MPC 32 Sparking Creativity

Summer school was something that was rather foreign to Denizen, after all it was not something that existed in his home country. Granted, there were courses you could take during summer, but that had a different principle from a summer school. While normally he would not have an opportunity to see how one works, but thanks to his acquaintance who needed to run summer classes for students interested in storytelling, writing and screenplay, amongst others he was invited to participate as a lecturer. Well that and his acquaintance had an urgent meeting in another city to attend.

With no real plan or even idea how this would work out, Denizen still agreed to the request. That and he would be paid for the whole ordeal. Frankly speaking he had a few ideas going through his head, but he would need to prepare for the following days, that and ask a few people he knew to prepare some things and invite them for one of the ‘classes’ he would give.

Classes were supposed to start on Monday morning at eight thirty. For the professor this was late, but nothing he could do. For now, he wanted to see just who he would be teaching. Though according to his acquaintance they were good kids… if slightly problematic. While this information did not mean anything to Denizen, he did manage to hack… that is to obtain information regarding the students. What he found made his eyebrows twitch. The kids were aged from fourteen to sixteen, it was roughly divided evenly between boys and girls, not to mention the class would only have six people in it, so not many.

What surprised him, was their background. Each came from a prominent family, but at the same time had some kind of issues. One of them was rather neglected by her parents so she became a delinquent, at least on paper, as she still had amazing grades and her writing was amazing. She did not share, but what he found was a really good read. Another girl, was mostly being spoiled by her parents, but despite that, was a serious girl, albeit slightly antisocial, her specialization was screenplay, she was good at writing scenarios, and while she had some successes, most of what she wrote was heavily modified… making her work lackluster. Fortunately Denizen found her original script so he knew what she was capable off.

The other four people were amazing as well. Two of the, the last girl and one of the boys were siblings, twins even. While they did not have much of an family issue, due to their personalities, both the brother and sister were excluded from their class. Funny when you look at the animations they make, which were really deep and portrayed many issues people had… but that may be due to their antisocial nature. The last two boys just wanted to learn how to write better, but while one was very timid and could express himself mostly by writing, the other was the opposite, outspoken and outgoing… the only issue was that he had problems putting what was on his mind to paper.

One could call them a group of gifted misfits when looking from the side. To Denizen though, they were children who he could understand… no, not children, they were authors like he was, people with abundant creativity and at the same time problems that were not easy to solve. They seeked to express themselves, but at the same time sought understanding for what was deep in their soul. At least that is how it looked to Denizen.

The man would do whatever he could to help them, but first he had to get rid of his stage fright. He stood in front of the classroom, right on time for the classes to start… yet he could not go in. Fortunately the kids did not notice him, it was a good thing he usually erased his presence no matter what he did. Thanks to that and his hesitation he managed to hear about the joke the kids wanted to play on him, or rather his Acquaintance, who seemed to have forgotten to inform the young ones about the change. Sighing and with a heavy heart he opened the door… and caught the blackboard eraser that was supposed to hit his head easily. He saw the surprise on their faces, well some of them. Seems the idea came from the twin brother and sister combo, at least judging from their expression.

Slowly walking behind the desk and after putting the eraser next to the blackboard, where it was originally, Denizen wordlessly wrote his name on the blackboard. ”My name is Denizen Vhid and due to your teacher having a meeting, the next few days I will be the one running the show.” The kids did not say anything, but the professor could see they were surprised and while some frowned, most did not really care. ”For now I will tell you a few things about my teaching. One, I am not a teacher, so do not expect me to run this class like most do. Two, I am a writer so I should be able to help you six to get better or at least guide you on the proper way. Finally, while your teacher will be back by next Monday, the next few days you are going to be listening to me. Is that clear?”

Normally he would not try to intimidate these young people, but he wanted to be clear with them. The best way would be just tell them everything and how things would work. ”Any questions? No? All right, after self-introductions are done I will tell you what the curriculum will be and on the last day of my teaching, that is Saturday, I will have a small test for you. It will not be a written test mind you, just something to see If you learned anything in my class. Now please introduce yourselves, give me some ideas about who you are.” After he finished talking, he smiled brightly at the young students, slightly urging them to do their introductions. What surprised the kids was the abrupt change of Denizen’s attitude. They thought it would be more of a boot camp, but now they were not sure. Nonetheless they began their introductions.

