Shortly after the Corsicarian and Spiders battled it out over Cuba, say 1600 AD, the warring Reichgo and Kargill met over the planet of the Zalanid.  There are stories, legends, almost myths about the Zalanid powers of persuasion.  It was said a Zalanid could sell a mother her own child.  It was said they could make a drowning man beg for water, and so on.  Really, they were a wise and empathetic race who turned their gifts toward the benefit of all peoples.  Though their own world was destroyed and made uninhabitable by the war, the few survivors managed to make a peace, a treaty between the Reichgo and Kargill which held for 400 years.

The Kargill, who generally talked to no one and lived apart to where no one even knew what they or it looked like, would condescend to communicate with the Zalanid.  Part of the treaty was that one Zalanid should be taken aboard every Kargill ship to act as an interpreter and go-between for the races.  The Elenar called the Zalanid the Kargill’s messenger of peace.  The Gott-Druk called him the Kargill’s dog.  In any case, our earth was clearly granted to the Kargill by treaty.  The Reichgo could visit since we were so near the border, but they could not stay.  (whew!)  All the Kargill did was park its ship at the bottom of the Atlantic and watch.  The Kargill was also very protective against any alien intrusion in its territory.

That did not mean the earth remained untouched during those years.

For one, the Kargill established a kind of interstellar police force in their corner of space to take the burden of keeping order.  (Apparently, this was so the Kargill could spend more time pursuing its chief occupation of just watching).  One penal ship refueled in the Pennsylvania mountains during the French and Indian war.  One group of slippery characters manipulated the earth (various governments) and almost turned the War of 1812 into the First World War.

Then a prison ship crashed in the American West not long before the Civil War, and the police came for the prisoners some short time after the war.  In the Victorian era, we were visited by true shape shifters who could masquerade as human well enough to fool even the Kargill.  And then, finally, the inevitable happened.

During the 20^th century and spanning into the early 21^st, (for roughly 100 years) the Reichgo intruded more and more on the earth.  Our unsophisticated border planet in a back corner of Kargill space can hardly be blamed for the second Reichgo-Kargill war, but we did not help.  The more the Reichgo came to earth “just to visit,” the more the Kargill got upset.  Let’s just say the Reichgo really ticked the Kargill off once over Roswell.

Yes, it took little over two hundred years for the Kargill and Reichgo to wipe each other out.  Those races vanished from history around 2250.  Sadly, by then they had dragged a number of other species into the fight including the Vordan, the Orlan and the Bospori—all on the Reichgo side.  In 2278, a space fledgling Earth faced the Orlan (and first became aware of the Bospori) and our time in space was almost over before it began… but now I am speaking of the future.

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Hmmm…  I suppose I could give a brief history of the future, if anyone is interested.

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Every creative writer must be inventive–even in crafting the most mainstream, realistic story.  The setting must be a world in which the characters can live and breathe and interact.  These posts are inventive, yes, but encouragement to think through your own work and flesh out your world.  Your vision will likely be different, but so it should.

I suppose it was to be expected.  The Reichgo (ET) imposed order on one section of our corner of the galaxy, primarily by moving in on certain planetary systems to get what they wanted, even by toying with the genetic code of the locals if that was what it took.  Meanwhile, the Kargill imposed a kind of order of fear on the other portion of our interstellar neighborhood, mostly by not permitting one civilization to impose on another.  Even trade was carried on very carefully, and outright shunned by many.  The races became isolated in Kargill space, each left to develop in its own way and at its own pace.

I suppose it was inevitable, though, that these two powers should eventually clash.  That happened about the time Joan of Arc was leading the French against the English.  Things looked bad for those otherwise innocent races out moving between the stars.  They did not look quite so bad for us, being as we were on the border, but technically in a back corner of Kargill space.  No one bothered us at first.  The Kargill would not permit it.

During those two centuries of interstellar war, once the war started, we were touched twice:

The Corsicarian were a people who lived and died according to their family ties, and far reaching, extended families at that.  They had a Patriarch and Matriarch and various relations such as uncles, aunts and cousins to the tenth degree.  Their planet, though, was badly overpopulated, and they felt with the Kargill distracted, they just might be able to spread out a little.  They wanted land, and one extended family saw the earth as a perfect opportunity for settlement.  After all, Earth came complete with a solid, working class. 

