Greetings all and my what a contrast we have from the delightful sunshine from yesterday. It would appear that our star has decided to sleep behind the cloudy realm. Anyway, before I embark on today's thoughts I should like to say thank you to Anna, Jo and Shilpa for popping by and reading, commenting and sharing. Tis much appreciated as always.
I should also like to put those recovery vibes to a few of my readers who are recuperating or pressing though that ghastly Covid which is rampaging through our neighbourhoods at this time. Thankfully, the symptoms are limited to extreme fatigue and ennui and nothing more it would seem although of course this is far from a pleasant experience and I do wish you all to get back to your normal self as soon as is feasible.
Now we come to the theme of today's piece. I am taken away to the realm of some sonorous melody playing gently in the background. I must confess I do tend to find that the words tend to flow so much better when there is something to take me away and into the creative process. I know when I'm in my rhythm when the words just flow as opposed to pontificating upon which segment will follow "the" for example. Days like that, you might as well turn off the screen and do something completely different. However, it's often the case that the hardest part of writing (or most things come to that) is starting.
I have found that having a tune on helps me considerably. I shall furnish you with the piece that I often use : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6EtscBG2Sc Some of you may find the piece a tad tiresome as it is on a loop, yet it serves its purpose well for me. It almost gets me out of my thoughts and just allows those fingers to hammer away those keys to put words onto screen. It's especially useful when working on longer pieces such as a long story, putting an article together as well as the shorter works such as poems.
I've also experimented with certain music for different scenarios in the past. Let's imagine your writing a battle scene for example. You'd probably look for something a touch more dynamic and adapt the music accordingly. Perhaps we are crafting a pastoral ramble along in the countryside and having a serene melody playing as opposed to a death metal track which really wouldn't serve the purpose at all unless it's to give you an aural assault and a touch of migraine!
This is nothing new though. When you look at stores, they select certain piped music to inspire you to make those purchases. I've not googled it but I imagine there's quite a bit of science to this train of thought. I know in the past we used to have the radio on in the warehouse which induced a kind of call to arms in an odd way. I could never quite fathom though whilst in a male dominated warehouse that we'd have to endure love songs at 1am on Heart FM. One time I caused a bit of a revolution when I got all sorts of wonderfully loud tracks played on XFM and I'm sure they were preparing to burn me at the stake for such acts of radio heresy.
These days though my listening experience has changed considerably. I'm more likely just to stick on a piece of classical and Sarabande by Haendel often feels right for me and yet I'm quite happy to listen to Chop Suey by System of a Down. Feel free to play that track but it may well induce a bout of tinnitus if you have fragile eardrums. My favourite music though will always be Queen. Truly, Freddie did touch a part of me that needed that helping hand back in the 80's and beyond.
Well, I have wittered on considerably and before I go I shall head forth into the vaults. Let's summon a story. Ah yes, a bit of general tomfoolery right here for you all.
Deal
All was dark except for the trail of moonbeam lights. Luke resisted any hint of fear in the confines of his old Nissan. He crept along the abandoned road until his narrowed eyes seized the dull remains of an excuse of a shed.
Two guardians bedecked in black shrouds beckoned him to a grass track retreating to the rear of the building. The engine died. Luke opened his door and pierced the cool Pisces air .
“You got the stuff?”
Luke nodded to the boot.
“All there. First consignment. I take it you have payment in full.”
The nearest of the two hurled a battered holdall in Luke’s direction.
“15K as agreed.”
“Good. I’ve packed your 100 cases in two boxes. Take it easy as the packaging isn’t great to be honest.”
The back of the Nissan yawned wide. A pair of meaty hands seized a customs box with the word “Withheld” emblazoned across the top.
“Ok, if we take a look?”
“Help yourself.”
A glint of dull metal flashed in the musky air. Luke flinched at the sound of tape being scorched back and a flash-light lit the illicit hoard of contraband.
“This is the stuff all right. Check this out Daniel.”
A golden packet danced across Luke’s eye-line to be seized by the remaining buyer.
“This is the real deal. Hey, we got to open one to check the merchandise.”
Daniel, peeled open the forbidden packaging and whistled in sweet delight when his prize disappeared into his gullet.
“That’s beautiful. Salted and roasted too. You took a hell of a risk coming here Mr. Andrews.”
“That’s what you pay me for.”
It’d been seven years since the prohibition of forbidden food had passed. Salted cashew nuts were category C and held a mandatory five year sentence.
“You say you got more?”
“Lots and we even have sugar products on the way.”
Daniel and his colleague nudged the boot shut. They fidgeted constantly in the revealing expanse of the field opposite.
“You got sugar stuff. We’re definitely interested.”
Luke flicked the ignition and pulled down the window.
“Drop us a message when you’re ready and pleasure doing business with you. Take care.”
The men shrunk back into the shadows without a farewell. Soon the road to London lay before him. ‘Roll on tomorrow,’ he mused. A container load of unaccounted white chocolate needed to be delivered and processed. Good job he had a sweet tooth.
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