[4854] Marco (working title) Chapter V

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Crits: [1368] [990] [1939] [1781] [1877] [1115]

Tags: Phenomenological, experimental, coming-of-age, picaresque

I deleted some of the previous posts to avoid creating clutter. But you can find them here if you want to read other comments [1][2][3][ch4]

Recap of the previous chapters:

Chapter 1 - The protagonist wakes up in the forest in a unique, empty state - but he is not unhappy. He manages to find a way out to the road where he is helped by a friendly local and taken to the small town of Pleasantview.

Chapter 2 - The protagonist goes to the local store and meets the owner, Henry, who is in a slightly foggy state. After some revelations Henry gifts the protagonist the name Marco and offers him a job and a place to live.

Chapter 3 - Marco struggles with work and discipline, tries to prove himself - while Henry struggles to adjust to a reality of someone like Marco working for him. The chapter ends on Henry communicating with Marco through guesses and background gestures - leaves the magazine and Marco tried to read during the work day as well as a book suggestion.

Chapter 4 - Marco encounters Zita who has come to the store to see Henry; he inadverently ends up turning her away. Marco suffers from boredom during a long day of work and Henry shares something personal with him as they have a unique form of coffee together.

I think of my writing as "theological" and "typological". This story is not a fable and it doesn't contain metaphors but it does, inevitably, contain archetypes. I leave a lot of little hints and connection and try to bury secondary and tertiary meanings in the corners and under the surface. It's not a high stakes story - unless you've lived a life and know what can matter to someone who has lived. I also do try to write with humor in tradition of many "boyhood" writers I love and it's up to you to decide if it's funny, given Marco's unusual condition. Some things are revealed in this chapter, or every chapter - if you can it a reveal.

I am trying to make a philosophical statement on the nature of judgment and conclusions but I'm doing it as indirectly as I can not to contradict myself.