Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1027: The Barrel

Posted on November 11, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

Well, it’s time to squeeze out another of those things where I ramble at length about something.

Maybe I’ll go on about fish this time around, but I have a desire to write about chicken again, but perhaps that should be saved for another time. I need to organise my topics in a way that makes sense and makes accessing them an easy endeavour. Probably won’t happen today though as I need to ramble on about things and that rambling comes at a price, or so they say.

Now, I don’t know who it is that says that, but I’m going to choose that I believe them as I need to choose to believe that, or something. Sure, there are other things that I need to choose down the track and this has no bearing on anything, but you have to bear with me as I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel. It took a while to get there, but I certainly have gotten there and now that I’m finally there, something something and so on and so forth.

I think that doing the novel thing again was a bad idea, but I’ve come this far and so it probably is better that I stick it out and get to the end, lest I don’t and then end up with a bit of a mess on my hands.

So anyway, the barrel tried to abscond earlier and there was a bit of a chase. As you can imagine, I was not feeling up to this as I’m rather lazy at the best of times, but I had to rise to the occasion and so rise I did. I got up and I started chasing the thing. It was a bit of a run.

The barrel was more athletic and agile than I was so I had to try and rely on cunning and wit to get to the part where I would catch it. I also needed to make sure that I could pin it down and stop it from running about as that would mean that I would have it pinned down and it would not be able to escape my grasp.

It was running and gaining a lot of distance ahead of me, but the barrel did not account for slight sudden inclines and hills. It fell and rolled a little bit uphill, but then it rolled downhill and into my ironclad embrace. From there I was able to leave with barrel in arms and it had no choice but to keep on letting me dig.

Unfortunately during this whole experience it lost a bit of what was in it and I knew not where that stuff went, so I had to start scraping. This of course was not and is not a good thing and now I need to try and find another way to get to where I need to get, but I’ve so many other things that I should be doing, but I am procrastinating.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:41:67

I have no idea where that idea came from, but it came out and it kind of worked.

Written at home.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1026: Long Morning

Posted on November 11, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

It was a long morning, though it seemed to not be the case. It was a long morning that was moving at an accelerated pace, which normally implies that some sort of thing was getting done and was getting done whilst finding oneself within the zone, but that was not quite the case, for it was lived in and it was experienced at a slow rate of time, but it was the hindsight that made it seem like it went by quickly.

They were there, at their desk drinking their coffee, staring at a screen and looking for some sort of inspiration, but it was just not there. It was not to be found, though they should have known that that was going to be the case. It was not as though they hadn’t done this song and dance many times before, and realistically it was not as though they were going to stop any time soon. Still, they never knew as to what would happen and perhaps their fortunes would change so long as they kept going through this same routine. It was possible, though not probable at this stage and they didn’t get their hopes up about the whole thing, but sometimes it was more frustrating than usual.

It almost seemed as though they were bound and compelled to go through this continual pattern of whatever it was that they were going through. There was no strong reason to keep doing it, but there was also no real reason to stop, other than they could probably source inspiration elsewhere. However, to them there was only one option to go ahead and that option was the continual process of looking at a screen and hoping that somehow the inspiration would just come to them.

There always was the option of just writing about the attempts to try and write. That could be spun into something. They could even write about the blankness of the screen and examine the process of the screen losing its blankness as more characters filled it with each passing stroke of a key. There was the possibility of writing about the space around the screen and how it all functioned in a way where everything was laid out so that what was necessary to reach remained easy to reach. However, they felt that that would be throwing in the towel. That would be giving up in a manner that they could just not accept. Thus they kept on staring.

The morning kept on stretching out, seeming to never end, and yet it was almost done. The coffee, not finished, went cold. It was a terrible waste. However, its being cold was the signal to stop. That was the time where they knew to get up and walk away and start working on other things. The routine needed an end and so long as that end was signaled, it could begin again on another morning, and then another, continuing on with no discernible end in sight.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 07:48:16

This kind of felt easy to write.
Got stuck near the end writing the last few words.

Written at home.

