The Magic Thread!

[Graeme]

I've done a quick test (using another thread), and I've found that the "Quick Edit" option does NOT increase the number of views. Don't edit using the "Full Edit" option, because it does, but if you want to go back and fix some small errors, you can Of course, you still need to view the thread if you are not already in there, but you can edit previous posts (if they are on the same page) before adding your new post.

 

This is a community service announcement, brought to you by the Department of Useless Information (DUI).

[kojaky]

I'm reading several stories on GA. For the Love by CJames, Sky's the Limit by Captain Rick, Love in a Chair by Altimexis (although I'm a bit behind) and I love to re-read all of Vlista's stories.

[Graeme]

Should I add to the story, or just add to the thread...?

 

I can see AFriendlyFace is looking, so it's about time he added to the story.

[Bardeara]

Should I add to the story, or just add to the thread...?

 

I can see AFriendlyFace is looking, so it's about time he added to the story.

 

 

I think he's adding something which will be cool to read.

[AFriendlyFace]

I've done a quick test (using another thread), and I've found that the "Quick Edit" option does NOT increase the number of views. Don't edit using the "Full Edit" option, because it does, but if you want to go back and fix some small errors, you can Of course, you still need to view the thread if you are not already in there, but you can edit previous posts (if they are on the same page) before adding your new post.

 

This is a community service announcement, brought to you by the Department of Useless Information (DUI).

 

LOL, well in that case I "officially" change the rules to allow for the option of doing "Quick Edits" but continue the ban on "full edits"

 

Hmmm, so the story:

 

Justin was surprised to once again find himself face to face with the old man who'd first picked him up on his way into town. On the other hand, he realized that this was definitely not the most unusual turn of events that had happened to him since he'd arrived in town.

 

"What can I do for you?" asked the old man as he unbidden poured Justin a cup of tea.

 

"You can pass the sugar." Justin replied cheekily as he picked up his mug.

 

"There you go." Said Ben Leiberman good-naturedly. "Anything else?"

 

"Yes, you can tell me the truth about my family. Are you my father? Or is it Justin Leiberman? Or Trevor Leiberman? And just how are you related to them anyway? Father or older brother? And what was my mother doing in this town in the first place? And WHY is everyone chasing me with a meat cleaver? And..."

 

Ben Leiberman picked up the sugar server and slammed it down directly in front of Justin.

 

"For goodness' sake, boy!! I was only prepared for one of your requests and I suspect it's the one you're least concerned about. Now have some more sugar and give me a moment to think!"

[Ieshwar]

Right now, I'm reading 'For the Love' by CJ and 'Roommates' by Krista.

 

Thanks to DUI.

 

Ieshwar

[Graeme]

Damn you, Kevin! I need some more quick lateral thinking... how can this old man be Justin's father? He was supposedly born out of wedlock and had his uncle (the man in the town) listed as his father on the birth certificate...

 

Chapter 2

 

 

[Bondwriter]

Justin waited.

 

The old man gave a heavy sigh. "I suppose I should give you some of the family history first. Nothing will make sense, otherwise."

 

He peered across the rickety table at Justin. "For the record, you appear to be my great-grandson. I'm Ben Leiberman. Your grandfather, Kevin Leiberman, was a bit of wild one, and married an Indian squaw. She was supposed to be the only daughter of the tribal witchdoctor, but I never managed to get that confirmed. Both of them disappeared about thirty years ago, leaving me to raise their son, your father, by myself. They told me that they'd named him Ben after me, because they saw a reflection of my spirit in him."

 

He took a sip of his tea and pulled a face. "I don't know why I drink this stuff -- even if Ben tells me it's good for me."

 

"You were telling me about my father."

 

"Was I? Oh, yes." Ben Leiberman Sr frowned. "Maybe he should tell you the rest of the story himself. He should be back soon. He said that there was some sort of ritual he had to do out in the desert." Ben shook his head. "He's definitely the son of his father and mother. Full of mysticism and talk about fates and spirits."

