Competition: Mundane Musings

Finished
Mundane Musings

You've done it! You've achieved your goals and life, as it were, is 'complete'.

Now all that remains is to kick back, relax and enjoy the comfort of an inevitable sink into mediocrity. But what is a normal day like for you at that point? How do you cope with being just 'normal'? What will you do, now that there is nothing more left to do?

Write a fiction of at least 500 words exploring mundane, mediocre life from your character's point of view. Focus ought to be on how they are adjusting from a life of high-octane adventure (or other similar previous life) to a peaceful suburban slog of grocery shopping, mortgage payments and dropping the kids off at space school.

Valid submissions are accepted in .pdf, .doc and .docx formats. All entries graded using the Voice Fiction Rubric.

Competition Information
Organized by
Aedile Tali Sroka
Running time
2018-04-01 until 2018-04-30 (about 1 month)
Target Unit
Entire DJB
Competition Type
Fiction
Awards
Second Level Crescents and Clusters of Ice as per VOICE guidelines
Participants
18 subscribers, of which 7 have participated.
Results
Member
Master Bentre Stahoes
File submission
Mundane_Musings-_14185.pdf
Textual submission

this might be a little more relaxed, or a bit too brief of a glimpse into the "retired" life of Bentre, but I hope it flows well enough for your liking. I have just been trying something a slight bit different in writing style to see how I like it. More pensive, but it seemed to fit for this prompt. :P

Placement
1st place
Member
Master Ruka Tenbriss Ya-ir
File submission
Already_Gone.pdf
Textual submission

I'm a *little* sorry for the dialogue. But only a little.

Placement
2nd place
3rd place
Tomora Nay'ek
Member
Tomora Nay'ek
File submission
DJB_-_Twinsitting.rtf
Textual submission

A normal day of work and errands for a grown-up ferret gets a little wrench - or two - thrown into the mix.

Placement
3rd place
4th place
Nikora Rhan
Member
Nikora Rhan
Textual submission

With the dawn came snowfall. Tumbling out of the skies thick with clouds, the constant tumble of a billion different flakes reduced the sunrise to a mere bright glow on the horizon. Blanketing out everything, it had reduced visibility to little more than a few meters at a time. Save for the towering shapes of the lost ruins, and the flat blade-like form of the citadel’s outermost walls, the world was one of pure white. The only other light-source came from a dim glow on the fringes of the citadel's outermost tower, from a broad window set against the mountain.

The blue-white of a plasma fire shone brightly against the biting cold, offering some small respite and heating that room there alone. Within it was little more than a small hovel. Strings of animals, skinned and salted hung from the ceiling, while opposite them a simple bed was set against one wall. A desk rough hewn from stone had been placed next to the wall, piled high with dataslates and ancient tablets. The room’s lone occupant - one of the few permanent residents of the winterlocked planet - had spent much of the previous night skimming through details and comparing notes with historical records. He had paused only to watch the rising sun now, sitting with his chair facing the window and running one gauntleted hand through his greying beard. It was a recent edition, one of several changes Tarvitz had made during his twilight years.

The man who sat in that chair, now in his mid sixties, barely resembled his younger self. What little colour that had been in his hair had long since faded away, and his scalp was closely shorn. Furs and winter clothing had taken the place of his armour, and even the lightsaber he had once carried had been replaced with an ancient heavy blade of alchemical origin. He sat there for some time, simply watching and thinking. The semi-blizzard had not ceased since the previous night. In fact, it hadn’t stopped since the first flakes had come earlier that month. Winter was neverending here, but it was a sign that it was moving into its harsher months. There were no howls of wolves, no bellows of the remnant Yuuzhan Vong beasts which had acclimated to the world’s limited ecosystem. They were either in hibernation or had moved on, and that meant hunting was required.

Tarvitz smiled slightly at the thought of the challenge, the thrill of chasing down a pack and outwitting them. Between it and his efforts to more deeply explore the world’s darker secrets it was all that had kept him sane. With the fall of the Collective, the First Order and the Brotherhood’s corrupt leadership, there had been no challenges left to him. Even his self-imposed tasks had rarely borne the true victories he desired after mastering his chosen style of lightsaber combat and excelling at craftsmanship. As others had suggested, he had done his level best to settle down, to live a life of normality. Yet the simple fact was that he couldn’t. For as long as he could remember, Tarvitz had struggled against something, and within a few months the boredom of retirement had nearly driven him insane. Rhen Var had offered a reprieve from that monotony.

The simple life there was a hard one, impossible for most and it offered ever new ways to kill a man. In the first week alone Tarvitz had died almost three times, from hidden chasms and monsters alike. Yet there was a beauty to the crude simplicity of it all which he found satisfying. Uncomplicated was the word, and just as Yoda or Kenobi had done before him, Tarvitz had found the desolation and untamed nature of an Outer Rim world to his liking. There were no Sith to fight, no pirates to combat or prisoners to rescue, but until old age or one mistake too many claimed him, it was enough to keep him sane.

As he waited, Tarvitz heard a distant whistling howl of a pack beast somewhere in the far distance. Perhaps he still had a chance to claim one more meal before waiting to weather out the heavy snowfall that was to come. With a smile, Tarvitz rose from his chair and snatched up the spear resting against his desk, before turning to leave. “Normality” might have been a substantial change from his previous lifestyle, but in a place as unforgiving and harsh as Rhen Var, he found it to his liking.

