atiredwriter42-blog - Tumblr blog

atiredwriter42-blog · 7 years ago

Text

The Devil’s Advocate

Play with your toys, they’ll never know

Run around the house, careful with your big toe!

Don’t mind the voices in your head

They’ll all go away when you’re dead!

Run, play, jump, don’t forget about dinner

Don’t be rude to your parents, you sinner!

God is watching all those who he tests

And the last tip, don’t mind the guests!

“The one who does what is sinful is the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” Now, I may not be an avid attendee of any particular church, but I can most certainly enjoy a good bible verse like this one. There’s something so innocent about it that it makes me smile just thinking about it. Apparently, a man named “John” wrote it, and with a bunch of other old dudes, the Bible popped out. The fact that these men could come together in the first place and make a book together that would withstand the tests of time is quite impressive, I will admit. There really are some interesting people out there, don’t you think?

When someone breaks down the text, I can’t help but chuckle slightly. In its purest form, it is man’s greatest hope, that there will be a salvation. People look at this, and are reassured that they will be saved by Jesus, that he will smite down the devil right where I stand! This same reassurance has, on several occasions, done some sort of magic whether you’d like to admit it or not. Man’s hope and will is a force of nature alone, and when there’s enough of it, not too many things can overcome it, Hell, I’d know from experience.

Isn’t it funny, just how many people use the word ‘hell’? A few hundred years ago it was viewed as something you couldn’t mention, let alone joke about. Now? These people run around with that word shoved so far up their asses it just so happens to come out of their mouths. Listen, all I’m saying is that I didn’t have to do anything to cause that, they did it to themselves! Even I don’t like the mention of my home in vain. Me, the Devil, for crying out loud! It’s like these people don’t even take me seriously anymore. They just taunt me, messing around with those stupid pieces of cardboard and triangles, as if that would summon me. Like I said, human hope and will alone is a force of nature, so when they feel like they have a haunted house or are possessed, they unknowingly will into creation a ghost! If humans are going to point fingers at me, they might as well do it for things I actually do.

What do I do? Holy damnation, it’s been at least a 100 years since I started anything major. But do I still get bombarded with hate and attacks from up above? You bet your sweet ass I do. Recently, Jesus came by and told me; “You cursed scum! You will pay for all your sins that you have pushed onto the human race! Perish!”

Then the little shithead purist attacks me with his biblical armor and sword, without a care in the world. Of course, he didn’t hit me, I just sent him crawling back to his father crying and a sword up his ass. Now that I think about it, even the big guy up there hasn’t done anything, looks like he finally saw what they can so when you try to help them. Everyone is so concerned with these dumb apes that the only interact u get is from Jesus coming to yell at me. I suppose with him dying for them, he wouldn't be too fond of someone who takes them away from the Earth.

Life used to be much more interesting before those damn apes started thinking about more than just surviving. Back then, wars would wage for billions of millennia in galaxies untouched and unseen by man. My soldiers knew me as the best strategist they’d ever witnessed, and I still hold that name today. What Mr. Big Beard had in power I made up for in genius. Of course, none of the fightings really mattered, no one could ever win one. That isn’t me being sour about his strength, it’s me being honest with the idea that good and evil must always be in balance. I doubt that even with every force of nature, human and all, nothing could stop the power of balance. I think that went He figured that out, he found Earth. We both witnessed the birth of the Milky Way, and it pulled us both in. We observed as destruction and creation balanced each other out and created the perfect specimen, planet Earth. It changed Him, I noticed, and he discarded everything else to work on this.

“Listen, this power that drew us both in is something that I cannot ignore. Join me, and with your intellect and my power, we can finally figure out… why exactly we are here.” He told me once. I guess creations really do imitate their creator.

“Are you crazy? We can’t just throw away all the time we spent on fighting! Did it mean nothing to you?” Those were the last words I said to him for quite some time. I guess my stubborn nature rubbed off on him, or quite simply, he had it too.

Yet, he was still more stubborn than I was, and I gave in. I joined him, saying; “This doesn’t change anything, I will still try to defeat you. Even if you want to play on your turf, we play by my rules.” He smirked. He knew the futility of our dispute and it infuriated me.

For a couple billion years, he experimented with some things he saw in other planets, like hot and cold weathers, liquids, and gases. Soon life began on its own, and he called it life. He only started working on the planet, and it continued on it’s own. He would watch a single microscopic organism for thousands of years, and never turn away. When the liquid he named ‘water’ parted and rocks formed, and when those same organisms moved to the rocks, he started naming them. One time, when many of those organisms died, he came to me.

“I… I can’t handle sending these masterpieces to the afterlife, can you please do it?” he asked me. I obliged.

“B-But father! I told you I would do it!” Jesus said. At the time, he was called something else, but I’d rather not say what it was. Sure, I’ll admit the small one played in many of our battles, but he was deranged. His scale for what is right and wrong and how it compares to the practical never worked properly. He was, what you would call, an ultimate ‘good’ guy. Anything I would do, he would view as evil and wrong, and frankly, it got annoying after the first few dozen millennia.

Nevertheless, I took the job as death, as he took up the task of being life. Once again, a balance was made and could never be broken. For a long time, I would accept the dead and He would give life. However, when the first humans came around, He changed once more.

At first, he viewed them as everything else, but soon they grew, expanded, and conquered. At first, I believed that he favored these creatures more than others, but the longer they stayed on Earth, the more I thought otherwise. They discovered fire, the wheel, and eventually started to use their built-in voice boxes for dialect.

“Look at that! They speak, like you and me! These guys really keep giving me surprises!” He said to me. His curiosity about these creatures got my mind turning. If he was being surprised by his own creations, then did he really create them, or is he just the puppet? I didn’t have much time to ponder my questions, as the Homo sapiens, as He called them, started building shacks out of the environment, and started congregating. I’ve witnessed creatures like birds and beavers that build homes, but this was something else. I wanted to believe the shacks were like nests or dams, but they were larger than they needed to be, they were made for personal enjoyment. He brushed their material desire as something a new breed of animals would start to do. He likened the change to the change from water to land, and I took the half-baked excuse. I could tell he did not understand these creatures, and I also knew that he wanted to make himself known to them. He saw them form civilizations, and he saw them solve the issue that no other species could. For the first time, a species was able to conquer the power struggle with the forces on Earth, these homo sapiens could build farms and self sustain themselves on food. The hunter-gatherer nature that every other organism exhibited was now gone in the homo sapien, and was now replaced with something new. Where He was happy, I was scared. These creatures evolved at a rate I had never seen before, on any planet, in any solar system. Once these ‘humans’, as they started calling themselves, stopped concerning themselves with the forces of the Earth, they started to think. They thought about what was beyond, what was right in front of them, and what was behind them. They questioned their purpose, and they questioned the meaning as to the entire universe.

“I’m thinking about showing myself to them. They have asked for me, and I must show myself.” He said to me. He gleamed with hope as he spoke, and I tried to talk him out of it.

“I don’t think you realize what that could do! These creatures are material beings, and we are spiritual, if we cross over, we may never return, or we may let them over. The risks of the unknown are too high to be throwing around the question like an asteroid.” I went away for some time. I went to a neighboring planet on the Milky Way Galaxy, one which I named Warus. The planet was similar to Earth, but it was composed of different materials. The atmosphere was not full of oxygen and nitrogen, but instead full of carbon dioxide. I’ve seen other planets that sustained minor organisms on carbon dioxide, but Warus had creatures similar to Earth’s humans. It scared me, to see another species advance as quickly as Earth did. The fact that these two anomalies occurred next to each other felt like more than a coincidence. I crushed everything on the planet that I could find. I crossed the realms of physical and spiritual and destroyed everything on Warus. The animals, the dominant race similar to humans, and even the resources. I hoped that nothing could live on that planet again, and I was right. When I returned to Warus a few hundred years later, when humans had started slaughtering each other for the sake of ideology and land, the planet went from a gorgeous blue and green to a disgusting, uninhabitable red.

Not listening to my warnings, He displayed his power and ideology to the humans on Earth. Few went insane with the power, but some people stood against the light and wrote about it. Others still despised the answer to their questions and opposed it. I witnessed the first battle between humans and it scared both Him and me. If the humans had the ability to think about what’s beyond, they also had the ability to think about what was right and wrong in their own minds. He tried resetting, sparing a few, and killing the rest, but leaving even a single parasite and the means to repopulate, and they will destroy again. Now that he had involved himself, he said he couldn’t leave them by themselves, as he had done this to them. He sent Jesus down to promise them health and life if they stopped fighting, but they murdered him and placed him on a stake for the world to see. His final attempt to stop them was what the humans called the ‘Black Plague’. He wiped out a good portion of people, but it only helped the humans structure their lives, proving more success for them in the future.

Now, there were millions of iterations of his ideology, and yet none was what he wanted it to be. The millions fought against each other, and Earth spiraled downwards. I believe I can only relate this sort of thing to one thing, parasites bent on bloodlust. These parasites take, and fight, and kill, and are never satisfied. Their never-ending desire for self-glory diminished their civilization to a shell of what it used to be. Somehow, even at this point, He never left their side, He never abandoned them or looked away for a moment. His lack of awareness around himself led to circumstances that I would never believe would happen.

I will admit one thing, and that is the home I have made for myself while on Earth. Many come and go, but I am the only one who lives here full time. Humans deemed this place ‘hell’, which sounds quite negative compared to what it truly is, but I learned not to worry about human views. One day, while resting in my home, dealing with some ordeals concerning individuals who were less than desirable, when my least favorite spiritual being.

“What have you done with him? Tell me right now you wicked beast!” Jesus yelled at me. When he entered, he did not concern himself with custom and greet me, but instead he thrashed and raved.

“Listen here you stubborn brat, don’t think you can-” I started. At first, I believed this was another one of his temper tantrums, but his tone and energy were all wrong. The usual energy of pure white mixed with light pink was what I saw when he was throwing his tantrums. This energy he emitted was deep red, one that I’ve only seen once before, from his father when we first did battle all those Eons ago.

“You think you can play the fool here!? I’ll kill you once and for all right here for what you have done!” He erupted. The colors of his energy shot around the room and lashed out against me. He may have been able to exhibit the energy his father once did, but he could never match me when I was angry, and right now I was furious.

I did not concern myself with talking and charged him. We fought like his father and I did so long ago, and for the first time in a long time, I felt reborn. I overpowered him easily, but when his energy changed to a deep blue, I hesitated. I’d never seen this color before, and I did not dare get near him. Although his father was rash and acted on instinct, Jesus always had a trick up his sleeve.

“Ego te condemnabo vade in novissimis laci abyssum irent… Ego te condemnabo vade in novissimis laci abyssum irent…” he mumbled. He spoke in a tongue I would only imagine being Human, but as to what he said, I was lost. I had little time to ponder, as golden and dark blue lights flashed before me, and blinded me. The blinding light made my home disappear, not just physically, as insight, but spiritually as well, as I could not sense the genuine aroma of it.

Frantically trying to grasp my surroundings, I could hear a faint, “are you ok?”, and tried calling out to it, but when I opened my mouth, no words, spiritual-like or human-like, came out. What was that light, and what did it do to me? Where am I? Why did he attack me? Dear Abyss, I can’t possibly, for once, fathom what has happened to me, or where I am.

The first thing to come to me was my smell. I would not say it ‘returned’ to me, as the spiritual realm does not quite have scents. I only knew what exactly the newfound sense was due to the fact that while on Warus, I gained that same ability. I suppose that because of that, it has returned to me, like a neglected warrior returns to his commander. The smell itself was not pleasant nor disgusting, but it was an average scent that any human was used to, the smell of the atmosphere.

This initial sense shocked me, as I would never willingly allow myself to gain such a strange sense. However, some of my questions were answered when I regained my sight. The blinding light soon melted into green and yellow, and red. The yellow melted into a metal structure, the green molded into trees, and the red shaped into people. What was peculiar most was the humans themselves, as they were much bigger than I was, and they could see me. I didn’t remember being this small compared to the Warus natives, but I suppose there were many differences between the two.

“You alrighty there little one? Seems to me like you were going too fast for your own good, and you near bumped into that bus there!” He said, pointing at the metal structure, supposedly called a ‘bus’. Another voice called out from the bus to me, telling me to get a move on. I had officially regained all my hearing.

I suppose the disarray of the entire ordeal forced me onto the bus, and as I got on, I saw many more humans that, at first glance, looked about my size. They all looked at me in strange ways I’ve only seen once before, and that was the same way humans have looked at each other to assert dominance. The aggressive glance into movement of the upper parts of the face. If I was an ordinary human like the others here, I would have been terrified. However, I was the ruler of the dead and the destroyer of countless galaxies! Small humans could not scare me in the slightest.

I held onto this thought as increasingly more tiny humans did the gesture, and as I sat down alone, I realized the terror humans displayed. They were a merciless species when they came about, and they only seemed to get worse.

Another thing I noticed was the fact that, with all their incredible advancements, they still could not create a comfortable way to sit down. At least the Warus natives had special furs and wools that made sitting less ache-inducing. The final thing I noticed during the first few minutes coincides with the chairs, and that there was something on my back. I panicked at first and then calmed as I realized the fool I was making myself out to be. Strange straps that attached to the thing on my back and didn’t simply pull off.

“Yeah I know, those things really are strange, they called backpacks, and my momma told me that to take them off, you gotta go like this!” Said one of the small humans besides me, motioning his arms up, and sliding off the seat. I copied them and struggled to get back on the seat, as the bus’ jolting jostled me around.

When I was situated back on the seat, I glanced at the backpack and tossed it aside. I tried my hand at speaking to the small human next to me to at least thank him for making this barbaric ride slightly more bearable.

The look on the small human’s face when I opened my mouth was something that could only be described as one thing, flabbergasted. I doubt this particular human has ever felt true horror, as their response was no less than unusual. They looked at me in practical wonder and a hint of eagerness that some would describe as seeing something they love for the first time.

“W-W-Well my name is Georgie, nice to meet you!” Georgie said. His arm jolted out with his fingers pointed at me, and I believed this was his way of greeting me.

“My NAME is… MY name is…” I focused deeply into my mind. There was no mistake that I am in a human’s body, but the reason as to why, and why a small human like this, slipped me. A name did pop up, however, when I searched deep within this tiny human’s mind. I learned many things as well, these tiny humans are called “children”, This body is on its way to learn, and the name of the original owner is Johnny.

“Johnny.” I mustered up. Georgie’s mouth stretched into what I learned to be a smile, and I reciprocated.

With the bus stopped, Georgie and I got off and walked into a series of buildings I imagine to be known as school. The day progressed and Georgie and I stayed together, absorbing all this human knowledge. I will admit the experience was humbling, but mostly it was surreal. We were instructed by an adult that we are to sleep for some time to regain strength, and at that time I realized this host body was feeling strange. I decided to sleep as the adult said, and in this state, I saw things.

Before I mention this odd dream, I would like to point out that ‘dreaming’, as humans call it, is something spiritual beings do not do. The intentional state of being unconscious and hallucinating does not seem appealing to me, but at least one of those are necessary for survival.

Anyhow, in this dream, I started recalling what exactly happened to me. I saw myself, right before I was attacked by Jesus, and then he blinded me. A series of images flashed before me, but at the time, they did not seem important. I saw an empty chair, a bloodied sword, and an open door. I then woke up to Georgie shaking me.

“Wake up Johnny, Wake up! You were saying some weird stuff, like on the bus, are you ok?” He said, with the same wonderment he had on the bus. The others around me did not share the same expression. Genuine terror filled the faces of the other children, and the adult looked furious.

“Johnny, why did you have to disturb nap time like that? Do you need to see the nurse, or shall I call home?” The adult said, tapping her foot rapidly.

“No, I am fine you impudent human. Leave me alone to rest, there is something I must attend to.” I said. Or at least, it is what I wanted to say in the human language. Yet, it came out in my own tongue, and at that point, the teacher switched expressions and ran out of the room. Georgie looked at me in amazement, most likely waiting for me to continue.

This was no time to fool around with these damn apes, so I tried to fall back asleep. As I lied down, the adult returned with a cross, saying something in another language.

“You really think the same thing that killed that sorry fool will work against me? You humans really are nothing but lucky apes. The only reason you killed him was that that toy was bigger than him, and you forced him up on there to die!” I screamed, thrashing my small arms around.

I believe that my agitation made the situation worse. My host shook from my anger, and the room vibrated with a rage that flowed from the spiritual realm. I had a strong disdain for Jesus, but I know deep down it is a disdain that one has with a rival rather than with an enemy. The fact that humans would deface such a terrible thing and use it as a symbol of hope was disgusting. These savages today don’t understand anything from the past, nor do they realize the power they contain.

As the room shook, I realized one thing, I was dying. It would explain a couple things, like the reason as to why I am in this child’s body, and what exactly he attacked me with. Every spiritual seeking out a host in the physical realm when damaged, and I suppose I was unfortunate enough to get the weakest of the human race. The light that Jesus hit me with was probably some sort of energy humans used. Before, He’d used other types of energy, but only ones in the spiritual realms. His father knew that the spiritual realm would never hurt me, and I believe now that Jesus finally realized that. The one difference, He wasn’t ignorant enough to actually tap into the physical realm, until recently. I suppose insanity runs in the family, as shortly after He tapped into that raw power, Jesus soon followed.

When the room stopped crumbling from my minute power I had remaining, the adult grabbed as many children and left the room. I was alone with Georgie, and at this point, I realized he may have been the only human on this dense rock that actually understood something, without knowing a thing. I informed him of my situation, and he simply nodded and left. I could not stay here long, as that adult may return with something I might not be able to handle, and I needed time to heal.

After snatching some food items for my host, I left the building via a hole in the wall, which I learned to be called a window. I wandered for some time, and over that period, many adults stopped up and asked me if I was lost. I looked at them fiercely and they handed me pieces of paper.

“There you go little buddy, let’s hope that’ll let you get home sometime soon! It’s money, it’ll help you get things you normally wouldn’t be able to.” That adult droned, even after I walked away from them.

With this money and my minuscule knowledge of human culture, I found a few people standing around by the side of the road. A giant bus, not like the one I started on, however, pulled up and took them away. I decided to wait for the next one, and as it arrived, the one operating it looked at me strangely but dared not say anything. Clever of the human.

The bus took me to a place called New York City. The “New” in its name suggested an older version of the place, but I couldn’t find it. I gave up looking after discovering something truly disturbing.

Before, when I viewed the native species on Warus, I noticed they would hang on wires their recent kills. It seemed barbaric, but the species itself was quite simple, so I forgave it. However, the humans were far more advanced than those creatures, and yet they still partook in such archaic methods. I wish not to explain what I saw, as it was indescribable. I realize now that too many pieces fell together when I saw this. It explained the attack from Jesus, the sudden disappearance of Him, and the direction of the universe. On the biggest building in the City, A large body was hung on it. It was similar to the way that the adult hung their cloth over a chair before teaching us. There were words carved into the skin of the body, and it said: “HE IS DEAD, WE HAVE WON.”

My first instincts of seeing Him displayed like another kill frightened me into a limbo-like state. I stood there, watching the body move slightly, and then I realized once more, the body was still alive. That is why He hasn’t returned, his host body had not died yet. Yet, why couldn’t Jesus come in and save his own father? It couldn’t be that-

“There he is! The demon child! He’s come to free the devil, get him!” A human said behind me. I turned to see the same adult that, just a few hours ago, taught me how to count.

Another human stood by that one, wearing all white and a strange hat, with another cross on it. He began whispering to himself, and then he ran at me. I regained some energy from the bus trip, so I unleashed it on the man. Tendrils and hot energy burst out of my host, and the man was flung back. However, he was unaffected by it and pressed on. I tried to attack him with the tendrils, but it simply bounced off of him as if I had the power equivalent to the host I occupied. He quickly overpowered me, and subdued me.

Now I realize what has happened. When He showed himself, the humans didn’t just kill each other, they killed him. Of course, his body still lives and breathes, but his soul was crushed. These creatures that he cared for turned on him and mutilated him. I believe that Jesus attacked me because he thought I caused this all, but it seems to me that it was all a part of destiny.

They strung me up alongside Him, and although I’m nowhere near the size of him, I am close enough to hear his struggle for air.

“I… I have unknowingly started a new generation for the universe. I thought that this place was just another project for myself, but it turns out that… that…” He did not finish talking.

I suppose that destiny has a cruel way of advancing the atmosphere around itself. Destiny exists everywhere, and the universe forms around it. Just like me, or Him, or even the humans, Destiny is an energy force. I believe its counterpart is Balance itself, but I don’t believe that I will ever know for sure.

Human energy, come to find out, can even take down the greatest warriors of the universe. They started with him, caught him off guard, and tortured his physical being. They used their energy to keep him on their battlefield, and the change was permanent. They did the same with me, and together, like old times, we watched the universe burn from our decisions.

