A blog where one NaNoWriMo Seattle Duck posts the chapters of the novels she never wants published for people to enjoy in the literary abandon.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Writers vs Ritters: The EPIC Battle Chapter 16

All of the armor was in its final stages, but so was the gigantic satellite the GFU party was building. Now that they were upping their production, the Rebel Alliance was trying to compete with them and make sure they left nothing out of the plans. With Jon’s help, they had made sure that any scenario was created and a solution was made in order to cover it in times of emergency. It was all coming down to theses defining moments. Many were trying on their new armor and testing their updated weapons at the shooting range.
            Battle formations and simulations were being executed in the field behind the base. Anyone if not everyone was involved in those at least at some point throughout the last days. Every member of the council was busily making sure their equipment was up to date with all of the data that would constantly be streamed to them. With everyone getting edgy about the upcoming events, it was getting towards that time when they needed a motivational speech.
            Sitting in a sort of hideaway for Ane—which happened to be Dom’s development room—she was scribbling away at some kind of speech she could make the following day. She needed to inspire them and make sure they gave it their all. Otherwise she would feel like she let not only them down, but herself. Although Dom was constantly building in this hectic and loud atmosphere, she enjoyed that it was different than being in her office or the command center. Her room was not entirely private either, as much of the time someone would burst in with an important update. But Dom’s research and development room was strictly off limits to many people.  Glancing over at what he was doing, she could see he was tinkering with a few items that seemed to have no purpose right now. Turning her eyes back to her paper, she jotted down several more lines before scribbling them out and then writing again. This process continued for a while.
            Hearing her frustration, Dom grabbed a clean coffee mug and walked over to Ane, having filled it with something to drink. Setting it down before her, he sat down opposite her, sipping from another. Her eyes stared at the mug for a moment, trying to figure out what substance was in it. Reaching over, she took it and inhaled, before drinking down a good portion of the hot beverage.
            “Thanks,” she said, setting the mug down.
            “Anytime. Hot chocolate always helps me think of solutions to my problems,” he said, smiling at her. “Plus I figured you needed to give your mind at least a little break.” Nodding in agreement, Ane rested her head on the wood work bench.
            “How do they do it?”
            “Do what?”
            “Write motivational speeches that inspire? I’ve been sitting down here for—“
            “Six hours—“
            “Six—oh God, it’s been that long?” She could not even comprehend the fact that she had been chiseling away at this speech for six hours.
            “So, you’re saying that you want to know how many of the greats like Jefferson, Lincoln, both of the Roosevelts, and Kennedy made speeches that brought about some kind of great change?” He watched her as he took another sip of his drink.
            “Yes! This is not as easy as I originally intended it would be.”
            “That’s the problem,” he said, shrugging.
            “What?”
            “You’re thinking about it too much. If you write down the basics that you want to say, you’ll have an easier time talking. It’ll sound more like it’s from your heart and not from a teleprompter or some speech writer,” Dom said, drinking more of his hot cocoa. He let the silence hang between them—or almost silence. Over in the kitchen area he had the radio playing some kind of happy sounding classical music.
            “I should just take a break… do something different and then come back to this and everything will come to me?” Ane stared at him, hoping she understood what he said correctly.
            “Exactly,” he said, nodding. Having already finished his cup, he headed back to the kitchenette and made himself another mug. Staring into the murky liquid of her mug, she downed the last of it and went to get herself some more. The chocolate seemed to be helping her mood slump as she felt a bit better at having not gotten a lot accomplished. But looking back at what they had been through in the past year and a half, they had indeed managed to get through a lot.
            Deciding to change up her current writing routine, Ane went about the work space and started to tidy things up and then busy herself. Going through the cupboard Dom had, she pulled out several boxes and started to prepare them. Luckily his kitchenette had an oven, so she was able to bake whatever she wanted. Not wanting to stop her creative outlet, he sat and observed her for a while before going back to some other smaller tasks at hand.
            The development room smelt incredible. Cookies, muffins, cake. Even a soufflĂ© or two. Ane had made everything she could think of ever wanting to try to bake. Dom was sitting there munching on a piece of cake and some cookies. Ane was using Dom as a taste tester, which much to his delight, was turning out to be a great job. Sola entered through the doorway and was pleasantly surprised to smell the delicious aroma that had now engulfed the space. Never before had this place ever smelt so delicious.
            “Whoa, what turned this place in to one giant bakery?” Sola looked around seeing that many of the work tables were covered in trays of cakes, cookies and muffins. She approached where Dom was currently sitting at the counter while Ane was cooking. Glancing over his shoulder, he waved to her.
            “She’s brainstorming her speech for tomorrow,” Dom said, patting the seat next to him. Ane was presently dictating to Dom, who was scribbling down whatever she said. They were then going to combine it all together and make any cuts that they needed to.
            “And she brainstorms by baking?” Sola raised an eyebrow at him as she took a seat.
            “Actually, that was my suggestion. That she do something creative. Generally that’s how the words flow,” he said, sitting happily as he took a bite of a cake. He handed Sola a fork, and the two continued to listen to Ane prattle off various forms of a speech.

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