Clockwork Love

[Keaton]

A dreadfully depressing tale, admittedly, but here we go.

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Long ago there was a man with a heart as pure as gold.  Every day, he would go into the marketplace to sell his wares-- watches, clocks, and all manner of delightful mechanical gadgets.  One day, a lovely young woman from the aristocratic corner of the city stopped by to peruse his shop.  The man was instantly smitten with her.  She picked out an ornate watch and brought it to the counter.  When she pulled out her purse, however, the man refused.  He handed her the watch and wrapped her hands around it.  She looked into his eyes and smiled, and he had never felt more content that at that moment.

A few days later, the woman stopped by his shop again.  The man decided that this was his chance-- he would confess his feelings to her.  When he did so, she smiled.  She smiled not as one who had just found the love of her life, but as one who had seen a dog do a cute trick.  It was devoid of sincerity.  The man thought long and hard about this.  That night, he carved out his own heart which was, quite literally, made of gold.  He placed it in a beautiful box and set it aside.  In his heart's place (because one finds it awfully hard to function properly without a heart) he built the most elaborate watch anyone had ever seen.  He sewed himself up and went to sleep, his heart on the table next to him.

When the woman showed up the next day, the man presented her with the box.  She was delighted, and her eyes glowed when she saw the beautiful heart that was inside.  She kissed him lightly on the cheek, but something was wrong.  He could not feel a thing.  He realized that suddenly he was empty inside.  He needed to get his heart back.  That night he visited the young woman's home.  He told her that something was wrong, and explained the entire situation to her.  She looked ashamed and when he asked what was wrong, she informed him that she had sold the heart earlier that day, not realizing it's full value.  The man did not know what to say.  She told him that the merchant she sold it to had left and returned to his home in some far-off land.

The man could not cry.  He could not be angry at the woman, nor disappointed or anything else.  He simply looked her deep in the eyes as the watch in his chest gave one last, futile tick.

[MasterKeyX]

That was extremely morbid.

But at the same time, it was certainly a tale that could spark some thinking. I like it. Where did you find it?

[Keaton]

I wrote it.

[MasterKeyX]

For real? Wow.

I think it was amazing. With writing skills like that, you could certainly make alot of dough. I'm impressed.

[darkphantomime]

It's really not as easy today as it used to be to make money from writing. Not as many literary/anthology magazines as there once was... Hell, I"m not sure if I'll ever be able to get some of my work published.

[MasterKeyX]

I've heard that. I recently read a book by an author about getting published; she said it was near impossible nowadays.

[MagmarFire]

Excellent work, Tacheon. An interesting read, indeed.

[HylianHero92]

Whoa! That was great!!!

[darkphantomime]

It was a nice story, more of a sketch than a fully fleshed-out tale. A sketch is more of a plot outline, rather than going in depth with the action and scene...

Anyway, how about writing something longer?

Would you want to read some of my work that I hope to get published one day?

[MasterKeyX]

I don't know if that offer was to Tacheon only, but I'd love if you didnt mind posting it here.

Your work is interetsing too.

[Keaton]

JQ, you must post some of your... less trippy works.

[MasterKeyX]

Granted, some of them are pretty high up on the trippy scale.

[darkphantomime]

Well, here's one that's much more... concise.

The Ideal       5-15-2008

Idealogy is a word that is often shouted
Over the rise of political motifs between people
To unite or divide
To make due process of forces recognized
Philosophies, theories, revolutions abound
To learn or reject a dualistic existence
Whose name do we shout in the hope of revolution?

Idealogies are substances given to a cause
A revolution in thought, a restoration in meaning
To a future that dispels
The causes and reforms
Attempt in our ground
Between the causes of desires
And pursuits of no meaning

Each person desires their world to their law
Each person revels in hypnopaedic mantra
Each person desires an infinite design
Each person attempts to see the world through their own eyes
Each person revels in a cosmic sensation
Each person is meaningless to reason or somber thought
Each person spins opinions to form deluded fact
Reveling in our histories
In the name of a fallen crown
In the name of a voice
In the name of ideal
In the name of revolutionary tide
And you speak now of broken limits
And you speak now of contempt
And you speak now of disaster
And you speak now of corruption
But where are the prosperities of yesteryear?

[MasterKeyX]

Nice... has a political bite to it that gets the reader thinking. I like it.

[Keaton]

Wow, that really struck me for some reason.