Smitty91
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So this idea for a novel has been brewing in my head for the past several months now and refuses to leave me alone. Here is all that I have so far in terms of the plot and characters.
"Screams of Silence, Cries Unheard" tells the story a red blue-eyed fox named Rita. Rita is a streetwise homeless red fox who is a recent runaway. She is taken in by a rabbit family known as the Cuthberts. Each member of this family has gray fur, blue eyes, white cheeks, a patch of fur that covers their chest and thins out just above their bellies, and a cottontail. The Cuthbert family consists of Saul and Serena Cuthbert and their six children:
JC — a tough, strong grumpy rabbit who is always looking to pick a fight but will be the first one to jump in to protect and defend his loved ones. Hos interests include sports, running, weight lifting, video games, wrestling, and loading up on carbs. Beneath his touch exterior he has a heart of gold. He plays the drums and lead guitar and is the lead vocalist in the band Misled Youth, a band formed by him and his other siblings.
Cody — the chubby member of the family. He is not athletic like his brother JC. Rather than have an interest in sports, he has an interest in food and everything to do with it, whether that be cooking food or eating it. Given his love of food, he more oftentimes than not has food on his mind or seems to be preoccupied with food. He would rather spend his time eating rather than running or exercising, but isn't against taking a jog through the woods with his family when the occasion calls for it. Like JC, he enjoys video games as well and often will play video games with his siblings purely for the fun of it. He plays no role in the band Misled Youth for fear of being made fun of for being fat.
Marty — a brown-haired rabbit who takes his oarents' warnings about the outside world very seriously. He is afraid and very timid most of the time, to the point where a loud sneeze will cause him to run away and hide. Because of this, he mainly keeps to himself, but opens up more when around family or close friends. His interests include reading books within the fantasy genre such as the Harry Potter series, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings. He enjoys writing his own fantasy stories when not playing board games such as Dungeons and Dragons or live-action role-playing games with his friends in the park. He plays the bass in the band Misled Youth.
Rebecca — the brainiac of the Chrhbert family. She is a fiery redhead and is very analytical and logical and extremely intelligent. Her interests include reading, math and science, brain teasers, debating, and puzzles. Her favorite authors are Mary Shelley, HG Wells, and Isaac Asimov. She has a bitter rivalry with Colin, a brown raccoon who, as far as she is concerned, is the only person capable of matching her in terms of intellect. She doesn't like Colin's name being mentioned, to the point where she forbids anyone from uttering it within the confines of the Cuthbert home. Like her other brothers and sisters, she enjoys video games. Her favorite video games are the Tomb Raider series, Tetris, and the Legend of Zelda series. She plays the guitar and flute in the band Misled Youth when she isn't busy singing.
Mimi — a shy, very quiet rabbit with a tomboyish hairdo that matches her gray fur. Her interests include anything having to do with boys or boy bands, having several posters of boy bands pinned up in her room. She enjoys reading teen magazines and magazines centered around music. She also enjoys being creative, spending many hours in her room working on art. She regularly posts her art online. She enjoys chatting with friends online, preferring to use text rather than speech. She plays the drums in Misled Youth whenever JC is busy doing vocals for a song.
Joanna — a blond-haired rabbit and the heart of the Cuthbert family. Her heart is always open to troubled souls in need, going out of her way to show kindness and offer help towards anyone who needs it. She often goes out of her way to do charity work and donate blood during the school blood drive every year. Like Rebecca and Mimi, her interests include reading, but she also has a love for food like acidy, often helping her parents prepare meals in the kitchen. She often helps her siblings with their schoolwork or offers Mimi critique on her artwork or critiques Marty's stories. She is usually the most one open to listening to what her siblings have to say and is willing to offer a listening ear whenever one of them needs to be r our their frustrations, he xe why her siblings often come to her for advice and guidance when they need help, particularly when they're not comfortable talking to their parents about something personal. This has inspired her to start her win blof, where she talks about her day-to-day life, answers emails, and gives advice to anyone who needs it. She plays the guitar and background vocals for the band Misled Youth.
