Diaries of a Madman #1 - April 29th, 1803. "The Star Storm"

A short story I wrote in the past hour. The first of what I am imagining to be a small trilogy. A young man named Jean-Luc has a strange encounter...

#1. April 29th, 1803 - L'Aigle, Normandy, France. Written by Jean-Luc Choffard. Translated into English by Professor Camden Krowder, UCF, 2012. 

     I've not had time to write my thoughts down for nearly a week. The last few days, especially have been but a blur. Only 3 days ago, stars fell from the sky, and landed HERE. in L'Aigle! In this small town, where nothing happens. I know, I know, the thought of stars falling seems absurd, and God knows some would call that heresy, but I SAW it happen. As did many of my other townsfolk.

 

     Twas just after lunch time. I was returning to the shop after sneaking away to spend some time with my sweet Aveline. Lost in a daze of love and emotion, I doubt I would've even noticed, had it not been for Hunter Pascal bellowing as if the world was ending. He ran towards me so fast I would've been trampled had he not jumped to the side yelling about the falling of the sky, and the book of Revelation. I glanced up to see what the fool was going on about. I will never forget what i saw next.

     The sky was alight, and indeed, stars WERE falling. I had never seen something like that, and doubt I ever shall again. I must admit, I was filled with fear for the first moment, but then I saw the beauty. i felt...drawn to these falling stars. As if, somehow, they were angels coming to deliver news that would change the world. I turned and found myself following Pascal. By this point, many others had seen the miracle itself, and had also taken to running towards where the stars looked to impact. I estimate at least 80 other men and women were in that crowd. We ran, and ran, and ran. After a few minutes, it looked as if the stars were very close. At that moment, the biggest star broke apart into thousands and thousands of pieces. The star pieces scattered in every single direction. The intermingling yells of fear and delight were almost deafening. Truthfully, i think we all wondered if we would survive this experience. Not even a full minute later, the stars began to make impact into the Earth. The crowd I was with was not directly near any of the pieces that fell, thankfully, as their impact would've certainly flattened us.

     Within 15 minutes, the "star storm" as Mary Krath (of England) called it, was over. The excitement my friends and I felt, however, was not. We all started scouting the surrounding area for any sign of stars. Soon, we realized something...they were not stars that had fallen from the sky...but rock. We came to this conclusion by noticing how there were many imprints in the ground that seemed to have formed freshly. ALL over the place. In all of those imprints, there were rocks that sizzled. No one dared touch them(including myself), besides Adelaide Carrel. She reported that it burned intensely, and the wound on her hand confirmed it. How rock had fallen from the sky, I did not know. A few of my fellow villagers moaned about the End Times and how we were all doomed, but I count it as rubbish.  After a long while, only a few of us remained. It was now night time, and we knew twould be foolish to remain outside in the woods for much longer. My friends convinced me to head back, despite my utter fascination with what had occurred.

     We all started our walk back to the journey when I heard what sounded like a whisper. I urged my friends to go on ahead, claiming that I needed to relieve myself in the woods. After a good laugh, they all headed onwards. I waited until they had gone on their way, and started looking around. Every minute or so, I would hear a very slight, very quiet whisper. After walking around blindly for near 30 minutes, I found one of the star pieces (I realized they were no longer stars, but quite liked the name, so I continue to refer to it as such.) It glowed faintly, a red hue surrounding it. I knew it would probably be foolish to touch it, but I felt drawn to it. The closer I got, the more the whispering grew louder. It was all words I could not understand. It didn't sound like any language I had ever heard. It was certainly not French, nor English, and from the small amount of Spanish I had learned, I was quite sure it wasn't Spanish either. However, one word stood out above the rest. "Shanaugen." I know not why I heard it so clearly, or why I hear it so clearly even at this moment, but I did, and I do. I believe it to be a name, a name of someone, or something immensely powerful.

     Anyway, I shall continue my tail. When i was within 3 meters of it, there was an overwhelming roar in my ears and all I could hear was "SHANAUGEN." it was deafening, and I knew, the only way to stop the sound was to touch the star piece. I lunged for it, feeling as if I would faint if I had to listen to the roar of that name even a second longer. My fingers grabbed hold of the rock...and the worst pain i have ever felt in my life gripped me. For what felt like an eternity, but was most likely less than a minute, I lay helpless as I spasmed and writhed, trying to end the pain. The roar of the name continued in my ears, and I wondered if hell had arrived on earth. Finally, after an unbearable eternity of torture, the pain, and the roar left me in an instant. I felt myself growing more and more faint, thinking I had reached the end of my life.

