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Journey Into the Past
One of the primary writer's creeds is "Never throw away anything you write."
I am a faithful follower. I have never thrown away a piece of writing. The partially completed stories, even the ones that flopped, all get stored away, usually in my closet. My writing is currently stored in two cardboard file boxes in my closet. Dozens of folders and notebooks are neatly lined up in each one. Each folder is filled with writing of some kind. Essays, poems, short stories....and TMNT fan fiction.
One early summer morning (at about 2:30 am) I thought of a story I had written some time ago. I only wrote a few pages before moving on to other things, but the pages were in one of my folders. I set to work, thumbing through my file folders, looking for the story.
I found the story, but I found something else as well. Three file half a dozen folders clearly labelled "TMNT Work-In-Progress." Several spiral notebooks bearing the same legend. I scanned the material, and relived the stories that were more in my own mind than on paper.
My Years as a Reject
As a younger kid, I was always the societal reject. The smart kid. The shy kid. The kid who always got picked last. The kid who everybody used as a self-esteem booster.
I spent most of my time writing and wishing I was somewhere else. Anywhere else, as long as it wasn't Clifton Park, New York. My TMNT fan fiction began in fifth grade. I was very lonely. I often wished I was someone else. TMNT allowed me to escape into a world where I made the rules. I spent many long hours sprawled out on my bed or hunched in the corner of the cafeteria scribbling down my stories. Most of them got only half-way done.
Eventually, most of the writing stopped. My TMNT stories existed almost totally inside my head. Unfortunately, a great many excellent stories were lost because my memory is not the best. Even a page or two of notes allowed some stories to survive. Most of my work got stuffed in file folders and hidden away.
Full Circle
And now, I sit with a stack of early, half-finished TMNT fan fiction before me. What to do with it?
I was inspired by online fanfic writers to begin writing down my own work again, and putting it online for all to read. But in my head I have the makings of a hundred stories. In my closet I have the beginnings of dozens more. I could spend the rest of my life writing it all out, and never finish.
So here they are. My unfinished works. Some may eventually (like White Light and the psi story I am writing) be given their full due. But I will never have the time to complete them all. But while I cannot share every story that enters my brain, I can share some of the things which escaped only partially onto paper.
Don't expect these stories to be finished any time soon. They're purely for fun. I did some minor spell-checking and editing, but the stories are essentially the same as when I wrote them 5-7 years ago. This also means that you shouldn't expect high-quality fare. But what the heck; come on in and relive my past with me.
The TMNT and associated characters belong to Mirage. The original stories and characters are mine. Incomplete as they may be, these stories and the ideas contained within them are not up for grabs. So kindly keep your mitts off.