 

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One Thousand Word Challenge 153: Rambling About Procrastination

Posted on November 10, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

You know, sometimes I really need to be careful with the whole being lazy thing. One moment I’m just there, relaxing, putting off doing things and the next it is evening, I’m tired and struggling to get things done.

I was hoping to avoid this, but it seems as though I’ve fallen back into my old traps, though they were always there, now that I think about it.

It’s a terrible thing as it’s a good way to lose a lot of time for little reason, but sometimes it happens. That said, it happens a lot and I need to shake it off and out of my system. I’ve other things that I need to get done and it’s eating away at my time. It is eroding the time that I have and I want to make the most of it.

At the same time there are times where rest is necessary. It can be hard to go and push on forward if you’re running on empty all the time. However, I’d like to believe that sometimes procrastination is not rest. It’s just procrastination. Sometimes it can be a sign that rest is needed, but most of the time it is not a sign of that. Maybe. To be honest, I don’t really know. I do know, however, that I’m doing too much of it. If you read all of this (and a lot of the other things that I write), it becomes obvious that I’m heavily invested in procrastinating and that, to me, means that I need to get out of it as it’s just causing more issues than it is solving.

There are many ways that I can follow in order to get out of procrastinating, but ultimately what it is going to come down to is working on doing things and trying to focus on the doing of those things so as to stop procrastinating, or something. Hard work and all that. Not always the best way to go about it and can have some bad effects, but it is a way and it is something that I should do more of rather than less.

I sit here and I write about this and there are so many other things that I could be doing. I could be writing about other things. I could be processing photos. However, instead of doing any of that, I write about procrastinating and in doing so I am procrastinating as I am not doing what I need to do. Still, I am doing something that I want to do and in a way that is a form of being productive, so I should perhaps consider this some sort of neutral thing rather than more loss.

Still, perhaps I should think about this more and keep on going for a bit and see what comes out of what it is that I am writing at the present moment. Then again, perhaps I shouldn’t.

I do think that, at this stage, rest is very much needed. I should be going to sleep soon as I need to feel awake for tomorrow. Tomorrow is a large day and there will be many things that I need to take care of. It is the way things go and I am certainly going through them, or something. It would be less busy had I not procrastinated, but that is something that I now have to deal with and maybe I will learn a lesson from all of this. Whatever that lesson would be, I’ve no idea. I know that there is one, however and I’m sure that it will come to me eventually.

Then again, maybe it will not. Maybe I will not learn the lesson and keep on making the same mistakes over and over again. That is a possibility, and one that should not be ignored. Then again, there is also the possibility that I will learn the lesson and keep on making the same mistakes anyway. Bad habits can be difficult to shake. Still, I should try and shake them off. Be a better, more productive person. Get things done and out of the way. And so on and so forth.

You get the idea.

Someone has to, and it sure isn’t going to be me right now. I’ve other things to get and understand and there are only so many hours in the day to do all that kind of stuff. Therefore, I won’t learn any lessons today or tomorrow. Maybe at another juncture in time. Right now I’ll just go ahead blindly into whatever it is that I am rushing into and I will see what happens. There will be no thinking about anything and there will be no decisions made other than ones on a whim. There probably is a way to tell as to what will happen, but I’m not going to consider that; I just want to charge in blindly and not expect a thing other than the continuation of my own actions.

So anyway, as I was saying, procrastination can be a bad thing. Probably always is a bad thing, but maybe it is also a sign of things. Maybe some things need to change, but time is precious and the most needs to be made of it. If not, then the most is not made of it and that gets you nowhere, so therefore something something, but who am I to say how people should and should not use their time? What is productive for me might not be for others and therefore there are a lot of things to consider there. There is much rumination ahead, but I am one person, but at the moment I have a bit of spare time, so maybe I can think about this now.

It probably would be better to do so rather than later, but I’ll worry about that later as there are things that I need to do beforehand, such as a rather large amount of procrastination.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 12:04:15

Finally, I’ve written another self-demonstrating post.

Written at home.

