There is a pebble in a turning mill,
Who'd have thought,
A pebble in a mill,
But the mill turns still
The pebble gets caught with a noise so shrill,
For a moment it stops,
The pebble in the mill,
But the mill turns still
The pebble has a purpose to fulfill,
It is nearly released
But remains in the mill,
But the mill turns still
The pebble is stuck,
Caught in the side
Stopped is the mill,
But the pebble is still.
-TPP
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Edgar Allen Poe Parody
“Pain
cannot be felt,
Nor
songs sung,
Nor
eyes opened,
Till
the tempest settles,
And
the wren is at rest.”
A
scream first, then a laugh, then the plodding of feet along a cold
dark floor. She rehearsed in her head over and over again. The scream
came first, then the laugh and then the footsteps. She was hiding in
her parents walk in closet, in the far back corner being as silent as
she could possibly ever be. She tried to distract herself from the
fact that there was quite clearly someone in her house. She tried to
take in every element of the dark walk in. she began to count every
single thing hanging in the closet. 66 individual shoes, 33 pairs, 12
pairs were high heels, the rest were flats, 13 coats, 7 dresses, 3
skirts. She began to feel the objects closest to her. She couldn’t
see their color due to the darkness, but she could feel their
texture. One was a soft, silky dress that ran all the way to the
ground, another was velvet and one was plain cotton.
An
ominous thought, almost unnoticed slipped into her mind. She was
doing a good job distracting herself…from the person in her house.
She instantly remembered why she was constantly counting coats and
shoes and dresses and things of the like. There was someone in her
house, a person with bad intentions, most probably trying to cover up
whatever crime they had committed. Her mind was once again racing,
imagining all the things that may have just happened. It was as if
her mind was fighting itself. It
could’ve just been a break in, she
thought. But
then what about the scream? Who screams when they break into a house?
This internal discourse continued until she concluded it could not be
a break in. Well
maybe mom cut her hand on some glass and then laughed at herself
foolishly and went to get a bandaid.
Yes,
that must be it!
She concluded that of course that was what had happened, and then
decided to leave the closet.
Still
a bit shaken up, and with a bleak countenance, it took her a minute
to be able to get up and reach to open the door. She reached and
felt the cold brass doorknob send a chill throughout her body. Again,
a small barely noticeable thought slipped into her head. Don’t
open that door!
At first she just thought she was thinking it, but soon questioned
why the thought did not sound like herself in her head, but rather,
the voice of a happy young mother simply telling her daughter not to
open the door to the hot, dangerous oven. She convinced herself that
spending time in a dark closet had made her crazy and that she was
just imagining things, she again reached for the door, grabbed the
knob and felt a chill. She concluded to never mind the chill and turn
the knob anyway. She turned the knob and heard a click, but the door
did not open. She turned it again, CLICK!
And
it didn’t open. CLICK
CLICK CLICK!
The door would not open. She panicked and started banging on the
door. Still convinced that her mom had simply cut herself on some
glass, she screamed, “MOM! THE DOOR WON’T OPEN!” To her
bewilderment, she heard a reply in the voice of the happy young
mother she had heard in her head, except even more incredulously, it
was out loud. “Good job! You’re right! It won’t!” She was
astonished. She did not comprehend what was happening or who was
outside the door or why she couldn’t get out of the closet or why
she’d heard a scream. What
is going on?!
She thought. And again, she heard the voice of the mother, but this
time it was in her head again. Well,
you’re stuck in a closet you foolish, impotent child! This
time the voice still sounded happy but had a creepy, cold chill to
it.
She was confused and a feeling of impending doom pervaded every
thought she thought and every feeling she felt. This time she
absolutely lost it and began screaming. She began to scream, but was
astonished when nothing came out. She tried again, desperately trying
to get her voice to make a noise, any noise. But nothing came out.
Not even a tiny little whisper of air. Nothing.
Her
heart raced as she thought about her situation. Frightened, she
realized, she was a murderers dream. She had absolutely no way to
defend herself. She couldn't scream or escape. It was at this point
that she gave up completely. She succumbed to the disparaging
thoughts and feelings, and sat down, preparing herself for her
inevitable death. Little did she know, she was not going to die. She
was actually in the process of getting out of the closet.
She
sat in the closet, terrified and crying, although completely silent.
She eventually must have fallen asleep, because she remembered waking
up. When she arose, she was laying in her bed, with her mom standing
over her. Her body became immediately stiff as she realized that this
was the exact scene from earlier in the day. She was no longer in the
closet, but reliving her day. She was almost more terrified than
before. She thought at this point that nothing could get worse. She
didn't even know what to do with herself. “Mom, could you leave for
a second?” she asked her mother, trying to sound sane. “Sure...”
she replied, cautiously.
Once
she was alone, she spoke to herself, just saying simple things, to
make sure that she could speak. Then she decided she must have just
been dreaming, and tried to ignore the fact that the day was
proceeding exactly the same as before. She walked out of the room,
and proceeded to the closet. She was careful to leave the door open.
She inspected it, counting all the things in it, to see if it all
matched up. It did. She turned around to leave, and the door was
closed. NO.
NOOOOOO.
She thought. THIS
IS NOT HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. She
panicked once again and immediately became so overwhelmed with
stress, that she passed out on the floor of the closet.
Whilst
in her passed out delirium, she heard the voice of the mother. See?
I saved you! That man would've come into the closet and killed you if
I hadn't locked you in there! She
was utterly confused. She did not know what was going on. All of the
sudden, the woman appeared in front of her. She smiled and said,
“I'll help you sweetie.” and then the woman, so innocent looking
and slightly creepy, clubbed her in the head with a bat, and she fell
unconscious even in her already unconscious state.
It was at this point
that she awoke again. And she was just laying there on her bed. Until
something started shaking her. And she heard a voice. “Nadia.
Nadia...we are leaving in 20 minutes! Get up!” She awoke, and
stared at her mother who was just leaving her room as she saw her.
