The originally planned idea for this chapter’s end actually changed a little at the last moment. Also, the word count came out higher than I expected it would be before I started writing.
The original idea for this chapter was to have a child in a coma dreaming. I decided to put the dream in the past, in an era of shows such as I Love Lucy, Betwitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and the Andy Griffith show. (I also put these shows on televisions at the same time, regardless of day of week and time they were on television, and which network each appeared on; I can do that when it’s a dream.)
In order to accomodate the “old TV show” style, I needed someone who would have gown up on these shows. Considering a general lack of re-runs back then, and the lack of video recorders, the man in the coma probably can’t be as young as I pictured him when I wrote this; if he’s in his 50’s, then he’s not quite old enough. I could age him a bit, and push his mother up into the 80’s. That would add a twist in itself, as she wants to see her son recover from his coma before her life ends.
Another idea I had while writing is that the man had been in a coma since his age in the dream (a young child), but that would put him in a coma for over 40 or more likely 50 years. That idea didn’t work out, as I instead put mention of the “last five years”, suggesting that either Daniel fell into a coma five years earlier, or a different method of trying to revive him started five years prior.
This is the second chapter where a non-main character gets a name. The first was Arle, but she’ll be back as a main character later. I’ve been avoiding giving names to one-chapter characters so I can fill them out after November. I had trouble leaving Daniel unnamed, so I simply picked a name I used for other stories. I may change his name later.
NaNoWriMo Goals
This chapter weighs in at 2,404 words. Nice!
