Dan thought he had a good life. In fact, he would often say he had a great life. But one thing was always true, he knew his life was completely under his control, and it was going exactly the way he wanted it to be going.
Dan had a wife whom he loved very much, and he also had a wife that he knew loved him very much. Along with their three wonderful kids, a well paying, respectable job, and fame throughout the entire town, Dan thought his life wouldn’t get any better; he thought it couldn’t get any better.
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Dan had a wife whom he loved very much, and he also had a wife that he knew loved him very much. Along with their three wonderful kids, a well paying, respectable job, and fame throughout the entire town, Dan thought his life wouldn’t get any better; he thought it couldn’t get any better.
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The day was finally over and Dan was just glad to finally get out of work. It was Friday and he was ready to get home to his family. On the ride home he was excited, hopeful for the coming weekend. On the radio he heard his favorite song come on, Life Is a Highway. Knowing all the words, he started singing along. But at that moment he felt something inside him shift.
He hopped out of the car like his seat caught on fire, suddenly and without hesitation. Dan felt empowered. He felt like he could conquer the world!! He slammed the door shut and began to jog the eight miles home, he felt motivated to accomplish something. As he ran down the long stretch of highway leading to his house and family, he noticed that he liked how he felt, powerful and motivated to be the best person he could be.
But like any high, you feel good for a bit, and then comes pain.
He was scared. He didn’t know who he was. However much he liked this different person he had become, he still knew that was just it, he was a different person; he was not the same Dan. He was not in control, he was an observer helplessly looking in but unable to influence the decisions of the body.
The feeling of imprisonment, the feeling of being trapped in a body you can’t control, the knowledge of knowing your life is at stake and you know you can save yourself but you can’t will yourself to make the effort to do it; this was what Dan felt. He started to run down that highway home, for he knew once he saw his house, and his family, and his old life he would return to his normal state.
Dan knew this was not real. After all, how could it be? He was Dan, the perfect husband, father, worker, and friend, all the time, how could he feel this way? He kept repeating the same words, you’ll get out of this Dan, you’ll get out of this.
As Dan got further and further down the road and more and more hysterical, he noticed there were less and less cars passing him on the highway. He used to be able to see and interact with all of the people passing him by, but now it just seemed as if everyone was just deserting him. “Dammit Dan,” he criticized himself, “You don’t even know these people, you’re fine, you’re okay.”
But he could physically feel himself spiraling out of control. He could feel it in the pit of his stomach. He felt sick from lack of control. Only he didn’t tell himself that. “You don’t have a problem!!! You’re fine!!!” He would scream to himself the entire time he ran that highway. Yet he was beginning to lose sight of his destination and his entire journey began to all revolve around the present spot he was in. He couldn’t remember which way he was going or from which way he came, only the exact spot he was in right that second, and he began to walk around in circles, never making any progress in either direction.
Dan now thought he would never see his family again, and although this was important to him at one time, he didn’t feel the drive to try and fix his problems.
“You’re okay, Dan, you’ll be okay,” he kept whispering to himself. Just as he was coming over the final hill, Dan had vision of his house. He sprinted all the way up to the front door, turned the handle and ran inside. He made it! He was going to be okay after all! He called out the names of his wife and children, but nobody called back. He tried a second time but still nobody responded, and with that he collapsed onto the floor, still confident that he was completely normal and that his life was as good as it ever was. But just as he was dying, when he had only a short, short time to live, he made a discovery: he was not going to be okay, and he was going to die, and if he just made an effort to get better before he watched himself decay in front of his own eyes, he would be okay, and he would still have his family, his friends, and his life. He was finally admitting that he wasn’t fine, and with that came the surprisingly peaceful yet dark and lonely end to a downward spiraling life. All he had been doing all along was looking for his destination, but he didn’t realize that you’re destination is dependant on the path that you take to try and achieve it.
With this sudden realization, he simply curled up into a ball and waited. At this point, it was all he could do. He didn’t even think about how he ended up like this, he just accepted the fact. And after his existence finally reached the end of its steady decline, no one ever gave him a second thought.
