A Year 12 Creative Writing Project

Through a Portal, Darkly

S. Austin, 2011 Next

Don’t be afraid. I know it seems strange right now, seeing me before you. I’m sure it isn’t every day that you are approached in your sleep by a giant – well – bunny rabbit.

You might be wondering why I’m here – you are puzzled, I can tell. But I know you’ve been searching for my kind for a long time now, and it hasn’t gone un-noticed by the people I work for. Now I’m not saying that you’ve been searching for a giant Easter bunny, exactly… but I know you believe that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy (it’s Shakespeare, kid – you’ve got some smart dreams!)

I’m here to give you something. You see, there are some who would like to help you find what you’re searching for. Or at least, they have their own reasons for wanting to help you. So they’ve sent me with the ‘gift’.

In a few seconds you are going to wake up. You will find my gift in your room. You can use it to help in your search. Whether you make use of it is up to you.

Good luck…

Welcome Traveller…

Next

You wake up and look around you. You feel crazy to believe the dream, but you can’t help but look at the items in your room, to see if anything looks out of place.

You begin to search your room, picking up items at random.

And then you spot it…

Click on the items in the room to find the gift.

Next

You think we’d make it that easy?

Back

Wrong move! Keep looking.

Back

You think it a little strange that you have a remote control in your room, because you’ve never had a TV in here.

However, you’ve been awake for a few minutes now, and the dreamlike credulity with which you approached the search is fading fast. You sigh to yourself, and throw it on the bed. But as you do so, it emits a tiny beep.

You pick it up, curious. It seems to be doing something strange.

You pick up the remote

Creative Writing Task: Describe the “something strange” that is happening to the remote control. Focus on building tension by using detail

Next

In the silence that follows, you gradually become aware of an eerie whosh sound, like the breeze moving through your mother’s washing. Slowly, the breeze seems to build into crescendo of sound, and as you check the closed windows, looking for its source, you find that your hair is now being whipped into a frenzy.

It is then that you see it. Starting as a glimmer of mercury, then forming a pool of liquid energy that now pulsates in front of you: A whirlpool of light has opened up on your bedroom wall!

Curious, you peer into the light. You are startled by what you see before you.

Creative Writing Task:Write about what you see in the portal. Focus on writing descriptively.

Next

You are hyptnotised by the languid movement of the mercury energy you see before you. Carefully, deftly, you touch a finger to the surface. It feels cold to touch, and as you pull your hand away, its viscosity causes it to cling to your fingertip. You stare, transfixed, as the watery substance begins to rotate around a point in the centre, increasing speed just a fraction, until at last you are aware of an opening appearing in its centre. You are able to see something on the other side.

When the view becomes clear, your breath seizes in shock. For through the portal, you can see….

Key Question: How is tension being built in this slide?

Next

Creative Writing Task:

What do you see when you peer through the portal? Focus your energy on SHOWING not TELLING

Next

Your pulse is racing. Through the sandpaper in the back of your throat you try to swallow. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you feel like there is something you should be doing, somewhere you should be. But you brush the thought away.

You pick up the remote. You have an important decision to make. Do you go down the rabbit hole? Do you dare?

Hell, Yes!

Are you

freaking

kidding me?

You turn quickly around the room, hastily throwing a few essentials into your backpack. After all, no sense in being unprepared. Then, taking a deep breath, you close your eyes and dive head first into the vortex.

Creative Writing Task:

Write about how it feels to be heading through the portal. Focus on all five senses.

Next

You shake your head. You’d be crazy to go through there. You look down at the remote control and begin pressing buttons randomly, trying to switch it off.

You never were too smart. Some buttons aren’t made to be pressed – the big red button with the words “Do Not Touch” is one of these.

Suddenly, the vortex starts to whirl in the opposite direction. The wind continues to blast from the opening, but now the buffeting has a distinct pull to it. You find yourself being drawn to it, and you are unable to stop as you are pulled violently into its centre.

Creative Writing Task:

Write about how it feels to be heading through the portal. Focus on all five senses.

Next

You decide to choose one of the portals.

There are two near you. You take your pick.

You are pretty sure you’re not in Kansas anymore.

The problem is, it doesn’t seem like you are anywhere.

All around you are grid lines stretching into corridors as far as the eye can see.

Every few metres, apparently hanging in mid air, a portal glows silently.

Welcome to Unlund.

Next

Choose Your Destination

A version of Earth where contact with alien life forms was made early, thus increasing humanity’s access to highly advanced technology, and helping build trade routes across the universe.

A version of Earth where the atom was split by scientists working for Nazi Germany, who went on to use atom weapons against the Allies.

Creative Writing Task:

The stranger in front of you needs your help.

Describe the stranger you see before you and find out what they need from you.

Stepping through the portal, you take a moment to size up your surroundings.

You inhale deeply. The scent of decay clings heavily to your nostrils, mingling with the faint metallic taste that has lodged itself in the back of your throat. As your eyes adjust to the dimness around you, you shudder. Before you lies the source of this putrid stench. For the rubble is shadowed with a dark crimson stain, and in the recesses of your mind you know the source of the discolouration.

Bile rises in your throat, and choking, you stoop to vomit. Finally, your oesophogus raw, you look up. You realise you are not alone.

Next

Creative Writing Task:

The stranger in front of you needs your help.

Describe the stranger you see before you and find out what they need from you.

The city gleams before you, a maze of reflective surfaces and soaring towers. A faint hum pulses through the landscape, serving as a background beat to the busy mid-morning foot-traffic.

The traffic? Where IS the traffic? For the streets are awash with pedestrians of every size, shape and stature – a number of them of some strange alien race – but the cars are –

Before you can finish your thought, a “car” buzzes overhead, held aloft by some kind of jet propulsion and close enough for you to feel the blast of heat left in its wake. You can’t help but laugh out loud.

At the sound of your laugh, a nearby pedestrian pauses mid-stride, eyes you contemptuously, and rushes on. You notice that other commuters are looking your way with expressions that range from shocked to enraged.

It is at this moment you feel a tap on your shoulder. Slowly, nervously, you turn around…

Next

Creative Writing Task:

Use the formative writing tasks in Through a Portal, Darkly to help you prepare for you summative assessment. Select one moment to develop into your summative creative writing.

See the task sheet for marking criteria and task requirements, to ensure you are meeting the assessment criteria.

Good Luck!

You have a decision to make about what to do next. Do you carry on in this dimension, perhaps to help the stranger you have met? Or do you return to Unland to take a chance on another dimension.

And what has the dark apparition of your dreams to do with all this? Who does it work for, and what do they want with you? And why do you keep seeing its symbol in every world?

Only you can make a difference to this story. Looking at the stranger before you, you know what to do.

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