As I wrote this piece, I was still worrying about finals and the end of my school year, so it took me a bit longer to do, and I apologize for that one! I’ve decided at this point that outputting a story a week is too much stress juggled onto everything else in life, so I'll probably push it back to two weeks or, if I get the creative juices flowing, that desired week. I’m also starting my job here soon, so that will cut into the free time I have, but since I won’t have homework I should, theoretically, have more time to write. Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day! (Also, thanks @storypromptsforfun for giving me such awesome prompts to write on! Seriously, these have been such a blast so far!) --TW

#the story so far #writing #prompts #storypromptsforfun #Humans #devil

0 notes

atiredwriter42-blog · 7 years ago

Text

My Curse

I cannot breathe, eat, nor drink. Yet, I see everything and am alive. What am I?

No need to answer that question, it was simply rhetorical. However, the rhetoric is not present inside some of the words I speak. Truly, I cannot eat, breathe, or drink, it is something that I am incapable of doing. People see and use me every day, without really thinking about it. Because of these humans not thinking about what may be around them, they say things that were meant for no ears but their own. I absorb the knowledge and secrets of others and do nothing with them whatsoever. It is a silent curse placed upon me ever since the tragic slaughtering of my people so long ago. A curse that I have been exposed to simply because I am the only one from my family still alive. I must bear the weight of knowing I am the last of my family, and I cannot stop the end of our name, Willow.

The place I am condemned to isn’t quite so bad. The wall behind me is made of some rock that was dug up in nature-knows-where. The patterns on it are nice to look at on slower days when there are no people to listen to. The interesting part about the wall is the cliff at the top. It juts out like any other cliff should, but the humans are big enough to look above it and talk to some mysterious entity over the other side of this wall. Facing forward, the place itself is scattered with members from my old village, but I can not see any from my family. For all the years I’ve been in here, I’ve only seen distant family friends, like Willow and Douglas, but their families soon disappear as time does. They are cut down to just a margin of their original grandeur and used for these humans to rest on. When the humans break one into pieces, they simply throw it away and replace it. Bright boxes that speak words I can’t make out, mostly due to the sound, sprinkle the walls. The walls and floors are strange colors of black, white, and a color similar to my own, beige. All of these features seem minor enough, but the contrast of the natural setting with humans make the place pop out.

Speaking about the humans, they are truly the most interesting part about it all. The Maples, Douglas, and other pieces of nature were something I stared at for over 100 years, but the humans were something new to me. At first, I saw them as just another dumb ape as they wandered around me, but when they came to my home and destroyed it all, I realized they weren’t dumb apes, but evil ones. Even with all my hate towards them, I can’t seem to get enough of their careless antics. Their mindless talk about the world around them and the lack of understanding of it is so fascinating. The ability to see more than any other species on this planet and still take it for granted is hilarious, but still chilling. Although a pack is as strong as its weakest member, these guys knock it out of the woods. However, their infinite idiocy and never-ending foolishness never fail to entertain me.

For instance, there was a day like every other, a few early birds grabbed the worms, and then up and left. A rush of people came in again later, and from what I could tell, they were different looking ones. One particular individual sat on me, and I heard him asking for a “Shear Leaf Temple”, which sounded odd enough until he shifted his buttock and started talking to the one next to him.

“Did you know, this is one of the only places in the NATION to still have stools like this? Crazy, isn’t it? I couldn’t believe it myself, so I had to check it out, and sure enough, they got authentic ones!” The man hollered, jerking his body harshly when he spoke. The man sitting next to him, and simply scoffed at him.

“You know, being one of the only users of this stuff isn’t something to be impressed at. These people are the reason Earth is this fucked. If anything, they should have the feds in here arresting these people.” The guy grumbled, also shifting himself in the seat to face the man on me.

“Ha! You’re a funny guy, the name’s Greg, how ‘bout it champ?” ‘G-rag cracked, shooting his left appendage out.

“Johnson, I’ll pass on the hand shake. I don’t see what’s so funny about an establishment that goes strictly against the federal law.” John-son said, shrugging off the ‘hand-shake’.

“Well, if you hate this place so much, then why stay here? There are other ‘establishments’ around here that’ll serve you better.” G-rag calmly murmured. His tone, which shifted from eccentric and electric to mellow and smooth, like the river near our home.

“That’s the thing, I hate this place. Places like these will sink our nation into further chaos. Yet, I can’t leave this place. Why? Hell, amigo, I’d like to know myself, I’m sort of attracted here, like a moth to a light. It’s only a matter of time before I figure out the shocking truth about the light.” He said.

The two humans sat in silence for a while, sometimes shifting in their seats to stare at the colorful boxes. A solemn tone filled the air around them and reminded me of the day I was taken away from my home. The humans came to our land, took us away, and cut us down in metal boxes with sharp blades. The blades cut through my body in a matter of seconds, and half of me was sent elsewhere. I suppose when I look at it that way, there are only two members left of the Willows, me and me. I tried not to think about another part of me stranded in the world like me, and with that queue, John-son sat up.

“I have to run some errands, I’ll see you later Greg,” he turned and was confused as who this new “Greg” character was.

“Alright my boy, I’ll catch you sooner or later,” G-rag hollered, and once again I was confused, did this human go by multiple names? “Oh! Don’t forget your mask, life out there can get quite rough out there!”

All the other man did was a nod and wave his right appendage, and grabbed a piece of leather off the wall, and walked out into the world. The ‘mask’ perplexed me, but it had been a while since I’ve seen the outdoors, so things are probably much different without me.

Do you ever think about what it would be like to be cut in half? How would I know if the part that was cut from me was the actual me? What if I was just created by being seperated with myself? Of course, I have all the memories of myself, but what if I was split, and I wasn’t the original one?

Something on the colorful box piqued my interest recently. It was a man, and the man was talking to another man with long hair. The one with the long hair was talking quite aggressively it seemed, and their face looked like my skin when I was still free, but redder and less brown. The other man was simply listening to him scream on, and soon enough something flashed on the screen. It was another Willow, like myself. This one was still free, and then a headline popped up under it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t read it, as I can only listen to human language and understand.

“‘Woman argues the integrity of the country by giving them last full Willow, angry with what they did with it.’ Ha! What a joke, doesn’t she know the boys up there will consume anything you give ‘em?” someone laughed, but I could not see them, so chances were they were behind the giant cliff behind me.

However, the part that mentions a Willow was unnerving. There’s another Willow out there? I’ve never seen the lady in my life so they couldn’t be referencing me, right? With what I heard from the voice, I suppose it doesn’t matter at this point. If the humans who got my home were in possession of the last member of the Willow family, then it’s already too late for them, whoever they are.

In all my time in this place, there are many things I hear. There are even more things I see. There are so much more I understand, but above all, there are too many things I don’t understand. Three men were talking to each other one particularly slow day, and I remember it quite well. The room was only the three I mentioned and another human on the left of the room, and to my understanding was napping.

“Don’t get me wrong, I ain’t got nothin’ wrong with rabbits, but those little shits get everywhere. They multiply and spread like wildfire, and eat everything there is. My crops can’t handle this any longer, especially not after the water cuts!” One said, gesturing his appendages quickly, but then just as quickly placing them back on the table.

“I know what you mean pal, they really are hard to catch. Hell, just the other day, I was running one down with my rifle and dodged every bullet I shot at it! Can you even believe that?” Another one said. Apparently, the one who initially started talking was named “Pal”, which was a strange name, but then again my last name is Willow and I’m the last one left, so I guess I’m the odd one out here.

“Buddy, don’t even get me STARTED on their ninja reflexes. It like they can see the future or something!” Pal said, looking at what I imagined to be “Buddy”. The third stayed quiet the entire time they were there and looked pale. The other two never acknowledged him, let alone look at him. Isolation and abandonment aside, the man sitting on the far left of the place got up and walked over to the table of the three.

“You fellas mind if I take a seat here?” He asked, pointing at the sit that held the ghastly third man. The other two men, Buddy and Pal, nodded without a second thought, and the third man just got up from his seat and walked out of my view. Some friends they are!

“I couldn’t help but hear you talking about those invasive devils. You know, the government only recently tried to control the rabbit population, but those sex addicts just kept pumping out more of themselves. You’d think with all the weapons in the world and a billion people, a small pest like rabbits wouldn’t stand a chance!” The replacement threw his hands up and then sighed. The irony in his statement burned like the sun, and I was about to tune them out, but Pal said something that surprised me.

“Yeah, you sure can say that again, the rabbits are getting so bad out here, they practically killed our friend. He always spent time with us in this here bar, and always sat where you are sitting now, but after the rabbits ate his livelihood, he kicked the bucket, literally!” Pal laughed, and the replacement shivered. I suppose the mysterious, white friend that sat with the other two was their friend then. I felt a slimmer of remorse, then remembered what they did to my home and instantly was filled with indifference, vengeance almost.

The three sat there without talking and placed their cups to their mouths. From all the years I’ve been here, apparently the term for doing so is “drinking”. I suppose every animal sustains fluids in their bodies one way or another, no matter how strange it seems. Many of the things I know today are simply due to these very animals talking too much. I didn’t know a single thing about these humans except one thing, I hated them. I suppose that feeling is still here, deep down, but I’ve most likely suppressed it after realizing how little I can really do in this position. Personally, I’ve gotten used to not doing anything but listen, and listen I do. For starters, humans are some of the only animals to actually do more talking than anything. They talk and talk even after many stop listening. They say things that they shouldn’t, to those they don’t know, with consequences they never fully see. Some of their favorite things to say are words like “fuck”, “shit”, “asshole”, “you wanna take this outside?”, and “hold my bear”. Now, I don’t understand how they think a small glass is a bear, but no one around them seems to care too much. I assume many of these words are provoking ones, as shortly after they are said, someone attacks someone else. This is another thing humans seem to enjoy more than many other animals, fight. Of course, I saw the occasional bird spar with another for territory, but with these humans, the sparring leads to someone bigger than both of them kicking them out. When I really think about it, humans surely are a brute of a species.

Although I express a strong disdain toward humans, I can’t imagine a world without them. They may be scum that takes and never gives, and they may be the sole reason my home is gone, but they may be the next step for nature. I, like every creature in nature, understand one simple principle in life, that life is not fair. Life will never make sense, and it will always favor against you. Nature favors itself, and we are not a part of it. We are simply on for the ride, and we have to adapt around Nature’s fickle fluxuations. Humans would not be here today if they did not understand this, and certainly, they would not be here if they did not cheat. Humans are truly the first race to grab ahold of nature and tell it what to do. This change in power was abrupt, and too many species couldn’t adapt in time. I want to believe this form of myself is simply me adapting, but nature isn’t so kind. I’m the last remaining member of the Willow family for a reason.

Humans will destroy everything. Nature can’t do anything about that, it’s simply not strong enough. Yet, humans are still not strong enough to rule as the force to replace nature. It feels like a redundant statement, but it’s a fact. The only reason Nature lost to humans is that it was spread thin. Humans at one point, from what I’ve heard, were all concentrated in a single area and were strong enough to conquer nature there. They slowly took piece by piece from nature, and nature was too weak to fight back. Now that humans have over half of the Earth taken from Nature, they’ll begin to spread out and thin. What will happen then? I cannot say, but I can safely assume one thing; A force greater than nature and humans will come around and sweep both of them clean off the Earth. Although humans are very archaic, they do get it from somewhere. In fact, everything on Earth has this that humans have, whether in a lesser or greater degree. Where do they get it? Well, they learn it from the battlefield that is this Earth. This is not home, this is a battlefield where everything is born here and dies here.

Dear Nature, look at me, I’m starting to act like humans, rambling on when someone already stopped listening to a long time ago. What is happening around me? I must find something to distract me from turning too much like these humans.

“Ha! That’s a good-” One human said before I tuned them out, and other started talking about something named Do-Bald Trunk. Everywhere I look, there are humans, how am I going to distract myself from these creatures? Oh nature please, help me! I would much rather die alongside my family than be here in a transitional period of the Earth. I am alone and silent. I have been reduced to a mindless observer, one who-

Wait. Wait that’s it! I cannot possibly be a human, I’m just an observer. That is all I am, Nature has placed me here as a silent observer for the future. This is how it should be, I should be the last of all who served Nature, to carry it on just a little bit longer. Someone will come along then and relinquish my duty from me, right? All I have to do now is wait for that person to come.

One evening, that person did come. It was much later from that thought I had, most likely a few months, or even a year or so. However, the person was not as I’d imagined, as, over the time I waited, I imagined what they’d look like. They’d be a human, of course, and they’d be warming and welcoming like Nature was when I was born. This one was, to be put lightly, brooding and menacing. They wore dark pieces of cloth, with a white one hidden behind the other dark ones. Human culture sure was strange. Anyhow, the human walked to the cliff and talked to someone for a bit. They talked very quietly to each other, and I couldn’t make out what they were saying. When the human finished, they came over to me and took me away.

I should mention at this point that the place I was cursed to was beginning to fall apart. Less and fewer humans came here, and between the last human to leave and the first to arrive, another piece of the place disappeared. First it was the black boxes, then it was the neighbors around me, and finally, I was the last to go.

The human picked me up, put on what I imagined to be a mask, and took me outdoors, where I saw something completely harrowing. The blue sky I remembered when I was young was now turned into a brown that I could only describe as similar to my own skin. The clouds I used to look at and count are black and depressing to look at. There was no green anywhere, and the grass I used to admire for being so majestic in the wind is now dead and void of life. I could also see nearby a human that looked as beat up and disgusting as the Earth. This particular human crawled everywhere, sometimes jumping up and grabbing something or attacking someone. The human eventually crawled over to a hole in the ground and stuck their hand down it. When the hand came back up, green liquid came with it, and the human placed it close to its mouth, drinking it in the process. I hoped that the liquid was not water, but I doubted the thought the instant it came to my mind.

I was taken and placed in a box, and after an unknown amount of time, I was taken out. We were someplace different, but the sky and clouds and grass were all still the same upsetting color. The man reassured me that I’d be the revolution of the future, whatever that meant. He walked into a building that was completely white and pure on the inside, with people in equally white garments. The only room that was not a pure white was the one I was put in, which was a dark brown and green room. I later realized this was the human’s poor recreation of my home, and that I was supposed to feel like I never left.

“This one will be the one. If we just wait a while, the stool will just make trees, right?” One of the white garemented men asked. The others nodded in agreement, and I laughed at their stupidity. They really thought that this poor attempt would work for anything? They also believed that in my state I can reproduce? Have these humans gone insane from their own desperate attempts to save themselves?

Days went by and the humans looked uneasily nervous. They entered my room and paced back and forth, and without any results, stormed out of the room and I could hear faint traces of voices from the other side. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy this somewhat. For starters, I was alone for a majority of the time, and if I tried hard enough, I’d feel like I was home again. The enjoyment was short-lived, as one of the men came barreling through the door, screaming about saving someone named “Willie”.

When the man entered, he looked like the others, but he picked me up viciously, and said to me, “Don’t worry one-bit little buddy, I’ll get you home, I’ll make sure you rest easy where you were born!”

I brushed off his lazy attempt to appease me. There’s nothing left of my home after humans ruined it, doesn’t he know that?

“Of course, it won’t be like before, but it’s still there!” He said.

I couldn’t believe what I heard! This man barged into my facade and held in front of me my home, I begged him in my mind to take me there. However, this human was different than the others, for he heard my cries.

“Hush! Willie, don’t worry an ounce, I’ll make sure you can rest easy. They wanted to tear you apart and desecrate your scraps without a second thought. I told them they were mad, and they-” He said.

Although his name for me, ‘Willie’, was quite strange, I liked it. I was glad to hear that this human wanted to protect me from further harm. I couldn’t muster up the strength to tell him he was too late, because I’ve already been torn apart years before I came here. Instead, I told him that we need to get out of this place.

“Do you hear that Willie? They are coming for us, for me. They’ll rip the meat offa my skin if they got their grimy fingers on me. But, you know me, Willie, I wouldn’t let that happen. No sir, not one bit! Let’s scatter.” He exclaimed. His eyes darted around, and those same eyes blinked at speeds I don’t think I’d ever seen.

I told him to lead the way, and we both left the building I stayed in. We got into a car similar to the one they brought me in, but it was decorated with much more color. The back had real leaves this time, and the coloring of the walls was much more realistic. We drove for some time, and I could hear my new friend yell, “Don’t worry back there Willie, I made sure to make it as much like your home as possible. I had a hard time finding actual leaves, cause you know, they come from trees, and well… that’s not important anymore. What’s important Willie is that you’ll be home soon and I’ll-”

What could he mean by that? How could trees not be important anymore? It must have been another one of those ‘figure-of-speeches’ I suppose. At first, I thought he tried talking to me, but he simply made extraordinarily loud noises for no reason. He apologized for it, and he continued to take me home.

When the car stopped moving, he grabbed me, and something else that I couldn’t really see completely.

“Willie, here we are. We finally made it Willie, ain’t it something else?” He said, covering his mouth.

What he talked about was surely something else. The skies, for one, were a blue-green color, and the ground was more or less green. It wasn’t exactly my home, but even I couldn’t tell where that was anymore. He then set me down and revealed what he was concealing to me.

“Willie, Willie, come on now baby. Don’t say that to me, I know that it’s hard. How do you think I feel, HOW DO YOU THINK IT MAKES ME FEEL?” He started yelling, flailing around the sharp object in his hand.

I don’t know what I said that offended him, but he calmed down and started to cry. He mumbled something about the future and other human things I would never understand. He lifted the sharp object and struck it into me.

There were times in the place with the cliff where I had been used by humans larger than others and thought I would snap in half. The pressure they put on my body was terrifying, and I saw it happen once. The victim next to me was my neighbor for no less than a year, and that night they snapped like a twig. I never wanted to feel that sort of pain, and with that sharp object jutting out of my body, I experienced pain that was immeasurable. Even with my screams, he kept going until I couldn’t think anymore. There was only a portion of me big enough to maintain fleeting thoughts, but the other parts of me were too small too.

“Willie, I love you more than anything in this world, and I know that hurting you hurts me beyond explanation. I’ll be with you soon, and you’ll hate me for some time. However…” He said to me. I couldn’t continue to listen though, as I quickly lost consciousness.

Yeah, I know this was supposed to be a weekly thing, but school is kind of kicking my ass at the moment, so apologies for that! The next prompt by @storypromptsforfun Will be up eventually. My schedule right now is quite crazy, so I’m not going to make promises I cannot keep. Anyways, hope you enjoy and I’ll see you all soon enough! --TW

#storypromptsforfun #short story #writing #writing challenge #story #WILLIE

1 note · View note

atiredwriter42-blog · 7 years ago

Text

You’ll Regret This

You will start with a simple letter. That is all you need to start your regretful journey, plainly easy, you tell yourself. Yet, you find it hard to bring yourself to do it. When you finally bring yourself to do it, you’ll realize that your feelings of doubt were well justified.

You take the pencil out of the drawer and grab a single piece of lined paper. “This will do,” you tell yourself, as you begin writing. You don’t remember exactly what the letter said, but you will never forget the message it told; “Come see me.”

You take this paper, fold it until it fits inside an envelope and you find a spare stamp lying around to garnish the front. You realize at this point the stamp was merely a formality, as you would be delivering the letter yourself. You place the letter neatly on your desk in your room, and leave the room, only to simply re-enter and discover the letter still there. Reluctantly, you pick it up, and like any other postman, you leave the house to deliver it.

Your destination is only about a mile from your house, but the walk feels never-ending. You pass by a familiar house but refuse to look at it, as the desire to go to it would inevitably serve as a detour, and you don’t have time. You want to look, dear heavens you want to look, to the point you start hearing voices from the house calling to you, but you simply keep walking; do not stop walking.

You are closer than ever to delivering the letter, and you cannot be happier. You are not angry, mad, sad, lonely, depressed, or any other of those emotions, you are simply happy. You can even see the destination if you stare hard enough into the distance. Excitement fills you, and you walk faster. You don’t slow down, you speed up, so speed up dammit!

You arrived at the house. It is much different than yours. Your house is smaller but gives off a scent of love and care. This one, however, oozes even more love and even more care. The only reason you are paralyzed by the dark grey walls with black graffiti is that of your undying love for this house. Your love for the grassless lawn and cracked cement make your feet move again. After your feet begin moving again, you can fully embrace the love of the house. Yet, you don’t embrace it all, you don’t deserve the love the house is willing to give, because you are worthless. The letter you will drop off at this very moment, and only at this very moment, is your only chance at getting back this love. When this letter gets to the one who gives off this love, they must decide if they accept you again, and if not, you will forever remember this day as the day you proved worthless, again.

You think back to when you wrote the letter, and hope you poured your heart and soul into the paper, and that the good-for-nothing love you have will be enough to be forgiven. You doubt yourself, and the letter, but the desire to fully embrace the house’s love, you place the letter in the slit of the door and walk home.

As you walk home, you cry softly, but these are not tears of fear, but tears of longing. You wish, for at least one more time, that you can fully accept the house’s love again. You are not afraid of the house, you were never afraid of the house. You love the house, and the house will soon love you in return if you listen to it. That idea alone stops you from crying, as you are completely stunned and blessed to be given another chance.