The Corsicarian arrived at Gibraltar in 1490.  The Patriarch himself wished Columbus the best of luck.  They had no chance to set down roots, however, not because we were a rebellious lot, nor because the local Kargill returned from the war and intervened, but because of the other species that was eyeing the earth along with eyeing any number of other worlds.

Dubbed the “Spiders” by any human who saw them and lived (and there were not many), these insect-like creatures saw the Reichgo-Kargill war as the perfect opportunity to pursue their destiny which in the short form was to destroy all other forms of intelligent life.  While not quite the mad fanatics that the Balok had been, they were nevertheless killers of the first order, and like insects, they swarmed and seemed impossible to get rid of completely.

The Spiders actually looked more like bent upright wasps without wings.  They stood on four feet and had two arms free.  Though a bit smaller than the average human, there was no chance that they could be squashed with a rolled up newspaper.  They were poisonous besides (though they did not sting or have a stinger) and they spat a kind of acid that could melt unprotected human flesh. 

Needless to say, the Corsicarian had their hands full, and eventually wanted no part of it.  The final battle occurred in the Caribbean where at the time there were pirates and privateers and all sorts of Spanish gold.  There was also the Flying Dutchman, but not at all like the Disney version.

The Spiders were beat back and I am sorry to say there is little information about what happened to them after that.   At that same time, the Corsicarian left for other, easier pastures, and they must have traveled a long way because when humanity first ventured out to the stars, most of the nearby planets that had life were devoid of any intelligent life… easy colonies for a while…

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Every creative writer must be inventive–even in crafting the most mainstream, realistic story.  The setting must be a world in which the characters can live and breathe and interact.  These posts are inventive, yes, but encouragement to think through your own work and flesh out your world.  Your vision will likely be different, but so it should.

Back in the days of Charles Martel, Charlemagne and King Aelfred of Wessex, out on the edges of the Humanoid sphere in space, there were a number of younger races untouched by the Wolf that were ready to move into Humanoid space and enter the big time.  Sadly, there was no clear leader among them, and so for some 600 years after the Wolf they clashed, one with the other.  Twice there were battles on earth that should have come nowhere near the earth.  It seemed for a while that it was going to be a pattern, and not a healthy one for the human race.

The “Apes” (ape-like creatures that could separate a human head from a body with their bare hands) came from -20 degrees eliptic north +30.  They were a peaceful people for the most part, but very territorial.  Once claimed, they would defend their territory to the death.  Surrender was not an option.

The “Flesh Eaters” (people who could easily pass for your neighbor if they did not show their sharp teeth and who liked their flesh raw and saw us as we might see a field of ripe strawberries) came from +70 degrees to the east -10.  They landed in England as against the Apes in France.

The Apes built a second base in Sweden to protect their flank, but the Flesh Eaters countered with a base in Morocco near the Algerian border.  Naturally there was a battle, mostly in North Africa, but it ended in the alps, just shy of Bavaria around Y1K.  Needless to say, neither side won, and there were men there to clean up the remains, but it was a close encounter of the kind no one would ever want.  Sadly, those men did not know that worse was coming.

From almost perfectly -90 degrees (straight out from the south pole) there came a single people who were busy fighting among themselves and in the process brought a large part of our small corner of the galaxy into the argument.  Apparently, at one point the people needed to defend themselves from another people, and they did two things that must never, ever be done.  Never.

One group enhanced their abilities to fight and became connected one to the other by cybernetic technology.  The other group sought to enhance their abilities through controlled mutations.  They actually toyed with their own genetic code.  By the time they came to earth, they had long since forgotten the threat that got them started.  Indeed, they had destroyed their own planet: brothers fighting brothers and with such cyborg and mutant capabilities they dwarfed any such confrontation that might have taken place during the American Civil War.  Of course, this was long before the United States convulsed itself, but you get the idea of what it was like.

The Cyborgs landed in Normandy just as William was ready to move on England.  They hid there because things were not going well in space.  Roughly 50 years later, a group of Mutants landed in Japan and hid because things were not going well in space for them, either.

They discovered each other after another seventy years or so and that battle raged from the Caspian Sea to Nepal before the two groups escaped once again into space.  Poor Marco Polo ran across some mutant remnants not far from the silk road where they had burrowed in and, using some Agdaline-like cryogenic technology, remained dormant and hopefully undetectable until it was safe to come out…

Apart from these close encounter events, there are two others that should be mentioned because they had a much more long-lasting effect on the earth.  When Richard the Lionheart was in the Holy Land and John was botching up rule in England, the Kargill made its first visit to the earth.  It did not stay at that time, but it did lay claim to our world, whatever that meant.