It hit her all at once. It was all just a dream. The whole thing.
She didn't know how to feel. She was relieved that none of her
worries were real, and incredibly filled with joy, knowing that none
of it ever happened. It was just a figment of her imagination. And
then she remembered. I wasn't completely a figment of her
imagination, it was real. Sort of. She'd had the same dream every
night for 16 years, and every night gone through the same horrifying
experiences. And every morning woken up with the same feeling. This
is why she had a sign above her bed that read, “None of it is real.
That was all a dream and you are awake now. This is real.” She read
this, and got out of her bed, and went about her day as normal.
Monday, September 10, 2012
I am sorry I cant write this anymore
I found this online, I didn't particularly care for the poem, but see if you notice anything interesting about the layout...It took me a while but once I got it it was funny! I wonder what "Shim" didn't want to be writing!
I once had a dream
a dream I lived by
my dream was sure
sure like the sky
ordinarily amusing
reluctant yet proud
resilient and strong
yes to my dream, I had vowed
I held on to my dream
committed for sure
acclaimed glory
no action impure
telling a story
without remorse
reliving the past
Im an unstoppable force
the past is gone
eternally finished
time goes on
homeward bound
It's something that
simply cant go back
and never regresses
no never repeats
yet it goes on and on
magically discarding
obstructive memories
rather always safeguarding
everything important.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
The Beach
You're walking out
on to a beach. You can smell the salty scent of ocean water wafting
throughout the air. You feel the sand in between your toes, filling
every gap there was between them. You keep walking and with every
step, the sand feels warmer and warmer. But it never feels too hot.
You walk until the warm water just barely brushes your feet. The
water is the perfect temperature. It's so perfectly lukewarm, that
you wouldn't even know it was touching you unless you could see it.
A warm summer breeze blows. The exhilarating feeling of summer wind
in your hair makes you feel invincible. You are invincible.
Nothing can hurt
you. Nothing can make you sad, or angry or upset. In fact, you
completely forget what those feelings feel like. You can no longer
remember anything that had any of those feelings associated with it.
The only thing you can feel is pure happiness. You don't know why,
but you are elated. It seems, as if nothing bad will ever happen.
You now live here, on this perfect beach.
You lay with just
your legs in the water and feel the waves gently lapping up against
your perfect skin. Usually, you would put on sunscreen because of
your Irish complexion and very pale skin, but the sun has no effect
on you, so there is no need. You feel the warm welcoming sand
envelope your body. Usually you would be bothered by the sand in
your hair and every other crevice in your body, but no one else is
here to see it, and there is no mess that you are going to make by
being this way, so you don't care. You lay with the waves welcoming
your body, more and more, into the landscape with each crash.
You stay there for
as long as you like. There is no time. No deadline. No numbers.
There is no where you need to be; nothing you need to do. You can do
whatever you want. Whenever you want. It doesn't matter what you
do. The only thing that matters is that you stay happy. Nature is
there to serve you.
Eventually, you
stand up and begin to walk. With your messy, sand covered body, you
begin to walk down the beach. Step, step, step, step...for as long
as you like. You begin to notice that you are a little hungry. You
think to yourself how much you want a mango. Instantly, a mango
appears to the side of your feet. You pick it up and take a bite of
the fleshy fruit without bothering to peel it. You devour the mango
almost instantaneously.
With your stomach
satisfied, you run toward the water. You run into it and begin
swimming around in a small tide pool. You open your eyes under the
salty water. It doesn't hurt, because pain doesn't exist. You look
at a variety of beautifully colored fish. Some stripped, some with
spots, some purple, some yellow, all sorts of fish. Any kind you can
think of. Eventually, you get out and and begin to walk again.
For a moment,
something slips into your head about someone, somewhere, who doesn't
like you or is upset with you for some reason. Before you can let
the thought progress any further, a beautiful rose petal falls from a
cloudless sky. You pick it up and smell it. It is the most pleasant
scent you have ever smelled, and you immediately forget your worries. Suddenly you hear a voice.
“IS YOUR HOMEWORK
DONE YET?! WE HAVE TO LEAVE IN THREE MINUTES!”
You snap back to
reality. You are back in your real life. The place riddled with
worries, deadlines, expectations and people who want things from you.
This is the place where nothing works right and nothing goes your
way. You look at the ornate grandfather clock across from you. A
mere minute and a half had passed. You get up and walk into the
kitchen to get ready to leave. It is loud and chaotic with your
little siblings turning your house into shear pandemonium. All you
want to do is go back to that blissful minute and a half. You walk
out the door, and trip on the way out. You fall flat on your face.
In getting back up, you think to yourself that nothing will ever work
and nothing will ever make you happy. But somewhere deep inside of
you, that minute and a half left you with a feeling that maybe, just
maybe, you can do it.
I Spy a Bad Guy
This story won 2nd place at the Burnt Hills Adirondack Womens Society Writing Contest.
Most
people think of a vacation with their family as a good thing.
Usually, it is something people look forward to. You talk about the
amazing vacation you had and all the fun things you did with your
friends, and usually, they are all jealous. That was my belief when
this whole ordeal started. I was going on vacation! Great! This was
going to be a great escape from the mountains of work I had at home!
I wish I could say that this was how I would remember this “vacation”
forever, unfortunately, this is not so.
Our
plan was simple: my parents and I would drive from our home in
Cupertino, California to the airport in Oakland. From there, we were
headed to Orlando to catch a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. Our family
usually didn't take big trips like this, so I was getting pretty
excited. The short ride to the airport seemed to take hours upon
hours. It literally seemed to be endless. After the eternal car
ride, we arrived at the airport. It felt like somehow, someone had
slowed time down and everything was taking longer than normal. We
were sitting at our terminal waiting for our plane to arrive and I
was getting anxious, so I decided I was going to start trying to
figure out where random people in the airport were headed.