 

"When will he be back?" Justin look out the window at the darkening sky.

 

Ben shrugged. "Who knows? He doesn't keep normal time, that one. A good kid, but not your normal sort."

 

"I remember when he was six and he painted Mrs Wilcox' barn purple. He did a good job at it, I'll tell ya, said it'd keep the ghosts away. And you wanna know the funniest part? Mrs Wilcox cattle never got sick again, her who'd have the vet over more often than she went to church; and she was quite the churchgoer."

 

Ben Leiberman #1 went on and on unraveling Justin's father's r

[Ieshwar]

"What have you told him?" the younger man said as they went in a corner.

 

"I invented something about superrnatural things and ghosts until he fell asleep," Ben Sr replied.

 

"What can we tell him? Mary shouldn't have sent him here. What was she thinking when she did that? She knew about the situation here. I think we should tell him everything and send him back as soon as possible. This would keep him safe."

 

"But he's so young! Will he be able..." the old man objected.

 

"Sssshhh," Ben Jr said, "He's waking up."

 

Justin opened his eyes on time to see the two man looking at him rather strangely.

 

Ieshwar

[James Albert]

I want to know what the strange thing going on around him is, but i'm not going to write it myself as i think someone else could come up with something a lot better than i could. There are a lot of Lierbermans in this story now, may i suggest that Ben Lierbermen #1 has a nickname that he offers to justin to use, just to avoid confusion.

 

I think the story's going great considering the way its been created, there could've been a lot worse mistakes than there has been.

[Graeme]

I'm not ready to write the next section, but I felt I needed to supply an explanation of the earlier occurrence with the apparent ghost town. My view is that Justin has been experiencing visions. What they mean remains to be seen.

 

I also introduced the idea that he is a blood descendant of an Indian witchdoctor to explain what has been happening to him.

 

What it all means and what has triggered it (or did it occur back 'home'?) we still don't know. We have the vision of the skeletons and the homicidal boy. We have the vision of the ghost and it's eerie prediction (or was it history?).

 

It has an odd consistency to it... but I'm not sure where it is going to go. We have a mystery here... and the authors don't know what the solution is, either!

 

Oh, and I'd suggest giving Justin's father the nickname -- Benji or maybe Psycho....

[Razor]

~sneaks in to see what's going on~

 

O.o

 

I would add, but I would feel compelled to do something stupid because I'm an idgit and then I'd ruin it for everyone. Instead, I will pop in, randomly comment from time to time, and annoy by breaking up the continuity.

 

And the view to post ratio is pretty good!!!

 

~sneaks back out~

[Bondwriter]

OK, the show so far:

Justin is looking for his dad.

He's experiencing some weird things, as seeing ghosts and being thrown into a parallel reality.

He now has been told of his family tree.

His father might have supernatural abilities.

And there's a secret surrounding Justin. It may be linked to his family, but it might have to do just with him.

One track that hasn't been explored yet is his mother's role in the whole business.

 

Don't be shy to add something. It has worked well so far with people not going into plot elements that would be too definitive.

Kay, I'll save my current readings for another sneaking in occasion.

[Ieshwar]

Okay, I have been the last one to add to the story so I'll wait for someone who to add. Meanwhile, can you decide the genre? I have not seen a little bit of romance. Seems to kind of mystery one.

 

Ieshwar

[Krista]

Lol.. I was going to add, but I'm way too far behind to do it right now, SO, maybe I'll be back when I'm all caught up.

 

 

Krista

[James Albert]

I'm sticking with my earlier objections to adding to the story right now, but i guessed i still ought to post so...hi.

[Bondwriter]

OK, out of curiosity I stepped in here. So right now I'm reading a Norwegian novel called The Half-Brother, by Lars Saabye Christensen. It is , of course, translated.

[Graeme]

Okay, I have been the last one to add to the story so I'll wait for someone who to add. Meanwhile, can you decide the genre? I have not seen a little bit of romance. Seems to kind of mystery one.

