Creative+Writing


 * 5 Positive Consequences and 5 Negative Consequences**

__** Positive Consequences **__ __Negative Consequences__
 * You could live forever
 * You would be beautiful forever
 * You could eat all you want and return to your original weight by drinking from the fountain of youth
 * There would be no food crisis's
 * People could make a fortune selling water from the fountain of youth
 * Water from the fountain of youth could be used as vaccines to cure cancer and other diseases
 * If you got shot, stabbed, or wounded the water would heal your wounds
 * The army could drink the water and be unstoppable
 * There would be overpopulation
 * There would be war over the water from the fountain of youth
 * Because of overpopulation, there would not be enough food resources
 * Some people would be very rich from selling the water while others would become very poor from buying the water (because they would have to keep buying the water to stay young and beautiful).
 * The water would make people very greedy
 * If you drank the water as a vaccine to cure an illness, you would have to keep taking it or you would become ill again
 * Any army who drank the water would be unstoppable and could destroy nations
 * The Fountain of Youth could no longer keep up with the demand of people wanting the water and it would become empty


 * __Setting__**

Time:1940's Place: Egypt Mood: sadness, anger, loneliness, regret, adventure

An archeologist (Jonathan) accidentaly finds the fountain of youth on an archeological excavation and has to choose between drinking the water and living forever or not drinking the water and dying of old age. He must also choose to either sell the water and expose the sight of the fountain of youth (making him rich), or keeping it a secret from the world.
 * __Main Confli____ct__**

__**Plot Outline**__

Introduction Rising Action Climax
 * Character is introduced ( Jonathan, a 30 yearold archeologist)
 * talk a little about character's background
 * takes place in Egypt in 1940
 * pull audience into story; start story with character experiencing a nightmare (readers don't know it's a dream)
 * protagonist goes on expedition to Egypt
 * finds ancient ruins with riddles on them
 * solves riddles and finds an entrance to an ancient underground city by following the riddle's clues
 * undergoes a series of booby traps in the uncerground city
 * finds fountain of youth in underground city
 * has to take a test to prove he is pure in heart so that him and his friends can leave.
 * has to make a choice to either drink from fountain of youth, and stay there forever, or not drink from it leave
 * makes a decision over the fountain of youth that changes him as a person.
 * this choice helps illustrate the theme
 * he chose not to drink from the fountain, but since he proved he was not greedy and had a pure heart the people let him go.

Falling Action Conclusion
 * the character leaves and doesn't tell anyone about the fountain of youth because he thought of all the consequences of it's powers in the wrong people and decided it was better kept as a secret
 * the character goes home and doesn't have any more nightmares because he finally forgave himself for not being thee to save his family.
 * the character retires and travels the world for fun
 * He decides to write a "fictional book" on when he "found" the fountain of youth

How does the main character change over the course of the story? Jonathan forgives himself for not being there to save his family and, finally put the past behind him. Jonathan decided that a life of freedom was better than a thousand lives in captivity. The main character changes as a person because he realizes that it wasn't his fault that his family died and that he must live on instead of trying to live in the past; when he was young.

Describe the use of Irony in your story. In my story, irony is used in the climax. The audience would have thought that Jonathan would choose to drink from the fountain so that he could be young and happy again but, Jonathan decides not to. Instead, he tries to set his friends free and leave without telling anyone about the fountain because he knew that people would be greedy and violent over eternal youth.

What symbols are present in your story? In the story, a watch that the main character wears is a symbol. His wife and child gave him the watch before they died and, he wore it ever since they died. The watch is a symbol that he never let go of them, and that he still keeps it because it is a reminder of them.

What is the theme of your story? The theme of my story is to let go of the past and learn to live on.

= Short Story =

I looked through the windshield of my car. The sky was as dark as ink with the exception of a few stars here and there. As I drove down my street, I could only think about Mary and Christopher. Christopher asleep in his bed, and Mary singing a sweet lullaby to him as she swayed in the rocking chair next to his bed. I looked at the watch that they gave me 2 weeks ago and, I was right on time for dinner. As I pulled into my driveway I knew something was wrong. The air smelt of silt and smoke and I could faintly hear the voice of my wife and child crying out for help. I ran to the house, fearless and worried, but as soon as I was at the door I heard a crackling sound inside the house. I foolishly burst the door open, for an explosion of flames jumped out at me. I tried to look past them, tried to find a way around them to save my wife and child but the fire had taken over and spread everywhere. All I could hear was the crackling, hissing sound of the fire and the pleading screams of my wife and son. The pain of not being able to save them was eating at my heart and melting my eyes. The only thought on my mind was saving them so I screamed for help and ran door to door to find people with hoses and told them to call the fire department.
 * The Fountain of Youth **

