Sunday, September 4, 2011

Sample Sunday

Hey Lovelies!
I know I am kind of slacking on the Sample Sunday's!  I'm sorry I'll try to get them more frequent, well see I started classes this past week and it is going to be an interesting semester.  I have to do 100 field work hours in either a middle school or a high school in Hamilton New Jersey.  I'm kind of excited and curious on how that'll go!

So other than getting a sample today I wanted to talk about genres.  As I've mentioned before I'm working on getting End of the Line re-released (might be soonish!) and I was thinking how about how that story and Family Ties are pretty different.  I was having a discussion with a group of friends a couple of months ago about what made fanasty vs sci-fi.  Amy and I were talking about what made fanatsy vs paranormal.  There seemed to certain rules that helps a person understand what they are reading.  Yet there are stories that when you go to different stores are in different sections like the book Poison Study.  Sometimes it's in Romance while others it is in Young Adult.

Even when I look at all my own stories I see that they are Young Adult, but End of the Line is sci-fi which I never really thought about that I was an author of, Family Ties is modern with hints of historical fiction.  The others are some form of Romance with ones that are modern, sci-fi, historical, and who else knows.  So today one of my other samples today is another classified Sci-fi story.  I'm hoping to finish this one, I really think this could be a real good tale when it is done.  The story is called Beaker to Life, it is about a Sciencetist who creates the first human clone (Alice) and the clone lives with him and his son Derek.  What happens while the two grow up together since they are only a couple of years apart from each other, I have the story start out when Derek is a very little boy to when he is in college, shows their relationship and how the world views Alice.  I thought of the story when in Junior year of High School my English teacher was teaching the classic Frankenstein.  Now this is a little longer sample then I have been giving so hope you enjoy!

Beaker to Life

Prologue



The rain started to hit the window making my ears to pick up sounds as I came to life from a night’s sleep. I refused to wake up as I brought the sheets closer to me as I tightened up on my little ball. I refused to wake up knowing that I could make my own choices now that he was gone. Yet sleep wouldn’t come over me again as much as I tried so I got up to go look out the window.


My fingers pressed against the cold glass lightly as the water droplets ran down. My eyes stared at the water and its trail it left behind for another to follow after it. Like ever water drop it was all made the same. I wasn’t like the other water drops; I was ‘born’ another way. I’ve always wanted to be like the others because I always found that I was some kind of freak, he called me special, but I knew I was just a freak.


I didn’t even get to live a normal way of living. The scientist never gave me true affection and just treated me like a prize vegetable. I wasn’t a real person just was some award he thought he should be showing off to a world who half of wanted me dead. If he actually took me somewhere people would be shouting at me, saying I was a sin, a creature of hell, and I was against all laws against nature. People knew who and what I was so they hated me not understanding.


With all the hate towards me I would just end up curled up in a ball at night crying. Then against all his’ father’s wishes Derek would come down and sit with me to make me feel better. He was the only one I really got to talk to and he didn’t seem to care what others said about me. Derek and I were friends through it all. I don’t think I could have survived without so when he and I had a fight I was completely alone in the world.


Being the only human clone in the world will make you stand out. That isn’t really a good thing when people just think of you as a science experiment for a Science Fair instead of a living breathing human. I just wish I was treated the same as any other human instead of the freak studied by some and hated by the rest.






Part One

Seventeen years earlier

Chapter one Derek
I wanted to play with my trucks! Where was Daddy taking me now? He didn’t ever let me into his lab so I was a little excited for that. I ran a little faster to keep up with his steps, he was really happy about something. He was smiling for real now and I started to smile hoping that I did something to make him happy, but he then ran to the back of the room and I tried to see what he was looking at on one of the counters, I wish I was tall. I started to jump and down to see, but failed.


“Now son, do you know what this is?”


I don’t even know what he’s pointing to! I am little doesn’t he remember that? I just nodded my head as he started explaining something in those funny big words I couldn’t understand. It was better to pretend that I knew what he was talking about, my mommy called it make believe.


Then he shifted and held something in his arms wrapped in a blanket tightly. I stood on my toes as I pushed myself up against his knees to get a better look at what he was holding. That was when a tiny nose was sticking out of the hat and blanket.


