rgspiritwalker

There's another entry at my other blog!

My Views on Fantasy Role Playing

These two short stories were the 2nd project I did for the "point of view" exercise in a writer's workshop I was in a few years back. To see the first project, just click here .


THE LITTLE BOY AND THE THING IN THE CLOSET

by R.G. Sewell

Well, here I am in bed once again. I hate bedtime. Stalling just doesn’t seem to work anymore. Sooner or later, my parents put their foot down and here is where I wind up. Oh, it’s not so bad at first. I am pretty tired. The bed feels good and soft. What happens after I get settled in, is what I dread. My dad says I’m too old for a night light and I have to get used to a dark room. I guess he’s right, but it’s hard to get past this shadowy situation. Covering my head with the blankets, I try not to look. If I don’t look, maybe I won’t get scared. I turn over with my face to the wall and try not to think about the thing. This is nearly as bad, however. I can almost feel it creeping across the room. Shivering, I close my eyes. That makes it worse. Opening my eyes, I jump at the sight of the shadows on the wall. My head jerks around for me to see that it’s only tree branches at my window, silhouetted by the street lights outside. Settling down, I see out the corner of my eyes that I left my closet door ajar. I close my eyes, once again trying not to look. That thing doesn’t exist. Somehow, my mind makes me see the clutter of clothes in the darkness, as a big lurking monster. Not being able to resist, I look at the closet. To my horror, I see the shape of an arm with long clawed fingers, as well as the bones of past victims scattered deeper inside that little room of terror. When I see the shadow of a hairy misshapen head, I cover my face with the blankets. All I have to do, is turn on the light and this creature will disappear. As dad says, it’s all in my mind. Getting the nerve to get out of bed and head for the switch is another matter. Oh no! I can almost feel him crossing the room again. Jerking the covers down, I can see that nobody is creeping up on me. Once again, though, I’m scared to look at the closet. My dad says that I’ll grow out of this. I hope he’s right.


THE THING IN THE CLOSET AND THE LITTLE BOY

by R.G. Sewell

I just love this kid’s imagination! That and darkness is my domain. Every time he goes to bed, I get more powerful! To think that a few short years ago, I was just a tiny anxiety brought on by dim illumination. Having no shape or form, I was just a mysterious feeling of dread with no explanation. Now, I’m a full fledged fear, with gnarled, clawed fingers and a monstrous head looming in the shadows. He’s even recently given me the ability to leave this closet for short periods, until that pathetic little face looks up and steals away half my strength. The longer he takes to face me, the stronger I become. This kid has even provided me with the bones of past victims, cringing in the back of this little room of horror. All this is great, but I feel the need to expand. If only I could figure out a way to get him to talk about me with the other kids at school. All I need him to do, is plant a little seed of anxiety here and there. Once I get a foothold, then I can spread throughout the neighborhood, then the town, and then there’s no telling how far I can go! I might even be able to take my place among the great phobias of this century! Perhaps I would be listed beside my hero, Claustrophobia! I wonder if she started this way.

A few years ago, I attended a writer's workshop which I enjoyed very much. A couple of the projects we had to do were exercises in 'point of view'. The assignment was to tell the same story twice from differing points of view. These two short stories were the first of two projects I completed in this exercise:


