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Post by Nora on Apr 16, 2020 18:39:10 GMT
how about we create a story together? if you want to participate, add up to 10 sentences. they should be connected to not only what the poster before you wrote but to the entire story as it keeps developing, like refer to or use the same characters or plot points etc. lets stay away from explicit porn and gore too, please. anybody is welcome to participate, whenever you want, just if you post and realize someone posted WHILE you were creating your post pls adjust or delete so we keep the continuity. Thank you. i believe in our collective artistic spirit.
here is the start:
There was something odd about the way Mark showered. He would sing before and after the shower, but never while showering. Who does that? I wonder if it meant he was so in love with his own voice, I wouldn't be surprised. His sister always told me to look out for Thursdays. I ignored it. Until this Thursday.
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Post by Xcalatë on Apr 16, 2020 20:55:57 GMT
-Speaking of Thursdays, Mark was actually listening to 'Tuesday's Gone' by Lynard Skynyrd while showering which was rather odd as he rarely listened to Classic Rock. Mark was more of a Jazz Snob and not afraid of taking about it either.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 16, 2020 22:59:52 GMT
-Speaking of Thursdays, Mark was actually listening to 'Tuesday's Gone' by Lynard Skynyrd while showering which was rather odd as he rarely listened to Classic Rock. Mark was more of a Jazz Snob and not afraid of taking about it either. I wondered if it was simply a case of him broadening his musical horizons and trying something different, but then it occurred to me that Mark's new taste in music could perhaps be attributed to the new woman who had entered his life. Her name was Kelly. Just like Lynard Skynyrd wasn't the type of music Mark typically listened to, Kelly wasn't the type of woman Mark was typically interested in. She was tall, leggy, Amazonian in stature, with a mane of long blonde hair and a walk that turned the heads of men and women alike. He usually went for the complete opposite of that. Ever since Mark had met her, I'd noticed slight differences in the way he acted. So did his sister. I just assumed he was trying to impress this new woman he'd met. It then began to occur to me that there may have been more to him acting out of the character than I first thought.
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Post by Nora on Apr 16, 2020 23:26:38 GMT
-Speaking of Thursdays, Mark was actually listening to 'Tuesday's Gone' by Lynard Skynyrd while showering which was rather odd as he rarely listened to Classic Rock. Mark was more of a Jazz Snob and not afraid of taking about it either. I wondered if it was simply a case of him broadening his musical horizons and trying something different, but then it occurred to me that Mark's new taste in music could perhaps be attributed to the new woman who had entered his life. Her name was Kelly. Just like Lynard Skynyrd wasn't the type of music Mark typically listened to, Kelly wasn't the type of woman Mark was typically interested in. She was tall, leggy, Amazonian in stature, with a mane of long blonde hair and a walk that turned the heads of men and women alike. He usually went for the complete opposite of that. Ever since Mark had met her, I'd noticed slight differences in the way he acted. So did his sister. I just assumed he was trying to impress this new woman he'd met. It then began to occur to me that there may have been more to him acting out of the character than I first thought. -" Mark, I am headed out soon, do you have the keys, mate?" - I yelled at him from behind the closed bathroom door. The singing stopped and the door opened a bit. Mark's head with wet hair popped up. -" Yeah, thanks buddy, see you tonight at the competition?"- He smiled and it made me feel just like in college again. He was probably the worst roommate I ever had there, but he had this wickedly charming smile that seemed to get him out of trouble a lot and it even worked on me. I nodded at him, grabbed my backpack and put on my shoes. Before I left the apartment I heard Mark go right back to singing. He switched a tune and genre now and was singing: "Have you met Miss Jones?" somewhat melancholically.
