Tim the Storyteller
By: Timothy Law
T1m was always a st0ryteller, even fr0m a very y0ung age. He began creat1ng s1mple p1cture b00k st0ries bef0re he was ten, play1ng the r0le 0f author and 1llustrat0r b0th, h1s sk1ll as an art1st trans1t10n1ng fr0m scr1bble t0 bl0b but n0t any further. 0ne year he gave h1s m0m f0r her b1rthday a st0ry he wr0te ab0ut a talk1ng h0rse, al0ng w1th a bunch 0f c0l0rful tul1ps. The st0ry was h0rse themed because such an1mals were cl0se t0 h1s m0m's heart and the tul1ps were h1s m0m's fav0rite fl0wers. 1n h1ghsc00l T1m c0uld 0ften be f0und 1n the c0mputer lab typ1ng 0ut st0r1es as they leaped 1nt0 h1s m1nd and refused t0 leave unt1l they were wr1tten out, ready to share. When w0rk1ng f0r the l0cal meat w0rks T1m helped h1s fell0w pe0ns get thr0ugh each day w1th crazy tales 0f fantasy and adventure, 0ften dreamed up fr0m b0rdem and s0met1mes 1nclud1ng h1s teammates. Bef0re k1dlets blessed T1m and h1s g0rge0us w1fe and they 0nly had fury ch1ldren T1m wr0te a st0ry 1nclud1ng all 0f the members 0f h1s prec10us fam1ly, a st0ry all 0f h1s fam1ly and fr1ends l0ved. 1t was n0t unt1l many years later that T1m d1sc0vered that there was a way he c0uld share h1s st0r1es w1th pe0ple fr0m all 0ver the w0rld. 1t was ar0und th1s stage 0f T1m's wr1t1ng j0urney that he (000h… yum! What a tasty tale…) m1ss1ng fr0m s0me 0f h1s subm1ss10ns. 0ne day he rece1ved a terr1ble ema1l fr0m an ed1t0r 1nf0rm1ng h1m that half 0f h1s st0ry was m1ss1ng (yeah s0 s0rry ab0ut that, y0ur end1ng 0n that tale was s00000000 tasty and then 1 g0t t0 the m1ddle and just c0uld n0t st0p…) T1m's m1nd 1mmed1ately th0ught Greml1ns, th0ugh he c0uldn't pr00ve 1t, at least n0t at f1rst. A few m0re subm1ss10ns, d1fferent publ1shers, d1fferent s1tes, s0met1mes the 0nly h!nt w uld be m 55!ng letters 0r letters replaced w1th numb3r5. As 1t b3g@n t0 h@pp3n m0r3 @nd m0r3 0ft3n T1m c0n5!d3r3d what he c0uld d0. There w@5 r@w ch1k3n 0f c0ur53, 3v3y0n3 wh0 w@5 any0n3 kn3w th@t Gr3ml!n5 s1mply l0000000v3d r@w ch!ck3n.
(Y3@h r@w ch1ck3n 1s pr33ty g00d, but n0t n3@rly @5 t@5ty @5 th1s st0ry 0f y0ur5…)
Hey Gremlin take your raw chicken and be happy with that… Chicken is not all that cheap these days… In fact, everything seems to be going up in price… My words are far more precious to me though so I'm happy to pay the extra few bucks…
(L00k buddy… 1 d0n't r3@lly c@r3 @b0ut c0st… All 1 kn0w 1s wh3n 1 sn1ff 0ut @ t@5ty t@le ! s1mply cann0t h3lp but t@k3 a n1bbl3 0r 2 0r 6…)
Why you l1ttl3… … … …
(Y0u sh0uld b3 asham3d 0f y0ur53lf, us1ng l@ngu@g3 l1ke th@t… Y0ur r3ad3r5 5h0uld th@nk m3 f0r 3@t!ng th0s3 la5t thr33 w0rd5… Th3y t@5t3d d!5gust1ng…)
Bloody isn't a swear word… And you eat raw chicken anyway… How can you not like the taste of the word bloody..?