THE TERRIER AND THE JACK RABBIT

By R.G. Sewell

Why does a spunky little dog like myself, have to always be kept waiting? Will somebody please open this door? I love my pack, but sometimes they’re so dull-witted! Maybe if I whine a little more. That should do it! Come on, you guys! I’ve got to make my rounds and get to the field before any of those cottontails get the idea that they own the place. Ah, here comes the pack leader! Its about time! I got business outside, you know. Why is it, that I’m the smartest and most responsible one in the pack, yet I’m also the only one who can’t open the door. Come to think of it, I’m also the only one with four legs. Oh, the door’s open. Here I go out on the porch. Let’s see, no visitors here. Same old smell of wood. Heading down the stairs, I check the post for the handrail. Nothing there. Oh, yeah, what about the corner of the house? I trot over there for a quick sniff. Yep, I can smell a mark. Now to analyze it! Long black hair, about fifteen pound build, short legs, reasonable health, and kibble for breakfast. Aw, that’s Winston, the scotty next door. As if he’s even got a chance. He and his Purina breath aint getting close to this terrier. Now if it was Chucky, the spaniel from down the road, that would be a different story. He smells like bacon! Only the best for this girl! Think I’ll head for the field. Across the yard, and up to the barbed wire fence, I go. So far, so good. Still nothing stirring in the pasture. I’m not surprised. I’ve either caught or chased away all the cottontails that frequent these parts. None of them can outrun me! Well, except for one. I can never quite ... wait a minute! Something moved! Out in the middle of the meadow! Now I can’t see it. Yeah, it froze just like a rabbit. Testing the breeze for aromas, I smell a wonderful variety of scents. There’s pine from across the field, clover blossoms, blackberry blossoms, dandelions, and a short furred herbivore with long ears, powerful hind legs, and a lean male body. Oh yes! That’s the rabbit that keeps getting away! Somehow during every chase, he manages to vanish like a ghost. Oops! I couldn’t resist a growl. Yep! He heard me. That’s okay. He moved and I saw him. Even though he froze again, all I have to do is keep my eye on that same spot. Now, let’s see. Should I creep forward, or should I rush the little vermin? He already knows I’m here. I can’t stand it! I have to run. Here I go and ouch! The barbed wire got me but I’m okay. Here I go again. Oh how I love tearing across the field! The wind rushing past my ears and fur make me feel like I’m flying. I’m the fastest thing in the world. I’ve covered half the distance and still nothing is moving in that little spot. By now the rabbit scent is heavy and there he goes! I’m actually gaining on him! He never expected me to rush him from such a distance. That crazy bunny is speeding up but I’m right with him! What’s this? Why can’t I get any closer? Drat! He’s pulling away. Pumping as hard as I can, my legs just can’t produce any more speed. Even so, my body is filled with the thrill of the chase and I won’t give up! Before long, I notice that he is no longer outdistancing me. Once again, I’m keeping up with the little varmint. He’s pacing himself, so he must be getting tired. Finally, I’m gaining again. Looks like he’s making for the underbrush of the forest. If I can only reach him before he gets there. I’ve almost got him! If I can just stretch out a little more! Wait a minute! What happened? Where’d he go? I cry out in pain as something wraps around me and snatches me off my feet! How did I get tangled in these blackberry brambles, anyway? Tearing my way out of the thorns, I pause to listen to the sounds of my quarry bouncing his way through the underbrush of the woods beside the meadow. I sigh, realizing that somehow he got away again.



THE JACK RABBIT AND THE TERRIER

By R.G. Sewell

Ah, the wonderful flavor of fresh clover blossoms. I love this field. Its a perfect place for a rabbit such as myself to relax and graze. Sure, its right next to a man’s nest, but he doesn’t seem to use one of those loud sticks. There’s only one thing which is kind of a hassle. That stupid female terrier may have scared the cottontails out of this area, but I can tell that I’m the only jack rabbit she’s ever seen. She keeps trying to get me, though. I don’t want to think about her right now. It’s spring and there are more pleasant things to consider. First I’ll check the air for the scent of any competitors. No evidence of any other buck rabbits, but I do smell a few does. All the better, but pinpointing their location is a bit tricky. Putting my ears to work, they reveal something a little disturbing. I don’t hear the gentle nibbling or tender breathing of a female rabbit, but rather a low rumble of some predator. I freeze for what seems like an eternity. Hearing a tiny yelp, I get ready to bolt. Something’s coming across the grass! Yikes! It’s that terrier, and boy is she moving fast! I bounce out of the patch of clover and begin my sprint to safety. She has already reached full speed however, and is closing rapidly. Reaching my own peak velocity, I manage to pull away, but not without a price. It took a lot of stamina to accelerate so fast. Being surprised so far in the middle of the pasture didn’t help either. I need to get to the brush where I can put my high jumps to use. That’s one advantage this rabbit has over the cottontails. Cruising along to conserve my energy, I try to head for the edge of the forest. That stupid terrier is keeping right up with me. Gosh, I’m tired. This chase just goes on and on. She’s even managing to gain on me, but I’m rapidly coming up on the briars. Ah, there it is. A patch of brambles with a tree limb close behind it. Making a flying leap over the briars, I land on the tree limb four feet off the ground, and bounce even higher from there. The airborne feeling one gets from these big jumps, takes my breath away. During my hang time, I hear the crash and yelp behind me. Looks like she found the brambles I jumped over. As I easily land on the forest floor, and make my escape through the woods, I can hear her tearing her way out of the thorns. What a jerk!

Here's a link worth clicking

Pork or Bacon?

