storytelling in less than a thousand words

For some reason or another, the memories of my secondary school days came to mind on the way home today. In particular, they centered around a few of my old compositions. Those things you're given like... what was it? An hour? An hour and a half? to write, and usually we were given a choice or a few topics, like a sentence ("He was the only one who ever bothered") or a title ("The Insolent Few") or some topic. Stuff like that.

I almost never wrote opinion topics. Never found any pleasure in writing those. I almost always wrote stories. Short stories of war, of heroism, or terrorism, or the like. I vaguely remember a piece about an air crash as well. But I always wrote stories.

Looking back, I'm pretty amazed at the imagination of my younger self. I think I actually would have enjoyed reading my own stories now. Yes, that is quite narcissistic, but somehow I can't see myself writing like that anymore. Or maybe I just have not tried.

I remember spending extended periods of time in the composition exams doing nothing but thinking of the right names to use. I usually got them between 15 to 30 minutes. After I got the names right, the story would just tell itself. I almost always finished my compo early, with sufficient time to read through the story and correct grammar or spelling (usually the latter), and then smugly hand it in and walk out the examination hall. And of course. Do well. I was arrogant like that.

Its funny how distant I seem from younger me now. Sure, some of the arrogance still remains, but it seems much of that spark has faded. When I sit and type something out, as I am now, the words get clogged up in my brain and the lines come out thick and distorted. The coherence is no longer there. The story is a mess.

Regardless... the point of this post was to do a Hollywood and ponder recreating some of those stories I had once written. Perhaps along the way I might recapture a little of that spark, and create something new.