Serena — the mother of the Cuthbert family and Saul's wife. Like her son JC and daughter Joanna, she has a heart of gold and will fly out of her way to help anyone who needs it. She enjoys cooking, seeing people enjoy her cooking, reading, playing the piano, and being creative. When not busy doing housework or cooking a meal, she can often be found sitting at the kitchen table working on art or reading a book. She enjoys soap opera and cheesy romance novels and movies. She can be stubborn and set in her ways, especially when she's convinced that she's right. Her heart goes out to Rita, hence why Rita is currently living with them. Her stubbornness causes friction between her and her husband over Rita due to Saul's prejudices against foxes.
Saul — the father of the six Cuthbert children and Serena's husband. Though a very loving, caring devoted father who goes out of his way to teach his children the importance of helping others, he unfortunately has right them about the dangers about the outside world, hence why Marty is so timid and afraid. This most definitely includes foxes because he was almost killed by one once, hence why he struggles to accept Rita as a member of the family at first and why he often gets into arguments with Serena over the fox's presence. His interests include cooking, gardening, video games, wrestling, sports, and reading. He oftentimes helps Serena out with housework, encouraging his children to help out by doing chores such as doing dishes or vacuuming the floors. When not spending time with his family, cooking, or helping keep the house clean, he can oftentimes be found tending to his garden in the backyard. Many of the food that the Cuthberts eat, such as carrots, cabbage, and tomatoes are grown by Saul himself, and he enjoys it whenever his kids show an interest in his gardening hobby, teaching them how to grow and care for plants and vegetables.
Rita first attracts the attention of the Cuthbert family when they find out living in a cardboard box outside of the pizzeria they won and run. Rita, curious, follows them home one evening and helps herself to some of their vegetables due to hunger and even goes through their garbage in search of food. Later on, she ends up stealing a pie that Serena had cooling on the window sill.
When Rita is arrested for stealing food from a convenience store, she is taken to a juvenile detention center. Serena, having worked with troubled youth in the past, gets a call and is alerted to Rita's presence. Learning that Rita has no family, she takes the fox into her home out of the kindness of her heart.
Naturally, Saul and the kids are not the least but happy about the fact that they now have a fox living with them, fearful that she will eat them in the middle of the night. Serena is patient, telling them to spend some time with Rita, to get to know her before judging her. Though reluctant, Saul and the kids agree to at least try to get along with Rita for Serena's sake.
The person most uneasy about the fact that Rita is living with a family of rabbits is Mrs. Peabody, the Cuthberts' next-door neighbor who enjoys spying on them and sees the f rabbit family as "a strange bunch." She detests the fact that Rita is living with them due to thinking that by doing so the rabbits are breaking the laws of nature and warms the rabbit family not to trust Rita. Shortly thereafter, she begins making claims that Rita has been going through her garbage, killing her cats, and attacking her chickens. Serena refuses to believe such a thing.
Eventually, the Cuthbert children warm up to Rita due to finding out that they have a shared love of music. Serena notices that Rita shows an interest in the piano and decide to start giving her piano lessons. Meanwhile, the Cuthbert children discover Rita's gift for singing when they overheat her singing in the shower, much to her chagrin. They encourage her to join them for their weekly family get-togethers on Friday nights, during which they enjoy a home cooked meal together and watch a movie together or entertain each other by singing songs around the piano while JC plays his guitar and telling stories.
JC is the most vocal about his disdain for Rita's presence. He freaks out upon finding Rita in his bedroom and Dems ds that Serena make the fox get out. He refuses to address Rita by name, instead only referring to her as either "fox", "that thing", or "it." After Rita saves him from being mugged, he starts to soften up to her presence, but fully embraces her as a member of the family after she saves him from nearly drowning while the family ate in a camping trip. She stays with I'm while he recuperates in the hospital, refusing to leave his side, stating that she refuses to leave the hospital unless he is with her. JC is truly touched by this and begins to see Rita as a sister rather than as an enemy.