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Post by Pep Streebeck on Apr 17, 2020 5:06:53 GMT
I wondered if it was simply a case of him broadening his musical horizons and trying something different, but then it occurred to me that Mark's new taste in music could perhaps be attributed to the new woman who had entered his life. Her name was Kelly. Just like Lynard Skynyrd wasn't the type of music Mark typically listened to, Kelly wasn't the type of woman Mark was typically interested in. She was tall, leggy, Amazonian in stature, with a mane of long blonde hair and a walk that turned the heads of men and women alike. He usually went for the complete opposite of that. Ever since Mark had met her, I'd noticed slight differences in the way he acted. So did his sister. I just assumed he was trying to impress this new woman he'd met. It then began to occur to me that there may have been more to him acting out of the character than I first thought. -"Mark, I am headed out soon, do you have the keys, mate?" - I yelled at him from behind the closed bathroom door. The singing stopped and the door opened a bit. Mark's head with wet hair popped up. -"Yeah, thanks buddy, see you tonight at the competition?"- He smiled and it made me feel just like in college again. He was probably the worst roommate I ever had there, but he had this wickedly charming smile that seemed to get him out of trouble a lot and it even worked on me. I nodded at him, grabbed my backpack and put on my shoes. Before I left the apartment I heard Mark go right back to singing. He switched a tune and genre now and was singing: "Have you met Miss Jones?" somewhat melancholically.
The drive into work this morning was a little easier than most. Heavy cloud cover, just made every little sign in town and on the road look clear to my vision, vibrant. Like being inside of a comforting shadow. Not the heavy ultraviolet light blasting everything, where my co-workers can bluster about their joy of a sunny day. Perfect time to finally get a chance to think about things. I can finally remember "how it was"... before the competitions.
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Post by Nora on Apr 17, 2020 14:05:53 GMT
-"Mark, I am headed out soon, do you have the keys, mate?" - I yelled at him from behind the closed bathroom door. The singing stopped and the door opened a bit. Mark's head with wet hair popped up. -"Yeah, thanks buddy, see you tonight at the competition?"- He smiled and it made me feel just like in college again. He was probably the worst roommate I ever had there, but he had this wickedly charming smile that seemed to get him out of trouble a lot and it even worked on me. I nodded at him, grabbed my backpack and put on my shoes. Before I left the apartment I heard Mark go right back to singing. He switched a tune and genre now and was singing: "Have you met Miss Jones?" somewhat melancholically. The drive into work this morning was a little easier than most. Heavy cloud cover, just made every little sign in town and on the road look clear to my vision, vibrant. Like being inside of a comforting shadow. Not the heavy ultraviolet light blasting everything, where my co-workers can bluster about their joy of a sunny day. Perfect time to finally get a chance to think about things. I can finally remember "how it was"... before the competitions.
Mark was the one that came up with the stupid idea originally, to compete in "Relationships". I never imagined that it would take on, and he’d find other people and teams who wanted to join in, but I guess I should have known that the world is plentiful with idiots and the vanity of their vapid lives is best exercised and given meaning through pointless competitions. Mark lost so far with every woman he brought in, could it be why now he has chosen Kelly, is he betting on her changing his luck? I should call his sister, she should know whats going on. She should know he showed up in my place, after years of no contact, simply asked if he could crash with me for a few days, and then within 24 hours, he just resurrected it all. The competitions, the long singing showers, the swarm of phone-calls and emails of people signing up for the stupid competition. And whats worse, the fact that once again, I am going with it all, as if I didn't know any better. I wanted to jump out of the cafeteria window at work and smash my skull and splash my brains on the concrete 5 stories down for everyone to see. Maybe that would stop this madness. But maybe not, maybe it would just encourage it instead.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 18, 2020 1:53:38 GMT
The drive into work this morning was a little easier than most. Heavy cloud cover, just made every little sign in town and on the road look clear to my vision, vibrant. Like being inside of a comforting shadow. Not the heavy ultraviolet light blasting everything, where my co-workers can bluster about their joy of a sunny day. Perfect time to finally get a chance to think about things. I can finally remember "how it was"... before the competitions.
Mark was the one that came up with the stupid idea originally, to compete in "Relationships". I never imagined that it would take on, and he’d find other people and teams who wanted to join in, but I guess I should have known that the world is plentiful with idiots and the vanity of their vapid lives is best exercised and given meaning through pointless competitions. Mark lost so far with every woman he brought in, could it be why now he has chosen Kelly, is he betting on her changing his luck? I should call his sister, she should know whats going on. She should know he showed up in my place, after years of no contact, simply asked if he could crash with me for a few days, and then within 24 hours, he just resurrected it all. The competitions, the long singing showers, the swarm of phone-calls and emails of people signing up for the stupid competition. And whats worse, the fact that once again, I am going with it all, as if I didn't know any better. I wanted to jump out of the cafeteria window at work and smash my skull and splash my brains on the concrete 5 stories down for everyone to see. Maybe that would stop this madness. But maybe not, maybe it would just encourage it instead. I chastised myself. My thoughts were scattered enough already, there was no need to take a swan dive out of the cafeteria window and send them literally spilling out of my head everywhere. I needed to focus, think coherently...and stop referring to Mark’s sister as ‘Mark’s sister’. She had a name. Their parents had wanted to call their child Mark, but they were caught off guard when what they expected to be a he turned out to in fact be a she. They decided on the spot to call her Marcella. Eventually their second child would arrive. Mark. I should really give Marcella a call, as she would be the one who’d most likely know what was up with him.