Well, today my wife and I have known each other for thirty years. Doesn't seem like thirty years at all. Seems like just last year I was sitting at a table of a discotheque in Charleston. Surrounded by lots of people at the same table, I caught the bright blue eyes and angelic face of a young lady with straight blonde hair. As I shyly sipped my vodka Collins, she said, "Don't you like to dance?" I loved to dance. I said, "Sure, let's go!" So began the greatest adventure of my life.

And it still goes on...

For anyone who has succumbed to the brainwashing of our liberal media's Bush-whacking, and think that President Bush was less than intelligent, this entry in Monica Crowley's blog is well worth a read! Just click here !

Even Obama admitted that the Bush administration did a good job in preparing for this type of emergency, but if he had never said it himself, our media would never have admitted it.

Put up new pages in my webcomics, today. If you want to see them, all you have to do is click on a banner!

Just thought I'd list the emoticons I have in my library, so far.




Planning on putting up some more as I draw them up. Haven't seen any LiveJournal emotes yet, so I made my own.
That's right, I made them specifically for LiveJournal! I can tell you how I did it if you want...

This is another entry I posted in my blog at MySpace
back in 2006. I hope it gives support for all those folks who are afraid to argue with the 'people who are supposed to know'.

Recently, I began to think about the rather unusual point of view I have about experts, particularly in the field of the sciences. Some of you, but probably not all of you may have even witnessed how I've been flamed in my discussions with nonChristians about how I don't believe in evolution and question the time table of geologists and paleontologists. When I've brought up recent studies and theories about this, I've gotten simple comments. I call them simple because they're basically just saying I'm one of those stupid Christians questioning experts who know far more than I do, and if there was something wrong with their theories, they would have already found it. Well, it's made me realize that perhaps as a society, we've put our experts on such a high pedestal, that they become something totally infallible in their own field. When you consider that God is the only being infallible, what does that say about our relationship with our experts? I'm sorry, but I can't believe that about our scientists, or any other specialist.

I suppose part of what shaped my point of view on this, has to do with my dealings with experts while I was in the USAF. Now, before I begin this tale, I want to point out that I have a very high regard for engineers. They go through a lot of education, and have a great deal of knowledge needed to design devices no one has ever seen before. I also need to point out that I had very diverse training in electronics while in the Air Force, because my field was in Metrological Maintenance (a field they may or may not have now, because there was talk about blending it with another field while I was there). Anyway, in that field, we worked on anything from wind sensors to weather radar, so our training was on three generations of electronics, (everything from tubes to integrated circuits) and admittedly this gave me some advantages in my dealings with the experts. Now, the experts I keep referring to, were the engineers designing computerized versions of a lot of our weather sensing equipment. It was my honor to be part of the test project since some of the prototypes were installed at my base. It was great, as I helped with the installation, and learned a lot of theory behind a new device. I noticed though, that the engineers, (even though they were brilliant men) lacked a little flexibility in their logic. The best story I have to use as an example would be about a problem we had with a light sensor. You see, this particular piece of equipment had to be on a pole near the runway, so it was required to have a light in order to be seen at night. This safety light was equipped with a sensor which turned it on at night, and off during the day (a pretty simple design, I had seen similar electronics since other devices had light sensitive diodes). Anyway, once it was installed, one of the engineers and I had to test the safety light. I covered the sensor with my hands and the light was supposed to come on. The light didn't work. After we changed the bulb with no better results, we figured it must be the sensor. As we walked back to the ROS, the engineer was wondering why the design of the sensor was flawed. I said I would open it up and look at it if that was alright, and he said go ahead if I wanted, but he had to call their home office and get the team to work on a redesign. So, while he was on the phone, I took my tools back out to the prototype, and opened the sensor. Yep, light sensing diodes can't work if one of the wires isn't connected. I connected the loose wire, closed up the sensor, and covered it with my hands. The light came on. The engineer saw it from the ROS, and came out to meet me and congratulate me for fixing the problem. Now, don't get me wrong, he knew a lot (and I mean a lo-o-o-o-o-o-ot) more about electronics than I did, but my experience in troubleshooting gave me more flexibility. Now, that story was about a field where I had a little background related to that of the experts. This next is about a subject I had little or no background.

