This sounds like every episode of Annoying Orange.
Finally thought of a concept I think could work in the anthology and now trying to flesh it out.
"Ew, did someone smear a maxi pad or something on the seat?" he said in disgust.
Kyle turned around towards the back of the bus, where he saw a zombie banging on the window from outside.
"Oh shit!"
Insantly, Kyle ran to the front of the bus to leave, but saw a couple more zombies trying to force their way in from the door. In a matter of seconds, the bus was surrounded by a mob of zombies, trying to eat on the delicacy know as "Kyle's Guts".
At 4/22/10 08:12 PM, undeadsilence wrote:
As he peered through one of the buses side windows it appeared to be abandoned. He walked around to the opposite side, wondering what was going on and saw that the buses sliding doors were wide open. "Well...Im already late for work, I might as well check it out", he thought to himself as he stepped into the bus.
Kyle walked up and down the aisle of the bus to see if everyone was just hiding under their seats. The bus was as empty as a museum during a weekday.
"Dammit! How the hell am I going to get to work now?" he yelled, kicking the drivers seat of the bus. As he kicked the driver's seat, he noticed the keys were still in the ignition.
At 4/18/10 05:44 AM, vow2thou wrote: In addition to (hopefully) submitting for the anthology, I could provide typesetting and layout for you. Third-year Graphic Design student, graduating this June.
Had a look through the thread, and couldn't establish a particular length that would be preferred. Seems as though it could be anything between 5,000 and 50,000 words. Is there some specification you had in mind?
He said he doesn't want someone to write a novella, and that can start from 10,000 words to 17,500 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novella).
So I'm assuming less than 15,000 at least unless it's damn good?
At 4/17/10 11:32 PM, TrevorW wrote:excuse me why I decide to be an assGrow the hell up guys. Do you want him to publish you? Then do what he wants! End of discussion.
HE is the PUBLISHER of this book. His choice.
Deal with it or don't even bother.
Well technically he's not the publisher. Just the guy choosing what he wants in the book he's going to order from a print-on-demand company.
But yeah, it's his project, so he does have the say of what goes in/what happens to it.
I have another idea. If you are already going to go to the art forums and have a contest for cover art, why not also have multiple artists draw a picture for each story? I think it'd be kind of cool to have an artist draw their version of a story and have that be the title page for each story.
At 4/18/10 03:04 AM, ThePortalGuru wrote:At 4/17/10 11:52 PM, Koji98 wrote: Stuff about capitalizationActually, capitalization of things like "Earth", "Moon", and "Sun" are optional. It's only when the names of other planets or celestial bodies appear in the same sentence that you have to capitalize them.
Well there ya go. It's optional. Always better to have more than one person edit something.
"I was only five when the sun went out."
Sun should be capitalized, as it is the name of something. This would make the sentence look like "I was only five when the Sun went out."
First Paragraph:
"They said it was impossible. They said it wasn't supposed to happen for another couple billion years, but it didn't. It went out in five years."
This threw me off when I read that. I read it as the sun didn't go out, but then the next sentence tells me that it did in five years. Maybe change "didn't" to "did" to tell readers that it did go out, or just remove that part and leave "It went out in five years" on its own paragraph for impact.
"My mother always told me that science can't explain everything, and as of now, I do not trust the science. "
That makes me think of George Bush reading that. "The internets." "The Google." You could delete that and leave it as "I do not trust science."
Second Paragraph:
"The earth is a ball of solid ice."
Earth should be capitalized, making the sentence "The Earth is a ball of solid ice."
"The scientists had seen this coming a few years in advance, I'll give them that. It was long enough to build shelter near the hottest place on earth, and hope to ride out our constant tumbling through space."
So the scientists thought the Sun wouldn't go out for billions of years, but for some reason had plenty of time to build a shelter? Why did Gendou happen to leave Antartica the day before Second Impact? There may be more in the story that explains this, but as I'm editing this as I read, it comes off as it either being A: you goofed up or B: the government and scientists knew about it before hand and are assholes, hence the association to Evangelion.
Third paragraph:
". . . and the scientists say we may some day revolve around Jupiter, our new "Sun"."
