30 June 20XX+1
My Dear Lucilius,
It is done.
A deep part of me does not want to speak of it again – at all. And a part of me says that this is a normal reaction.
I say “normal”. But violence, while being part of the natural world, should never be normalized – at least among civilized people. And yet this is precisely what I beheld, people that have normalized violence as a way of life.
Young Xerxes is shaken – good heavens, I am shaken. Even to be on the fringes of such a thing is to pulled into a maelstrom of adrenaline and emotion.
There is little sense of victory, only of a task completed. Note well I say “task completed”, not “task finished”. I fear we will be at this point again.
Yes, of course I took notes. They are a jumble as you might imagine after the events in question, getting more jumbled as we got to the event. The proverbial “fog of war” is a real thing,
But we are home.
Pompeia Paulina did magnificently, even with the rather abbreviated directions that I gave her. The rabbits have been singing her praises ever since I arrived back home (as if, I suppose, rabbits could sing. It has been a debated subject).
And, of course, I would be lying if I said coming home to someone is so much better than coming home to no-one at all.
I knew the world had changed, Lucilius. I just did not want to believe it had changed that badly, so soon.
Your Obedient Servant, Seneca
Grateful that Seneca and Young Xerxes both lived, this time. When there's less law, whatever the reason, some people have normalized violence as a way of life. Those that haven't, won't put up with that situation for long.
ReplyDeleteNylon12, I suppose as much as it could a writer's "trick" to have the main characters survive, this seems like a reasonable outcome. Neither Seneca nor Xerxes have any formal military experience (to my knowledge anyway) and so likely would not have been on any sort of front line. I am as interested as you are to see where they actually were.
Delete"Where there's less law, whatever the reason, some people have normalized violence as a way of life. Those that haven't, won't put up with that situation for long." Or to quote Mike Tyson, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.
Sigh of relief here as well.
ReplyDeleteMe too sbrgirl. Seneca really has developed a life of his own; I want to see what happens just like everyone else.
DeleteRead this with a sense of concern, almost dread. Happy (sort of) that the two main characters are alive. Realistic manner recording the unsettling effect of doing real violence. Not a wise ass snappy reply online but with blood and steel involved.
ReplyDeleteIt's been over a decade, but I still remember getting splattered with blood defending my patients in the sandbox.
Even the winner is wounded unless they are a sociopath.
Michael, as I noted in Nylon12's response, not an unreasonable outcome given the likelihood that neither of them have formal military experience. Most likely they were not near the main scene of action, but we will see where they were.
DeleteThe only people that gleefully speak of violent outcomes are, I suspect, more often than not people that have never done such a thing (or psychopaths, I suppose). Even I, who have never had any sort of military or law enforcement experience but only train with a wooden weapon, grasp the outcome of what could happen if I wielded it unthinkingly or in anger.
I wondered if they were going to write letters from the war zone. But I suppose by flash forwarding to their return, it allows you to revisit it at your leisure with flashbacks.
ReplyDeleteEd, Seneca seems to be the journaling type. I will be interested to see what he recorded.
DeleteAnd we didn't need any graphic details. We all felt the concern, suspense, and relief without them. That's good writing.
ReplyDeleteAww, thanks Leigh!
DeleteI suspect Seneca is not one two dwell on graphic details at all, both because of his own readers and the fact he seems to be a gentle soul.
Sigh. "one to dwell", not "one two dwell".
DeleteDon't need gory details, unless pertinent, do need after-action-report. Good story telling.
ReplyDeleteThank you TM. Not a huge fan of gore personally; I think Seneca is not either.
Delete