So, confession time. When I was an angsty fifteen year-old, I started writing a fantasy manuscript about an angsty fifteen year-old. Over the course of more than a year, it grew into a 200-page, Times New Roman 10 mastodon.

That mastodon is currently in my hands. It is filled to the brim with horrible cliches, terrible dialogue and plot twists I stole from random anime series.

Have a gander:

„Maarten? Are you awake?“

Slowly he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Angela, who was looking at him right above his head. In a flash she kissed him.

Maarten was startled, and got tense. She pulled her lips away again, and look at him full of regret. „Sorry…“

He looked at her, confused and frightened. „O-okay…“

She stood up, and reached her hand out to him. He didn’t accept, and got up on his own. „I don’t need your help anymore. I’m perfectly capable of handling things on my own.“ He sounded painfully apathetic.

Angela looked away. „I understand…“ after that, she looked back into his eyes and laughed.

„No. No! Don’t say anything. I know what you will say next will be a lie.“

Angela looked at him confusedly. „What do you mean.“

„You’re running away Angela. Away from yourself, away from the outside world, just away!“ Maarten turned around and started running into the forest. Away.

The above scene is a quote from chapter 8, where the two lovers meet again for the first time since chapter 2 (which, in a stroke of artist’s brilliance, is actually the first chapter). They cannot be together because he is a part of a prophecy that will get her killed or something. Also, teenage angst.

Now the thing is: I cannot let something this gloriously awful go to waste. But what should I do with it? Dramatic reading? Translate the whole thing and look for an editor who’s actively looking for trash?

P.S.: against all logic, I’m not going to burn it