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| Internal Struggle, Source: airbornehubby82 |
In a dark place in life, he finally decided to turn to face his demon. Deep within him it dwelt residing in memories and habitual actions he regretted. This demon was fierce as it eagerly drained his motivation to continue on.
He came attacking with friends along side, replacement habits, and the advice of mentors. Because this demon had been his "friend" through rough times, he was reluctant to kill it off at first. He began stripping his demon slowly away. Over time its familiar face became less so as he would sometimes slip back. The demon soon started to try to creep into his mind through other forms, but by the strength of his friends and safeguards he saw through the veil.
His best friend urged him to kill it off completely and so in time he had eventually freed himself from the shackles of his demon. His friends embraced him.
In the next morning, his best friend sent him a powerful message, which caused him to have an even stronger anchor. One that he could call upon when ever he needed strength. These words he stored within his heart so they might go with him into the world.
He thought, “When I have need of you, I will think of you, and then you will wait upon me.” (from epic).
Thereafter in the coming year, he was living a life filled with laughter, friendship, and the freedom to be. He made it a point to take an extended road trip to visit friends. Along the way, he was welcomed wherever he went. His friends could sense the transformation that had happened within him. His presence gave off a warm aura.
He had a handful of nights where he was ambushed by his demon in various forms. But he thought of the words from his best friend and the happiness within, and immediately he had the willpower of his entire support circle. He denied and destroyed each demon, and his strength consumed the demon once and for all. After that night, he sat there and rejoiced. "Oh, what it is to have the time to immerse myself in life and enjoy the beauty of this world.", he thought.
Author's Note
The epic I used was Thataka.
With this epic story, Rama fights and slays Thataka. For me, these struggle with a rakshasa I saw could be a struggle with an inner demon. The story line for this was deeply inspired as you can see I used a line from the epic. The words of his friend were equal to the celestial weapons provided by Vishwamitra to Rama. Rama also had Lakshmana there by his side. Afterwards, they were attacked by the Marcha, son of Thataka, and other rakshasas. This is reflected in his demon continuing to attack him. However, he is able to call upon the words of his friend. If you have the two stories side by side, you will be able to see the corresponding structure and progression.
What a perfect opening sentence, Josh - wow!!! And seriously, if you have a great opening sentence and a great closing sentence, that's half the story already. And the idea of the demon as an inner demon is POWERFUL. There are many people who read the Ramayana that way, with Rama as a spiritual warrior who is slaying inner demons that are externalized, making the world safe for us all by defeating what would destroy us. And I love the way you took the idea of the shape-shifting demon from the original (and the rakshasas really are shape-shifters; you'll see that over and over again throughout the epic) to suggest how difficult this struggle is: our demons are not always going to look the same, and we may be fooled by their appearances.
ReplyDeleteHere's something really cool that you will see as the story progresses: not only is Rama a kind of symbolic warrior who represents the struggle that we are engaged in, slaying our own demons, he is also a LIBERATOR, someone who in a sense saves the demons from themselves. Have you gotten to the story of Viradha? Viradha is a horrible monster, but you will see a metamorphosis when Rama and Lakshmana finally slay him... and even though Ahalya was not a demon, it took Rama's arrival to free her from the form into which she had been imprisoned, and so on. I really like those liberation stories: Rama is freeing the world of monsters, but he is also freeing the monsters from themselves, at least some of the time.
In the Mahabharata, there is a great story about the hero Arjuna who kills a crocodile, or so he thinks, but the crocodile turns out not to be what he expected. If you do the Public Domain Mahahbarata you'll see that story in a few weeks (it's not in the Narayan book, but I made sure to include it in the PDE version.)
A word thing: AURA is the word you want, instead of aurora (although the Aurora Borealis is very cool, but aura is the word you want here I'm 99% sure).
One important spelling thing: he began stripping his demon slowly away. Striping means "to put stripes" on something; stripping is to strip something away. Here are the rules for doubled consonants (lots of English words change their meaning that way: starred versus stared, etc.) - Doubled Consonants (same rules apply for -ing as for -ed)
And a typo I noticed: which CAUSED him to have an even STRONGER anchor.
Thanks for letting me know that this was a story that really flowed for you: I could tell that as I read it! As the semester goes along, I don't have a lot of time to read the blogs (I try to read about five each day, which means I cycle around through them every few weeks or so)... so it's good to know when someone has a post they really like and that way I can be sure to catch that one.
Wow what an incredible story. The idea of fighting inner demons is a really great use of this story in the epic. My favorite part is the last line. I love that the words of his best friend and happiness within were the sources to help him finally defeat his demons. You know, sometimes trying to get rid of one's demons is comparable to fighting a long battle and you have to gather up as much strength as you can. I really enjoyed this story.
ReplyDeleteNice story Josh! Really loved the interpretation of Thakata as an inner demon, instead of an external one. I liked the idea of the main character's friends trying to help him out of this battle, and the mantra that helped him through it. It really helps in life to have a couple phrases that provide a familiar place to return to, so it was cool to see that in story form! Nice work, looking forward to reading more of your stories!
ReplyDeleteThis story was so creative and engaging. I loved the photo you chose because it grabbed my attention and your story held it throughout the entire thing. Choosing to make Thataka an inner demon was such an interesting plot choice and your word choice set the tone for the entire story perfectly, specifically in the first paragraph.
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was a nice choice that you showed that the inner demon continued to attack him throughout his life by tying it to the different rakshasa attacks in The Ramayana. You took a lot of creative liberty with the story, but it also really reflects the original from The Ramayana. The transition between plot points also flowed really well, making the story easy to follow.
This story was so interesting and it was very creative. The only thing I would change, if anything would be that some of the writing that could have been in active voice was in passive voice. Active voice could have made some of the sentences more fluid and stronger. Also, the title was not very descriptive. Overall, this story was so interesting and I loved your interpretation of the story! Good job!