Some years after Marco Polo, in fact not long before the battle of Pointier, the Reichgo visited.  The Reichgo are the ones most people think of when someone says the word “ET.”  Pictures of the Reichgo have appeared on book covers, on television and appear regularly in those supermarket magazines.  You know the ones I mean.

No one knows what the Kargill looks like, except one person—but that is a story.

With the arrival of the Reichgo and the Kargill, though, we leave the pre-modern era of the Younger Races and enter into the Modern Era, because between them, the Reichgo and Kargill impose some stability on the space ways—the most stability since the Humanoid era, or really almost since the Anazi Empire.

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Every creative writer must be inventive–even in crafting the most mainstream, realistic story.  The setting must be a world in which the characters can live and breathe and interact.  These posts are inventive, yes, but encouragement to think through your own work and flesh out your world.  Your vision will likely be different, but so it should.

This last journey plot needs no introduction.  It is the journey from childhood to adulthood, and as the fools say, “been there, done that.”  On the one hand, if you have such a story in mind, you have a ready-made audience.  Everyone can (more or less) relate.  On the other hand, unless you write like Salinger or plan to pen the next To Kill a Mockingbird, you may find it is not so easy to do well or in a fresh way. 

Generally, something will happen that will shake or shatter the child’s comfortable view of the world.  Unless you are planning a series like Little House on the Prairie, it is probably best to stick with one thing.  Other aspects of life will be touched on, like a young girl confirming in her mind that her father is a good man, but only one thing should be troubling, and that should be more than enough.

Then it depends on the character you have drawn because not every child will approach a problem in the same way.  Some will explore and discover—perhaps treating the new information like a mystery to be solved.  Some will stand back and watch, taking in how this new information plays out in the rise or fall of the adults around her.  Some might let the information transform them, like trying on mom or dads grown up clothes—and may find out that the information was not quite the same as they first imagined.  There is not just one way to get from New York to Los Angeles.

In the end, the crisis will be resolved one way or another, and it will be transformative, even if all Dorothy learns is if she ever goes searching for her heart’s desire again, she won’t search any further than her own back yard.  Children will grow up (we hope—I’m still struggling with teenagers).  It needs to show in the resolution.

The Plot

Actually, we have already walked through the basic plot.  There are only a few things to add—things which are essentially true of all journey plots.

First, let the dilemma be presented up front.  The journey cannot begin until staying home is no longer an option.  Grandma dies, or single mom brings her boyfriend into the house, or a burglar breaks into the house and terrorizes the family, or the child learns their father died in Afghanistan—whatever.  There is an issue (issues) and childhood’s safe and secure world is at stake.  That is where the journey begins.  That is where they story begins.

The middle is the struggle to deal with it all.  Explore, discover, step up in strength, fall back in weakness and withdraw, trying on clothes.  The success of the story will depend to a great extent on how well these turns of the mind and heart, like obstacles in the road are portrayed, how well they relate to the end result and how creative, imaginative and well written the obstacle sequences are

The end—the transformation from child to adult, at least in this small way—will mirror all journey plots: success or failure; that is good, bad or sad.  Good will be if the child gains a more realistic view of life and is better able to handle reality on a more adult level.  Bad, if the child rejects the lessons and leaves the reader thinking that this one is going to need some serious counseling (if not drugs) ten years down the line.  Sad, if it ends the way so many of these stories apparently want to end these days: with the child replacing innocence with cynicism.  There are other options, you know.

In any case, start at the start, ditching the background and build-up.  Keep in mind that this is a journey.  Arrive at the destination in a few pages and stop.  Yes, the train slows before the station and the plane taxis to the terminal after landing, but don’t drag it out.  Don’t let the beginning or ending drag.  A journey story is all about the middle—it is all about the journey.

All the world’s a stage, as Shakespeare said, and in the course of watching the play, if you watch closely, you will see that some travel on the upward path, some fall calamitously, and some do both and in no particular order.  As so many others have said: life is a journey, and in examining journey plots we must not miss out on where life takes us.

