Morning all. We have another mini-outline today. This one, for me, was an idea I took from another writing prompt. It was a little different this time. The writing prompt was a memory of the main character that shapes the story rather than the start of a story. It was an interesting one to flush out but I think that I want to spend a little more time with it some point soon. It could play with a lot of elements I like.
As usual, I will be pasting the original writing prompt below with the mini outline break out below.
Friday, February 7th: He delicately picked the mushroom.
He delicately picked the mushroom. It was one he knew well, and he smiled at the sight. Earlier he found a nest of goose eggs. He took a couple, leaving the rest for the nesting birds to return to. With those eggs, some herbs he found and now these mushrooms he was well on his way to a decent meal. Jake smiled to himself.
He hadn’t been doing so badly out here.
He managed to catch several fish. They were of decent size and he was able to eat some fresh, make a fishy soup from parts and dry the rest so he would have some fish at a later point. He was looking forward to a break from the fish however.
‘Soon there will be other things as well, hopefully,’ he thought.
His Uncle insisted on survival training for all of them. Jake remembered when his older half-brothers and cousins were each sent out on their training. He sat in on their lessons as well as learning on his own. He listened to their stories and practiced for his time in the cabin.
Jake knew that of the boys, he was not only the youngest, but he was the one his uncle didn’t really like. Something about him rubbed his uncle the wrong way. Jake wasn’t surprised. His brothers and cousins all seemed like stamped out copies of his uncle and their fathers.
Technically Uncle was Great Uncle Dave.
‘Maybe because my father was a stepchild,’ Jake thought.
He wasn’t like the others because he wasn’t really Matheson blood even if they did raise first his father and then him. Dave was the only one who seemed to hold it against him. There was always some rough joking, but they seemed to accept him as one of their own.
Jake also knew he often had different ideas from the others. He tried to keep most of them to himself. He suspected Dave still saw them.
Because of that Jake worked a little harder to learn what he needed. He knew he would have to prove himself well to earn a place in the family or he would have to leave. He didn’t think it would impress Dave but he thought he might, in the end, get at least a little bit of respect for surviving.
When they came of age each of the boys was sent to the cabin for a month. The cabin had been in the family for generations and was located in the middle of the wilds. When sent, they were able to bring a little bit of gear, but they had to find all of their own food and survive the month on their own. Then they came back and were counted as adults by the others.
Jake chewed his lip. As the youngest, he was the last one to be sent from his generation and before he was sent Uncle pulled him aside and told him that they decided he needed to do two months.
Jake remembered the snickers and dark amusement on the faces of the others. He knew they were waiting for him to protest if only to see those protests slapped down by Uncle.
He was different so he had to do double. It wasn’t fair, but he knew that complaining wouldn’t change anything so he accepted it.
Jake stopped walking, automatically hunkering down. He was nearing the cabin and heard something. Something unexpected.
He lowered himself so he was hidden and low to the ground. He quieted his breath and waited. He heard it again, the sound of a twig snapping. Jake looked for the sound and let his eyes scan the woods. He had seen deer in the woods, but they were not this close to the cabin.
Then he saw it, or him rather.
He picked out the human shape.
Saw the gun.
The figure was moving towards the cabin. There was a shift and Jake recognized his cousin Luke. Luke had always been his biggest tormentor. He was always the one the most eager to make Uncle proud.
Jake was able to pick out several more figures, all armed and all advancing on the cabin. He knew they were not here to help him with his wilderness trial. As carefully as he could, Jake faded back into the woods. It was time to leave, not only the cabin, but the Matheson family.
SETUP: Jake is working in the city and as far as anyone knows, he was born and raised in the city environs. He was raised with wilderness skills and trained in survival, but left his family.
COMPLICATION: Goes on a business trip and the plane crashes in the mountains.
RISING ACTION: Jake and several others survive. He helps with the wounded and relies on his early training to keep them fed and safe as they try to navigate out of the woods. The plane was shot down by someone who wants to keep others out of the territory, which includes flying over.
MEANWHILE: The people who shot down the plane are led by his cousin Luke and he brings a hunting party to take out the survivors and scavenge the plane.
CLIMAX: Jake recognizes the tactics even if he doesn’t know it is Luke and uses what he knows and what he learned after he left to outsmart and out maneuver the team hunting them, finally getting the survivors back to safety and out of the territory. There is a final face down with Luke.
DENOUEMENT: Jake walks out and decides that maybe he can still spend time in the woods instead of denying that part of him. He can do that without becoming feral.
Ten til Midnight 