Hey guys,
I really want to write creative for the exam and just want to check out that what I'm doing is okay
A score out of 10 would be great! (Its a bit long...I got a bit carried away so I would probably cut it down a bit in the exam)
It's in the context of salem during the crucible times...
It is for the prompt "Conflict is Never Easy" using the Crucible
“Salem – The Untold Story”
We moved forward as the sun went down. Avoiding the watching eyes of Danforth and Parris was a must. They were so far gone with the girls lies, so engrossed with their obsession with the devil that just a rustling of leaves would probably send them waking the town for a meeting.
I could hear the girls laughing. In the midst of their accusations having a strangle hold on this town, their laughter kind of shocked me. I guess it shocked us all. We all paused. Why does something so out of the ordinary- laughter in this seriousness cause more fright and a bigger skip in my heart than actual witches or the devil? It probably comes back to our imagination. Forget all these accusations, the imagination is enough to frighten and terrorize anyone.
Before we knew it we were at the door. Everyone looked at me. How was I supposed to know what to do? I guess it looked like it was good old Proctor to the rescue. Slam. The door was open. Three loud seconds of rushing boots and we were through the door. Their laughter stopped now. Or, it didn’t really stop, it rippled, it morphed into screams of shock and horror as the steamy, mouthwatering smells of a nice roast ran out of the room as if trying to escape the upcoming feud.
“In the corner, do you see it? It’s the raven! It’s back! The spirits are here!”
Here goes Abigail again. Well, I gave her the benefit of the doubt and looked up. What a surprise, sure enough, there was a raven. Ha-Ha-Ha. She had lost this one. I edged over to the windowsill and with one quick jump grabbed the bird in my hands. The tension in the room was almost tangible as I turned heroically around awkwardly muffling the bird into my chest to stop it escaping and ‘conjuring spirits’.
“You see Abigail, the problem with lies is that eventually, you’ll get caught out. I’m pretty sure this isn’t a spirit, or else, I guess I’ve died and gone to…gone to hell.”
We all stared at here- I don’t really know why. I think the tension had built up so much that it was breaking point and I guess, at this point, Abigail was the climax. She said nothing. Her figure stood perfectly still, her face fuming. As angry as she was, her face had lost all colour to it. The girls looked to her, trying to decipher the next move I guessed. But, surprisingly, the next one to speak came from behind me. Out of the damp shadows of the corner walked the ‘all-impressive’ Reverend Hale. Here he was I imagine to break up the fun.
He shouted. “What on earth gave you the idea that any of you could do this? This clearly violates court proceedings. Why would you risk throwing the entire trial just to scare the poor girls?”
“Now hold on Hale, we just wanted to speak to the girls.” Putnam said but somehow his tone of voice implied otherwise. Idiot. All he cares about is his land, he’d use and abuse every source of power in this town all just for his self-interest. Maybe he should join the girls.
“Something about you manner suggests otherwise.” Hale spoke. Well thank you captain-obvious.
“Either this meeting, for a rather loose use of the term will stop immediately or I will be forced to go wake Danforth and Parris.”
Time to mediate.
“Now, now Reverend Hale, there is no need for that kind of commotion tonight. Why don’t you stay? We just want to ask the girls a few questions and sort out some facts. That’s all. No harm done.” I Said.
He despised me with his eyes. However, surprisingly, he went back to his corner sat down and didn’t say a word. Maybe there was a God after all. I had been questioning that lately. How could a God let all this happen? These people, those accused were good. When trust and loyalty disappear from this world I don’t think anyone holds a damn hope left that anything can save us. Not even God.
I could hear this kind of quiet background hum of voices so I turned from staring at Hale back to the main task at hand. That annoying background hum was the girls complaints.
“Let us go.”
“They are possessed I swear.”
“Oh Abbey, save us!”
Putnam looked like he was running the show, probably to make sure his own motives got a few answers. “Girls, Abbey, why did you accuse us of spirits when it was just a bird?”
“We were confused sir, all a mistake!” Marry Warren quivered.
“SShhh Mary! Look, to everyone here, leave! This isn’t your place to be nor can you fix this town by questioning us. We haven’t done a single thing wrong and are only confessing to what we see.” Abbey took a breath after speaking as if to settle herself and slowly turned around to probably be consumed into the safety net of the other girls. I think it was the angle I was on but I saw her smirk. Clear and as crisp as daylight, the little bugger appeared just as fast as it disappeared but I had seen it and that was all I needed.
“ABIGAIL! TURN AROUND! NOW!” I bellowed.