Once home, you cannot sleep. You lay in bed, and you keep your eyes closed and refuse to open them. You must get sleep for tomorrow’s encounter, they’ll never accept you if you don’t sleep, so you sleep. Why can’t you sleep? You feel your worthlessness overcome you as you realize you are no good for the house. In your eyes, even mundane tasks like sleeping prove to be impossible, and you see yourself as nothing but a failure.

Soon enough, morning comes, and you eat something to fill your stomach. And empty stomach will not please it, and you know this more than anyone. You open the front door and see something that excites you, a box. The box is unaddressed and was hand delivered like your letter yesterday. It’s contents involved numerous amounts of paper, and some pieces of wood. In your idiotic mind, you didn’t understand the wood, but at least you were capable of acknowledging the importance of the papers. One of the papers was a picture, of yourself in your earlier years, alongside the house, you cry. The other papers contained words like “mortgage”, “appraisal”, and “Escrow”, words that could only involve the house. All your meaningless worrying is finally over, the house finally accepts you once again. A second time, you will have the joy to reintroduce the house back into your life.

Going back to the box, you surprisingly realize the wood is gone, without a single trace of where it might have gone. You start calling yourself names, for how worthless you are that you couldn’t keep track of a few logs.

You search everywhere for the logs, and still, nothing turns up. Eventually, you decide to give it up, like everything else important in your life. You take a nap.

When you wake up, you are not in your house, but instead in the house that finally accepted you back. You cry, and as your tears flow from unending happiness, you hear a voice, “No need to cry any longer, welcome home dear one.”

“But… I don’t deserve your kind treatment anymore… why have you welcomed me back?” You ask, foolishly.

The voice simply sighs, and the door to the room you woke up in swings open. You follow the open doors until you find the heart of the house, the most magnificent part of the entire house. It’s deep, warm pulses fill you with happiness and tranquility. If there is anything your useless mind knows, is that the house knows all your desires, and will take care of you.

“No need to beat yourself up anymore, young one. I will help you now, no longer will you cry alone.” The house warmly whispered, the heart still beating.

While you cry again, the heartbeat gets closer, and soon you are on the heart, crying away the pain. These are not tears of sadness, but the tears of hope, desire, and satisfaction. You wipe away the tears with your sleeve and embrace the heart. You feel weak, very weak, and soon you fall asleep on the heart.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You wake up, in a quick panic. Your body feels drained, and you have no idea how long you rested on the heart. You want to move, but you can’t. You are helplessly stuck on the top of the heart, and without help soon, you will die here. You want to sleep more, but you choose not, so you do not close your eyes. Do not close your eyes, it will be the last time you do.

Determination moves you to push off the heart, falling hard to the ground. The heart beats harder and turns from a soft red to a rigid black. The calm pulses from before quickly switched into rapid thuds, shaking the house entirely.

“Why!? Why must you defy me once again? I accept you and give you a home that you love, and you throw it away again and again!” The heart sputtered, cracking the ground and walls around you, “This is the final straw. You are no longer welcome here ever again.”

You get up, finally regaining enough strength, and grab a piece of wood that broke off during the house’s crazy antics. You drive it deep within the heart, and the house rumbles. The house soon crumbles on top of you, and you become trapped.

When you open your eyes, and the dust settles, you begin to panic. The roof, the walls, and the heart all rest somewhere on top of you, and you can barely move. You soon get your hand free, and bring it to your face, pinching yourself. You start to think this is a dream, but the severe pain in your cheek and legs remind you this is all real.

Disturbed and concerned for your future health, you start screaming, hoping someone will hear you. Multiple fruitless attempts and several breaths later, and you realize you are alone, trapped.

All of this, you start to think, was a mistake, and wish you could rewind time and do it differently. How easy life would be if you could do that, huh? Alas, life is never that kind. You remember when you first met this house.

It was a few months ago, and you were walking home from the park, and the house called out to you. You thought nothing of it at the time and thought maybe someone was trying to screw with you. However, the door opened by itself, and you entered. Not much of an interesting tale, but you find it calming to recall easier times.

No one with miss you, and you know that. There is no one out there who cares about you enough to search for you. This fact does not scare you anymore. Good. You realize the voices from before haunted you and diminished you seemingly beyond repair. However, you somehow fought back against the evil within yourself. It may cost you your life, but anything is better than living like that, you decide.

You close your eyes one last time and dream one last time. You see yourself, lying on the floor in your own home. You don’t know what you are particularly doing, but you brush off the strange behavior. You were fresh out of caring to worry about your dream-self. In the dream, you watch yourself for quite a while, before your dream-self gets up, and stares at you.

“Look at you, you finally beat me. I tried, I really did. I guess I succeeded a little, now didn’t I?” Your dream-self giggled and then walked out the house.

“Wait-!” You, the one watching, call out, but your dream-self just continues walking along. Now you are stuck, watching your desolate home as you slowly starve and suffocate in the real world. Well, ‘stuck’ implies you wish to leave, but you don’t want to. You’ve accepted your fate, and you are content with looking at the place that was always there for you from the beginning. Even if you didn’t appreciate it then, you sure do now.

Here it is, Prompt #1, and I gotta say, I’m really excited for the rest. Thank you @storypromptsforfun for giving me this awesome challenge I can work on! Hopefully, I can keep up the weekly stories, and although this one is short, the next one should be a little bit longer. See you guys later, and enjoy the story! --TW

#storypromptsforfun #second person #1 down #51 to go

0 notes

atiredwriter42-blog · 7 years ago

Text

The Jailbird

Click... Clack...Clank… Boom… Bang… Bash… Settling, settling once more. The key unlocks the door in front of you? Of course. It always has. You’ve always had the choice. What’s the point in locking you up then? This all involves that frivolous word “values” and encompasses other things like “morals” and whether it’s “right”. A man did something wrong, and you give him chance after chance to redeem himself when he has already proven rotten? Imagine if such meaningless things were instead replaced with actual weight. Stop trying to fix those that are broken. Rather, refine those already shining. Someone will only be measured according to their worst achievement, and never their best. The mightiest man can solve all the world’s problems, but they’ll never get recognized if they trip. Likewise, if the average man never trips, he is viewed as perfect. What kind of logic is that?

These walls around you are futile. You can break them any moment, so why don’t you? What holds you back? Of course, all my questions are rhetorical. Even if they weren’t, you’d still refuse to acknowledge them, let alone answer them. You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot force the horse to drink. You know who said that? Personally, I don’t think you know, and that’s OK, but that means I don’t either. Why would it matter anyway? Some old dude threw it up to appease some fake worshipers, so why does the man matter? It has something to do with those “morals”, I guarantee it. If a “menace of society” spoke those words, everyone would cease to say it, no matter the truth behind the words. What kind of logic is that?

The key fits perfectly. I hardly doubt the door is locked in the first place. The only thing in this cell that is locked is your heart. You refuse to open it, and I can’t blame you. After all, those who opened it just to tarnish and blacken it, bad memories set in quickly before good ones even get a chance to. Even when you clean the best you can, some spots stay there forever. Others can see them when they open you up and instantly disregard it. Why do they do it? Do they dump their own blackness in you to make themselves feel better? I think not. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. You will soon realize yourself, but those in pain have no other way to react to the heart opening to them than to destroy it. At this point, there are too many hearts that are damaged, too many people in these cells, that even one, or two, or one thousand for that matter, cannot possibly imagine saving them all. Instead, those with the ability to heal and protect do not heal and protect, but instead, use it as a symbol of power. They manipulate those looking for their healing and power, darkening their hearts until they can no longer recover. What kind of logic is that?

It’s all twisted, this world. Everything that should be wrong is right, and right is disregarded as a lazy attempt to finish what has been started. Yet, it seems this never bothers you in the slightest? Maybe long ago it did, but now you are accustomed to such corrupt things. At this point, it’s foolish to believe that you yourself have not become corrupt. Even the light can be obscured with the smallest object, leaving nothing but the shadows. So why do you continue with this worthless facade? What is the point in pretending everything is the way it should be? Do you truly believe that all of this around you is, in fact, the way it should be? What kind of logic is that?

Even the window you look out of entices you. You look, and you desire for all it shows. Even if the feet you are shown are muddy, rotten, and disgusting, you still yearn for contact. That really shows the nature of the world at this point. The torture of this cage force you to long for things you never truly want. The darkness drives you to love what was never there in the first place, warmth, and light. What kind of logic is that?

Even with years upon years of experience and thinking, you will never hardly ever understand the concept. The concept in of itself is convoluted and jumbled into a sweet mess of emotion and more understanding. I wager that even if you could understand, and understand the understanding that comes with understanding, you’d still be lost for what to do. You would have knowledge and understanding, but the understanding as to what to do with it would still be beyond you. Hypothetically, even if you did know what to do with it, would you?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

Shut up.

Please. No more talking. I need sleep.

Spare me this, bother me when I at least have the energy to refute.

You get your time and give the others theirs.

You do know, someday, you’ll no longer be here? Have you ever thought about that? Since you love questions and you just adore scrutinizing all I do, how about I throw some back? I can get rid of you right now! I can do it, I have it in me! Do you not believe me? Then push more buttons, feed the fire with burning coals! Only when the beast unleashes and you have no hope of calming it will you realize that you have made a grim mistake. I’ll say this one last time, do not tempt me. You may stand next to me, and you may communicate with me regularly, but that is not the same as being my equal. Once you understand that, I’ll answer to you. When you swallow your pride and give up your actions against me, I will answer your childish questions. For now, fly away. Fly away like a bird when encountering a threat. Fly away, and when you are finally a safe distance from me, turn around to understand. Understand and cry. Cry away your foolish, naive nature. Then come back to me and ask your questions. You will soon find that you hardly want the answer to them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oi maggots, get up and eat yer scraps. Oi! Are ye hearin’ me? I am speakin’ to ya! Get yer sorry arses up an’ fill’r up!” The warden said.

I moved aside my pillow that covers my face and sat up. The cell was as I remember from the night before. Dark grey walls with a seemingly darker floor and ceiling. I looked out the barred window, and could only see darkness. Even if it was later in the day, The window faced away from sunrise, so the dusk was the only time the sun could be seen. I pushed myself up, waddling over to the mush. The contents of meat fat, vegetable scraps, and leftover bathing water were the morning meal. Soon lunch would bring some cold soup and burnt bread, and dinner would treat us prisoners to a full course meal of raw pig. This town didn’t take kindly to prisoners, no matter the offense.

Reluctantly, I downed the scrap and gulped the water. I ruled it was better than dying, however painfully horrendous it was. Hours go by as I sit alone in the cell. Soon enough, it is lunch and more food comes around, with a little gift.

“Ello again Maggots! This time, I brought ye all something to… reconsider yer incarceration.” The Warden boomed, slamming the door open to the cells, leaving the food behind, and a single cloth.

Inside the cloth is something that has always been there. Every time at lunch, they give us a key. The key unlocks the door that holds us in. The choice to leave will forever be ours to make. Why do they do this? What purpose does it have to hold people in a pseudo prison? Someone can kill a man, be thrown in here, and leave the next day, and although the town will hate them, they have no obligation to stay. It’s all a sick joke. They hold us here to laugh at us, and when we leave, we are shunned and looked down on like insects. I hate to admit it, but he was right all along about this place.

“Pshh… Pshhh! Over here!” A voice whispered, “By the window!”

“What? What could you possibly want with me?” I snarled.

The voice came from a young boy who was lying down on his belly, looking inside my cell. He looked like an ordinary kid, but his eyes seemed distant. He looked at me, but only physically, and his did not, or it didn’t care.

“Listen… My friend got locked up in here last night for stealing some bread. Do ya mind handing it to him?” The boy said.

“Why do I have to give it to them? Can’t you ask The Warden to leave it with them during lunch? I’m mighty sure the man won’t mind at all to help out a kid like yourself.” I responded back, mildly angry.

“I know I can, but frankly, if I’m seen anywhere ‘round this place, I’m as good as dead! My friends won’t go near me for months! What’s worse yet is Frankie won’t go with me to the Pig Festival comin’ up! Now I’m asking ya nicely to do it for me. Plus, I’m already risking enough comin to see ya in the first place!” The child whimpered.

Although he wasn’t quite paying attention to me, I was paying attention to him. He moved differently than other kids, seemed anxious. Of course, everyone would be anxious to come near this place and even more so to talk to a prisoner, but he could care less about that. People who are anxious about this place talk to us like dirt, and never make eye contact. The boy not only treated me like an actual human, but he looked me in the eyes, however, empty it was. So, the question is, what is he so worried about?

“Listen, it’s quite kind of you to come down here and talk to someone like me, but I’m going to have to respectfully decline your offer. Not only does the warden hate me, but I don’t plan on leaving my cell for quite some time. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t provide any kind of assistance. Children are normally kept to the left of me, if you walk down a few paces and talk to a man named Charlie, he’ll gladly help you out.” I answered.

“Mister, please. Ya don’t understand! I need to go right now! People are lookin’ fer me!” He began, and quickly I knew the problem. His voice matched my suspicion.

“Kid, All I can do now is take the package, or whatever you got there in your hand, and hold on to it till further notice. I can’t get it to your friend, nor can I get it to someone who can, that’s not how it works down here.” I dismissed, slightly angered.

The kid whimpered, and spit at me, yelling something about scum and other names I’ve heard a dozen other times. That part came with being down here, but the next part got to me. About 5 minutes after the affair, I could hear distant screams. Not just any scream, a high-pitched child’s scream. Chills flowed down my body and rose again as the screaming ended.

It’s just a simple boy. It’s his fault for risking it all. Ignore him, ignore him! You don’t understand, you can’t help him, he’s not alive anymore. There was nothing you could’ve done. Please, listen to me. Relax and-

No. No, there was something I could’ve done. I could’ve helped him. All he asked was to deliver a simple package. It may have a nuisance, but I could’ve done it. What’s wrong with me? I have to go out there and see if he’s ok. Even if he’s not, I can at least tell his pal in the slammer with me what happened. The kid may hate me for life, but it’s the least I can do.

Stop! Don’t grab it! It’s already too late anyway. The next key won’t be until tomorrow, so there’s no way you’ll make it in time. It’ll all be for nothing, so please, just stay in here. Remember what happened last time? You know exactly what I am talking about. Do you want to repeat that again? Tell me. Answer me!

“Of course I remember! How could I forget?” I yelled.

Of course, I know. Forgetting something like that in a place like this? When that happens, I’ll have gone insane long before that. Last time was different. The situation at hand is dire, the past was mere child’s play. Last time I was a fool, and deserved what I got, but this time is not like that. I am wiser and, although I still deserve whatever comes my way, I will do everything in my power to not allow that to affect others. Plus, I find it hard to listen to you when your ‘friend’ was so aggressive to me earlier.

Of course, I am deeply sorry for that, but I am different. I’m not here to anger you, I’m here to warn you! This has been fishy from the beginning. I know you hate my friend and, in turn, you hate me, but that doesn’t mean you cannot heed my warnings! I care not what you feel towards me, but I do care about what you do! You may not want to believe it, but my friend still cares about you, as do I! If you get hurt, or worse, then where will we go? Who will we talk to? Please, I know it’s difficult, but think about the repercussion of your actions!

Consider what may happen to me? Who cares about me? I, the one who owns this flesh, do not care for it anymore! I am ready to cast it away for the chance at redemption. Who are you to deny me that? Now quiet down and tell your friend that he can find someone else to bother, I’m tired of hearing his voice anyways!

There will come a time when you are on the verge of your demise when you will realize your mistake! It is hard to imagine, but I see it in you! I see your desire to keep on going. Please, before the key comes at lunchtime tomorrow, search yourself and find what I am talking about. If you spend all night searching, and you cannot find it, I will not stop you to save the boy. However, If you find even a glimmer of it, I will not permit you to leave this room.

Oh, a bargain you say? Once you realize that you cannot stop me, you try persuading me? You are more foolish than I was in the past! I already know what I will find if I search inside myself. Filthy secrets, disgusting lies, hideous betrayals, and morbid schemes is all that is inside me. If there is one thing that I will listen to, and even agree on, is my will to continue on. I will use what I will find inside myself to help that boy. My filthy secrets will open doors to the boy, my disgusting lies will bring him closer, my hideous betrayals will cement his security, and my morbid schemes will sacrifice my own. Please, for the sake of us both, stop trying to halt me.

If that’s how you feel, then I suppose I have no other choice. I will respect your wish, and leave you to yourself. When it is late at night, you will have no other choice but to think. Then, and only then, will you have nothing else to do than to search. Mere boredom will ruin your plans. However, until then, lay in blissful ignorance, and I bid you, farewell friend.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What crime was so horrid that I allowed myself to be thrown into this hellhole, and stay here for so long? Have I been here so long that I drove myself to insanity and forgot everything I promised myself?

No, stop that, stop that at once! You are not here to question yourself, you are here to wait. Questions lead to the need for answers, rhetorical or not, and the need for answers lead to doubt, and doubt leads to something unimaginable. If I allow myself to do something like that, the boy out there will never be saved. I cannot promise myself like last time, and break it like last time. I am wiser, I know more, I know what to do, and what not to do. All I need to do now is sleep, and when I awake, the boy is as good as safe with his life.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Come… Come… Follow the desire of the heart.

Once you find it, then you can be awoken.

However, where can you even start?

Your heart you search for is broken.

Do you hear that? I scream, like the one you heard before.

At first, you ignored it, but it dug and cit deep until you cried out.

If you did not say a word, curses would rain down forevermore.

Now you and I know that you must do one thing, we know no doubt!

I awake from my slumber, but not to my cell. The room before me is darker than my cell. However, I can see everything clearly, a desk in front of me- considering I am standing in the middle of the room- and a chair directly behind it. Trinkets and baubles litter the desk, and to the sides of the desk lie plants. Some I can recognize, like the elderflower, for its tiny, white buds differentiate it from the others around it. However, the other plants I could not comprehend. Although the elderflower occupies the leftmost part of the room, there lies other plants on the rightmost part of the room, as well as a few on the desk. The rightmost plants look, in a way, evil. Their yellow tips, which trickle down into a deep black middle, make the entire bud look like an eye glaring at you. With dozens of these around each other, I looked away quickly, becoming rapidly uneasy. The final sum of plants lay around, on, and behind the desk. Each of the plants is separated into their own pots, which are surprisingly gigantic compared to the actual plant that is popping out of the dirt. About 5 of these same plants are spread out along the back of the room, and a strange powder connects them. What was most unsettling about the series of plants was the arrangement of powder. Not only does it scale up the desk in a way that powder should not, but it also forms an image my mind cannot comprehend. As I view the powder, my mind cannot view more two plants and their connected powders without being overcome by uncontrollable dizziness and nausea. I step back from the desk, the plants, and the overall eeriness of the room. The original door I entered from stood behind me, and I took in as much of the room as I could. At this position, the room appeared incredibly stretched out, as if someone was dragging it along as I backed towards the door. One thing was certain, I needed to leave, immediately.

What you find in this room is not what you would like.

The door… is… gone?

You have brought me here to help you, and yet you forgot why.

Am I trapped in this room? There is no way out.

Listen to me you fool! Of course, there is a way out, stop using your eyes, and open your mind.

What will thinking do now? I went from stubbornness to direness and now I see my mistake!

Before you were trapped, now you are free, and yet you cannot see that? I should have never listened to your call in the first place.

Wait! Don’t leave me! Please help me! This room is no freedom for me!

This is what awaits you on the outside. Freedom with an exception. Do you not know it? Once out there, you can never leave, but in here, in this tiny cell, you can always leave.

That sort of logic is preposterous, and only a madman applies it! Even if what you are saying is true, how will I end up here?

You contradict yourself like a child cries. Does that mean I won’t help you? No of course not, quite the contrary. Madmen who cannot admit their insanity keep me going. I cannot assist you too deeply, but I can say this, A man who seeks danger will regret it, but a man who waits for danger to come to him will always win.

Wait-!

The black canvas of a wall shined brighter than any sun ever will and blinded me that I could not see. The light itself became obscure in itself, and soon I could hear the warden banging and bashing the cells.

“Wake yer sorry arses up! The mornin’ meal ain’t waitin for yer molasses moving behinds!” The Warden boomed, while simultaneously slamming the metal.

I get up, and shake off a headache I procured from the dream the best I could. The dream. What was that? Who was that?

You know exactly who it is. I told you you’d find exactly what you needed. Your foolishness led you there, and your foolishness pulled you out. However, I will play the devil’s advocate here and further support why leaving here is such a bizarre and horrible idea. You already know what they think of you, let alone what-

I grabbed the food from its tiny gate and sat back down on my sleeping mat. Although hungry, now was not a time to eat, it was a time to think and devise a plan to-

You’re still going to leave this haven for yourself? You imprudent man! Listen to me! Listen to my words, for they are the only thing keeping you safe here! Sweet Father above, save this man from himself before he does-

What I want. I will do what I so desire. You are nothing! You are a silly voice in my head I created for myself to combat the monster that only attacks people like me! Without you, it would have devoured me in an instant, and I am grateful for it. This creature beckons once more, but not for its nature of isolation, but of its antithesis, society. If I do not confront it, that greater beast over there will eat me alive. Please, I beg of you, you have served your purpose as my guiding hand in the darkness of solitude.

