Wash it all away
Afterword
5600 Words
This is the third story I have written for the Horror Story Smackdown competition. During this competition we are given eight images, and choose four of those images to base the story on. Each image I chose is on the right of each chapter or section of the story. We then have a week to write the story and submit it. This story came about during one of these marathon writing sessions.
Unfortunately, this story was a struggle from the start. I was drawn to the Naga, the idea that Nagas are protectors of springs and can manipulate the weather. I also liked the idea of the rain washing the world clean. I tend to lean towards environmentalist ideals... But I didn't want this story to be too much like "The Girl in the Forest." It would have been easy to write this as another dark fairy tale, but I didn't want to do the same thing twice. So with this one, I decided to go with a non-linear story line. Just to mix things up a bit.
Casey
Her reactions at the very beginning are based on what I read about snake venom. Symptoms can include fear, convulsions, rapid heart beat, nausea, confusion and weakness. It can depend on the snake, but considering it's a Naga, I'm taking creative liberties and saying he can control how his poison works.
Darren, Adam, Heathcliff, Jerry and the Professor.
Their deaths were caused by the Naga's control of water. He simply pulled their own fluids from their bodies into their lungs. So basically, they drowned in their own fluids.
Musical inspiration and other thoughts
The inspiration for this story was Aenema by Tool, which I listened to over and over again while struggling with the concept for this story while running all week. I considered writing the story from the perspective of an angry teen-aged girl, but I just couldn't. There is too much teen-aged angst on this site as it is. So instead, I forced my original concept of a Naga being discovered in India too work.
As usual, a big thank you to seeMISARCHIST for pushing me to finish this story when I was about to give up, helping me brainstorm and editing. Also, a big thank you to definitiondestiny for hanging in here with me through this competition.
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bittersweets
Short Storybit·ter·sweet: being at once bitter and sweet; especially: pleasant but including or marked by elements of suffering or regret. A collection of short stories I've written since joining Wattpad for various contests, challenges, and publications. Thes...