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One Thousand Word Challenge 152: It’s More Rambling

Posted on November 10, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

And so it is that I am currently awake, as are others. I sit here and talk about it, but really I’m not talking about anything. These are a series of words that are linked t o form sentences and whilst they have the appearance of meaning, it turns out that they are meaningless.

Now you see, these are just letters and words and symbols and all of those other things. These have no value beyond what it i0s that is assigned to them, and I have no idea as to where I am going with this so I think I’ll stop.

That was a search for inspiration, but there was none to be found and rather than keep on dragging the thing along, I think I’d rather not. There are other, more productive things that I could do with my time and dragging things out to an unnecessary degree is not high on the list of priorities, if I am to be honest. What is high on the list is linking words together to form sentences that have no real substance. That is a real challenge, I think, but then again it might depend on perspective and therefore I probably shouldn’t go too deep into that.

Instead I should just wade around in the shallow pool. No going into the ocean today. The ocean is cold… though maybe it is actually warm. I’ve no idea at the moment. Haven’t been in a few months. Certainly would like to return, however. There certainly is a sense of the romantic when it comes to the ocean and perhaps that is why, but really I just want to swim. I want to be able to take advantage of the fact that I can choose to go for a swim and go for a swim. However, need to wait for the rain to be gone for more than just a few days, lest I risk swimming in sewage. Not complete sewage, but more small matter that may be difficult to discern.

Anyway, it has started raining and I hoped it wouldn’t as I’ve watered the plants and now have wasted water. Realistically I should’ve checked the weather report before doing any watering, but I didn’t, but I won’t accept responsibility for this lack of being on the proverbial ball. I don’t want to and I refuse to and no one can make me. However, what I can be made to do is work and working is something that must be done on a day like today.

It rains and birds still make their birdsong, and it seems more like a lovely day than it doesn’t, and perhaps that is a good thing. Of course I cannot tell entirely due to my window’s view being obscured by a house, but it seems like it will be a nice one and that is always a good thing.

Anyway, it is raining and the rain is continuing. One might say that it is relentless, but it is not loud or violent. Well okay, it is a little loud, but that is not the worst thing i0n the world. There are other things that are far, far worse to have to deal with. This is okay. This is fine. I can deal with this. Sure, it makes it feel like I’m trapped in the house, but right now that’s kind of okay. It’s fine in here. There are worse things that I could be dealing with.

I listen to the rain and hear how it creates a blanket of percussion. It’s almost warm. Not quite, but almost. It is a sound that is as thick as it is thin and it does not echo so much as it does spread evenly. It is everywhere, much like the rain, which makes sense as the sound of the rain hitting things is going to be wherever rain is so long as the source of the sound is the rain and not a recording of the rain, or something that can approximate the sound of rain hitting things, but I digress.

The outside has a dull light, though the sky appears to be a bright grey. Perhaps it could be duller than it already is, but that doesn’t really matter given the general scheme of things, or something.

What does matter is that this is being written and I’ve nothing to say, but perhaps in that having nothing to say I am saying everything there is to say. I’m yet to decide on which makes me sound better, but I’m sure I’ll work it out at some point in the near future. Would rather the near future than the far future, so hopefully it will be the near future. If it is the far future, then there are so many things that could happen in the interim and I don’t know if I want to sit through all of that before working out which of those makes me sound better.

Perhaps neither of them make me sound better.

Anyway, I think I’ve spent enough time considering this and that, and I think there still remains a bit of day left and so I should get on with things and make sure that things are done so that I can do other things. Perhaps there will be none of the things that I am saying that happen, but still need to do the things and get them done and so on and so forth and I don’t know where I’m going with this.

With all of that being said, it is time to write the concluding sentences, but I’ve no idea as to how I will write them. Maybe if I had a pen I’d be guided better through all of this, but I don’t.

Wait; I do.

Maybe if I had a seriously large amount of pens, then I’d be better guided through all of this, but I don’t, so therefore I’ll just have to stumble my way through this.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 11:02:87

Really not sure as to what I was trying to get across with this, but I do know that it gets across something.

