(Author’s note: Injuries are never fun. Nor is being on a new health plan. Losing weight, feeling good, but dealing with injured appendages. Here’s a throwaway story, as I really couldn’t come up with something that would do the picture justice. Enjoy!)
Introductions were always the hardest part of being a new student.
For Nigel Liew, it was even worse.
The questions would always come: “How can you speak British when you look like that?”, “Do you know Uncle Roger?”, “What do you think of Beijing?”
After a whole day of answering nothing but inane questions, Nigel was about to leave the classroom.
“Hey, Nigel.” He looked back at a blonde haired kid with a smile on his face. “What music do you like?” “Garage rock. The Kinks. “ “Ever heard of “Victoria””? Nigel’s eyes lit up. “I thought no one would ask!”
(Author’s note: After a week of being sick (hence why no post last week), I am back to give more fictioneers. This is a reprise… or maybe a new season, of “Taking The Town”. The last entry of this was “Taking This Town (Again)” from MANY months ago. So I figured it’d be nice to revisit the idea…)
One minute he was walking down a side street around the Royal University of Sydney, after finishing the prep for student orientation;
The next, he was bouncing in a sea of co-eds into a very active bar.
His particular ring of people involved 20 or so, led by a vibrant blonde with a Melbournian accent.
“Girls! Devour anything you see!”
With Icehouse’s “Taking The Town” thumping through the bar, the good professor barely made it out of the bar alive. Torn clothing, lipstick kisses, the works.
(Author’s note: It’s been a week. But I went through the last 3 months of comments, and was able to respond. Because I actually care about people’s thoughts. And now that some things have come together on this job, I’m looking forward to the future. In celebration, here’s today’s Fictioneers!)
(Author’s note: I have to apologize to all my readers and others who I should be reading. The last couple weeks dealing with the run-up to winter camp left me with little energy to respond, and that’s all on me. I will be doing better, now that camp has started and I have an idea of what’s going on, to actually visit and remark on other people’s stories.
In the meantime, here’s my fictioneers story, and it’s a bit of a historical thing…)
(Author’s note: Hidiho, neighbors! Currently training my replacement in anticipation of a new position coming up. In the meantime, doing my duty with putting a Fictioneers up. This one reuses music that I’ve used before, but I think it’s appropriate. Enjoy!)
The 20 students snuck in overnight, flying into Tullamarine Airport, looking like smiling tourists. They walked past immigration, past the taxis, onto the nearest train platform. They smiled as they got on, and in unison, looked out the window.
As the trains eventually pulled into the Southern Cross Yards, each of the students looked towards a blonde haired girl with Chinese features.
“We have been selected for a great future. We are the future of Australia’s education.”
The train slowed to a stop.
“Time to take this town, girls!”
They rushed out the doors, onto unsuspecting businessmen and college registrars.
(Author’s Note: I promise stuff is coming. I’m getting distracted by all sorts of stuff at work. The job gets in the way sometimes…But, here’s another Fictioneers post to whet your appetite!)
Coming home from a hard day of learning at school, she was going to be happy when she finally could watch “Sailor Moon”. It had been a while since she had a day to herself.
The sky grew dark all day, and it was nearly pitch black outside. She turned on the TV and not even a minute in, she heard the familiar buzz of klaxons and red screens.
She buzzed into the basement and took shelter and waited.
Hey folks. It’s Miles here! I have decided to give an update to everyone who reads my blog and is a constant watcher of all things “musically fictitious”.
I don’t plan to get long winded about things, but some updates need to be done so that people have the ability to see what all is happening.
Most of you have seen this blog increase from a small little production to something a slight bit larger. The folks from Friday Fictioneers come by whenever there’s a fictioneers post up and running, and others stop by as supporters of the blog. This is incredible, and is the first step to great things.
However, this blog can be and will become more. As most of you know, I have recently turned my Twitter account back on, and you can find me posting there sometimes. Also, I have a Facebook “page” of my own, which anyone can come to and like without worry.
The goal of these things, among others, is to get my blog wired up enough so that I can take it full bore after my time in Korea is finished.
As far as regular updates on the blog, with new material, most of it will be put forth as normal. The biggest problem I have at this time is that my job gets in the way of my writing. One big reason why people did not see an update from me since the last Fictioneers post in February, it was due to the fact that the beginning of the school year happened here in Korea. With the changes in my class schedules and having to plan and re-plan for all the different things that needed to get done, I didn’t get much time to do my writing as my mind was busy with preparing things. Now that I have a lay of the land with my classes for what I assume will be the next 3 months, I should not have to worry.
Here’s what the future is going to hold:
1) Increased posting to at least twice a week by August, including fictioneers. Maybe another group will be joined, depending.
2) More communication through Facebook and Twitter, with more time spent in network with authors, writers, and other folks around the world.
3) Re-issuance of archived/older stories on my Facebook Author’s page. Potentially also done over Twitter as well.
4) Hopefully a more consistent schedule will bring in more consistent readers. And more music.
As it stands, I have very high hopes coming down the pike for this blog and other projects. The biggest issue I am going to be facing in the next few months is time, specifically bouncing between my current job and applying for visas and other stuff. Once I finish my job here in late may, and get set up in Australia in July, I should have a lot more time to spend on really making this great WordPress blog shine.
