Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Storytelling for Week 2: Erik and Lila

Hey! That's me! 

My name is Lila. I used to be the whole town's daughter, the picture of youthful beauty and innocence. Things are a bit different now and I've really come into my own skin. Anyway, I'm the youngest of three sisters and was pretty much spoiled and adored by my loving parents until I was 17 and condemned by my church for being "predestined to bring about destruction and unhappiness," whatever the hell that means. After hearing this news, my crazy-religious parents kicked me out. They cried, I cried... It felt like I was falling off a cliff, spiraling towards my death and about to land on the wave-worn rocks below. Everything was so dark and terrifying! Then, I met Erik.

This guy is my hilarious, hunky boyfriend Erik. He dressed up as Cupid a few years ago for Halloween and I just can't resist using the photo every chance I get. 

Erik came into my life like a gust of cool air, and swept me up just before I landed in the violent waters below. We met on an internet chat tool/game called Second Life. We were both in a beautifully made castle set in a Greek-esque environment from the time of the gods. I was exploring the chat room with my avatar, Psyche. I danced in a grand hall as lute music played through my headphones and called out to the chat room, "Anyone home?" I got no responses, so I kept exploring and ended up in a beautiful bedroom with a gigantic bed and luxurious bath. I thought to myself, "Man, I wish this was where I really lived," then had my avatar lay in bed while I went AFK to get something to drink. When I came back to my computer, grape soda in hand, I saw that I had a ton of messages from a mysterious user who was no longer in the chat room. He told me I was beautiful and that he hoped to get to know me better. He spun tales of two lovers destined by chance to meet in a magical, dream-like palace in ancient Greece. His words were so beautiful, and his final message simply said, "See you tomorrow night?"

Our love story is one of mystery and deceit, revenge, and one seriously impossible mother-in-law.

We talked and talked, each night he managed to sweep me off my feet all over again. To say I fell hard for him was a bit of an understatement, but how could I fall for someone i'd never actually seen? Our online love affair went on for months and I knew I had found someone who truly understood me. He didn't seem to care about my family issues or the fact that most people at home thought I was probably dead in a ditch somewhere; all that mattered was that we fit together like two pieces of a divine puzzle. We talked for a year and in that time a lot changed. I got back in touch with my sisters, and even invited them to come over for pizza and catching up. He was excited for me, but wary. He was afraid my sisters would make him out to be some sort of monster or stalker. I assured him everything would be fine, and said goodbye before logging off to greet my sisters. 

Check out my drawing of us as “Powerpuff Girls”
I was obviously “Bubbles”

Everything went great! We sipped wine and ate pizza while I told them of my whirlwind Second Life romance. It was like the good-ol' days and it felt great to have my sisters back, or at least that's what I thought. Time flew by like it does when you're reminiscing, and soon it was time for them to leave but we made plans to meet up the next night for coffee. I hugged them goodbye and once they were out the door, I hopped on my laptop to talk to my invisible romeo until I fell asleep slumped over in my bed.

The next day, at coffee, my sisters were like harpies! They hounded me about Erik. Who was he? Where does he come from? How can I be so sure he's really who he says he is? They said he was probably "Catfishing" me and that he surely wasn't the hunk they saw in his pictures. I defended him, but somewhere in my mind, doubt planted it's nasty little seed and began to grow. After coffee, I headed home to talk to Erik and I had a great time, but could not shake the idea that maybe they were right. I had never met this guy. He could be anybody! I freaked out and called up the main star of the show, Nev, and told him my situation. He was interested, and we hatched a plan to find out just who this guy really was. 

That's Nev, full-time Catfish TV moderator, part time cutie

It took a few days for Nev to get all of his research done, but then I got the call: he had an address. We loaded up the car, notified the camera man, and began the drive to Erik's house. I was so nervous. I felt like I was betraying Erik. How would he feel? Probably like he just got stabbed or burned! My stomach churned as my anxiety rose. The drive felt like forever as we passed endless hills and small towns. I hoped my sisters were wrong and he wasn't some creeper, but I couldn't help but worry that he was. I prepared for devastation. 

Suddenly, the car began to slow and turn down a long dirt driveway flanked on either side by tall trees that made the driveway feel almost like a gazebo. It was beautiful, but the scenery couldn't distract me long and before I knew it, we were stopped and Nev was asking if I was ready to meet Erik. I hesitated, growing more nervous and imagining so many awful scenarios as the cameras rolled on my face. I nodded and slowly crept up the steps to the beautiful plantation-style home. Nev and I exchanged glances, and I gulped down the lump that had risen in my throat. It was now or never. 

That driveway was something right out of a dream 

The doorknob turned and the door opened so slow it was as if I was dreaming. Everything was moving in slow motion, but then, standing before me was the man i'd seen in so many pictures. I was so relieved and excited. "Erik?" I asked. "Lila?" he replied, obviously confused. He looked at the cameras, then at Nev, then me before he realized just what was going on. His face changed, becoming grim and he slammed the door in my face! Shocked, and now bawling, I asked through the door why he didn't want to see me. He sent me a text that just said, "You thought I would catfish you?!" My distrust in him had really hurt him, but after a few hours and much discussion through the door, he once more opened the heavy wood door but this time, I was greeted with his Adonis-like smile. 



