Have you ever taken off with a great idea? Like, really run with an idea, and then lost steam part way through? That was this story for me, and man, it has been a struggle to finish. The original goal was to have both parts completed in time for Halloween. Oops. Obviously I am a little behind. 

I thought I’d take a few hundred words to explain what I think happened, and how I went about handling it. Writer’s block is not an uncommon plague for creative minds and I must say that this process is one I find quite interesting.

What happened? It is simple, really. I got excited over an idea and I lunged in head first. No need for storylines, no need for endings. Just some super rough ideas and  a prompt. So I romanticized and created “Some Attunement Required: Part One”. Almost immediately after publishing it, I abhorred the thought of moving forward with ‘Part Two’. There are many other projects for me to work on and this one was not capturing me the same way. However, I was determined to finish it. 

I pushed myself to write down the big questions.

1. What happens next? What are the main points?
2. What do you want the end result to be?
3. Does Jerry succeed?

And then it sat for about three weeks. Trust me, I looked at it a lot. Glared at it, even. Yet, despite my best efforts, I was not ready to write it. Once the holidays finished, I sat myself down ready to do battle. I did fairly well. I managed to write about half. Still did not love it, but first drafts are the worst.

I made it my goal to finish the draft before the New Year, and I did it! Then I let it sit for another week, and here we are. Some Attunement Required: Part Two has been edited and ready for your viewing pleasure. Do I love it? If I am honest … no, but I am happy that it is done. I tried something different, and can move onto the next project. I hope you enjoy and remember to take heart. Practice is the most important.

Without further ado, please enjoy.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Some Attunement Required: Part Two

By C. E. Wagg

 

Jerry stood at the intersection of Dundern Street and Elmost Drive, doubled over his knees and gasping for air. Elmost Drive wasn’t known for its steepest of hills, but unfortunately he had cardio listed as his next New Year’s resolution. Jerry’s shirt stuck to his back, sweat dripping between his shoulder blades. Now that he had stopped, he felt a slight tremble in his quads and knew he would soon be in trouble. 

As Jerry pushed his damp hair off of his face, he listened for the louder, ominous click clack click clack as his new d20 die slowly plodded up the hill to eat him. His dice monster was well over 9 feet now, and growing. Fortunately for Jerry, and the residents in Cherryhill Park, the dice monster seemed to be most interested in chomping on cars, mailboxes, street lights, and the odd tree. Leafy greens were not it’s favorite thing. That’s something they had in common, he supposed.

I’m going goddamn delirious! He groaned to himself, doing some quick stretching of his calves while the creature distracted itself by chomping on a bus sign. He jumped as a large van came speeding toward him, a boisterous cat call coming from the passenger side window. “Woohoo, looking good Jerry! Keeping yourself in fighting fit form for our little dice monster, eh?” Mike’s large, bearded face lit up under a street lamp, eyes sparkling in amusement. The chomp chomp of thousands of little dice against metal was audible in the wee hours of the morning as his crew unloaded out of the large work van. 

Mike swung a wooden baseball bat, muscular forearms contracting as  he stepped out of the van. Mike’s hoodie was a little snug over his belly, as he was often quick to remind everyone that Charlie, his wife, was pregnant, and she didn’t like to snack alone. He closed the space between the two of them and gave Jerry a big hug with a chuckle under his breath. “Man oh man, Jer. Nyxx is not happy with you.”

Jerry pulled away grimly, brushing some trickling sweat from the nape of his neck. He peered over Mike’s right shoulder, seeing the flash of a long, blonde French braid as Nyxx stuck their head into the bowels of the van for something. Before he could call out, Isabelle’s baggy eyes came to glare at him over Mike’s shoulder, her short black hair tousled dramatically. She had changed into a too-large, pullover hoodie with a large Yoda screen-printed on it and a pair of tights. She wore a set of leather fingerless gloves and carried a large cast iron frying pan.

Jerry knew not to laugh. 

The chomp chomp of the monster could still be heard down the hill. The high-pitched whines of sirens drew closer by the minute. Jerry jumped as two more of his party members collided against his back. He managed to avoid one swinging skillet, but Mike took the side of another bat to the shoulder as Abbey and Alex squealed gleefully in his ear. “Leave it to you Jer to upset the D&D gods! You couldn’t wait the two days until you’d attuned?”

“Mine was three.” Jerry grumbled softly, unhooking his friends’ limbs from around his neck. “I didn’t think it would make a difference.”

“I suppose you’ve learned your lesson, haven’t you?” Nyxx’s voice was cold, their eyes dark. They wore a pair of dark-wash bootcut jeans, an over-sized plaid shirt, and a very serious grimace. Nyxx carried a dice box in their right hand. Jerry saw a glint of dice nestled inside. In the left hand was a hockey stick. They sized him up before handing the stick over. “I will be collecting the rest of the dice after we are finished here. It would perhaps be best if you order your next set on Amazon. Fewer risks.”

Jerry blushed and looked down at the hockey stick before looking back at the dice in Nyxx’s hand. “What am I supposed to do with this? And what are you going to do with that?”

Nyxx raised an eyebrow before rolling their eyes. Tilting the dice box slightly from side, they said, “I need to change the story. You need to smack Emerelle when she comes up the hill. We’ll collect the dice that fall off and stick them in bags. Once she calms down she’ll reabsorb them properly.”

“Emerelle? That thing has a name?!”

Nyxx held up a disappointed hand to forestall him. “Yes. She does. You would know that had you taken the time to attune to her. Now, if you don’t mind.” They nodded their head toward the hill, and Jerry felt the road beneath his feet vibrate. Nyxx raised their voice. “It’s time, everyone. Form a semi-circle. She is naturally better at this than you, so I will narrate, and hopefully my rolls can enhance your performance.”

