Fred Thread 1

Chatterbox: Crowd Sorcery

Fred Thread 1

Fred Thread 1

One way I develop a plot for a story is by asking myself intriguing questions that help me fully imagine my characters and their world. Your creative thinking about the questions I’ll post from time to time will spur our thoughts in new and surprising directions as we adventure together down the road toward a finished story.

Some of my Fred Threads might focus on characters you’ve created on the other threads, to encourage you to expand on a good idea. And, in time, I will be posting parts of my draft of the Cricket story for your comments.

But for my first Fred Thread, here’s a question to get us started:

There's an abandoned road, overgrown by weeds, leading straight out of town to the north. Why is it there? Where did it once lead? Why is it abandoned? What's at the end of it now?

 

submitted by Fred Durbin
(April 23, 2014 - 10:13 am)

back to the Crowd Sorcery

At the end of the path stands a door covered in ivy. Behind the door stands an ancient castle. A young German boy once lived near the castle. One day he went on a walk and saw bricks. He ran towards it and it got closer and closer but he still saw it at the same distance from his house. He was running as fast as he could. The young boy tripped over a rock and cut himself quite badly with a thorn. He was dying of thirst and hunger but he heard a voice whispering "just go on and you will be proud once you get to your destination." So he kept on running. He had been running for over an hour, and finally found a little pond. He drank from the pond and kept on running. At an old tree, he stopped and began to cry. He was quite far from home and was very hungry. He was sitting against an apple tree. He ate quite a few apples and fell asleep. When he woke up, he was confused. "Wasn't I sitting against the old apple tree?" He whispered to himself. Now he was sitting against a large, very large suit of armor. As he stood up he was frightened by a loud crash. It was night and it began to rain. The young boy saw a pile of wood. He built a door in front of the entrance of the castle. He went under covers. "I'll never see my parents again" he cried to himself. "Why am I so stupid to run away by myself." The boy was almost 10 years old and had been home schooled by his father. 

He slowly fell asleep. When he woke up he had new clothes on. It looked like he was a prince! He looked around for the door but didn't see a thing. He saw burnt wood and thought it must have been struck by lightning. "Oh no, what will I do? I can't see my home and there is only... Wait a section isn't that the apple tree and the pond? But, what? They followed me?"

Yes, indeed they did. It was a beauiful place, clear, clean and filled with nature!

The young boy grew, made friends with animals, drank from the pond and he forgot all about his family. Occasionally he saw some people but hid. He slept against the apple tree hand had never been happier! The boy was no longer small. He was 18 years old.

One night it began to thunder. He slept on the apple tree always under covers. When the boy woke up, he was sitting against the apple tree. "Where am I? Oh no!" He could no longer see the castle, he could only see a door like the on he had made when he was a boy. He no longer could see the pond either. He once again was wearing normal clothes. He was very short. "Wait, what happend? I, I'm a kid again! What?!" Indeed he was. And he was on the same path he had followed when he had left home! But this time he could see his home. He saw is father crying.

He quickly ran to his father and hugged him like he had never hugged anyone before! His father looked down at him and was shocked! He hugged his son as tight as he could.

"I promise that I will never leave home again," said the boy.

That evening he told his family all about his adventure.

Now the boys house is gone, but the door will always stand where it is.

(I decided to turn him back to a little boy because the fun of writing, you can do whatever you want, that is what fantasy is!)

submitted by Chiara R., age 11, Portland OR.
(July 9, 2014 - 7:58 am)

The road was once a trade route that merchants used to quickly travel to the village of Caer Graffin. It was the quickest route, but also the most dangerous. It lead through a mountain pass between the two tallest peaks in the land, but boulders teetering on the edge of their cliffs threatened to flatten anyone who walked by. Eventually, two giant boulders tumbled from the cliffs and onto the path, blocking it forever.