The room was silent. Woops, this wasn’t the plan. No Violence No Violence No Violence I chanted to myself. The tension was so thick in the room I could have cut it up and served it for supper. I felt claustrophobic. This struggle had gone on for too long. The emotional strain of struggle, of contradiction and disagreement had slowly filled me up until now, I was consumed by it. I couldn’t see past it. It blocked my hearing and clouded my vision. All the hurt, all the fear, all the angst of the past few days had finally made me realize something. The truth. The truth! I wanted to shout out to heaven but I guess I was still slightly rational at this stage because I knew that wouldn’t help our position. Probably the hardest thing about this whole tirade of conflict was the truth, No one wanted to hear it, no one wanted to own up to it and certainly, no one wanted to face it. This witch-hunt had been going down the same path for so long and never seemed to find enough space to turn around.
How much time had passed? How long had I been standing here, boiling blood under my skin and glaring at the spot on the wall above Abbey’s head? All the emotions had finally overflowed. I guess it was time to start off the confessions.
“Abbey, the truth is a pretty hard thing to talk about isn’t it?” She definitely didn’t know where I was going with this one. Everyone’s faces looked so confused. In the sickliest kind of way, this might actually be fun. I gulped.
“Well, sometimes, like when you’re little, it’s easier to do something If you have someone older, someone wiser…” I smirked at her frown.
“Someone wiser show you how. Well Abbey, I’m not going to be afraid any more. Yes, I fancied you. Yes, I broke my commandment. And no, I will not stand in quiet guilt no more.” My voice shook.
The series of hushes and gasps around the world never seemed to end but that was to be expected. Perfect John Proctor, the hero of this struggle was now guilty of something. They would be thinking ‘Oh great, so apparently even the heroes are bad.’
Three girls simultaneously burst out crying. Abbey looked around, a little disheartened, a little weakened and steered straight ahead, not even seeing anyone. The room was so quiet you could hear her shoe hit the wood; you could hear her dress whoosh as it followed her as she steeped forward. Her face was defeated. We had won! She was to confess! I looked to my right and left. Rebecca Nurse stood strong and I think she saw the girl’s dismay as much as I did. Even Hale stood for her words.
And then, she spoke.
“John proctor, I have never held a blush to my name and nor will I. Your words mean nothing, this meeting is never to have happened, Reverend Hale you have betrayed this court and betrayed this God. Believe what you will but tomorrow, you may be surprised to hear who is mentioned in the court. John, you might as well stay in town tonight because you won’t be going anywhere.”
It was like the room froze. I thought she was to confess and here she was, condemning us. I looked to Hale. Surely this would mean something. He just shook his head and walked forward towards the loose circle that had formed around Abbey and I.
“In all honesty, maybe tonight wasn’t a good idea for this to happen. It isn’t always easy to find a reason to events, a reason for unexplained actions” Hale eyed off Abigail as he spoke. Maybe tonight meant more to him, maybe he had finally be enlightened to the girls deceitful ways.
“I am not present tonight as part of the Court so consider all of yourselves lucky. None of this can stand in the Court Room so, as far as I see it, and, to protect all of yourselves from any sorts of trouble why don’t we wipe this from our memories? You never stormed the room, you never surrounded the girls, and Proctor most definitely didn’t confess to what ever he may have done.” He nodded my way.
“And, Abigail’s last statement was never spoken. Your actions tonight have put a mark against your heads.”
“This is ridiculous Hale. We can’t forget a night like this- the things we have heard, the things we have seen. “ Putnam looked angry. He probably wasn’t going to get that extra farm now.
“Look Ladies and Gentlemen, this struggle is not just black and white. It is a rainbow of grey. There are rules to be followed, things that must be proven before we can simply forget it. This will start tomorrow in the Court Room.” Hale said. Hale gave me one more solemn look, turned and exited.
With perfect timing, the minute he closed the door, the room erupted. Shouting and screaming and some, just stood in silence. This night was to ever be remembered as the climax, reaching the top of the mountain and deciding to go back the way you came. In fact, tonight wasn’t going to be remembered at all. Eventually, the shouts broke up into smaller conversations and I noticed the girls slide out the back door. They escaped. Again.
And, here I stood not a mere two days later in shackles and chain, connected with the Devil. As I said before, you lose trust, you lose loyalty and everything is gone. I guess Abigail forgot the whole agreement. Conflict can mean the rules change, what’s accepted and what’s not. Its gets kind of hard to interpret eventually. The lines are blurred and what is right becomes wrong, what is wrong becomes right. I guess that’s why it’s so hard to end any dispute. How can you tell what side is right? I guess you never can.
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