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    Em Dash
    Em Dash
    Em Dash
    Ebook118 pages1 hour

    Em Dash

    By Carl Matthew Rodriguez

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Em Dash is a collection of short stories that aims to explore the element of dialogue in fiction as the primary vehicle for character development with particular attention to how characters express dissent and navigate conflict. While the manuscript is not affixed to any single genre of fiction, the variety has served as emphasis to the unbound utility of this type of dialogue in any kind of short story through differing scenarios and character dynamics that ultimately lead to disagreements and discussions that drive each story forward. From human beings and divine entities to comedy and tragedy, each story inevitably pits characters against each other in dialogue that exposes oppositions in each person's beliefs, and often, it's the language of the characters that highlights how they've changed through these verbal conflicts. Thematic variances between each story have allowed tense dialogue and argument between characters to be both the common denominator and primary source of tension in all of the stories presented.

    "And It Was Good" is basically a parody of the Biblical creation story, titled after the iconic verse in which God judges that His work was good. The story is reimagined akin to a workshop, but in the case of God, the workshop can only go well since He's God. All the angels of the heavens have nothing but Biblically accurate praises for their Lord until He finally presents the Imago Dei. Suddenly, one of God's closest, most beloved angels named Lucifel dares to raise criticism, and almost literally, all hell breaks loose. God, the Creator of all, is forced to consider the possibility that He might have made a mistake.

    "They Will Know Us" explores the mentor-pupil relationship between Sophia and her mentor Levi. In the capital city of a nation under political turmoil, the two of them are the first of a new evolution of human beings who have special, mental abilities that set their kind apart yet also alienate them from the rest of society, but Sophia is still quite new to what she can do as one them. Along with a few others, they remained in hiding to avoid the dangers of the public eye and law enforcement, but tensions arise between Levi and Thea, the two with the strongest abilities in their group, on what their course of action should be in the long term. Soon, more of their kind appear in different parts of the city. Because of this, the government decides to establish the Commission on Civil Discipline (CCD), not only as higher-tier law enforcement to suppress dissent, but also tasked with hunting down this enhanced species of people. In her final conversation with Levi, Sophia must realize her true potential and decide her place among this rising breed of gifted individuals.

    As satirical fantasy, "She's a GodLord!" is a play on the chosen one archetype, highlighting some of the absurdities of the trope. Jacqueline Amadani GodLord is gifted with a particular power which serves as the key to fulfill her destiny as the GodLord, but her mentor and guide, Master Lucille continues to reiterate vague hints about what this destiny actually is. Coming from a series of strange coincidences that inadvertently lead her to this destiny, Jacqueline is soon faced by an abnormally muscular man who claims that the GodLord status rightfully belonged to him. Now that her identity is put into question, she must discern what it means to be the GodLord, and whether to fulfill her unclear destiny or if this has all just been a huge mistake.

    These three showcase my attempts in this project to write stories that have dialogue at the center of their narratives. At the heart of this project really is a personal concern with conversation that I have developed since childhood—influenced both by my earlier experiences growing up, various media, and my own encounters with the people around me.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCarl Matthew Rodriguez
    Release dateJun 12, 2021
    ISBN9798201900380
    Em Dash

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      Book preview

      Em Dash - Carl Matthew Rodriguez

      PREFACE: No Dialogue Signals

      Em Dash is a collection of short stories that aims to explore the element of dialogue in fiction as the primary vehicle for character development with particular attention to how characters express dissent and navigate conflict. While the manuscript is not affixed to any single genre of fiction, the variety has served as emphasis to the unbound utility of this type of dialogue in any kind of short story through differing scenarios and character dynamics that ultimately lead to disagreements and discussions that drive each story forward. From human beings and divine entities to comedy and tragedy, each story inevitably pits characters against each other in dialogue that exposes oppositions in each person’s beliefs, and often, it’s the language of the characters that highlights how they’ve changed through these verbal conflicts. Thematic variances between each story have allowed tense dialogue and argument between characters to be both the common denominator and primary source of tension in all of the stories presented.

      And It Was Good is basically a parody of the Biblical creation story, titled after the iconic verse in which God judges that His work was good. The story is reimagined akin to a workshop, but in the case of God, the workshop can only go well since He’s God. All the angels of the heavens have nothing but Biblically accurate praises for their Lord until He finally presents the Imago Dei. Suddenly, one of God’s closest, most beloved angels named Lucifel dares to raise criticism, and almost literally, all hell breaks loose. God, the Creator of all, is forced to consider the possibility that He might have made a mistake.

      They Will Know Us explores the mentor-pupil relationship between Sophia and her mentor Levi. In the capital city of a nation under political turmoil, the two of them are the first of a new evolution of human beings who have special, mental abilities that set their kind apart yet also alienate them from the rest of society, but Sophia is still quite new to what she can do as one of them. Along with a few others, they remained in hiding to avoid the dangers of the public eye and law enforcement, but tensions arise between Levi and Thea, the two with the strongest abilities in their group, on what their course of action should be in the long term. Soon, more of their kind appear in different parts of the city. Because of this, the government decides to establish the Commission on Civil Discipline (CCD), not only as higher-tier law enforcement to suppress dissent, but also tasked with hunting down this enhanced species of people. In her final conversation with Levi, Sophia must realize her true potential and decide her place among this rising breed of gifted individuals.

