D Is For Damien (Original Draft) Front

INTRODUCTION: HORRORS! HORRORS!! It's the original text of...D Is For Damien, the second novel in the D4D series, and the most pivotal...the series was named after it, after all. This story, even in its existing, completed, "newest" form, is BEYOND atrocious, but the original version...just...BLAGH. You must keep something in mind about my early writing. It was heavily influenced by current pop culture...which is why you see references to late Eighties/early Nineties songs, TV shows, singing groups, etc. My King Kuts stories were VERY bad for this; somewhere I have one of my earliest drawings of Damien, in pure dog form, and he's wearing his trademark bill-up cap which reads Milly Vanilly (not only did I not know then that this group didn't even sing its own songs, but I didn't know how to spell its name!!). I don't remember D4D being quite as nasty, but I do remember a VERY lame reference to The Simpsons and a popular song that was playing on the radio at the time...*weeps in utter despair* One thing about this text is that this is the PURE, ORIGINAL text in its original format, and it's completely intact; I dug around and located all the scattered pages with success. It's not like Lucifer, which seems to have gone through some sort of revision even before I penned (or penciled) the "original" draft, or like the ones that came later, where I did similar things; it's also not just a tiny fragmentary text, but has quite a bit of substance to it. As for the QUALITY of that substance...*cringe.*

Even though this story is pure junk, and the new version isn't much better, it was still quite instrumental in my writing evolution, and Damien went on to become one of my most important characters--in fact, my FAVORITE character, although his esteemed rank has lately been joined by teenage female Manitou Island protagonist, Charmian. (I can totally imagine these two getting along...and bitching each other out...just splendidly.) So...yes. This novel attempt is crap. But enjoy it for how much this pathetic attempt ended up meaning to my writing in whole. Someday, I should like to rewrite the early D4D novels, and hopefully make them much better...though I don't know how salvageable they are! Feel free to compare this to the newest version, which can be found in its entirety online. Also compare to "D Is For Damien Excerpt," which was certainly written BEFORE the newest version, but possibly AFTER the original. (This novel, BTW, was first set up on audiocassette. I was acting out my characters Chernobyl and Harvey, when Chernobyl received the pivotal phone call which starts the story. Voila! My first multimedia tie-in!)

Written in a VERY battered five-subject notebook long missing its cover; the title page is on the green divider page, and features a heavy pencil drawing of the D in question, forming the title; the word "Damien" is written in what's supposed to be Damien's handwriting. On the inner front cover is the Scorpio logo (an M with a tail), but the tail is missing; I seem to remember I drew the symbol incorrectly back then. This novel was probably started BEFORE the original version of Lucifer, although it takes place a year later in the timeline. Interestingly, this story also represents a sort of transitional phase in my writing; my King Kuts books (1988(?)-90 or so) were all profusely illustrated, whereas this story practically isn't--there is only one illustration, early in the text. I sense that I intended to include more drawings, but just grew tired of it, and focused on the writing; this has been the case with almost all of my serious writing ever since. ANOTHER interesting thing which I only just noticed--this story is written over an earlier, erased, Trench Rats story! I dimly remember the plot as being about a mouse who early in the story was rescued by the Rats, but as for the story's title, I'm not sure; perhaps it was Dobermann On Wheels? A shame that I don't remember copying it anywhere.

The plot of D4D was hatched, and the story itself takes place, in late summer 1990--in fact, this is what the copyright states--but the actual writing could have started somewhat later. It does not date beyond junior high (1989-91).

Front, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Back

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D is for Damien

by Rachel H. [last name omitted]

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Copyright ©1990 by Rachel H. [last name omitted]