x-no-archive: yes x-archive-expire: 2004-12-31 x-assm-no-berne-warning: no Author: Dai_wakizashi Title: Tales from an Unknown Corner Part: Intro/Foreword Summary: Story of a young man trying to find a path, and love Keywords: MF, FF, MFF, oral, anal, toys, petting, romance, drama Revision: 2.0 Web Sites: ASSTR- /~dai_wakizashi/ SOL- http://storiesonline.net/home.php EWP- http://www.ewpub.org/ewpub.html Discussion Forum: http://www.ewpub.org/messageboard/viewforum.php?f=76 ***************************************************************** STANDARD DISCLAIMER This piece of fiction is intended as ADULT entertainment. It contains material of an adult, explicit, SEXUAL nature. If you are offended by sexually explicit content or language, please DO NOT read any further. All characters in this story are fictitious; any similarity to any persons, places, individuals or situations is purely coincidental. The author does not necessarily condone or endorse any of the activities described in this story. This story may not be reproduced in any form for profit without the written permission of the author, Dai_wakizashi (dai_wakizashiAThotmailDOTcom). This story may be freely distributed with this disclaimer attached. Copyright (c) 2003-2004 Dai_wakizashi. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** AUTHOR'S NOTE *** Important Warning *** I urge any potential reader to READ this note before reading "Tales from an Unknown Corner." I went to the trouble of putting the following together to help you get more than you might by diving blindly into the story. Perhaps, the following might tell you, why I prepared this note: I'm, one of those impulsive people, who would rather tackle the job of setting up the new stereo without first consulting the bloody Manual, and I usually get burned for my fool-hardiness. If you want to move to the story without first reading these notes, then: "Good luck! Just don't come back whining or flaming me, because you've been warned!" ***************************************************************** FOREWORD Before I delve into some explanations, I want to make one thing very clear, so that readers with certain expectations are not disappointed! *** This is NOT a 'stroke' story! *** It contains some very explicit and--I'm told--hot scenes; but they are there for the purposes of a plot. Some of those are very short, some are very long, and their frequency varies a lot; nevertheless, they are there, as the story codes indicate! If you're looking for a story with people hopping from bed to bed, and getting it on with each other at every turn of the page, I suggest that you look elsewhere (there's an abundance of such). You might not get very much enjoyment from reading this story. Having said that, I have to note, I would like to be read by a wider audience--as any other author 'would'. However, I also know that the individual tastes vary 'a lot', and I don't want to waste the time of people with something they might not be interested in. To illustrate my point... I would like to invite the readers--who might still be 'skeptical' or think I'm being arrogant or presumptuous--to read the first two chapters, and compare them to the contents of, say, Chapter-7 (which contains an example of 'stroke' material) as an example. Please, do 'understand' that I'm not issuing a 'challenge', but trying as best as I can, to make my point. Of course, the apparent difference between those chapters might also serve to give you a feel for this story, and allow you to make up your mind--a chance for a somewhat 'informed' choice! Very early on, I've made certain decisions about how I want to 'write' and 'tell' this story, and I am not willing to compromise either on the style or on the plot line. What's more, I wrote it (and am writing it) for myself in the first place. And, I am just inviting you to a journey--please do keep in mind that I invite you, 'only', if you want 'to' take part in the journey--in the hopes that some of you might enjoy this particular trip. If you did not or do not enjoy the trip, I'd like to thank you for at least taking the time to give it a try and partake in it for a short time. And, I extend my best wishes to you in your search for something that is more to your liking. Having given this little heads up, and the warning out of the way, now, I can get back to what I wanted to say... I've said, "This is not a 'stroke' story." Then, what is it? *** This is a 'romance' story! *** This is a story with a plot, a mixture of complex characters, drama, romance, and a bit of action. It uses--what I believe--a somewhat unique style of narration; a very intimate, first person POV, that allows the reader a very direct view of the protagonist's inner world. I think some readers might even be inclined to call it an almost "in-your-face" kind of style, but I'm hoping that, once you've finished a few chapters, you might appreciate certain aspects of the narration. At times, it develops very slowly, and at times, it's fast paced. There are great variations in the tempo, and I would like to urge the reader to take