Jerry felt his brow redouble its sweat production. “This isn’t a performance,” he growled, “this is survival.”

“Strength and dexterity checks, if you want to split hairs. Now get to it, we really do not have time.”

Jerry moved in step with his companions, forming a wide semi-circle with the opening ready for Emerelle, his angry dice monster. He felt himself trembling and knew it was neither the cold nor the exertion. After this, he promised, he’d leave adventuring to the tabletop. He heard Nyxx inhale deeply, and then they began.

“It was into the wee hours of the morning as Isabelle and her party waited calmly, patiently for the angered Emerelle to mount the hill. They used this time to watch her movements carefully, noting weaknesses and they readied their action.”

Jerry felt himself taking deep, slow breaths. He felt calmer.

The crunch of the asphalt was audible under Emerelle. It felt like ages, but soon she was just thirty feet out from to their little half circle. Their formation seemed significantly smaller now that she was almost upon them. Emerelle let out a terrible roar when she saw Jerry and his friends.

“Seeing Emerelle’s distress, Nyxx tries to persuade her.” They said aloud. Nyxx took a breath, the quiet thump thump as  they rolled their die. “Fuck! I mean … Emerelle, I know you are upset, but I can find you a better home. Do not let the actions of one foolish human upset your balance. This does not need to come to blows.”

Jerry looked behind himself for a moment and saw that Nyxx was already rolling again, eyes intent on Emerelle. He understood as he looked around and the dice monster emitted the loudest roar that he had ever heard. The dice monster was not interested in being reasoned with. Emerelle started rolling forward again, quickly. 

“Mike steps forward, feeling strong. He charges forward, envisioning Emerelle as one large baseball. He waits for his moment and swings as hard as he can ….”

Jerry heard the die hit the floor of the dice box. What’s more, he watched in awe as Mike charged forward, looking more athletic than he had in years and cracked the dice monster straight in its mouth. The sweet sound of hundreds of little dice falling to the asphalt.

“Being successful,” Nyxx said breathlessly, “Mike retreats out of harm’s way and begins sweeping up the little dice babies into his pockets. As Emerelle turns herself to snap at Mike, Isabelle dashes forward and smashes her frying pan into Emerelle’s side.”

Again, Jerry heard the die land in the box. With a click of their tongue, Nyxx said, “Feeling nervous, Isabelle missed connecting with Emerelle’s great body and just skimmed her side. She somersaults away and sweeps up any small dice she encounters.”

Isabelle emitted a low growl but managed to safely escape and began gathering dice in her frying pan.

Jerry let out a quiet gasp as he felt his arms move outside his own volition. He tuned back into Nyxx’s voice as they said, “Jerry was sorry for his mistreatment of Emerelle, and determined to make it right he charged full tilt at his dice monster to bring her back to her former glory. Swinging the hockey stick as hard as he could he …”

He was running full tilt at the dice monster. There was no time to think about repercussions. His heart beat in his ears as Emerelle’s body reared up in front of him … 

“… he tripped over his feet and fell on his face.”

Man, did it hurt. Jerry tried hard to suck air back into his lungs. He knew that he could not stand yet. His ears were ringing. He sensed the vibrations of feet running toward him, heard a victorious YES! from Nyxx, and felt the cascade of thousands of little dice hit his body.

Taking in a deep breath, he slowly returned to his feet as his companions whooped in celebration. Emerelle had been reduced to thousands of little dice. Nyxx stood unimpressed at the side of the scene with a handful of large canvas bags. With one little ‘Ahem’ his companions turned to heel and Nyxx quickly handed out the bags. “We need all the dice. Quickly now.”

Everything hurt. Mostly, he’d like to think, from the running. However there were many other tell-tale signs that the fall hit him harder than he expected. Definitely going to feel that in the morning. He helped stuff the beautiful Fawkes’ dice in the sacks as the emergency services vehicles surrounded the party. Nyxx stood and walked imperiously toward the approaching officiers. Jerry had no idea what was said, but he received several unimpressed looks from one bearded officer and Nyxx shook hands with the group before they drove slowly away, following the path that Emerelle had left.  

“Keep picking up the dice!” Nyxx said urgently. “The sun is rising. It is best to be away from here before the Cherryhill neighborhood wakes up.”

It felt like hours, but it had only been about 20 minutes. Each of his party members threw their laden sacks into the van and climbed in. Isabelle looked pityingly at Jerry, and scooted over to let him sit down. Nyxx started the van and began driving back through the  chaos that Emerelle had left. He dozed off at some point, waking when Isabelle gasped. They were at the front of his house, what was left of it. Quietly, Nyxx shifted the car to ‘park’ and motioned toward the large opening. “Please retrieve Emerelle’s remaining dice. I will be taking them back to the shop.”

Numbly, he nodded. He ran into the house, having to lift the crushed couch out of the way to pull the remaining dice and box from under it. As he put the dice back in their cradles, he placed his hand over the top of them and quietly apologized for his behaviour. Jerry then closed the box and ran back outside, depositing the box in Nyxx’s hands.

They patted the box as well before handing it to Alex for safe keeping. “You may come in for your refund tomorrow if you wish. And please heed my suggestion. Shop on Amazon next time.” 

As Nyxx put the car into ‘drive’, Jerry thumped the side of the van. “Thank you!” he yelled. “Thank you all for your help!”

He heard Mike chuckle and yell, “Let’s keep it on the tabletop next time!”