No single story has probably received more derision that the story of Horatio Alger.  Yet as an archetype plotline, no story has likely been copied quite so often.  No film has honestly received more praise than Citizen Kane, yet if you look closely, the thrust of both Horatio Alger and Citizen Kane is the same.  One man, from (relatively) humble beginnings makes good in the world.  The virtue of Citizen Kane was in adding the “Rosebud” ending, but whether or not your character will be content in the end to live a simple, humble life and drive a taxi, only Somerset Maugham knows for sure.

Generally, this plot begins with some kind of Great Expectations.  The upward direction, however, is invariably set by some virtue on the part of the young man or woman that makes us want to see them succeed.  This is true even in this day of ethical relativity.  If the person is a scoundrel motivated by greed, a desire for power or some other “un-virtuous” trait, we shall be waiting for them to receive their come-uppance. 

The downward spiral is then obviously a matter of some vice or corruption of the character and we are satisfied when they collapse before our eyes.  Now, this does not mean the virtue or vice needs to be Horatio Alger obvious.  Unless you are rewriting Pilgrim’s Progress, focus on the attributes is not recommended—but they must be there and self-evident in some way to make the plot really sing.

When the rise and fall are both involved, consider how a man or woman can become corrupted at the top, or how one fallen soul can discover virtue at the bottom of the heap and fight their way back to the top, this time to stay!

The Plot

As with all Journey plots, the stage should be set quickly.  Someone is going to move and indeed must move quickly.  Take the first forty pages of background and set-up and throw it away.  When starting with vice at the top there may be a little space to show how badly this person deserves to fall, but even there the inevitable direction of the journey should be obvious from the start.  If they fall, have a redemptive experience and rise back up again, great.  But the coming fall should be clear from page one.

In the middle, as with all journey plots, there will be obstacles. To quote myself:  “This is where obstacles invariably turn up and the success of the story will to a great extent depend on how well these obstacles are portrayed, how well they relate to the objective and how creative, imaginative and well written the obstacle sequences are.“

In the case of the Rise and Fall, there is a great opportunity to reinforce the deserved direction by moments, words, vignettes, subtle actions that show the virtue or vice of the character rather than tell about it.  These would be sort of like clues in the mystery or thriller plots or points of meaning (direction) in the exploration and discovery plots or near misses in the rescue or escape and pursuit plots.  These might be called points of revelation in the Rise and Fall plots.  Don’t neglect them, especially if the fallen will rise again…

In the end, as with all journey plots, one succeeds or fails.  All journey plots arrive somewhere, even if it is not the intended final destination.  One of the saddest verses in the Bible says, “and he stopped there.”  You see, Abraham’s father, Tera was first called by God to go to the promised land.  He got as far as Haran “and he stopped there.”  So God called his son, Abram, to finish the journey and now Abraham is considered the father of nations, and I bet you did not even know who Tera was…

First, let me say something about my lack of post last week:  life happens.  Just remember, for a storyteller, everything is grist for the mill so it is all good.

Now, as to Journey plots, the interruption could not have been better timed because with this post we transition a bit in our thinking.  Until now, I have presented journey plots that most often are external (action oriented) plots.  These include: the Quest (Indiana Jones and Bilbo Baggins), Escape & Pursuit (Smokey and the Bandit and the Great Escape), The Rescue (Saving Private Ryan and Finding Nemo) and Mysteries & Thrillers (Sherlock Holmes and James Bond)..  With this post, we begin to look at journey plots that are most often internal (character driven) plots, the first of which is Exploration and Discovery.

The exploration and discovery plot, like mysteries and thrillers or pursuit and escape might be seen as two separate plots.  Again, I put them together because they so very often go together. 

True, there are external (action) examples here.  The whole Star Trek universe is rooted in the idea of seeking out new life and new civilizations.  So also Journey to the Center of the Earth is rooted in exploring and discovering.  These more external plots, however are not the crux of the plotline.  Most often the explorations are of human life, society or culture and the discovery is within the person central to the plot. 

In Elie Wiesel’s Night, a story about the holocaust, he explores the depths of man’s inhumanity to man and discovers a reason to live. 

In Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver explores the South Seas, but in his strange adventures he discovers the nonsense of the political thinking of his day and the foolishness inherent in his society and culture.

In any number of Mark Twain’s books: Innocents Abroad, A Tramp Abroad, Tom Sawyer Abroad, Roughing it, he explores the world, but there are always the lessons to be discovered and brought home.

The Plot:

The plot of exploration and discovery is a particular journey that shares aspects with both mystery and quest plots. 

