Hello! Below is my humble attempt at writing a story for this blog. The idea of Dracula having a drinking problem popped into my head shortly after writing my last blog post. I sat with the story of Dracula and his need for Bloody Marys for a few weeks now and it hasn’t progressed so I figured I better just share what I have. Since this blog is partly dedicated to the art of storytelling, what better way to engage the audience than by also incorporating the process of story making?
I found myself facing a lot of internal pressure when writing this tale, such as “Is it funny enough?”, “Am I being creative enough?”, “Will the audience get it?”, “Is it long enough?” and so forth. I feel like I short-changed myself because the concept of Dracula having a drinking problem has so much to offer. There is a lot of room for creative potential and yet somehow I feel like I couldn’t reach the pinnacle. The only reason I’m sharing it now is because I’ve been sitting with it for far too long and it’s do-or-die time. This is what I got:
***************************************************************************************************************************
~ Storytime: Dracula Had a Drinking Problem ~
On my adventures throughout life, I’ve met many interesting people. Believe it or not, one of the most interesting characters I’ve ever met was Dracula himself. It was a Tuesday night and I was a bartender at a little hole-in-the-wall bar called The Blue Raccoon. It was about 10:30 pm when he, literally, slid through the door, sat at the counter, and ordered a drink. You wouldn’t think of it to look at him, or because of all the myths about vampires, but Dracula was a pretty awkward-looking guy.
Dracula, who liked to sip on Bloody Marys, was dressed in his usual apparel which was a tuxedo and a cape but for some odd reason, he had on bright green socks that peeked out from under his tuxedo pants. Dracula said it was because it was laundry day and he lost one of his black socks in the wash. “It happens to the best of us.”, I reassured him. Surprisingly, Dracula had a 9 – 5 job as a Data Analyst. He said he liked working at his job because he could work from home and didn’t have to commute during the day. According to him, sunny days were too much for his skin to handle, but his job left him little opportunity to interact with others.
By the time 11:15 pm rolled around, Dracula was on his fifth Bloody Mary. As the night progressed, and I became more familiar with him, I casually asked him if he had ever drunk anyone’s blood before or if that was just another nasty rumor. He paused for a moment before answering, leaned over the bar, and said in a hushed tone “Yes, it’s true. Vampires do indeed drink blood and I’ve had my share.” He must have noticed the look of judgmental disgust on my face because he hurriedly continued, “But that was in my younger years. Back before I settled down and back when I had fangs.” I hadn’t noticed that Dracula didn’t have fangs until the moment he mentioned it. “I have dentures now.”, he added before taking another sip of his drink. “Dentures?!” I proclaimed. “Of course. A blood-only diet isn’t a good source of calcium. Speaking of diet, what time does the kitchen close?” Dracula asked, glancing down at the menu in front of him. “12:30” I stated amused by his knack for changing the subject. He ordered a pot roast sandwich and mashed potatoes with extra gravy.
I could see the effects of the alcohol begin to take its toll on Dracula when he got up to use the bathroom. He had just finished his seventh drink and bumped into a bar stool as he passed by. “Excuse me.” He said to the piece of furniture before stumbling off. All I could do was shake my head as I saw him disappear in the distance. When he returned I asked him if he wanted to switch to water. He declined and said, “I think I’ll have one more Bloody Mary and close out my tab.”
***************************************************************************************************************************
And that’s it! That’s all I got for now. Can you believe I started working on this several weeks ago?! I don’t even know how to end this story. I was thinking of something along the lines of Dracula transforming into a bat to go home and the dentures flying out of his mouth because they’re not a part of his DNA structure. I just don’t know. I would call this work crap but I’m giving myself an “A” for a creative idea and a “C-” for effort.
Maybe sometime in the future when I get inspired or have a creative spark I’ll revisit this story and make enhancements. I think an area of improvement would be to come up with an actual outline for this tale. In a couple of books that I’ve read, outlining is helpful. I’m just not there yet.