Born American
james reynolds
Course: Creative Writing
Instructor: Penley
Table of Contents
2) Writers observations (5)
3) StorySLAM (1)
4) Poetry (5)
5) Flash Fiction (2)
6) Short story (1)
7) Screenplay (1)
8) Extra Piece (1) (poem)
9) Revision of (insert here) (1) (1/2 page)
10) Course Reflection
Journal Entries
Grounder 1 -
The Constitution of the Reydan Republic
Article I - this is the structure of our nation
The nation has an electoral body that shall be referred to as the senate
Senators must be natural born citizens of Reyda and be at least age 30
The senate elects a trifecta
The Dictator must have served in a combat or leadership role in the military for at least ten years
The Librarian must have taught in school for at least ten years
The Architect must have gone to architectural and engineering school and have a four year degree in both
All judges are appointed by the state
Sheriffs are elected by the province
Article II - these are the base for the laws of our great republic
Freedom of speech(unless prohibited under the war or safety clause) Religion (unless it calls for the destruction of the state) Press (refer to freedom of speech exceptions)
Right to be as well armed as the military, as long as proper requirements are met
Fair judicial process (dule trial, jury of peers unless matter of national security such as but not limited to acts of terrorism or attempt at cue)
All Citizens are conscripted for 4 years
No person shall be enslaved, unless convicted a life sentence, and at which time this person is in the ward of the State
All power over school curriculum will be held in power by the Librarian
All government infrastructure projects must be approved under the architect unless this structure has educational or military purpose in which case its design becomes a matter of the Trifecta to vote on and decide on appropriate action (this only applies to civilian use buildings all military bases and defensive structures are referred to the Dictator)
All government surveillance must be approved the local judiciary of that area or approved by a unanimous vote by the senate and the Trifecta.
Reyda is a free market state; however no horizontal Monopolies are allowed.
The state can declare war and raise taxes up to 15% income or 5% sales (unless at war where the tax count can go up to 30% income, and 10% sales)
Capital punishment is a right of the state only when local governments deem a person or persons actions so unsightly that they must be removed from life for the well being of the common experience
Article III
The state may never own any colonies
However the state may own common wealths and annex territories.
The state shall maintain this ownerships at an equal level to the mainland
Article IV
In time of war Reyda will convert to a total war nation, every aspect of the nation shall contribute to the war effort. A draft among the male populus shall ensue to include those not in conscription, Antiwar protest are not covered under freedom of speech in any capacity.
Article V
Trade agreements are created by the senate and approved by the architect.
The dictator can act as a representative of the state or appoint the librarian or architect to act as such.
Martial law is only allowed under a unanimous vote by the senate
but troops can be called or raised by the Dictator in peacetime
the Architect and Librarian can override this power however
No foreign power is allowed raw Reydan recourses unless contributing to a war effort or approved by the senate
Article VI
A citizen of Reyda was either born on Reydan soil or allowed citizenship by the law
In order to stay in Reyda more than a year without a permit you must be a citizen
Workers permits can be granted to persons by the state department
Article VII
There are several organizations whose leaders are appointed by the Trifecta
State department, Handles the execution of foreign policy
Bureau of State Security, An espionage agency under the trifectas command
The Military colleges of the nation, The Institute of Science, The Shipyard Naval coolidge, Barstow Architectural University, Armed Forces academy, The Aerospace and warfare institute, and The Operational tactics university
The Reydan Wildlife commission
The Committee of Joint Reydan Sciences
The Commission of Domestic affairs
The Committee of Resource Management
Grounder 2
grounder 3
The grand throne
I was a maleficent ruler, of my land,
my people bowed and rose at my command,
everything organized from everything in our land,
There was no sand, no trees, no bees, no bugs and simply no mutts,
nothing but me and my royal subjects don't you see,
with a wonderful demeanor,
i became a seeker
so i ventured out of my kingdom one day
and came back to find my thrown missing,
someone had wheeled it away.grounder 4
STRICKSNEE
The Stricksnee is and odd little fellow
who loves to howl and bellow
from his little hut
deep in a grass rut
for he's not big you see
only at 2 foot 3
he only eats mice
and those that are simply not nice
so beware to you who could be his food
look up into the trees
for the elusive Stricksnee
for he will climb to a height
that's mighty at sight
and jump down to get his prey
so you better pray
be nice and do whats right
or the Stricksnee will have
you for lunchGrounder 5
Many people sit here in this hole
many hearts cry out for home
many noises of thunder arore
many smells of powder and gore
many souls torn asunder from the horrors of war
many tears shed for the dead
many lost at what cost
many died so we could thrive
many forget
most will regretWriters Observations
grease on the gril
Story slam
witness
My fellow classmates i stand before you today, ideal, but in motion, certain, but in contemptive thought as i speak, and my warry words reach your indiscriminate ears, i think on how we are alive and being, a miracle of this humanity that we have been blessed with is our sight, to see the beauty in all things, both natural and of man, and yet far too many, only use their sight,
We have all seen atrocities in our lifetime, from an age we can't remember with 911 to only a few short days ago in brussels. That city, the diplomatic capital of the world 31 stand dead. Why?