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Two Thousand Words in Twenty Minutes

Posted on November 9, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

Alright, so I’m engaging in what I feel is going to be an interesting endeavour. I’m not sure as to how this is going to work out and I feel as though I’m trying to knock out an essay that is far too long and far too unnecessary. I also feel like I’m trying to knock it out in far too little time, but we’re going to see how this will go.

To be honest, I’m not sure as to why I decided that this would be worth trying. I’m not sure as to why I let the idea come to fruition as it is right now. I’m not sure as to where any of this will go as I haven;t done any pre-planning. I had an idea of some things to include earlier, but I’ve forgotten as to what those were and so I really feel like I’m doing this with little to nothing that helps. Still, this is something I’m going to try and I already am trying it right now, as you can see.

This probably will have a lot to do with the idea of doing the thing rather than actually doing the thing, even though writing about the idea of doing the thing is still doing the thing, but I think I got what I wanted to say there across.

So anyway, here we are. Here I am. You’re all over there and not here and I’m already trying to work out what it is that I should be saying as I have no idea. I have no idea as to what will and will not work and I have no idea as to why I am still going. This seems like a foolish thing and I am tired and I want to relax and whinge and all of those other things. I think I don’t want to do anything and perhaps that means I should’ve started this much earlier than I am doing so now. It is late in the afternoon. Some might say it is evening and thus it is a bit late to be starting this.

Well, it might not be for some, but today has been a day full of things and in that day being full of things I’ve gotten things done. Or something.

There was a drive home that was longer than I had anticipated due to traffic. I thought it’d be faster but I was driving during the hours school finishes and so there were many other drivers out there. Had I taken a different route home, I would’ve ended up home sooner rather than later and perhaps feeling a little less tired, but you make mistakes and you learn from them. However, if I do indeed learn from this mistake, then it will be a while before I apply what I’ve learned to anything as I don’t want to do that. I want to get on with things and in getting on with things that may involve making the same mistake again. Maybe it will be made multiple times; it is too early to tell for now. That is a thing for the future and the future is far and away from here right now.

Right now here is here and here is the present. The future runs away and the past cannot keep up. I sit here in the present and I go on about things and in that going on about things I make worlds and create scenarios and they are usually of the dull variety. Still, it’s a thing that I do and in doing it I further myself and extend my reach. Some might say I am overreaching, but that is something to tackle at a later date. Besides which, I believe my reach is not over, but it certainly is stretched thin and that too is something to bear in mind, for it does not stretch thick.

Other things to bear in mind are the fact that this is still going and it should be very clear that I am struggling. Still, that struggle is one I’ve created for myself. I must face up to what I’ve done here and do my best to tackle the challenge of which is something I’ve set myself. Sure, I could’ve done more earlier, but there was time needed for the purposes of resting. Resting was important and it still remains important, for you need to rest so you can tackle things with as much necessity as necessary. If you don’t, then you don’t bring your all and then you end up being tired and all of those other things that you don’t want to be. Therefore it is a good thing that I am doing this, or something.

Well, it probably isn’t, but there are other things I could be doing and perhaps I should be doing them for they need to be done before I go to sleep. Still, I am going to do my best to finish this first. I want to get this finished and then when I have this finished I will tackle the other things.

Now, I feel as though I should start getting some sort of topic going. This is all introductory stuff that explains little and is merely bolstering to the ego, though maybe when I read over this in the future it will be humbling. It will be humbling, or at least I hope that it will be humbling due to me having improved as a writer… I hope.

Anyway, I’ll read over this and see where all the errors were and how I made this bloated and not lean, and I’ll think about what it is and what it is not and how I could’ve done things better had I the knowledge that I would then when I wrote this, and then maybe I’ll laugh a little and remember that the road of improvement is a steep one at times, but still one worth following as improvement helps become better and all that kind of other stuff that I need to say that makes me sound intelligent.

I think that I’ve now hit my limit, but I still have so much to go and I don’t know as to where to go from here. I need to make sure that I stay ahead of the timer, of course, but in saying that I also need to make sure that I don’t hurt myself by typing awkwardly. I need to make sure that I do things in all the right way and that I get to the end in one piece.