While visiting Colin to do homework, Rita takes more of Marshmallow, a white skunk who is part of the Matthews family, a family of skunks that Colin has been adopted into. Rita watches as Renee, Marshmallow's mother, takes care of the white skunk. Watching Renee change Marshmallow's diaper, Rita can't help becoming jealous.
Later that evening, after dinner, Rita requests a family meeting in the living room, during which she confesses her newfound feelings for liking diapers and her desire to wear them and be babied by the Cuthbert family. She is afraid of being made fun of, but instead has the family's full support despite how odd it is.
Renee agrees to watch Rita for the day while the Cuthberts busy themselves transforming Rita's bedroom into a full-fledged nursery, complete with crib, changing table, toy chest, blankets, etc. Rita is touched by this kind gesture.
The Cuthberts are so comfortable with Rita's presence at this point that they invite her to join them at a family reunion. Though hesitant at first, Rita agrees upon hearing that there will be lots of food to eat. The other members of the Cuthbert clan, however, aren't as warm to Rita. They get angry at the Cuthberts for inviting a fox to their family reunion. When Rita attempts to get some food, Sere A's mother gets angry at her, telling her that she has no right to help herself to the food since she is not considered a member of the family, that she is just some charity case that the Cuthberts feel sorry for, that they only took her into their home out of pity, not out of genuine love or care for her.
As the Cuthberts prepare to leave, they can't find Rita. They eventually find her locked in a tool shed, with the rest of the Cuthbert family laughing as they crowd around it. Saul enters, finding Rita bound and gagged, covered from head to toe in urine. He frees her and she runs off, frightened and humiliated.
In response, JC attempts to attack his grandmother while crying profusely, only to be held back by his siblings. When his mother attempts to intervene, he angrily tells her to get out of his way and he throws her to the ground. She attempts to intervene again, telling JC and the others to go look for Rita and to wait for her and Saul by the car when they do find her. After they leave, Serena attacks her mother, telling her mother that she is dead to her and to not contact her or come by her house.
As the Cuthberts are preparing to leave with Rita in tow, Cody requests to stop by somewhere so he can get something to eat. Both JC and Rita make this request as well, promoting Serena to ask whether or not they already ate. All three say no due to being scolded by Serena's mother. Hearing this, Serena demands that Saul stop the car she orders everyone to get our and follow her to the dining room. She locks the door and instructed her children to put our, to gorge themselves on as much food as they can, to ensure that there isn't a crumb of food left as a means of getting back at her mother and their family. Though reluctant at first, the children are encouraged to follow their mother's orders by JC, Rita, and Cody, all three of whom begin greedily making pigs out of themselves by declining as much food as they can get their hands on. The children are increasingly encouraged to keep saying by their parents. Though too stuffed to move by then did it, all six children agree that they had fun lifting out and getting fat off of the food.
Shortly thereafter, Rita accidentally ends up giving the Cuthberts fleas, angering them. Rita can't help feeling guilty, making it so she can't get to sleep later that night, the words of Serena's mother echoing in her head. This prompts her to pack her things and run away.
The next morning, the Cuthberts are panicked when Rita doesn't come down to breakfast. JC is especially worried about her and urges his family to start a search party in an attempt to find her, enlisting the hell of Renee, Erik, Renee's day skunk son, Colin, and Marshmallow, as well as Rita's friends from school. Serena goes next door to the Peabidies and asks if they know where Rita is. Mrs. Peabody refuses to help Serena look for Rita.
Later, Rita comes back to the Cuthberts home to apologize for giving them her fleas,, only to find the rabbit family not there. Mrs Peabody tells her that the family went out to celebrate finally being rid of Rita.
Eventually, Rita and the Cuthberts find one another. Rita is touched that they would look for her. They reassure her they did since she is their baby and tell her that home isn't the same without her. Moved by their words, Rita agrees to go back home with them.
Feel free to tell me if there is anything I should change, if you would be interested in reading a story like this (I would personally), how YOU would tell this story (for example, what do you think the Cuthberts would do for Rita's birthday?), if I got the basic story structure down right, etc.