“It’s a baby. Did the stork bring me a little brother?”


“No! This isn’t a stork baby! On the contrary my dear son, this was made by science!”


“Frank, Derek is four. He’s not going to understand your experiments.”


I looked at my parents really confused. Didn’t the stork bring the babies, so what did science have to do with baby? When my Aunt had a baby mommy told me the stork brought it to them and the big bellies were marks for the birds to find them. My mommy walked over with her princess grace and took the baby into her arms. I started to feel jealous as she held the little bundle in her arms that she held so lovingly. I was her baby she held me that way. She then sat on the ground so I could see.


“Come here, Derek, she’s not going to hurt you.”


I walked so slowly not sure what do make out of the baby. I didn’t figure out what a baby was doing in my Daddy’s lab when I wasn’t allowed to be! Did he like baby more then me? I stood in front of my mommy she stroke a long finger down the sleeping figures face.


“See, she’s not going to hurt you.”


I looked down into the sleeping face realizing she was so small, I thought the babies were a little bigger.


“It’s a girl!” I cried out scrunching my face together.


My mom laughed her pretty face and small laughter made me smile. That was when the baby woke up and her big blue eyes wide and looking at me then to my mom. I put my hand out to go touch the baby as she did the same to me. I started to smile at my mom who put her other arm around me as I sat by her.


“It’s a science marvel! What do you think you’re doing acting like it’s one of your children?!”


“Oh, Frank, she’s just a baby. Even if you cloned her, she’s just a child. She’s just as human as you are.”


“It’s going to prove all science-“


“Oh, shush Frank, I know this is a big deal, but she’s still human.”


“It’s a science experiment.”


“She’s just a baby who you don’t treat her like she’s a living breathing human.”


I just let my parents words fly over my head as the baby looked at me.


“There are big hopes for it.”


“Frank, refer to her as you would to your son!”


“You gave birth to our son just like every other human! This thing was created in a science lab to prove that cloning humans is possible! Think of the possibilities!”


My mom sighed now looking sad. I hugged her as she held me tighter.


“Frank, what happened to the man I married.”


“What are you talking about?”


“You have no real compassion to this little girl.”


“Do you not get what this could do for our family, Melanie? We could be the richest people ever and-“


“Forget the money. After you created this little girl what did you expect to happen to her? Were you expecting no emotions or thoughts to cross her mind?”


What were they talking about? I don’t understand adult talk!


“Frank, I’m proud of you for doing this! Really I am, but honey you have to think ahead and remember this is a living being!”


“And I just don’t think you really understand the magnitude of this!”


“I just don’t think you understand the full extent of what you have done.”


“What harm can a baby do? It’s not like I have brought life to a full grown man corpse like in Frankenstein.”


“She won’t be a baby forever-“


“Just shut up you don’t know what you’re talking about!” my father yelled as he was angry now.


I really didn’t hear my dad yell in my life expect lately since he started talking about a big project. I looked at the little girl my mom was holding.


“Is she my sister?”


“No! It’s not part of this family! It’s a science experiment!”


I crawled closer to my mom now after at the yelling man while the baby started to cry.


“Oh, please Frank calm down! You’re frightening the children! Calm down little one, everything is going to be okay.”


My mom got up and started to head to real part of the house. I stared to run after her as she rocked the baby in her arms.


“Does baby have a name?”


My mom smiled as I stood by her as she sat down at the kitchen table.


“What do you want to name her?”


“Dotty!”


“How about the name Alice, Derek?” my mom laughed.


“Hi, Alice.”


She smiled at me as I went closer to her and I smiled more. Then the baby threw up on me and I screamed.










I want to sleep, so why do mommy and daddy yell so much. I crawled out of my Spiderman sheets and tip toed out of my room holding onto my teddy bear that wore a Spiderman costume. I stood up high to reach the handle and turned it to just to look out the small opening in the door. I didn’t see them as I moved quickly to the room that Mommy put Alice in, but Daddy didn’t seem to like the room.