Image Information:
  1. Girl by Keulefm, found on Pixabay
  2. Not so Self Portrait, Rambo Meets Cupid by Mattysflicks, found on Flickr
  3. Lovers by Bellezza87, found on Pixabay
  4. Powerpuff Girls by WonderlandCaveman, found on DeviantArt
  5. Moderator Nev Schulman by Mingle Media TV, found on Wikipedia
  6. Orton Plantation Driveway by Brian, found on Wikipedia
Author's Note: 
I based this story off of parts of the story of Cupid and Psyche (which you can find here), particularly the sections titled: Psyche's BeautyThe Oracle of ApolloThe Magical PalaceThe Mysterious HusbandThe Jealousy of Psyche's SistersFear and Doubts, and Psyche's Husband Revealed. I enjoyed this story a lot and wanted to put a modern spin on things by making the magical palace a chat room designed to look like a Grecian palace and the invisible husband another person who the main character falls in love with online. I had a little trouble deciding how to do the reveal/betrayal of Erik/Cupid but thought the MTV show called "Catfish" was a perfect example. It's about two guys who went on a journey to meet the woman that one of them had been engaged with in an online relationship for a long time only to find out she was not anything like who she said she was and who she showed him in pictures. I know the ending feels a little rushed, but I was trying really hard not to over-write. I guess sometimes you should trust your gut about the one you love (although, with technology, you can never be too careful).


6 comments:

  1. Hey Bria. I enjoyed your story. I liked that you took the traditional stories, but told it in a much more modern level. I enjoyed the "Catfish" turn of events towards the end of the story. I also liked that it was written almost like a dairy entry or journal. This allowed you to capture the main character's emotions and thoughts. The best part was the ending in that the sisters were wrong and Erik actually wasn't catfishing Lila. Good job.

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  2. Ah I love your writing style! I really really loved that you made the pictures a part of the story, and captioned them as your character would have. So cheeky, and so fun. I also how you wrote the story with such casual and familiar language, like the character would tell a story to her diary, or one of her best friends. It was so fun to read! I agree that the ending did seem a little rushed, but I definitely understand how the 1000 word limit is hard to stick to (I have this same problem). I also felt like towards the end your story lost some of its cheeky attitude. Your character is so fun and candid, and I would gladly read another story about this same girl, so I really wanted her attitude to shine through the entire story. My biggest advice to you is to make sure when you are writing to keep the attitude of your characters present all of the way through, and that when you are having to deal with the word limit, try taking out any extra "fluff sentences" from the beginning of the story, so you have the words you need to finish the story with the same edge you started it! Great great job! Can't wait to read more!

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  3. What an adventure of a story. It really feels like it was written by a modern teenage girl and the narrator's personality just shines through with the great word choices you made. I went on her emotional roller coaster with her from one even to the next. I've seen a lot of the TV show Catfish and I think you picked a perfect way to "reveal" Erik/Cupid. The teen years are a time of insecurity and uncertainty, so it felt very natural for Lila to deeply desire to meet Erik and I couldn't help feeling the same way. I wanted to know if this guy was real and hoped he was for her sake. You did a great job of getting the reader emotionally invested in the main character. They come away feeling relieved at the end when Erik turns out to be real and when he forgives her "betrayal" enough to open the door and let her in (well, I came away feeling this way at least). Awesome job!

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  4. Really cool modern spin on the original story! I never read the original story but I do know they didn’t meet over the Internet in the original. I liked how the Internet dating created a mystery about Erik. I figured that it would take a turn for the worst, and Erik wouldn’t be who he said he was, it was nice that my assumption was wrong. It was a pleasant happy ending for a girl who went through some stuff things in her life.

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  5. Bria I loved this! Catfish is a guilty pleasure of mine, I used to watch it all the time so I could totally follow where you were going with this story!

    I've been using the similar technique of taking this ancient myths and folklores and putting a modern spin on them. It makes the story easy to understand and fun to read, you did a great job with this! Your pictures were great and the format of the story made it really easy to follow. I loved some of the words and phrases you used such as "we fit together like two pieces of a divine puzzle."

    I didn't see and grammar errors so I think you did a great job! I look forward to reading more of your stories!

    -Annie Tucker

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  6. The writing style that you used was different from what I’ve seen other people in this class use. I liked the way you used pictures to give us a visual image of the characters. I also like that you used modern references in this classic story. The whole feel of your story was very Gossip Girl. It felt like I was reading the diary/blog of a teenage girl or like I was having a conversation with her. I also liked some of the descriptions you used. Having the character of Erik/Cupid and Lila/Psyche meet online as a way to keep Erik/Cupid mysterious was a great idea. Your Catfish reference was pretty clever as well; another great way to put a modern spin on a classic story. The narrator really did remind me of Psyche. I feel that if Psyche was raised in more modern times, this is exactly how she would speak and behave. Great job!

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