I don't blame islamist extremist. I blame the incompetence of western leaders. What to we all see every day. The death toll rise, people begging for the west, the Kurds, the Ukrainians, the Israelis, Christians and Jews in the middle east, and what have we done. We have done just enough to appear to be doing somthing. War is the upmost last option. But when they target innocent lives, when women and children become targets. That is when we must rain down hell with a vengeance, for the parents, the mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters and children of the victims of the heinous attacks. Lives will be lost. But it is a soldier's job, neigh, their duty to defend innocents. By now i'm sure you're asking. What has he witnessed? What I have witnessed is the intolerable neglection of the safety of innocent civilians of western civilization. No retribution, no response outside of doing the bare minimum. Instead of action they hide behind words and miniscule acts that only affect an unmeasurably small percentage of the world's population. Thus My simple solution. Elect people who are not bystanders but are leaders, people who do more then witness but act. These leaders may yet have been born and may perhaps, be in this very room. Yet, this much is sure, our current leaders have neither the leadership, nor the gall, to face down the tyrannical, oppressive,and elicit organization know an ISIS.
In the coming months, we will either witness the collapse of western civilization or the beginning of the collapse of the fundamental islamic regimes around the world. From all this from the atrocities we all have seen, it is time we stop running, and take responsibility, for the mistakes we made to make fundamentalism possible, and clean up our mess.Poetry
Strife
im censored
but my voice will be heard
like samizdat i speak the truth
you don't know anything until i tell you
Defending the oppressed like i'm a testudo
they'll tell my story in a triptych
Built on a false generation full of lies and hate
hate for the people
hat for freedom of life
hate for love
and love for strifelove
the painful mistress
she's the drug dealer no one can escape
making pay with your heart and soul
in a deadly woe
Smoke hits your lungs
love goes for the heart
Killing from the inside
no freedom from it
obliteration is the obligation
of your body and mind
to escape this addiction
in this sad humanic tradition
so im here to patition
to make a transition
from the hurt and the pain
to get away from the love game
and make it an art
not some farce
full of beauty and life
not bloodshed and strife
so i say
to all here today
love like you mean it
never make a game of it
what is poetry
The bleeding heart
spills its iqor and vile
upon a populus whom was milled
disrupting the order of common man
to show us the sins of this land
to change your perspective
on what is presented
this outrageous claim
all in the name
of expression and gainAmerica
A political tradition old as time
Much older then this rhyme
war to kill off the poor
but in my country
warriors are not cannon foughter
but fighters
Who fight to be free
from all tyranny
to win their wars
for all men and women
From the rich to the poor
As the world suffers on
We all fight for where all mankind belongs
Among freedoms thrill
Ode to Beauty's light
Beauty beyond compare
from the sunlight glistening on her hair
to the sparkle of her eyes
lord i just might die
because of the stunning light
given off by her sight
Stunning even at night
Through the darkness glows
Her magnificent mind never knows
the blinding might
of her beautiful sightFlash FIction
The Burning Fields
section
Epilogue
December 1, 2014, 2:00 am
Charlotte, NC
The two men were standing in the alley, the cold was beginning to set in. The taller man was wearing a tan trench coat, the other man turned to face his companion. “We just can't leave him here.” The man in the trench coat spoke in a harsh voice. “We’re not, we are calling an ambulance and making sure it gets him”. The man looked on as the other stared at the body on the ground, a familiar man and his mentor. The other man spoke. “I really don't want to leave him here George.” The man in the trench coat answered to his name. “I didn't want to either. This was his idea.” George motioned to the man on the ground. The shorter man started to tear up. “How... how could he leave us?”
George put his hand on the shoulder of the shorter man. “Drag, after everything he has seen, I don't blame him.”
story slam
historical fiction
Ten soldiers wisely led will beat a hundred without a head.