 

Ieshwar

There is certainly a mystery component, with maybe a touch of horror. Romance is still a possibility, but the start doesn't seem to indicate it.

 

And Bondwriter had better be up to date with chapter 2 in the Sneak Peaks forum, because the start of this chapter doesn't appear on the page anymore -- and going back to a previous page will mean another view....

 

Justin waited.

 

The old man gave a heavy sigh. "I suppose I should give you some of the family history first. Nothing will make sense, otherwise."

 

He peered across the rickety table at Justin. "For the record, you appear to be my great-grandson. I'm Ben Leiberman. Your grandfather, Kevin Leiberman, was a bit of wild one, and married an Indian squaw. She was supposed to be the only daughter of the tribal witchdoctor, but I never managed to get that confirmed. Both of them disappeared about thirty years ago, leaving me to raise their son, your father, by myself. They told me that they'd named him Ben after me, because they saw a reflection of my spirit in him."

 

He took a sip of his tea and pulled a face. "I don't know why I drink this stuff -- even if Ben tells me it's good for me."

 

"You were telling me about my father."

 

"Was I? Oh, yes." Ben Leiberman Sr frowned. "Maybe he should tell you the rest of the story himself. He should be back soon. He said that there was some sort of ritual he had to do out in the desert." Ben shook his head. "He's definitely the son of his father and mother. Full of mysticism and talk about fates and spirits."

 

"When will he be back?" Justin look out the window at the darkening sky.

 

Ben shrugged. "Who knows? He doesn't keep normal time, that one. A good kid, but not your normal sort."

 

"I remember when he was six and he painted Mrs Wilcox' barn purple. He did a good job at it, I'll tell ya, said it'd keep the ghosts away. And you wanna know the funniest part? Mrs Wilcox cattle never got sick again, her who'd have the vet over more often than she went to church; and she was quite the churchgoer."

 

Ben Leiberman #1 went on and on unraveling Justin's father's r

[Kurt]

Okay... I am totally lost, so I will just say hola.

[Graeme]

And I was expecting Kurt to have added to the story...

 

Hmm. We have a basic problem here. New authors are having trouble reading the story. We need to get what we've written up to date and posted elsewhere so they can read it before they join the thread.

 

I've got to get back to work, unfortunately....

[Ieshwar]

Ok, I came in so have to post. Hmm, but there's the 'Seeking the truth' thread in Sneak Posts. Right?

 

Ieshwar

[Graeme]

Yes, but it's not up to date, and someone will have to use a view of the previous page to get to see all of chapter two, as it stands....

 

Hmm... if they went straight to page 4, copied the chapter on that page into a blank document, and then posted a reply saying they were busy copying, it means that they won't have a view without a post. That will work!

[Bardeara]

"Seeking the Truth"

A Round Robin Story

 

 

Chapter 1

 

The auburn-haired young man stood at the station, watching a train depart. It had brought him part of the way towards his destination, but no further. The rest was up to him. After a heavy sigh, he flung the backpack over his shoulders and picked up the suitcase with the initials JTC. He had a long walk ahead of him, with an uncertain future at the end.

 

There had been a recent rain storm the birds just beginning to sing and stir again. His sneakers were sinking slightly in the mud as he continued his slow walk towards the small town. The world around him was cast in a sunless foggy haze in the early afternoon. It was cool out and no one was stirring around him reminding him just how lonely this trek could be.

 

The young man started to rehearse what he was going to say. "Hi, I'm Justin." He shook his head. "Mr. Leiberman? You don't know me, but my mother told me you're my father. My name is Justin." Justin pulled a face. That sound so fake that he thought he would be lucky not to have the door slammed in his face. "Mr. Leiberman. I believe you used to know my mother, Mary Coulson." Justin gave a wry smile. It wasn't good, but it was the best opening line he could think of.

