October 5th Assignment - Freestyle.

Plot:

João: Needs three 'problems' in the 3 parts (like three novellas):

1. Having fun traveling Portugal looking for vampires? A lark. But what is he fleeing from or towards? At the end he meets a vampire... not quite what he thought it would be. So... why does he go? Words of his grandmother? His Portuguese roots? Why is 'having fun' and 'freedom' so important. His naivety is challenged; his innocence shattered.

2. Now that he has met a vampire he sees them everywhere... and they see him. Around the world he goes trying to flee/find. He lives in the moment... with eternity tugging at him both ways. He becomes more compassionate. A black/white world tainted in spent blood becomes multi-colored with the elixir of life.

3. He goes back to Portugal to meet folks who helped him along the way. Surprised that some/many/all were vampires? He goes back to Miranda de l Douro to find out the secrets (family and culture) kept from him and most others. This is a 'treasure hunt' ...and dangerous. In the end, compassion wins over mere curiosity and he returns to Évora.

Characters:

Known from their personalities, their manner of speech. Personal descriptions (that would ID them) avoided (it's not wise to know a vampire, worse to piss them off). Respect and holding secrets are keys to survival, so all characters (unless they aren't V&A or are trying to distract, must show these virtues to the reader). Also, by avoiding overly-racial characteristics the characters could be most anyone/everyone. That too is key to the story.

João: young, 20, naive, innocent, attracted to pretty things, favorite color is red (I kid you not; I already asked). To be based on a friend of mine. Fictionalized of course (like a memoir). His motivations and point of view is key, especially in the first part.

Thoom: ancient vampire he meets before leaving.
Filipa: fangless before she became queen of Portugal over 500 years ago. Met in Lagos.
Nelson: guides him to an 'old' friend... in Évora. One of the V&As (Vampires and Allies).
Vamps or Allies need to be conjured for Sinta/Nazaré, Alcobaça, Porto (maybe Nuno), Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, Tui/Valença, Tomar (Part 2?), Tavira, Sagres/Salema, Coimbra.

2nd part characters? I've met many people around the world and will invent a few.

3rd part? João will need to find someone in Miranda de l Douro to help him. Who?

Does João have friends or acquaintances? This is not Harry Potter nor Twilight. Characters are neither magical nor do they twinkle at twilight. The vampires have fangs and a need for iron best found in blood. Their allies respect them, hide them when necessary. Like all PoC (people of color... in this case NONE) they are wary for good reason.

In answer to this question I need to ask: Part 1 may have some family and quirky acquaintances (João has an attraction to quirky... lucky him!). Part 2 is probably more acquaintances and fellow V&As who come to his 'rescue'. Part 3... more sinister. Family issues loom... but he desperately needs someone he can trust.

Setting:

1. Based on my trips to Portugal and numerous notes. A travel log. Need to incorporate the senses:

Sight: red carnations in Lisbon, flowering weeds in cracks, red poppies, umbrellas at the beach, fish market.
Sound: sea cliffs of Sagres (pounding), markets and crowded trollies and streets (cacophony), gulls, a parade of children, o fado.
Taste: fish, salted fish, seafood, salt. Pastries, sweet and salgados (salty/savory).
Touch: beds, train seats, bus seats (soft and hard), stone (rough), sand (gritty), tiles (smooth), cobbles (slippery).
Smell: rotting fish, old dusty buildings, foods (like lamprey), booze and urine (not so bad as other places).

Each story/chapter must include the senses even though it is character driven.

I have thousands of pictures from two trips to remind me.

MISC:

A vida ten mais encanto... na hora de despedida (Life enchants at the hour of goodbyes) based on fado of Coimbra.
Sex... whether to include or not. Americans are more prudish than the Portuguese...
"Vampires don't live in Evora... they go there to die".
Bittersweet. Part 1: more sweet. 2. more bitter. 3. most bitter and most sweet.
What is the sound of the color red? Live pulsing through plumbing... new or ancient, tunneling through the soul.
All humans have souls, vamps included. It's a blood disease, not a disease of the heart.
Wailing of the fado (the sailors gone and lost to sea); triumph of the color red (the leftists); the odor of dried blood lingering over the memory of what's preserved in salt; the contrasts of rough and smooth.

Poems:

A verse from the epilogue:

he waits for a rose that never wrinkles,
a smile that shows no fangs,
through ages that pass as if a season,
to bring beauty to staunch your pain.

A lament (maybe from his grandmother):

I could tell you, João.
I could tell you...
how my heart goes limp,
how red darkens to black,
how this light goes out.
Too soon, João, too soon.
Yet not too soon to avoid the pain.
I pray that your days of come-what-may
will linger like red berries
soft in your mouth
that bitter and sweet conmingle
to teach you what Life's all about.


This should meet the requirements of the assignment and the bonus.

© Kåre Enga