his/her time, because there are small hints, and details that tie together to form a complex structure, filling in the pieces of a puzzle picture, and, some of those hints are very subtle, almost innocuous, and easy to miss. I'm not sure whether it would put off some of the readers, but my aim is to involve the reader in a journey, and get him/her invested in the story, and the characters. Thus, it requires a bit of work from the readers--No! Not like homework. I meant it in the sense that if you missed the pointers, you might not be able to connect the dots, consequently miss some parts of the picture I'm trying to paint, which might lessen your enjoyment. I'm hoping that, with this little warning, you might be inclined to look a bit below what's on the surface, and try to see the underlying currents--and if you're the kind of reader that enjoys little mysteries, solving puzzles, you might find some added spice, flavor in this particular story. After the first two chapters, the story changes dramatically, so do not expect the atmosphere of chapter-1 or chapter-2, to be the prevalent atmosphere. What's more, even though I explicitly stated in the narration and alluded to it (although somewhat innocuously) in chapter-2, there's a time gap of "one year" between the two chapters, which might take you by surprise if you miss it. Side note: some readers mentioned, in their feedback, that they missed that particular detail, and they had to go back and re-read chapter-2 to understand the sudden, almost abrupt changes taking place. Chapters 1 and 2 are introductions, and lay the ground work for what is to come--the basement, if you will--and even though I've been told those chapters were a bit of a difficult read for most of the readers, I've decided not to change them. Because, the majority of--my small but dedicated cadre of--readers acknowledge that, in the light of what's revealed in the later chapters, the first two chapters play a very pivotal role. ***************************************************************** SUMMARY of the STORY It is a story of an angry and hurt young man, who still carries that excess baggage with him, and his journey to find some answers, a path, and perhaps eventually friendship, love, and happiness. You'll learn about his past, and follow his journey at present. You'll get to meet the people around him, who cross his path, and sometimes, give shape to his journey. It's a long journey, filled with many twists and turns; momentary happiness, and times of hurt and anger, and at times contemplative. ***************************************************************** CREDITS Several people are involved with this work apart from me as the author. Two individuals, Rob and Terry, have been editing this work, and continue to do so. Earlier, there were a few more editors, who have begged off due to various other commitments. But, ALL of them have my sincere thanks and gratitude for their part in making this story what it is. Without their help, certainly, this project wouldn't even have taken off nor would have continued this far. For quite some time, I was planning to re-edit the older material (chapters 1-20), and having revised them I needed some help to get the text checked. Because my editors are already busy with new material, a few readers had been kind enough to respond to my request, and helped me. Kevin, and a few others who prefer to remain anonymous have my thanks and gratitude for a job well done. Guys, thank you, thank you very much! And finally, a quick word or two on availability... ***************************************************************** AVAILABILITY and PRESENTATION ASCII is not suited for this story, because the original text (in html) makes use of styles that makes it easier to read it. Italics and emphasis are very difficult to convey in the world of simple ASCII presentation. I have used "_" to indicate italic words (emphasis), and all-italics paragraphs (inner thoughts), which sometimes seem a bit visually cluttered or distracting (in ASCII). If you really want to experience the full flavor, and a better and comfortable read, I would recommend you to try the HTML version of this story at any one of the three web sites it is being published (with almost regular weekly posts). This story is being posted at three web sites; ASSTR: /main.html SOL: http://storiesonline.net/home.php EWP: http://www.ewpub.org/ewpub.html Among the three, ASSTR gives me the most flexibility in controlling the presentation, and I genuinely believe that the copy being published at ASSTR might surprise you--I've tried to give a "book feel", to make your reading experience as enjoyable as possible. Of course, the others (SOL, and EWP) are also very good, but I don't have much control over the presentation. In addition, all the sites have facilities for anonymous communication; that is, if you ever feel like dropping a line or two after reading my rants here, or parts of the story! ;-p So... if you're still interested... why don't you turn the page to chapter-1? ;~p} Dai_wakizashi July 01, 2004, The Netherlands