No, please, you still need me! Desolation and remoteness still await you! I can see it-!

You are my imagination! If you can see it, so can I, and I clearly see nothing at all! How can you explain that, voice?

I suppose you are right about that. I understand now your feelings, so please forgive my previous hubris and allow me to leave.

With that, the voice stopped. Even when I beckoned to it, even when I cried out to it, it never responded. Finally, nothing could bother me as I left this hell to find that boy. Although I have sinned far beyond any redemption, I can try to lessen the punishment when I meet the devil in Hell. Now all that is left is to wait for the Warden to come around during lunch with my freedom. Wait, wait, and wait some more. Wait for the man who I’ve known for so long to let me go. All I must do now is simply wait. Wait. wait. Wait!

No, I must not break now, not when I am so close to the end. All I need to do is wait, and wait for the Warden. When that man comes with the key, I will grab it and be free.

I will be free? No, that sounds too good to be true. Once I leave here, what will I find? The boy? Something far more sinister? Dear god above, this anxiety is going to be the death of me! Who knows if the boy is even still around, let alone willing to see me, the man who wouldn’t listen.

That sounds just like me, however. The man who never listens, never understands, and who never learns. Just like the past, when I-

No, I must not think about that time now, or else I’m as good as gone. Focus on the end result, not the terms in which you go there! That damned fool was right, this will be quite difficult, but I will prevail. I will not allow my past mistakes to catch up with me now, and I will not allow the fear of the future to stop me from pursuing it.

I am scared… please… someone help me.

What? Who goes there? There is no one in this cell with me, and that voice is not like the others. What kind of absurdity is this? Who goes there? Answer me this instant!

Please, do not yell at me, please do not question me, just help me. That is all I ask of you… Will you help me?

I cannot help you if I don’t know anything about you. Why do you need-

Please do not finish that sentence! I told you, no questions, only assistance.

Fine, have it your way you stubborn fool. I may not ask any questions, but I demand you to tell me what you want.

Ah… loopholes I see. Well, it seems you have caught me on my tricks. You see sir, I am looking for help with my one issue, fear. I have an uncontrollable fear of everything around me, and I cannot function! Please, mister, I beg you solemnly, instruct me on such ways.

Ha! You have come to the wrong person young one -or so I hope you are, as the idea of a high pitched man is quite troublesome- I am everything but courageous. I am timid, cowardly, spineless, devious, unlovable, detestable, and the list goes on and on!

That… that can not be. I have heard so many things about you, and although I may not have thought it was you at first, your manner of speech was a dead giveaway! You may not know it, but you are the only one who can help me, so please, teach me.

So my manner of speech is familiar? Well, so is yours you conniving voice! You thought you could fool me, old friend? You left me in solitary for so long just to concoct this paper-thin lie? Pathetic! Now tell me for a fact, why have you come here?

Sir, I do not know what you’re talking about! I am who I am, and I am not the voice you speak of. This encounter was of the first. Also, however honored I am to talk to you, I must implore, please stop with the questions!

If you are not who I say you are, then it is impossible for us both to communicate with each other without opening our mouths at least once! And if you are correct in your accusation that you are not who I know you are, then you are simply another voice in my head. If that is the case, then please leave me alone, I must think about saving a life I jeopardized.

Why must you fight your destiny so? Just talking to you now is making me scared, so please, just help me!

I assume you believe it my destiny to help you. If this is the case, then it cannot be helped I suppose, I will assist you. The first thing to do when facing a problem is to identify it.

Yes! I see, I feel like I have already done this, as I have come to you for help, am I correct?

Well, sort of. You see young one, you have simply seen the issue, yet you have not identified the issue. How do you do this, you ask yourself. By coming to me, you see your issue, but by taking my advice and applying it, you identify the issue and are willing to, by any means necessary, rid yourself of it. Many believe that identifying the issue is the first step, yet they forgo the true time to apply it, the end. If you simply take in the knowledge you seek, and never apply it, then you have not truly identified the issue, you simply enjoyed the idea of getting help.

So if that isn’t the first step than what is?

If you asked that question, then you have completely ignored what I said. I said that many do not apply it after the matter. Of course, this is the first step, but it is also the end. Do you understand?

Ah! Please, I beg of you to stop with the questions, they feed my anxiety like an owner feeds his overweight cat!

Forgive me, I forgot. Nevertheless, the next step after you understand the issue is to find ways of dealing with the said issue. Throw together in your mind ways to defeat this monster in your mind, and remember, that is all this is. This issue you find, you fear, is nothing but imagination. We have, for what seems like the beginning of our race as a whole, always used fear to differentiate danger from something safe. Someone along the lines, however, allowed it to overpopulate their mind, polluting it with anxiety and doubt. So remember, fear is something that cannot be stopped, but fear beyond itself- mostly known as anxiety and doubt -is from the inner machinations of your rotten mind. Now, tell me some ways you could deal with your fears beyond fear.

Well, I don’t entirely understand what you said, but I’ll do my best. If I face my “fears beyond fear”, then will that help? Also, acquaint the idea of the fear with something more pleasant, than that in of itself will bring good thoughts, not rotten ones.

I will not say one way or another if these ways work. This brings me to my next point, after finding ways to tackle such a beast, apply them. If it is your fears beyond fear you wish to defeat, then face the threat I suppose, like you mentioned. If the technique does not work, then simply move on to another method you have made for yourself. One’s advice to another -yes, even this- will only take you so far, as the interpretation of the words rely solely on yourself, and not anyone else. That is all I have to say regarding this topic. If you have any more questions, please refrain from asking too many.

T-Thank you! You have no idea the extent to which I needed these magnificent words! I will do everything in my power to apply these and help my less than desirable position. Although I cannot right now, I will repay you tenfold- hopefully, sooner rather than late. As for me currently, I must take my leave, and I will see you soon enough, new friend.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With the leave of my new-found friend, the room was, once again, completely empty. My thoughts and I exchanged blows of the mind, soul, and character. We incessantly pulled each other further down the depths of despair and self-deprecation. I would send my thoughts further than I could imagine, and they would drag me down to finally witness the unimaginable.

There I noticed something unusual. There, within the dark recesses of the mind and the inconceivably unfathomable reality of my fears, I saw a familiar face. The face was one I never pictured ever in my existence, and yet I knew it like the back of my hand.

Their seemingly endless amounts of hair coiled around their gigantically majestic body like a boa constrictor to its prey. However, unlike the boa constrictor, the hair was tamed by the body, maneuvering elegantly around the body, firmly holding on as if the hair was afraid of losing its holder. The hair itself felt more alive and breathing than dead and anaerobic, flowing alongside the owner like a pet, but still taming itself to a domestic one. If the line of hair did not connect to the body’s scalp, I wouldn’t have known better to assume it was simply a hairy snake, rather than simple hair.

From a distance, I could not see their face but assumed that they wore a long face, as the manner in which the hair flowed conveyed a sense of loneliness within its owner. And -once my thoughts silenced at the silence of myself- the figure turned to face the both of us, confirming my suspicion only partly. Within the eyes, a sense of hopelessness filled the deep blue oceans that were the figure’s eyes. The focus of those eyes, however, were not on me, or anything in particular. Instead, the raft that was their eyes floated endlessly, without purpose, without meaning.

Describing the rest of the face was, well, quite literally impossible. Similar to the dream I had just this morning, once I glanced down to the nose and mouth of the figure, I was met with instantaneous nausea, piquing an equally instant response of averting my eyes elsewhere. Emptiness, emptiness, and even more emptiness met my quick attempt at escape. Defeated, I turned once more to the figure, to find them significantly closer to me than before, allowing me to get a closer look at their eyes, hair, and overall structure of the face.

I was completely surrounded by the hair, supporting once again the suspicion I had that the hair was in fact not just hair, but an entirely separate creature on its own. The carvings of the figure’s face expressed another emotion altogether; confusion and anger. Personally, the two coincide so much so that I consider them one in the same, as confusion brings anger of the mind, and anger brings confusion of the heart. However, I digress, as the figure’s perplexed grew more intense, frightening me further. It then spoke to me.

Its voice carried a weight that would have crushed me if I was not careful, and in this place and time, I was much to careful.

“I… I am glad to have found you in this place.” It said, cutting through my caution with extraordinary ease, almost crushing me with it’s intensity. “You must be confused, am I wrong? My Elderberries, Stinking Nightshades, and Mandrakes should give away my identity. However, this purgatory you managed for yourself is something quite fierce, isn’t it? Although I myself have not been trapped down here, many of your friends surely have, and have surely gone insane. The first, in which criticized you for allowing yourself to be confined in such a foolish place, lasted the longest. He fought, screamed, and yelled so loud, it initially summoned me, awaking me from a slumber I had not finished. I observed him from far away, and noted his insanity started to show soon after he stopped fussing about. The voices he began to ‘hear’ may or may not have been of my origin, but that was in the past, and quite difficult to pin down the culprit.”

“My… friends? You mean, the ones who I heard, but they were just voices! Simple, foolish voices I created, and when I didn’t need one, that one would transform into another, that is how I made it in my mind!” I wept, struggling now in the figure’s restrictive hair.

“That’s how you made it? Do you not realize you have no control over yourself? The reason you are here is simply your inability to control yourself! When you have control over a matter, you view it as out of reach, but once you lose that control, it suddenly feels free to you. No wonder the man went insane so soon! He was corrupt from the beginning. Nevertheless, the next one I noticed was notably more timid than the last, as he first began to weep for several minutes, after which he began to beg. To whom, I do not know, but it surely poured his heart out. This one called for your salvation, your redemption, and your safety. He wanted you to be safe in whatever you do, and to be fruitful in your eventual harvest. Of course, with such a contrast of emotions from the two, I saw it as a summon of me personally, so when you fell asleep, I dragged you to me in your dreams. Only now am I realizing that it would not have mattered one way or another, as you ended up here.” The figure recalled, turning his attention to past me, in which I followed suit.

“I could not have known so little about so much… I knew my blindness was affecting me, but I did not know it blinded me from myself! What about the last voice, the one I ran into before this affair?” I pleaded.

“Well, that one was the worst of them all. She started off with silence, concentrating herself into a single form. I was not close enough to identify the form, but I could feel the magnificence in it. I felt pity for the thing, but decided against helping it, as it would be unfair to the others before her. Her form bursted into colors that contrasted this nightmare, and laughed as she did it. I truly believed that she would be the one to escape, the one to return to you after coming to the most sinister parts of the mind. But alas, she soon faltered in her form, crumbling into a tangled, disorienting mess of color, herself, and emotion.” The figure spoke, once again almost pulverizing me with it.

Then, I finally understood what the figure turned to look at. In the far distance, I could see a disgusting mess of color and emotion. The other, which was seemingly herself, was so indistinctly like the color and emotion, it was as if she no longer existed. I turned away, terrified I would get sucked in if I stared for too long.

“Stop it! You must stop this torment at once, she has done nothing wrong, so you save her this instant!” I screeched, flailing about in the prison of the figure’s hair.

“Even if I could help her, I wouldn’t. It wouldn’t change anything, and may even worsen our situation here. You don’t understand at all do you? This tragedy that you see before you was no one’s fault but yourself and the girls. You threw her down here, and she allowed herself to be thrown down here. Fools should only know fools, but what about the clever? Well, the clever shouldn’t know any other clever ones, as it no longer makes them clever, but fools. The mind is most magnificent when it is isolated, as in this state it flourishes and blossoms into something beyond what it could ever imagine. Why do I tell you these points of knowledge? Has this company we have in each other truly driven me into the category of foolish? Truly insightful, Is it not?” The figure churned on, resisting against my attempts of struggle.

It was helpless, I could not save her, no matter how hard I tried. Once again, I am useless to others. That is all I ask, is for someone to use me and make me useful. How hard is that, to want to be useful to someone important? Has the past, full of anguish and sorrow, tainted anything and everything inside the muscle of love? God how pathetic I truly am!

Soon after the figure spoke, it began to move. I dreaded it would get closer, but unexpectedly, it took me to another place, within this void. This place was somehow more familiar than the void I tormented myself in, my cell. Although it was a form of torment, as I finally understood, it was much lighter and welcoming than the void I fell into.

“Why here? What purpose does this serve to show a dog his cage?” I cried, finally succumbing to the figure’s power, never again struggling to leave it’s grasp.

“You must learn, and learn well. Life is but an experience for you, and you will soon look back and realize that it was all part of the plan. Do you not understand? You will hurt, you will be in pain, and you will cry out in terror, anguish, and other emotions you’ll never come to name. However, you must realize that your heart is a muscle like the rest of your body, and the only way to strengthen it is to rip and tear at it until it grows an iron-like hide around itself.” It hummed. The figure then moved us closer, where I saw myself lying on the cell floor, fast asleep. However, it was not night time, but the time of day that would probably be between breakfast and lunch.

For a while, we simply watched me sleep, and although it was quite surreal, it was remotely calming. In the bosom of this figure, I had no worries but to watch and breathe. After I relaxed, and embraced its power, I finally grasped that it was not trying to captivate me, but simply comfort me, it seemed. The completely alien feeling of comfort and a mother’s touch danced around my mind when thinking about this, but without any desire to find answers, I quickly forgot it and watched something peculiar occur. A familiar sound echoed throughout my cell.

Click... Clack...Clank… Boom… Bang… Bash…

“No… it can’t be…”

Alright ya maggots, time fer yer thinkin’ time, Ha! Like usin’ yer noggin will do ya any good.

“Do not deny it, you already know what it is, who spoke just now, and why I have you hear.”

I’ll be back in an hour to see yer piss-poor decision! Enjoy the grub ya sorry bastards!

“Why!? Why keep me here, I need that key,an innocent life is-”

Oi, ya don’t look so good now do ya? Sleepin’ away the pain? Ha, good luck with that one pal! Seems to me like ya don’t feel like leaving, so I’ll be takin’ this here key.

“You already know the outcome if you leave this place. Why do you fight me so much on this matter? Forget it, you are only making things worse for yourself.”

Every word the figure said was true, even the tone at which it said it, but I still deny it. Why? Why does this even matter anymore? I knew from the scream I first heard in my cell that it was futile to attempt anything. However, something in me screamed out.

“I… am ready to leave. This world, the pressure it has on me, and it’s affect on my health is too much. This boy was always dead in my mind, never did I think completely that I could rescue him, that was never the case. His safety and my desire to get it was only a facade for my true feelings. I just want death. It’s all I’ve ever wanted since that day.” I whispered. The figure shifted behind me, and then loosened its grip on me.

“What exactly happened on “that day”? What haunts you so much that your only form of redemption is death?” It said, phasing out my cell and replacing it with a room, although keeping the grey color scheme. Instead of my sleeping body on the mat, there was a table, with two chairs. After motioning me to sit, the figure stared deep within my eyes, and most likely into my soul.

“Well, let me set the scene for you first. The town, the one that threw me into the cell, was a quite quaint one, but still beautiful in it’s own ways. The surrounding wildlife of deer and birds felt like family, and the trees like distant friends who shared memories I wouldn’t trade for the world. Each house was different, not only in size and color, but also in its nature. One house in particular oozed warmth and comfort, the kind you’d find when visiting your Grandmother in the winter for milk and cookies. Another felt distant, but protective, like a father who watches his child play, happy that they are, but cautious to danger. Every shop was locally ran, and the school was more of a secondary home. The little ones would leave school, and on some days, would visit some of the folks around the town, helping them when they needed it, and loving them, in the purest way a child can, when they wanted it. Every day was a copy of the last, but in its own way felt authentic. What happened? Well, it started when one of the kids began a war. This was no typical ‘run at the enemy and try to kill each other’ sort of war, this was the kind of war that everyone feared for themselves, while simultaneously living about their lives. This child sought blood, and the town gave it. A town that was so delicate in balance tipped so easily at the first sign of violence, and the entire town went mad. The schools build fences and bars for the classrooms, and the businesses stopped selling after 5. However, this was puny compared to the physiological damage the town suffered. Everyone kept an eye on their backsides, locked their doors no matter what, and stopped talking to anyone, excluding close family.” I explained. The figure shifted in great discomfort, but eventually nodded for me to continue.

“This sudden change from peace to war drove many insane, but I tried my best to live normally. I went to my store, worked and barely sold an item, and walked home. Days before I had to close down permanently, I was in the back, crushing a single box that contained a refill for some products, and as I threw the box out back, I hit something unusual. A child whimpered, and at first I was stunned, but soon I brought the kid inside. I tried to nurse him back to health, but the wounds on his body was too much for someone who never had to deal with anything more than a simple thorn in the hand or a paper cut. Hell, I don’t even know if the kid died in my store or outside it. Yet, there was no time to cry, as I had a dead child in my store. No matter my story, I would have been framed a child murderer or worse. At this point, getting rid of the body was the best bet, but it didn’t fit in any box completely without looking suspicious. How would I have known how messy shit like that gets when you try to get creative? I was foolish, and I should have left the kid out there in the first place. Torrents of blood gushed out whenever I tried to cut down the size of the kid. Blood was on my hands, and my store looked like someone splattered gallons of red paint everywhere. My luck ran out, I was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong tools. An officer from the jail decided to stop by some stores that evening to check for any ‘suspicious’ activity. The evidence was too much against me, the body, the blood, the saw, everything. There was witch hunts for my head, and I didn’t even try to stop them. They convicted me with child murder, rape, and even cannibalism! Can you believe that? I was foolish to think that I could even attempt to help anyone at that time! The entire I was in that cell, I thought about the events, and how miserable I felt that the child who died around my store would never have any vengeance on the one who did it. Now with this other child just recently who sought out help in me, brought back so many old memories that I couldn’t handle it. The wound in my heart was scarred, and the child ripped it open and dug deeper. What hurt worse was the fact that he didn’t even know who I was! What if I really did terrible things to children? Why wouldn’t the town educate their children on the dangers of some strangers? If they were going to frame me, they might as well should have drove it in everyone’s minds that these people like me are horrible and they should steer clear of us!” I cried, on the verge of bursting into tears and screaming in pain. The figure that was once uncomfortable was now in emotion that was foreign to me. The anguish that was in the officer’s eyes when he saw me red like a tomato combined with the despair and anxiety of the girl who came to me looking for help are the only emotions I could think of when I saw their face tense. It’s eyes flinched once I finished talking, and then stood up, pacing the room we sat in.

“I… I see. I truly had no idea the extent of your pain. You must be tormenting yourself every day for it. Your suffering has pulled others into creation and made them suffer as well.” It said.

The next few movements the figure did was, to be but lightly, utterly magnificent. The way it moved reminded me of how she moved with terrible beauty of color and emotion. It was more refined, but it still had that scent of her on it. It danced inside the room, but the room soon fell apart to it’s grandeur, and once again we were in the void. I couldn’t help but break down in tears, falling to my knees, and looking at the figure. This went on for seemingly an eternity, until I soon woke up back in my cell.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The series of events that followed me awaking in my cell are troublesome to say the least. And although I lie here, outside my cell and with a knife in my chest, I regret none of it.

Well, I suppose after I awoke from the wild dream I had, I must have imagined me sleeping through lunchtime, as soon afterwards a key dropped, followed by the warden’s nagging. I did not think twice before grabbing the key and unlocking the door.

“Huh? Ya finally decided to leave this ‘er shithole? Congrats mate! I’ll be seein’ ya on the other side!” He boomed, and soon after left.

The prison was exactly as I remembered it, dark, brooding, and unpleasant to look at. Too many sad faces and depressing scenes filled the cells, and I finally found my way out of the prison. The door to the outside was right before me, and I contemplated opening it. It couldn’t be this easy, could it?

The door opened by itself. The person who walked in had a familiar face, but I couldn’t place my finger on it. I continued on to the outside, and almost instantly became blinded by the sunlight.

Mister! Mister! Over here, I am over here!

I couldn’t see a thing, but I walked on towards the voice. It was also familiar, but I already knew who it was. By the time I was adjusting to the sunlight, I gasped as I realized where I was. To the left of me was a bakery that I would always get lunch from, and to the right was my own store. It was still there, and still in exact condition from the last time I let a customer in. Right next to the trash cans where I found the boy so long ago I found another boy. The same boy that sought out my help. Dead, right next to my store.

“Hey! You again? What are you doing back in this-” Someone behind me said, but quickly stopped as they noticed what I was looking at.

“Once again, I was the foolish one. At least I figured out who did it.” I whispered, right before falling to the ground.

The one who tackled me was the same police officer as before. Too many things fell too close in line from the past, and once again, I was too foolish to see. The officer was crying, unlike last time, as he was too much in shock to cry. This time, I had not started to dismantle the body, so the shock only brought tears.

“You goddamn piece of shit! You son-of-a-bitch, good-for-nothing waste of space! Again? This town let’s another child fall through the cracks to this monster!? What’s the point in trying to lock people up if they can just leave? You are going to be the last person to slip through, just you wait, I’ll protect this town!” The officer cracked, reaching for his baton and lunging at me.