Legend says that where the path once was is now a safe haven for magical creatures of all kind, thriving in secret until someone dared to move the boulders and venture onto the path once more.

submitted by John E, age 12, New York
(July 9, 2014 - 10:26 am)

This road used to be a merchant's road to trade goods on. But then the king outlawed trade, so they had to stop using the road. Now it leads to a big empty pier with a few ships hanging around. If you go past there, you will find a mirror that will show you one person, but you can only look into it once. Otherwise it will just be a regular mirror.

submitted by S.E.
(August 1, 2014 - 6:03 am)

The road led to a great kigdom, there used to be caravans and carriges galore! Royalty often travled along it, in fact it was called Splendor road from its magnificence the  tiles where copper shining everlasting with a spell so it would not rust. After the kingdom fell no one wanted to be reminded, the fine road now lais in ruins dwelling on its former glory wishing to be what it once was. Now only scavengers, rabbits, and the occasional deer follow this road to see the former glory of this great kingdom. Theives pick over the remains to find a stray coin, a bit of gold or copper, how did this happen to the lovley road?

submitted by Forrest, age time began, The road, since
(August 3, 2014 - 11:11 am)

The abandoned road leads to the road less traveled but so few people go there that the weeds covered the way and insect-people have taken over the path. Nobody wants to go where insects that are the size of people are so the road is abandoned. The insect people used to be human but a couple of years ago a group of people failed the test given to enter paradise and got turned into insects. Eventually the insects spawned more insect-people and soon there were thousands. The insect-people were content with being insect-people and lived their lives. The path is still there but nobody has ever gotten to paradise.

submitted by Sabine W., age 9, Los Angeles, CA
(September 5, 2014 - 10:33 pm)

At first it was a path which only the animals used. Then a town sprouted there, and it tried to use the road, but it was . . . strange.

First it suddenly a huge, thick fog that never lifted descended over the road, even though they were nowhere near the sea. Then the villagers began to see . . . things . . . on the road. White panthers. Silver foxes. Golden deer. Black wolves the size of horses. Winged serpents and shadowy things that went thump ! in the night. Then they found that the weeds growing there were made of some strange , luminous metal. One girl ventured in. She returned, 30 years later, aged twice as much as she should have been, with gray hair and a bent back. She was clearly ill in the mind and after three days she subcummbed to madness, but not before she told them her story .

 

submitted by Indigo K.
(September 6, 2014 - 8:35 pm)

I doubt anybody's still looking at these because I found it pretty late, but I just really wanted to contribute my idea.

Have you ever been there? To the boundary, I mean. Not the one to the South. That one leads to another town, to another city. To a place. I mean up North, where the wind howls along to the sound of lonely wolves, where Jack Frost keeps his frozen domain, ruling over any small creatures unfortunate enough to venture there. I doubt you've been there, you've probably never even seen it. That's good, I guess. Our kind isn't exactly... welcome there. After all, there used to be magic everywhere. In fact, you couldn't walk to blocks without nearly being turned into a newt. But we abused it. That's the problem with humans, we're too greedy. We think everything belongs to us. So I guess they decided to take it away. Who's they? I don't know... I guess it's complicated. But the point is, they left, and they took the magic with them. And they went there. There, where the gnarled old oak tree waits, a story entwined in every branch. There, where the only growth belongs to twisted weeds, blocking the path of curious travelers. There, where the road leads. I'm not even sure it leads anywhere, at least not anywhere we can go. But wherever it goes, that's where the magic is. You've probably never been there, to the boundary. To the end of the Earth. I went. Once. I hope I never have to go there again.
submitted by The Ninja, age 13, Everywhere
(November 6, 2014 - 6:46 pm)

It is facing north because the road used to lead to the plateau kingdom of ice and snow, polar bears and reindeer and to the ruined city and fortress of Tokda, where the Toma lived. It was the best place to find thick animal skins and other wonderful things. The road is abandoned because the Ganas savages attacked Tokda, carried away all it people fled the plateau and went to the lower lands. All that remains are the broken road and the ruins of the once beautiful city. 

submitted by Lyra T., age 11, Lubbock TX
(November 6, 2014 - 9:06 pm)

The road leads to a wall. The wall, at first glance, is made of bricks. Look again, and you will notice that they are books that tell of the past, present, and future. All these books are yours, if only you can figure out how to pull them away from the enchanted wall of books.

submitted by Peace L., age 12, California
(July 10, 2015 - 6:43 pm)
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