I
was an ordinary 16 year old girl. At least that is what I thought at
the time. I had been raised to be very attentive to details. For
instance, most people in an airport would just walk right by the guy
dressed in a business suit and pay no attention to him. But my
parents made sure at a very young age that I knew when things were
off. Said business man was wearing a black suit, with a white shirt
and black Nike's. Yes, the business man was wearing athletic shoes
with his very professional business suit. Like I said, most people
would notice, but I did. However, nothing else really seemed off
about him, so I ignored him as soon as he went to his gate, which was
probably about a mile worth of airport hallways away. I leaned over
to my parents,
“Hey
did you see that guy wearing Nike's with his business suit?!
Weirdo...”
“Of
course we saw him! It's ridiculous what some people think they can
get away with these days!” So I went about figuring out where I
thought people were going and what they were up to. A few people
were going to beaches, and a few were on business trips. There were
also a few who had clearly pretended to go on a business trip, and
then lied to their husband or wife and met up with some “significant
other”.
Eventually,
our plane arrived and we boarded. Another thing I picked up from my
parents, was planning ahead. When you are in a new place, you always
make sure you know the quickest escape route. So as soon as I got on
the plane, I made sure I knew exactly where the exits were. I took a
quick look around to see who I'd be sharing the plane with for the
next several hours. For the most part, everyone appeared to be
somewhat normal. There were just a few odd balls here and there. The
elderly man with purple hair was the most troubling. As we flew, I
began making up a story in my head as to why this mans hair was
purple. While doing this, I drifted off to sleep and didn't wake up
until we were landing.
We
arrived to a hot, humid August day in Florida. We made it to our
port and after waiting for what seemed to be forever, we made it on
to our boat. I was feeling pretty happy! So far, this vacation was
everything I could've hoped for! We meandered around the boat as we
sailed off to our Mexican paradise. There were a lot of things to
see and do on the boat. Food of all sorts, and so many activities, I
wouldn't have enough time to do them all before our time on the
cruise was done! I decided I wanted to explore our deck. Since we
were on vacation, I figured my parents would give me a little leisure
in what I wanted to do.
“Hey
Mom? Can I go look around the deck?”
“Sure!
Be back soon! And no talking to strangers! Even the cute boys!”
“Okay
mom. Whatever...” I left and began to venture around the deck.
There were a few cute boys but there was one man that really caught
my eye. His hair was slightly grey and he was very built. He wore a
Hawaiian t-shirt and Bermuda shorts. He had a big hat on and stood
looking out over the ocean intensely. I took note of his running
shoes and went on my way, exploring the rest of the deck. But for
the rest of the day, I couldn't get Bermuda shorts man out of my
head.
The
next day, I woke up before either of my parents, who slept like
rocks, even on the moving ship. I decided to try to be the good
little daughter they had always wanted (although for the most part, I
was a good kid). I left the room and went and got us all doughnuts
to eat for breakfast. As I was rounding the corner to enter the
room, I heard Bermuda shorts man. He seemed to be talking on the
phone. He was definitely speaking another language, maybe Russian or
Czech. I hid behind the corner instead of turning and walking into
my room. I found it entertaining to know things about people that
they didn't know I knew. It was often useful too. So, as I silently
stood just around the corner, listening to this older man speak fast
Russian (or something of the sort) I considered why he was talking in
such a hushed voice. My first thought was, “Maybe
he's going to propose to his girlfriend and wanted to arrange
something with someone so he could pop the question at the perfect
time!” Then
I realized that I think about marriage way too much, and the odds of
this somewhat elderly gentleman getting engaged at his age were very
low. It was also then that I realized he sounded angry. He hung up,
but then started a new conversation in English, although it was
spoken with a thick accent. It was hard to tell what he was saying,
but I heard the important parts.
“...I'm
here right now...yes, it'll be done by tomorrow...I have everything
under control...They wont even know what hit them and no one will
know...good day.” What I was hearing was a little bit unsettling.
I didn't really want to jump to conclusions but it sorta sounded like
this man was going to kill someone! I decided now would be a good
time to pretend I was just coming around the corner.
When
I rounded the corner, I was startled to see that Bermuda shorts man
was staring me directly in the face. “I knew you were there the
whole time you know. I don't take kindly to eavesdroppers. In my
opinion, they're quite rude. I thought your parents would've raised
you better. Seeing as they tend to be manner freaks.” I started to
panic, realizing that this man apparently knew my parents, and seemed
to not be a great person in general. “You see, I might as well just
kill you now, since I was going to do it anyways. I mean really,
whats a few hours difference?!” I freaked out. I had no idea what
to do. I had thought of some of the things I had learned from my
dad, who had taught me self defense from a young age. I decided I
should do something rather than let him keep talking. I casually
dropped the doughnuts. This man appeared to be an assassin because
whoever he was, he intended to kill me, and apparently my parents
too. I knew that if he was indeed an assassin, he was sure to be
armed with something, whether it be a gun or a knife. I came up with
a plan.
I
was going to kick out both of his kneecaps, and break both of his
wrists, therefore rendering him helpless. This way he couldn't walk,
and he certainly couldn't try to pull a gun or knife. “You should
really be more considerate of others when-” I cut him off mid
sentence by absolutely crushing his kneecaps. Screaming in pain, I
then destroyed his wrists. At that points, I decided I should shut
him up, so as to avoid making a big scene. So I crushed his windpipe
with my heel. He was immediately silenced, and shortly thereafter
very dead.
I
quickly, and quietly dragged him back to my room.
“MOM!”
I said in a hushed whisper, “This guy was going to kill us!”
“What
did you do to him? Who is he? How do you know that?!”
“Well,
I'm pretty sure he's an assassin, and he was definitely going to kill
us. I bet you twenty bucks he has a weapon. Oh and as for what I
did to him...I'm pretty sure he's dead.” My Mom gave me an unsure
look, as if to say, “I'm
not sure you should have killed this guy.”
She began going through his things. The first thing she found was a
very nice gun with a silencer, loaded, safety off. The next thing we
found was a seven inch knife. This meant I was right not once, but
twice! He had a gun AND a knife! After that, we found a cell phone,
and a business card that had a name on it. Alexander Korsakovich.
