Well, once upon a time, I was a dealing with a little writer’s block. So I gave myself a writing exercise that involved using all the words in the dictionary that started with a silent letter K in a short story. Here’s the result…I was just playing around when I wrote it…but I found it a few years later and someone read it and said to me, “What if K was a kid?” Then the wheels started turning…this is the scrap of writing that inspired the novel I am currently working on.
The Silence of the K’s
There once was a small English community, sometime between the 13th and 14th centuries AD, called Knox. On a wooded knoll in the land of Knox lived a quick-witted Knight named K. K was no ordinary Knight. Unlike other Knights, K had a knack for knitting and became well known in the land for his knitting knowledge in addition to his quick wit. The Queen of Knox heard of the Knight’s knitting knack and invited him to the castle for knackwurst and to see how much he really knew about knitting.
Thrilled with the invitation, the Knight put on his nicest knickers, packed his knapsack with his best knitting and a few knickknacks for the queen, and began his journey through the Knotted Woods to the castle. Along the way, a young knock-kneed knave, brandishing a knife and brass knuckles, ambushed the Knight, demanding the knapsack. With his knickers now in a twist, the Knight quickly knocked the young knave to his knees and then pulled out a knotted knitted knout and gave him a good flogging. The Knight then warned the young knave that the next time would be the death knell for him if he didn’t change his ways. Feeling like a knucklehead, the young knave took the Knight’s advice and acquired honest work kneading bread in the local bakery.
Arriving at the castle, the Knight was impressed by the massive knurled doors, a large gold knob, and a nifty brass knuckle shaped knocker. Already tasting the knackwurst, the Knight knuckled down and began knocking immediately. Upon entering the Queen’s chambers, the Knight kneeled, regaled the Queen with his wit, and then ate a hefty serving of knackwurst. After eating his fill, the queen then asked, “So… are you the Knight with the knack for knitting?” The Knight replied “Why… yes, I am, Your Majesty.” To which the Queen said, “Then please, show me your knitting.” Kneeling on his nicest knickers the Knight emptied his knapsack, presented the queen with a few knickknacks, and then proceeded to share with the Queen his knowledge of knitting. The Queen was so impressed with the Knights knitting knowledge and quick wit, that she proclaimed K to be “the greatest Knit-Wit Knight in all the land of Knox.” And in turn, declared that the name K should remain silent whenever used in the common language. Obviously, this left K the Knight… Speechless! Of course, the Queen of Knox gave the new proclamations plenty of time to gel.
Thus today, thanks to one Knight’s knack for knitting, we still experience the vestiges of the silent “K”.
The moral of this story is that if you are a writer, or if you are interested in being a writer, or if you live with a writer…you should NEVER throw away any little bit of writing…it may just come in handy sometime later on!
