Post #9 - What goes around, comes around.

History has a way of repeating itself.  The story of rival siblings is as old as the human race. From Caine and Abel all the way to the Kardashians, there have been problems.  The more money, the more problems seem to follow.  Along comes Ether and Edgar Maitland and history follows them.  First, one tries to kill the other but the other succeeds in ending the life of the first.

Confusing at best.  For those involved in trying to solve the murder of Mr. Evans, they feel a bit foolish that they didn't think of the brothers from the start.  Leads lead to dead ends. People felt haunted by the unsolved crime.  Heck, even the ghost of the town felt haunted.

The mysterious blue van slowly pulled-up to the entrance of the Maitland, and a body rolled out onto the pavement. It seemed to be moving in slow motion as it fell from the van.  The van then slowly rolled away. "What? Who the heck!" Lamar shouted as he ran toward the body.  He looked at the back of the van as it moved away. "Stop!" He shouted, but he was too old to pursue it.

Linh was the first detective to arrive.  Linh spoke into her phone. "You won't believe what, literally, landed at the door steps of the Maitland."
     "I can't take on another thing," Annabeth said.
     "Don't worry," Linh said. "I'm kinda taking something off your plate."
     "What?"
     "Edgar is dead. I'm looking at him now."
     "What?" Annabeth repeated.
     "And there's a photograph tucked into his pocket."
     "What?" Annabeth said.
     "Do you have any other words in your vocabulary?"
     "Yes." Annabeth retorted. "I have several words I could use, but I'll keep them to myself. I will be there in a few."

Linh held a photograph, a bit faded, that clearly shows Edgar pointing a gun at his brother, Ether. On the back, the photo says "September, 2003."
"Mr. Evans gave me that photo." Linh turned to see Sayori speaking to her. "But that's all I know.  I lost it months ago." And she disappeared into the crowd.

Others milled around. Many were making decisions about their futures while gazing at one of the brothers. Thoughts of moving out, moving on, getting a new job, wife, husband, partner.-anything new, any kind of change they felt would make a difference. The sharpe sound of someone screaming from one of the towers' rooftop brought them out of their musings. All looked up, toward the building top.

You should write your last blog including "the day started with" (again) and react to the scene above.  Your final blog should concluded your character but realizing that things have a way of repeating themselves. 

Due May 1st

Post #8 - Who's in the Mirror?

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• Who’s in the Mirror?
  
  
  In the early days of March, as the sun sunk below the horizon, a snowstorm blew into town. The wind is a cold slap in the face and leaving home is an impossible feat. As the wind moans on, the townspeople sink into a blissfullly heavy sleep.
  
  
  Only Halle Maze is awake. As she leans against her window, she sees a lone man with spiky silver hair walking into town. Despite the heaviness of the snow, she is able to make out his red eyes, the only color in the night.
  
  
  Unbeknownst to Halle, the man was Ether Maitland, the twin brother to Edgar Maitland, owner of the West tower, and unbeknownst to everyone but poor dead Mr. Evans, Edgar had tried  to kill his brother. The blood stains on the banks of the river had never fully dried.
  
  
  After Halle had finally fallen asleep, Ether entered the courtyard between the two towers, where he knew he would find his brother Edgar. The stillness was broken when fist met face.
  A great and numb silence fell over the town.
  
  
  In the morning, the shrieks of children discovering the snow pierced the air, breaking the silence that had fallen over night.
  As Lee Ocean was preparing to leave for work, he glanced in the mirror, only to see Mr. Evans staring back at him, his accusing eyes milky white and his blue lips stretched in an unnatural smile.

Due date: March 15th

Post #7 - Seven deadly Sins

• Spring has just sprung, and some flowers are budding and braving the cold. The sunrise stretches across the sky in brilliant shades of pink and orange.
  • ClaraJean Mallory, Frederik Hanky, Bess Prescott, Jamie Lewis, Herman Marshall, Annabeth Willis, and Linh Luong are all outside at 7:00 as the sun is rising. At exactly 7:00, they all become afflicted by their respective deadly sins. Victor Marx is also outside, on the roof of the Maitland. As the other characters watch the sunrise, Jack Stars, who is there, tells Victor to focus on the stars that are fading away. Instead of being overcome by a sin, he, for the first time in his life as handyman, feels like his problems have been solved.
  • Ester Backhaus is acting strange. For the first time since anyone can remember, she isn't sitting outside. (She is harboring Ether.) Someone placed "the envelope" on her porch steps.
  