One of the biggest problems of weather sensing equipment is birds. When you have miles of flat land and no trees, and out in the middle of that is something sticking up sometimes 20 or 30 feet, birds like to perch on it. Hence, the old equipment was usually designed with bird spikes. Now that sounds bad, but they are only thin six inch spikes positioned on the equipment so that there are no comfortable places for the birds to perch. No birds are harmed by the spikes. Anyway, the prototypes didn't have the spikes, and every time I went out to the one installed near the runway, I saw flocks of birds fighting for the highest perch on the equipment. Now these birds could not only affect the sensor readings, but every time I went out there, I had to scrub off cakes of bird dung all over our brand new prototype. Now, the designers required a regular report of how the equipment was working and any problems we were having. I pointed out how the birds could cause a problem in the readings, and that I had to constantly clean the prototype. I suggested the bird spikes which we had on the other equipment, and sent the form to them. They sent a note back that they would research the problem. Time went on, I kept cleaning the equipment, and no word came. When it came time for my next report, I wrote down the same thing and asked about the bird spikes. Well, these designers sent me a note saying that they had consulted an ornithologist, (bird expert) and he told them that there was nothing about our prototype which would attract birds! As a result there was no reason to put bird spikes on it. Well, that was the last report anyway, and it came time to change the prototypes. I was required to send back our prototype on the runway and wait for another to be sent to us. So I took it down and brought it back to our shop. As I prepared to give it its last cleaning, my NCOIC (boss) said, "Hold it just a minute. They don't believe you about the birds, right?" I said, "That's right." He continued, "Don't clean it! Send it to them as is. Your evidence is all over the equipment itself!" I realized that he was right. Now, there was about a quarter inch of caked bird dung on that piece of equipment, and I packed it up as is, and sent it to the designers. I wasn't at that base to see the next prototype come in, but I've been told that it came in equipped with bird spikes.

Now, I'm not saying that engineers don't know their business, they really do. Neither am I saying that ornithologist didn't know his business, I'm sure he did. His mistake however, was in thinking that he knew every situation which could arise. No one but God knows that.

Those are some of the things which have shaped my point of view about experts. Has anybody else had experiences with experts which they'd like to share? Lemme know!

I wrote this in my MySpace Blog back in 2006, and wanted to make it available for any who are interested in how scientific The Bible can be:


I've done quite a bit of soul searching on this, and I think the time has come to share what I believe happened on the first day of creation. I was confused about it for a long time, and feel perhaps there are others in the same position. Another point persuading me, is the preaching done by people who are basically adding to the scriptures their own speculations and have little evidence backing them up. If these people are truly led by the Holy Spirit, then before all of you I ask God's Forgiveness and request to be shown a Better Way.

In any event, let us examine the Creation Story on a verse by verse basis:

KJV Genesis 1:1-5

Genesis 1

1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Note that The Bible mentions in one complete statement that God created the heaven and the earth. The statement stands as is. Yet in the next verse It is written that the earth was without form.

2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

This confused me. It says God Created the heaven and earth, but how could the earth be created if it had no form? Further, how could the heavens be created if darkness were on the face of the deep? No stars? No celestial bodies to give light?

3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Okay, so now we apparently have the stars. My question still plagued me. How could God create the heaven without celestial bodies? After all, space by itself is considered a void. Many have tried to explain this. I've heard it said that the perspective was told from man's point of view on earth, that is the stars weren't visible until the mist and smoke cleared on the earth revealing the light, as well as the surface of the earth. That's a good attempt, but not befitting the absolute statements given in these first verses. The earth "was" void, not the earth "looked" void. I've also heard the explanation that something displeased God with his first creation of the earth, and that Genesis is leaving out the part that something caused the earth to become void, formless, and without light. So He basically had to recreate creation. With all due respect to those folks, that's not what the Bible says, and I don't believe something as important an event as that would be left out of the Holy Scriptures. In all fairness, these folks use the logic that God is never without light and light continually surrounds Him. They also point out that if God Creates anything it is never void. I agree that God's Glory and Magnificence surrounds Him like an intense light beyond light, but The Bible also says that He Created light on the first day, so again their speculations don't match the Scriptures.

4. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Wow, this verse was once again thought provoking! How did light and darkness ever exist together without being separated? Isn't darkness the lack of light and therefore always separate from light? Believe it or not, this verse gave an early clue to my understanding what God was saying about His Creation of everything!

5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

And there we have it, the actual creation of the first day and everything it took to make a day, a day. It disturbed me for a long time that the verses didn't fit in a way for me to comprehend it. I knew that there was something more in the way God's Word told me He created everything. Something told me that there was a scientific viewpoint which would help me understand what God was telling us about that first day!

Believe it or not, my physics studies were the tools The Lord used to help me learn what Genesis says about that first day! One of my papers I had to do for one of my classes was on the nature of time and space. As far as we know the only normal condition for time to stop is when the temperature is at absolute zero. That's the temperature when the very molecules of matter stop vibrating. No motion, (and since time is motion even at the molecular level), no time. Guess what the temp is in deep space. It stays at three degrees above absolute zero. Why would the void of deep space stay at that temp? The answer is energy in the form of cosmic rays. So in the void of space there is one thing created, that determines existence as we know it. Energy!