". . . and now we have no Sun."
Fourth paragraph:
"She cooks meals for them, food that we are able to grow in the archology, before they go to school."
Do you mean arcology? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcology
"It was by sheer luck that I am here, as my mother worked as (an) assistant for a very important scientist, the one who designed the archology."
Added a word and I think you can reword the second part a lot better. Maybe ". . . worked as an assistant for the scientist who designed the archology [sic]".
I think this is a good start to work from. Now, you don't have to take my suggestions that I gave. Do whatever you like more.
Interesting idea. I might try to come up with something for this.
At 3/16/10 06:09 AM, MattTheParanoidKat wrote:
Koji98
Entries: Story #1 & Story #2
Synopsis: A young man has a reoccuring dream and becomes obsessed with it.
Overall Rating: 3 Out Of 5
My Thought: This is a charming little love story. It feels natural and that's all I can say. Really. It's simple. This is a nice story, it doesn't do anything remarkable but I generally enjoyed it. It's an average story, the characters are interesting and it's told well with little mistakes. It just is not the most creative story I've read but it's good.
Right on the dot. Wasn't trying to make it something so new it'd make people crap their pants in excitement. Glad you thought the characters were interesting.
I stood there, stunned by what had just happened. Before my mind could fully comprehend what had taken place, I hear the voice of the girl from my dreams, calling my name from behind me. When I looked back, Shannon was there, breathing heavily.
She climbed up the hill, still trying to catch her breath. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I shouldn't have gotten upset back there." Once she got her breath back, she started laughing. "Guess I was a little embarrassing back there, wasn't I?"
While she laughed, I wrapped my arms around her. "Huh? What are you doing?" she whined, her face blushing from my action.
"I found her," I said. "The girl I've been caring so much about these past few months. The girl who had been plaguing my mind, refusing to leave my thoughts. The girl who had captured my heart."
"I . . . I see," Shannon mumbled. Her face looked disappointed, thinking I have found the girl of my dreams, and that I would be leaving her behind.
"It was you, Shannon."
She looked up at me with a surprised look.
"You were the girl in my dreams. I'm sorry it took me this long to realize it."
Tears began to form in Shannon's eyes. She wrapped her arms around me and we kissed. Yellow and orange leaves fell around us as we held onto each other, time slowing down for the two of us. The two of us then went home together, holding hands.
On a fall afternoon in the middle of autumn, the girl who had been patiently waiting under the lonely oak tree, was finally reunited with her true love.
"Good! The two of us are gonna go out and have some fun for a change. Moping around thinking about a dream everyday isn't a way to live. You need to do something every now and then. Plus, we haven't done anything with just the two of us in awhile."
"But I-"
"No 'buts'!" she ordered. The train reached our stop and Shannon got off. "It'll be fun!" she said as she winked at me. I watched her run into the crowd of people as the doors on the train closed. The train then started moving again.
"Oh crap! I forgot to get off!"
I ended up getting off at the next stop and, not wanting to look like an idiot, walked the rest of the way home instead of taking another train. I'm an idiot.
-
The night before Saturday, I had the dream again. It was a scorching hot summer day with a blinding white sky. On top of a giant hill was a lonely oak tree, where the girl sang as she waited for someone. I climbed the hill to see her, listening to her beautiful melody. When I came up to her, she smiled.
A strong breeze pushed against the top of the tree, causing it to sway. I looked down at the girl, breathing heavily after having climbed the exhausting hill. She looked up at me with a gentle smile on her face. I reached my arms around her and embraced her, holding her close to my chest. She closed her eyes and hugged me back with her weak arms. Our arms were locked around one another for only a couple minutes, but it felt like it went on for much longer.
As we held one another, a familiar ring tone blasted in my ear.
"What the!?" I yelled as I fell out of my bed. I scurried to pick up the phone and answered it. "Hello?"
"Where are you!?" Shannon yelled at the other end of the line. "I've been waiting for you like forever now! Did you forget about today?"