The three girls names were Maya, Ruri and Mikoto, the last one being the twin sister of Makoto, one of the three boys. While the other two were Satoru and Shin. Each of their introductions was unique, while the twins were quiet and barely said anything, they seemed to have a habit of finishing the other’s thoughts, which was very interesting to Denizen. Maya was rather timid for a delinquent, but that might be because Denizen could be slightly intimidating, especially since he did not wear his glasses, so his sharp odd eyes were clearly visible. Ruri on the other hand was as her exterior hinted, meaning the glasses and expressionless face, a very serious person, she was the one who said the least but was also very precise. It also seemed she was disliking the teacher change.



When Shin’s turn came he was flustered but managed to introduce himself rather nicely. He even added what he wanted to improve, but to Denizen that was irrelevant, he already knew that and what he had planned would help all of them… he hoped. When Satoru’s turn came, the other students looked slightly discouraged and their expressions seemed to have an apologetic expression. Denizen had no clue why… that is until Satoru started speaking. One word: flamboyant, he was exaggerated on every aspect, his movement, words, tone of voice, all was off the charts. The professor knew that if he was like this then no wonder he had issues writing his stories down.

Finally after they were done, Denizen could relax a bit. Sighing inwardly he took out six books from his backpack, though he suspected that he might need only five. Without a word he handed them to the students. ”Today we are going to be going over that book. I would like you to read them and later on we are going to discuss them. While it might not seem to be of help, you will understand later just how it will work.” The students did complain a bit but started reading when the professor glared at them. Sure enough the twins read form the same book, which was what Denizen suspected would happen. Though each student had their own way of reading, they got comfortable while doing so. The room was more of a lounge than a proper classroom, it was for them to be able to relax a bit more. Sure enough all six were reading busily, not paying attention to what Denizen was doing. Who, at the time, observed each student as they engrossed themselves in the story.

After some time all of them were done and they discussed the book. Each had something to add, their thoughts, comments, questions. The book got even the most timid one to become animated, much to the surprise of everyone. Denizen did not reveal it was one of his books, as that would not have any purpose, instead he asked them questions. ”I know your thoughts on the book, but tell me, what do you think the most important thing when writing a book or story is?” The answers he got were satisfactory but at the same time slightly shallow. ”While you are right that having a good grasp on the world, characters and story is important, but there is something more. You have read that book, what do you think the author focused on?” They were silent for quite a while, but the silence was broken by Shin. ”Feelings?” It was more a question but denizen nodded.

”That is correct, feelings, but not in the regard you might think. Imagine a world, every living being in it has feelings, but so does the world itself and the multitudes of inanimate objects in it. But the feelings I am talking about are not just those that humans have. You can say everything has a purpose, a presence an aura, something that gives them life you may say.” The students mulled over it and some seemed to have an inkling at what he was talking about while others could feel something from his words. For today we will end class on this note. I would like you to think about my words and tomorrow, we will talk more about it. I will also show you some methods to ease your writing. You can keep those books as well.” He smiled, ending the lesson and leaving the classroom on that note.

The next day the classes continued and while the students did not have any precise thoughts, Denizen was glad they seemed to understand it more. With that he thought he could continue with his curriculum. ”All right, now I will ask you to sit down and relax. Close your eyes and listen.” He waited till they did what he asked them to. ”As you know, writing comes from ideas, from your imagination. But what I want to show you is a trick I use when writing. I think most if not all of you have created a world for your stories, but, have you ever thought that while you might have created it, you do not own it, nor do you influence it. Please do as I say. Just note you are not the god of that world, just an observer or traveler… nothing more… nothing less…”

After taking a deep breath and in a quiet monotone voice he began talking anew. ”Imagine a world. Any world, may it be a planet, a city, a dimension, just imagine a place that will be your world. Now, slowly fill it with life, plants, animals, insects, anything that exists in that place. Imagine creatures living there, ones that are sentient, be it one race or more, many shapes, sizes forms… the world you see is filled with wondrous things, you don’t need to imagine them specifically. Just now they exist, know the world you see is part of something greater, has many undiscovered things, it is ripe for the taking. Slowly, slowly, lower yourself to the surface, but remember, there is always more than meets the eye, maybe in the depths of that world… there is more to see….” Denizen continued talking to the students in that monotone voice. It was part of his own trick, self-hypnosis, while he helped them this time to go into a trance, next time they will have to do it themselves.