 

It didn't really need to be quite so shocking, since he wanted to at least catch a small glimpse of the other half of himself before dropping any sort of a bomb like this. As far as Justin knew, Mr. Leiberman was simply an educated man who has spent the past eighteen years not knowing that one night of passion led to something as wonderful, or destructive, depending on how you looked at it, as Justin T. Coulson. Unfortunately, Justin knew so little about Ben Leiberman that he wondered if he was going to be the latter for the man who was about to be made conscious to the fact that he has been a father for half of his life.

 

Justin was still trying to work out if he was making a big mistake -- it had seemed like a great idea when he had headed to the train station -- when a rusty old pickup pulled up next to him.

 

"Need a lift, young fella?"

 

Justin stared at the weather-beaten face of the old man for a moment. "I'm only going as far as the town. It's not that far, but thanks for the offer."

 

"You've not been here before, have you." It was more a statement than a question.

 

"No, this is my first time."

 

"Just over that hill ahead there's a section of the road that's unmade. After the rain we've just had, It'll be a massive mud pool. You won't be able to walk through it." The old man cocked his head. "Get in and I'll take you to the other side. If you really want to keep walking, I'll drop you off once we're past the mud."

 

Justin thought about it and decided he didn't have anything to lose. "Okay, thanks."

 

Justin flipped the backpack off his shoulders and heaved it over the side and into the back of the pickup truck. He then opened the passenger door and hopped in while closing the door in one swift motion as not to slam the door. Justin thought the old man was going to start driving, but instead he just starred at him and waited almost like he was waiting for something first.

 

"Excuse me," Justin said as the man came out of his trance.

 

"Sorry, I was lost a bit. It's your eyes. They remind me of someone, someone very special. Ok, tell me about you, lad. You don't seem to be like the one to roam uselessly. What brought you here?" the man said as he turned the engine on.

 

Justin gripped the suitcase tighter while rubbing his thumb over the initials. Although he had placed the backpack in the back of the truck, he knew deep down he couldn

[Graeme]

"Don't tell me you haven't seen things since you've been here. I can tell -- you've had visions, haven't you." Kill stared into his son's eyes. "Bad ones, too, from the looks of it."

 

Justin was stunned. He didn't know how this man, who he had only just met, could know about the weird things he had experienced. "Visions?"

 

"Yeah, visions. I don't know what you've seen, though I hope you'll tell me. It could be important. However, I can guess -- something to do with death or murder?"

 

Justin gulped and nodded.

 

"Are you going to tell us about them?" Kill's gaze was almost hypnotic.

 

Justin felt himself about to speak when he shook his head and looked away. "This is too much to take in. I think I need to lie down and sleep on it."

 

"Son..." Kill stopped when Ben Sr put an hand on his arm.

 

"Let him be, Kill. He's got a lot to take in."

 

"Okay, Ben, but he can't sleep here. It's too dangerous."

 

"Go get Robbie. Justin can stay with him tonight."

 

Kill's lips twitched into a smile. "Are you sure they'll get any sleep?"

 

Ben clipped him over the back on the head. "Enough of your cheek. This boy needs rest, and you're wasting time."

[rknapp]

I'm not good with horror's, so I'm gonna stay on the sidelines for now. Honestly, I would try now to explain some sort of apparition that is haunting the small town. There would be a deep story exlaining how it came to be, how it affects only certain individuals... ones who it dislikes for whatever reason and ones who can communicate with here, meaning we could bring up something about the blood descendant of a witch doctor. But since I've spent the past ten minutes catching up, I'll post to keep the ratio going.

 

BTW, I see that we've moved the story over to sneak peak but, is chapter two even finished? From Bardeara's consolidation there I don't see an end to two and a start to three. It feels like three should have started already... maybe when Justin woke up in the presence of his father and great grandfather?

 

Quick Edit: Good thing I didn't add... who's Robbie? Is it wrong to feel unsettled now that my forum name has appeared in the story LOL. Still not adding though. I'm gonna go and read some more of CPL's The Lion's Pride. Yeah, still not done with it haha.

Edited June 8, 2007 by rknapp