"Oh crap!" I yelled. "Hold on, I'll be right there!" I hung up the phone and quickly changed my clothes, threw on some shoes and dashed out the front door. I ran as fast as I could to a local movie theater, where Shannon had told me to meet her the other day. When I got there, I looked around to find a pissed off Shannon so I could apologize, but she wasn't there.
"Where is she?"
I looked at my phone and noticed the time. It was ten minutes before the appointed time. Minutes later, a chirpy Shannon dressed in her casual clothes came skipping up to me. "Did you wait long?" she smirked.
"What was with that call!? You made it sound like that I was late!"
"Aw, come on. I just wanted you to be here first so I could say 'did you wait long'. It's been a dream of mine for years now to say that." Shannon laughed as she patted me on the back. I hunched over, feeling defeated.
"Isn't that something you should say to your boyfriend or something?" I asked. The patting slowly started turning into a beating, my back becoming more sore with each pound.
"Ha ha ha! You're so funny!" she laughed, her face blushed as she was literally punching me. "Anyway, let's go!" Shannon grabbed my wrist and dragged me into the movie theater.
The two of us ended up watching a romance film that she had wanted to see for awhile now. A scene where the two main characters held each other reminded me of my dream. In my dream, I had held the girl as if it was normal, like I had done it millions of times before. I couldn't understand it, but it felt "right" during the dream. Her image wouldn't leave my head during the entire movie, as if I longed for her.
After the movie was over, Shannon and I went out to eat at a nearby restaurant.
"That was a great movie," Shannon exclaimed as she ate one of her french fries. "It had me tearing up at the end too!"
"Uh huh," I mumbled, continuously dipping a french fry in ketchup, yet not bothering to eat it.
"Did you enjoy it too?" Shannon asked me.
"Uh huh."
"You're thinking about her again, aren't you?"
"Huh?"
"You're thinking about that dream of yours again. I watched you through the entire movie, and not once were you really watching it. Why do you care so much about a girl inside a dream?"
I gave her a puzzled look as she said that.
"You've been obsessing over her for months now! You know it, I know it, Dustin knows it, hell everyone knows it. You need to stop thinking about that dream and come back to reality."
"Why should I?" I said out of my ass.
"Because, I love you! I don't want to see you like this!"
I darted my eyes away from her, taking a sip of my soda. When I looked back at Shannon, I noticed a couple of tears had formed in her eyes. "Do you like me?" she asked.
I didn't answer her.
She quickly grabbed her purse and walked out of the restaurant. I watched her as she walked by the window and let out a long sigh. "Dammit."
After a minute of poking at my fries, I threw mine and Shannon's food away.
"What was with her all of the sudden? It's not like I love her or anything," I mumbled to myself as I left the restaurant. Right as I said that, I stopped. My stomach began to feel heavy as I thought about what I had just said. My heart sank all the way down to my shoes, like a weight being dropped into the ocean. "Do I mean that?" I thought. Quickly, I shook my head to erase my thoughts. The city park came up as I wandered around, so I decided to make a detour and enjoy the fall scenery.
Following the twisting path, my eyes locked onto a hill that I happened to walk by. It was rather large, standing high above the rest of the park. On top of that hill was a lonely oak tree, its leaves a mixture of yellow and orange, falling one by one down to the ground. I was fixated on the hill, when it dawned on me.
"This is . . ." I said. Immediately, the yellow and orange leaves turned to dark green, the sky scrapers and streets replaced with meadows and a small town out into the distance. The sun hung high in the sky, making the sky appear to be a blinding white. I held up my hand to block out the blinding light from my eyes. Standing under the oak tree was a girl clad in a white summer dress. Her long blonde hair flowed with the warm summer breeze. She leaned against the trunk of the tree, singing as she looked down at the small town. Her voice was calm and peaceful, her song melodic and innocent.
The girl stopped singing when she noticed me, then smiled.
"How are you?" the girl asked.
"I'm alright."
"I'm glad," she said, turning her attention back to the small town.
I stood next to her, looking down at the small town beyond the hills. "Uh," I said, getting her attention. "I don't mean to bother, but what are you doing here?"
"I'm waiting for someone," she answered.
"Who?"
The girl turned around to face me, holding her hands to her chest. "The most important person in the world to me."