By the time the fire was put out the screaming had stopped. I knew what the truth was, that the fire had stolen their bodies leaving their souls to sail in the smoke. My body felt torn apart and my tears were so hot that they melted down my face in shallow pools. I took one look at the fragile bodies being carried out on stretchers, trying to recognize them. But I couldn't put the face of my beautiful wife and adorable son on the charred carcasses that lay stiffly on the stretcher. I whispered their names repeatedly louder and louder until they grew into screams. It felt like everything inside of me was being kicked, and my throat was so tight that I could no longer say their names or even scream in pain.

I woke up on the ground beside my bed covered in sweat. Even the clothes I was wearing were wet and cold from me sweating in the night. I rolled onto my stomach and pushed myself up. As I looked around I saw that at the foot of my bed was a suitcase already packed and ready for another adventure. I had forgotten that the expedition in Egypt was tomorrow and that it would take me at least a day if not more to get there. I looked at my watch and knew that I had slept in. I quickly got ready and jumped into my car. I was off to Egypt for another expedition.

It was two years ago that my wife and child were killed by a fire. Ever since then, I busied myself with archaeological digs to distract myself from the pain of losing them but, I am still haunted by nightmares every night. The only reason that I wasn't there early enough to stop the fire was because I was just coming back from an expedition in Africa for gold. I would give anything to go back in time to when I was young and had a loving wife and son, but in reality, all I can do is age and create distractions to hide the pains of the past.

James and David were waiting for me in the lobby of the Ramses Hotel. They walked me to the room that we were going to stay in and talked about how excited they were about the expedition. You could see the Nile from our room. The sun was sinking into the water giving it a shimmering red tint. I sank into my bed and waited for morning. We would leave at dawn for our journey.

I was awoken from another nightmare by a sudden thudding noise. I squinted and saw David bending down to pick up a heavy book on Egyptian symbols and meanings. He looked over at me and smiled " Good Morning Jonathan", David said cheerfully, " you look like crap." I shot a look at him and then looked around. "Where is James?", I yawned. " He's at the market. He said something about buying camels and meeting us outside the hotel with them.", David answered. " Why wouldn't he use his car? After all, he did drive it all the way here." " James said he would rather ride a camel then get sand in his car or something like that." I laughed, "That sounds like James. Well, we had better get a move on. The day has already started and I don't want to waste time." David smiled, "Ok, if one of those camels spits on me though, I swear I will pour a bucket of sand into James's car".

It was just before 10:00am when we arrived at the site. It was a large oasis about 100 miles west of the Sphinx. The sun was shining brightly and it hurt my eyes to look at it. It was already very hot outside and I was sweating. As we ventured deeper into the oasis I found the markers that I had left behind a couple of months ago when I first found the site but needed a team to help me excavate. We all got off of our camels ( David and James fell off) and I landed gracefully on my feet. I smiled and thought to myself, "This is where the journey of a lifetime begins".

