I’ve got a few more days of mountain life going on before I return to my normal work/writing schedule. I haven’t been as productive as I’m used to, but I’m still creating. Most recent creation is the first few chapters of a new narrative podcast all about vampires and Tokyo. Here is the a few paragraphs from the beginning of the piece.
Every city has its own pulse; its own rhythm. Listen closely and you can hear it. Some merely offer a languid, leisurely beat that barely motivates its people to keep breathing. Other cities offer a staccato snare drum of efficiency, marching its citizens along their productive way.
But then there are the cities that have grown past the point of one rhythm. A city so large that it competes with itself. The pockets of humanity threaten to overrun the natural rhythms. The sweet harmony of the city has been replaced by the many bubbles of cancerous growth.
Tokyo doesn’t have a rhythm. It has dozens. There is that steady waltz of commerce in Ginza. That modern disco thump of Shibuya. In Asakusa you can feel the hold of the old rhythms of ancient Japan competing with surrounding bass of change.
In Shinjuku, there is cacophony. The constant struggle of on pocket trying to push out the other. On the northern edges there is the desperate clunk of forgotten industry that most barely care about. Closer to the main station the erotic twirl of Kabukicho strives against the constant dance that is Ni-chome.
In the day, Shinjuku offers the hope of motion and success. The finest universities in the the nation, businesses with higher operating budgets than many of the neighboring countries. And thought the skyline is one of glass and steel, parks offer fields of green and trees thick enough to block out the noise of the city, if only for an hour or two at a time. For one of the densest cities in the world, finding a quiet moment can be easier than you’d think.
But every night people flock to the most crowded areas of this city within a city. They dance and write, the work and struggle. They swear at missed trains and drink too much. They flirt in the streets and fuck in rooms rented by the hour. They lie to spouses about having to work late so they can watch the shows put on by others long robbed of hope.
The later it gets the more the cacophonous rhythm of the city prompts those within to put their inhibitions aside. Those actively prowling the streets after ten pm are those looking for some form of hedonistic release. They drink deep and let good judgement take the right off.
That those who strike the most respectable poses during the day are the same looking to transgress during the evenings should come as no surprise.
With barely any searching we can find a couple that fits that description nicely. Both belong to globally recognized electronics firm. Both are graduates from what is considered the most prestiges, and most well-connected, university. He’s been with the company for a little over three years know. She just started.
Since seven that evening they’ve been attending a series of office parties. At each stage the number of attendees shrink, the amount of alcohol increases, and the conversation grows more intimate.
After the third-party, most of their colleagues start the crawl to home.
He holds her back. He tells her he wants to give her some feedback. It’s a lie and she knows it…
Just a little set up to paint the magically-realistic version of Tokyo. And then the vampires show up.
Like I said, this is going to be a podcast. Look for it starting in late September.
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Deadly Troubadour 