Note: I’ve been hoping to make 2006 a breakthrough year for myself in terms of creative writing, not so much in the sense of writing something so good that it’ll get picked up by a publisher (in my dreams and unlikely) but more along the lines of actually writing, researching, revising and rewriting before I post it for the public domain. I experimented last fall with The Elusive Hope serial, which was nice in that I actually wrote 10 parts but perhaps a bit rushed and abruptly ended. I’m working on a revision and some additional “chapters” to the story, so hopefully I’ll be able to have an improved story to share in the near future. I’ve also had more than one story idea that I’ve experimented with to varying degrees and hopefully some of these ideas will become full stories by the end of 2006. I’d like to post up excerpts from two particular ideas that I’ve spent a bit more time than the others. Two very different characters in two very different worlds, but I have a feeling people are going to tell me that it’s just two slight variations of myself. Fiction, people!

Story I
The next time we had class, Ellie sat next to me. She wore a beige long coat, jeans, and a white t-shirt.

“Hey Dave, how’s it going?” she asked.

“Good,” I said, nodding.

Class was interesting. Our professor talked about Southern blacks and their desire for political autonomy during Reconstruction. Although I strained myself to listen carefully, I couldn’t keep myself from dozing off. Ellie poked me a few times, but she eventually gave up. My mind flickered between the lecture and sleep. I finally came to and saw illegible scribbles on my notepad.

“You’re terrible at staying awake,” she said. “Was it that uninteresting?”

“Oh no,” I said. “I just have a habit of falling asleep in lectures.”

I walked out with her, and we talked about various things. I found out that she was a political science major and that she was from Virginia. She mentioned something about a boyfriend coming to visit her this weekend, so I asked her about her boyfriend. He went to Duke and his name was Joe.

“Oh, I see,” I said. “A white guy?”

“Yeah. We went to high school together, and we know each other really well,” she said, her tone a bit defensive.

“Cool,” I said. I told her I had to check my mail, said bye, and walked towards the student center. I was also feeling hungry, so I decided to pick up a roast beef sandwich and a Gatorade, the yellow-colored one.

Story II
“Are you sure you’re not at all attracted to Korean girls?”

“Dude, they’re like ironing boards. No ass, no tits. Most of them are short, and they all look the same,” Kevin says. “White chicks are where it’s at. Tall, blonde, blue eyes, and nice tits.”

“What are you, Hitler’s second-in-command?” I say, although I’m very aware of Kevin’s white girl fetish.

“They have pink cunts, man. And pink nipples too,” Kevin says, his hard look now replaced by a sleazy grin. “Think of it as a delicious pink peach, just begging for its layers to be peeled off. Oh man.”

“I don’t know. Reminds me of lab mice or something, the way they have pink parts like that. And speaking of peaches, white girls have that nasty fuzz all over their bodies. I can’t handle that,” I tell him. I’ve probably fucked six or seven white girls in my lifetime, but I can’t say I’ve found them particularly appealing. And they’re always so eager to give head, which sometimes takes away the fun I usually have with timid Asian girls who I have to coax into going down on me. I’m not sure if Kevin has had any white pussy yet. He’s put on some weight since working, and he’s not as charming or interesting as I am.

We sit down at Gam Mee Ok, where I order two bowls of sullongtang for me and Kevin as well as a modeum soondae, a platter of miscellaneous pork parts, including my favorite – the pig intestine casing filled with blood. I explain how soulful and delicious soondae tastes, but Kevin is appalled and looks as if he’s a contestant on Fear Factor. We order two bottles of soju as well as two bottles of OB Lager. I watch as Kevin’s face turns red after the first shot. Luckily, my face never changes color when I consume alcohol.

“So I’ve been interviewing with some PE shops,” Kevin tells me. I feel as if I’ve heard his exit plans several times already, so I zone out and start nodding as he goes on and on about his futile attempts to land that dream job with a takeover firm. I’ve recently been promoted to vice president in my group, perhaps the youngest vice president in the entire firm at twenty-four. Kevin is only a third-year analyst and definitely envious. He has to find another job soon or go to business school. I scan around the room while Kevin continues to talk and spot a decent-looking Korean girl eating with another girl, who also seems Korean but is fat and ugly. The decent-looking girl appears to be about 5’6” and hovering around 100 pounds, which is probably unhealthy, but do-able in my eyes. Her long black hair has obviously been given a straight perm and she’s wearing a simple black top with dark blue jeans that hug her hips really well. And I look down at her feet to see that she’s wearing sleek black stiletto high heels. She seems pretty high-maintenance and could probably use a beat down, although I could be wrong and she could be a very down-to-earth type of girl who loves to talk about sports and have intellectual conversations about world affairs. Right. I end up laughing to myself. Kevin wants to know what’s so funny.