Modern Day Story of Carmilla

Here is a rough draft of Chapter One of Carmilla, written in the setting of the present day world. I do not think that I will write the whole story since it would be super long, but for now this is chapter one. Hope it makes sense to you guys!

If you have ever heard of the town of Cama de Sol, it would be known to you that not a lot of people reside there. It would also be known to you that it is an island, just off the coast of Costa Rica. The island itself is quite large, dense with vegetation and wildlife. But only a few people have the desire to reside there, including Doctor Hanson on the north side with his wife Sue, and a retired army general deep inland. An older woman named Patricia and her orderly friend Linda, reside on the west side, close to a beautiful lagoon. The south side belongs to a very wealthy family with a grand estate and a boat dock. The inhabitants of that estate include my father and I.

My mother died when I was young, and it has been just me and my father ever since. Of course, Patricia Perrodon and Linda Livingston contributed greatly to filling in the role of my mother, but nonetheless it has been difficult. I never met my mother—she died while giving me life but not a day goes by where I don’t think of her. My father moved to the island of Cama de Sol where we now reside ever since her death to escape reality and start a new life for us; he was never good with dealing with his emotions. He got a job as a fisherman but since my mother’s family was very well-off, neither he nor I ever need to work; he just works to keep his mind off certain things and to feel important in the world. He feels as though money needs to be earned to be valued. Contrary to his belief however, my father buys me everything—clothes, jewelry, and recently, a new Kawasaki STX-15F jet ski. My father must think that spoiling me will fill the void of not having a mother in the picture, but I still feel emptiness, despite the fact that she died when I was only a little baby. Being an only child is nice, but it’s definitely lonely sometimes—actually make that all the time, especially since there are only 4 people who live close enough to socialize with. And none of those people are under the age of 50. Needless to say I have never really had a true friend my age—no play dates when I was younger, nothing—there’s no one to play with on an island. My father had homeschooled me with Ms. Perrodon all my life so I never experienced public school. So, material items have been filling that void as well. But at 17 I felt the need to have a friend more than ever before. I needed to know things—girl things—things that I felt weird asking Ms. Perrodon or Ms. Livingston. I needed someone to talk to and who could relate to me; someone who had answers to my lingering questions. The only other girl I could think of who fit closest to that description is somewhat of a joke—she’s not even real. When I was younger, I had a dream unlike any other; I had a dream of seeing a girl’s face, and she was very pretty. She was kneeling by my bedside, stroking my hair and kissed my forehead. I remember feeling very comforted, but only a moment after feeling that comfort I felt a sharp pain in my chest, almost like it was being stabbed. I remember awaking in a startle, crying out for my mother but only to have my father come charging in the room with a scared look on his face. When I told him my vision, he ensured me that it was only a dream and that everything’s okay. However I could not keep my eyes from darting back to the place where I saw the girl kneeling on my bed. I tried convincing myself that it was just a dream but something about it just seemed too real. Little did I know that my eyes would grace this face again...

Well, that's chapter one! Let me know if I could improve/fix anything. So, in this class I have learned a whole lot more than I expected. First off, I learned how to dig deep into a novel and sort of "dissect" it, finding out the reasons behind the characters, plot, setting, etc. I was also taking a blues poetry class this semester and I learned this skill in that class too, so I'm proud to say I am now experienced and can interpret compositions a lot more easily than I used to be able to. I also learned about the Irish culture, and that it is not just a pretty green country, but that it suffered a lot of struggle and turmoil throughout its years. I learned about the Celtic Tiger, the Irish separation, and the famine that wiped out much of the country. I want to say that I'm very happy I took this course, and that the work was challenging but rewarding at the same time. I would definitely reccomend taking this class to anyone, because it flexes your brain and pushes you to think in even the most abstract ways to understand things. I just want to say thank you all for helping me in this class and contributing to my learning (as cheesy as it sounds!) I wish you all luck in continuing your education!! xo - Morgan