“My
gosh. This is the Slovakian assassin that tried to kill Lawrence.”
said my Dad, astonished.
“Who
is he? Who is Lawrence? Would you guys mind to fill me in on whats
going on?” My parents promised to tell me everything on the way
home. They managed to call a helicopter to the boat to pick us up.
How they did that, I have no idea. As soon as they could, they
dragged Korsakovich's body to the edge of the boat, and threw him
over. We got on the helicopter later that night.
On
the helicopter, we talked for multiple hours about everything that
had just happened and why. As it turns out, my parents had been
spies in Bosnia for years before I was born. They made a few good
enemies there, and apparently, obtained some information that someone
really didn't want them to have. And that is why this certain someone
sent a Slovakian assassin to kill my family and I. They had been
retired several years, and I suppose whoever wanted them dead,
figured that, “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” It was an
eventful family vacation, and I wasn't really sure what was going to
happen when I got back home. There was one thing that was for
certain though. Whoever wanted us dead, still wanted us dead, and I
doubt the loss of one assassin was going to stop this person from
getting us the way he wanted us: cold and dead with our lips sealed
for eternity.
The Third Stone
“Should I wear it
up or down?” I inquired of my stunningly beautiful sister whose
appearance suggested experience in this area.
“Well, it is a
first date so...down. Wait. It depends. What are you doing?”
“He said it's a
surprise. And I happen to love surprises! But he did say to wear a
nice dress.”
“It's hardly even
a first date! You've known him for how long now?”
“Five
years...three months...twenty seven days...” I said, sad that I
actually knew the numbers.
“Well, someone's
got it down to a science! Wear it down, and bring a hair tie! A
boyscout is always prepared!” She said, reciting the familiar
phrase we had heard our father and brothers say many times. I
looked around to find the perfect hair tie to match my flowing yellow
dress. Just as I heard a knock on the door, I found it hidden in
between a few books I had been reading and slipped it on my wrist. I
rushed down the stairs, nearly tripping in my four inch heels. When I
got to the bottom of the stairs, I looked at the guy who was at my
door. He was not what I expected him to be. Although I had seen him
in a suit before, tonight he looked different. His suit, jet black
with a fluorescent green tie made anyones heart pound that looked at
it. It made him seem sharp. He seemed to be at that time a man,
rather than the boy I knew him as.
“Hey Marc.” I
nearly whispered.
“Hey!” His eyes
caught mine, and I couldn't breath. It seemed to me as if I might
actually pass out. But before I could, I was taken out of the trance
by my fathers warm voice.
“Alright now, you
two don't have any fun! And for Pete's sake don't do anything dumb!”
“Yes Dad.” I
muttered back. We were about to walk out the door, and just before
it closed, I heard my sister say,
“Put your hair tie
in your purse!!!” in an annoyed tone. I slipped the hair tie off
of my wrist and put it in my purse, realizing that it probably did
look childish to wear it on my wrist. We walked out the door smiling
like the sun on a warm summer day. As got in the car, I casually
asked what we were doing.
“It's a surprise!”
he exclaimed.
“What time is it?”
I inquired, knowing that he wouldn't be bothered by the strange and
random question. I was obsessed with time and it bothered me when I
didn't know what time it was, and he knew it. He looked at his
watch.
“Huh. My watch is
broken!” he looked at the clock in the dashboard. “Um...this one
is broken too. So I have no idea what time it is.” he said
frustrated.
“It's okay! I have
my phone!” I checked my phone. Dead. Neither of us had any way to
tell what time it was. Finding this peculiar, and knowing that I
didn't like not knowing the time, he tried to ease my mind.
“It's okay, we'll
make it into a game!”
“And how is not
knowing the time going to be a game?”
“I haven't a clue
in the slightest. Just go with it.”
“Okay...sure.” I
replied to get him to think I was okay with this, and part of me was,
but somewhere deep inside of me, I felt uneasy. I felt as if I had
been stripped of one of my senses. Something inside of me felt off.
And I knew it. And I could tell he knew it. A cool mist hugged us
and a crescent moon dotted our car through the trees as we drove off
into the darkness. Little did either of us know that this was only
beginning of the peculiar events to come.
During the car
ride, we talked about our days and what we did but an eerie feeling
was still present in our conversation, though neither of us addressed
it. After a twenty minute drive, we arrived at a popular theater in
the next town over. He finally spilled the beans.
“Tonight, we will
be treated to see a Broadway performance of The Lion King!”
“Awesome! Thats
the best surprise ever!” I lied. The best surprise ever would be a
pony. And second to that, would be a genie in a bottle, but this was
still pretty good. Being the gentleman he was, he escorted me into
the theater and into our seats. The
lights dimmed, and the curtain came up revealing a cast so
extravagantly dressed it assured an entertaining performance.
Throughout the entire performance, our hands played a game of
chicken. Turns out, we were both chicken. The entire night. But I
put the blame on him because that is definitely the guys job.
When the show was
over, we got back in the car and started driving. I had thought he
was taking me home, until I noticed him taking wrong turn, after
wrong turn, after wrong turn. I eventually spoke up.
“Uh where are we
going?”
“It's a surprise!”
He replied cheerily. One big surprise is enough for one night. I
just want to go to bed. Take
me home!!!
“Two
big surprises in one night?! Could this day get any better?!” I
said with fake enthusiasm. This day would be better if he
would take me home already! I
thought silently. I got frustrated easily at late hours, so I
decided to keep up the charade. We drove for a short time before
arriving at our new destination. I got out of the car and realized
that we were at a park by the theater. We walked over to a small
pond outlined by a bench and a few pine trees. We walked along the
edge of the pond talking about the usual stuff. Although I was
participating in a riveting conversation about different types of
fish, my mind wondered and I ended up not really knowing what we were
talking about and just thinking about my family.
As
we walked hand in hand (He finally manned up!) next to the pond, he
stopped at a small rocky beach.
