Somali Tales

Introduction

To improve my creative writing, I will need to keep learning and evolving for a long time. I get a bit desperate when I compare it to how I was taught scientific writing. During my studies, and after a couple of months, I wrote complex and well-structured essays by reading and analyzing a lot of (selected) scientific articles. Creative writing is not that accessible, first because no one is teaching me this time. Therefore, it needs way more thought and effort. But I can sense the ease with which I keep finding new words and new ideas and assembling them. Creating plots, mood boards, or outlining chapters before writing them has been really helpful, and I’d love to share what I’m doing with you.

I should also thank you for being a part of this journey. Let’s have faith in our growth. As long as we are committed to keeping improving and learning by studying and publishing regularly, we will make progress.

Mood board

Through this post, I decided to share a vision board of my dystopian world. I love visuals, and I always imagine my scenes like they happen in a movie. Even if I don’t write it down, there is a certain ambiance that I want to convey, a certain lighting, a decor, which is not necessary for the plot but adds something special to the story.

In A True Mission, the principal location is Mehreen, a “modern-day” Iraq, in the Great Orient. In this future, continents will still be the same, but the countries will be broken down differently. The Middle East Will be the Great Orient, while China and Japan, and other countries in that region will have another name. In fact, some of their islands and coastlines will gradually disappear, while certain cities will become essential “canal-towns” like Venice.

Mehreen will be the most prosperous land of the Great Orient, the envy of city-states (Vatican- or Monaco-like cities) that chose modernity and advancement instead of natural landscapes. In the process, they lost their very soul and feel unable to reverse their actions.

I imagine Mehreen to be lush, green, and flowery, like a huge garden, separated by clean, spacious roads connecting magnificent houses like castles. The image I envision is a bit heavenly in essence. The future is often anticipated as gray, full of thousands of story buildings, and very technologically advanced, while the color scheme is blue and gray. Metals and glass are always representative of this classical future world. But in more than a thousand years, I think a true sign of prosperity will be the presence of untouched nature. The existence of old creatures living in the wild or being half-domesticated. Horses running in large plains, big birds flying over sunflower fields. I envision fat rabbits hiding from plum orange foxes with bright eyes who are fed on fresh meat instead of the remnants of 5-day-old trash, contrary to the ones in my neighbor.

Do you see the color scheme? Metallic and perfect, the category is “somewhat lifeless.” I’m not saying that gray is not found in natural living things; it is! Many animals are gray, but it is often for camouflage instead of brighter colors, which convey life and vigor. As for blue, it is the rarest color, and many languages do not even have a word for it. Thus, it is often a reflection of something that isn’t materially present but projected. A concept like the blue “sky.”

Anyway, in many cities of the future, those who chose “progress” and rapid “evolution” erected buildings so high, they block the sun while being full of artificial lights themselves. They don’t produce or filter polluted air like green plants, but they are comfortable in a sense. A sign of advancement and wealth in our age.

Indeed, these buildings are a sign of true refuge when you account for the thousands of years of struggle our ancestors went through. It is also the sign that humans have evolved and bent nature to their will. So, more of my imaginary world will resemble these big towns, with hundreds of buildings touching the sky. Space exploration will be a real thing, I believe, but maybe not in a Star Wars or Interstellar type of way.

Speaking of Interstellar, you may guess that in my fictitious world we have lived through some climate changes. But I’m hopeful, you see. I believe in the self-sufficiency of the planet to counter our behaviors. It is greater than us in essence, and the younger generation is more aware and decided to reverse our bad actions. I hope that after some awful period of earthquakes, tsunamis, and other catastrophes, the world will be alright again.

Moreover, in this dystopian world, overpopulation will be completely countered. Once around 20% of the world population has disappeared through what they called “the Event” (year 2729 C.E.) and another 35% died in brutal wars through hundreds of years, with a stagnant growth rate, the world will be a less inhabited place, leaving space for animals and the remaining humans to have not only space to live, but to live well.

Moreover, this future will be visually pleasing. Technology will exist but in a fully integrated way. The constructions will be “intelligent.” No visible wires, cables, and so on. Everything will blend perfectly.

And the water… The beautiful water will be full of freshly discovered creatures coming out of the deep, dark space between the seas. It will be less crowded in a sense, and we can imagine the Tigris and the Euphrates expanding a lot, creating lakes and making the land even more lush.

Anyway, that is true for Mehreen. The Bright Region, which reigns supreme.

Rune, my main character, is from Geneva (a city-state, capital of the world) and Malia (modern-day Somalia), a country that took 400 years to recover from the loss of 40% of its population. It is a strong defense line in the African continent and an ancient ally of Mehreen.

Their future is full of harsh politics, and many countries and states meddled to create conflict in the Great Orient region. They want to take full control of Mehreen, its population, and its wealth. When you keep secrets, people are more likely to take an interest in you, and that is exactly what happens to this region. Indeed, in recent memory, they never lost a war, and no one knows how they do it. There are only rumors of invisible armies and special drugs, which they refuse to admit or sell to anyone.

That is what Rune is here to discover. Hopefully, during her stay, she will discover their dark secret as well as their practice of ancient rituals, rediscovering gradually the culture of those who disappeared during the “Event.”

The link with violence should become more manifest once their secret is disclosed. Meanwhile, the topic of religion will be very light, but I’ll try to leave enough signs to understand how the world is different when it is devoid of monotheism. Obviously I’m biased, but I’ll do my best to challenge all of us, both the religious and the non-religious.

Conclusion

So here is my first mood board. The next one will focus more specifically on the people. As I said previously, 1600 years is not enough for humans to truly change, but the culture will evolve rapidly, and I’ll explore some ideas on how humans will behave in the future.