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Post by Nora on Apr 18, 2020 15:11:59 GMT
Mark was the one that came up with the stupid idea originally, to compete in "Relationships". I never imagined that it would take on, and he’d find other people and teams who wanted to join in, but I guess I should have known that the world is plentiful with idiots and the vanity of their vapid lives is best exercised and given meaning through pointless competitions. Mark lost so far with every woman he brought in, could it be why now he has chosen Kelly, is he betting on her changing his luck? I should call his sister, she should know whats going on. She should know he showed up in my place, after years of no contact, simply asked if he could crash with me for a few days, and then within 24 hours, he just resurrected it all. The competitions, the long singing showers, the swarm of phone-calls and emails of people signing up for the stupid competition. And whats worse, the fact that once again, I am going with it all, as if I didn't know any better. I wanted to jump out of the cafeteria window at work and smash my skull and splash my brains on the concrete 5 stories down for everyone to see. Maybe that would stop this madness. But maybe not, maybe it would just encourage it instead. I chastised myself. My thoughts were scattered enough already, there was no need to take a swan dive out of the cafeteria window and send them literally spilling out of my head everywhere. I needed to focus, think coherently...and stop referring to Mark’s sister as ‘Mark’s sister’. She had a name. Their parents had wanted to call their child Mark, but they were caught off guard when what they expected to be a he turned out to in fact be a she. They decided on the spot to call her Marcella. Eventually their second child would arrive. Mark. I should really give Marcella a call, as she would be the one who’d most likely know what was up with him. - "Cole, Cole, hi!"- Lydia's high pitched voice interrupted my thoughts. Her voice was the only thing I didnt like about her. I wondered if she would be willing to be my girlfriend under the condition of never speaking out loud again. I would learn sign language for her, would she for me? How rude would that be to ask of her, I mean she obviously has a major crush on me, maybe she would be ok with it? -" Cole, Cole, I heard Mark is in town and the competitions are back on, are you going, you must be going tonight, are you going, Cole?"- She was just giddy with excitement, like everybody ever, when mentioning Mark. Except of me and Marcella of course, we know better than that, certainly by now. We both had to learn at a great cost, but still, neither of us seem to be strong enough to do whats necessary and cut him out of our lives.
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Post by sdm3 on May 9, 2020 18:06:15 GMT
Oh, don’t be so dramatic I chastised myself. My thoughts were scattered enough already, there was no need to take a swan dive out of the cafeteria window and send them literally spilling out of my head everywhere. I needed to focus, think coherently...and stop referring to Mark’s sister as ‘Mark’s sister’. She had a name. Their parents had wanted to call their child Mark, but they were caught off guard when what they expected to be a he turned out to in fact be a she. They decided on the spot to call her Marcella. Eventually their second child would arrive. Mark. I should really give Marcella a call, as she would be the one who’d most likely know what was up with him. - "Cole, Cole, hi!"- Lydia's high pitched voice interrupted my thoughts. Her voice was the only thing I didnt like about her. I wondered if she would be willing to be my girlfriend under the condition of never speaking out loud again. I would learn sign language for her, would she for me? How rude would that be to ask of her, I mean she obviously has a major crush on me, maybe she would be ok with it? -" Cole, Cole, I heard Mark is in town and the competitions are back on, are you going, you must be going tonight, are you going, Cole?"- She was just giddy with excitement, like everybody ever, when mentioning Mark. Except of me and Marcella of course, we know better than that, certainly by now. We both had to learn at a great cost, but still, neither of us seem to be strong enough to do whats necessary and cut him out of our lives. Until now. Suddenly, as I reflected, I realized that all had changed. I was no longer the mewling school-kid who'd sniffled in the corner while Jack Gresham and Jimmy Gatcombe had dominated the classroom with their boisterous posturing. I had grown into a man, with my own keys, and credit cards, and a nail gun. Why, it almost seemed as though Lydia's banshee-like screeching had given me just the empowerment I needed to do what needed to be done. That shrill, stabbing sound had woken me up, slapped me out of my trance. It made me realize then and there that I couldn't afford to just sit around waiting for life to happen to me. Nor could I afford to stand there thinking about Mark, that parasite. Beaming madly, I grabbed Lydia by the ears, and told her in no uncertain terms that I'd be back for her later. I was tremendously indebted to her, and those wailing cattish tones that arose from her throat. I left her standing there, open-mouthed (that was a good sign, I knew). It was time to put an end to Mark once and for all, along with the shower-time singing and those accursed competitions. Hell, maybe I'll take his boots, too. He won't be needing them, and I'm short a pair. After that, I'll find Marcella. No doubt, she'll be grateful too. Perhaps her parents will appreciate her a little more with their precious Mark out of the picture. Now, where did I leave that nail gun?
