Volume 1
Elliot Prototype is an award winning author known all over the world. His novel, “Don’t forget where the Sun sets”, has been picked for the Circle of Excellence award, Gladiator’s platinum medal, The Newell/Barbour border of review, Miulli’s Palm award, among many others. To say the least, this novel was nothing short of amazing. And the critics wanted to find what was hiding inside this amazing writer. He entered the writing scene with such a storm, no one knew what to do with this mysterious character. Elliot would not attend any traditional sort of book signing and he would refuse interviews to all,…. accepting his favorite critic Billy K. So the world would be forced to sift through what Billy and Elliot talked about. And these conversations rarely had to do with the writing of Prototype. He was far more interested in…..
Volume 2
He was far more interested in… the way people viewed him. All he talked about, for quite some time, was the way the public viewed him in relation to his book. Elliot just loved the way humans would stereotype him, without any thought what so ever. So he would just talk endlessly about the beauty of baseball, music, history,….anything but the characters or story of his book. All he would say about his novel was that he “created some pretty F’ed up guys, and they relate to me, baseball, music, history,….”.
The public wanted these “guys” to be real so very badly, but he would have nothing of it. Elliot spoke to the world, and the world wanted more. He touched so many without anything even close to that intention. He just wanted to disappear from their eyes. But those characters always had a enormous hold on the young Elliot. He just didn’t want to admit it. They were all him. And apparently the world as well. The grip kept growing stronger.
But his life was sent in a different direction…..
Volume 3
She was such an amazing woman! Her very presence in the room would give him chills ever since the first time he met her. This time came at a small theater down by the waterfront. She was apart of the company who was doing a small run in the room. As soon as he saw her, his eyes never strayed. She had taken him away from his crazy existence. Billy K had told him this show would change his life. And boy was he right!
She had never read his book, and had only heard his name in passing. This he loved. So many have been praising him for things he felt he didn’t deserve. And now this could be real.
Her love of the world, people, life, and……everything was so fantastic to him… She loved to dance. Her movements were all so fluid and magical. Her conversations were exhilarating. He would tell her over and over again, “You are a magician to me”. The clothes she wore would always show off her beautiful hips and back. Making him beg to see more. Her curly dark hair always hit her shoulders just how he loved. When she would lay next to him, he could just lay in her hair all day long smelling its beautiful scent. She pushed herself against him just how he liked. Kissed him with passion. She pushed him to places he never expected.
Dancing at the dinner theater. Walking the streets feeding the homeless. Talking sports with her father, then attending his funeral. Writing for the memorial. Meditating. Jogging. Camping on the beach. Jazz. Water……..He was always scared of water. But she calmed his fears.
She was his love.
She changed his life…
Volume 4
Elliot loved the night time! He always felt the most alive in the depths of darkness. His creative mind always worked harder when he was looking out into the black. Whiffs of smoke up into the darkness, headlights changing the features of the scape, the hum of the city, the pungent smells, and the people. The people and the darkness were always more on the edge the deeper you went. But the pendulum would always swing back to the dawn.
The dawn brought even more. That’s when the city started crashing into itself. People going to work, ants gathering food, getting breakfast, take out the trash, spiders building a web, drink coffee, run, yell…… To him, this all lead back to the night. “We all started there”. Imagination is powerful.
He often would sit in the middle of the city, looking at the 5 stars he could see. Thinking of his family trips deep into the mountains, he missed the billions of stars he watched in the Milky Way. Delphinios was his favorite constellation. The moon would take hours of watching. And the rest of the world would just be sitting there beyond sight, never knowing…
There was always so much wonder in that darkness, and you never know what will come out on the other side. But something will be waiting…
Volume 5
He loved the feel of it on his finger tips. The musty smell it brought with it. He loved looking at the road map in front of him. The next world was right there! He could see it….. He loved the rhythm of it. The sound would remind him of the trains he used to jump many years ago, with the constant beating of metal. The past could find its way right into the now, and the future was always just one stroke away. There were no mistakes. Just a new beginning. He could always taste the next idea brewing as he ripped the paper from it’s grasp. Each bell he heard would send another dose somewhere deep inside his brain. And he would continue typing…ding…ding……ding………..ding…….
So long ago…
Volume 6
A single white rose could always be found hanging in the corner of his apartment.
It was everything.
Volume 7
Elliot loves to ride his motorcycle. There’s this control you have when sitting there as one with a huge machine, pounding underneath. You have to trust that nothing will go wrong at just the wrong moment. Hard for some,… but not for Elliot. You have to trust that the other vehicles around are not going to make the decision that would send you scraping across the ground. You have to trust you are going to avoid that situation at all costs. Looking into the future, knowing what the minds of the drivers are thinking all around. And then you direct yourself away from those actions, already previewed. It’s exhilarating!
But you can’t forget about the wind blowing across your entire body. A Tornado. A Hurricane. Speed… but you are solid, just floating above everything. You can lean hard into a turn and,!!!! You are still floating inside that tornado on the other side. The sounds are constant. The blowing creates this odd sense of quiet. You feel as if you are deaf. It gives the chance to think about anything and everything. The chance to sing. To scream. To write. This is something allot of people miss in life.
Then, you can put this all together with your crew! Elliot spent much of his past, riding his old Honda with his gang, “The Lords of Hell”. Let’s be honest, there was nothing hellish about this crew. They just loved to be around each other. They would just go out and ride the back roads, eat oysters, drink beers, and just figure out where they stood in life. Elliot loved this. But he certainly stood somewhere else with his life. Very far from where his boys used to ride.
That was long ago…
He found another to ride with…She felt magical.
Volume 8
When Elliot was so very young, he loved more than anything to go out into the neighborhood with his good friend Jacob. They were the closest two young boys could be. He lived right across the alley from Elliot. And boy did that alley see some amazing worlds unfold. For hours upon hours, those two would create anything from an alien journey to earth, to ninja’s fighting off the evil forces of pirates, to cowboys shooting down lawless gunmen. They would build treehouse’s out of debris left behind
in vacant lots, and climb to the roofs of nearby buildings, wishing they could fly off to the stars (or at least the building next door).
They would only let in a precious few of the neighborhood kids. And they would shun them aside if their “Club” rules were not followed. This created some amazing Wars!!! Snowballs, swords, pinecones, pooh berries, etc…. Things would be flying all over the place. Armies of Big wheels would be roaring up and down the Alley, and into the respective safe zones. What a life! Jacob and Elliot.
There were scraped elbows, broken arms, rusty nails, fist fights, snake bites, tears, anger, groundings, broken windows, and so many other wonderfully awful things. But those two would prevail through it all.
Jacob’s parents would take them out into the wilderness, and encourage the minds of these two younglings. Showing them the maps of the stars, where to find the best berries, the tadpoles swimming in the stream, or the magic of geology. It didn’t matter. It all fostered the creativity of Elliot. He loved the experience with all his heart. And he and Jacob together, creating, was the most important part.
Arm in arm, still one of his favorite photographs…
His best friend, and first love.
Volume 9
Elliot often had restless, sleepless nights. His mind wouldn’t stop spinning circles around itself. There was so much to watch spin….”keep control Elliot. Just keep control. Dawn is coming soon”.