"Have you been waiting long?"
The girl's face turned distressed. "For a long time now. He used to be with me all the time, but then a couple of months ago, he stopped showing up."
"I see."
The two of us looked down at the small town, bustling with activity as people went about their business.
"He'll come back," I told her. As I continued to watch the small town, a pair of soft lips brushed against my cheek.
"Thank you," the girl whispered into my ear. When I turned to see her, a huge gust of wind blew into us, causing leaves to fly into my face. When I opened my eyes again, I was standing under the oak tree on top of a hill, alone. The city had reappeared, along with the coldness of fall.
Story 2:
I held up my hand to block the sun's blinding rays.
"It's hot," I moaned.
The sky was blinding white, replacing the blue sky I've been accustomed to. Everything around me was distorted by the scorching heat, like looking through a rippling stream. Sweat rolled down my face and neck, making my shirt damp. I tried to wipe the sweat from my eyes, but it did no good.
Across the field of grass was a giant hill where a lonely oak tree stood high into the clouds. Under this oak tree was a relaxing shade, a paradise that only appears during summer. I made my way to the shade to escape the heat, but that wasn't my reason for going there. Standing under the shade, looking out at the small town a little ways away, was a girl. Her long, angelic blonde hair flowed with the summer wind. She wore a white summer dress, holding onto her shoulders by two small straps no thicker than a piece of string.
When I got closer, I could here her sweet voice singing a gentle melody. Her lyrics were calm and innocent, like that of a quiet newborn. I stopped and listened to her performance without her noticing. After she was through I climbed up the hill, calling her name. When she noticed me, her face was shocked about my sudden appearance, but it quickly melted to that of a smile. Her blue eyes glittered from the beams of sunlight that seeped through the leaves. She held up her hand and waved to me, softly whispering "welcome back".
-
*BEEP BEEP BEEP*
I groggily lifted my body up from my bed, slamming the top of my alarm clock with my sweaty palm. After wiping the sweat from my face, I looked my alarm clock and sighed.
"I had that dream again," I whispered to myself as I got out of bed. After I changed into my uniform, I headed off to school, ignoring breakfast.
For months now, I've been randomly having this dream. It's always about a blue eyed blonde haired girl, waiting patiently under an oak tree on top of a large hill. Every time I have that dream, I would wake up covered in sweat, regardless of the temperature in my room. It always felt like I was there, feeling the soft wind blowing through my hair, the sound of chirping bugs filling my ears and blades of grass tickling my toes. If I didn't have an alarm clock waking me up each and every time, I'd think that that girl on the hill was my reality.
But that's just stupid.
I went to school like any other day, clinging onto my coat as the autumn leaves fell from the trees. The brisk morning wind was humid, making it unnecessarily colder than it needed to be. "I really hate the cold," I thought as chills ran down my spine.
-
"You should go take some drugs or something." My best friend Dustin and I were sitting outside under an oak tree, eating our lunches that we had bought at a nearby gas station off campus.
"What, like marijuana or cocaine?" I joked.
"No, no, no my friend. I mean stuff that you can get at a drug store, or maybe get some prescriptions from a doctor. That way you won't have that dream anymore," he said, holding up a finger like some expert in the field of medicine.
"Why's that?"
"Because, that's the American way!" he cheered as he stood on the concrete bench, holding out his can of Dr Pepper.
"The American way? That's a load of bull."
"Trust me, it's the American way." Dustin jumped down from the bench and held up three fingers in my face. "Drugs, lawsuits, and violence. The American way."
Dustin was smacked by a bag on the back of his head. "Drugs, lawsuits, and violence, huh?" my other friend Shannon said, annoyed by Dustin's antics.
"Of course! I know these things!" he argued.
"Don't go making up such idiotic things! It's just gonna make you look more like a dumb ass."
Annoyed, Dustin rolled his eyes and folded his arms. "Pfft, what do women know?"
Shannon punched Dustin square in the jaw, causing him to fall backwards. She then gracefully took Dustin's seat next to me. "Can you believe him?" she asked me, sighing as she took a bite of her sandwich.
