Chapter 4: Page 29
One Vision: Page 29
NOTES FROM JASON
Our penultimate page from this chapter has our main character cooking up a new scheme. That’s one of the aspects of Colton I’ve enjoyed learning about the longer he remains a tenant in my head. He’s certainly made more than a few blunders so far in this story, but his ability to make the best of it by thinking and talking his way out is quite impressive. Granted, it’s usually only a short- term solution, but he’s clearly aware of that and is constantly thinking of a new way out. It’s a useful quality, one I’m sure we all would like to have, or if we have it already, an even better one. To clarify, this skill of his did not come from the jacket. No, this likely comes from years of working dead end jobs and living in a dead-end dystopia.
This scene was originally written a bit differently (if I had a dollar for every time I’ve said that this chapter). I won’t specify how the first draft went, because unlike before when dialogue got completely altered, here it got postponed. It just wasn’t the right time for the original discussion. It will likely show up in one form or another in the next chapter. I’ll let you know when. For now, the scene and the characters’ focus needed to be on their current situation. Plus, having an opportunity to have Colton think his way out of another jam is always fun, adds texture to the character and gives him a bit more agency so he’s not just rolling with the punches constantly. For those wondering about why we didn’t show more of Colton and Penny’s discussion before Avery comes to, it’s because all they spoke about was their backgrounds, which you the readers have already seen first-hand and so it’d be redundant to reiterate it. Fret not, you didn’t miss anything, all the relevant points are on these pages, I promise.
We’ve got one more page to go, and since I won’t be the one giving commentary on it next week, I’ll close out this one by briefly talking about what to expect in the next chapter. First up, the title of the chapter. It’s called Land of Confusion. It’s a safe bet that all of the story threads introduced these past thirty pages will continue into the next. Meaning lingering questions here may be answered there, more questions will likely arise to be answered even later. We’ll see more of our usual characters, perhaps meet a few new ones, even see some folks who’ve been absent for a bit. The ride isn’t stopping soon, and it’s about to get more wild and hectic and thrilling. I hope you’re ready for it, and I hope you’ll want to stick around for it all. I can also guarantee that the wait for the next chapter won’t be nearly as long as the wait was for this one. We’ve been at this story for a long time now, and the entirety of it has been mostly lingering in my mind, and its demanding release. It’s like when you leave a teakettle on the burner for too long, and its whistles only grow louder and shriller. It only ends when you finally attend to it. And there’s been far too much whistling.