<< #21
If that chapter didn't tug on your hearstrings, then I don't know what will. Hello, Cloudheads. Welcome to another edition of your favorite complementary series, SILVER LINING. Today, we would be tackling the tail end of Ledd's dream sequence (debatable) / newly recovered memory (highly likely).
Knowing that the whole affair happened in the past (maybe), future (probably) or just made up (I doubt it) would have diminished the stakes, but I know that you are learned seekers of knowledge, so I know that you were able to see past all of it. I'm not ashamed to admit it, but I could never get through this chapter without choking up.
I know what you're thinking, it's silly since it's fiction and, more, importantly, fiction that I wrote. But, as I've said countless times before, this is all real to me. Dream sequence (still debatable) or not, all of this is happening with real stakes and real emotions. I believe in digesting fiction as it is, and not over analyzing it, on the first reading. You can take all the philosophical implications and the subtle details during the next reads.
Fiction, above all else, seeks to entertain. So let it do its job. Sure, one could argue that it could be used to send a political or philosophical message, or as a means of self-expression, but storytelling traces its roots back as a means to entertain and, well, tell stories.
This is probably the favorite chapter I wrote for this story. I know I've said it before, but I always make it a point to say "one of my favorites" to emphasize that it's not the favorite. I'm being overly technical about it, yes. I just love how I'm given room to write action and heartfelt exchanges in one chapter. With the one-hour constraint that I imposed on myself, I could only write so much.
The events portrayed in this chapter are what I believe is the depths that brains like Zepp's are able to go to. Looking at his eyes, you just know that there are whole universes behind it. If we could just peer through, I'm sure it isn't as shallow as most people perceive it to be. If this book is my love letter for differently abled people, consider this chapter as its representative.
I hope that you found out about a lot of stuff in last week's exercise. Stuff like Bathala and Adarna are all very fascinating, and it's how I intended to promote the Filipino culture in my story. It's easy to just copy off other people's work on the internet, citing them so that I won't be labeled as a plagiarist, and profiting off other people's hard work. Heck, it's even easy to just translate it and say that I've put in the hours that's worthy of a hundred votes here. But, I digress. I wish that you all learned a lot of the backstory that I referenced in the story. With that being said, I won't explain anything further in this write up. Feel free to ask in the comments section though.
Now that Ledd is about to embark on his final arc (gasp! I really hope that "final" was meant for the story and not for Ledd himself >.<), get your popcorn ready because we're on the home stretch, people! You've already read this far, and I thank you for accompanying me on this journey. I hope that you're locked in for the finale!
Oh, also, it's just so amazing, but one of my recent friends here on Steemit, @tincho, just so happens to live near the Andes, which is where this and the previous chapter took place! Talk about coincidence, huh? Of all the mountain ranges in the world, of all the potential fictional places I could've written, it had to be that haha! Make sure to give @tincho a follow. He writes stranger than fiction stories that makes you question whether it truly happened to him.
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