Refreshing the Wells 15
Newspaper clippings. I’ve been collecting them for a long time.
I keep a lot of them. It’s fun to track back and find the source of my stories.
“The Gaze Dogs of Nine Waterfall” came from an article in the Fiji Times about vampire dogs. “It is probably just a strange breed of dog with a preference for blood,” Dr Travis Schaar reported. (Though, on investigation, it appears he didn’t actually say it about these dogs. I do love the internet!)
“His Lipstick Minx” came from a number of places, but one element was inspired by a chilling article in New Scientist by Sue Birchmore, about gory industrial accidents.
I’m fascinated today by the story of Kirk Buckner. I kept this clipping because it described Kirk, a 14 year old, killing his entire family, only stopped when an uncle knocked him down. I kept it because I’m so disturbed and yet drawn to stories like these. Children committing violence, and violence against families. It’s because evil confuses me. How does a 14 year commit such a terrible crime?
Answer, in this case, is that he didn’t.
Thing is; if I hadn’t investigated further, Kirk would be a killer in my head, because the newspaper reported it that way. Nothing is truth, is it? Look at that comment from Dr Schaar, who has probably never even been to Fiji. And look at Kirk who, for a week, was considered an evil teenager.