I slowly opened her door and walked in carefully making sure I wouldn’t wake her up if she was asleep. I walked very afraid of my actions as I went near her crib holding Teddy close to me in a hug. If I move too loudly she screams really loud. I used my hand that wasn’t holding Teddy to grab onto a bar to try to pull myself up to look at her. Her brown eyes turned to look at me. She looked scared like me. I started to pull myself up on her bars and climbed in to sit next to her.


“It okay Alice, you’re my friend.”


Her lip started to shake like it usually did before she was going to cry because Mommy and Daddy started to yell louder. I helped her sit up a little so she could sit in my lap as I hugged her and Teddy. I wish Mommy and Daddy would stop fighting.










I sat on the floor twisting the winding up car. Alice was now almost one my Mommy kept telling me. Alice sat across from me taking one of my cars and putting the car into her mouth. The hallway was the best place to play with the cars because it was the longest road for them. Alice then started to hit the car against the floor.


“Hey! Don’t do that!”


Her brown eyes looking sad into mine and I was still mad at her.


“Okay Alice, it’s naptime.”


Mommy came into the room and gave me back my car as Alice started to cry while she was brought upstairs. Her spit was on the car, gross. A few minutes later she came back downstairs and kissed me lightly on the forehead then sat down next to me.


“My little Derek, you’re such a good boy and I want to thank you for being such a good boy to Alice.”


“She’s okay for a girl.”


My mommy smiled as she ruffled my hair that was the same color as hers. I looked into her green eyes and smiled.


“Melanie what are you doing?”


“I’m sitting here with our son, Frank, what does it look like I’m doing?”


“Where is it?”


“Alice is now asleep for her nap.”


I looked up at the tall man my father is. He wasn’t looking at me, but at my mother who even sitting down at my level was just as tough like my father, but not as scary.


“Son, go up to your room, your mother and I need to talk.”


His voice reminded me of one villains in one of my movies when they spoke to the good guys before they did something bad. His voice made me scared at how something didn’t sound right. So without looking back I started to head up the stairs to hide in my room. To only have my dad come up around dinner time all sad.


My dad sat down on my Spiderman covers taking off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.


“My son, please sit down next to me, I have to try to explain something to you that you are too young for.”


I titled my head looking really confused. So quietly I climbed up on the bed next to my father. His brown hair very short unlike mine as he turned to try to look at me, but it wasn’t the same as when my Mommy did.


“Derek, my son, your mother…she left.”


“Did mommy go to the store?”


He was quiet for a moment then sighed.


“Not like that Derek, you are too young for this, but honey Mommy will not be coming home again.”


I was confused. What did he mean Mommy wasn’t coming home? How could Mommy not be coming home? Tears started to come.


“Daddy, what do you mean?”


Dad put a hand on my shoulder as I looked at the ground. As Teddy sat on my floor staring at us still smiling because he wasn’t confused like I was.


“My son, your mother doesn’t want to be near us because she can’t take this family anymore with Alice.”


“But Mommy said she was happy at how I was being a good boy.”


“Woman are really complicated son, never forget that. Your mother doesn’t want to be with us so she decided she didn’t want to be a wife and a mother so she just left.”


Mommy didn’t want to be a mommy anymore? She didn’t want to be near me anymore? I could feel the tears roll down my cheeks as I still didn’t understand what my daddy was trying to tell me.


“I’m sorry son, I know you probably don’t understand this, and this is going to be hard, but Derek I’m here for you just remember that.”


To be continued...

4 comments:

  1. I liked the sample, but I'll be honest, that font made it slightly hard to read.

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  2. Aw yay thank you! Ah okay I'll try to play around with the font to make it easier to read thank you for your warning!

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  3. Very touching. Great sample.

    Genre, is up to the reader. You mentioned the shelves you've see books on being different in different stores. This one might be considered sci/fi because of the cloning aspect. I suppose it would depend on the content of the blurb on the back where it is set on the bookshelf.

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  4. Aw thank you! I really have fun in later chapters with Alice and Derek :)

    Yeah I kind of consider this one YA Sci-fi I agree genres are kind of the gray area though and the readers insight changes it depending on the person.

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