Euripides
In 1914, World War I ended, and the world saw what war had become. A slaughter on an industrial scale, but of course, in 1938, Adolf Hitler invaded poland and again the world was thrown into war. Then the world went cold. America and Russia stood at the brink of war. In 1946 the Russians tried to “up” the Americans. But instead of attempting to harness the power of nuclear fission, they resorted to the old habits of war, and attempted to create a chemical agent. One that the Czars started in 1915, and now Stalin wanted it for his glorious revolution’ continuance. Then the unthinkable happened. Russia closed its borders in 1950. As America fought the Red Chinese to keep China democratic and forcing them into Mongolia, against the Russian line. The Red Chinese attempted to flee into Russia. Where they were gunned down by the Russians guarding it. Then the wall went up. From the Baltic to the Adriatic the iron curtain became a physical wall, across Asia, absorbing Afghanistan and Mongolia into the union that was 1952. That was 73 years ago, the year is 2025 and the first signals are coming out of the Greater Soviet Socialist Republic in almost a century. America's last war was to ensure the United European Republic kept its colonies in the 2015 march for freedom, and now we mobilize. From our 25 Aircraft carrier fleets to our 4 million active duty personnel to our 50,000 nuclear bombers and our 100,000,000, nuclear warheads. From California to the Carolinas and from Greenland to Panama. The United States of North America are ready for whatever they can throw at us.
I leaned back in my seat awaiting the call over the intercom. First american boots down in asia in almost 5 years, and the 51st ranger regiment was the first in. The operational goal was simple, recover the beacon in Leningrad and see what had been going on behind the wall for the last 73 years. Static buzzed over the intercom of the C180 “we will be at the wall in 5 mikes” our trajectory was taking us from the Nordic Republic to Leningrad. I was born in Panama City, going from there to the army rangers in Georgia. In the winter, it was colder than hell, seeing all the snow made me think of that, and miss my family. My sons birthday was in a few days. He turned 7 and wanted me home in time, I wish I could have made it. The missile lock lights and alarms went off. I knew then I wouldn't be home in time. The light turned green. The sergeant stood up and yelled over the alarms and sound of bullets as they ricocheted off the outside hull. “GREEN LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT, LET'S MOVE IT RANGERS” . He stood up and pulled the emergency door latch and the back door fell open revealing flak clouds and the rest of the assault force being hammered by ground fire. I froze for a second, flashbacks of South East Asia and North Africa flooded my mind, memories of peacekeeping operations, memories of fallen comrades, but i had no time for that as I leaped out of the plane falling 50,000ft into the belly of the beast, into the unknown, into apparent hostile territory and I was ready.
The shoot opened and i felt the wind rush past my face. At the time I hadn't known that if I had adjusted course a few inches I would have avoided the kill zone. But i didn't. As the ground became visible I saw the area the majority of the landing force hit. It was a flaming hell. Machine gun fire ripped across the barren snow covered landscape as, what at first glance, brimstone fell from the sky. Of course this “brimstone” was the flaming remains of the C180s. I braced myself for the landing and getting to ready myself to return fire and move to cover. I felt my boots hit, I snapped out and rolled out of the landing into a crouching position shouldering my M160 and ready to face any hostile force that could get into my way. I saw my sargent land about fifty yards out he moved to a husk of a C130 for cover. I ran low and fast to him. I took position next to him as I saw others from our unit hit the ground. Dimarzio, Mitchell, and Baronchelli ran toward us. Sarge yelled over the the flak above and the machine guns. “LISTEN UP LADIES THERE'S A HOSTILE NEST KEEPIN’ OUR BOYS PINED IN THE FAR NORTH. DIMARZIO, BARONCHELLI WATCH THE FLANKS, MITCHELL AND MARCO UP THE MIDDLE WITH ME, WATCH FOR DEBRIS AND DON'T USE YOUR SONAR, WITH ALL THIS FALLING, IT'S A SHINY PAPERWEIGHT.” He lead us up the middle, as we moved, other Rangers formed up on us. We all provided covering fire for eachother like they teach in basic. We made it to the enemy nest which lead to a system of trenches. I jumped down into the trench to meet my foe head on. I saw a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye, enough to see the tan colored uniform. Considering every ranger that dropped was in arctic camo I believed i found my enemy, I aimed and fired. One three round burst that changed everything. One jump into a frozen hell that i could have never known would put the world in the brink of destruction.