(1t @ll c0m35 d0wn t0 c0nn0t@t!0n… And y0u my fr13nd h@v3 th3 w0r5t c@53 0f c0nn0t@t10n th@t 1 h@v3 3v3r c0m3 acr055…)
Ye@h sorry ab0ut that… Thinking I could los3 half this story !s making me stress so much that I'm misstiping wurds and making silllly mistackes…
(Y3@h, ! 533 wh@t y0u m3@n… H0w @b0ut ! g1v3 y0u th3 n3xt thr33 0r f0ur hundr3d w0rd5… L3t y0u f0cu5 @nd s3e h0w you g0?)
That would be truly awesome, yeah… If I'm lucky we could get to some s0rt of end1ng w!th that many words…
(N0w st3@dy 0n m@t3… D0n't ru5h th!ng5… L3t th3 3nd1ng c0m3 wh3n !t'5 r3@dy… Th@t's h0w th3 pr0s d0 th3!r pr053… Tru5t m3…)
Yeah… Alright… Well, here we go then…
When he discovered that this gremlin wasn't massively keen on raw chicken, Tim decided instead to reason with the creature. It was enlightening to chat gremlin to writer; not something that any writer or gremlin for that matter had ever attempted before. The result was a strange feeling of peace mixed with the anxiety of being watched while a hungry word eater followed your fingers flying or dancing, and sometimes crashing over the keyboard. Tim had to be wary as the gremlin made its way towards the television in the lounge room, obviously three to four hundred words took longer to write than the gremlin had anticipated. The distraction did not help make writing any faster.
(Alr!ght, f1n3… Ju5t k33p typ!ng wr1t3r-b0y…)
What did help the writing process though was when the gremlin decided to distract itself by playing inside the radio that sat silent in the kitchen. That radio hadn't worked for years, and Tim had considered a number of times that it would be a good idea to buy a replacement. No replacement was needed though as the gremlin munched away at the corroded cords and faulty motherboard and after only five minutes a delightful melody came pouring out. Tim smiled, it was his favorite song.
(Y0u @r3 t0tt@lly w3lc0m3…)
So eventually Tim learned to get along with his gremlin friend and the gremlin even managed to leave some of Tim's stories alone. In fact, it eventually got to the point where a strange kind of friendship developed. Tim discovered that the gremlin's name was 10110111011110, and 10110111011110 in turn learned just how much Tim loved the moon and the beach, finding for Tim an amazing desktop background of the beach at night with a campfire burning brightly upon the sand. It was such an inspiring picture, so much so that on the same day Tim wrote a story about five young friends at the beach and the terrible thing that they discovered that night.
Yeah thanks for that awesome picture 10110111011110, it means so much to get from you such a special and inspirational gift…
(!t w@5 my pl3@5ur3 my fr13nd…)
And 50 w3 c0…
Hey… You promised me 300 to 400 words…
(Y3@h, ! d1d… And y0u'v3 h@d 0v3r 300 l0v3ly, ju!cy w0rd5 th@t ! h@v3 0nly ju5t m@n@g3d t0 l3@v3 @l0n3… ! @m 5ur3 y0u h@v3 n0t1c3d 1 d1d n0t 3v3n t@k3 1 s!ngl3 n1bbl3… 1n th3 numb3r5 g@m3 !'d s@y y0u sh0uld c0unt y0ur53lf lucky ch@mp…)
I guess… It just proves how quickly the word count grows…
(M0r3 t@5ty 5t0ry f0r m3… Y@y…)
And 50 w3 c0m3 2 th3 3nd 0f 0ur t@ l, l3@v!ng 2 fr13nd5 ch@t!ng @5 g00d fr13nd5 d0, p0nd3r!ng wh@t th3y 5h0uld wr!t3 n3xt.
(N0t @ r0manc3, pl3@53… F@r 2 sw33t f0r my t@5t3…)
@gr33d… M@yb3 50m3th!ng @ct!0n p@ck3d 0r @ f@nt@5y t@l3…
(! C0uld g0 @ yummy f@nt@5y w1th 50m3 5c!-f1 0n th3 5!d3…)
No promises… Let's just finish this up and see where things take us…
50 @ll th@t w@5 l3ft t0 d0 w@5 2 typ3 th053 f!n@l 2 w0rd5, th053 w0rd5 w3 @ll @550c!@t3 w1th f1n@l!ty.
Th3 ()d
Hey…
(50 50rry… ! just c0uld n0t h3lp my53lf…)
Hmmm…
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