We continued through the Oasis looking for ancient ruins that had inscriptions of a treasure on them. An hour later we passed by an open area that had something tall and old looking that was covered in plant life. My team and I finally found the ruin that I was looking for. It was a large rectangular ruin at least 15ft tall and 4ft wide on all four sides. It was decorated with many Ancient Egyptian symbols, two of which I recognized right away. The first symbol was the shape of an upside-down U with half of a sun under it. This symbol was called Nebu in Egyptian and was the Ancient Egyptian symbol for __gold__. The second symbol that jumped out at me looked like a raindrop with a cross on the bottom of it. This symbol was Egyptian for eternal life. I knew right away that wherever this ruin would take us, there would be gold and riches beyond belief. This made me excited to find out where the treasure was hidden. On one side of the ruin was a series of drawings of Egyptians in what looked to be caves. Beside each drawing was a riddle. I translated the first riddle and it said that the key to eternal life was death. I thought for a long time, analyzing all the possible meanings. At first I thought it was talking about dying and going to heaven but it had to have a deeper meaning. While I was thinking about the first riddle, I asked David to write the next 2 riddles down and copy the symbols around them too. James was wandering around the site and almost fell into some sinking sand. Then suddenly it came to me, what if it meant that death was a symbol for the underworld and the treasure was underground. I analyzed every inch of the ruin looking for symbols or clues to support my theory and finally I found it, the symbol of the underworld, Amenta. Next to that symbol was a drawing of the area around the ruin but, something was different, there were stairs in front of the ruin around where James had fallen into the sinking sand. I thought about the riddle again. If the underworld is underground then how do you get there? I looked at the drawing again and thought, what if the sand pit isn't sinking sand but just some sand built up over the years covering the stairs? I walked towards the sand and stood in the middle of the sinking pit. The sand was slowly eating me and was at my waist in no time. "What are you doing!" yelled James frantically. " You idiot, are you trying to kill yourself?" screamed David. They both sprinted to the edge of the pit to grab my hand and pull me in but just as they were about to grab me the sand stopped moving. I could feel something hard under my feet. It was the stairs! Oh thank god! The sand was up to my chin. I smiled and looked at James and David who stared blankly at me with shocked faces. "What happened", asked James curiously " We have solved the first riddle boys" ,I answered happily, "get out your shovels and start digging, we have some stairs to follow." It took us three hours to dig out the stairs and when we were done our clothes were heavy with sweat. It was worth it though, past the stairs was an underground tunnel that looked like it had been empty for thousands of years but there was something about the quietness of it that made me feel like it was keeping a secret from me. We lit the torches that hung on the barren walls and walked cautiously through the tunnel. On every wall were well-preserved paintings of ancient Egyptians and important events in their life. We reached the end of the tunnel where it divided into two tunnels, one to the right, and one to the left. "Which way do we go Jonathan?", asked James " Maybe this is the second riddle. Maybe, if you solve it, it will tell you the direction to go", suggested David. " Maybe. David, can you give me the paper that has the riddles on it?", I asked. " Here you are", David said as he handed it to me. I looked at the picture of the second riddle. The picture looked like a capital Y. The "Y" must have been a sign to indicate the two different paths but it didn't show which way to turn. After looking at the picture and deciding it was no help, I read the riddle below it out loud in English. " Look to the falcon for guidance". " What the hell does that mean?", asked David. " The falcon could be a symbol for something couldn't it?", asked James. " Or maybe it's telling us to go back to the surface and get out of here", suggested David nervously. " No, I think that James is right", I said, " The falcon is the symbol of Horus, the Ancient Egyptian sky god. Look for symbols on the walls that look like a falcon, whichever side has the symbol might be the right way to go." " Might be, but that's not very reassuring" Quivered David. " Oh stop worrying and look for it already!", James said. I looked carefully at the left side of the wall but found nothing. I started to doubt my theory and lose hope. " Over here! Guys, there is something over here!", yelled James, "but it doesn't look like a bird, it looks like an eye to me" I looked at the symbol on the right side of the wall. James was right, it was an eye. "What would the falcon have to do with an eye?", asked David. " The Eye of Horus!", I practically yelled from excitement. " Do you want to explain what the eye of Horus is, or just leave us clueless?" said James. " The eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian sign for protection, royal power, and good health. I think that we should go in the direction that the eye was looking.", I said " I agree", said James. I looked over at David who gave me one quick nod. " Ok, It's settled then, we will go right.", I stated.

At the end of the tunnel I could see the flickering light of a distant lit torch. I gasped and bit my tongue so that I wouldn't scream. There were people in here, but there couldn't possibly be! The tunnel was underground and secure. Whoever these people were, they must have been thousands of years old, if that was at all possible. I walked towards the light, curious but also scared to see what kind of people, or creatures, could survive in this underground tunnel network, and how they could have survived for so long. " We should turn back! Now!", squeaked David nervously. " Why is there a lit torch over there? You don't think that there could be people living down here after being trapped for thousands of years do you?", asked James. " Let's go find out the answer to that shall we?", I said.