We made a perimeter in the trench to set up a mobile staging area. We gathered our dead and theirs. Of our 400 that set out. Only 50 made the drop zone, and 25 of them had died in the fight. Meaning only 25 of us were known alive and that left the other 350 M.I.A or as we believed at the the time, Scattered in the city and on the outside of the wall. We investigated the enemy combatants and it was odd. They were in tan trench coats tan boots and no gloves with winter hats on their heads but the odd part was the face peace. It was solid steel with a eye hole on one side of the face, it was protected by a plastic like glass that covered it, the other eye had a rotating peace on it with different lenses that could move over the eye presumably for different vision enhancements. The bottom seemed to have an air filtration system. The medic who everyone simply know as Doc ran over to us and examined the corpse himself, “He died by ballistic trauma to the heart” he exclaimed , which is a fancy way of saying he was shot in the chest. Doc analyzed the body, he took a knife and pried the mask off. Revealing a decrepit face, scared greatly with hollow eyes and red skin almost resembling that of a newborns. Doc turned on his helmet cam and started documenting. “Subject is roughly 5’7’ muscular with a red pigmentation and the dilation of the eyes suggest him to have been high recently, scaring suggest” and just as sudden as its life was taken, it came back to life. With a metallic scream it lunged up and bit Docs throught. Making the wound gush blood violently. I'll never forget his face. Id seen prison camps, torture chambers in southeast asia i've seen massicard towns in Egypt and Libya. But this, this was horied. I was taken aback but i quickly grabbed my standard issue Colt 2011 and fired five shots into its head. It jerked and sputtered then collapsed over. The sergeant ran over and I reported the event in full detail to which he took Docs tags and sighed putting them away he then took the helmet cam. “Were calling for evac and coming back to raze this place to the ground.” Then the coms exploded with static “ANY RANGERS IN OUR A.O THIS IS YANKEE COMPANY WE MISSED THE DROP ZONE AND OUR BEING OVERRUN BY HOSTILE PLEASE ASSIST”
Sarge spoke loud “SCRATCH THAT WE GOT RANGERS TO GET, LOOK THROUGH THE WRECKAGE AND FIND SOME HUMVEES THAT HOPEFULLY DROPPED WITH US WE ARE GETTING THEM OUT”
We lucked out and found an intact M5 Abrams tank, these things were monsters, 200mm railgun, 50. Cal on the roof with a 30. GAU and 15 inch armored plating
Screen Play
A Boy's War
By
James Reynolds
May 24, 2016
BLACK SCREEN
MAIN TITLES
FADE IN
MO - Upbeat violin
British countryside, clear skies with normal clouds. JONATHAN is looking over his cows. MOTHER calls for him.
MOTHER
Jonathan!
JONATHAN
Yes mother?
MOTHER
The post is in! News from the front!
Jonathan walks to the house.JONATHAN walks into the house. MARTIN and MOTHER are sitting at kitchen table going through mail.
MARTIN
(sarcastically)
About time you showed up!
Jonathan
(to Mother)
Any good news in the post?
MOTHER
(to Jonathan)
They’re drafting five-hundred more men.
MARTIN
(sighs)
What a shame I can not join the war.
MOTHER
(upbeat)
Not for my sake it isn’t!
Mother leans over and kisses Martin on the forehead.
MOTHER
It would do me a good fright if you or your brother went off.
Jonathan walks over to table and picks up a letter that says ‘DRAFT NOTICE’. Mother gasps at the letter and bursts into tears.
FADE OUT
FADE IN-A barren landscape full of barbed wire, trenches and craters
Dissolve to-CU-INT-JONATHAN Walks into the canteen of a trench and is greeted warmly by his friend ELLIOT
ELLIOT porches Jonathan and hands him a tin cup of booze
ELLIOT
Might want to drink your breakfast today mate, heard we will be on the suicide run.
JONATHAN chugs the booze
JONATHEN
(coughing)
Jesus man did you distill a damn onion
ELLIOT laughs
BG-TOLKIEN walks in
TOLKIEN
Listen up gents get on your knickers were on duty in half an hour
ELLIOT
Bout time, i'm ready to kill me a hun
SFX- the noise of artillery hitting outside
OSV
ARTILLERY!
BG-men duck for cover
FG- JONATHAN, TOLKIEN, and ELLIOT take cover
TOLKIEN
(in a loud tone)
Men find a rifle and move to the trenches!
Moving shot-running through the trenches SFX-machine gun fire, rifle fire, mortar fire, artillery fire
OSV-people screaming
SPFX- artillery lands near JONATHAN, knocking him back
MO-inkspots “i don't want to set the world on fire”
ZI-JONATHAN's face as he slowly gets up
SFX-ear ringing PAN-from JONATHAN to mangled soldiers
JONATHAN stumbles to a rifle and returns fire with it
ELLIOT
(yelling over the gunfire)
Jonathan(repeats several times)
OS-Moving Shot-JONATHAN fights through the trenches with the rifle and bayonet on it
Unique work
A wide variety of people liked it and I guarantee that these people have different beliefs but all have something in common they are Americans
We are lucky enough to live in a nation were people may not be persecuted for they're beliefs or creeds they take upon them selves
And yet in modern America law abiding citizens are being persecuted for they're beliefs in all spectrums from north to south, east to west we are 50 member nations of a Union by and for the people built on this principle of self governance and an entitlement to ones own beliefs
So I ask all of you
Why
Why today are so many persecuted on the whem of so few
When we all need to remember that simple truth that binds us together
We are all different
Black, white, Asian, Hispanic, straight, gay, pan, bi, northern yank or southern confederate
But
We are all Americans
And as such entitled to our beliefs and the ability to practice them