"He's always good for a laugh," I chuckled.
The bell let out a long ring, signaling the end of lunch.
"Well, back to the war room," Dustin said as he tossed his garbage in a nearby dumpster like a basketball player. "Want to do something after school?"
"Naw, I'm busy," Shannon answered.
"Me too man, sorry about that."
The three of us merged in with the crowd of students, only to disperse when we arrived at our respectful classrooms. It was another typical day, just like any other day. A teacher stood at the front of the class, babbling on and on about something nobody wanted to listen to, not even the teacher himself. I blankly stared at the chalkboard, doodling in my text book. When I looked down, I realized I had drawn the girl under the oak tree, so I quickly erased it before the teacher noticed it.
I started thinking about the dream as I looked out the window. "Who is that girl," I thought. Why does this dream keep popping up over and over again? It's not like I know the girl or anything. Hell, she doesn't even look like a famous actress or something. She's just some ordinary, plain looking girl.
Then there's the hill with the oak tree. Every time I think about it, it bothers me. I felt like I've seen it before, but that's preposterous. I've been in this city all my life. The town overlooked by the hill is small, while where I live is the exact opposite. Giant skyscrapers line the streets, slicing the passing clouds. Roads stretched for miles on end, filled with cars and pedestrians.
I sighed, watching the leaves fall off the trees. "Whatever," I whispered under my breath.
The school day ended with Shannon and I leaving school together, just like every other day. We both take the same train on the subway and get off at the same stop, so we always end up going home together. It was a routine that had gradually made itself the norm. Last year when we first met, we were in most of the same classes, and realized that we always took the same train and got off at the same stop, so one day Shannon said "since we're constantly bumping into each other, let's become friends".
I guess you can say she's pretty cute. She's a bit smaller than me, with blonde hair that stopped at her shoulders. Plus she always makes jokes or goof off. She'd make jokes like saying she's of the master race because of her blue eyes and blonde hair. I make the same jab at her whenever she would say it and the two of us would laugh. You would think we were a couple with all the time we spend together, but I really wouldn't call ourselves that.
"So, you're still having that dream?" she asked me.
"Yeah. I'm not sure why. I don't even know who the girl is."
"Hmm," Shannon pondered, tapping the end of her finger on her bottom lip. "What does she look like?"
"She has blue eyes and long blonde hair and wears a white summer dress."
"During the fall?"
"No. When I have the dream, it always takes place during the middle of summer."
"I see. So, is she some girl you secretly admire and haven't told me about yet?" she teased.
"What? No! I don't even know her!"
I reclined in my seat and stared up at the graffiti on the ceiling. Shannon watched me then let out a huge sigh. "Seriously, you look like your cat died or something."
"Huh?"
"Ever since you've been having that dream, you've looked melancholic. I'm tired of it!"
"I'm sorry."
Shannon puffed her cheek. "You know what, I've decided that I'm going to help you. You doing anything this Saturday?"
"N-no."
Story #1
It's funny, how something that's been standing in front of me all this time was the answer to my dream.
At 9/4/09 12:12 AM, blakedatch wrote:
:One main criticism I have is that you never go into too much detail at the beginning or end. You tell the readers almost immediately that your speaker is depressed, but we don't know enough about him to really care, and at the end, you essentially boil the story down to, "this happened, and then this happened, and this is what I thought." You write very well; it was just disappointing that you wedged a great middle section between two rather unspectacular sections.
Guess I should have gone more detail in the beginning and end, but I'm glad that you think I can write well. Now I'm off to rewrite that short into a novel, expanding the loving hell out of it for shits n giggles.
At 8/26/09 07:48 PM, PARABLK wrote: Any word or speculation yet?
We all lost because we kept badgering them. At least we have the August contest still.
At 8/23/09 12:30 PM, EKublai wrote: It's very hard to set deadlines for yourself when doing stuff for free so we don't or shouldn't have any expectations for you. I've learned that the hard way through flash. No apologies are necessary.
This man, he speaks the truth.
At 8/11/09 02:32 PM, EKublai wrote: Hey guys cheer up, it's my birthday!
