Welcome to my world and beyond...

A collection of snippets of the books I write and, occasionally, my life and the things that inspire my writing...

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Six Sentence Sunday is a bloghop--and one of the friendliest. Participants post six sentences of their writing, then readers hop from blog to blog, sharing opinions, critiques and encouragement.  We know what a solitary pursuit writing can be--and Six Sentence Sunday is a great way to meet other writers, and take a break from our solitude. Complete rules and a sign up form are at the site here.
 
Returning to ATNS. The scene:
 
Rissa,  Cuylrh (who rescued her from her alien abduction by actually abducting her ) and Cuylrh's first guard, Abraxum, are following a trail down off a mountain, the top of which they've spent the night on.  It's cold.
 
The old guard following Rissa, who is following Cuylrh,  notices Rissa rubbing her arms to warm them. 
 
The young King (Cuylrh) has taken issue with Rissa's langage, and is steeled to teach her his native tongue, Rialtan.  He's told Abraxum that it's for her own good. For her very survival. They each must do their part to teach her the language, and part of that is forcing her to speak it by ignoring her native tongue and her gesturing.
 
This is what happens:
 
"Without  word or whisper, Abraxum removed his jacket and put it on her shoulders, letting it rest over her thin blouse. 

She slid her arms into the sleeves, turned to look at Abraxum, at his perpetually stoic expression and said, “Thank You” in Earth English. 

The young King stopped, turned around and raised his eyebrows, then repeated a little more firmly but not unkind, “Rialtan.”  He moved to within inches of her, and with a fair imitation of her Earth English said, “Thank You.” After a  pause for—she guessed,  dramatic effect, he added, “Shushan.” 

Rissa nodded, looked at Abraxum again and said, “Shushan, Abraxum.”

Please visit the other sixers at the sixsunday.com site!  And thank you stopping by.

One more SSS post. It has been one heck of a ride.  And what a wonderful and generous thing those ladies of SSS have done. Thank you. :-)
 
 
 
 
 



20 comments:

  1. A wonderful moment. And it makes me wonder why Cuylrh is so set on teaching her the Rialtan tongue...Great, intriguing six! :)

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    1. Hey Dana, not as much action as last week. I'm randomly scrolling for selections now. Whew. One more week. :-) Thanks for visiting, dearie. :-)

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  2. One more week just doesn't feel like enough! This was great -- I love the description of "Earth English", and her reaction to the schooling. :)

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    1. No, it doesn't, Donna :-) Something will come up--I am sure of it. Thanks dfor stopping and giving it a read :-)

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  3. I feel like this is an important moment for all of them. Great six!

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    1. One of many... Thanks, Lorraine. Good to see ya! :-)

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  4. I'm really curious why Rissa's agreed to learn the language. Learning a whole new language is time-consuming and can be very hard, especially when going cold turkey from your native one. She's taken on quite a burden.

    I like the interaction here. There's not a lot going on, per se, but the personalities come through. Keeping characters in character is sometimes challenging but I think you've nailed it here.

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    1. That's is part of the limitation with short snippets. She's not being given a choice. Cuylrh is making decisions for her, and she hasn't grasped enough of the language to even begin to manage otherwise. Some of his choices he makes on her behalf come back to bite him.

      Thanks for the "keeping characters in character" observation. I do struggle with that. :-)

      Thanks for visiting, Owly!

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  5. So cute that they are each reaching out, trying to learn each other's language. Heating up? Sounds like it! thanks for sharing. :)

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    1. They are torturous, Joya. Heat up, push away, simmer, heat up... these two! lol Thanks for visiting :-)

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  6. I agree with Joya, learning a new language is a unique bran do torture. Still, it has the potential to lead to some really interesting scenes, especially since you say Rissa isn't being given a choice in the matter. Clever idea, Teresa. :)

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    1. Oh, a pretty good plot point revolves around her misunderstanding of a Rialtan word meaning. :-)

      Thanks, Jess! :-)

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  7. Ah, the language barrier! Frustrations and misunderstandings ahead no doubt! Loved the excerpt, really set the tone for what's to come. Great six!

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  8. At least they have an expression for "thank you." And it sounds like Culryh has at least some knowledge of Earth English.

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    1. True, Sue Ann, good point. Cuylrh is Rialtan aristocracy. Rissa doesn't know that. And his grandfather is about to wreck their world.

      Having been groomed to rule from toddler on, he's been schooled in everything from languages to protocols.

      Thanks for visiting. :-)

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  9. I'm glad they're trying to help her learn the language. Just not sure Culryh's approach is the best way to go about it. Should be interesting.

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    1. Thanks, Kate. Oh, there are some language disconnects between Rialtan and Earth English. And they make for some difficulties along the way. Some things just can't be translated. ;-)

      Thanks for visiting. :-)

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  10. I enjoy the problems posed to protagonists by not speaking each other's tongues. Nice six.

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    1. Thanks, Elin! It does create a whole set of problems, and story possibilities. :-)

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