Fiction Writing II

What is this dog looking at outside the window?
(http://freelance-writing.lovetoknow.com/Slideshow:Free_Writing_Prompts~6)

Sharpening one's senses has been known that even the sixth sense would be so great that the word supernatural has to be used to understand it. The six sense is commonly reffered to Extrasensory Perception or ESP for short. ESP involves reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind. ESP is often tested by Zener Cards.

There as been numerous ghost stories about animals having higher abilities to sense supernatural beings. However,there is no solid proof that ESP exists. And so, there are scientists who study paranormal psychic phenomena and they are known as the parapsychologists.

Ambitious they were, it was hard for them to get aprroval for human subjects, so instead animals
like dogs and cats participated in their tests and experiments.

They were genetically modified, bio-weapons were their first aim. ESP allow one to have physcic abilities, like abilities to control things from a distance, creating flames. Selling it off to the national army would increase their fundings.

However, only one of the many dogs passed the test with Zener cards. The problem did not lie with the number, but the ability. It was the one and only ability that has no war or military potential. It was, the ability to sense and see the dead.

But of course, this is just an hypothesis that they came to after trying to evoke its ESP countless times, but this dog just runs to the window every time. Every time at night, it became more frequent. It barks, but no one could be found. The most interesting thing is that, everytime it barks there is always no one out there on the street.

What the dog looks at remains a question? Can it really see what other's can't?

Fiction Writing

Write a story about the Earth's destruction, about how it was destroyed (optional), why it was destroyed (optional), what happens after the destruction (optional), who survived the destruction (optional), their reaction (optional), what happens after.
( http://www.writing.com/main/handler/item_id/920368-Fiction-Prompts)

This is not a myth, nor it is a legend. Neither is this a story told around the campfire. This is an undeniable Truth.

It is known that, there are three realms in total, Heaven, Earth and of course Hell. However, we are unable to judge who is good or evil, for he who is' good' is evil in the eyes of a ' evil'.

It is also known that Earth does not belong to anyone, not humans, not the' angels' nor the' devils'. For it is known that due to reasons they could not co-exist, the took turns to inhabit Earth. But of course, none of you has experienced this. It is because the first cycle has yet to come but it is near for us who lives in the the future, this future of yours.

The ' Devils' are the next to inhabit Earth, but of course, the human race are unaware. There are few who know of this, but from my grandfather who practices what many would know as witch craft, I became one of the very few that knows of this truth.

Since, most humans do not know about the cycle, and will not accept this laying down. The devils have decided to launch an 'Armageddon'. So that their existence would be made known.

Soon, the day came. Angels were not able to help us to avoid causing more tension as it was ' right' for the devils to invade. The element of surprise was with the Devils. Earth is now in a bad shape. Humans that Devils know are different know, us Humans have been constantly evolving ever since they were created. War technology is so advance that we humans are actually " on par". But both suffered great casualties. The war dragged on, so much that even Humans found a pathway that links to hell. Nuclear weapons were sent in at once. The devils soon realised that it was hopeless due to mankind's rapid evolution. Technology of mankind even ' repaired' Earth as if it was done by God.

After surviving ordeals after ordeals, mankind evolves and strive for more power. But with more power, Mankind grew greedy...

Poem Analysis( RAINBOW DEATH)

Rainbow Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.
Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

Hubert Wilson


Point of view
The speaker was a soldier fighting in the Vietnam War. He was also a victim of Agent Orange and poor conditions during wartime. He only felt the effects of the toxins many years after the war and eventually he was immobilized and decided to write. Therefore, his perspective may be a bit extreme and negative because he had gone through the turmoil of war and it changed his psychological aspect of life differently.

Situation and Setting

Tension is created through the punctuation marks used. He started to use exclamation marks and question marks to emphasize his frustration about the innocent suffering from war. He also emphasized the consequences of war by using capital letters for certain words. This capitalisation is used to create tension.

As the title stated, "Rainbow Death". The rainbow refers to the different colors Agent orange produce. Although these chemical agents produce very vivid and attractive colors, but these agents kill people and caused future generations to suffer from birth defects and other diseases as well.(according to http://www.lewispublishing.com/orange.htm) He wants his readers to know of the horrible consequences of war and also mocks the authority so that young men would think twice before going into a war.

Language and Diction

"Potpourri" means a mixture of dried petals of roses or other flowers with spices, kept in a jar for their fragrance.(http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Potpurri) This is very ironic because potpourri is supposed to allow people to enjoy the fragrance of flowers but the fragrance in this poem refers to Agent Orange which kill people at a large scale.
This poem compares negative terms with positive terms, creating irony as well as sarcasm.

Personal Response


I believe that war is a very cruel thing as displayed by creation of mass-killing weapons. War can be avoided, not only do the soldiers suffer but the civilians are those who are worst hit. If soldiers are educated about the terror and sufferings of war, war would not occur at all

Today would be on survival of plants.

It would be mainly on desert plant adaptation and survival.
To survive, desert plants have adapted to the extremes of heat and aridity by using both physical and behavioral mechanisms, much like desert animals.

Plants that have adapted by altering their physical structure are called xerophytes. Xerophytes, such as cacti, usually have special means of storing and conserving water. They often have few or no leaves, which reduces transpiration.

Phreatophytes are plants that have adapted to arid environments by growing extremely long roots, allowing them to acquire moisture at or near the water table.

Other desert plants, using behavioral adaptations, have developed a lifestyle in conformance with the seasons of greatest moisture and/or coolest temperatures. These type of plants are usually (and inaccurately) referred to as perennials, plants that live for several years, and annuals, plants that live for only a season.

Desert perennials often survive by remaining dormant during dry periods of the year, then springing to life when water becomes available.

For survival, plants adapt in this harsh environment, humans would one day have too.

Carnivorous Plants

This plant known as the cape sundew is a carnivorous plant (or CP) which uses sticky drops of "dew" to trap its victims. You can see 2 little "meals" trapped by the dew in this photo.

In the image, the green "stuff" is another CP - the bladder wort. It eats very tiny insects. To be a CP a plant must do 3 things - attract, capture and digest its prey. Some are active like the more familiar Venus flytrap and the bladder wort which "sucks in" its prey; and some are passive like this sundew and pitcher plants. The sundew actually becomes active when it captures its prey and will slowly wrap its tentacles around its prey. Found this funny picture on google...Yes, i know its becoming more of a picture blog.This is the pitcher plant where insects fall into this" bottomless hole" inside the jug-like structure contains digestive juices which digests everything that fall prey to the plantMoving on to my favourite of all CPs-the Venus Flytrap. Well it snaps when insects lands within its "mouth" and keeps closed untill the prey is totally digested.

The Venus Flytrap is so famous that there are even electronic ones that work like it.

For survival, plants have to adapt and one day,humans will have a way to adapt too.

Plant of the Day: Mahogany

Well, this is the picture of my favourite plant-Mahogany. Mahogany is also known as Swietenia mahagoni, and its full name is"West Indian Mahogany" . Actually, it is not this tree that is famous for its quality for wooden furniture. However, it is its seeds (<<) that fascinates me the most.

In our school HCI, this tree is highly existent and easily find the seeds.

Whats so special about the seeds?
Well, when it is dropped from a height, it starts to propel, from here, its understandable that this plant disperses its seeds through wind. Hence mahoganies are always very tall.

Although that the seed can be fascinating, it turned out to be toxic to the human body when consumed even though it was thought to have medicinal value which will lower blood pressure.

Plants

There would be follow ups for this topic.
:D