This feels like it already has gone on too long.

So anyway, I need to get to the end and I need to dig wholes and I want to read a book and I’ve nothing else to say at this point, but I still persist in the writing as there remains so much to write still. There remains a lot to cover and in that covering there remains a lot to be said. However, there is nothing to say and it is dark outside and I am resting, or soon I will be resting as I am not really resting right now. However, I am banging away on a keyboard and in that banging away on a keyboard I am getting this challenge done and in getting this challenge done I am doing the writing which is something that I do enjoy doing.

For whoever ends up reading all of this, I am sorry.

So anyway, I think I’ve said all that I want to say and now it is time to write the lengthy and arduous conclusion. You see, this was no easy task and it was one that I thought I was up to. I thought that I could get all of these words written and in thinking that I became confident. That was my downfall and now I can no longer see the path forward as the path forward has been obscured by my hubris and so I need to remove all of my hubris. This could take some time. It might take months. It might take weeks. There is the possibility that it could take years. However, what it won’t take is my determination. It won’t take my drive. It won’t take my hopes and dreams. Still, it is something that I do fear, but fear can be a motivator, and in this instance it is not an inhibitor.

Well, maybe it is. Maybe fear is an inhibitor in this case. However, that is no reason as to why I should not push forward and work toward removing the hubris. The path will be seen once more.

To those who made it this far, once again I am sorry. Still, you’ve made it to here now and there is little left, so perhaps this is worth sticking out. Perhaps this is worth trying to get to the end and then in getting to the end there will be something else that is discovered. Who knows really?

Well, there probably won’t be and so in saying that I will continue my speech.

So let it be known that it was here where the first part of the last stand was made and I marched forward into the unknown and all of those other things. Perhaps there was something on the other side and truthfully the hubris was there to protect. However, it takes away more than it provides and so that is why it must be removed. We cannot go on blindly into something we don’t know if we have the ability to improve things for us and those around us. We have the ability to get to the point of things and make sure that it all does the things at the end, or something.

And so on and so forth.

Yeah; I think I’ve stretched this out as much as I can. I don’t think I can keep on doing this, but I tried. I almost made it and so now that I am here, doing these words and lying down in a metaphorical, imaginary manner, I think I’ve met my limit. It was a good run but it was a failed run. Still, I gave it a go and in giving it a go I learned something new. Not always that you do learn something new. Sometimes you learn something old.

Maybe that is what they call reinforcement.

Anyway, with all of this bloat written out it is time to wrap this bit of writing up. I’m glad I tried and I’m glad I learned. Not so glad that I didn’t finish this off, but it was a valiant attempt, though ultimately a failed attempt. I’m not sure as to how I’ll ever be able to live with myself, but considering that I keep on going and I’ll keep on going after this, I’m sure that I will manage.

Well, I’d like to believe that I will manage, but there is no telling as of yet as to whether I will manage or not, but that is something to worry about at another juncture in time. Right now there are other things to worry about and none of those worries will be worried about as I’m going to go to bed. I need to rest so that I can function tomorrow and therefore I will do that instead of spending my time worrying. Besides which, rest and all of those other things and so on and so forth.

Well, you get the idea, or at least I hope you get the idea, but if not, here’s the idea. Well, it was here, but it seems to have absconded and so I will try and find it a little later and then pass it on later rather than now. Right now it’s just rest time.

Maybe I’ll try to write another large amount of words in twenty minutes some other time.

19:57:01

I want to clarify that this isn’t the start of a new challenge. I just wanted to see if I could do this and I succeeded, but this writing leaves a lot to be desired.

Written at home.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1025: Love of Writing

Posted on November 8, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

I’ve one more in me, I think. One more to get me over a metaphorical finish line and in that crossing of the line I’m realising that I’m really stretching myself thin. My legs are still at the start, but at least my arms are nearing the finish. I don’t know if I will be able to make it, but I am trying and I am hoping.