     The next time I opened my eyes, I found that an hour, maybe two had passed. It was long past nightfall, and I knew I had to hurry back. I got up, brushed the dirt off myself and started making my way back to the village. It was slow going, as every muscle ached, but I steadfastly continued.  An hour later, I walked into my house. It was only as I took my first step into the house, did I realize I had something clutched in my hand. I looked down in surprise to see the star piece there. I must've simply grabbed it without realizing, I thought. No matter. I set it on my shelf. Wondering why such a strange rock would cause so much pain. I realized however, that I was not worried at all about what had happened to me. I felt at peace.

     Of course, that night, i dreamed horrifying dreams. I will not write them down, for I would not like to revisit them, but needless to say. I woke up feeling more tired than i ever have. That day. the village was overflowing with rumors about the rocks. I went to work, and found myself ready to forget about the whole thing. That night, i climbed into bed immediately after supper. I felt beyond exhausted. Admittedly, i desperately wanted to spend my evening watching the sun set with Aveline, as I normally do, but I found myself far too tired. That night, I dreamt dreams even more horrifying than the last. Dreams involving death, decay, and all the things humanity tries to avoid. 

     I woke feeling miserable, with that word, "Shanaugen" once again echoing in my mind every minute or so. I found myself angry and irritable. I snapped at my sweet, sweet Aveline and had to apologize to her tearfully. I found myself lacking in productivity when I worked at the store, and found within myself a strange desire. I wanted to be near that rock. That night, I sat until the early hours of the morning staring at it, wondering about the mysteries it held. I fell asleep, only to wake up again in a cold sweat due to the horrifying dreams I encountered.

     That was this morning. I felt far too sick and miserable to work in the shop, so I stayed home. I took a nap in the early morning, and was pleased to discover I had a relatively restful time. This afternoon, I ventured into the marketplace to buy some food, when I ran into a stranger. Calling himself Jean-Baptiste Biot, he claimed he was sent from some scientific academy to research the mysterious "falling stars." Many men and women took him to where the star pieces had fallen, but, mysteriously, they were all gone. He was now inquiring among the villagers if any of them had brought a piece of the rock home. He had been told by some that I had been one of the last ones to leave the site, and perhaps, i had grabbed a piece of the rock.

     He gave me a good looking over and asked if I had a rock. In that moment, half of me screamed silently that I did indeed and please get it away. After all, my health started failing right when I found the rock. But the other half..that half calmly whispered into my brain that this was MY discovery, and it was beyond precious. i told myself I need not share it with this fancy university student. I stood there, looking at him for a solid minute, and simply said "No." Then, I walked away without looking at him again.

now, I Sit Here, writing this. recounting these events. Hoping they will mAke seNse somehow. I wish i could explain whAt happened, or what is happening, bUt I am at wit's end. I pray to whatever God Exists out there that he or she will provide me peace and comfort. But..all I can hear is oNe word. One word that invades my waking thoughts, and my dreams. Shanaugen. Shanaugen. Shanaugen. SHANAUGEN. here there are a few lines of completely unintelligible words. Many of symbols here do not come from any language I've ever heard of. It is untranslatable at this current moment. I have kept the odd punctuation and capitalization just as I found it in the original letter.

Translator's Note: This is the first of a few journal entries that was recovered from the L'Aigle incident of 1803. I hope you find yourself interested and intrigued by this man's entries. I know I am. I will be posting the the following entries online just as soon as I have them translated. And if any of my readers know anything about this Shanaugen, I ask that you contact me. My research has turned up very little, and I am very fascinated by this...name.

Author's Note

Hello! This is the first time I've ever put anything (besides my blog) that I've written on the internet. This is loosely connected to an idea I have for a novel series. the idea is to write something that takes place in that universe, but is separate from that main story. I wrote this in about an hour, maybe a little less. I also INTENTIONALLY wrote it as if the diary had some grammar/spelling/punctuation issues. Feel free to give me honest, constructive criticism. I absolutely love writing fiction, but it is my weakest form of writing, so i welcome all advice.