  
  • Poor Jose, who works at the Corner Tavern as a bartender, now knows someone is trying to frame him.
  • Clearly the mystery man is Ether.
  • Characters suffering from sins:
  • ClaraJean Mallory: Prideful
  • Frederik Hanky: Envy
  • Bess Prescott: Wrath
  • Jamie Lewis: Greed
  • Herman Marshall: Sloth
  • Annabeth Willis: Gluttony
  • Linh Luong: Lust
  • Characters not suffering from sins:
  • Focus on your character’s literal or symbolic connection to either darkness or light.
  About the murder:

  Nik – finds the murder weapon 

  Marie – Ether is involved
  Hallie -knows the man that in was in the picture in the envelope- Mr. Evans was tied to a chair.  He doesn’t look happy.
  Lee – someone is trying to frame Jose, envelope of his financial records and the picture of Mr. Evans.
  Owen – Sayori Fuji and the girl scouts were working with Edgar (Sayori seems surreal, what does she know?)
  Bess – cannot have his baby - doesn't fit in any storyline and you've got to be mad about something.
  Bradley – give-up the knife wants to put the knife in on someone’s doorstep or someplace. (The crazy cat lady who watches everyone everyday)
  Mei – finds the hidden blue van - (what clue is found? - Is it Ether's van?)
  Annabeth – has the autopsy and Mr. Evans had old scars on his back. (What is the cause of death?)
  Kit – has a polaroid – (is it the picture he secretly took of Ether/Edgar scene?)

  Starr – Lamar tells you something important about Ether and Edger’s relationship. Go to the dinner or something with Lamar.

  Jamie – You get a glimpse of HIM, Ether, somewhere and find the need to keep searching for him. Maybe parking the blue van and seeing him walking away.

  Vanyan – need to write your posts.

  Yorick – mystery man runs into this person and says something.

  Linh – detective investigating back scratches on Evans.

  
  

  Happy ending:

  Annabeth

  Nik

  Bradley

  Bess

  Herman

  Owen

  Clarajean

  Lee O. – “I guess”

  Hallie

  Fredrick H

  
  

  
  

  Could go either way:

  Kit

  Vanyan

  Mei

  Amanda

  Ishmeal –doesn’t want either

  Jamie

  Linh

  
  

  Unhappy Ending:

  Marshal

  Daniel – want to be “the one” who dies at the end – starting the cycle again

  Fredrieh

  Starr

  Marie – who is already dead, right?

  Chris B

  
  

  Ether’s death:

  By either not caring or not wanting his demise, Ether lives!!!

  How about he kills his brother at the end? Along with…

  
  

  
  

  
  
• Post due Feb. 26th

Post #6 - The Past never really forgets

•  A thick fog rolled into the city in the middle of the night, so only alarm clocks indicated that morning had arrived. The fog seeped through windows, making it nearly impossible to see. The newspaper printer, Norman, accidentally picked up the edition from the archive box because he could not see clearly, so there were now hundreds of reprints from the paper published six years ago today, 01/11/2013.

   The paper was delivered, and the residents of the Maitland were transported back to their lives from six years prior, a day marked by the same severe fog. The newspaper headline was a story about the murder of Ether Maitland, Edgar Maitland’s brother. Some of the residents were paranoid about the unsolved crime.

   Marie was alive again, and she spent the day with her old friends. Herman enjoyed the day with his wife, and Owen spent time with his sister before she became famous. Starr talked to Mr. Evans, her only friend, and they discuss his anxiety that something bad will happen, as he suspected that Edgar Maitland killed his brother.  

   The rumors about Ether’s death were intense. Any time the residents passed one another in the halls, they whispered about the latest findings.

   All of the townspeople explore something important from their past that happened six years ago.

   As the day drew to a close, the fog cleared and the constellations came into clear view, undisturbed by the normal light pollution.

   The next day, everything returned to the present.