He hopped out of the car like his seat caught on fire, suddenly and without hesitation. Dan felt empowered. He felt like he could conquer the world!! He slammed the door shut and began to jog the eight miles home, he felt motivated to accomplish something. As he ran down the long stretch of highway leading to his house and family, he noticed that he liked how he felt, powerful and motivated to be the best person he could be.
But like any high, you feel good for a bit, and then comes pain.
He was scared. He didn’t know who he was. However much he liked this different person he had become, he still knew that was just it, he was a different person; he was not the same Dan. He was not in control, he was an observer helplessly looking in but unable to influence the decisions of the body.
The feeling of imprisonment, the feeling of being trapped in a body you can’t control, the knowledge of knowing your life is at stake and you know you can save yourself but you can’t will yourself to make the effort to do it; this was what Dan felt. He started to run down that highway home, for he knew once he saw his house, and his family, and his old life he would return to his normal state.
Dan knew this was not real. After all, how could it be? He was Dan, the perfect husband, father, worker, and friend, all the time, how could he feel this way? He kept repeating the same words, you’ll get out of this Dan, you’ll get out of this.
As Dan got further and further down the road and more and more hysterical, he noticed there were less and less cars passing him on the highway. He used to be able to see and interact with all of the people passing him by, but now it just seemed as if everyone was just deserting him. “Dammit Dan,” he criticized himself, “You don’t even know these people, you’re fine, you’re okay.”
But he could physically feel himself spiraling out of control. He could feel it in the pit of his stomach. He felt sick from lack of control. Only he didn’t tell himself that. “You don’t have a problem!!! You’re fine!!!” He would scream to himself the entire time he ran that highway. Yet he was beginning to lose sight of his destination and his entire journey began to all revolve around the present spot he was in. He couldn’t remember which way he was going or from which way he came, only the exact spot he was in right that second, and he began to walk around in circles, never making any progress in either direction.
Dan now thought he would never see his family again, and although this was important to him at one time, he didn’t feel the drive to try and fix his problems.
“You’re okay, Dan, you’ll be okay,” he kept whispering to himself. Just as he was coming over the final hill, Dan had vision of his house. He sprinted all the way up to the front door, turned the handle and ran inside. He made it! He was going to be okay after all! He called out the names of his wife and children, but nobody called back. He tried a second time but still nobody responded, and with that he collapsed onto the floor, still confident that he was completely normal and that his life was as good as it ever was. But just as he was dying, when he had only a short, short time to live, he made a discovery: he was not going to be okay, and he was going to die, and if he just made an effort to get better before he watched himself decay in front of his own eyes, he would be okay, and he would still have his family, his friends, and his life. He was finally admitting that he wasn’t fine, and with that came the surprisingly peaceful yet dark and lonely end to a downward spiraling life. All he had been doing all along was looking for his destination, but he didn’t realize that you’re destination is dependant on the path that you take to try and achieve it.
With this sudden realization, he simply curled up into a ball and waited. At this point, it was all he could do. He didn’t even think about how he ended up like this, he just accepted the fact. And after his existence finally reached the end of its steady decline, no one ever gave him a second thought.
Here's another example of a story that had potential to be pretty cool but I completley beat the life out of this story by trying to hard to apply some sort of meaning to it. By sophmore year I was getting a little bit better, I feel like this story is better than the God-awful poem from the year before, but it still just isn't good. The main problem with this piece I feel is that instead of letting the story play out I'm just reciting everything that's happening as the narrator. Because of this it;s virtually impossible for the reader to identify at all with the main character because we get really no sense of what he is like at all, just some random narrator tellin you what's going on with him. In order to make this piece work I would really have to comletley start from scratch and think of ways to show, not tell, whats going on in the story and give the main, and only character, some depth. And maybe listen to Life is a Highway again. That's a damn good song. And here's another random video. As you can probably tell I'm new to the whole blog scene and posting youtube videos is then most fun thing I've ever experienced ever. Ever.
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