Placement
4th place
Member
Research Director Kadrol Hauen
Textual submission

*Capital City Space Port, Capital City, Pantora*

Kadrol heard the landing thrusters activated. Finally. He thought. I am home. The shuttle’s door opened, and the young Pantoran stepped out. Hailing from the upper class of Pantora, he had people to do almost everything for him. One of his family’s servants, Jax, walked aboard and brought Kadrol’s luggage out in a hover sleigh. After all his stuff had been put in the trunk of their hover car, the two took off toward the house.

“Master Kadrol, how was your stay on Antei?” Jax asked, trying to make conversation during the twenty minute drive.

“Not bad. I learned a lot while I was there.” Kadrol replied.

“Well, that is good to hear,” The servant said. “Your parents have been very excited for your return.”

“I can’t wait to see them too.” Kadrol said longingly. A few more minutes passed in silence before they arrived. After Jax had parked the vehicle, The two walked toward the doors of the large house. He hadn’t even touched the handle before the door opened.

“Kadrol, you’re home!” His mother said, hugging him. His mom was fairly young, only 34 years old. She was also very sweet and beautiful. Her pink-purple hair was tied up in two buns, as many senators wore their hair. She was wearing a gold headdress that perfectly accentuated her magenta dress.

All of a sudden he felt two more arms wrap around his waist. “Hello, Shane.” Kadrol said instinctively.

“I missed you, Brother.” Shane said.

“I missed you too.” Kadrol replied. “Where are Dad and Tanya?”

“They went out to do something. They’ll be back soon.” His mother answered. The two of them walked towards the family room to catch up. Shane ran ahead.

“Shane is super happy to see you again. It’s been way longer than nine months for him.” Kadrol’s mother explained, laughing. As the two reached the family room and sat down, the door opened again.

“Those two have great timing,” Kadrol said sarcastically.

“Let’s go to the dining room.” This time it was Kadrol who ran. When he reached the dining room, he and his sister locked eyes. Kadrol ran and jumped right into his sister’s arms. She had always been pretty strong, considering she was a year younger than Kadrol was. The two shared a bond so strong that it was indescribable.

“Welcome home, Kadrol.” She said, putting him back on the ground. The two embraced each other.

“What about me?” His father asked.

“Ok, ok. I missed you too, dad.” Kadrol said, giving him a hug as well.

“Let’s take a seat and you can tell us all about your trip over some pie.” His mother said, gently. The family took a seat and his sister, Tanya, served each of them a slice.

“So, what did you do while you were away?”

“Not much. I did a lot of studying and testing, as well as a lot of training while I was on Antei… I’m getting pretty tired. I’m still running on Antei time.” Kadrol said, yawning.

“Get some sleep. We will see you in the morning.” His mom replied.

*The Next Morning*

Kadrol awoke at his usual time. Of course that time was also 5:00 here on Pantora. He took the liberty of telling the couple cooks they had that they could take some time off and that he would make breakfast. By the time his family made it to the table an hour and a half later, he had made some Pantoran-style hotcakes and squeezed some Pantorange (a delectable fruit comparable to a cross between an apple and orange) juice. He was glad to be able to give the cooks some time off. They deserved it.

After breakfast his siblings had to go to school. His father went to organize his army figurines on his battlefield of a table, or as his mom would say, “He went to go play with his big kid toys.” Kadrol, being a diplomat at heart, went to the Pantoran senate with his mom to work on some of the bills she was trying to pass.

The Pantoran senate was fairly large, but could be compared to a dot on a piece of paper when compared to the galactic senate building, which was now a landmark on Coruscant. The Pantoran senate held 112 senators, two from each sector of Pantora.

“K., I need your help with the wording in this bill.” His mother said, exasperated. K was the nickname people had given him. He didn’t fully understand why, though, because Kadrol wasn’t really a long name that needed to be shortened, nor was it difficult to pronounce. He didn’t mind people calling him that, though.

After a couple minutes of reading and analyzing speeches from opposition of the bill, Kadrol exclaimed “I think I’ve got it! Your problem is that you need to add the Naboo Comma. It should say ‘a thousand credits for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology,’ not ‘a thousand credits for physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language pathology.” The concerns our opponents are voicing is that the credits for occupational therapy and speech-language pathology, without the comma there, would split the allotted amount between the two sections.”

“Good work, Kadrol! That might save the bill!” His mother exclaimed. Kadrol had become used to helping his mom while he was home, and he had loved it ever since his mom first took him to view a senatorial session when he was ten years old. Though the most he usually did was run and get things, he enjoyed following in his mother’s footsteps. When his mother was younger, granted she had been 18 when she started, she was an aide to a senator. It was usually the only way to become a prominent member in the senate, though there were a few exceptions.

“K., Do you want to watch a session from the viewing platform with me?” His mother asked.

“I would love that.” Kadrol replied quickly. He had seen the senate debate things before, but he had never actually been in the platforms with the senators before.

“We have to be there in half an hour.”

“Ok.”

The two ate their lunch and then walked to the senate chamber. There was a loud buzz as the senators talked amongst each other before the session began.

“Order!” A Voice boomed, aided by a microphone. “Let’s debate the personal health care bill. The committee chair will be the first to speak.”

The debate took about four hours. There were a few good points in the debate, but some senators, particularly the ones who openly opposed the bill, droned on for what seemed like forever. After the debate portion ended, it came to a vote. The bill passed with a vote of 73 to 32. It was getting late now, and Kadrol and his mother retired to the house, where Kadrol fell into bed, almost immediately started falling asleep. Wow. He thought. This all started just like any other day, and I ended up getting to watch the senate in action.

Placement
No placement
Member
Obsidian
File submission
The_Most_Feared_Assassin_in_the_Universe.docx
Placement
No placement
Member
Advisor Reiden Palpatine Karr
File submission
Mundane_Musings_(10106).pdf
Placement
No placement