”Now remember what you see, where you are, treat it as a place you can live in, a part of you, yet not… now, when I say, you will come back here, to the world you came from…” Slowly clapping his hands and snapping his fingers, he brought them back. Their dazed expressions and slightly tired eyes showed all he needed to know. ”I hope you liked the trip. I have no idea where you went, but for the next days we will go on a trip like that, what I want you to do is to remember what you saw and possibly write it down. Bring it to the next lesson and we will see what you have created.” He smiled as he dismissed the class.

The following days went by fast and it was the end of Friday’s lesson when Denizen evaluated the student’s progress. He saw much improvement, not only in their writing and ideas, but also in their attitude, especially Satoru made the professor smile. While he still behaved flamboyantly, it was relatively toned down and the more it changed, the better his writing was. It seemed that what was blocking the boy, was his own attitude. Thankfully it seemed like he found a way to let it go… the block that was stopping him. Still Denizen did like the results. It seemed that he was right on schedule, with a smile he looked at the expectant eyes of the youths.

”I am impressed, you made a lot of progress, but I think I do not need to say that. Each of you should know it is so yourselves. Tomorrow there will be no classes, I will want you to relax a bit before the final exam on Saturday evening. So I will ask you to come to the beach at about noon. You can rest till then, but seeing your expressions you will probably not do that… which makes me proud.” While they have had no idea why Denizen would invite them, they already understood that while his methods might be strange, they are effective. That is why they did not question his invitation. After the class was dismissed and the kids left, Denizen sent out a message to two people he considered close to himself. At the same time it would be their first time in the Human World as well. He could not wait.

Saturday came and Denizen went to the place he rented out, it was a small grill hut on the beach, but one that had a lot of room. While there were many other people around, it was not an issue to him, after all, he wanted the students and his two friends to have fun. He had everything prepared, the meat was marinated in spices and oil, salads and other appetizers were made, not to mention the many fast-food like dishes, he made specially for this grill. Denizen was proud of himself, after all with all he prepared, he gave it his all. He thought that it would be great if his ‘guests’ liked what he made, but that was the cook inside of him wanting praise. After all, he had not cooked for other’s often, well at least not on this scale.

Despite the warm weather, he wore a light jacket and longer shorts. He had reasons for that, one was how his body looked and the other, well he did not like exposing himself if he could prevent it. He heard someone calling out to him. Turning around he noticed the twins coming over. It seemed that they brought food as well. Seems like they did not have much faith in his cooking… or they just wanted to bring something as well. Seeing how chipper they were made Denizen smile, soon the other teenagers came over as well, some brought food, others drinks, but thankfully the hut had both air conditioning and a big fridge so everything could be stored.

While Denizen worked on the food, some of the students joined him. The two who did were Maya and Ruri, though they did not have much to do, they still insisted on helping, so Denizen let them do as they pleased. The other four played volleyball in the meantime. They were doing quite well, which was slightly surprising, especially since the twins were competing against each other and it seemed that both Shin and Satsuki had quite a competitive streak… quite unlike their previous behavior. Well playing on the beach was always a fun experience.

It was at about two or three pm when thee seemed to be a commotion on the beach. Denizen did not really care about it, as for one he was finishing preparations for the barbeque and two he was waiting for the two Digimon that were supposed to visit. Though he assumed that their normal appearance might be problematic, both of them had those holo-suits to disguise themselves, so he was not worried. Still they were supposed to arrive an hour ago. While he was thinking, it seemed the commotion was getting louder, or rather the source of it was nearing the grill hut. Leaving the final touches to the two girls, the professor went to see what exactly was happening outside.

Looking in the distance he saw two people coming closer, two women to be exact. They looked familiar but at the same not. Though once the distance shortened to about ten meters the redhead waved and called out. ”Denizen~” he knew that voice, albeit it was usually colder and toned down. It seemed Lin was really excited to visit the human world, though that meant the silver haired woman next to her was Mara, his ‘boss’ from the tailor store. It was no wonder there was a commotion, both of them were absolutely stunning. After they called out though, most of the people who were calling to the duo gave up, some were glaring daggers at Denizen though.