The blows hurt, but not as much as his words. He voiced the opinion of the entire town into just a few sentences, and acted upon it. If there was one reason I left this place, other than to save a dead boy, it was to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Before you beat me to death officer, I must tell you one thing. Destroy this town’s rotten core. This prison, it is not what this place needs. There is one thing I learned while in there, and it was simply this; the torment of others do nothing but crush another, and although some deserve it, others who are truly sincere in repentance, than this is not the course of action.” I moaned, trying hard not to cry out as he continually hit me, increasing the intensity after I suggested the issue.

His fury was like no other, and his vengeance burned like the sun in the morning. He was just getting started in his course, and I was just ending in mine. I will enter this world foolish and crying, and I will leave this world more foolish, but I will not shed a tear. I will not shed a tear for this wicked world, I will cheer on the few foolish souls who try to change it. Go on, fellow fools, and make the world great.

“You… You would never understand repentance! Your remorse only goes for the muck on the floor! Enough of your blasphemy, and perish a horrible death that you deserve!” He screamed, reaching for something out of my view from the ground. The shining metal of the object glimmered like the end of a tunnel. Truly, that is what this was, the knife he drew on me was the end of prolonged, horrible, and miserable road. After my time has come and gone, my blood will carve a new road for those in the future, and that fact alone helps me lie here in peace, as I breathe away my few remaining breaths.

Wow, that took a lot longer than I would have hoped, but it’s finally here. I am quite proud of this one, more so than the other pieces I’ve done. Also, now that this is done, I can finally start working on that challenge of 52 prompts for the year, so look forward to that. Anyways, guess I should get working on that now huh, got a lot of work cut out for me, see you all soon! --TW

#self hatred #voices in my head #loneliness #wow this is dark when you think about it

0 notes

atiredwriter42-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Hey guys, long time no see! Although I am currently working on a short story that has taken a lot longer than I anticipated, I want to let you all know that I will hopefully have it done within this week or next. Also, I want to mention that after that short story goes up, I will be following strictly this template for the next year, or until I completely finish this list (Also, you guys should definitely follow storypromptsforfun, they post some awesome stuff). Not only does it sound fun to do, but the experience I get from it will be invaluable. These will also be much smaller projects than other things I have done, but I think they’ll still be as enjoyable. By the end of this, I might do a short summary describing the progress I went through, as well as the experience of writing in general. Hopefully, you all will enjoy the coming year as much as I will, and I hope by the end we can all look back and say, “Damn, that was me?” --TW

One Year Short Story Challenge

If you write one short story a week, it’s guaranteed improvement. Short stories can be anywhere from 1,000 to 30,000 words, but for the sake of sanity, the stories I write will be under 10,000 with a cap of around 7,500. Here’s some ideas!

1. Write entirely in second person. Someone is instructing your character to do something they’ll regret.

2. Write a first person story from the point of view of an inanimate object.

3. Write about a character trapped in the body of a kid about to start kindergarten.

4. Write about a high schooler trying to run away from a dangerous situation.

5. Write about a witch trying to find her lost familiar.

6. Write about a detective who uses questionable methods but always gets the right answer.

7. Write about a marching band who decided to block traffic for one whole day. Why?

8. Write about a character from the future. They aren’t trying to save anyone, they just want to live in a better time.

9. Write about a character with depression who’s desperate to help their friend, who suffers from the same thing.

10. Write about a middle school student going on their first date.

11. Write about a student who was trying to work at a coffee shop when a super villain attacks. Superpowers weren’t supposed to be real.

12. Pick a meme song and write a story based on it.

13. Look at your favorite old emo music and select the angstiest lyric you can find. Go wild.

14. Write with one oddly specific color in mind. Lavender. Fuschia. Carolina blue.

15. Write a story from the villain’s point of view, at the final battle.

16. Write about a character who plays music at a street corner and what they witness.

17. Write about a student who falls asleep in class and wakes up in a sterilized room.

18. Write about an elementary school ‘breakup’ between two fifth graders.

19. Write about two people who live in an RV and travel the country. They hate each other.

20. Write about a person who can talk to food. How do they eat?

21. Write about someone who breaks animals out of zoos.

22. Write about someone who can jump into books, and why they stay in normal life.

23. Write about someone who can’t go a week without almost dying, and what happens when they have their first quiet week.

24. Write a high school scenario that you heard about through gossip, or a scenario you overheard in real life or from a job. Dramatize it.

25. Write about a werecat who takes pleasure in being endlessly pampered by humans.

26. Write about a superhero who’s only power is making anything last forever. Their phone never breaks, and their toilet paper never runs out. Neither does their ammunition.

27. Write about two twins, one who’s a superhero and one who’s a super villain.

28. Write about a thief who hangs out with rich people but never steals their stuff.

29. Write about someone who can fly, but is too scared of heights to have ever tried it.

30. Write about a friendship about to break apart after ten years. Why?

31. Write about a sentient city, and how it helps out travelers and lost tourists.

32. Write about children running an actual rat race for fun.

33. Write from a zombie’s point of view of the zombie apocalypse.

34. Write about the skeleton inside you. It’s completely sentient. Watch out.

35. Write about a boy who has actually weaponized Axe, and sells it to people as a replacement pepper spray.

36. Write about a villain who can manipulate ice. They stab people and the weapon melts, leaving no fingerprints. How do you stop them?

37. Write about a student who decides to do anything except study before exams, and ends up bungee jumping and skydiving the day of.

38. Write about an invisible hitchhiker. They travel the country for free, by climbing into people’s cars at gas stations.

39. Write about a child who lives inside an amusement park, but never gets noticed. Another kid sees her. It’s the first time she’s been seen.

40. Write about a weredog touring a city in human form and trying their absolute hardest not to pee on the poles.

41. Write about a student who goes cold turkey on coffee the week before final exams.

42. Write about a pet turkey on Thanksgiving. They’re horrified.

43. Write about your phone, which is sentient. It finally decides to notify you in hopes you stop watching the exact same vine compilation at 2 in the morning every day.

44. Write about a girl who lives in the woods—30 minutes away from a huge city.

45. Write about someone trying to steal a giant monument, such as the giant peach in South Carolina or the world’s largest rubber band ball.

46. Write about cartoon characters suddenly faced with realistic risks from their actions.

47. Write about a warlock whose curse backfired on them—on their job interview at a respectable company.

48. Write about the sentient Chuck E Cheese costume that lives at the store, and whether it truly loves children.

49. Write about a dead forest, and the arsonist who caused it that visits every week.

50. Write about a couple that meets after they get in a street fight over a dropped twenty dollar bill. They’re actually perfect for each other.

51. Write about a genie trapped in a bottle of Axe.

52. Write about the craziest thing that ever happened to you.

#update #nervous but excited #see you soon

2K notes · View notes

atiredwriter42-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Broken Promises

“Patient number 234D34F please step forward,” The black box buzzed.

“Patient number 234D34F, would you consider revealing to us, the Gatekeepers, everything that holds your physical body down?” One bald man said to me.

“Of course not, Oldie. You might as well stop asking the question, you already know the answer.” I responded.

With his remark that it was “only protocol”, I left the room.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She stood there, crying. Eventually, I would too.

She had that effect on people. She didn’t feel emotion, she emitted it. Whenever she entered a room, everyone felt as she did. She woke up on the wrong side of the bed? So did everyone else. She had her first kiss? Euphoria flooded the senses.

What caused this, I do not know. The word “Supernatural” sure comes to my mind, but I don’t think that’s what this was. You see, “supernatural” denotes an unknown understanding, and with her, you just knew. Nothing was strange, she wore her emotions like clothes, whether she liked it or not.

What importance did this have? What was so special about her? Her control of other’s emotions wasn’t close to the best part. Her eyes sparkled brighter than the sun but were deep and blue like the ocean bottom. Her long, wavy black hair flowed like a river. Her voice could only compare to angels, and she always smelt like a mixture of fresh dew in the morning and lavender. She cast a line, and I took the bait like the naive fish I was. But, I suppose that wasn’t too bad, falling in love with her. For one, her emotions stopped affecting me altogether, and although I ended up where I am now, I’d never forgotten her, never give her away for my own satisfaction. And guess what? That’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’ll outlive these sons-of-bitches and witness the end of time with them, mark my words.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My “room”, which felt more like a cell, was pure white. Everything in it was white, the walls, the bed, the sink, even the water, all of it white. When I first arrived, I was so disoriented that the first 10 years, my knees bruised beyond repair. Well, “beyond repair” is, just like the room, a terrible word to use. This institution was somewhat of a prison, and no matter what you did, you could never leave, never see the outside of the walls. Even death couldn’t save you when you’re already dead. It wasn’t until 100 or so years into my time here did I start remembering. Oh heavens, I surely remembered.

The day I remembered everything is still difficult to explain. Apparently, death temporarily wipes your memories as you recover from your, let’s say, unfortunate demise. Why did it take 100 years? I don’t know, I suppose it has something to do with reliving the past, but I’m not too sure.

I was mindlessly walking around the institution, and was making my rounds saying hello to my “roommates”. I began my greeting to someone, although I cannot remember. Ironic isn’t it? Once you remember everything, you forget so much. Anyways, I digress. I raised my hand, and suddenly I wasn’t in the institution. I wasn’t anywhere really. I was simply floating in what seemed to be nothingness. My tranquility most likely was due to my familiarity with this place. I cannot remember, but I had a feeling that the infinite darkness was somewhere I saw every night. When I fell asleep, I had nothing to reflect on, so I went here. Maybe this is what they called the “recovery period”. Except, unlike other nights, a voice spoke.

“Well, I suppose that took shorter than expected. I guess that’s the kind of power that would come from… let’s see… Jonathan Hughes.” The voice echoed.

“W-Where am I?” I squeaked.

At this point, the memory of the place fades, and suddenly, I’m back at the institution, waving at someone, knowing everything. They had to restrain me, I think, from my disorientation. I then woke up in another white room.

“It seems like you got your memories back, now didn’t you Patient 234D34F?” A nurse said, her dark skin contrasting in every wrong way with the white room.

I couldn’t speak. I didn’t need to. I knew why I was here, how I got here, and what my next step was. The first two were as easy as remembering, but that last one was the tough one.

My death on Earth involved someone close, but the face of the person was fuzzy. I couldn’t see who brought me here, but I supposed that wasn’t important. What people consider death from Earth is really just another step in human life. The 80 or so years we live on Earth are the infancy years of human life. The stage I was at, was the next step I suppose. To put it in Earthling terms, infancy was between the ages of birth to about 10. Then, once you left Earth, you entered adolescence. Here, just like every parent can relate to, is where rebellion starts. I guess I am just another one of those rebellious types, but this rebellion would last forever. You see, unlike the first stage, Adolescence required the complete and utter participation of the patient. To submit and move on, you’d have to relinquish everything that “ties down your body to the old Earth.” Basically, once you received your memories, you were to give them up to these Gatekeeper guys, and you were able to move on. But what happened to her, so long ago, I couldn’t just tell some old bald dudes, who called themselves “Gatekeepers”, about it and leave it at that. There was so much more to the story than that.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unlike the day I remembered, the first day I met her I’ll never forget it, not a single detail. It started like any other, I woke up at 7:00 am, got ready for my dead-end job, which I only have to pay for the student loans that got me nowhere, and left my one bedroom, one bath apartment. As you can clearly tell from these circumstances, life was good. I decided to make a slight detour, heading instead to the liquor store instead of the gas station to pick up some food. I heard from a friend that the prices are cheaper, and I went to confirm. Sure enough, the Snickers bar I grabbed every day from the gas station was 20 cents cheaper at the liquor store. When working a minimum income job, you gotta make compromises somewhere, even if it’s 20 cents.

Satisfied with a cheaper Snickers bar, I walked to work. However, I would never make it to work that day. With my new route, I stumbled upon a park, which was surprising, because I never knew this town could have anything nicer than a Chick-Fil-A. Sitting down, I decided to enjoy my Snickers bar and the view. Trees lining the edge, and a small pond in the middle, filled with some fish, and the occasional duck. Small moments like these were something, at the time, I looked forward to. I would say I lived a fairly boring and simple life, so something out of routine felt invigorating. However, my simple lifestyle was not ready for the upcoming change. About a few minutes pass before I decide to sit up, but the instant I do, I am overwhelmed by a sense of sadness. This sadness, however, was not like a sadness you experience when you lose something, or when you see a couple walking down a street. This sadness was better described as a disappointment. The former was more of a pure sadness, one you felt when something didn’t go your way, but the latter was more accepting. Once something sad has become commonplace, or you’ve come to terms with it, I think it becomes a disappointment. Waking up one morning realizing nothing is going to change, for one, is a perfect example.

This overwhelming feeling of disappointment motivated me to get up, but instead of going to work, I walked further into the trees. There, a beam of light shone through the leaves, revealing the source. She looked up at the hole in the trees with the same disappointment I felt. At the time, it looked like she was complacent with whatever she was thinking about, it wasn’t until later that I realized that she was the reason for my emotions. For now, I approached her.

“H-Hey, what are you doing out here?” I started, as I looked at her closer. She wore nothing but a robe of sorts and no shoes. Her long hair would have covered her entire body even without the help of the robe, but I was glad she didn’t try it, as I had a distaste for nudists.

“Sometimes I come out here and think. It’s a good thing to do from time to time, I think. What about you? What brings you here?” She asked. Her voice rolled off her tongue and caressed my ears, enticing me to draw closer.

“I guess I’m here for the same reason,” I scoffed, “Kind of crappy that you only get so much time to think? You’d think with how important it is, you’d be able to do it more. The hassle of the world really messes with that though.” I commented. Somehow, everything on my mind flowed out of me. I had no problems telling her things, and I’ve never met this person in my life. It felt strange, but I ignored it because it was the first time someone actually listened to me. I would talk to my buddies at work, and they’d shrug it off and continue talking about sports. In my world, no one talked to me and opened up, so I never did either.

“Yeah… the world sure does that do you doesn’t it. Guess it’s rude to strike up a conversation without knowing each other's names, I’m Ella, nice to meet you.” Ella said, turning her head from the hole in the trees to look at me.

What happened next, however, was something that, even today, I can’t tell if the emotion was mine entirely or hers. Warmth flowed throughout my body harder and faster than my blood could ever achieve. Her face was much prettier from head-on, and suddenly another emotion filled me to the brim, love. The whole “love-at-first-sight” was, for a long time, complete myth to me, until now of course. I had to look away from her, blushing. Even when looking at some trees around, I could feel her hot gaze beating me down, most likely waiting for a response. I soon obliged.

“Ella, huh? That’s a real n-nice name. You can call me Josh.” I stuttered, looking back at Ella. After that introduction, I wouldn’t have minded if the trees covered me in leaves and suffocated me. Ella didn’t seem to mind, however, as I saw a smile form on her face, forcing me to look away again.

“Josh… I like that name.” She paused, “You know, I wanna see some more lakes, wait here real quick, I’ll put something more fitting.”

“Wait-” I started, but as I turned to her, she was already gone. I was going to be late for work, but at this point, I gave up all hope of going today and called in sick.

Minutes later, Ella reappeared wearing jeans and a green button up T-shirt. Compared to my button up and dress shoes and pants, she seemed business casual.

“Ready?” she asked, and I nodded.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“1… 2… 3… Go!” The T.V. screamed, panning to a shot of contestants ready to run. The “guests” watching the program cheered along with their favorite runner and was soon drowned out by a louder group of “guests” next to them. If it wasn’t for my human needs of food and water, I would have never been in this playroom, to begin with. This facade the Gatekeepers had up for everyone was disgusting, but it seemed I was the only one who cared. Gatekeepers had no concept of emotion whatsoever, and even their appearances reflected that. Their consistently white clothing, bald heads, and dead eyes reflected that the facade they had up was paper thin. Somehow, I was the only one who cared. Everyone else didn’t care that they were about to lose everything they worked so hard for. Every memory they hold, every joke they told, every person they loved, all gone. They brushed it off so they could focus on T.V. programs and chess. Most people only stay here for about 100 years, around the same time they retrieve their memories. The same ones who leave that early enjoyed their time at this prison that they threw away their memories as fast as they got them, moving on. Those kinds of people don’t deserve memories in the first place. What’s the point of experiencing life just to throw it all away? Cherishing memories is what keeps the past alive. Without it, we would lose our humanity. But with what the Gatekeepers told me, it seems like that was the goal all along. I guess this pseudo-purgatory is well deserved.

“Hey, Josh, why don’t you come and watch this with us? The main act is about to begin!” Someone on the sofa by the television said.

“You know, I’d rather not. I have some… other things to attend to.” I responded, not even looking them in the eyes.

I was, however, watching the television. It had shifted from running and changed to a commercial. This ‘main act’ that someone mentioned would happen soon after this. What was most strange was the material they were selling. This place has no need for bartering, no need to buy and sell things, so commercials are useless. There’s also no point in having commercials persuading you to give up your body to the Gatekeepers because everyone wanted to anyways. No sense of the old world needs to be here besides food, water, and memories because the patients here also already know they are dead. With all these in mind, the Gatekeepers chose to leave in this commercial for what seemed to be- oh no. It all makes sense. I knew I shouldn’t have started this. Why? Why can’t I do anything without messing it all up? What’s wrong with me? I guess there’s no point in not telling the rest, as I’ll forget it soon enough.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By our second date, we had already begun getting closer. Making out was something we always did, almost second nature. Our feelings toward each other were much more, however. I’ve learned that love cannot be second nature. Saying ‘I love you’ to someone every day like you say ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ is not the same as telling someone you love them when it counts. The word itself deteriorates and loses its glorious value every time it is used so impulsively. I would, in fact, say it to her every day, but after saying it, I would list one thing that made me love her.

“I love you. I love the way your hair looks in the morning.” I commented one day. She simply blushed, and soon I did as well.

Her emotions soon stopped affecting me towards the 2 month anniversary, but at that point, I refused to close myself up to her. For those two months, we knew each other, she was a sophisticated brush and I was her canvas. She painted on me emotions everyday, pleasant and unsavory alike. This wavelength we were on deepened our relationship beyond many others, and it felt like a part of me was being torn away every time I left her. Sometimes I thought about bringing her with me to work, and one day I asked. That was the first and last mistake I would ever be allowed to make.

“Hey babe, I know you’ve been pent up in this house for a while, so how about you come visit my work for once?” I asked her. A light warmth lit my stomach and soon traveled into my heart.

“Really? You mean it? I would love to, when can we go?” She gushed. The light warmth exploded into a fiery inferno.

“How about tomorrow? Afterward, we can go to the movies or something.” I answered. The inferno was too much to bear at that point, and I had to close my doors to her emotions. That should have been a good enough sign not to bring her tomorrow. My love for her blinded me when I needed to see the most.

The next day rolled around and I awoke to Ella feverishly making breakfast and getting dressed simultaneously. My entire body started to shake and jitter, and again I shut off my door to her. My blindness cost me my only love, and I suppose I deserved it.

“Alright, let’s go then,” I announced, and we both left.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Listen Patient number 234D34F. I know that you have been, for lack of a better term, quite resilient. However, everyone eventually cracks, even you. I suppose I should feel sympathy for all the emotions I see daily, but you already know I don’t feel any at all. I know you don’t want to forget anything, but it is all part of the plan. Soon enough, you’ll come to understand like all the others.” The Gatekeepers ranted on.

Ironic isn’t it? The ones who feel nothing take everything. But at this point, I suppose it doesn’t really matter what I think. The one who put these people in power must know what they are doing. But to do it with such cruelty sure doesn’t make others willing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even on the bus to my work, the people around us started to act strangely. Some looked pale, others looked ready to vomit, and one did. Luckily, it was a few moments before our stop, so we only saw it happen. I looked at Ella, and she herself looked pale, but soon shook it off and smiled at me. I melted away at it, utterly stupefied at how I was able to be with such a person.

“Here it is, Dead-end-job-with-minimum-wage-and-utter-garbage-facilities,” I announced, and got a slight giggle.

Once inside, I started to introduce her to everyone in the office. First Rory, who had no comment, but silently judged. Then, Vanessa, who looked as if she wanted to cry, and most likely did after running from us. Henry was the last person Ella met, and he was passed out on his desk. When we entered the room, he shook awake and started screaming. Ella ran away like Vanessa, screaming like Henry, and saying nothing like Rory.

“Ella wait!-” I started, but she was already gone.

I looked for her for hours. The entire building was thrown upside-down, the outside of the entire block was picked clean from her presence. From the months I knew her, I always felt her, I always knew where she was. This time, however, no sign of her. I walked home and cried.

I didn’t show up to work the next day, and soon I received a call from my boss saying I didn’t need to come in anymore. Another week passed, and the house was gone. Rent couldn’t have come at a worse time. The final straw to break the camel's back was not the rent or the job. Even on the streets for a week, I still felt nothing. When Ella left me, so did all feeling of emotion. My husk walked around the streets, subconsciously following the part that left it behind. Somewhere, I thought, my soul, is with Ella, enjoying itself like any other day. I envied it. That was the final straw. The camel that was my mind snapped when I thought about it.

“You think you are special?! You are nothing without me! Nothing! Come back! Come back! I demand it! Come back!” I screamed.