You see, I’m still tired and doing all of this writing in one batch isn’t helping me out in the slightest. Still, I do it and I keep on pushing on for some reason. Rest is far more important, but writing is enjoyable. It doesn’t matter as to how bad the writing is; it remains enjoyable. Even when it is frustrating it remains as such.

Therefore, I continue. Despite my need to rest, I keep on banging on the keyboard and hope the words come out in a fashion that expresses expressing. Sure, I should rest, but I am here and I am doing this and I am having some sort of fun.

There is an art to writing and it’s not something that I often express as my writing is often messy, awkward and rough. It lacks polish. It lacks a certain something that helps it shine. Still, I persist. I keep on doing the thing that I keep on doing out of an enjoyment of writing.

Well, maybe there are times where I don’t enjoy writing, though maybe it would be more accurate to say that I don’t enjoy trying to translate thoughts into text. That probably would be more accurate to say and that would be due to it actually being more accurate to say. But anyway…

So I don’t know as to where I am going with this. I think I’ve said all that there is to be said on the topic, but I will continue to write this thing for a little bit longer as I want to. I want to write and finish it and then when it is finished, I will do some more writing, but that writing will come at a later date.

Well, there might be a bit more shortly after this, but I’ll worry about that later. Right now I need to do some posturing or something and then once I’ve done that I think I make some sort of statement, then leave as I celebrate another victory, but I don’t know as to what victory it is that I need to be celebrating.

I think it is the one where I celebrate the love of writing and admitting that is some sort of victory, but I certainly have stated it before… I think… and therefore it’s a bit more of a reaffirmation.

Anyway, in conclusion, writing is awesome. Writing allows for things to happen and in those things happening more things happen. Therefore, there should be more writing and not less, unless less is required, in which case there should be less.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:30:31

The easiest thing for me to write today, I feel.

Kind of a bad ramble, but that’s what should be expected here anyway.

Written at home.

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Five-Hundred Word Challenge 1024: Creatures of the Night

Posted on November 8, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

The sun set on an open land and once it had set the open land was for the taking.

The creatures of the night, once at rest, came out and decided to play. Those of the day needed to make sure they were finished and back home before the creatures of the night came out, for whilst they ruled the day, those of the day only ruled the day. They did not rule any other period of time and so they needed to be home so as to allow the creatures of the night to take over and do what they were going to do, if they were goin to do anything at all.

Slowly, yet surely some of them awoke as the dark stretched over the land. Their eyes did not glow, but their presence became apparent and so they stretched and arose and began their actions.

Slowly, more and more of the creatures arose and as they arose more and more of them seemed to become energised. They gained more vigour and more motion. They seemed to become alive with a sense of festivity, though it was a festivity filled with silence, for even though the creatures were active, they were quiet.

They moved with a soundlessness that seemed unreal. It was clear that they were there, but there was no sound coming from them as they did whatever it was that they were doing. It was almost a haunting experience.

The greater the length of dark and the more absorbing said dark became, the more active the creatures became. The more creatures of the night that arose, the more active they became. They moved with a grace and a beauty and flowed around with ease, seemingly never settling in any one location and continuing on with whatever it was that they were doing.

Those of the day were nowhere to be seen and so there was no restriction in movement. There was no harm and there was no retaliation as the creatures of the night moved in mysterious ways.

It was not to last, however, and much like the sun sets the sun also rises. Much like those of the day were to be home and hidden before night fell, the creatures of the night were to be asleep and inert before sunlight bathed the land.

The creatures slowly returned to where they had originally slept. In that return they found themselves falling into a deep slumber once more. It seemed almost as though they were deactivating and completely leaving their bodies, though it was difficult to tell for they were not approached when they slept.

And so the cycle continued and those of the day followed the routine that they followed, though if there was one it was difficult to tell. There was great difficulty discerning if there was any specific meaning to these processes in place, but perhaps one day all would be revealed. Until then, however, the cycle would continue without any outside understanding.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 08:43:17

This was also a struggle to write. A bit more stretching, but I managed to stretch it out.

I think I was trying to convey a sense of mystery. In some ways that came through, but I think that overall I would’ve done a better job had I tried to include more detail.

