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Tue 17 Nov, 2020 06:55 pm
I am writing a story about a troubled young man who admits to a stranger that at age 10, he killed a younger child. He was an abused child himself and took it out on another one who he was jealous of because he was loved according to him.
The person he tells this to is an empath who maybe was a former counselor who dealt with many suicidal and homicidal clients and she feels conflicted because she is weighing out the ethics between violating the guy's trust in her or denying the family of the murdered child due justice.
She also doesn't know if he is merely joking to test her reaction, might merely be mentally il, or will in fact kill her if she does report his disturbing confession to the police.
Part of her also is crushing on him a little and feels a strange sort of bond with him. She is creeped out regardless, and I find this need to deliberately create a challenge for myself in how her emotions and "final decision" should play out, or whether or not she should even make one a little confusing to me too.
I am also confused as an author as to whether even putting this type of an idea out there would appear insensitive and unprofessional of me to some.
@SharpRose,
I'm fairly certain that in the US, she is required to report an actual crime, or an impending crime. After much soul searching, this is what she will have to do. If all goes well, the guy will be out of circulation before he kills her.
@roger,
or, he ""skips" holding on a technical snafu and she is left relying on an incompetent police protection>Oh Wait, that was a Charlie Bronson movie.
Thanks, I'm deciding to write it so that she decides not to tell on him because she realizes she cares about him and he is the first person who ever cared about her and no one was there for her when she was a battered child as well; she is deciding to be selfish and to take care of herself for the first time in her life, I'll just need to write it in such a way as to help readers to understand it if not condone it. I do know she will receive plenty of vicious backlash from her community and will now need to find a safe place for the both of them to run to.
@SharpRose,
Your theory would only work if the original death was accidental. Then you could work up some sympathy for him. As it is now he’s dangerous, could be mentally ill, could have killed other people, or may even kill her.
You need to soften the original Cause of death.
There is a Hitchcock film starring Montgomery Clift about a priest who hears the confession of a murderer. He then gets suspected of the crimes and can’t prove his innocence without breaking his vows.
It’s called I Confess and may give you some ideas.
Hmmm....maybe you're right Punkey. Now that you mentioned it I might rewrite it so that he only meant to hurt the smaller child and to see how it felt to be the abuser instead of the abused but didn't know his own strength and ended up killing him accidentally and now needed to hide the evidence or either that he makes something up to make it seem completely accidental (e.g. they were playing on a rickety bridge in the woods or swimming in a river and the tides were too strong for him to save him).
Thank you Izzy I will look up that film!
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