      As satirical fantasy, She’s a GodLord! is a play on the chosen one archetype, highlighting some of the absurdities of the trope. Jacqueline Amadani GodLord is gifted with a particular power that serves as the key to fulfill her destiny as the GodLord, but her mentor and guide, Master Lucille continues to reiterate vague hints about what this destiny actually is. Coming from a series of strange coincidences that inadvertently lead her to this destiny, Jacqueline is soon faced by an abnormally muscular man who claims that the GodLord status rightfully belonged to him. Now that her identity is put into question, she must discern what it means to be the GodLord, and whether to fulfill her unclear destiny or if this has all just been a huge mistake.

      These three showcase my attempts in this project to write stories that have dialogue at the center of their narratives. At the heart of this project really is a personal concern with conversation that I have developed since childhood—influenced both by my earlier experiences growing up, various media, and my own encounters with the people around me.

      As a fiction writer, my preoccupation with dialogue sprang from a fascination with voices and speech mannerisms from a young age. At home, I was the youngest in my family, and I was the only one who knew the experience of being the youngest. My dad was the oldest of his brothers, and my mom was the eldest of her siblings. Furthermore, I have only one brother, and he’s older than I am by just eleven months. This is why for most of my years growing up, I tended simply to listen and to obey. All the time that I was not speaking became time spent picking up on the nuances and speech patterns of my family members. I knew how anyone at home would be when angry, happy, serious, tired, and most especially irritable. I knew the words and phrases that would trigger arguments or tensions within the family, and I got familiar with how each person responded differently to the same conversations. I suppose what stuck to me most was how my parents reacted and delivered sermons differently, especially whenever they’d find out that I didn’t do so well on a test. This particularity with how people expressed themselves verbally carried on until I was in grade school, in which I listened better by focusing on the little idiosyncrasies of my teachers during lectures. I inevitably used what I learned from this personal quirk for my own writing, but that didn’t get me hooked on storytelling yet.

      My parents wanted me to develop the habit of reading at an early age, so they kept giving me books that they thought were advanced for a child under ten. Hoping to make me a smart kid, they handed me full-length novels—never any children’s books or at least something with pictures such as The Last of the Mohicans, The Grapes of Wrath, and even Noli Me Tangere. The eight-year-old me couldn’t get past three pages of any of those books, not only because of words so verbose that I couldn’t even pronounce them, but I was honestly just bored by them. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was about them that had bored me until my ninang got me the entire Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I thought at first that maybe I was a hopeless reader, and more books wouldn’t do anything to change that. Nevertheless, I decided to try since the covers of these books had wonderful designs. At the time, the film adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe just came out, but since my family and I didn’t watch it (at least until the DVD came out), I decided to read it first instead of The Magician’s Nephew. To my surprise, I was hooked.

      As far as I was concerned at the time, the centerpiece of every fantasy novel was always the expansive world and the intricate detailing of the setting, and Narnia was no different. However, even with such a story, I didn’t bother too much with understanding the setting, but I was most fixated on the characters. It seemed daunting to develop characters in a story as otherworldly as Narnia, but at the very beginning, C.S. Lewis already introduces the protagonists, the four Pevensie siblings. What was interesting was that they were only referred to in a bunch—the Pevensie children—without any description about them or even differentiation between the kids. The first genuine introduction to them happens in their first conversation, which went as follows:

      We've fallen on our feet and no mistake, said Peter. This is going to be perfectly splendid. That old chap will let us do anything we like.

      I think he's an old dear, said Susan.

      Oh, come off it! said Edmund, who was tired and pretending not to be tired, which always made him bad-tempered. Don't go on talking like that.

      Like what? said Susan; and anyway, it's time you were in bed.

      Trying to talk like Mother, said Edmund. And who are you to say when I'm to go to bed? Go to bed yourself.

      Hadn't we all better go to bed? said Lucy. There's sure to be a row if we're heard talking here. (Lewis 2-3)

      The four actually speak in this scene by order of their age, even if their ages are not explicitly stated, at least at this point in the book. Being the eldest, Peter has the air of maturity since he is the one to initiate the conversation, and characteristic of his age, his first instinct is to assert independence in Professor Kirk’s house. The second eldest Susan only speaks briefly, but there is conscious characterization in Lewis’ choice to have her comment on their current guardian instead of Peter’s proposition to act freely around the house. Compared to him, she is more empathetic and caring since she calls the professor an old dear, contradicting Peter’s more demeaning old chap. Third was Edmund whose first line of dialogue is immediately in exclamation and next in complaint. He is shown to be the moody and rebellious middle child who is often impulsive but caught between going his way or going along with his siblings. Finally, Lucy is the youngest—a trait that I related to—and was the most innocent, as she is a child. Refusing to join the argument, she simply

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