Written at home.

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One Thousand Word Challenge 151: Across the Finish Line

Posted on November 8, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

Across the finish line they went and victory was theirs, and perhaps it was one that was relieving. Crowds cheered and people came running up to the victor, looking to grab them the moment they stepped out of their vehicle to rise them above their shoulders and carry them to wherever the victory was to be celebrated. Those who were looking to try and stop the crowd from running onto the track were unable to stop the deluge and so it was that, before the victor had time to process what had happened, they were swept away.

Upon a podium they were placed and handed the trophies they were, and their competitor was nowhere to be seen. The competitor hadn’t encountered any fatal accidents of any sort. Nor had they showed any real sign of struggle. However, they were nowhere to be seen. There were no traces of their vehicle and there was nothing to suggest that they were ever there. However, it also seemed unlikely that they were forced off the track.

The celebrating went on for a while and whilst the victor was there, they were trying to not be present. They were trying to work out as to what happened and why. They felt their victory was not earned. The challenge had dissipated and they wanted to get away from all of the celebrating. sure, it was a major victory, but it was hollow. They wanted time to think but, try as they might, they were forcibly pulled away from their thoughts by those around them and their desire to celebrate a momentous occasion as it were.

It didn’t feel momentous for them, but it certainly did for others.

The partying went on and people kept on celebrating, though eventually there was need for all to go their separate ways and go their separate ways they did. The victor needed to sleep and they needed rest. They thankfully had the following few days away from needing to do anything and so rest was an opportunity provided to them. However, as they tried to sleep, all their thoughts turned toward the event. They turned toward the race and how they were denied an honest, true and just victory.

They felt like no victor. They felt as though they were handed what they wanted without any resistance. They didn’t feel like the won, and the person who gave them the win was not around. The victor didn’t’ need to take the win, but they felt obligated to do so, somehow. They felt that maybe things would turn around, even though without saying a thing, it was assured that there was going to be no change. The other racer actively stepped out of the race and they were going to remain out of it.

The following day came, soft, quiet, though perhaps a little busy with all the noise that comes with said business at the same time. It was, at the end of it all, just another day.

Above it all in a hotel room overlooking the city the victor was there, finally asleep and yet restless. They could get up when they wanted, but it was almost as though they were compelled to rise earlier than desired, and rise they did.

They sat in the bed for a while, trying to work things out and reconcile what they felt was not really a victory with all of the celebrating. They wanted to know why the other racer gave up, but they felt that perhaps there was a chance that they could put it out of their head somehow. Perhaps they could reconcile what had happened with the celebrating and see some sort of net positive to the whole thing. And they could, but still, they needed to go for a walk, see if they could clear their head and think more about what happened.

They got ready and then headed off. They left the hotel and walked in a direction for a while. It was busy; there were plenty of people around, and yet the path forward seemed clear. They kept on walking, only turning if necessary, though this offered no reprieve. Eventually they turned around and headed on back to the hotel.

A few days passed and, whilst active, The Victor remained thinking about what happened. They were perturbed that there were no answers they could think of and they felt slighted by their easy victory. They wanted to know what had happened and why. They wanted to know why the other racer stopped. They thought they knew, or at least had an understanding, but they did not. They wanted to work out as to why they still went ahead to win a race they no longer had a stake in winning, for without the challenge there was no victory for them.

They thought long and hard about what they were going to do, and if there was any way they could rectify this issue, but nothing came to mind. It was almost as though they were lost, though really they weren’t. Anyway, sans the challenging race, they got what they wanted. They won and they were lauded and celebrated for it, but perhaps they didn’t care about that at all.

They didn’t know if they did or did not care about it. They just knew that the thoughts remained invasive and consuming, and they felt powerless to them. The longer this went on, the greater their sense of dissatisfaction seemed like it took hold.

On one fine day of being in the hotel, nearing the end of their stay, they decided that it was time to take action. They felt they could no longer bear the thoughts without trying to seek out an answer of sorts and so they gathered what they felt were necessary belongings.