Even the hobos in the area left me alone, which I wasn’t too opposed to. This made my days quiet. No dog, cat, human, or other creature on this Earth walked near my tent. A few months ago, and I would’ve referred to Earth as “God’s gift”. The only time I would ever think about such things now only happened in mindless talk. I spilled my beans? ‘For God’s Sake!’ A cat wouldn’t go away? ‘Go To Hell!’ The one part I never thought about, however, is that everything I said meant something.

Hell was here on Earth. God’s Sake was to advance. Even when I was at the bottom, the top still looked down on me. I wouldn’t say it ‘called’ out to me, but something was there. My insanity? Sure. But my insanity dug into the walls around me and pulled myself out.

I went for a walk one particularly cold day. The sun was out, but it was emitting a cool sensation. The park was my first thought, the same park that I met Ella in. If anything, I’ll start looking for her again. However, upon arriving at the said park, yellow tape surrounded it, followed by a voice.

“Hey hobo, this ain’t a spot for you to bum around at. The government came in and wanted to get rid of the whole place to make room for some new apartment complexes,” The voice said. I turned to see a construction worker with a chainsaw.

“Oh… I see then. Thank you for at least letting me know.” I whispered, trudging to another memory.

The next park I visited was full of lakes. This was the spot that I asked her out on another date, sending our relationship to the next level. However, to my dismay, this as well as getting torn down for what I could guess as more buildings.

Soon I discovered a pattern. Every location I took Ella too were all being destroyed. My old apartment we stayed in got bulldozed, and my old work was being remodeled into a newspaper printing company. By this point, it felt like everything was slipping away. My memories of her, whatever her name was, and soon I couldn’t even tell what she looked like.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I walk aimlessly along a path. The path is white, the walls are white, and the light ahead is white. However, each is different colors of white. The path is beige, the walls are cream, and the light is pure white. These variations are different than what I am accustomed to in the prison, and it’s a nice change of pace from looking at it for about 300 years. What’s also nice is remembering everything.

Before, I knew fairly well what happened, but I wasn’t 100% sure. Now that I recall these painful memories, everything opens itself to me. Her name is Ella. Until now, I always recollected the memories of Ella, but I could never truly see her face. when recalling memories, I just assumed what her appearance should be, not what it actually was. Blurriness was what she looked like to me. But now, I could see it all. Dark brown skin, long, silky black hair, grass green eyes, with a hint of olive. Her nose perked itself up slightly and was small enough to go unnoticed at some angles. Her strawberry red lips pulled her face into a sweet bundle of what I now know as Ella. She was breathtaking. So much so that I had to stop walking on the path. I strayed from it, and for quite some time I walked away from the light. However, such light couldn’t go unnoticed for so long. Envy overtook it and pulled me back on track. Soon I was walking on the beige path once again.

The path ended eventually, and a room took its place. The room, unfathomably white and black and green and red and so many other colors. The room gleamed with the rainbow. Not the typical rainbow of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, but a rainbow of baby blue, scarlet red, turquoise, orange-brown, silver, gold, copper, slate grey, Ivory white, Orchid, and butterscotch. The stunning sight persisted but was shrouded by men. Bald, emotionless men. These men talked exactly like they always have; monotone.

“Patient number 234D34F, I knew you’d join us one way or another. It seems like you are ready for the next step. Tell us, what binds you?” The Gatekeeper spoke.

I told The Gatekeepers everything.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These Old bald men want me to speak about what binds me? Have they not been listening at all? Her name is Ella. She is beyond explanation, although I took my hand at trying. She wasn’t like others, she really stood out from them. Everyone had emotions, but Ella oozed it. You felt her feelings, whether you liked it or not. Her emotions were also a lot stronger than any other ordinary person. It overtook many, and this made Ella have to protect herself. I understand it, deep down, I always knew. The first day I met her I knew she’d flee if I blew on her like a leaf in the wind. Unfortunately for me, I did just that. She fled, and didn’t pop her head around, similar to a leaf, until the next season. This time, she was reborn, different. Her former self shed itself and she was different. She still looked the same, acted the same, and reacted the same. However, she learned, adapted.

“John… I’m so sorry for what I did to you. It wasn’t fair. I shouldn’t have ever let myself near you. I shouldn’t have let myself near anyone. You already felt my pain, and still feel it today. That is but a fraction of what I feel. The depths of my soul erupt when you kissed me, and you almost fainted from it. Your chest was almost crushed under the pressure of my guilt when I broke your table. Your mind almost fried out when I woke up with a headache. The Earth protects us from 99% of the sun’s rays. I protected everyone from 99% of my emotions. However, it seemed that 1% was too much for you. Once again, I’m sorry.” Ella said to me.

She embraced me, and my heart slowed. My heart froze, and its beating felt contained. She whispered in my ear once the last thing.

“Promise me you’ll keep this a secret?”

“I promise I’ll never tell a soul,” I muttered, before closing my eyes.

My senses left my one by one. First my sight, then I couldn’t hear anything. I soon couldn’t smell Ella, and then I couldn’t feel her skin on mine. Finally, the taste of her lips disappeared as well.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Gatekeepers looked at themselves, then at me, nodding. Individually, they got up and spoke to me.

“Your feeling of the old world is now gone.” The first said, touching my hands. I no longer felt the touch.

“Your smell of the old world is now gone.” The next one continued, touching my nose. I could no longer breathe, but I was still perfectly fine.

“Your taste of the old world is now gone.” The third spoke, grabbing my tongue. I no longer tasted is metallic fingers.

“Your sight of the old world is now gone.” the fourth spoke, covering my eyes. I could no longer see the world.

“Finally, your hearing of the old world is gone, and with that, you have completed your tests. Welcome, brother.” The last said, and most likely touched my ears.

All of my senses that I used to use were gone. All gone at last. Yet somehow, I felt no different. Nothing changed, I just moved on. The new world I was in had nothing to smell, nothing to feel, nothing to hear, nothing to taste, nothing to see, and yet, it was all there. New senses replaced old ones. The final thing that they took was surprising. I thought I would forget everything. But they instead took away the darkness. The parts of me that were spiteful, hateful, vengeful, masochistic, sociopathic, all of it was gone. I was finally refreshed and soon realized this whole ‘letting go of the past’ thing isn’t too bad. My newly-founded senses picked up something to be a voice. However, with no need for ears, or mouths, the voice emitted from another deeper place. This gave the voice more intimacy, which was, once again, ironic.

“I don’t blame you for telling. I was being selfish myself, I’m sorry once again, John.” It said.

--TW

#emotion #love #let go #memories #it's been a while huh?

2 notes · View notes

atiredwriter42-blog · 7 years ago

Photo

So this isn’t a story, but it’s another drawing. This time, it’s a drawing of, in my opinion, one of the best characters to ever come out of a show, let alone an anime. Houou Maniwa.

#katanagatari #houou maniwa #drawing #pencil #freehand

5 notes · View notes

atiredwriter42-blog · 7 years ago

Text

How Old is Eternity?

Such a trivial thing as death did not disturb Delilah- no, the monster that stood in front of Grant that day was no longer Heisman’s sister, but something otherworldly. In fact, the only thing human about the monster was the fact that it had skin, everything else was pulled from the depths of hell itself.

The creature before Grant changed moods rapidly after the death of Heisman. It went from a playful child to a monstrous devil, its evil not even comparable to a demon. The creature’s ghastly smile shakes both Grant-that is when he finally notices the monster in front of him, and the demons hovering over it to the very core.

“Murderer, I request some knowledge from an earth dweller like yourself, if the Devil came before you, what would you do?” The creature asked Grant, provocatively flaunting their suggestive clothing.

At this point, Grant finally noticed the woman in front of him. No, Grant thought, That may look like a woman, but that thing is everything but human. The monster was propped up onto one of the demons he feared so much, and its head was laid calmly on the backs of one of the demons. In fact, the throne it sat on was made from those very demons, bending their bodies to their comfort. It was wearing nothing but a slim bathrobe, or at least what seemed like one. As it asked the question, its legs unfolded, and he dared not to look down. He focused his eyes directly at the monster and answered.

“You really believe that this wasn’t your fault? I know what you are trying to do, and it won’t work! He’ll never come here unless… unless a degree of threat is shown…” His voice trailed off.

No… No, it’s not possible… The Legacy of the Damned ended! After the Devil’s firstborn was killed 30 years ago, no one should rise and rule alongside the Devil! Grant argued in his mind, She seems like a foolish woman, but those demons, and the number of them…

“You mean to tell me, Murderer, that you still believe in prophecy? ‘The Legacy of the Damned’? Foolish Imbecile! If you believe your puny minds could ever comprehend the destiny of the world, then I should replace your brains with rocks, as that would serve you better!” The monster growled. The monster’s uncontrollable shaking and giggling only startled the demon throne, but frightened Grant.

“How could you-” He started

“Answer my question filth!” The monster screamed, throwing its hand out in protest.

“If the Devil approached me, I would sink this very blade deep into his heart, if he even has one,” Grant spoke instantaneously.

Grant’s body shook from head to toe, and he understood that he was no longer in control of his body. He stopped trying to resist, as the last attempt almost ripped his jugular from its fleshly prison.

“Good… very good indeed. Of course, you may have several questions. This “Legacy of the Damned” that you humans spew on about is just pure nonsense. At this point, I believe it was all created by the Devil himself to keep you all distracted for the time being while he… well, that’s for another time now isn’t it?” The creature snarled.

“So you’re telling me that the Legacy of the Damned was a ruse by the Devil? That’s quite hard to believe, considering I hardly trust you as it stands.” Grant whimpered. It was nearly impossible for Grant to hold himself together while simultaneously being ripped apart at his very soul. With everything inside him, his own soul was fighting for its own freedom, and it would never prevail.

Soon enough, the shy crimson moon peeked its curious head, wishing to seek out the one who called upon it. The creature on the throne of demons stood up, and Grant got a good glimpse of the sheer size of the monster. The creature did, in fact, take the form of a female human, but the skin was grayed out, and seemed to be sucked off all the blood inside it. The creature stood at even 6 feet and graciously walked past Grant, towards the crimson moon.

“Pay close attention child, for what you will see here will change everything you think you know about the world and universe.” The creature spoke with a slight longing in its voice.

The creature eyed the moon with such longing as well, that to Grant, it seemed as though this creature, Heisman’s sister-turned-demon, once knew this blood red moon. How could it? Although this thing is powerful enough to control demons of such caliber, Heisman’s sister made up its flesh.

“You still believe that this body still belongs to Delilah? Once again, you amaze me with your blind ignorance! This is but a shell that holds my soul! I witnessed the birth of time and space itself! Trust me when I say this, but this is not the first, nor the last, universe I will see in my existence.” It screeched, piercing through the nearby glass panes on the buildings, shattering them instantly.

After ranting to Grant, the creature left the area where Heisman's body laid, forcing Grant to follow. Once on the street, Grant could see the car, now desolate, as is the entire street itself. Once the crimson moon was at least half visible, the spirit realm and the physical realm merge. Demons visit, and humans leave. The laws of physics themselves bend to the will of the Crimson Moon. A great earthquake rumbled below and signified to everything in the radius, it has begun. However, Grant believed the creature would conjure the Devil and take their place as his right-hand man. This was not the case, as the creature was not prepared to face the Devil just yet.

“Oh grand moon of blood and torment, Please cry your sorrows of guilt to me! Name me the queen of blood! Curse my foes with the flower of my past! Name those who oppose me foolish, and cut them down before me!” It said, before speaking a language Grant could not comprehend. What sounded like nothing and something, his ears hurt sound, and nothing in his mind registered it. His ears hurt and twitched, but his mind was blank.

Somehow, for a brief moment, every living being in existence understood. For an instant, the language of the void had meant to those who did not understand. It chanted:

“Regina Sanguinis… regina Sanguinis… regina Sanguinis…”

It started to make sense to Grant at this point.

The earliest accounts of history itself were Latin, and with a language older than this galaxy, He thought, it chose latin so that we could comprehend only slightly.

Only slightly. The language itself is not a language, but a lifestyle. One does not speak this, but instead, they would live it. Take it in, absorb it, and understand it. Changing such a lifestyle to that of a language required immense power, which the Crimson moon provided to the creature, or rather, Regina Sanguinis. The Crimson moon was only an outlet for power to Regina, opening the way to something beyond.

“Now do you understand, Mortal?” Regina commented.

Regina’s voice was no longer coming from the body but from everywhere.

“Mortal, I have finally achieved what I wanted so long ago… Who knew waiting an eternity did in fact work, Ha! Under normal circumstances, I would have killed you, but you will prove very important to the future. When you encounter the Devil, you will fight him not for yourself, or your country, or your world, or Heisman. You will fight the Devil, weaken him, and lead him to his death for me only. Of course, you won’t remember any of this, all you’ll know is your partner died a truly… unfortunate death.” Regina declared and then wisped away into the moon itself.

A part of Grant left his body that day, and only when he loses the rest of his body will this missing piece come together. For now, he is enveloped by bundles and bundles of flowers. Dahlias filled Grant’s vision, mind, and soul. Grant forgot about the Crimson moon, returned to his car, and reported the death of his partner.

-------------------------------------------------*--------------------------------------------------------

“I see you finally met an old friend.” A voice chuckled.

“I see you finally came to appreciate my creations, old friend.” The Devil replied.

“Of course, I’ve always appreciated such magnificent works, that’s why I came here in the first place. Well that, and to seize you of your position.” The voice sneered.

“Oh is that true? I guess even the worst can appreciate the best. So tell me, what do you want this time?” The Devil inquired.

The voice soon became a body, and the name of the body was Regina Sanguinis, the Queen of Blood.

“I already told you, I’m here to kindly relinquish you of your position.” Regina smiled, putting unnecessary emphasis on the word “kindly”.

“If you think this attempt out of all the countless others will finally work, you’ve truly lost your mind to time itself, or maybe the transfer to such a small shell twisted your mind back to that of a child.” The Devil remarked.

The Devil, in reality, felt slightly nervous. Regina had tried so many times before to fight off the Devil, but this time was different. This time, she had a willing host, and a following. Even though the Devil created humans, their strength as powerful followers can be used by any force. Even without worshipers, Regina constantly threatened the Devil’s position as the ruler of the Earth, but now with worshipers, the threat may become a reality.

“Come on now Lucy,” Regina said, making the Devil wince, “you know this world of make-believe you have is collapsing in on itself. If pollution doesn’t choke out the humans, and if they somehow find a way to defeat their demons, then their own neighbors will kill them. Giving consciousness to servants make them strong, but too much so.” Regina declared.

The Devil said nothing in return, as he knew every word she spoke was true. He simply stood his ground, staring at her. She smiled.

“No questions? No protest? This isn’t like you at all!” Regina pouted.

“What’s the deal with the Dahlia? I’m guessing it’s just a taunt, but I know you too well. Is it your master scheme? You know how impatient I am.” the Devil mocked, flaunting his behind.

“Do you know the names of all those who die? All those who worship your name, whether they know it or not? Or have you become too sour and gave up? I haven’t. In a past life, at a time much older than this universe, I had galaxies of worshipers. In fact, I remember seeing you there once, do you remember? Every single one that fell victim to a force stronger than time itself, I remembered their names, and propelled myself to create better.” Regina scowled.

At this point, Regina was angry. She could not believe that this would fluster her so much, but the thought of a creator forgetting their creations- Unforgivable.

“Of course I do Regina.” The Devil rebuked, “Every plant, animal, human, and every organism that ever walked this Earth, or traveled beyond. It may take time, but I can inform you of every name in my mind that has worshipped me. Do not test me, you whore.”

Similar to Regina, the Devil was quite heated and was ready to release some energy if needed. The Devil lost all fear, as he was reminded of what he was, in his eyes, Regina was but a fetus to him. Regina walked closer to the Devil, signifying the beginning of their battle. The Devil smirked- looks as if he’ll release some steam.

Tendrils from the ground shot up, grabbing a hold of Regina. She jerked back as they took gold, but as soon as she saw them, they disintegrated. Taken aback, the Devil sent more, but this time with no intention of harming her. At this point, the Devil realized he’d have to try something quite daring. Although such a ritual took all his energy, and could potentially wipe out every human on earth, he was willing to take the risk. A few billion lives could easily outweigh the complete destruction of the Earth. The Devil knew more than anyone that a new ruler of a planet wants a clean slate, even if that means waiting another couple thousand millennia.

“Regina, stop this while you still can, you don’t want to know what will happen next.” The Devil spoke.

“Silence fool! You of all beings should understand that something like this can never stop once it begins. Once I am named the Queen of Blood, I must, with it, prove my worth. Only after such a test may I be named sole owner of the title. Your foolish, pointless conversation cannot save you!” Regina boomed, leaping at the Devil like a beast does to their prey.

The Devil dodged but was not fast enough to react to Regina’s foot colliding with his head. He heard a snap and knew that her feet broke too many bones within his face.

Good, He thought to himself. I’ll have better distractions awaiting her in the spirit realm. It’s only a matter of time now Regina. The Devil abandoned his physical body and ascended back to his home.

“Looks like your old body couldn’t take it. No matter, I’ll just join you up there and kill you within your own domain.” Regina growled, cutting her own head off with a swift strike from her hand.

As she started towards the spirit realm, Regina thought to herself. She did not think of schemes, she made no effort to plan a way to defeat the Devil, they were unnecessary. She did think, however, about what she would do with this world when she gained control over it. Of course, I’ll only have so much time before he reincarnates. Regina said to herself, I should have enough time anyhow. Sometimes I wish The Beyond created us so we could die, reincarnation is such an inconvenience, a never-ending battle where there is no such thing as a victor.

Meanwhile, the Devil waited for Regina to join him. His plans were almost complete, and when they were, his victory was secured. No matter what, He thought to himself, I must stay in control. I’m too close to a breakthrough on earth, and I’m not about to let that bitch ruin it all!

“I see you finally decided to join me. Do you like what I did with the place?” The Devil taunted, seeing Regina’s soul emerge from the river.

The entire Spirit realm itself was ever changing, as was its owner. So many before have fought for this position, and so many have lost to one being. One is said to be the smartest and slyest of them all. Every other being who dared try to take over the Spirit realm-and with it, Earth-died repeatedly to the Devil. Eventually, those who lost the will to fight lost the will to reincarnate. Regina may have seen the death and birth of the Universe twice, but the Devil had seen it more times than there were specks of sand on the Earth. Each time, he would change ever so slightly, and Regina herself believes that the Devil in this universe was a new blood, only coming to full bloom to fight for such things as realms when she did. That, to the Devil, is what made her always lose. Her arrogance shadowed other things like logic and planning.

“Enough small talk, I know what you’re trying to do,” Regina snapped back, and although there was no physical representation of their bodies, her soul grinned.

“Oh? Well, it seems like you won’t understand what will hit you until it’s too late then. You needed to know about my plan before you killed your fleshly body.” The Devil remarked.

Instantly, the spirit realm collapsed around Regina, trapping her soul within itself. Although the realm itself was transparent, and souls had no physical body, the two magnetized towards one another. Although the Beyond created the realm, and the never-ending cycle the Devil experiences with each universe, the realm birthed him, as well as Regina. Such things as birthplaces compelled their offspring more than any other force, but only in fleeting moments. Had it been a few hundred reincarnations of the universe, the spirit realm would have trapped Regina for all of eternity. However, with each reincarnation, the spirit realm lost more of its power. Soon, The Devil thought rather crudely, the spirit realm itself will cease to exist, and sooner yet, such tricks won’t work. What then, will come? I guess only time will open that book.

“What?-” Regina started. It was already too late.

“Sriygant-sadtry’furty… Friguhtuer’ga’erds faes geh yu toyofugahguyi’yi.” The Devil chanted. The ancient language of the Beyond was only known to few, and fewer yet knew the language. No understanding of the language stands, even with the speakers, as it is as mysterious as the Beyond itself. To learn such a scarce language is impossible. “Learning” was different than “Understanding”. The Beyond itself chose when someone was worthy to understand the sacred language. The Devil acquired this “talent” so long ago, he almost forgot what it was like to not have it. Regina, however, reminded him that before the language of the Beyond, he was an empty vessel, ready to be filled, just as she is now.

“No… You can’t be… A chosen of the Beyond? I thought you were born when I was!” Regina cried.

“Of course not. I have been reincarnated a countless number of times. When I learned of a strong force being born next reincarnation, I was eager and made myself like you. I apologize for being selfish enough to use you for my own entertainment.” The Devil whispered. It was true, the Devil felt sympathy. Such a powerless situation crushed him for Eons. However, he saw nothing more than raw potential in Regina. Never before since he learned the language of the Beyond had he been tested so much by another being like himself. His ritual was not to wipe her out, it was impossible to get rid of a being on your own will, they themselves had to give up. He used the language of the Beyond to put a seed within Regina, and if she desired, she could birth into one like the Devil. Maybe then, he can past on like the one before him. What awaited him? He was eager to find out.

She screamed as a bright light billions upon billions of times stronger than the brightest star burned her out of the spirit realm, awaiting reincarnation of the flesh. The Devil returned to Earth, ready to remake the world once again.

Regina, however, was not ready to give up. While in the void between the spirit and the physical realm, she took the seed the Devil placed within her and threw it into the void.