The man sighed, Could they not have taken a less conspicuous appearance? he thought inwardly. To be honest he had no idea why, but he had a premonition, that things would not go as easy as he hoped they would. He looked at them one more, the were next to him now. ”Hey you two. Hope the trip was not straining.” He lightly smiled. ”You made it just in time for the barbeque. I know you’ll like it.” His words made Lin smile brightly, while Mara, despite her cool appearance, looked glad as well… at least the corners of her mouth slightly curled upwards.

”You can change in the hut, that is if you want to wear swimsuits that is.” He smiled and showed them the way. At the same time he called out to the students that they would be eating soon. The four playing volleyball finished playing and came over, after all they needed to help setting the table. While the six students helped Denizen set up, the two Digimon ‘changed’ into their swimsuits, though it actually did seem they changed their clothes. Mara changed out of her long dress and top into a purple, one piece swimsuit, though she still had her hat and glasses on and additionally she had a piece of cloth wrapped around her waist like a skirt. Bastemon on the other hand wore a bright red bikini, at least that is what Denizen assumed as she had a loose t-shirt over it. Before she had a light tanktop and short skirt on. Both of them looked cute and really different from how Denizen usually saw them.

Glancing at the students and the two women, all of them had a rather stunned expression, or rather the kids were slightly shy, while the two women had no idea how to behave. Looking at them Denizen just sighed, then clapped his hands getting their attention. ”All right, I mentioned to all of you about today, but I think I should introduce you to each other. This is Lin, the owner of a library and a person who helped me a lot, she will be able to help you with many issues you might have when writing.” Lin nodded and gave them a bright smile, next he brought their attention to Mara. ”This is Mara, the owner of a tailor store I work at sometimes, that and she also helped me greatly. Not to mention if you talk to her, you will understand that writing a story and sewing has a lot in common.” Mara nodded lightly, slightly blushing, making her look even more adorable.

”Mara, Lin, these six are the students I mentioned. Maya, Ruri, Mikoto, Makoto, Satoru and Shin. I will trouble you with helping them a bit, which will also help me a lot, as both of you will be able to help them in areas where I can’t.” Each of the students bowed when their name was called. Though through the introduction the tension seemed to be gone. ”But first, let’s eat, we can’t talk on an empty stomach now, can we?” Once he said that everyone’s’ eyes seemed to brighten and soon they were not only eating but also conversing naturally. Well, that is what good food can do, bring people together.

The group spent the next few hours talking and having fun, it seemed even the quiet Mara was getting more talkative and when she discussed her work with the kids and Lin, it seemed all of them started to grasp the similarities between the two wholly different crafts. Still, Denizen’s stomach was tensing up a bit more, giving him a bad feeling about something. Soon enough their fun time was interrupted by a group of three young adults, they looked in their early to mid-twenties. The professor knew there would be trouble, after all he remembered the trio from before. They were the ones with the most dissatisfied looks when Mara and Lin joined the group.

“Well, well, what do we have here. Why would two beautiful ladies like the two of you spend time with these kids and lame looking, old guy.” To be fair, Denizen was turned towards them with his back, that and he wore a rather loose shirt, making him look a bit scrawny and small. So they also didn’t see his annoyed expression either. Mara plainly ignored them and Lin just made hand motions to get them to scram, neither had any effect though, it seemed the three boys were up to no good and would not leave unless they got what they wanted. Denizen sighed. ”Could you young men please leave? You’re scaring my students and I do not think that my two friends like your attitude.” While he was calm, his voice was cold, a certain undertone mixed within it. Mara noticed as did Lin, but it seemed the three stooges were bent on making Denizen even more angry.

”HA!? And what will you do about it old man?! We will do what we want and only leave with the two over there, you can just suck it up and shut up, unless you want a beating?!” The leader of the trio growled, his two cronies laughing loudly. It did not seem like they would leave without being forced to. As Denizen was about to stand up, the leader of the stooges grabbed a glass with juice and dunked it over the professors head, soaking his shirt as well. ”Gyahaha, oh look you got wet, let me help you change out of those clothes~!” Laughing like a b-rated villain, the man gabbed Denizen’s shirt in an attempt to further embarrass him. Yanking the fabric, the stitches gave way and the shirt tore, leaving Denizen topless.