There will be more Music and Fiction to go around in the next 12 months. Be ready for some action! G’night for now, and here’s one of my favorite Smooth Jazz artists to allow you to think and create. Enjoy Peter White!
Welcome, fans and friends. Don’t forget to read my last long-piece: “A View From Your Window”. It’s a beautiful piece. Anyhow, here’s this week’s fictioneers piece:
copyright – Janet Webb
Portal al Puerto
Sandy was up for the morning, and couldn’t go back to sleep. She knew that she had to be at the U for class by 9, and 7:30 was much too early.
She walked into the bathroom and did her hair. As she brushed the silky blonde locks, she noticed a small little “rip” on the edge of the mirror. She touched it, and pulled back on it.
She noticed, on the other “side” of this mirror, was a doorway. A sideways doorway. She pushed the doorway open, and was immediately sucked in, her skin stretching as she was devoursed by the portal.
The door immediately closed, and the mirror resealed itself. That was the last time anyone saw Sandy…for nearly 5 years.
(Dedicated to the memory of all the students and passengers lost in the Sewol ferry disaster last week. Please make sure to play the music while you read.)
(NOTE: This is a work of fiction, designed to help people think about and work through their feelings regarding the Sewol ferry sinking.)
(Written on sheets of rice paper, and found on the desk of a fisherman on Jindo.)
Clouds. Happy as clouds.
That’s is how I see them now. All of them are in school up there, learning about love and life, learning their new assignments and how they will do new things. Learning, while in the cloudland.
I live in Sinyuk, just off the main coast of South Korea. My family has lived here for many years. That day will be burned into my mind.
I was on the shoreline, finishing the rigging up the nets that I would use for crab fishing during the night. I always do that after the day’s work is done. I was going to go to sleep soon, and wake up again in the afternoon to do the fishing checks all over again.
It was just after 8:30 in the morning when I went to my home and sat down for my supper. I ate, and felt good about the upcoming catch that would come in the night. I went to my room to pray and honor my wife. Long ago, we were a happy fishing couple. She died a few years back, and it was a sad time for me. But, still, I live on with her in my memory.
It was around 9:45 that I heard the phone ring. This was unusual, I didn’t normally get a call when I was just about to go to bed. I picked up the phone and answered like I normally do. It was Byeong-jun, the harbormaster here. He told me that there was an all-call for all fishing vessels, that a ferry was sinking just off Gwanmae.
It was like second nature to me. I was in the Navy during my days in the military, and whenever a call for assistance was made, it was my job to alert the captain and to help direct where we needed to go. I immediately ran out to my boat, and started it up. Or, at least I tried to start it.
I couldn’t start it. The boat that helped me check my pots did not start. And I needed to get out there and help out, as it was my duty. I got on the radio and called around to see if anyone was still in port and could use an extra man. My friend Sin-Gil, a very good man who sold fish for use in hoe called back and told me that all boats had gone. There were none left in the harbor.
At that moment, I stood in shock. And I started to cry. I cried because I felt like there was nothing I could do. As I dried my tears, I hurried over to the harbormaster’s office and volunteered to help coordinate the rescue boats. Since Sinyuk could not hold many people, we decided to send the rescued passengers over to Jindo, the closest big island that would get them to where they needed to go.
It was too late for some of us, and for a lot of those passengers.
As I write this, the count of the people that are dead is 84. There are over 200 more passengers still missing, and in my mind, likely no longer here. 250 of those passengers and dead are kids. Kids. Going on a vacation like they always do, every year. That sticks in my mind. A simple fisherman like me, who didn’t have much education, can see in my mind how a child’s eyes lights up when they are told they will be going to Jeju for a field trip.
Now, I see these kids as students up in the cloudland. Their fellow passengers who aren’t in school, they too are there. They’re assisting, helping out at the big school up in the cloudland. They’re laughing, with no pain or fear, nothing of what they felt down here. The young lady, the worker on the ferry who helped so many students that survived, I see her as a teacher up there. She’s showing them about what it means to be brave. Some of the other men and women who died, saving all those students, they’re up there as well. In the cloudland.
This tragedy is affecting everyone. I hear my friends, fellow fishermen, cry for those who are lost. I can imagine all of the parents, and the classmates in the different grades at that school in Ansan. I can even imagine the foreigners here, the ones who see this and whose hearts break for those who are gone. Every person in this country, whether a Korean or not, is affected by this. The dark cloud of sorrow will be over us for a while. The cloud already took a few people’s lives after this, and more will be taken before the cloud is lifted.
After today, I can no longer be here. I have family on the mainland, a sister and her nephew in a big city, with small kids of their own. I will take what I have earned, and go to them. I will help those small children as much as I can, to show them not to be afraid. To show them that there are people who are heroes, and that there will be a brighter day.
To whoever reads this: Whatever is here, sell and donate to the families of those who have lost everything. It won’t be much, but the house and the land are valuable. The boat can also be sold, all of the deeds are with the harbormaster.
Remember the kids and adults in the cloudland. They are the ones who we must mourn today.
-Han Gong-Cha
(a stamp, an injang (인장) was embossed at the bottom)
Music and Fiction 