Girl Rattled

One story is written and it inspires another which in turn inspires another which in turn inspires another and this and how the Tales of the Bajazid are formed. From the inspirational explosion that was "Child of the Earth" came the concept of the Circle of Midnight Black and subsequently that which took place Outside the Circle of Midnight Black. It is that outside development that is of concern here for I have not yet further progressed inside that Circle.

In "There is Clearly Something Amiss", a story whose origin appeared at the same time the development concept for "Child of the Earth" came about, there is mention of a massacre found early the second morning as the US Marshal's and the mine inspector are on their way in to Baird's Holler. I knew when I came up on this horror in that meadow that I was going to have to explain what happened. You don't just leave nearly two dozen bodies strewn through the grass with no explanation. I just needed to identify which party it was crossing that meadow I was going to relate and from which particular member of those parties this nightmare going to be viewed.

I also needed to actually determine what happened in that meadow that would leave such carnage. Truthfully, I had an idea. I was pretty sure I knew who was responsible for this and knowing this, I knew that I had the ability to go full crazy. With the knowledge of what waited, what was hunting the meadow that night, I had to isolate that POV and develop that person into someone the Reader feels for. Taking a tiny clue from "There is Clearly Something Amiss", something horrible discovered that morning, settled for me that decision. Always aim for the most heart wrenching, right?

Sara Jane Callow is a young bride, wed into a tight, extended family. The patriarch of the clan manages the smelter at the Mortenson Mine in the town of Baird's Holler. His two eldest sons, Sara Jane's husband one of them, work at the smelter with their father. Sara Jane's husband, Calvin, had two younger sisters and a younger brother as well ranging from 10 to 17. Also in the house was Calvin's grandparents and his older brother's wife. Sara Jane's mother has been welcomed into the family as well, the Callows being anything but callow (seriously, I was not intending that at all). Oh, and of course, we cannot forget the matriarch, Constance. That would probably not go over so well.

 

Sara Jane is a bystander in the events of the day, the day happening to be the very one which "Child of the Earth" begins. As news from the mine filters back to the Callow household, as the Callow men send word for the available women to come bringing bandages, Sara Jane is left with her husband's grandparents and her infant child to worry away their concerns. As the afternoon draws on, the family patriarch determines a rash course of action and sets the family in direct and immediate motion. They are to pack up everything dear into two wagons and they were leaving Baird's Holler this very afternoon. John Callow, a man unflappable, was clearly frightened of something and that was a distressful thing for Sara Jane to know. Something was clearly amiss. It his from here the world devolves and things get rather extreme. Let me just say this young woman does run and she does escape that terror raining down upon her family, but she is definitely rattled.

This story, "Girl Rattled", was finished on January 20 of 2020 at 4,933 words. It is part of the collection Outside the Circle of Midnight Black, taking place on the first of those five horrific days. It does run hard to pulp but that is a positive... the visuals are pretty great. I mean, you're gonna have that particular arching spray in your head for a bit, if I've done my job right.

One last thing before I go... I gotta talk about the title. The development of this story sprang in part from the realization of the title. Upon selection of the POV character and what I knew zuvembie could do... well, I had seen "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" not long before by the Coen Brothers. One of the shorts within is titled "The Gal Who Got Rattled". It is a rather beautiful little piece in its horrendous sadness and it is based loosely upon a 1901 story by a gentleman named Steward Edward White titled "The Girl Who Got Rattled". Now I haven't read this story though it is on my "to-read" list, but that doesn't really matter. I don't know how loose "The Gal Who Got Rattled" is based on "The Girl Who Got Rattled", but "Girl Rattled" is based just by that right there... and the fact that I have actual rattles in my story.

Tomorrow things get weird... finally.