But it's not MY birthday! >:|
Anyway, I have confidence in my writing. Sure, it might not be the best writing in the world where it makes even God bow down to my skills, offering me wealth and a harem full of sexy angels. However, it's way better than those writings I see in bathroom stalls at my local community college. Now, back to sitting in my leather chair, smoking a pipe as I reading the news paper and make witty comments about the government.
"Obama? More like, NObama! Har har har!"
I'm a big fan of Touhou, but I put that to the side when I read it. Podburrys pretty much said exactly what I think. It was hard to finish, plus I found it unnecessary for the little epilogue with Reimu and Marissa. I can't stand reading the script format unless produced like a visual novel, limiting the amount of lines on the screen. The musical idea was interesting, but I don't think you executed it well.
Got my story submitted if anyone feels like reading it.
(Continued from above.)
"You want something warm to drink?"
Amber replied with a nod.
"Alright then."
Inside, I went to the coffee machine.
"What do you want to drink?" I asked.
"...Hot chocolate."
"Hot chocolate? Well, lucky for you, they have it."
After I handed her a cup of hot chocolate, I made myself a cup of coffee and paid for them at the register.
"Whenever we find your place, I'll have your parents pay me back."
She didn't reply. Instead, she tried to take a sip of her hot chocolate, yet quickly pulled it away from her mouth.
"I burnt my tongue." she whined.
"You need to be careful when drinking that. Let me see if real quick."
She handed me her cup. I opened the lid and blew the contents for a bit. Lid secured back on, I handed it back.
"How's it now?"
"Better."
"So does the area look more familiar to you?"
"Kinda."
"Do you know which way to go from here?"
"I think that way."
"Let's go that way then."
As we made our way, I tried to start up another conversation.
"How did you get lost?"
"I don't remember exactly. I remember being at home alone, then one of daddy's friends came and picked me up."
"Oh?"
"He said that daddy didn't want me to be home alone, so he took me to places."
"Like where?"
"The movie theater, a restaurant, his house, then the park."
"Did he leave you there?"
"I dunno. I think he did."
"What an ass. Oh, never repeat that."
"When I woke up, I was alone at the park."
"Wait, you fell asleep there?"
"No, I fell asleep at his house, then woke up at the park."
"That's weird. Why would he take you to the park and leave you?"
"I dunno."
At the time, I didn't think too much of what she had said. I continued to walk, listening to her story. The snow began to weaken, and eventually to a complete stop. Clouds overhead started to break apart, allowing the stars to shine. The snow under our feet crunched with every step. The two of us passed by house after house, without a change from the melancholic look coming from Amber's face. Turn after turn, we continued to walk. Over time, we somehow ended up back at the park.
"Now how did we end up back here?" I asked. However, I got no reply. I pulled out my cell phone to check the time. The dimly lit screen displayed 5:30 AM.
"Jesus Christ, have we really been walking for two hours? I could have swore it was less than that."
Amber looked down at her feet, as tears began to fill her eyes.
"Aw, don't cry. I'll get you home somehow. How about we go back in the park and sit down at a bench?"
She nodded. I grabbed her hand and led her through the entrance. Layers of snow had collected on the benches, so I brushed it off to the ground and made a seat for her and I. Only a scarce amount of clouds were still in the sky. A soft wind shook the tops of the trees, which made the branches clatter with each other. Amber didn't make any kind of motion. She sat there looking down at her feet the entire time. I could only think about what it felt like to be in her place. The sun began to crept into the skyline, which dyed the last few clouds orange and red. The night was over, I thought to myself.
"Think we should get going?"
Amber didn't reply. I stood up and stretched out my arms, then held out my hand, hoping it would prompt her.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. Like I said, I'm gonna help you."
Tears began to flow down her face. At the same time, small orbs that almost resembled fire flies started to appear around her.
"What the?" I said, startled at what was going on before my eyes. It almost seemed like her body started to fade away. She jumped off the bench and grabbed a hold on my hand. We stood there, without a single word or movement. She quietly closed my hand and jumped back.
"Thank you for helping me." She told me.
"What's going on?"