”Are you done?” Calmly asking, he slowly stood up and turned towards the three stooges, the fury clearly showing in his eyes. The three men were taken aback, as not only was the guy they were making fun of, not that bad looking, but also he was bigger and taller than them. What was making them nervous was not denizen’s body built, but rather his skin. The professors appearance surprised even the two Digimon and his students, after all, there were numerous scars on Denizen’s body. Even without a longer glance one could clearly see healed up knife, gun and burn wounds. Some smaller, some bigger, but it does not change the fact that no normal person had so many scars.

”I asked, are you done?” He glared which made the trio took a step back. If it was anger or fear, one can’t say, but the leader of the trio decided to throw a punch towards Denizen. With a sigh, the professor dodged the attack by a breath and countered with an uppercut. Connecting with the men’s chin, the force made his head fly backwards, which was also followed by the rest of his body, he hit the floor rather hard. Both of his friend were stunned but with a glare they quickly turned tail, taking their ‘leader’ with them. Denizen just watched after them till they were no longer seen. After taking a deep sigh he slowly turned around and looked at the others.

”Sorry you had to see that.” He coughed lightly. ”That happens sometimes.” The boys blinked and cheered, then they began asking a lot of questions. Mostly about what to do to be so strong, about the scars and more. It seemed like the girls also were curious, but were either too shy to ask... or the stream of questions coming from the boy’s end did not give them a chance. Mara and Lin on the other hand, had small smiles on their lips, they looked glad that nothing serious happened. This was also the case with Denizen, after all if either of the two got mad, then a concussion would be the least the three stooges would have to worry about.

Nonetheless it was time to continue what was originally planned, despite the rude interruption from before. ”All right everyone, for now feel free to talk and I’ll clean up a bit, later there will be some sweets to accompany out story session. I do hope you kids have looked into your minds and thought things over.” Denizen smiled and started cleaning up, like he mentioned he had cake and icecream, amongst others, made and waiting. Though for now there was a lot of things to clear away. Lin continued talking with the kids while Mara decided to help Denizen, for which he was grateful, after all, there was a lot to do.

Soon though, they were done, so everyone sat comfortably in a circle, the setting sun making the atmosphere rather pleasant, not to mention the crackling of burned wood in the bonfire. Setting the sweets out, Denizen let everyone have their portion, after all some sugar would do them good for what was to come. The professor hoped that the kids took his advice to heart and that he would be able to give them a passing grade. Though to be honest it was just something he decided on and the students knew this, but they took it more as a challenge than a chore. When everyone has finished, they could begin.

The students took turns telling their turns talking about their worlds, describing them, their place in the universe, the people of those worlds. Each was unique, taking a different take on each and every aspect. Though it seemed that each and every one of them learned the most basic thing about writing stories. Everything in it is alive, no matter how much you try to put limits and boarders onto yourself, the worlds and characters, if your world is truly alive it will live on and surprise you with its contents and the happening within. Limiting it creates something boring and stale, letting your imagination loose and letting the world just live will create something unique, something that is like a mirror of a person’s soul.

”Well, I have to say each one of you really made progress, with how things are going there is not much I can teach you anymore. Congrats, now you just need to nurture what you planted, let your stories grow, let them thrive. But that is just me, what you do is entirely to your own discretion. One last thing though. I think you notice that the things that happen in a story are complex like a spider’s web, yet at the same time just as simple as one. While to someone who trespasses they might be convoluted and unclear, sometimes a lethal trap, for the spider they are simple and easy to see through like a straight road. While you try overthinking things, make them more complex, you might get lost, so just let it go and weave your web (story) step by step, piece by piece, you will see that it will let you create something so complex that the reader will be unable to unravel it, yet at the same time will be unable to stop trying. While to you, it will be something clear and simple. I hope I am not too convoluted with this.” He lightly smiled and scratched the back of his head. While the students did understand what Denizen meant, they also were slightly confused. Yet because they conversed with Mara before it was at least a bit easier to understand.