Let's look at each of those Wonderful Verses again:

1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

I think that most folks assume too much to this statement, that is, they just look at it from their point of view. "God made the sky and the ground." Yet, I feel that God is telling us so much more that that. Now, don't get me wrong, I believe that God knew He was giving information that was far more advanced than early man could grasp. The Wonder of it is that He told the facts in a manner that both primitive man and those schooled in physics could understand. Before I make my point, let's look at the second verse:

2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Why would God tell us He created the heaven and the earth, only to tell us that the earth was formless? Because He was telling us a truth that we would have to learn a lot of science to fully comprehend. I believe in the first verse, He was actually telling us the basics of His creation. The two states of physical existence which He used to make our universe. Remember what I discovered which was the determination of existence in deep space when no matter is present? Remember it was energy? Therefore, space could be considered to be simple energy since that is all that is there when matter isn't present. When speaking to early man, God would have referred to space as, "one of the heavens". Now, when we talk about prehistory, we are talking before the physical sciences were brought about. Therefore, early man would not have understood the concept of matter and energy. On the occasion that he referred to matter, it would have been in the simplest of forms. The most basic reference to matter would have been "the earth", (remember that Adam himself was made from the dust of the earth?). Hence, in my humble opinion, when Genesis says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.", He is actually telling us He made the two building blocks of the rest of creation. Energy and matter. That's why the earth was without form. It was void because He had not used the matter to form anything yet. Further, darkness was over the deep because He hadn't used the energy to make any light giving celestial bodies yet. Having said that, let's go on to the next verse:

3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Now, I believe this is where we first have the stars. Or perhaps the tremendous burst of energy commonly referred to as "the big bang". In any event, also note that there doesn't seem to be any mention of planets yet. I think that it is important to note that in the verses to come.

4. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Now, in deep space with no planets and the matter still formless, (possibly in only molecular form) there was nothing dividing the light from the darkness. The light and the darkness appeared together. We can even see this in our photographs of space today. It is only when you have a formed object that the light and darkness are separated. Hence, when God made the planets, asteroids, meteors and such, the light was divided from the darkness.

5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

And there we have it. On a planet, the light is indeed day, and the darkness night. Now, in verse 14, it does go on to mention another account of the light on our planet:

14. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

This may appear to contradict my position on what God is really telling us about how He created our universe, but I don't think it does. Considering that God created the firmament in the heaven to divide the waters above from the waters below, I feel it is safe to say that perhaps at first the heavenly lights were not visible until the mist cleared. In this case I may agree with those who say that God was telling us about creation from our point of view. This is unless God reveals a better explanation.

That is how I understand The Creation account of Genesis. If I am wrong then my prayer is that God forgives me and shows me a better way. Many thanks to any who read all the way through my notes, and I hope I've helped those that were as perplexed as I was.

In order to understand the phenomenon which is RG, one must realize that he has had nineteen homes in his life. Eleven of which were before the age of twenty, and two of which were across the Atlantic Ocean. He has spoken three languages in his day to day living, yet has forgotten two of them when he left the country where they originated. He learned to speak German when he was five, and later he learned to speak Castilian Spanish when he was stationed in Spain.

RG received a degree in media arts at college but sadly few doors were opened for him in the field. Even so, he worked in many different genres, got married, and helped his wife raise three beautiful children until he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2000. With the Grace of God, RG struggled from being practically bedridden to being an artist once again. Yes, it was God's Grace, for RG couldn't have done it by himself. He still struggles with ms as a reminder that he relies on his creator for everything.

RG wrote and painted for four years until someone donated a computer to him. He then taught himself HTML code and in 2005 he launched his two web comics, When Foxes Fly and Lost Legends of Whoelterran . Both reflect the complexities of RG's personality and represent his love of storytelling, as well as multifaceted plots.

Indeed, to understand this artist/writer who is fond of referring to himself in the third person, one must realize that he is a complicated man, who longs for simplicity, while loving the complex. He is a follower of Christ, a thinking Christian, with the Love of God at his center, and the Will of God as his goal. These are the constants in his life, and the source of everything good.

If you have persevered enough to read all these paragraphs, you have my gratitude. If you are still perplexed by this man called RG, don't feel bad, dear reader. I have trouble understanding him myself.

RG