  
  

  
  

  
  

Due date February 11th, by class time. You should include the following:

1)The fog and how it is changing your perspective for the day.

2) The event(s) rom six years ago that shaped you today. You can be either implicit or explicit about how it shapes you.

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Post #5 - Starry, Starry Night

• The night was surprisingly clear of clouds and full of stars. Everyone was outside, on the roof of The Maitland, or gazing out of the window. Suddenly, a shooting star darts across the sky, just like in the movies. It was big and bright, and lit up the whole sky in an instant. Everyone looked up and wished, hoping that their wish would come true in the future. It was a glimmer of hope, since the death of Mr. Evans was still taking a toll on the people.
  Veronica sat on the sidewalk (she was a runaway after all) and was the only one who didn’t wish for anything. She knew a thing or two about being careful about what you wish for. Linh, still frazzled by the new knowledge of Mr. Evans’ scars from years ago, couldn’t leave her house. She had too much information from the autopsy to look over. Yorick and Frederick, even though they were nowhere close to each other, were both outside looking up, when they suddenly saw the same, familiar figure walking in the dark of the night.

Due date: January 28th, by class time. You should include the following: 1) explicitly state a wish--however big or small-- that will come to fruition in blog post #11. 2) Should mention the star in someway. Metaphorically or literally, (in your mind, on TV, in the sky, etc. )

Post #4 - Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

     Two days after Mr. Evan's funeral, the first snow arrived.  Because of the circumstances, the funeral was a bit later than most had expected.   Many had attended the service, but most seemed a bit nervous.  There were rumors of a "mystery man" around the neighborhood. The police blotter reported that Marshal Meacher was assaulted and couldn't identify his attacker and a Mr. Hanky reported a break-in. Von Leitmeritz hadn't been seen in a week after a scuffle outside his bar.
     Lamar was getting weary of people being afraid to say anything.  The diner meeting proved pointless. He sat once again in the diner with his coffee and donuts scribbling on a note pad.
     "Everyone is too frightened, too weird, or just chicken." he mumbled to himself.  "We know from the autopsy that he died from a puncture wound to the stomach. But the weapon has yet to be found." He looked-up, took another sip of coffee, then circled "the mystery man" he had written on the side of the page.
     "Mr. Hanky had a mask in his possession and officer Luong reported that an anonymous source saw Mr. Evans with a man in a mask."

      On the roof of West tower of the Maitland the blue lantern lights that hung from the pergolas sparkled on the surface of the misty, heated pool. Mei was about to meet Marie. She had a message for her.   Mei, with ear buds on and waving around the spectrometer, was humming to a song when she stopped and saw words being written.   Marie was somehow writing the words "Time ran out" several times in the snow around the edge of the heated pool.

Due date Dec. 23rd.

Post #3 - “There is no safety this side of the grave”

They all sat in the round booth at the back of Alice's 24 hour diner at 7PM. The diner usually was the host for late night customers, so this time was fairly quiet.  Each looked at the other with some discomfort, but mostly curiosity. Herman, Clara Jean, Daniel, Bess, Star, Halle, and Annabeth all sat looking at Lamar who pulled-up two chairs, one for Herman, who couldn't sit in the booth, and one for himself.

"Now," Lamar said definitively, "You all have something from Mr. Evans. Something you've found, something he told you, or something you saw. We are here tonight to try and put the pieces together."

He looked around at each of them. They looked at each other.  Alice brought coffee, tea and sodas for the table. "What else you need?"

Lamar said, "We're good right now, thanks, Alice." He looked back at the group. "Who's going to start?"

Across the street Nik was starting his shift at the bar.  He had noticed some odd venders arriving with deliveries that only Leit could sign for.  Nik thought he saw a guitar in his office. "Strange," he thought, "what does he want with a guitar?"

Meanwhile, Jamie was canvassing the area and turning odd corners, sides of buildings or other odd spaces into art. He was turning the neighborhood into his own canvas.

Vanyan and Linh sat together in an office at the police station.  Each looking at the other. Neither really had a clue about where to start with Evan's murder, but they had to start somewhere.

Due date: Friday Nov. 30th by the beginning of class. You must have a dialogue with someone. Either another character, a common character, or a character that becomes a common character.