”Well, since we are on the beach and it is getting dark, we should prepare to finish, but why not see if we can think of ghost stories to tell. Those are always fun, aren’t they?” Everyone nodded and started thinking about stories to tell. Lin was the one who wanted to start with her story. Denizen wondered just what she had in mind, though he hoped that she would not talk about the Digital World, he thought she knew what she was doing.

”What I am about to tell you is something that happened to me, it might be strange but please listen to the end.” She smiled. ”As you know I live in a library, most of the building is filled with books, while my home and other facilities are in the back. One night, during a storm I was woken up by strange noises. It was really late so I went around to make sure all of the windows were closed. The library was really quiet, well aside from the rain hitting the windows and the occasional thunder. After confirming each door was closed I began walking back, when I noticed a small glow near my desk. This made me slightly nervous as I just passed by there and there was nothing of the sort.” She paused for a moment and continued.

”Once at my desk the glow was gone again. I did not know what was going on and I started freaking out a little. Though I left it to my imagination and headed back. As I was entering my room I noticed the glow again, this time it was closer. I did not turn around, but opened the door, at that point I heard something fall onto the ground and strange squishing noises. I quickly went inside and closed my door behind me, locking it tight. Sure enough after I did someone or something tried opening the door. It was just the door knob moving, but at the same time there was an eerie quiet on the other end, as I was about to call out, the door that divides the library from the living area shut with a loud bang. I also could hear those squishing noises getting further away and later stopping.” Lin paused once again and some of the kids gulped, but also Denizen and Mara were on edge, wanting to know what happened next.

I was too scared to go out, but also would be unable to sleep. I was sitting there till the first rays of light shined through my window, my blanket wrapped around my body. I was clutching my staff for protection the whole night. I was really scared at the time. Though once it was light out I unlocked the door to see what exactly happened, of course I was armed as well. The place was a mess, there were mud prints in the corridor and the door handle was also dirty. It freaked me out as there was someone there last night. Walking out I saw more prints, strewn through most of the library. I decided, despite my better judgment, to follow them, quietly… the library is not big, but it felt like an eternity, not to mention the closer I got the more of a raspy sound I heard.” Here Lin tried to imitate the sounds, it did indeed sound a bit creepy.

”In the corner on one of the sofas I saw something covered in mud. Well it seemed asleep so it was not a ghost, and when I poked it, it woke up. I jumped back ready to attack, but to my surprise it was…. My sister who came back during the night after a night of drinking. It seemed like she really got hit by the rain hard and that was the result. She really scared me.” Lin sighed and finished. Everyone sighed out in relief, though they wondered if they were in that kind of situation what would they do. Still, there was one thing that kept bothering everyone. Though it was Shin who asked. ”What about the glow?” Lin coughed and looked slightly embarrassed. ”Well… it was the books, or rather the small gems attached to some of their covers. It seemed that if you looked from a certain angle they reflect light in that way. Can’t explain why, but that was the reason for not seeing the glow all the time….” Lin looked fidgety, and it seemed she did not want to talk about the glow more… maybe she was not really telling them everything, but seeing how nervous she was no one wanted to stress her and ask. (43)

Feeling slightly sorry for Lin, Denizen gently rubbed her head, to which she reacted slightly like a cat, but soon composed herself and got him to stop. He chuckled, though he would notice the funny gaze that Mara gave him, though Denizen had no idea what it meant. To be truthful he wondered if he should share a story of his past adventures, though he had no idea if it would not be too much for the kids to listen. In the end it was Mara who continued the storytelling. While her tale of horror was rather long, it was also filled with many scares and plot twists, as you’d expect from a spider, no one really knew how it would end.

Encouraged, the kids tried their own stories, the time passed in a fun atmosphere, though as it was getting late, Denizen decided to end for that night. After having cleaned up after themselves and locking the grill hut, Denizen would escort the kids home and later on go with the two Digimon back to the Digital World. Of course that would have to wait till the next day but he had a lot of room in his home so there would be no issues with waiting toll the next day. Truthfully everyone enjoyed themselves. Denizen learned a lot of new things, the kids seemed to have taken a liking to his teachings and both Lin and Mara seemed to like the Human World, though they did understand that there were many dangers as well.