"Screams of Silence, Cries Unheard" tells the story a red blue-eyed fox named Rita. Rita is a streetwise homeless red fox who is a recent runaway. She is taken in by a rabbit family known as the Cuthberts. Each member of this family has gray fur, blue eyes, white cheeks, a patch of fur that covers their chest and thins out just above their bellies, and a cottontail. The Cuthbert family consists of Saul and Serena Cuthbert and their six children:
JC — a tough, strong grumpy rabbit who is always looking to pick a fight but will be the first one to jump in to protect and defend his loved ones. Hos interests include sports, running, weight lifting, video games, wrestling, and loading up on carbs. Beneath his touch exterior he has a heart of gold. He plays the drums and lead guitar and is the lead vocalist in the band Misled Youth, a band formed by him and his other siblings.
Cody — the chubby member of the family. He is not athletic like his brother JC. Rather than have an interest in sports, he has an interest in food and everything to do with it, whether that be cooking food or eating it. Given his love of food, he more oftentimes than not has food on his mind or seems to be preoccupied with food. He would rather spend his time eating rather than running or exercising, but isn't against taking a jog through the woods with his family when the occasion calls for it. Like JC, he enjoys video games as well and often will play video games with his siblings purely for the fun of it. He plays no role in the band Misled Youth for fear of being made fun of for being fat.
Marty — a brown-haired rabbit who takes his oarents' warnings about the outside world very seriously. He is afraid and very timid most of the time, to the point where a loud sneeze will cause him to run away and hide. Because of this, he mainly keeps to himself, but opens up more when around family or close friends. His interests include reading books within the fantasy genre such as the Harry Potter series, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings. He enjoys writing his own fantasy stories when not playing board games such as Dungeons and Dragons or live-action role-playing games with his friends in the park. He plays the bass in the band Misled Youth.
Rebecca — the brainiac of the Chrhbert family. She is a fiery redhead and is very analytical and logical and extremely intelligent. Her interests include reading, math and science, brain teasers, debating, and puzzles. Her favorite authors are Mary Shelley, HG Wells, and Isaac Asimov. She has a bitter rivalry with Colin, a brown raccoon who, as far as she is concerned, is the only person capable of matching her in terms of intellect. She doesn't like Colin's name being mentioned, to the point where she forbids anyone from uttering it within the confines of the Cuthbert home. Like her other brothers and sisters, she enjoys video games. Her favorite video games are the Tomb Raider series, Tetris, and the Legend of Zelda series. She plays the guitar and flute in the band Misled Youth when she isn't busy singing.
Mimi — a shy, very quiet rabbit with a tomboyish hairdo that matches her gray fur. Her interests include anything having to do with boys or boy bands, having several posters of boy bands pinned up in her room. She enjoys reading teen magazines and magazines centered around music. She also enjoys being creative, spending many hours in her room working on art. She regularly posts her art online. She enjoys chatting with friends online, preferring to use text rather than speech. She plays the drums in Misled Youth whenever JC is busy doing vocals for a song.
Joanna — a blond-haired rabbit and the heart of the Cuthbert family. Her heart is always open to troubled souls in need, going out of her way to show kindness and offer help towards anyone who needs it. She often goes out of her way to do charity work and donate blood during the school blood drive every year. Like Rebecca and Mimi, her interests include reading, but she also has a love for food like acidy, often helping her parents prepare meals in the kitchen. She often helps her siblings with their schoolwork or offers Mimi critique on her artwork or critiques Marty's stories. She is usually the most one open to listening to what her siblings have to say and is willing to offer a listening ear whenever one of them needs to be r our their frustrations, he xe why her siblings often come to her for advice and guidance when they need help, particularly when they're not comfortable talking to their parents about something personal. This has inspired her to start her win blof, where she talks about her day-to-day life, answers emails, and gives advice to anyone who needs it. She plays the guitar and background vocals for the band Misled Youth.
