Story5

Story 5: Guy Poetica: The Story Than Never Made It

Hello Reader. My name is Guy Poetica. I am not a poet although I could be one in the right circumstances. I am a fictional character, at least potentially. We have met before in a variety of circumstances in the stories you have read or heard. You would not recognize me here as I am defined by the circumstances of a story. But I thought it might be fun to introduce myself before I become defined by the circumstances of this story. If this is a little too much to grasp, think of me as you would think of an actor who takes on roles. The actor who plays MacBeth is not MacBeth. And I am not the character I play in any given story. What I plan to do differently in this story and possibly in others is to break the fourth wall. This is an expression from the performing arts. The stage in a drama production has three walls which are part of the play being rendered. These are the left, right and back walls. The fourth wall separates the actors from the audience. Occasionally an actor will break the fourth wall and say something directly to the audience. But this does not happen very often. The TV Series House of Cards used this idea of breaking the fourth wall to great advantage as Francis Underwood spoke his real thoughts and intensions directly to the audience. Personally, that was my favorite part of the show.

To my knowledge, it never happens in written fiction. It is not uncommon for the narrator of a story to speak directly to the reader. But it is largely unheard of for one of the characters to speak directly to the reader. Why not? Probably a rule of some kind. But rules are made to be broken and I am just the one to break them. I hope you enjoy my story.

It is a lovely Spring Day in Foggy Bottom. Guy Poetica is sitting with a pretty young woman on a bench in front of the GW Deli in this prestigious Northwest Washington neighborhood. Suddenly, he gets up, steps forward in the scene and says in a stage whisper to the reader, “Sorry, the narrator didn’t have the latest copy of the story. We are not in Foggy Bottom. We are sitting on a bench in Kentlands in front of The Wine Harvest.”

The girl on the bench looks puzzled and says, “Guy, who are you talking to?”

“Nobody, my dear,” replies Guy as the scene becomes fuzzy.

It is a lovely Spring Day in the Kentlands. Guy Poetica is sitting with a pretty young woman on a bench in front of the Wine Harvest.

Guy continues to make comments to the reader until the woman gets fed up with him and walks away.

He complains to her that she is ruining the magic.

Guy turns to the reader and comments, “These ladies from the dating site always come with a promise of magic but never deliver.” He pauses a moment in thought and says, “On the other hand, if I had paid more attention to her than I did to you, dear reader, it may have worked out differently.” The scene becomes fuzzy.

It is a lovely Spring Day in the Kentlands. Guy Poetica is sitting with a pretty young woman on a bench in front of the Wine Harvest. He is hanging on every word she says, as though his very existence depends on it. She smiles and moves a little closer to him.

This story is about 650 words long. The recording is just over 4 minutes.

Send an email to me at drjohnartz@gmail.com if you have a comment on any of my stories. And please check out my website at DrJohnArtz.com to see other things I have written.