If it's the 17th, that can only mean...

[in_the_blue]

Writing Challenge!

Welcome to the sixth seventh monthly writing challenge. Go all of us who've contributed! It's one of my favorite times of the month... because it forces me to be creative, and it lets me read some amazing short work on a regular basis.

This month's theme, in honor of sff_corgi, is serenity. Not the movie, the word.

From Cambridge Dictionaries Online:

serene
adjective
peaceful and calm; troubled by nothing:
She has a lovely serene face.

serenely
adverb
She smiled serenely and said nothing.

serenity
noun [U]
I admired her serenity in the midst of so much chaos.

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Rules (remember, they're more like guidelines):

• Fandom: any, so long as it's one you know well.


• Word count: 400 or less


• Main theme: Serenity.


• Ratings: No restrictions.


• Duration: Challenge opens today and closes at 11:59 p.m. Monday, October 24. A week and a day because I like it that way.

Post your short-fics as comments to this entry. Feel free to do as few or as many as you want, and if you see one you really like, be sure to leave a review or a comment.

"My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way." --Ernest Hemingway

Curious about previous writing challenges? Go here to find them.

Comments

Fandom: Harry Potter / featuring Charlie Weasley

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Charlie runs his hand through his hair then looks up at the sun: he’ll wait five more minutes then Apparate away. After flunking his first Apparation test he’s always been so careful about intention and result when he does it. Apparating’s still the best and quickest way to get from here to there and back again.

The Romanian Longhorn Reserve is great for many reasons. There’s no place better to study dragons, and not just Longhorns. They’re all here, from Peruvian Vipertooths to huge Hungarian Horntails. The Carpathians are their resting spot, a place not many wizards think to look, never mind travel to. The weather changes with the blink of an eye: he’s seen days go from sunny to fogged under in less than five minutes, and magic’s got nothing to do with it.

And everything to do with it.

Those few in the know also understand that it’s a hell of a place to hide people, not just dragons. There are three Order members here now; Charlie’s recruited the other two. Slowly, carefully, and over time, though at first he resented Dumbledore’s assignment. He remembers the words: "Charlie, I need you in Romania. Keep an eye out for good wizards and witches; I trust your judgment. We have proof of happenings in Albania and surrounding areas; you’re closest. Bring other people in, but do it slowly."

It isn’t really in Charlie’s nature to do things slowly, but he knows he can. A Muggle prayer floats across his brain, refusing to give way:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

He knows the difference between right and wrong, requests and orders, wanting to stay where the action is and working behind the scenes.

He knows being here is more than just necessary: it’s close to ideal. He gets to do what he loves -- play with dragons -- and also help the Order. Even if it means it looks like he isn’t doing anything at all: he knows and Dumbledore knows.

And the dragons know. They’re good that way. Again, Charlie squints up at the sun: this contact isn’t going to show. That’s all right. Recruiting’s hit or miss.

He turns to Apparate back to the Reserve, serene acceptance in his heart. With people, as with dragons, the key word is patience.

Re: Fandom: Harry Potter / featuring Charlie Weasley

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

That's a nice unexpected combination, Mister Dragon-Action-Wizard being quiet and slow. Other Quillish Charlie-fics I've read have that touch of pepper to them, too, but this is a situation where pepper is just the wrong spice [/metaphorsRus].

Re: Fandom: Harry Potter / featuring Charlie Weasley

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

It was a good challenge to write Charlie in a forced-slow situation like that. I really didn't know what he wanted to talk about until he started, but it came out as that acceptance of the situation he both wanted and didn't want to be in. I always wondered how he felt about being told to stay in Romania and do quiet work for the Order there. I hope JKR doesn't forget about him again in Book 7.