Things I Thought My Mother Said

October 6, 2018 by Randal Eldon Greene in Dialogues, Personal and tagged dialogue series, Dialogues, religion, Slider, Things I Thought My Mother Said. | Leave a comment

Things I Though My Mother Said

This week’s dialogue is “Things I Thought My Mother Said,” which is about the relationship a girl has to painful memories of her mother. (Gee, I’m starting to see a pattern here). This story twists the issues explored in “Tarnished Time” in a new direction. I’ll let you all know when it gets published. You can find more info on my dialogue writing challenge here.

This week in my life I:

did a lot housework I’d been putting off, including filing paperwork that piled up while the office was in transition.
finished shelves my books. Yes, my library is completely put together! With two new bookshelves that I helped my lovely put together, we now have a fantastic looking home library where the lion’s share of our books can live.
met a pastor who’s also an author. He was doing a street survey, which I’m sure was an evangelistic tactic. Our conversation would have continued on a little further had not a homeless man started cursing at the priest and his crew, paranoid that they were going to get him in trouble, and also crying because he didn’t know where he was going to stay (my wife and I had given the homeless guy a dollar earlier, as he need 75 cents more to afford a meal). I gave the priest my business card, so hopefully we can continue our conversation about the meaning and purpose of life over email.

Vorchaoskampf

June 23, 2018 by Randal Eldon Greene in Dialogues, Fiction and tagged dialogue series, Dialogues, Fiction, mythology, religion, Slider, Vorchaoskampf | Leave a comment

What is the Chaoskampf? And what came before (vor) it?

Great questions!

The Chaoskampf is a term given to a mythological battle between a deity and a serpent or dragon. This archetypal story is found in mythologies all over the world, from Norse to Greek, from Judaism to Egyptian religion, and beyond.

My story takes place just slightly before the fight. Watch this amazing video about how leviathan fits into mythologies across the world and then go here to find which dialogues are published and free to read online. You can also keep updated via Medium.

“Destruction of Leviathan,” Gustave Doré

The Bat-Cat God and Other Self-Reproachments

June 16, 2018 by Randal Eldon Greene in Dialogues and tagged Bat-Cat, dialogue series, Dialogues, Fiction, religion, Slider | 1 Comment

Bookworms, have you ever had a regret? Have you ever regretted your constant regrets? Well, I’ve written a story for you. It’s called The Bat-Cat God and Other Self-Reproachments, and it’s a part of my dialogue series.

Read all of Randal’s available dialogues by following this link to his Medium series.

Insults Two by Two

June 2, 2018 by Randal Eldon Greene in Dialogues, Fiction and tagged dialogue series, Dialogues, Fiction, Insults Two by Two, medium, politics, religion, short story, Slider | 1 Comment

This story comes from two places: a childhood that had it’s fair share of insults slung at me and from the feelings of intense anger that have awoken in me since November 2016.

You can see the first place reflected in some of the lesser, totally repeatable insults (e.g., poopy pants). Other, more hurtful insults, may have been directed at friends or myself. Some possibly (and shamefully) may have been said by me (e.g., inbred hick).

You can see that these characters’ insults (if the insults have relation to the election) reflect a perceived entitlement to forgo politeness or political correctness some hateful homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, misogynistic, and racist individuals have displayed in their words and actions since a conman conned our nation.

These insults—from name-calling to blatant attacks on our environment and education—have made me angry. Stressed. Tribal at times.

But this story also has two characters who have something different to say than a comeback. Or maybe they say the most effective comebacks of all. I am too angry at times to feel such a non-confrontational reaction is the right reaction. After all, I’m hurt. Friends are hurt. Good people I won’t ever meet in person are hurt. And I feel dismayed and angry. And I want to do something about it. I want, in fact, to lash out.

Yet, I know that I want to stop feeling this way — angry and without control — every single time another insult comes along from this administration or its base. Instead, I want to learn to to feel a different way. Hurt, yes. I’ll always hurt, and I flee from temptations of apathy and lassitude. I want to learn to be in control, to not feel enraged. I want my reaction to be modeled on something better than the forces that are tearing at the fragile seams of our democracy. I want to find a way toward peace — if not outside myself then inside, where it must start, where it most counts.

Content Warning:
When you get a chance to see this story, just note it does use explicit and abusive language.

When it comes out in the future, I suggest you just skip Insults Two by Two if you feel the trigger warning pertains to you.

Read featured dialogues and links to available dialogues on Randal’s Medium series.

Image source: Pixabay (free for commercial use, no attribution required).

Randal Eldon Greene

Novelist & Short Story Author. Bookworm & Logophile.

Tag Archives: religion