It shares with mysteries when there are clues to follow that lead to the discovery like some invention or some solution to a problem.  It may start with an unexpected invitation, the discovery of a treasure map, a phone call from a man the protagonist thought was dead. But where it ends… 

It shares with quests in the sense that it often involves the pursuit of something.  It is sometimes called a quest, though it does not involve searching for a known object (person, place or thing).  Instead, the exploration and discovery plot is a quest into  the unknown and often that unknown turns out to be something intangible like the truth or courage or peace or home.  What would the Red Badge of Courage be if he turned out to be a coward?  Where would all those prairie westerns go without arrival in the “west,” or the coming to America saga without a landing at Ellis Island?

In the middle, as with all journey plots, there will be obstacles, getting lost, the dreaded flat tire, but there will also be points of meaning, almost like clues in a mystery.  The reason is because ultimately the story is not about the exotic ports of call in the sea saga, nor mythical Xanadu nor Shangri-La in the Lost Horizons, nor Atlantis, nor any other location, but the discovery that happens inside.  One man explores the seedy underside of London and discovers that he is capable of committing murder…  There is a storyline for you.

True, there are still plenty of adventure stories here, like She or King Solomon’s Mines, but at best in the process of exploration, the characters discover something invaluable about themselves and/or about the human condition.  This is where the exploration and discovery plot comes into its own.  This is where the young man in All Quiet on the Western Front or the other young man in the classic movie, The King of Hearts, explore war and discover their aversion for the whole enterprise.

Next time, the Rise and the Fall, where the discovery is the beginning of the story and we first see how it may end.

Mysteries and especially their first cousins, the thrillers can be full of action and adventure (external stories) but at heart both are journeys – journeys of the mind (internal stories).  If done well, they are journeys as much for the reader as they are for the protagonist.

Read the greats: Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan-Doyle, Dorothy Sayers, Dashiell Hammett and you will quickly see what I mean.  From the beginning of the riddle to the revelation at the end there are miles to go before you sleep.  True, National Treasure may be seen as a thriller or mystery as much as a quest.  In The Hunt for Red October, action may be the draw.  It certainly is for an author like Ludlum.  Yet like any mystery, when the clues are followed, the mystery slowly unravels.

So the protagonist starts with a puzzle, perhaps something like a great jigsaw puzzle, and has to put the pieces in just the right places to see the final picture.  The journey, then, is from ignorance to knowledge, from confusion to understanding.  From questions to solutions.

The Plot

As with any journey plot, the trigger comes quick.  I would not recommend a chapter on what a wonderful person the victim is and another chapter on what an insane, evil creature the murderer is.  There is a reason why so many books start with a dead body.  That is where the mystery (the journey) begins.

Mrs. Lavender kept being slapped in the face by her own scarf as the wind roared through the broken conservatory window.  She did not mind, however, since she was dead.  The kitchen knife was planted firmly in her chest… 

OR 

Professor Pinch was lying on the plush oriental rug in the library, but he was not taking a nap.  The lead pipe with the blood stains beside his head assured that he would never take a nap again…

OR

Colonel Ketchup’s body swung from the end of the rope.  The chair was turned over and one of the officers handed his superior the suicide note in a plastic bag.  It looked like suicide, but as the chief detective reached for his Tums he decided it smelled like murder.

Once the protagonist enters the picture, it is off to the races.  There will be obstacles throughout the middle of the story like any journey plot and getting lost (misdirection toward the wrong suspect) is almost expected.  In the case of the mystery or thriller, though, there is another element that needs special attention: the clues.

The clues, above all, make for a good mystery and the slim chance that a reader might figure it out keeps the reader to task.  These must be done with great skill and dexterity, and probably why I will never be a true mystery writer.  I am too blunt.  But when done well, they make perfect sense at the end.  No one should doubt if the Butler really did it.

Again, as with all journey plots, the end comes with success or failure.  We are accustomed to success (probably because of all those detective/police dramas on television over all of those years).  But sometimes the antagonist gets away with it.  Everyone, including the reader knows, but…  The question in that case is should we be mad (upset) or cheer that they got away with it?

Any journey can be long enough to take weeks of travel, or short enough to be next door.  A journey plot is not dependant on the distance involved, but on the movement external or internal as the case may be.

