.

  He goes back inside and feeds his pet rabbit. One that he had captured to experiment on; long enough ago,  so much that he had given it the name, Elmer.

  "Be vewy, vewy, quietly; I am hunting wabbits," he chuckled out loud at the cute little face trapped in the cage.

The next day, much to his surprise, all the green tops of the crop had been chewed away again. Evidence in the form of little foot prints led away from the crime scene. 

  Question 3: When you have idea for a ( story, novel , poem ) what process do you find yourself going through in order to bring your words to life?

  For me, there isn't so much a process as there is an inspiration. That can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on who you ask. Getting my thoughts to paper, so to speak, is usually the first thing I try to do. Sometimes, it's just a line or two when it comes to poetry, then I'll elaborate from that point. In fact, that's how many of my newer poems have been formulated lately.

"The Devil's Facade" is a recent one that started with just two or three lines, then I decided to write around the premise of a Faustian deal with the devil. Not completely original, in scope, but the premise of it being a poem and rhyming it was a bit of a nod toward Dr. Seuss. To me it came off as telling the story well, but being hilarious with its personality of the rhyme. I laughed a few times while writing it.

As for my novel, Lucidity: Morpheus' Dream, it started as a bit of a gamble. In fact, the whole story probably wouldn't have even gotten its start if it hadn't been for one night of insomnia. The first couple of pages originally appeared on Facebook. I was encouraged to continue it by a friend on there. She'll probably get a dedication or an exclusive copy once I'm done, but the process has been a bit of just writing what popped into my head, getting the elements down, and then reading through it for errors and such. I probably would've been done, if it weren't for that factor, but it's coming along more smoothly now. It's been slow, but I've shifted into a higher gear in order to finish. A new chapter should be out shortly, in fact.

I've done just a wee bit of research on words, phrases, and punctuation to help me out here and there, but mostly I just get the meat of the story together, then I'll go through for a really good proofreading a chapter at a time. Basically, my process is mostly akin to chaos. Yeah, that's it just chaos. Ha, Ha!! It's amazing I've gotten anything written, but it seems to be working quite well. 

  "Mustn't have worked Mabel ! " stirring up a new blend of orange liquid. "Let's have a go with this one. A little more steroidal orange number 9, a bit of pesticidal pink number 7, insecticidal 3 and lastly, a bit of a secret drop of this," he gives a wink to Mabel, as if to say, 'don't tell' and injects one drop from a syringe into the blend.

  "And, now we have it, ol' Mabe. The last straw has been drawn, so we're going to war 'Bella. I had 'nuff."  

  That night, as he slept peacefully, he heard a high pitched screeching out in the field.  Stepping to his bedroom window, he watched them all, hundreds of little fuzzy bunnies, one by one scurry about down the rows of carrots, dropping dead in their path.  He was pleased to see that old thumper does indeed go down, with a thump.

  "We'll clean em' up in the morning," he says with elation to himself as he gets his last night of sleep.

The next day, at dawn, there appeared not a trace of one rabbit body to be found. He thinks to himself,  'must've  been eaten in the night by the coyotes.'

  Question 4: Where, ( what activity ) do you enjoy, to recharge your creative batteries ?
And..where do you like to go, concerning: finding some new inspiration? 

  Wow, this one is easy to answer. There are a few things I like to do to recharge my creative batteries. First off, I just take the time off. Sometimes all you need is a break from doing anything creative to get your energy and mind back in shape for the next project or story whatever it may be.

Second, watching television is a quick go to activity that doesn't involve much thought. I, generally, like to watch the Do it Yourself network. It shows a lot of project ideas that one can do to spruce up the home or house interior. This is for the artist/architect side of myself.

Third, watching anime. I love to watch anime. Some favorite series are Bleach, One Piece, Detective Conan, and almost any martial arts anime like Fists of the North Star or Ninja Scrolls. Those two are quite old school anime, but well worth the watch. I would say quite confidently fantasy based anime are probably among all my favorites to watch, but a few sci-fi anime have pulled my attention from time to time like Tekkaman Blade(another old school anime), Appleseed, Macross Plus OVAs and Trigun(an absolute fav). I could name off a plethora of anime to watch, but for those truly interested in what I've seen or currently watching they can scoot over to Myanimelist.net and search for Demonwynd. My completed list is quite long. It's ten plus years of anime watched.

