Friday 23 August 2013

Ten Years Later ... Blogfest



Today is the 10 Years Later ... blogfest, hosted by Angeline Trevena and Laura E. Brown. I think this is a very groovy idea for a 'fest indeed. If only there were more participants, I think it could be even groovier. But never fear, folks, there is still time to sign up! Click here to find the linky. And check out the details of the 'fest:

Have you ever read or written a book that's had you so intrigued, so immersed, that you're left wondering what happened to the characters after the story ends? The Ten Years Later... Blogfest gives your characters the chance to return, the chance to tell their story ten years after you stopped writing it. 
Choose one of your characters from one of your stories, and imagine them ten years after the story ends. Give them a voice a decade later. 
You can write your post in any format you like - a journal entry, a newspaper article, a piece of flash fiction, an interview, or even an obituary. 

And the character I've chosen for my post is Nausicaa, a.k.a. Natasha. Here is what Natasha has to say ten years after she helped to overthrow a brutal, corrupt government:

Sometimes it's hard to believe I'm still alive. Not just because I came so close to dying numerous times before the liberation, but because for the last ten years I really haven't known what the hell to do with myself. People have found me things to do, of course. They tell me I'm useful, definitely much more than a waste of space. But I know the truth, which is that this life can never be as meaningful as the one I led before.
In those days I was fighting against a corrupt regime. I was sneaking through shadows, slipping through cracks. I was saving lives. Nowadays, I stand on a street corner handing out fliers and giving people directions. I deliver lunch orders in the business district, and even manage one company's incoming post. Not really as useful as helping to take down a brutal, tyrannical government, is it?
Ten years ago when I first returned to this city, I walked the streets and slowly came to realise that I was supposed to feel free. Kyam's regime had fallen, the prisons had been emptied, and there was no longer any reason to be afraid. I was supposed to feel free.
I still don't. And I'm still afraid. Kyam's gone, his cronies too, but his legacy remains, a permanent blight we can't ever scrub clean. Scarier than all that, though, is that I don't feel at home in this reality. I feel like I belong back there, in the time when all my friends were alive and we were still fighting.
Naturally I don't tell anyone this, 'cause they think I'm crazy enough as it is. But it's how I feel, and I can't see it changing.
Anyway, I've got to go - the lunch orders are almost ready.

13 comments:

  1. Oh this is a great idea! I've actually wondered about this many times when I've finished a book and hate to see it end because I don't want to say goodbye to the characters. I don't know about this character but now you have me curious to look her up.

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  2. Thanks for participating! I'm just glad anyone signed up; and it's so exciting visiting all the blogs taking part in MY blogfest! It hasn't put me off hosting another one. I hope poor Natasha finds some more meaning in her life.

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  3. That was fun! I sometimes think about what my characters are doing years later, but it's also dangerous because then I just want to keep writing about them!

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  4. I can feel her fear, funny how time doesn't change everything.

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  5. sometimes things change, sometimes they dont get better... telling tale, emotional, fearful. great job!

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  6. This is a great idea for a bloghop and I'm sorry I missed it. I enjoyed your entry, it's sad but very real. Some characters are so scarred that a normal life seems impossible for them. Strange, Cinderella just popped into my mind....

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  7. That was amazing and sad. I can imagine having trouble adjusting to life after helping over throw a corrupt government. Life must seem so mundane and leave you wishing for more meaning.

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  8. It sounds like your character needs a quest. Interesting perspective.
    Nancy

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  9. Cool! I wish we could just keep writing the same characters thruout their lives. LOL. I guess we could but we may get tired of them. I know some regency romances do that and it's fun!

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  10. Awesome. Sometimes I look back ten years and marvel at how much my perspective has changed. Ten years into the past or future of one of my characters? That's just mind-blowing at the moment.

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  11. What a fun (but intimidating!) idea for a blogfest! It'll be cool to see what people come up with. :)

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  12. Oh this was super cool. What a great idea for a blogfest.

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  13. Gidday Trisha,

    Neat stuff! I wish anybody who so desires to participate in this blogfest, much fulfilment. I shall join up on the one in ten years time. Somebody asked what I thought I'd be in ten years time. Upon thinking, I realised I'd be ten years older.

    In the meantime, I have to help overthrow a brutal, corrupt British government.

    Anyway, being a dude of irony, I shall take the liberty of sharing your hippety hoppety posting. Say hello to the kangaroos :)

    Gary

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Thanks for your words, me hearties! and don't forget to leave a link to your blog somewhere I can find it!