“Let's
see who can skip stones the farthest!” he said. Although at first
I had felt very tired, I was feeling less so now and was up to a
little competition.
“Sure!
But only if you don't mind losing!” I joked.
“Ladies
first!” I scouted the beach for the perfect rock to skip. My eye
caught it and I bent down and picked it up, along with a few others
that looked like they had come from the same rock due to their
similar size, shape and color. I tossed the stone with the precision
only someone well versed in the ways of skipping stones could. The
stone skipped once...twice...three times...four times...splat.
“FOUR!”
I shouted, “Beat that!”
“Oh
I will, you'll see!” He threw his stone and it skipped only twice.
We continued to play. I threw, he threw, and we were really enjoying
ourselves. Until his third stone.
He
threw the third stone.
Skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...crash. The stone skipped
three times out, and then, incredulously, three times back and landed
on the beach. We stood, and stared at the stone.
“What?”
was all he said.
“Did
that jus-”
“Yeah.
It just skipped backwards.” he said with awe. He picked up the
stone and threw it as hard as he could.
Skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...crash. He threw with all
his might, but the third stone kept coming back.
“Let
me try. Maybe it's just you.” I said trying not to sound mean
about it. I threw the rock as hard as I could.
Skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...crash. Four
times out, four times back. This time I was going to do something
different.
“I'm
going to try to catch it this time!” I said, determined to get a
different outcome. He stood closer to me. I reached into my purse
and pulled out the bright yellow hair tie. I pulled my hair up into
a tight bun. Serious hair for serious business.
As
I pulled my hair up however, I was unaware that in doing so, I had
pulled a hair out of my head. Half of it landed on my shoulder, the
other half landed on his shoulder which was right next to me.
Neither of us noticed. I threw the stone.
Skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...thud. The
stone landed squarely in my palm. Before I could think anything of
the strange phenomenon, everything turned white. I felt like I was
spinning and no matter how hard I tried to see something other than
white, I failed. Eternity seemed to go by. But then, as if someone
had flipped a switch, I saw something I had never seen before. I saw
people screaming and running everywhere in what looked like it used
to be a city. Utter pandemonium. I looked for the source of their
horror, only to find it. I didn't have to look far because it was
right in front of me. A giant cruise ship stared me straight in the
face. It was moving slowly in my direction, down what appeared to be
a tiny canal. I wondered how the boat was still moving in such a
small space. I turned to my right remembering Marc. He stared at
me, as baffled as I was. Where were we, and how did we get here?
“Holy
crap. Holy crap. Holy crap. It's coming right at us. Holy cra-”
“SHUT
UP! Let's just take a second and figure out whats going on!” I
tried to rationalize with what was happening. It was impossible.
“What do we know? We know there is a giant frigging boat that is
about to pulverize our bodies like ants. We know this is bad.”
that was all I knew for sure. I didn't even have a guess at the rest
of what could be happening.
“We
know nothing. Oh wait. We know we are about to die. I guess I can go
buy that Ferrari that I always wanted! Well actually, I might as well
steal it!” All I could think is how funny it was that guys were the
ones that were supposed to comfort the girl when something bad
happened, and yet he was the one panicking like a baby and I was the
one remaining rational. Or at least somewhat rational.
The
immediate shock of the preposterous situation we were in wore off
quickly. I began to realize the reality of the situation. I had no
idea where I was, how I got here, what was happening, or how to get
home. I too, began to panic a bit, but quickly shunned the feelings
realizing that I would never get home if I kept panicking. I reached
for my purse to get my phone, not remembering that it was dead.
Suddenly I realized that I had left it on the ground back in the real
world, wherever that was, and however I got here, it hadn't
transported my purse too. I knew that how we had gotten here had
something to do with the third stone.
We
quietly wondered to ourselves what had happened on that boat. We saw
the captain of the ship with a panicked look on his face and we could
tell he was trying his hardest to get the boat to stop. “Even with
her mighty engines in reverse, the ocean liner was pulled further and
further into the canal.”
The
thought came to me that maybe this was all just a dream and I had
passed out on the date or something. But I decided not to bet my
life on it. So we decided to run, literally for our lives.
As
we were running, the thought came to me that maybe the rock had
transported us into this unreal dimension. “Marc! The rock did
this! It had to have been the rock! What else could have done this?!
I mean, I really have no idea what did this, but the idea that the
rock did it is better than nothing right?”
“Yeah.
Sure. We'll go with that. So now what do we do? Keep running?”
“Well,
if it did it once, shouldn't it do it again?”
“Yeah...so where
are you going to skip it? There's no water here!”
“The canal.”
“ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!
THERE IS A BEHEMOTH OF A BOAT IN THE CANAL THAT IS CHARGING AT YOU
LIKE AN ANGRY BULL AND YOU'RE JUST GOING TO WALK RIGHT UP TO IT?! DO
YOU KNOW WHAT ANGRY BULLS DO TO PEOPLE?! THEY KILL THEM! THEY KILL
THEM DEAD!”
“Yup.”
“Fine. Whatever. I
mean, we're going to die one way or another, we might as well be
crushed by a giant boat.” We ran back to the canal as fast as we
could. When we got to the edge, we realized we only had time to
throw it once before we would be crushed by the boat. Every emotion
in my body left. I knew what I needed to do and I had one shot to
get it right. I no longer felt anxious, or stressed or worried. In
fact, I felt almost calm. I realized that this would all be over
quickly, whether for bad or for good.
So I threw the
rock. Skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...thud.
I caught it in my hand. Nothing. I waited, praying every second that
something would happen, that everything would turn white and we would
be back home again. But nothing happened.
“CRAP! What are we
supposed to do now?!”
“You tell me!
Girls are smarter than boys!” The boat inched closer and was a
short five feet away from us. The noise of metal screeching and
people screaming did not make for the best thinking environment
doubled with the fact that I was almost certainly about to be
crushed. I decided that the best course of action was to try to defy
all odds and throw the stone again. But this time I decided to
recreate as much as I could about our position when I threw the stone
the first time.