Fourth, Art. I've been into drawing since I was five. My first full picture I did was the inside pic of a Yogi Bear coloring book. My mom stuck me in art classes at school afterwards and I've developed my style and skill over the years. I wanted to go into college for it, but bills and work interfered. I did get some college , but it was focused on Engineering Graphics/Architecture. I still dabble in it every now and then, but I very seldom do a major project. Haven't done much since high school. As a result, my skill has hit a stalemate. But, I can still do an excellent copy art if given enough time.

Lastly, music is always a to go for unwinding and for a little creative inspiration. Bands like Hinder, Breaking Benjamin, Maroon 5, and Shinedown have some of my current favorite songs, but I listen to just about everything. I'm not really up to speed on the current music scene though. I might hear a few of the new songs when I'm riding with a friend every once in a while, but otherwise I'm a bit out of the loop.

Just a little side note, video games are a part of my unwind also. Currently, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one I'm trying to finish. I don't travel much so this is my getaway more often than not. 

About a week later, as the farmer plucks his well deserved harvest from the ground, he hears in the distance, a pitter patter of paws and a crunching sound like a vegetable being eaten. Looking back over shoulder, there he stood. Elmer. Was he actually smiling? Bunny facial expression can be quite unnerving, he thought. 

  "How in tarnation' you git out ya' cage, you sneaky little..."

Old Mabel wasn't around to hear his last words. She stayed inside, safely keeping the secret ingredient to herself.

  Elmer was joined by another, then an another; slowly an entire group began forming, pulling up the mutant carrots and devouring them and the old farmer.

  A thousand little bunny paws kicking dirt up behind their hind legs eventually burying that old farmer as he became food for the next crop.

  Now, the farmer had finally become one with the earth; and he didn't even have to get his hands dirty.

He'd done enough of that. 

Question 5: Concerning Words, Vocabulary and Language.
One of first things we learn in school is to write. Make shapes, turn them into letters, connect them, make them into words, make sentences, connect them into stories.
Why does it still persist and haunt a writer after all this time: to figure out the right words, sentences. stories?

In my learned opinion, the reason this attribute of writing still persists and haunts a writer is because that even though we go through school to learn to write/communicate, many of us during that time don't really expand our vocabulary enough to know all the different synonyms and phrases that can be used to describe an action, thought, or event. While I feel my command of the English language is adequate, I know it is not a perfectly honed craft just yet.

The words I choose when writing I sometimes have to go online to look up to be sure I'm using it within the right context because most words depending on their use can have different meanings. Of course, I also have a bad habit of trying to sound more intelligent than normal. While I may have an above average intelligence, it can sometimes get in the way of relaying the message across when others might not know what I'm referring to.
Experience is the great equalizer when it comes to writing, I believe. Those that have it will be far more immersed into the fold and can churn out books with ease it seems, while the newbies struggle to get their works done because they haven't gained the experience they need just yet. Of course, perseverance and desire will help them push through to the end. Overall, it's an ongoing learning experience.

They  grew with such extraordinary strength, even the farmer would have been proud of his new crop. Not the vegetables now, but the bunnies. 

Rapidly multiplying under the pale moonlight, their strength grew with each generation, passed down with the mutated powers of an experimental evolution. 

Thanks to that ol' farmer and his persistent vengeance.

 If you could ask a question to your readers, what might you say?

If I could ask a question of my readers, I would probably have to ask what did you like most about my writing? Is it the style at which I portray the feel of the story or is it the characters within that appeal to you? I'm sure my fans would be rather vocal in this area, but I would want to know how my writing appealed to someone who was just reading my work for the first time. Because knowing what it was that pulled them into the story would be a boon to myself as well as other writers in the same field and genre. I'm sure this has been asked before of other writers and we've all given similar answers, but connecting with that one person through my writing is one of the best feelings any of us could ever ask for.

P.S. Then, my wallet swells up from the sales and I give them a really big THANK YOU!! HA, HA!!

  And now, Elmer, sitting on the porch of the farmers house, noshing away on a juicy carrot, next to a droopy, anchored down Mabel, watched proudly as his clan grew stronger every day.

  Elmer reaches over to a cornucopia basket of brightly colored carrots, takes another bite and looks over to Mabel.

"Whats up Doc," he says to the old hound dog,"take a bite and let's go for a run, after all you did show us where that there secret ingredient was hidden; let the rabbits wear glasses no more ! " he smiles with two white teeth.

"Thank you," says Mabel, and with just one taste, the two furiously run out into the field. Mabel hadn't felt this free is a very long time.

No more cages, no more being chained down.

Freedom.

And carrots galore.

 Thank you Kaze, Akuma Kaze.

Run free, run.