Crack on Attic

Danny Sullivan was nine. School was dreadful, so was his four adult siblings whom loathed him by sight. Danny, being the smallest but also brightest kid in his class, was often bullied, soon found his shelter on the attic. He enjoyed the quiet solitary moment more than anything else. He didn't even liked cartoons that was playing on the television. All he wanted was peace and calm. He'd earned them, he thought.

Everyday, after school, before dinner, before bed, Danny'd be at his own castle, reigning his people, training his armies, visiting foreign soils, all on the attic. This went on for quite a while that his parents had started to worry about him. And then one day, principal Schesner called and expressed her concern about Danny's abnormal appearance.

"His skin was glowing," Mrs. Schesner said, "like a signal flare. He went supernova until the students were all cleared out of the classroom."

Danny was suspended until his 'condition' had went away.

Until then, the attic was the only place anyone could find Danny Sullivan.

One day, Danny was playing with his troops, when suddenly he tripped himself over some imaginary soliders and felt down on to the floorboard, upon which he discovered a hole. The opening, about the size of his eyes, a pinhole formed by hands, was looking down into the living room below. Danny lay there and peaked at his house. At first he thought he saw the living room, which was two floors down from the attic, and he could not possibly see it, but then he blinked so fast then he also fainted. It was the living room he was looking at. Danny rolled to his back, facing the ceiling, smiling. His zigzagged white teeth, sounding horrible as he grinded them.

Danny rolled back to the hole and thought about Serlash Bellford, the new girl in school. With that in mind, Danny stuck his eye to the crack on the wood, and what he saw, was Serlash Bellford, in the comfort of her own home, playing some wonderful melody with her fingers darting across the piano. Danny had never heard of sounds so infested with emotion and magic that he cried for it.

His tear of joy dropped through the hole, and rippled on the glass of water on top of the piano. Serlash Bellford saw the sudden motion. She looked up. Danny froze and didn't blink. Camouflage, he thought, he learned that from natural science channel. Serlash seemed not to see him, as her attention went back to the dance of butterfly fingers.

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SumFought:The Silenceof the Lambsby Thomas Harris

Immediately after reading Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, I was into the mist of another serial killer case told by Thomas Harris. The Silence of the Lambs, made even famous by the Hollywood thrilling blockbuster, remained a novel of impeccable quality.

The novel centered around Clarice Starling, a still in-training FBI agent, who took on the call-of-duty assignment from Jack Crawford, in the search of a serial killer--"Buffalo Bill", who later abducted Senator Ruth Martin's daughter. Starling first went to visit Dr. Hannibal Lecter, hoping that the infamous cannibal/psychiatrist could help her with the case. During her visits and her investigation, Starling met obstacles on every path. She also met her nemesis, Paul Krendler, who gave her a hard time here and there. Eventually, after much struggle, Starling was told to return her temporary FBI badge and stop her investigation in the case all together. But she did not obey the order and slipped through the crack of time to continue her pursuit of the murderer. Because of her determination, she had found the killer, Jame Gumb by mere luck and old-fashioned door-to-door swept. And then after some more fight with Buffalo Bill, she defeated him and rescued the senator's daughter.

And that's the story. Very much like the book Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lamb's killer also shared a certain similarity, like both are white male who would undress at times, and both had some kind of deficiency.

The scene are vivid to read, cruel to feel, brutal to see. It gives the chill as much as the thrill. Nothing beats an uncensored gruesome description. But that's also what gave the Hannibal series a unique taste, a style of its own. Is it necessary though, I don't know. If the words were replaced by other less impacting, less sensing phases, could it achieve the same heart-pounding effect? Would you try to shut your eyes to avoid reading one word after another, or would you artfully dodge the painful experience?

I like how simple the book is. It has a small circle of characters that are interrelated, they are distinctively different, very colorful and traumatic at times. It's the sorrow and the challenges they face that urged me to push on. I knew they would find a way to tackle the problems, I just don't know how, because I don't know them as much as Thomas Harris do. But the problem-solving is paced at a way that it doesn't feel boring or slow. The book is a brisk read, it is what you read in the book that drag you down.