Serena — the mother of the Cuthbert family and Saul's wife. Like her son JC and daughter Joanna, she has a heart of gold and will fly out of her way to help anyone who needs it. She enjoys cooking, seeing people enjoy her cooking, reading, playing the piano, and being creative. When not busy doing housework or cooking a meal, she can often be found sitting at the kitchen table working on art or reading a book. She enjoys soap opera and cheesy romance novels and movies. She can be stubborn and set in her ways, especially when she's convinced that she's right. Her heart goes out to Rita, hence why Rita is currently living with them. Her stubbornness causes friction between her and her husband over Rita due to Saul's prejudices against foxes.
Saul — the father of the six Cuthbert children and Serena's husband. Though a very loving, caring devoted father who goes out of his way to teach his children the importance of helping others, he unfortunately has right them about the dangers about the outside world, hence why Marty is so timid and afraid. This most definitely includes foxes because he was almost killed by one once, hence why he struggles to accept Rita as a member of the family at first and why he often gets into arguments with Serena over the fox's presence. His interests include cooking, gardening, video games, wrestling, sports, and reading. He oftentimes helps Serena out with housework, encouraging his children to help out by doing chores such as doing dishes or vacuuming the floors. When not spending time with his family, cooking, or helping keep the house clean, he can oftentimes be found tending to his garden in the backyard. Many of the food that the Cuthberts eat, such as carrots, cabbage, and tomatoes are grown by Saul himself, and he enjoys it whenever his kids show an interest in his gardening hobby, teaching them how to grow and care for plants and vegetables.
Rita first attracts the attention of the Cuthbert family when they find out living in a cardboard box outside of the pizzeria they won and run. Rita, curious, follows them home one evening and helps herself to some of their vegetables due to hunger and even goes through their garbage in search of food. Later on, she ends up stealing a pie that Serena had cooling on the window sill.
When Rita is arrested for stealing food from a convenience store, she is taken to a juvenile detention center. Serena, having worked with troubled youth in the past, gets a call and is alerted to Rita's presence. Learning that Rita has no family, she takes the fox into her home out of the kindness of her heart.
Naturally, Saul and the kids are not the least but happy about the fact that they now have a fox living with them, fearful that she will eat them in the middle of the night. Serena is patient, telling them to spend some time with Rita, to get to know her before judging her. Though reluctant, Saul and the kids agree to at least try to get along with Rita for Serena's sake.
The person most uneasy about the fact that Rita is living with a family of rabbits is Mrs. Peabody, the Cuthberts' next-door neighbor who enjoys spying on them and sees the f rabbit family as "a strange bunch." She detests the fact that Rita is living with them due to thinking that by doing so the rabbits are breaking the laws of nature and warms the rabbit family not to trust Rita. Shortly thereafter, she begins making claims that Rita has been going through her garbage, killing her cats, and attacking her chickens. Serena refuses to believe such a thing.
Eventually, the Cuthbert children warm up to Rita due to finding out that they have a shared love of music. Serena notices that Rita shows an interest in the piano and decide to start giving her piano lessons. Meanwhile, the Cuthbert children discover Rita's gift for singing when they overheat her singing in the shower, much to her chagrin. They encourage her to join them for their weekly family get-togethers on Friday nights, during which they enjoy a home cooked meal together and watch a movie together or entertain each other by singing songs around the piano while JC plays his guitar and telling stories.
JC is the most vocal about his disdain for Rita's presence. He freaks out upon finding Rita in his bedroom and Dems ds that Serena make the fox get out. He refuses to address Rita by name, instead only referring to her as either "fox", "that thing", or "it." After Rita saves him from being mugged, he starts to soften up to her presence, but fully embraces her as a member of the family after she saves him from nearly drowning while the family ate in a camping trip. She stays with I'm while he recuperates in the hospital, refusing to leave his side, stating that she refuses to leave the hospital unless he is with her. JC is truly touched by this and begins to see Rita as a sister rather than as an enemy.