“Get over here.
Stand right where you were when I threw it before.” he came closer
and although neither of us were aware, his shoelace fell on top of my
heels when he moved. I took half a second and hoped with all of my
heart that it would work this time.
I threw the stone.
Skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...thud. I
caught the stone with the most grace that I had ever caught anything
with before in my life. For about 2 milliseconds I whispered to
myself in an almost inaudible tone. “Please. Please. Just let this
work.”
White. I was
spinning again. And in the midst of the confusion and spinning, I
thanked everything I could think of that it had worked.
This time, I came
out of my stupor in yet another place that I not only didn't want to
be, but had never been before. I was on the top of what appeared to
be a skyscraper. It was pitch black and there was no light coming
from anywhere except one light that appeared to come out of the roof
of the building. This was not the “Top of The Rock” observation
deck in New York City though. In fact it wasn't an observation deck
at all. It was the top of what seemed like the worlds tallest
building which had no railing or security measures at all. I took a
deep breath. I vowed to myself that I would remain optimistic until
we got out of this mess. I again looked to see if Marc was still
there. He was. “Well. That was fun eh?”
“Yes. Let's do it
again. I think that was definitely something I would like to do
again.” he said sarcastically.
“Okay so now we
know how to get out of a situation, so how do we get home?”
“You tell me
Einstein. Do I look like I have a clue? Also, did I mention I don't
like heights?”
“Okay...” I
breathed quietly to myself, ignoring his sarcasm. I surveyed our
surroundings. I turned around and took in everything I saw, trying
to determine where we were and if there was any immediate danger. I
was almost finished completing my 360 degree sweep when of course, I
saw the inevitable immediate danger. Marc's eyes saw them just as
mine did.
There, standing in
front of us were five men. Not only were there five men, but there
were five men in black suits with assault riffles. I did the first
and only thing that popped into my head.
“Hello.” I said
trying to sound friendly.
“You know what we
want. So how about you do everyone a favor and give it to us.” The
man that spoke appeared to be their leader, standing in front of the
rest of them and speaking with a thick Russian accent.
“Actually, I'm not
really sure what it is you want...would you mind explaining?”
“Don't play dumb.
Just give us the book and we will leave, and probably not kill you!”
a few of the men laughed.
“Would you give us
a second please?” I decided that I needed to consult with my
apparent partner in crime before making an executive decision about
whether or not to give them the book we didn't have. I pulled Marc
close to me and turned around to make our conversation as inaudible
as possible.
“What the heck?! I
don't even have a book! Who are these people?! What are we supposed
to do?!”
“I know exactly
what to do. We kill them. How do we do that? With my mad skills,”
he said with confidence, “Long story short, I may or may not have,
but definitely did take a few pre-law enforcement classes over the
summer. Also, everyone in my family is in the FBI...sorry if I
forgot to mention that.” he spoke as if nothing bad was even
happening. He then quickly and quietly pointed to a concealed hand
gun and a can of pepper spray that was hidden under his sport coat.
“Close your eyes and turn around.” he said to me.
I decided it would
be best to follow his advice since he seemed to know his stuff in
this area of business. I turned around, closed my eyes and took a
deep breath. Within a few second I heard a hiss, followed by a few
screams. Then I heard five perfectly spaced gun shots. Before I
knew it, Marc was hugging me from behind, as if to shield me from
what had just happened. In shock, and not believing
what had just happened, I turned around, only to be reassured that
yes, my date had just killed five people. On our first date. Trying
to console myself, I concluded that this was all indeed just a dream
and no one had actually just died.
I
did a quick sweep of the area just to be sure that there was no one
lurking in the shadows that was about to come out and kill us.
However, to my surprise, there were no shadows for lurking. In fact,
the entire roof of the building was perfectly flat with nothing on
it, except the one light coming out of it. For the first time, I
looked around off the edge of the building, only to discover, to my
horror that there was nothing. Nothing. Anywhere. I looked as hard
as I could and there was nothing. It was as if we were floating. I
concluded that I needed some help looking because clearly I must just
be a little bit tired from our evening of strange events.
“Hey
Marc! Look out there,” I said, pointing off into the nothingness.
“What do you see?” he turned in all directions, looking intently
into the vast and endless space.
“Nothing.
There is nothing there. How are we going to get home?!” he asked
frustrated.
“I
don't know.” A wave of despair swept over both of us. I began to
cry harder than I ever remembered crying. It was probably in part
due to lack of sleep, and who knew what time it was since both of our
watches and phones were either broken or dead.
After
probably an hour or an hour and a half (it was really anyones guess)
of solid crying, we both fell asleep. We woke up, in what we would
have called the morning, but no one really knew. It was still pitch
black. We talked about our lives for a long time before finally
getting enough courage to try the only thing we could think of .
Having decided to try even though there was nothing to throw it into
or on, we were going to throw the stone.
We
arranged ourselves exactly as we had before. This time, he held my
left hand. I looked him directly in the face and kissed him,
figuring that at this point, nothing really mattered so who really
cared? He stared at me, astonished that this was happening on our
first date, but then again, this wasn't exactly an ordinary first
date. I prepared myself, and took the deepest, longest, most
fulfilling breath I had ever taken in my life. I threw the stone.
Skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...skip...
It went of into the endless space, never getting smaller as things
usually do when they move away from you. It skipped, and skipped,
and never made any progress, but continued skipping, on and on
forever.
We
sat and watched the rock skip. Forever and always. Time didn't
exist. Distance didn't exist, and every element of reality we ever
knew, was gone. So there we sat, me, Marc and a skyscraper, forever.
How the Bear Fell in Love
I must preface this post by saying I just had an AHA! moment. I love to write and so why not post my stories?! So viola...there will be a ton today and when I write new ones I'll post them! Enjoy!