We reached the end of the tunnel which led to a vast open area the size of a small town. There were tall pillars here and there to prevent a cave-in, small Egyptian-styled houses and buildings, statues, and in the middle of the whole town was what looked to be a large fountain. The entire town was covered in gold. Even the pillars were covered in gold. I looked around but there didn't seem to be anyone there. I felt unsure and nervous. We walked into the centre of the town towards the fountain. There were two repeating symbols inscribed on the fountain walls. The first symbol was a series of zigzags that was called 'She' in Egyptian and translated to 'pool of water' in English. The second symbol looked like a teardrop with a cross on the bottom of it. This symbol was called 'Ankh' in Egyptian and translated to 'eternal life'. I gasped and was astounded by what lay before my eyes. It was the legendary Fountain of Youth! We had found the Fountain of Youth! "Do you know what this is?" , I sang out. " A fountain?" said David. " It isn't just any fountain" I chirped, " It's the fountain of youth!" " It couldn't be" whispered James in astonishment. " what else explains how they lived so long?" I said. " Well there is only one way to find out" said James, "drink up boys!" he rejoiced. David and James ran towards the fountain, filling their faces greedily with the cool fresh water. I felt a chill and then suddenly, the torches that lit up the town flickered, even though there was no breeze down here. I started to wonder where all the people were that lived in the town and got a bad feeling. I knew that we were being watched and tested. " Stop drinking. I have a bad feeling about this. David, James, stop drinking!" I yelled but they ignored me and kept drinking the water. "STOP DRINKING THE WATER!" I screamed at them but they couldn't hear me. The water had control over them and wouldn't let them stop. They were so addicted to it that it seemed as if it was their oxygen. " Your friends are very foolish" whispered a faceless voice. I looked around but there was no one there. I started to freak out and thought that I was crazy but a boy appeared from behind a house and spoke again. " Why do they take what is not theirs without permission?" the Egyptian boy asked. " I don't know I tried to stop them. What is happening to them?" I cried. " Those who drink from the fountain cannot stop. Once a single drop is swallowed, you will never age, never be harmed, will always heal, but you will never leave this place." The boy explained. " So you mean once you drink the water you will live underground for all eternity?" I asked. " Yes, unless you answer a riddle correctly" the boy answered. " Then what?" I asked worriedly. " Then the gods will forgive you and let you go free but you will become mortal again" He said

Being young again would be wonderful, I would be fit, handsome, and energetic. I looked over at James and David who were still gorging themselves with water. I felt terrified and wanted to leave but I wanted to be eternally young too. I thought about all the things I missed about being young, being hapy. Then I looked at my watch. I thought about Mary and Christopher. What was living forever worth if it meant living in the past, trapped underground forever. No matter what I did, I knew that nothing could bring my family back, and that holding on to the past would never let me move on. I took the watch off and dropped it into the fountain. I decided to let the past go because I finally realized that turning back the sands of time of my aging would not turn back time to when I had a family that loved me. I decided to try to free them. " What do they have to do?" I asked " They must solve a riddle, if they solve the riddle they will pass the test and be freed" he said Some people stepped out of the tent that the boy was in and started chanting. David and James suddenly woke up from the trance and stepped out of the fountain dazed and confused. The oldest looking man out of the ten people stepped forward and spoke. " You must solve this riddle ' The sun is my twin, I rise in his light and fall in his darkness, I am rebirth and recreation. Who am I?' " " This is stupid. I want to live forever. The answer is a human." said James " I agree with James, it is obviously a human" said David " You have chosen poorly and are now trapped here forever" said the old man. He then turned to look at me, "You have not said anything and have not drank from the fountain, yet you choose to stay behind to save your friends. You are brave and pure in heart. If you answer the riddle correctly I will let you and your friends go, if not, they will stay here forever." I thought hard. What was the symbol for the sun? there were lots but only one rose and fell in the light and darkness. " I am the Lotus Flower. I close and sink underwater at night and rise and open in the day. I am the symbol of the sun, recreation, and rebirth" I answered. The old man smiled, " you are correct and free on one condition. Promise that you will never tell a soul about this place or the fountain of youth and make your friends swear to it too." I looked over at them but they shook their heads and refused to swear. There was nothing that I could do for them anymore. " I swear that I will never tell a soul" I said sadly as I looked at my friends, for this was the last time that I would ever see them.

As I reached the top of the stairs and stepped onto the oasis ground I glanced behind. The stairs filled once again with sand. I felt bad for my friends but it was their choice to stay. I realized just then that I would rather live one life as a free man than an eternity as a prisoner.

The next morning I woke up happy because, for the first time in 2 years, I didn't have a nightmare. I smiled and swore to never tell a soul about the fountain because I knew about the violence and lives that would be taken in people's greed to possess eternal youth.