Jack Latreille

Hello, all.

As you may have seen, my latest short story is out. The Loon’s Call is one of the longest pieces I’ve written, and I wanted to talk about two elements that I tried to work on while creating it. I’m going to go in-depth on some crucial elements, so if you want to read it but haven’t, now’s the time.

One aspect of the story that I really wanted to portray is the idea of stumbling upon something sinister and ancient. Our characters just happen upon this concrete ritual building that’s been out here for who knows how long, and lurking at the bottom of this structure is an ancient being. One of the ways I attempted to portray this is through the coins found in the first room of the complex. When observing them Henry discovers that some of them are from the seventies, and some of them are so old that there’s no marking on them at all. This means that followers have been giving monetary offerings to the creature for decades, and likely much longer than that. Another way I attempted to illustrate the age of this creature is through its appearance. It’s missing patches of feathers, and beneath, Henry can see its yellowed skin. This description is intended to draw forth images of battle scars, the kind you see on extremely old reptiles that communicate that that creature really struggled to survive. As a side note, the teeth of the creature were inspired by goose teeth, images of which have haunted me since I saw them years ago.

I also wanted to depict this creature as one with its own twisted sense of ethics. The creature says that it’s followers consider it a “true adjudicator.” This means that the creature will be particularly cruel and viscous to those it considers sinners. This means that it considers what it does to Henry and his friends justified. And yet, Henry is spared. The creature lets him live, but under the threat of death if he does not improve his conduct with others. The reason it spares Henry in particular is kept intentionally vague. Perhaps it senses that he can do better and gives him a chance to do so. Or perhaps it’s just because he ran the fastest. Whatever the case, Henry is given a second chance with the stipulation that in ten years, the creature will return to see if it made the right choice. And, of course, it does. That’s all for now.