She halfheartedly smiled, and before I knew it, she vanished. I was stunned. I remember thinking, "What on Earth did I just witness?" among other things of that same nature in a fraction of a second. My hands clenched without me noticing, until a sharp pain in my palm knocked me back to reality. I opened my hand, and noticed a small bracelet. "AMBER" was written across a metal plate, along with several small charms. Exhausted, I went home. In my apartment, I flopped onto my bed and fell asleep, with the bracelet still in my hand.
I woke up hours later. My head was aching, but I disregarded it. The memories of the night before flourished instantly in my mind.
"Must of gotten drunk last night." I said.
I turned on the news as I made myself something to eat. Something came up that piked my interest. It was a report of a missing girl, age six, who disappeared a couple days ago. They showed a picture of the girl along with a phone number and address for any insight on where she might be. Quickly, I took a piece of scrap paper and wrote the address down. The next day, I went to the address and returned the bracelet.
I'm not sure exactly what had happened that night. To this day I question, what if I had gotten Amber home? Would things have changed? Every winter since then, I take a walk to that park during the middle of the night, hoping that I may see her again. Walking across that snow covered path, under the lamps that never work, listening for those quiet footsteps.
Click to listen.
Many years ago, I happened upon a miracle. Well, I wouldn't really call it a miracle, but something on the lines of a phenomenon. I remember it taking place when I was twenty years old; the lowest point in my entire life. I'd just finished three semesters of college, yet still without a clue on what I really wanted to do. "Just go to college" was what I'd been told during that time. Society had created a rule about one needing to go to college regardless of their situation. Though it didn't help me, well, except to kill time and burn a hole in my wallet.
I was in a rut. The night before hand I contemplated whether suicide was a good thing to do at this point, just after I spent hours wasting away on several forums, each more pitiful than the last. The next day, I brought this up in a conversation with my sister, only to end up making her worry about me more than ever. That was the last thing I wanted, people worrying about me.
I couldn't take it. My apartment's walls closed in on me, suffocating my lungs. No longer could I escape reality through the internet, music, movies, games, or even books. This safe haven had become a hell for me, and my body was at its limits. So, I threw on my coat and left. With a pack of cigarettes in one pocket and a cellphone and wallet in the other, I went on a walk.
Outside was dangerously cold. The ground was layered with a thick slate of white. In the sky, clouds covered the stars, making the atmosphere more depressing than I wanted it to be. All the trees in sight were bare, naked by winter's wrath. As I walked down the street, the occasional car passed me by. Whether they were people who were either having an evening drive or going to the next party to get drunk, I didn't know. Just another pointless thought going through my mind.
With a cigarette in hand, I placed it in my mouth and flipped open my zippo. A mixture of humidity and smoke exhaled from my lungs. As far back as I could remember, I knew that smoking was bad, but I didn't care. It was a means of escape at one point, though that excuse evaporated over time, leaving me broke in the process. I stopped and held out my stick of cancer, then sighed. After I returned to my walk, I was met with a local park.
"Haven't been here in a long time" I whispered under my breath.
Next to the entrance was a sign. "Park open hours: 6 AM - 10 PM" it said. Cellphone in hand, I checked the time. The dimly lit screen displayed 3 AM. That didn't deter me, however. Onward I moved across the snow covered path. A line of lamps paralleled the sidewalk, however none of them were on. Outstretched before me was a field of darkness, with a scant of trees out to the distance. Funny, I thought, how the scenery fitted my current mood.
Snowflakes began to fall. Even though the wind was light, it still carried the sharp prick of unbearable chills. My arms wrapped around my body, trying to hold in any remaining heat I had left.
"Why am I out here?" I wondered out loud. As I talked to my self, I began to hear footsteps following me. I ignored it and continued on without a change of pace. However, the footsteps didn't go away. My head slightly turned to the side, as if I was trying to hide the fact I was trying to see what was following me. Nothing was there. I shrugged and kept going. Yet, the footsteps returned. Was this a sick joke? I turned around again, only to be met with nothing. This stupid game, I thought, needs to end or I'm gonna let loose. I took a step, with a similar sound coming from behind me again.
"That's it!" I yelled.