How the Bear Fell in Love
Once upon a time in
a place where thousands of people went to everyday to take a break
from reality, history was made. There they sat, two very different
and unique people who had never met. One, a woman in her fifties
with short cropped grey hair, wearing the outfit that she had
carefully selected as she did every morning. Her eyes were a bright,
almost fluorescent blue. The other, a short and plump man also in
his fifties, who had prepossessing features about him that left
anyone who saw him wondering a plethora of questions. They sat
there, strapped tightly into a seat that was about to take them for
the ride of their lives. They had both been in the single rider lane
and had ended up sitting next to each other not knowing that these
next few moments would make history.
As they were
beginning to move backwards up a steep slope, Veronica recalled to
herself exactly how the ride should go. Once they had been pulled
backwards up and intimidatingly steep slant, they would have thirteen
seconds before they would hear and whooshing sound, and they would
fall quickly down the tracks while having the breath taken out of
them. The only part of the ride that concerned her was reaching the
top, because she had a terrible fear of heights which she usually
didn't share with people. Each moment passed as they climbed higher,
and each moment, she became increasingly more terrified. Time seemed
to be standing still as she felt cool beads of sweat rolling down her
face at a hurried pace. Finally they reached the top and she began
counting. Her heart pounded as beads of sweat turned into a
waterfall of salty perspiration falling off of every surface of her
body. It took her a moment to remember what number came first. Then
it came to her. One. Each number she silently breathed became easier
to remember. After what seemed life forever and a day, she reacher
13. Nothing. No whoosh. No jolt. No breathtaking drop. Nothing.
Each millisecond that passed, she began to panic a little bit more.
When she saw the specks of people below putting on reflective yellow
vests and climbing up the emergency access stairs, it hit her. She
was stuck. A thousand thoughts ran through her head. But most
importantly, if she died, she hadn't fulfilled her life goal: to fall
in love. To fall farther than she had ever fallen, and have the time
of her life doing it. And she began to cry.
As she began to
look at the situation she was in from an outside perspective, she
realized that the poor person next to her probably thought she was
crazy. They had gotten stuck at the top of a relatively small roller
coaster and she was bawling like a two year old. She decided that
she should at least try to make the situation less awkward than it
already was. So she resolved to say hi to him.
“Hi.” she said
trying to sound sane, but coming off more as socially awkward.
“Hi.” the man
replied politely.
Her attempt at a
conversation wasn't playing out the way she had expected so she tried
a new approach.
“My name is
Veronica! Most people call me Ronie but ya know...yeah.....ahem...”
she fell into an intensely awkward silence.
“Uh...hi. My name
is Joseph but most people call me Joe.”
“So Joe, do you
like roller coasters?” she was desperately attempting to hold a
decent conversation.
“Yeah I guess they
are pretty cool. You?”
“Oh I love them! I
just hate heights.”
“Yeah I could
tell!” he said knowingly, “I know something that could take your
mind off of the height!”
“And what is
that?”
“I'm going to call
my mom! She'll never believe it and It's her birthday so what better
thing to do?!”
“Uh...okay I
guess” she said rather hesitantly. He fiddle with his pocket and
eventually reached his phone. When he dialed the number, a picture
of a large bear showed on his phone. Ronie wondered why the photo ID
for his mother was a bear. That seemed almost rude she thought to
herself. And then she noticed something she hadn't taken note of
before. Joe was hairy. Very, very hairy! She almost gawked when
she put all of the pieces together. Joe was a bear! She had been
sitting with and talking with a BEAR!
She had spoken with a bear! But more surprisingly, a bear had spoken
to her! This was absolutely the most preposterous situation she had
EVER been in!
She tried very hard not to make a scene, but with the question she
couldn't resist asking, it would be hard. “I...uh...” she
stuttered, “Um...I guess I was just noticing you are...um...a
bear.”
“Wow!
Took you long enough! That is usually the first thing people notice
about me!” he hung up and decided that the conversation he was
about to have was more important than singing some dumb over-sung
birthday song to his mother. He was simply astonished that she
hadn't noticed that right off the bat! Usually when you first meet a
person, you notice some distinguishing characteristic about them
immediately. However this woman seemed to be very different in that
it had taken her at least ten minutes to notice that he was a bear!
This woman who seemed to act and dress too professional for being at
an amusement park, had taken ten whole minutes to notice that he was
a bear! He eventually concluded that she must just be a little slow
in the head.
Their conversation had taken a sharp left turn into oncoming traffic
and reached a dead halt. He decided to change the course of the
shattered remains of the conversation they once had.
“So
what do you do for a living?” he asked casually.
She rehearsed the lie she had told an infinite number of time in her
life.
“I'm
the CEO of a small start up in Imperial Missouri. We work with
fixing computer viruses.” He bought into her lie perfectly.
“Interesting!
I find myself to be very 'computer capable'”
“Thats
useful in these times.”
“Yeah
it is.”
For a few minutes they sat in silence as they came back to the
reality of the situation they were in. About fifteen minutes had
passed since they had become stuck, and a ride operator came onto a
loudspeaker somewhere near by.
“Okay
ladies and gentlemen, we have fixed the problem and we are going to
run the ride now!” this announcement was followed by several cheers
and a lot of clapping.
The
ride ran normally from a somewhat delayed beginning to a fantastic
end. When Ronie got off the ride, she didn't bother saying anything
to Joe but rather sprinted as fast as she could. She wasn't really
sure where she was going but all she knew was she had had an
adrenaline rush and was shaking uncontrollably. She didn't want
anyone to see her like this so she hurried to a bathroom. After
spending several minutes in the restroom, the shaking had reduced
enough that she felt comfortable going back out into the public. She
walked aimlessly around the park trying to get the leftover
adrenaline out of her system and her mind wondered. She remembered
the reason she had come to this park. She was stuck.