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jun 8, 2020 8:59:42 GMT
After retrieving the nail gun, I went to confront Mark and was ready to put a nail straight between his eyes, but unfortunately I was confronted by Kelly instead. Leggy Kelly...shapely Kelly...golden-haired, booby Kelly...I shook my head to clear my mind of those thoughts. “Did you want something?” she purred. “Yes. Can you fetch Mark for me?” I asked her with a slight tremor in my voice. I wished I’d sounded more confident, but Kelly had a way of reducing people in her presence to bibbling idiots. “Fine.” she huffed, blowing some hair out of her eyes in the process (which did things to me I struggled to conceal), then she proceeded to shout at the top of her lungs, “MARK! That midget friend of yours is here and being weird, can you make him go away, please?”.
Midget? I was offended. “Just because I don’t have stilts for legs, that doesn’t make me a midget, you tall freak.” - that’s what I wanted to say to her, but instead I just shifted my weight from leg to the other uncomfortably, as Kelly narrowed her eyes at me...which just made things more uncomfortable as we waited for Mark to appear. Finally, he showed up. I wondered if I could push their heads together and do them both with a single nail from the side. The nail probably wasn’t long enough for that, I soon realised. More problematic, though, was the fact that Marcella was standing behind Mark. What was she doing here? “Oh...hi, Marcella.” I greeted her awkwardly. “You know I hate it when you call me by my full name. It’s Marcy and you know it.” she huffed, rolling her eyes at me. “Is there something you wanted?” Mark asked me impatiently. “I took a deep breath, composed myself, and then replied, “As a matter of fact, Mark, there is...and you're probably not going to like it.”
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Post by Nora on Jun 8, 2020 15:57:55 GMT
After retrieving the nail gun, I went to confront Mark and was ready to put a nail straight between his eyes, but unfortunately I was confronted by Kelly instead. Leggy Kelly...shapely Kelly...golden-haired, booby Kelly...I shook my head to clear my mind of those thoughts. “Did you want something?” she purred. “Yes. Can you fetch Mark for me?” I asked her with a slight tremor in my voice. I wished I’d sounded more confident, but Kelly had a way of reducing people in her presence to bibbling idiots. “ Fine.” she huffed, blowing some hair out of her eyes in the process (which did things to me I struggled to conceal), then she proceeded to shout at the top of her lungs, “MARK! That midget friend of yours is here and being weird, can you make him go away, please?”. Midget? I was offended. “Just because I don’t have stilts for legs, that doesn’t make me a midget, you tall freak.” - that’s what I wanted to say to her, but instead I just shifted my weight from leg to the other uncomfortably, as Kelly narrowed her eyes at me...which just made things more uncomfortable as we waited for Mark to appear. Finally, he showed up. I wondered if I could push their heads together and do them both with a single nail from the side. The nail probably wasn’t long enough for that, I soon realised. More problematic, though, was the fact that Marcella was standing behind Mark. What was she doing here? “Oh...hi, Marcella.” I greeted her awkwardly. “You know I hate it when you call me by my full name. It’s Marcy and you know it.” she huffed, rolling her eyes at me. “Is there something you wanted?” Mark asked me impatiently. “I took a deep breath, composed myself, and then replied, “As a matter of fact, Mark, there is...and you're probably not going to like it.” -"Well what is it, Cole?" - Mark's voice showed no concern whatsoever, as if what I had said or possibly would ever say could never mean any threat to him. And then, as we all stared at each other for a brief moment, like in a some weird alternate universe Mexican stand off (with a nail gun) Mark smiled and unfortunately my stupid face followed. We exchanged smiles and I heard Kelly's voice coming from a distance -"Jesus, what is this all about?"- -"Cole, whats going on?" - I heard Marcela chip in. Now there, there was a concern in THAT voice and it made me break eye contact with Mark and look at her and see her eyes grow bigger than ever when she noticed the nail gun in my hands. I panicked and blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. -"Mark, I am taking Lydia to the contest tonight so... are you cool with that, you know, given your romantic history with her?"- I cant say I didn't enjoy saying that in front of Kelly. |