“Foolish being… How could you throw away such a gift? I suppose it means you are truly ready. Sgidrdfjier-sadtry’futry… gahyature! Frifguhbide! Putdisareturdy’ty!” The void spoke.

Regina soon realized what the Devil meant. He was once, so long ago, in her very position. He had lost to a foe unbeatable and chosen. She is the Devil before he had the language of the Beyond, and she was about to obtain a power the Beyond was soon to regret. Regina thought to herself once more before entering the physical realm, Looks like I’ll see you sooner than I thought Lucy.

--FIN

--TW

Hey all! It’s TW, and I hope you enjoyed the last part of my Seeker series, and hope you were able to keep track of them, as they were uploaded between other things. I wanted to end this series a bit ambitiously, and I might return to it later, however unlikely that is.

#Finale #eternity #ancient languages #farewell

2 notes · View notes

atiredwriter42-blog · 7 years ago

Photo

This is something I drew a while ago, inspired by my short story “The Nameless Warrior”, and wanted to share it with you all. I’ve also been wanting to post something like this in between stories so everyone can have something to look at while I work on the next story. Hope you enjoy it!

P.S: I do not consider myself a good artist at all, but I think it’s still nice to share with others what inspired work you do.

--TW

#Drawing #Nameless Warrior #pencil #decent #them feet

2 notes · View notes

atiredwriter42-blog · 7 years ago

Text

He says, She says

“Hey,” she says.

“Howdy,” he says.

“Something on your mind?” She asked.

“Yea, I guess…” his voice trails off into silence.

A pause.

“Well… are you going to tell me?” she presses, moving slightly closer to his idle, sitting body.

You. I’m thinking about you, I’m thinking about holding you, kissing you, showing you that you are the most important thing to my world. He thinks to himself. Say it! Say it to her! Tell her!

“Nothing important I guess. You gonna sit down or are you just going to stand there?” He mildly says, gesturing to the right of himself.

She accepts the offer, and to his dismay, she sits uncomfortably close to him, almost rubbing shoulders together. He glances at her, screaming at himself, fighting with immense fervor to tell her he was lying to her. To explain to her that the earth under them will forever envy her beauty, forever cursing itself that it sacrificed itself to create such a magnificent human. The chains of his past pain repressed the feelings to mere thoughts. The pain of the past cuts so deep… I just want it gone! He cries to himself.

“Hey, can you help me with something?” She softly speaks. It sort of shocks him the lightness of her voice, but disregards it, as it is quite late and she is probably fairly tired.

She wasn’t tired one bit. She was wide awake. How could she sleep with the question she was about to ask on her mind?

“Jacob asked me to the prom this weekend, and I said I’d think about it. What do you think? Should I go with him or wait for someone else?” She inquires, shyly commenting the last sentence.

The boy freezes. The pencil stops writing, his heart seemingly follows suit.

“Well, Jacob is a n-nice guy, I think he’ll treat you well.” He says, screaming, thrashing, protesting, and raging inside his mind. He couldn’t bring himself to say it, he could never bring himself to say it. Why not? Was it the countless other humiliations from the past? The constant and incessant jokes and teasing? He wished to never answer the question, he hardly wanted to ask the question.

“Oh… I see,” she whispers, allowing the floodgates that held back her emotions to pour into her. She hated him, she was so disappointed in him, but her emotions towards him were made minor in the light of his own feelings toward himself.

The girl stands up, waves goodbye, and leaves the boy with his decision.

They both fall asleep with wet pillows.

The next day, he sees the girl, but with her, Jacob. Jacob looks fairly happy, but the girl is pale. It’s like she died, and came back as a ghost. He ran away, ran far, far away, and vomited in a trash can.

He could blame no one but himself. He could not hate anything but himself. He allowed himself to do this, he allowed himself to let someone so important to him go. By the weekend, he accepted it, he embraced the painfully. If he was going to turn away from the girl who shone brighter than any star in the history of the galaxy, he was at least going to accept the burn that came with angering her.

Soon enough, the girl stopped seeing the boy, stopped seeing Jacob, and stopped seeing the world in such bright colors. Her light quickly began to fade. Everyone couldn’t help but see it. If our own star dimmed, wouldn’t everyone notice it? Of course, of course.

The girl was in the park one day, sitting on the same bench her heart was broken on. She visited this place every once and a while, hoping the pieces she lost so long ago would show their ugly faces once again. To her surprise, whether good or bad, they did.

“Hey,” he said.

“Howdy,” she said.

“What’s on your mind?” He asked.

#love #forgiveness #misery #mistakes #don't let your past affect your future

2 notes · View notes

atiredwriter42-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Previously, I discussed Horror movies, and frankly, I thoroughly enjoyed talking about something I love. Although it was short, I felt that I was able to explain a passion of mine, something many today do not have the luxury to do. And without further ado, and going along our topic aforementioned, today let’s talk about movie directors.

Although genres and directors are quite different, it is evident that many directors stick to one or two genres. Directors like Steven Spielberg, for example, tend to stick to genres like Science Fiction, With an occasional visit to more realistic depictions of our world. However, director James Wan prefers the Horror genre, bringing us classics like the Saw series, Insidious and The Conjuring. It’s interesting, however, that such a vast difference in genres calls for a vast difference in directors. What one genre considers lame and cheesy, another personally feels is the greatest tool in movies since the camera itself. Personal preference and the expression of such has led to a variety of signature movies and genres. Although I won’t discuss the variations of genres itself, I do want to touch on one director I have seen to release rather consistent movies, Quentin Tarantino.

Of course, such a man needs no introduction, as he has influenced the film industry with, in my opinion, a variety of phenomenal movies. In fact, the first film of his I watched was Reservoir Dogs, which was released in 1992. Even with 26 years between now and its release, it still stands out as a gem. By telling the story from the end, and going to the beginning, as he does multiple times in other films, you meet the end of characters, and then learn how they got there. This film especially captures this feeling of disparity as the characters die off, trying to recall the events that led them here. The subtle storytelling that is slid into the dialogue between the characters requires you to pay attention to what the characters say. Although it maintains a slow pace, the pace feels like it is happening right here and now. In many movies today, the movie itself feels like a rollercoaster of emotion, a complete disconnect from reality. But with Reservoir Dogs, we truly feel like we are right next to Mr. White or Mr. Pink.

Another example of this form of broken storytelling is done in Pulp Fiction, considerably one of the more popular Tarantino films. Starting from the end, and ending at the beginning makes you digest the film in another way-a way so foreign, that it almost draws you in deeper because of it.

Praise alone can’t describe the films Tarantino makes, but it definitely is a start. With some of his films on Amazon or Netflix, there is really no excuse as to why these films have gone unwatched for so long. I know that there are people who don’t really like Tarantino films, and that’s alright. In fact, it’s perfect! I would love to hear you tell me why Tarantino isn’t as great in your eyes, if at all. Then, I’d love to see your recommendations as to which directors are your favorites!

Once again, it was a great time talking about something I love, and I hope you gained some sort of appreciation along with it. Have a wonderful day, and don’t stop loving what you love! --TW

#quentin tarantino #Pulp Fiction #reservoir dogs #movie directors #who is your favorite?

3 notes · View notes

atiredwriter42-blog · 7 years ago

Text

What happened Heisman?

This just in… ABC reporter Jerry Welles has the coverage…

“Hey there Judy, thanks for having, and as you can see behind me… A house full of dead bodies… Labeled the Sacrifice Home… The home was owned by Jonathan Hughes and had his wife, Gill Hughes, his eldest son, Thomas Hughes, his grandfather Herbert Hughes, his younger son, Heisman Hughes, and his daughter, Delilah Hughes. All the family was murdered except the young children… Heisman and Delilah… Orphanages await both… Grandfather killed family? Many questions lie at the base of this home.”

Some people believe our minds, for the safety of our souls, blocks memories that it deems too traumatizing. I don’t think this is true, and I am evidence of this. Even at the age of 5, I saw my family slain in front of me. By 10, I had seen dozens of Orphanages with my sister, Delilah, and by 21, I was fighting demons and horrors no one would believe. Why? Why did Grandpa have to do it? Why did my sister follow after him? And why do I have my own partner in front of me, ready to sink a knife into the throat of me and my sister, just as my Grandfather did to my family so many years ago?

“W-Wise… please kiss my booboo Wise…” Delilah whined.

With her being so young, she could never say my name correctly, no matter the number of attempts I took to fix it. However, it wasn’t the mispronunciation of her name that off put me, it wasn’t even the amount of blood on the floor, I was already used to that by the time I was 7. It was the sheer amount of noise those poor things made. Horrified, I tried not looking at her “lab” as I picked her up, taking her back to the house to fix her up.

I hated my sister because of this. Well, I didn’t hate her, I hated no one, but I despise the idea of her personality, her corrupt mind, but I suppose that is the same thing. It felt like the traits of Grandpa skipped a generation and came back fierce like a lion. No one was going to adopt us, no one wanted us. They all knew the story, family of 6, and all but these two are dead. Everyone saw us as the black cats, even without them seeing my sister’s true colors. As a kid, I thought more about life and the lack thereof, but those thoughts only came when I was pushed that far.

I was grown up and ready to work by age 10, and left Delilah all alone. 8 hours a day she would be alone as I was out picking up trash, shoveling shit, and mowing lawns. I tried so hard to support us, even though we were mere children in this horrible world. Little did I know I released a monster into the world. I wasn’t even halfway through the day, and I could hear the radio talk about a girl who broke into a pet shop and started to dissect the dogs in front of other kids. I didn’t need to think about who that could be, and I rushed to the site. She was already under control, and the police there were going to call her parents, trying to ask who exactly they were.

“I’m the only family she has… Officer please, she isn’t right in the head… I’m very sorry I let this happen, please let me take her from here.” I said. If only it was that simple.

If only I could just take her home and scorn her for her actions. I didn’t have the luxury of grabbing the officers attention. I did, however, have the luxury of grabbing her hand and somehow getting away. This was the extent of my power against her. She was hysterical when we got back to the house. She kept screaming, crying, pushing, pulling, straining every part of her body to get my grip off of her arm.

I know I said I fought demons by the age of 21, but it was this time with Delilah that I met my first demon. Even now, 15 years later, I never encountered a demon quite like hers. Maybe it had something to do with her age or her past. No human could ever create such a monstrosity. Rat skin, teeth, blood, mucus, bone, you name it, the creature had it on its body. However every part of the creature that I mentioned never followed human understanding. Teeth replaced its skin, bone replaced its facial features, and the fur and skin of a rat lined parts of the body, over the teeth. It stood taller than both of us kids combined, and snarled and growled that would terrify lions and bears alike. In an instant, it came to both of us, and in an instant, it vanished, and although we could no longer see it, we still felt the presence of the monster all around us. The creature roared out of Delilah and echoed throughout the room for hours. Neither of us could sleep that night, or the next couple of days.

I had to find a way to keep her at the house, how could I let her out in this world? How could I let her prey on another family? I only saw the scene for a few minutes, but I could feel the hatred and death emanating from the place. My own 8-year-old sister killed an entire family, murdered them like my Grandfather did so many years ago! If such a horrendous thing was still around, still creeping behind you every time you looked, what would you do? I’ll tell you what I would do and eventually did. I stole some money from the homeowner, as I didn’t work enough to get my first paycheck, and bought a kennel, 5 locks, and some mice- the cheap ones you get as food, not as pets. I locked her up in the cage before I left, and handed her the mice. It’s terrible, horrible, mortifying! The look she gave me broke me to pieces! My own flesh and blood were living her life, and I locked her up. I continued with it, however appalling of a human it made me. As the years went on, I eventually got a bigger cage, got more rats, and worked more hours. I would leave the attic, giving Delilah 10 or more rats, pay the owner not to go up there, and leave for work. 10 hours later, I would come back to the house, grab food, feed both me and Delilah, and clean up the scraps of her “hobby”. After 3 or so years of this, after teaching Delilah to talk and communicate words to me, after giving her so much, while still saving the outside world, it still wasn’t enough. She learned from her previous attempts, she was incredibly smart about this next attempt. She wouldn’t stay in the area, she would leave the city, leave the state, maybe even leave the country. I didn’t realize this until my wallet was gone, and the cage was busted open.

I never tried looking for her, if the police couldn’t find her when she was right under their noses, I didn’t have a chance to catching the trail of her. I feared she would come back to this house, full of despair, and kill me. Torment me like she did to her subjects. The weeks of waiting soon turned to months, and then the years blurred that anxiety away.

I worked non-stop for years, saving enough money to leave this shithole. Little did I know the shithole wasn’t the place, but the person. By 18, I left the Orphanage and ran into another problem. The news was calling it the “Dark Room Scandal”, and it brought more trouble than tax evasion or money laundering. These guys called the “Seekers” were found fighting and killing these creatures. These creatures looked like something Delilah showed me so many years ago, and I was terrified. I thought she had raised an army of these things and sought to destroy the world that condemned her to the curse of these creatures. In my 18-year-old-mind, I thought this was my fight. I believed that I needed to atone for my own sins, I needed to be the one to stop the monster I created. I contacted every Seeker they showed on the news, meeting them in person, with or without their knowledge. One particular fellow I met was named Derek Fitzgerald, a self-proclaimed demon enthusiast.

“Listen, kid, I don’t ‘hunt’ these creatures, I study them, and there’s no way I’m letting you get involved with the Devil’s work. Go home, and never pursue us again.” He told me.

“You don’t understand… My sister… Delil-”

“Your sister has nothing to do with this. I’m tired of kids like you running after this fever dream like any other career! This job is dangerous, and you’ll die before you ever become a Seeker!”

That was the end of our conversation. He left the city, and from what I gathered, joined a group of people specifically designed to help people like me. Pathetic.

By my 19th birthday, I only wished to join the Seekers in their mission. It was less of a wish and more of a prayer. A prayer to some god from any religion, to help me atone for my sins. Whether it was a god or the Devil who answered my prayers I didn’t know, and I didn’t care. I don’t care. My period of redemption came in the form of a man, Grant Weatherford. I was walking in parts of the city I had no business being in. I had with me an iron bar, ready for anything that could come my way. If Derek of the Seekers weren’t going to help me, I would find these “demons” myself. I wasn’t ready for anything, deep down, I was ready for nothing at all.

I found myself on a bridge, and as the legend went, if you waited here long enough, you would see hell incarnate at your feet.

I didn’t need to wait to see hell, I saw it before in one person, myself. I always thought my sister was hell, I thought she was the Devil’s daughter, but little did I realize I did far worse to someone who had no control over her actions. Her mind was gone, and in its place was the image of our Grandfather.

The first “demon” was small enough, the size of a rat, as distasteful as that comparison is, it was true. I crushed it with my iron bar and felt exhilarated. I did it, I killed a creature that haunted myself and the world for so long. But I also did another thing, because with the rat-sized demon came another, and another, and another, and soon enough there were hundreds of them on the bridge. They crawled up my legs, but the beams of the bridge, and once I was so close to them did I hear them.

“You… You…” A ghastly voice called out to me.

“Kill… Die… Show us your blood and suffering…” They chanted.

“Kill… Die… Feel the pain and anguish we feel…” They shouted.

“Kill… Die… Smell crows circling overhead…” They sang.

“Kill… Die… Taste the despair in our veins…” They cried.

“Kill… Die… Hear our screams and our cries…” The ghastly voice whispered to me.

Their mesmerizing movements and dances and voices and pain drew me closer to them. I knew that they were here to hurt me, and I was here to accept my fate. However, I did not know that they would be cut down before I took my third step. I also did not know the name of the man who saved my life.

“Who… Why did you save me? Why did you take away the only thing I had, my dignity?” My voice shook and cracked. I didn’t have a clue as to what I was saying, the words flowed out of me like a rampaging river.

“Listen, kid, I don’t care what’s going on in life, suicide is no answer. The best part about being at the bottom is seeing the top and knowing you’ll be there next.” The man said to me.

“Suicide? If only this was all that simple. I’ve created a sin far worse than suicide can atone for. In fact, dying would only change where my soul rests. Please, sir, bring back those demons and let me complete my mission.” I wailed.

A long silence fell around us, like he threw a blanket over the both of us, to protect us and to calm me down. It worked. My shaking slowed to a shiver, and my breath went from rapid and shattered to quick but only minorly broken. Then he spoke.

“I… I know what it’s like kid. Knowing such things as these are in our world. You want them all gone, I get it, not entirely, but I do understand. Instead of fighting them with the knowledge of a newborn child, I’ll take you under my wing and you can learn all about this sort of stuff. So next time you want to take on these monsters, you’ll be prepared.”

The man’s words soothed the raging river of my mind down to calm waters. I slowly nodded and followed him.

The man who saved me was named Grant Weatherford, and he had apparently been with the Seekers for many years at this point, although he never told me how long, most likely to keep his age a mystery. Grant himself was quite tall, and his messy, unkempt brown hair added about an inch to his already staggering height of 6’3”. He was quite muscular and displayed it multiple times by picking up 2-300 pound objects with minor ease. His ocean blue eyes would always reassure me when I felt the demons were too strong, “It’s ok champ, breathe, and cut down the monsters of this world.” He would say.

His first test was a duel. He challenged me and fought me with all his heart. Of course, I stood no chance, but I learned more about fighting techniques and to think on my feet. The first demons we fought were much easier with Seeker equipment he had lying in his car.

The gear itself was interesting, special armor made from the hearts of demons made the armor ironic. The only way to fight them is to use them I suppose. They looked like they were made from some form of light-weight, but sturdy, metal. The armor covered every part of your body, and the joints used special pieces that would move with your joints. The whole design was genius, as it practically left no weak spots but the face, and that is where the strongest defense is. I learned from Grant that your mind itself is protected if your willpower is strong enough. The aura of your mind, for many, just encompasses your brain itself, but most Seekers had it around their entire heads. Demons who made contact with this would be incinerated with holy flames. Grant tells me that this is why demons possess the heart in possession of humans and not the mind. They entice the human with temptation, and eventually the human lets down their aura, making it free land for the demon. When Grant told me temptation was strong, I never knew how strong it was until my last day on the force.

The day itself was weird, a constant static loomed in the air. In almost 10 years of being on the force, I never experienced such a feeling. It felt like something was coming, and there was no way to stop it. Even Grant felt it, calling me before work and seeing if I was ok, and then coming to pick me up. We were on our way to Headquarters when a transmission came in from the radio.

“Attent~tiionnnn…. Pleas~sesesese….. Co~memememememe…. 8th-... Str~et ha~rbor…” It cracked and eventually went radio silent.

“8th street and harbor… That’s just down the stre-” Grant started.

The size of the blast was terrifying, wiping out anything within a solid 20 feet, turning it into thin air. Even with half a mile between us and the threat, we felt a strong wind push against our 30 mph car. If we had our windows down, we’d most likely be blown back a few dozen feet from the wind itself. The fear of leaving the safety of the car lingered between the both of us for a while, then Grant opened the door.

The atmosphere was hostile like someone was watching us and ready to pounce. With a little red sprinkled in the sky, It felt like a crimson moon was showing. Only in legends have I heard of one, but I do believe they exist. Crismon is quite close to the blood itself, and therefore a crimson moon is, in essence, a blood moon. When the space between realms become nonexistent, and the force that holds back the forces of hell vanishes. I would never purposefully wish for something so terrible to occur, but subconsciously, I was curious. No one knows how they come about, some speculate it has something to do with destiny when something so major occurs, the universe comes together to witness it. Others believe it is the devil himself coming down to the Earth to spectate or join in the mix. After the end of this day, I believe it was a little bit of both.

“Heisman, stay in the car, wait for my signal,” Grant told me, and I was happy to oblige. That was until I saw someone that grabbed my attention. Someone who I subconsciously gravitated towards, someone who pulled my soul towards themselves. I left the car as Grant had his back towards me, and followed the feeling. I was already somewhat equipped for a fight, but the entire armor was still in the back. The idea of preparing myself was lost in the desire to follow my soul, as it was running quickly away from me. I broke into a sprint, and behind me, I could hear Grant yelling my name. I felt my soul, it was so close! I could grab it! It’s right he-

“No… No this isn’t right… you can’t be the cause of it right?” I screamed aloud, almost running to the person standing in front of me. Of course, I wanted to run towards them! It’s something I’ve wanted to do for so many years! Something I’ve done for so long, protect them! Now that I left them, and they never came back, I almost forgot the feeling of protecting someone.

“Brother… It’s so nice to see you here! Have you come to see the fireworks?” They said. I didn’t need to say their name, I already knew who they were. It seems like they moved on from rats, and now had demons and humans to play with. The same creature that haunted my dreams for so many years surrounded both of us. I whimpered.

“No need to be scared Brother, my friends only want revenge on one person, the one person who has cursed all of us! Come and watch the fireworks!” They exclaimed.

They seemed so happy. I was happy. It has been 20 or so years since I’ve seen them smile, let alone be happy. A wave of relief overcame me, and my knees fell to the ground.

“I… I’m so sorry to what I’ve done to you… I just-” I started

They held up their index finger. No words were said after that. We stayed like that for what felt like an eternity. The only thing that pulled from the enticing grip of the one in front of me was the one behind me.

