Wattpad brings you a guest post from Thedouglasclan, author of Consequences Unforeseen, our latest featured story:
We had a slightly mad English teacher when we were in 12th grade. Don’t get me wrong, she was a wonderful, caring and enlightening person and teacher, but as I said, she must have been on the verge of madness.
She would at the start of our “double period” of English and creative writing unfailingly tell us about her wonderful garden, the myriad of birds and creatures that it contained and the fairies who lived happily at the furthermost reach of her land - right at the back in the shade garden next to the wall.
I recall we all used to roll our eyes and smirk behind our hands. Those of us brave enough would occasionally laugh out loud but she never gave us a hard time. Her eyes would shine with amusement at her own words and she’d continue on in what seemed at the time like an endless ramble concerning the comings and goings in the lives of these fairies as well as the life and death of the critters from natural causes as well as the occasional hawk or other carnivore hunter.
When she’d conclude this opening period she’d write up on the board some diverse subject and we’d be tasked with writing a three page story on the topic using our own imagination and free will.
By the next time we met for this session, she would have diligently read every single one of our efforts, making suggestions and providing insights into what she gleaned from each of us budding authors (not).
But then off she’d go again on the misfortunes of one of the fairies or a fight the cardinals had with the starlings over by the bird feeder. Then another topic would appear on the board and we were off again in our own minds and whatever world our writing took us.
One occasion in particular comes back to me and gives me a smile even today. An A+ for a story concerning man’s first landing on the moon. Pure imaginative fiction of a kind she said she had never encountered. Her remark on the paper was – and I will never forget her words…
“Today you have reminded me of the rock band ‘The Who’ with their song See me, Feel me, Touch me, Heal me! I could SEE what the moon looked like. I could FEEL the surface beneath my feet and the lack of weight. I was able to TOUCH the metal of the landing craft and the dust on the ground. I felt the terror of the take off and landing, and the fear of the unknown as they climbed down onto the surface. I could clearly see the faces of the alien welcoming party. I felt like I was really there on the Moon! You made me afraid, you made me laugh and you made me feel good. You HEALED me! Well done indeed.”
I’ll admit I was surprised but secretly delighted and I guess in that moment I believed that maybe, just maybe in time to come I could write a story or book that people would enjoy.
Thinking back now, I can’t say for sure when it finally dawned on me that her continual and persistent telling stories of her fairytale garden was simply her method for planting the seeds in our minds of what a real story must do for the reader or listener.
Now, years later, I can remember EVERY single part of her garden just as if I were right there in it. I can see the crimson red male cardinal and his blood red mate. I walked where the little sparkling stream ran through the fairies’ part of the garden. It gurgled and splashed in time to the birdsongs. I saw the early evening glow fading to dusk and to deep darkness broken only by the twinkling colors of the fairy wings as they came out to play chase under the branches of the ancient Ash tree whose leaves whispered as the thunderstorm approached and turned upside down with the downdraft. I had brushed my hands over the rough grey/green bark of this and plucked the occasional wood beetle for bait. The little stream had plentiful fish, frogs and crayfish to tantalize the eye. I had seen it flood and burst its banks with the sun causing silver and white sparkles as it forced a new route out on to the grass beyond. After the storm had passed hundreds of frogs appeared as if by magic with their gold and red colors shimmering and glistening against the bright green reeds and dark brown earth. And I can see her – our wonderful English teacher Ms Tait - standing there amongst all this beauty with her eyes twinkling and smiling back at me. Congratulating me that Wattpad is indeed featuring part of my book this month.
See me, Feel me, Touch me, Heal me. I can never forget her advice and try to live up to her teaching. I encourage other aspiring writers to heed her words of wisdom.
Read Doug’s Consequences Unforeseen on Wattpad!