Veronica Nancy Parks. She was the Queen of the United States of
America. Yes, she was the QUEEN of the U.S.A. Very few people in the
world knew who she was. And even fewer knew why. Anyone who knew
her and knew what she did would classify her as an evil queen, but
she didn't like to think so. Her job was simply to tell the American
government what to do. She could change the course of the country,
and essentially, the world almost instantaneously. The American
government had to do what she said. Like it or not. If she said,
“Drop all of the nukes we have.” they did it. The average person
wouldn't understand the leverage she had over them. And even the
President didn't, but he knew it was powerful whatever it was. In
the past, the government had tried to disobey the Queen, and it never
ended well. It always resulted in either death, or catastrophe. She
had been on a good streak. The wizard who told her what to do, who
no one knew including her, hadn't asked much of her since she came to
power. Until recently. The wizard, had asked something difficult of
her. The wizard asked her to have the government begin a war with
Canada. Not only must she start a war with no reason, she had to
start it by dropping a hydrogen bomb in Newfoundland. When she heard
this, she seriously considered simply saying no. But she knew that
such a reply would result in her immediate death. So she was torn
about whether or not to send out the command to the government. And
that is why she had taken a vacation. She just needed something
different to think about for a while. And as she found herself
remembering her dilemma, she decided to think about something
different yet again.
So
she thought about two things. First, she thought of her life goal.
She had come so close several times, but had never actually made it.
Or at least she didn't think so. Her life goal was to find a man,
and fall in love with him. She did eventually want to get married,
and if thats what the result of her falling in love was, then great.
But all she really wanted at the time was to fall in love in a way
she could never imagine. And the second thing she thought of was
Joe. This mysterious talking bear she met on a roller coaster. He
seemed like a nice enough guy. And she felt awful for walking off on
him. Before she had realized that he was a bear, she had been
thinking that maybe he was the one. She hadn't held a meaningful
conversation with any male since her last talk with the president.
And that was years ago. So this bear was the first one who came to
mind when she thought of someone she could potentially fall for. So
she decided to try to find him.
Finding Joe completely possessed her mind. Any and every thought
always came back to Joe. Joe and all he could be to her and for her.
Her mind was all about the future. The “what ifs” and the “maybe
someday” thoughts were exhilarating. She began to come up with
scenarios that were preposterous for how little she actually knew
about him. She imagined them sitting on a bench in a park holding
hands and watching the clouds role by. She imagined them ice
skating. And she imagined them being married. She suddenly popped
back into reality for a moment and realized that she had been nearly
sprinting around the park looking for Joe. So she slowed a little
and began to look closer. After about five more minutes of
searching, she found him.
When she saw him, there was practically a halo around him.
“Joe!
Joe! JOE!!!!! OVER HERE JOE!!!!” she exclaimed waving her arms
around frantically. Noticing himself being summoned and also being
stared at by several bystanders, he responded,
“Oh!
Hey Ronie!” he walked briskly to her and escorted her to a less
public area to see what the cause for her making such a scene was.
“What
on earth was that about?!” he exclaimed
“I...um...”
she couldn't think of what to say. She had been overly eager to find
him and never came up with an idea of what to say when she found him.
She came to a conclusion.
“I
just felt bad for walking off on you and figured I should apologize
before I never saw you again.” she breathed a sigh of relief. She
hadn't made herself look like a complete fool...at least she hoped
she hadn't.
“It's
fine don't worry about it! You looked a little shaken anyways!”
“Yeah
heights aren't really my thing. Look, I know I just met you and
maybe this is crazy, but I was thinking you seem really nice and
maybe you would want to meet up sometime for dinner or something?”
“Uh...yeah
sure! Why not!”
So Joe and Ronie spent the rest of their day at the amusement park
together and afterwards they went to dinner. They learned many
interesting things about each other over that dinner. As they sat
across the booth from each other, they had no problem keeping a real
conversation going.
“So
were you ever married or anything?” asked Ronie.
“No.
But I had a girlfriend once. We probably would have gotten married,
except she was a panda and I was a grizzly so we couldn't decide on a
place to live. Also, she gave me no space at all. Everywhere I was
she was. I was never alone. Ever. It was a frustrating and
difficult situation so I ended it.”
“Oh.
I'm sorry. That's sad.”
“It's
okay. Really. I got over it.”
“Well
thats good. What was her name?”
“Malery.
It's spelled differently than most people would think...I never
found out why though. Did you ever have a husband or boyfriend or
anything?”
“I
almost dated a man once. His name was George. He was amazing. But
then I found out he was married.”
Their
evening continued and they both enjoyed it very much. So they set up
another date. And another, and another, and an endless number of
dates. Eventually, they got married. They lived a long and happy
life together in Imperial Missouri where Ronie went to work at her
start up company everyday. She had the government wage war on Canada
and a hydrogen bomb was dropped in Newfoundland. The war lasted for
several years and the United States finally won and made peace with
Canada. She never told him that she had been going down eight floors
to a secret office from which she ruled the United States everyday of
their 36 year marriage, until one day.
One day in the beginning of spring, Joe fell ill. He had a heart
attack and had survived it but in his old age deteriorated quickly.
Ronie knew he would die soon, and made one of the most difficult
decisions in her life. She decided to tell him that she had lied to
him everyday of their marriage. She walked into the hospital room
one afternoon after the doctor had called her. He had said that it
was time to say goodbye to Joe. So she went.
As she entered the room, it was silent. Joe was staring blankly at
the ceiling. She decided that it was now or never. She finally
mustered up the courage to say it.
“Joe,
I have something to tell you.” she said solemnly.
“Yes
darling?” he replied weakly.
“Joe,
I am the Queen of the United States government. I tell them what to
do and they obey me. Because if they don't obey me, then bad things
happen. I am the reason the war on Canada started. I told the
government to drop that bomb. I didn't want to but I did, only
because I had to. I had to do it because there's this wizard who
tells me what to do and if I don't do it, then I end up dead. I
never see him and I don't know who he is but I obey him. And if I
hadn't, I never would have married you because I wouldn't be here.”
she said quickly.
There was a long pause and a placid look washed over Joe's face. He
replied, “I know. I'm the wizard.” and slipped peacefully off
into an eternal sleep.
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