While visiting Colin to do homework, Rita takes more of Marshmallow, a white skunk who is part of the Matthews family, a family of skunks that Colin has been adopted into. Rita watches as Renee, Marshmallow's mother, takes care of the white skunk. Watching Renee change Marshmallow's diaper, Rita can't help becoming jealous.
Later that evening, after dinner, Rita requests a family meeting in the living room, during which she confesses her newfound feelings for liking diapers and her desire to wear them and be babied by the Cuthbert family. She is afraid of being made fun of, but instead has the family's full support despite how odd it is.
Renee agrees to watch Rita for the day while the Cuthberts busy themselves transforming Rita's bedroom into a full-fledged nursery, complete with crib, changing table, toy chest, blankets, etc. Rita is touched by this kind gesture.
The Cuthberts are so comfortable with Rita's presence at this point that they invite her to join them at a family reunion. Though hesitant at first, Rita agrees upon hearing that there will be lots of food to eat. The other members of the Cuthbert clan, however, aren't as warm to Rita. They get angry at the Cuthberts for inviting a fox to their family reunion. When Rita attempts to get some food, Sere A's mother gets angry at her, telling her that she has no right to help herself to the food since she is not considered a member of the family, that she is just some charity case that the Cuthberts feel sorry for, that they only took her into their home out of pity, not out of genuine love or care for her.
As the Cuthberts prepare to leave, they can't find Rita. They eventually find her locked in a tool shed, with the rest of the Cuthbert family laughing as they crowd around it. Saul enters, finding Rita bound and gagged, covered from head to toe in urine. He frees her and she runs off, frightened and humiliated.
In response, JC attempts to attack his grandmother while crying profusely, only to be held back by his siblings. When his mother attempts to intervene, he angrily tells her to get out of his way and he throws her to the ground. She attempts to intervene again, telling JC and the others to go look for Rita and to wait for her and Saul by the car when they do find her. After they leave, Serena attacks her mother, telling her mother that she is dead to her and to not contact her or come by her house.
As the Cuthberts are preparing to leave with Rita in tow, Cody requests to stop by somewhere so he can get something to eat. Both JC and Rita make this request as well, promoting Serena to ask whether or not they already ate. All three say no due to being scolded by Serena's mother. Hearing this, Serena demands that Saul stop the car she orders everyone to get our and follow her to the dining room. She locks the door and instructed her children to put our, to gorge themselves on as much food as they can, to ensure that there isn't a crumb of food left as a means of getting back at her mother and their family. Though reluctant at first, the children are encouraged to follow their mother's orders by JC, Rita, and Cody, all three of whom begin greedily making pigs out of themselves by declining as much food as they can get their hands on. The children are increasingly encouraged to keep saying by their parents. Though too stuffed to move by then did it, all six children agree that they had fun lifting out and getting fat off of the food.
Shortly thereafter, Rita accidentally ends up giving the Cuthberts fleas, angering them. Rita can't help feeling guilty, making it so she can't get to sleep later that night, the words of Serena's mother echoing in her head. This prompts her to pack her things and run away.
The next morning, the Cuthberts are panicked when Rita doesn't come down to breakfast. JC is especially worried about her and urges his family to start a search party in an attempt to find her, enlisting the hell of Renee, Erik, Renee's day skunk son, Colin, and Marshmallow, as well as Rita's friends from school. Serena goes next door to the Peabidies and asks if they know where Rita is. Mrs. Peabody refuses to help Serena look for Rita.
Later, Rita comes back to the Cuthberts home to apologize for giving them her fleas,, only to find the rabbit family not there. Mrs Peabody tells her that the family went out to celebrate finally being rid of Rita.
Eventually, Rita and the Cuthberts find one another. Rita is touched that they would look for her. They reassure her they did since she is their baby and tell her that home isn't the same without her. Moved by their words, Rita agrees to go back home with them.
Feel free to tell me if there is anything I should change, if you would be interested in reading a story like this (I would personally), how YOU would tell this story (for example, what do you think the Cuthberts would do for Rita's birthday?), if I got the basic story structure down right, etc.
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