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Post by Nalkarj on Jun 8, 2020 20:44:25 GMT
May I get a synopsis?  I love this, but seriously I’m kind of confused on who’s who and what’s going on at this point. |
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Post by Nora on Jun 8, 2020 20:59:10 GMT
May I get a synopsis? I love this, but seriously I’m kind of confused on who’s who and what’s going on at this point. :-)) Ill post the whole story and characters so far in my next post and yes please join us. Its getting very interesting. |
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Post by Nalkarj on Jun 8, 2020 21:00:53 GMT
May I get a synopsis? I love this, but seriously I’m kind of confused on who’s who and what’s going on at this point. :-)) Ill post the whole story and characters so far in my next post and yes please join us. Its getting very interesting. Great, thanks, Nora. |
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Post by Nora on Jun 8, 2020 21:53:46 GMT
Cole - narrator of the story, Mark's friend from school/college. 5ft 7inch tall. Introverted. Works in an office. Hates vain people but can be somewhat shallow himself. Melancholic, occasionally gets outright depressive, easily guilt-tripped and manipulated, but not too far from being a manipulator when the situation calls for it. Has not seen Mark in years. Calls him a "parasite" but only in his mind.
Mark Reddy - born as a desperately wanted son, grew up to be a person who uses his looks and personality to get out of trouble, often its the trouble he first created himself. Narcissistic, looks like young Robert Redford, has a charming smile, went to college with the narrator (Cole), started some kind of contests/ competitions (seems its competing in Relationships). but so far always lost in them. Currently dating Kelly. Had sex/relationship with Lydia in the past. Likes jazz.
Lydia Dun - dark haired, very petite, sweet and attractive in a very girly way. Cole's colleague at the office. Always had a crush on him. Has a very unpleasant voice. Dreams of being Cole’s date to the “competitions”.
Marcella Reddy - Marks older sister, likes to be called Marcy. Bit boyish. Loves Mark but is afraid of his dark side and is most familiar with Marks ability to destroy things. Has trouble saying no to him. Is a good friend of Cole’s, may/may not have romantic feelings for him. Warned Cole to watch out for “Thursdays”. Has a big secret.
Kelly Slade - Marks current squeeze. Tall, leggy, blond, amazon looking woman, who is well aware of her status and beauty and is not afraid to use it. Not too fond of Cole. Can be pretty mean. May be a trust fund rich kid or has some additional interesting attribute to her past that we dont know of yet. Mark acts slightly off around her.
Jack Gresham and Jimmy Gatcombe - minor characters, Cole's high school bullies.
Officer Pitts and Officer McKavanagh- police officers who showed up to potentially arrest Cole. Officer McKavanagh (female) acts slightly nicer than the somewhat rough officer Pitts (male)
Summary:
Its Thursday. On Wednesday Mark showed up at Cole’s flat after years of not having talked to him and asked if he could crash with him. Cole meekishly agreed. Mark immediately started using Cole’s place as some kind of office of his, resuming annual “Competitions” (in Relationships) that Mark started years ago (before something tragic happened). Mark has never won any of the competitions himself and its unclear what exactly they are, but it seems to be some kind of very famous/exclusive event that everybody is talking about and wants to be a part of.