When the rescue is mentioned, many first thoughts may be something like Rambo.  I suppose somebody had to save Private Ryan.  But consider Schindler’s List or more recently, the Blind Side.  In the Blind Side, a young man is rescued from a terrible situation and given a chance at life he could never have imagined… and the audience knows when the rescue is complete.  When he and they are a family

Consider how many fairy tales involve rescues: Snow White at the end, Sleeping Beauty, and Beauty and the Beast.  The beautiful thing about Beauty and the Beast is the way the story is twisted in the end (at least in the Disney version).  Gaston musters the courage to rescue Belle from the beast, but in the end we discover that all along Belle has been rescuing the beast.

The Plot 

Like the escape and pursuit plot, the plot begins with someone in need.  Escape and pursuit has someone held captive.  Rescue has someone taken captive, like Red Chief in O’Henry’s Ransom of Red Chief.  (I say someone is taken captive but to be sure it can be a dog, a cat, a whale, a snail or it may simply be someone in a terrible situation).  In any case, the protagonist is the one who must do the rescuing and often the story shows little of the one imprisoned.  Consider the cliché of the ex-husband who steals the kids and the mother who goes on a search and rescue mission.  The plot invariably focuses on the efforts of the mother.

The trigger, like in most journey plots comes quick.  It is the set-up.  Someone needs to be rescued and your protagonist is the only one for the job.

The middle is where the obstacles arise.  Again, like the escape and pursuit plot, a near miss or two can do wonders to build the tension.  Of course, if it is the Princess imprisoned by the dragon or Repunzel who for some reason has no capacity to exit the tower, there are no opportunities for near misses.  But the forest ranger might pass right by the child lost in the woods without realizing it, or the mother might get to the motel in time to see her ex drive away—the child looking out the back window and crying for her…

The end is the completion of the rescue, success or failure.  They are not all happy endings, but hey, that’s your call.  In any case, there is rarely a return pursuit.

Some might see these as two separate plots.  I see them as intertwined, even when the entire story is focused on one part or the other.  For the One Armed Man, Cary Grant in North by Northwest, the Bandit in Smokey and the Bandit, and the trio of fools in O Brother where Art Thou the story is all but entirely about escaping the law.  And they are very different stories at that.  For others, such as the Great Escape or Alcatraz, the story is entirely or primarily about how to get free.

Even so, I see these ideas together because whenever someone is trying to break free or stay free, someone else will try to keep them captive.  And when the break comes, someone is going to pursue.

When The Count of Monte Cristo escaped from prison, there was no pursuit.  But he was clever and he was careful.  The idea of being caught again played havoc with his motivation and limited what he could do until he was secure and ready. 

When Huck Finn escaped his father, the pursuit was more imagined than real.  Still, it affected every action that followed for Huck and old Jim.

When the man in Hitchcock’s thriller, North by Northwest escaped being arrested for murder, the pursuit was all too real.  He needed to get away and clear his name at the same time without getting caught first.  Good trick, that.

When the soldiers broke out of the Nazi prison camp in the Great Escape, there was nothing but pursuit.  Few actually made it to safety (Switzerland or wherever), but what a story!

The Plot

Like any Journey plot, the story begins with a need to move.  This is the trigger and in this plot it is generally not complicated.  When Moses went back down into Egypt, the children of Israel were suffering under slavery.  Often it doesn’t have to be spelled out.  The reader can immediately sympathize with words like slavery and knows what needs to happen.

The middle, then, is more or less in two parts: the actual escape and the pursuit.

Moses performed miracles until Pharaoh surrendered.  Normally it isn’t that easy—if you consider that easy.  There are obstacles to be overcome, and if written well, the escapee should be nearly discovered at least once if not more than once.  Here is the tension that keeps a reader on edge.  But as with the quest, it really depends on the skill, creativity, imagination and ability of the writer.

In part 2 of the middle section, Moses lead the people to the red sea.  Suddenly Pharaoh had a change of heart and sent out the troops.  The people had their back to the wall, so to speak, but God did one more miracle.  The sea parted.  The people passed through and the Pharaoh’s army got swallowed up by the waters.

Again, you can see the tension.  They almost get caught,  They almost get slaughtered.  “Almost get caught” is key to the escape and pursuit plot.  And it better be “gets caught” if the rightly imprisoned person escapes from prison in order to murder someone… or maybe…

Anyway, the end of this plot is again like any journey plot.  Either success or failure ends it.

Next Journey plot:  The rescue.