“Heisman! Get away from her! She’s dangerous! Those are S class demons! Those guys are next to the devil in strength!” Grant shouted at me.

The monsters around us quickly became hostile, but they stopped them before the demons acted.

“No need my children… He is a new development that I would like to see blossom.” They said.

Grant quickly leapt over me and went to plunge a sword into the one who I missed so dearly, someone who I needed to hold and love and protect.

“Deli-” I started.

A monster quickly lunged in front of the blade, perishing instantly. They may be S class demons, but the demon slayer known as The Devil’s Tongue still cuts them like butter. He wound up another attack, and another creature jumped to their protection. However, this creature did not disappear instantly. My point of view quickly changed from the side to in the action. The creature bled. I bled. The creature cried, knowing fully well that they saved the most important person in their life. I cried, knowing fully well that I saved the most important person in my life. The creature and I both said the same thing. The creature and I are both about to die. The creature in me and the me in the creature are one in the same.

“Delilah… I hope this atones for the hell I put you through… I love you.” I gasped for life.

“Heis… HEISMAN! Please… I didn’t mean it... I didn’t want this to happen… there’s only so much time left…” Grant wailed, lying me down, trying to make me comfortable.

We both knew that I wouldn’t last very long. I thought I’d be more hateful, of Grant, of Delilah, of myself. Complacency fills me like my blood does. For the first time in my life, I know that the decisions I made and the actions I took were correct. I finally believe that I did the right thing right here, saving my own sister before my own partner. I may have left blood on my partner’s hands, but I finally did it. All the sin of the past vanished, and so did some of Delilah’s friends.

“How interesting… I will see you on the other side brother… goodbye for now. As for you, I should thank you. You made it so I didn’t have to kill him. I’ll use you for...” Delilah spoke, but her words faded out. All my senses were fading, and soon I felt nothing at all.

Free, finally free at last. Goodbye Grant. Goodbye Delilah. Hello Mom. Hello Dad. Hello Brother. Delilah? Oh, she’ll be joining us soon enough. I can’t wait for you guys to meet Grant, he’s a great guy.

#Daliah #Delilah #Sad #Demons #grant isn't who you think he is

3 notes · View notes

atiredwriter42-blog · 7 years ago

Text

The Seekers / Update

EDITOR NOTE: Hey guys, TW here, I planned to have this story up yesterday, but I was preoccupied with other things and couldn’t get to it. Expect another commentary similar to the movie one around Saturday, and another story by Monday / Tuesday. Once again, sorry about the lazy uploading on my part, and enjoy the story!

The pounding of the door awakens Grant from a deep dream. The dream was not like a typical dream. To call it such would be foolish, as it was closer to a nightmare. He delved deep into the sub-conscience of the world to seek out one creature, the Devil. The Devil did not show his face, but he did show one thing, a flower. To be specific, a Stone Lotus, a puny but magnificent flower, blooming from a field of dead bodies. Interesting, Grant thought.

What was so fascinating about the Devil to him and his colleagues? Was it the fact that the Devil was the root of all evil in the world? Or perhaps, because he was the reason so many died in the world. Grant and the Seekers, an organization built to fight the Devil and his demons, hardly looked for the answer. Is it necessary to know the reason behind fighting such a wicked source, besides it feels right?

The nightmare Grant awoke from lingered in his mind as he went into the bathroom. This nightmare wanted to tell Grant never to return, never to be so curious. The depths of hell were nothing as he believed. Many thought it was a damned place where the cursed reside, but it is similar to a cave. Infested with creatures that can kill you at any minute. Even being a Head Seeker, considered one of the best in the field, he almost fell victim to attacks constantly.

His intentions to seek out such a horror is incomprehensible to most, but he knows why. Seekers were made specifically to fight the Devil, to defeat him and his demons. He wouldn’t have joined otherwise. In fact he-

The incessant knocking continued, increasing in volume.

“Listen here, hitting the door harder won’t make it open any faster.” He said in his, deep, slightly soothing voice.

“S… Sir! It quite urgent! It’s about the case!” a familiar voice squeaked.

“Give me a minute, and quit that knocking, it’s giving me a headache.” He barked, looking into the bathroom mirror.

His scruffy, messy 9 o’clock shadow made his ocean blue eyes look on in disgust. He brushed his brown hair back and rubbed his temples. He thought about the dream and the shaking feeling of fear. Even now, after leaving the dream, he remembers it vividly. He bends down significantly to reach the sink and splashes his face with water. He buries his face in the towel by the mirror and slaps himself awake in front of his own reflection.

He slowly and regretfully opens the door. The tiny 5”6 boy scurries past Grant and sits on the sofa in his living room.

“Hey, what’s the big id—”

“Head Seeker Grant, I sincerely apologize for the rude entrance, but this information I have is of the utmost importance!” The boy rapidly explains.

“Listen, kid, I highly doubt that—”

“Sir, please listen! Heisman found out something very urgent! I cannot tell you what here, in fear that some unwanted ears may hear, but meet him near the vault by 3:00 P.M. today!” The kid frantically spoke, and instantly bolted out of the room.

What confused Grant the most about the entire affair was not the random outburst or the quick escape of the child.

Perplexed by the name mentioned, Heisman. His old partner, of course, but how did a boy know the name of a dead man? 5 months was a long time for someone to remember a name and carry with its knowledge.

Of course, he may not have been dead, as his body was never found. This, to Grant, was a beacon of hope. Every night, he would reach out to the spiritual realm, wishing for any sign to present itself. Directly contacting Heisman himself was quite dangerous, in case he really was dead. Opening the portal to the dead is different than the Spiritual realm, and he wasn’t about to release ghosts into his apartment complex.

Now, 5 months later, he trembled at the thought of seeing Heisman again. He choked on his tears when he thought about his curly, bright red hair flying through the air as he ran.

“Hey, Grant! Good to see you this morning, long time no talk!” Grant could hear Heisman ambitiously say as if he never left. The soul of that kid was strong, Grant always said, and he would surely pay his life for it. A puncture wound the size of an orange confirmed Grant’s worrying foretellings. At least the boy died doing what he loved, saving others.

He cried for 20 minutes before leaving the building. If someone could easily mention his partners name like that, there's gotta be a reason, and he was going to find it.

He first went to the Seekers Organization Collaboration building, but the 20 stories it bolstered were the only thing impressive. People went here to report cases of demon sightings, and to volunteer to join the Seekers as if it was that easy.

If it wasn’t for the Dark Room Scandal, this building wouldn’t exist. Ten years prior, everyone had a feeling ghost, demons, angels, and god existed, but with the revelation of an actual Demon to the public, Seekers had to come out of hiding and cool the masses. These last ten years, to Grant and many other Head Seekers, the publicity made their lives much harder. Walking in the street always ended in questions or attacks from other people. The incompetence of the public made him generally dislike people, and believed everyone in that building, and many others, should go home and live the lie they have been since the beginning of human creation, except one.

“Hey there Jan, mind if I see The Medium? It’s a case involving some thugs down South.” Grant politely said to the definitely-unqualified-and-dimwitted front desk clerk.

“Oh my god! Head Seeker Grant, can I get your autograph? You look so good today! Mind showing me how you fight demons sometimeandmaybewecaneatsomedinnersometime?” Her words blended together in an unpleasant mess, and before she could finish, Grant already left.

“Goodbye! Ohmygodineedtotellmomandauntandgrandmaanddadand…” she continued endlessly in the lobby.

Grant scaled the building to the 20th floor, holding out hope that the only person he came here to see was in fact here. He read a sign by one of the doors, “Derek Fitzgerald—Medium extraordinaire”.

The room was quite dark and eerie. Even with the mediocre surroundings, Derek’s office was utterly professional. Symbols and ancient texts lined the walls, and even older books lined the dark oak bookcases. The head of mediocrity sure knows how to impress, Grant scoffed to himself.

“You know, it isn’t nice to think such mean thoughts, especially with a medium in the room.”

“Aren’t mediums supposed to connect to the spirit realm, not invade my mind?”

“A jack of all trades is more equipped than the best at one thing.”

“The mind of an arrogant buffoon is more equipped for a beating than a smart man.”

“I sense great anger from you, Grant. Violence solves nothing, but my telepathy can and will solve your babysitter problems, now come and sit.”

Grant followed the instructions, and waited for Derek to work his “magic”. Once again, he laughed at himself, the word magic was such a foreign word, and yet it explained his life perfectly. What others see as a miracle or a nightmare, Grant simply sees another day on the job.

“Grant, please, open your mind, It’s impossible to climb the mountain of the mind without the proper help.”

“Sorry about that bud, it’s been a long time since I willingly let someone into my mind.”

Grant relaxed his mind, and felt a deep presence inside him, sending chills down his spine. Although telepathic dives are nothing new to him, Grant despised the feeling of invasion. Maybe that is why he joined the Seekers so he could build such a strong mountain in his mind, that nothing could possibly ever invade it.

“Ok Grant, welcome to your mind, I understand you know this place very well, so now escort me to the problem.”

“One question before we start, how’d you know about the kid if I still had this mountain up?”

“You do not need to be a rock climber to see the top of a mountain, and the top of yours is visible from outside the building.”

Grant walked Derek to the past, and Derek meditated inside the memory. Pondering on this morning refreshed Grant of what occurred, as well as what he couldn’t see during his sleep. He stared into the darkness of his room from last night and could hear it calling to him. He drew closer, closer, closer, the voices turning to screams, and the darkness drew out faces that he could see.

“Ok! Grant let us leave this place and head back to reality, I have everything I need!”

Snapping out of his own mind, they were still in the same room from which they left. Grant shook uncontrollably and asked for some coffee.

“Well Grant, whoever, or whatever contacted you this morning is what is called a Mirage. Do you kno—”

“Of course I know what a Mirage is Derek, but why would one of these things be in the overworld?”

“Well, that’s the complicated part, all signs point to the mirage, the blurred character, the static voice, and the sudden departure, but everyone knows Mirages are found on the brink of both worlds. Whatever this kid told you, Grant, do not listen to it. I get it, he was your old partner, but you can’t be rash, not with these demon attacks get more frequent.”

Grant didn’t need to be a physic to see the fear in Derek’s eyes as he warned him. He closed up his mind and thought to himself. But… the kid mentioned Heisman, he thought, and I’m not going to let anyone just throw that name around.

“However, it seems as though you have no intention to listen to me, but heed this last warning, only the Devil chooses when and where the line between our world and the spiritual meet.” Derek softly spoke, turning away from Grant.

Grant nodded to Derek and left the building, and returned to his apartment in Fairview Valley. As he looked at the building, it intrigued him how old this building could be, and still stay relatively modern. The faded bricks of the building seeped of old knowledge, as did everything to Grant. Even after living here for 5 years, each brick told a different story. If things go south, he thought, I won’t be able to read all these bricks!

Motivated to return in one piece, he called his Agency and informed them he is on a private case and will not be able to make it in today. He grabs his Devil’s tongue, a blade so sharp and precisely made that it cuts between this world and the spiritual, and equips himself with armor crafted from the hearts of demons.

Throughout the halls of the building, whispers and murmurs circulated. They whispered legends and myths, truths and lies, foretellings and folktales, death and life, happiness and sadness, and the forbidden name, Lucifer.

The vault mentioned by the Mirage child was, in reality, a bridge. One that, if crossed, would lead the person to another realm, not that of the physical or the spiritual, but of the demonic. There was a multitude of such “vaults” in every area, as they provided a vessel for the demons to enter the physical world. Most of them have been quarantined and heavily guarded by the Seekers. The job of the guardians was the most dangerous, as they practically lived next to the mosh pit of demons and horrid creatures.

The one Grant believed Heisman was at was about a mile or two from his house, in a desolate nuclear factory. Similar to it’s “bridge”, the vault itself has been quite vacant over the past 10 years, around the same time ordinary people found out about demons. Quite coincidental to most, but planned to Grant and the other Head Seekers. Such an open place for people to easily visit? Of course, they have easy prey, but they themselves become easier pray when leaving the vault to feast. Vaults in the forest and enclosed areas are much more active.

When he arrived, he saw the guard post in front of the vault, a shabby shack that looked as if it would collapse at any minute. Grant imagined that from the vacancy of the demons, the upkeep of the place was similarly poor. It wasn’t until he touched the shack itself that he realized it wasn’t maintenance that allowed this place to go to shit. The guard, or what was left of him, was blasted against the wall like a bloody mural. Grant felt uneasy but stepped inside to investigate more. He touched the wall, using his Extrasensory Perception to read the forces here.

Screams, cries, horrors beyond all that is within reason. Men were killed, reborn, and killed again. Women being violated and used as rags for the creatures of the dark. The teeth of the victims were taken by the creatures and used as trophies, the most painful way to keep track of such things, without killing the men and women too quickly.

Horrified, Grant threw himself out of the shack and vomited. He trembled fiercely but got up eventually.

“Holy Shit, what happened here?” Grant cried out.

He walked back into the shack, this time hesitant to touch the bloodied wall. He noticed beside the wall was a journal, with the name “Jones” on it. To Grant, that name was familiar, he went to Seekers training with a Jones, but at this point, it was impossible to tell if it was the same person. Inside the journal, disturbing words and even worse pictures flooded the pages. Blood, Suffering, Killing, Death, Satan, Pigs, Corpses, Hellfire, Pitchforks, Blood, Blood, Blood, Blood…

The pages were all written in blood, the pictures, drawn in blood, the book reeked of death. Grant needed no ESP to know what happened in this book. He wanted to leave, every bone in his body screamed at him to leave, and yet, he stayed. Why, he thought to himself, why won’t I leave here? He knew what was ahead, and cowered in the shack.

With a bloodied wall behind him, he glances out the door. He sees more walls, more shattered windows, and more blood than he wanted to see. The walls and shattered windows were seeping out blood, pouring them out like waterfalls. Grant drew his sword, ready to fight off the incoming threat. His body shook like an earthquake shakes a city, and started crying. Soon the blood filled the shack, filled the outside, filled every nook and cranny possible. Grant was choking, gasping for the air, wishing he never came here. He fainted in the midst of the ocean of blood.

When he opened his eyes, he thought he died, and had gone to some other place beyond. He laid on the ground, accepting that his worldly body was left back at the abandoned nuclear power plant. He knew that it was all a trap now, the kid, Heisman, the shack. What compelled him to go in the first place? No, it wasn’t a question of what, but who. It was the same person he taunted and sought out in his dream that very morning, the Devil. In the deepest confines of Grant’s mind, he was drawn to the Devil, he had seen him once before and wanted seconds. He laughed at himself, thinking about how foolish he was to try something so stupid and hysterical it all was.

“but heed this last warning…” Derek’s voice echoed throughout his soul, “only the Devil chooses when and where the line between our world and the spiritual meet.”

“You know, your little friend was sort of right,” A mellowed voice spoke behind Grant, “I can bend the reality of this world to my will, not move an imaginary line between yours and mine.”

Grant didn’t need to move to know who it was. He just laughed.

“Laughing? That’s an interesting response, but humans love to react in confusing ways. I need no introduction, you know who I am. I'm here to tell you one thing before you perish, this world is so much more than what you think. This universe we all live in is so monstrous in size and in the souls of everything that lives in it. In fact-”

“Am I dead?” Grant blurted out, surprised the thoughts in his mind reached his mouth.

“Dead? Death? Dying? Life? Living? What’s this concern about such things? It saddens me, the DEVIL, that I have to see my creations contemplate this, with such a beautiful world to discover and enjoy. You know, you humans are so selfish, wanting everything, but never going out and getting it. ‘I want to see the world, but I’m too concerned about not living here and now.’ So you go and invent the internet and substitute the real thing with a picture. ‘We sure need food or we’ll all die, slave, go out and farm the crops.’ You used to imprison each other, tortured each other, and killed each other. Now, you self-proclaimed demon hunters hunt and kill your own creations! These demons that run around, humans made them, conjured them deep within the darkest parts of their minds. When they culminated enough to be seen, you all killed them, calling them the monsters! You seek me out, and call me the evil one?”

The area around Grant shook fiercely as the Devil spoke to him. The darkness also shook, but it shook with voices other than the Devil’s. Almost as if the Devil read his mind, a small light granted him a minimal vision of the room. Faces of dead people, faces of tortured souls, faces of forgotten names, showed themselves in the light. All the faces he saw felt familiar in a way as if he knows these demons personally...

“Of course, you are quite confused, being blinded by your own shit, the same shit you fight and kill. You shit out the evil in your body, then turn around and kill it as if it’s a foreign thing. I never created these “Demons”, nor did I name them. You created all the evil things in this world, you were the one who ruined my world I created for you!” He continued, seeming less heated then when he started, “I gave you these powers, I crafted you humans from my own flesh and bone, and you use this same power against me? How foolish I was! How foolish was I to think that I could make my own army with a mind and a soul? I sacrificed loyalty for strength, and paid the ultimate price for it! In my anger, I brought you here to teach you, and then kill you. In the spirit realm, you’ll see, you’ll understand.”

“Understand what exactly?” Grant squeaked, compared to the Devil’s voice.

“Life, Existence, Everything in this world and the next, Everything in this galaxy and the next, everything in this universe! Turn around boy, it’s time to meet your maker.”

Grant stood up, hand on his Devil’s tongue. He knew this puny sword would do little to nothing, but it comforted him as he held it, it reminded him of Heisman in a way. The Devil was, to his surprise, very human-like. His jet black fohawk pointed straight up in the air, in the direction of heaven itself. His dark caramel skin complimented his Ocean blue eyes perfectly. To top of his face, he had a goatee, just like the one many depict him with. The black and red tuxedo he wore seemed to jump out to Grant particularly and sensed something dark within the suit.

“You… You’re the devil? You look exactly as I would imagine. I thought I would have questions, but my mind is resolved. Nothing you say will persuade me to think otherwise! Prepare to be slain you, rotten Creature!” Grant exploded, drawing his Devil’s Tongue and preparing to plunge it deep into the Devil’s heart, or at least, the place where it should be.

Around Grant, the demons flew at him, and he began to slay them without a sweat. Slicing one, then turning around and penetrating the other, Grant fought vigorously for a few minutes before he noticed the creatures he was killing. The first one he noticed was Janet from the front desk at the Seekers Organization Collaboration building. She seemed to be tearing up when she charged at him, but after cutting her head off, she began to sob. The next was Derek, who he completely ignored. After tearing his body to pieces, Grant noticed every “demon” around him was someone or something, he knows. This is when the demons stopped attacking.

“You see now? All these demons, small and big, are from you. That woman you ignored, she became spiteful. Derek, the one who warned you not to come, angry at your actions. Everyone who you did wrong, or did something they disliked is here. A part of their soul is here, a part they will never get back. Back with the first humans, there were no demons, nothing to harm them. It was when the population reached 10,000 that I sensed something wrong. It wasn’t until the 1600’s, when your organization was formed, that the demons became tangible to the real world. Your foolishness to the truth led you here, and your foolishness now will lead you to your death.”

The devil was no more, and more demons filled his place, this time faces of his family. His cursed family, to which he wants to forget. His mother, who he loved more than anyone, looked at him in a depressed manner, almost as if she was calling him closer, about to reprimand him. He laughed as tears streamed down his face, just like old times. But this time, he did not run to her arms, he did not sob loudly as she told him what he did wrong, embracing him in the process. Instead, he lunged at her, slicing and dicing her body to bit size pieces.

The other member of his family was not blood-related, but with the years he spent with him, he might as well be his brother. This demon was much bigger than all the others, and he knew without looking who it was. If the Devil was right, and these were his own creations, the biggest demon here would be none other than his old partner, Heisman.

Heisman was smiling like he always did. Grant saw his smile and felt relieved. At least, he thought, this Heisman doesn’t know of the things I did to him, at least he doesn’t have to worry about the troubles I put him through. Tears poured down Grant’s face, and his sword dropped to the ground.

“I accept.” He whispers.

The demons did not need to respond to Grant, he didn’t need confirmation at this point. Seeing Heisman and his smile one last time was enough. None of the demons attacked, but Heisman approached him, the giant creature towered over him, and Grant met Heisman’s gaze. Heisman’s smile shrunk to a frown, and the demon moved its body so its face met Grants.

“You did this… You brought me here… You deserve less than this… Die… Die… Die… Die…” The demon said, using Heisman’s light, soft voice as a disguise.

The demon tore Grant apart, limb from limb, picked the meat from his bones and crushed his bones to a fine powder. After which, every demon faded away from existence, following their creator to the spirit realm.

The only thing that was left in the room was the bloody mess the demon with Heisman’s face left behind. The blood soaked into the cracks into the ground beneath, and quickly, a flower grew in its place. A single Dahlia bloomed from the death of a Head Seeker.

“What is this…? I came back to lock away this cursed blade, and found a simple flower in its place?”

The Devil picked the flower from its bloody home and sniffed it. It was a completely real Dahlia, exactly as he created so many millennia ago.

#Seekers #demons #devil #evil #Dahlia #battle #telepathy #ghosts

2 notes · View notes