Character-wise, let me said I kind of miss Will Graham first, I was kind of disappointed when I finished the book without reading the name Will Graham appearing for more than the fingers on one of my hands. But, Clarice Starling had replaced the mighty Will Graham as she dominated the male elements in the story.

Starling, Clarice. She is a tough girl, she knew how to take care of herself. But Hannibal seemed to know her even better than herself. That kind of overpowering control had shaken Starling down at their first meeting. Hannibal came in so strong that Clarice could barely secure her position as a FBI agent.

Maybe it was the confidence Dr. Lecter gave out that shocked Starling. His all-knowing tone and focused gaze frightened her. He said Quid Pro Quo(something for something, an exchange) as if it was his motto, his belief. He gets to know a little bit about Starling while telling her more about the killer. Hannibal seeks a playmate, and he has got one thanks to Jack Crawford.

Jame Gumb, the miserable serial killer who wanted to transform into a female form by stealing skins from girls and stitch all the pieces he had gathered together to form a human skin outfit. That's totally F-up, but nonetheless, disgusting. It's not that it couldn't happened(or hasn't happened) that scares people, is that it is a possibility that someone could and would commit these kind of crime that worries people the most.

A story is a story, but inside a story, reflect the possibility of what the world could be and would be like. It's not a prophecy of the future, or the alarm of the present, or the reflection for the past, but a constructed thesis of the infinity possibility.

While the name, The Silence of the Lambs, is referring to the experience Starling had when living at her relative's barn, it also meant that one's mind would stay unrest unless one solved the problem at its origin. We all had problems, and every problem adds a little bit of pressure on us. The sooner we deal with it, the sooner we could rest and get the relieve. If not, the pressure built up, and it will explode, causing an implode even, if not taken care of.     

And now, I know what the book is like, I am eager to watch the movie in the coming day. I really want to know why the movie is so critically acclaimed, is it better than the books?  

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Graded Longings

1. Mother told son to avoid the traffic by taking the bus traveling on an alternate and longer route. Son obeyed and reached the bank he worked in time. But he was held back at work by an unorganized robbery crew, and eventually he didn't walk out alive, as he was the second hostage to be popped by one of the robber. He died believing that the man who killed him was the leader. His mother was outside the bank and witnessed the execution through the internal camera feeds. She fainted as her son dropped to the ground. She wished she wasn't smart. If her son didn't listen to her but drove to work, he would otherwise be struck in the traffic for two hours, and thus avoided the robbers. 
2. Teacher told students to bring their parents to the school anniversary ceremony, and they did. One of the student, Annie Beth Kens, forced her father, a local sheriff name George Kens to the party by dragging him off duty. Another student, Jackson Dean Norris brought his legal guardian, his uncle called Joe Maton to the party. Old Kens met old Maton and shook hands at the soda machines, with their child standing behind them. They didn't let go of each other's hand until Annie wheeled his father to her beloved Mrs. Neffein, the history teacher. The second day, Annie Beth Kens was grounded, And also forbidden to watch TV. But the whole town knew, sheriff Kens had made a big bust. Well, the biggest bust the town had ever seen since the 80s. Joe Maton, a.k.a. Willy Ben, a.k.a. the smuggler was arrested in his own home. Annie Beth Kens was send back to school the next day after the bust. She never saw Jackson Dean Norris again until they met again at the hotel ten years later.
3. Bartender told customers that the shop was about to close up, close up in the way that it would never be open again. The owner, Mr. Shelfin, had not been around lately and many had long speculated of his worsening health condition by the look of his balding head and wrinkling hands a few months ago. Most noticeably, his left hand, which shook and tremble, creating a wave of wrinkles. As far as the folks could tell, Mr. Shelfin had nobody, he lived alone out back in the little shack, and owned an old Ford pick-up truck that spit brown gases into the air. That night, after the bartender finished cleaning up the bar and closed up, he went knocking on Mr. Shelfin's door for the last time. Mr. Shelfin looked different, the wrinkles were gone, his hair was grey and short. Mr. Shelfin gave the bartender a letter and told him to read it after he had left. Mr. Shelfin was seen leaving in a Ferrari. The bartender opened the letter and found the spring of his life.

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