They wrote out a letter and left it on a bedside table. Then, feeling content with everything ready for themselves, they left the room, headed downstairs and left the hotel.

The time it took to write one thousand words: 18:33:77

This was a struggle to write. It seemed to take a really long time and I felt I had to stretch things out.

Written at home.

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Structural Mess

Posted on November 7, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

This was taken yesterday.
I went to a place I’d been before with the intent of taking photos in better weather than the last time I was there, though the weather was alright the last time, but anyway…

I like the variability in what’s left of the mined rock here. Kind of looks really messy, jagged and uneven. I think that’s aided a bit by how the sunlight is falling on the rocks and creating a strong contrast between the shaded and illuminated surfaces.

I think that there’s also an aged feeling to the rocks. I imagine that part of that was brought on by this being part of a once-active quarry and gradual weathering over time.

I hope you enjoy.

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A Racing Story

Posted on November 7, 2021 by Stupidity Hole

I’m once more engaging in NaNoWriMo.

This was one of the things I’ve written for the event thus far and it was written under time constraints. Early on there was a shift in what I was writing. I had an idea and tried to pursue it a bit. Unfortunately I ended up with a bit of a mess. Still, I’ve decided to share it as I’m probably going to go back and rewrite this sooner rather than later and want this here for comparison’s sake.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

—

And so they were off.

There was a need to get around a bend and then there would be a lengthy, straight part, but the race was on and it was varied and it was many other things. For instance, there was a need to express expression in an expressive way through this race and it was one that had a lot riding on it. There was the possibility that it would represent hope. There was also the possibility that it would represent failure. Maybe there would be success, but it was already known that there would be someone who would not come out on top.

It was even possible that no one would come out on top, but that was the nature of this race, in which there was danger present and few were free to express in the manner of which they felt was important to express. Then again, expression had little to do with the race itself; it was more about getting from the start to the finish and getting there however it could be done, so long as it could be done honourable; something of which few people ever did. However, for some reason, on this particularly momentous occasion, the two racers behaved in what one would describe as an honourable fashion.

And so the race had begun and it had commenced and it was in the progress of progressing, and in that progression they did move with a speed that could best be described as at an accelerated pace. There was no going slow and there was no behaving slowly; there was only movement in the forward direction and there was only the embracing of that movement. Sometimes there were turns but of course there were going to be turns. There were always going to be turns.

Occasionally there were twists too, but those twists were seldom.

One of them began to wonder as to why they were racing and thought that perhaps there were better uses of their time. After all, they didn’t actually have any stakes in this and were merely doing it due to the pressure to do the race. They felt there were better things that they could be doing with their time. Maybe they were wrong, but they likely were correct in this line of thinking, and so slowly, yet surely they began to slow on down and in that slowing down they found themselves relaxing a little more.

Suddenly there was less stress. There was less buzzing around them and they didn’t feel the need to keep on participating. Their opponent noticed this and they too decided to slow down to see what was going on. They then came to a stop and in that coming to a stop they found that they too were feeling a little less stressed. However, they were determined to have an honest win and they wanted to have a challenge. They didn’t want to win due to someone else’s decision to stop; they wanted to win due to their having a challenge and getting past that challenge. They wanted to be tested and they wanted to be left satisfied with the victory.

They walked over to where the other person was and they looked at them. One might suggest that they looked at each other. There was staring and in that staring there was an understanding. There was going to be no conclusion to the race today, for the race had already been fought and won and lost.

In this particular instance no one was going to win. It was a done deal. Sure, one would cross the finish line, but they would be denied the win that they wanted, for the other was done with the racing. They didn’t care as to what would happen to them at this stage. They wanted out. They didn’t want to have to wear the pressure of success anymore. They wanted to do what they wanted to do and they were done with doing anything else.

Both understood this and so the one who wanted challenge decided to head on back to their vehicle and drive on to the finish line. It was a hollow victory, and one that would eat away at them, for their opponent had disappeared.

After a lengthy stretch of time they decided that it would be time to find their opponent. They desired answers and so answers were going to be what they were going to try and get.

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