I swung my body around, ready to fight as a nearby street lamp flickered on. Nobody was there.
"Who the hell is following me!?"
In reply was a weak cough coming from below. I looked, and there stood a little girl no older than six. She was dressed in a red winter coat, black boots, and two brown mittens which covered her hands. In her hair was a red bow, which tied her hair back.
"Don't scare me like that, kid." I tell her.
She gave no reply.
"Anyway, shouldn't you be home by now? It's the middle of the night."
Again, there was no reply.
"Well, good luck getting home."
I tried to go on, but the girl grabbed my pant leg.
"Huh? What is it?"
"I'm..." she muttered, as her voice trembled.
"Yeah?"
"I'm..."
"Spit it out."
"...I'm lost."
That took me off guard, as I stepped back in astonishment. The situation played out in my head. A little girl was lost in a park at night in the middle of winter. Her face was pale, so I thought she couldn't have been out there that long.
"How long have you been out here?"
"I dunno."
"Do you know your address?"
"No."
"Phone number?"
"No."
"Well, your in quite the trouble then. However, I don't have time for this. So see ya."
I quickly headed toward the exit, not wanting to get dragged into her problem. Yet, as I walked, the sound of scurrying footsteps followed me. I turned around, and was met with the girl again. A small cloud escaped her small body with every breath.
"What now?" I questioned the girl.
"Can you help me, please?"
"I already told you I'm quite busy right now, so please go find someone else."
"I tried, but nobody stopped to listen to me."
I began to feel guilt build up in the bowels of my stomach. A little girl asked me for help and I lied to her just so I didn't have to deal with her. I caved in and agreed to help.
"Okay, I'll help you."
"Thank you."
The two of us exited the park. Even though I said I would help her find her way home, I had no clue where to start.
"Uh, do you have any idea on which direction your house might be?"
The girl pondered for a moment.
"I think that way." she said as she pointed north.
"Then let's try going that way first."
We began our walk, heading north as she had pointed. Store after store passed us by, each wielding a "Closed!" sign upon its door. With each street pass, I turned to see if she hinted at a different direction for us to go, but all she ever did was stay close behind me. Neither of us spoke a word to each other during this time. It became eerie, so I decided to break the silence.
"So, what's your name?"
"Amber Gray."
"Okay, I'll remember that. My names James Mitchell."
"Mr. Mitchell."
She repeated my name, yet the word "Mr." infuriated me. Back then, I believed the only people with the word "Mr." in their names were old people and businessmen.
"Call me James. I'm not old enough to warrant a 'Mr.' in my name."
"Oh, okay."
The coldness started to get a hold of me. There was nothing I wanted more than to be inside where it was warm. Luckily, an opened gas station crossed our path.
At 7/23/09 02:08 AM, Fyndir wrote:At 7/23/09 02:05 AM, Koji98 wrote: I guess I can just seperate each paragraph.At 7/10/09 02:12 PM, gumOnShoe wrote:Funny how reading the rules post would have made that easier for you.Protip: If you want to win, write something that isn't lord of the rings! Also, double return between paragraphs.
Damn, how did I miss that when I actually read them? Cursed skimming.
@Podburrys
I'm about to upload one in a second. It'll just take a second to reformat the story.
At 7/23/09 02:04 AM, EKublai wrote:At 7/23/09 02:02 AM, Koji98 wrote: Don't mind me. I'm just testing to see if tabs work for when I submit my story.Ha, I was just as disappointed two nights ago as I'm sure you are right now.
tab
Yeah, I'm disappointed. Also, space doesn't work. I guess I can just seperate each paragraph.
Well, I see that tabs don't work. Guess I'll try manually inserting them with the space bar.
tab
Don't mind me. I'm just testing to see if tabs work for when I submit my story.
tab
Select between 5 monster racers, upgrade your monster skill and win the competition!
4.18 / 5.00 3,534 Views
Build most powerful forces, unleash hordes of monster and control your soldiers!
3.80 / 5.00 4,200 Views
© Copyright 1995-2014 Newgrounds, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
newgrounds.com — Your #1 online entertainment & artist community! All your base are belong to us.
