Need a writing critique?
August 27, 2010 by
Filed under Concrete Bird Baths
I’m a teen writer and I just wrote this story for a contest but I just found out I missed the deadline. Now I don’t think this is a very good story but I’d like to see your opinions on this.
“Captured from the Salazin Highlands, ladies and gentlemen I bring you a young and healthy frog-man. An armed and dangerous female, ladies and gentlemen this is one of the most toxic and deadly frog-mans we bring to you under this dome.”
The guards threw her to the concrete and she landed with a grunt. The guards kicked her side and turned to leave as the audience burst into wild cheers and jeering. She stood, knees knocking together, heart pounding in her chest. Her eyes searched the audience, looking for a sympathetic face, someone to come and save her. But all she saw was hatred, fury. Scowls met her bulging red eyes as she met their faces.
“It’s hideous!”
“Kill the frog!”
“Slaughter it!”
The announcer cleared his throat and motioned a hand towards a large steel door overlooking them all. “Ladies and gentlemen, what a better challenger for this deadly creature than one of the most powerful killers known to man? From the Vulkor desert, we have the most ferocious, blood thirsty, and deadliest of them all, a full grown Warlan!”
The cheers around Nal erupted to deafening roars as the metal door groaned. A shrill cry rose above the jeers, ringing in her ears. The audience fell silent as the steel doors rose and the shrill screams grew louder as the doors revealed the creature within.
Standing behind the door was a bird. Towering over, scales covered the mass of its body, spines lined the creature’s body. Powerful wings were folded at the great bird’s side and were covered with sharp black feathers tipped with red. A long clawed talon held the bloody corpse of a guard, his unfortunate intestines spilled out onto the dust. The bird glared at the audience, a long black tongue slipped in and out of its beak as it looked them over with hunger in its eye.
A wire cage came over the arena, containing the perimeter of the fighting area and covering the awed audience.
Nal found herself staring right into the hungry stare of the bird.
The bird spread its wings to full length and two guards clipped off its chains.
Nal uttered a prayer to the gods, a prayer of life.
The announcer threw his plum top hat from his ceiling box. “Let the fight begin!”
The Warlan lifted the dead guard into its gaping beak. There was a sickening crunch as it brought its beak onto the corpse. It swallowed hard and Nal could see a bulge traveling down its throat.
Two guards appeared at the bird’s side on horses, extending two sharpened spears at their side. They jabbed the beast in the side and the creature howled with pain, sweeping a pronged tail at the guards. The guards fell to the ground and the bird’s talons fell upon them and the fallen horses. The guards it swallowed with ease. The horses, the only animals it chose to spare had run back within the steel door, which closed slowly with groaning metal.
The bird stared straight at Nal again and growled softly.
Nal stepped back, scarcely breathing. Her heart was iron. Poison dripped from her neck glands, mingling with beads of sweat. If there was a chance for the gods to spare her, she hoped it would be now.
A shrill Warlan scream echoed around the dome. Head feathers burst around the bird’s head in a red war crown. The creature screamed once more and-
It ran straight for Nal.
The audience burst into cheering.
Dear gods save me now.
The bird was heading for her and for a horrible moment she could not move herself. Beak extending, sharp talons raising.
Dear gods save me now!
She felt metal on her hands, her feet had left the ground. She found herself clinging onto the steel dome cage, facing the jeering, horrible faces of the humans.
The bird snapped its head forward and Nal scrambled up the wall. Reeling as the beak hit the cage. A shriek of horror came from the crowd.
Her feet slipped off and she dangled with two blue hands gripped tight onto the mesh. She scrambled to throw her feet back onto the wire.
The Warlan growled again, its head dancing around Nal as she struggled. A black tongue slipped out of its beak.
“Stupid bird, kill the frog!”
“Kill it you damn bird!”
Nal had one foot on the mesh, the other was gravitating up to the metal. She got both legs onto the mesh and she climbed to the ceiling, hanging with all limbs. And she felt relieved for a moment, only for a moment. Her anxiety returned as the bird circled around, hissing. Waiting for the right moment.
A stone came reeling from the audience, hitting her in side. Her legs slipped from under her and she hung with slippery hands.
The tongue shot out of the bird
It’s a great story, in terms of having two main characters (many stories seem to have only one), and those somewhat evenly matched (although the “Godzilla” or “Ghost Busters” bird is one “damn bird”–reminds of the “Thunderbird” stories http://www.atmos.washington.edu/quillayute.html ).
The frog girl may be portraying your feelings about freedom, kind of “Ugly Betty” or “Ugly Duckling.”
Your story also reminds me of “Star Man’s Son,” by Andre Norton (she has been a great writer of science fiction), and also of “Hunger Games.”
Would suggest, simply for examples of unique personal voices,
“West with the Night,” Beryl Markham (Hemingway’s favorite non-fiction book), and “Stay Alive, My Son,” Pin Yathay; and for insights on creativity,
“Emotions: Transforming Anger, Fear and Pain,” Marilyn Barrick,
“Creation: Artistic and Spiritual,” O. M. Aivanhov, and
“Nineteen Ways of Looking at Wang Wei,” Weinberger and Paz.
Reviews at http://www.amazon.com
it seems to be a good standard,
in which case, i think you should be on fictionpress.