Tonight is the contest. Mark is bringing a new girl, Kelly, a stunning looker who Mark perhaps hopes to win with. Cole is bringing Lydia, a colleague from his office, who has had a crush on him for ages, but who Cole never considered as a suitable mate for her unpleasant sounding voice.
Cole holds some kind of massive grudge against Mark and at moments thinks about killing him with a nail gun and stopping “all the madness”. He even finds his nail-gun and goes to confront Mark after work, but when not only Kelly but also Marcella, for whom Cole has a sweet spot is there, Cole loses his determination and pretends he just wanted to check with Mark if he was cool with Cole taking Lydia, Marks ex, to the contest tonight, starting in a few hours.
Everybody seems to love Mark, only Marcella is perhaps afraid of him and Cole secretly resents him.
Cole wakes up later to realize he has blacked out and now is on a strangers lawn, with a gun pointed at him, accused of having killed Mark (with a nail gun) and potentially about to be arrested.
Story so far:
There was something odd about the way Mark showered. He would sing before and after the shower, but never while showering. Who does that? I wonder if it meant he was so in love with his own voice, I wouldn't be surprised. His sister always told me to look out for Thursdays. I ignored it. Until this Thursday.
Speaking of Thursdays, Mark was actually listening to 'Tuesday's Gone' by Lynard Skynyrd while showering which was rather odd as he rarely listened to Classic Rock. Mark was more of a Jazz Snob and not afraid of taking about it either.I wondered if it was simply a case of him broadening his musical horizons and trying something different, but then it occurred to me that Mark's new taste in music could perhaps be attributed to the new woman who had entered his life. Her name was Kelly. Just like Lynard Skynyrd wasn't the type of music Mark typically listened to, Kelly wasn't the type of woman Mark was typically interested in. She was tall, leggy, Amazonian in stature, with a mane of long blonde hair and a walk that turned the heads of men and women alike. He usually went for the complete opposite of that. Ever since Mark had met her, I'd noticed slight differences in the way he acted. So did his sister. I just assumed he was trying to impress this new woman he'd met. It then began to occur to me that there may have been more to him acting out of the character than I first thought.
-"Mark, I am headed out soon, do you have the keys, mate?" - I yelled at him from behind the closed bathroom door. The singing stopped and the door opened a bit. Mark's head with wet hair popped up.
-"Yeah, thanks buddy, see you tonight at the competition?"- He smiled and it made me feel just like in college again. He was probably the worst roommate I ever had there, but he had this wickedly charming smile that seemed to get him out of trouble a lot and it even worked on me. I nodded at him, grabbed my backpack and put on my shoes. Before I left the apartment I heard Mark go right back to singing. He switched a tune and genre now and was singing: "Have you met Miss Jones?" somewhat melancholically.
The drive into work this morning was a little easier than most. Heavy cloud cover, just made every little sign in town and on the road look clear to my vision, vibrant. Like being inside of a comforting shadow. Not the heavy ultraviolet light blasting everything, where my co-workers can bluster about their joy of a sunny day. Perfect time to finally get a chance to think about things. I can finally remember "how it was"... before the competitions.
Mark was the one that came up with the stupid idea originally, to compete in "Relationships". I never imagined that it would take on, and he’d find other people and teams who wanted to join in, but I guess I should have known that the world is plentiful with idiots and the vanity of their vapid lives is best exercised and given meaning through pointless competitions. Mark lost so far with every woman he brought in, could it be why now he has chosen Kelly, is he betting on her changing his luck?
I should call his sister, she should know whats going on. She should know he showed up in my place, after years of no contact, simply asked if he could crash with me for a few days, and then within 24 hours, he just resurrected it all. The competitions, the long singing showers, the swarm of phone-calls and emails of people signing up for the stupid competition. And whats worse, the fact that once again, I am going with it all, as if I didn't know any better. I wanted to jump out of the cafeteria window at work and smash my skull and splash my brains on the concrete 5 stories down for everyone to see. Maybe that would stop this madness. But maybe not, maybe it would just encourage it instead.
Oh, don’t be so dramatic I chastised myself. My thoughts were scattered enough already, there was no need to take a swan dive out of the cafeteria window and send them literally spilling out of my head everywhere. I needed to focus, think coherently...and stop referring to Mark’s sister as ‘Mark’s sister’. She had a name. Their parents had wanted to call their child Mark, but they were caught off guard when what they expected to be a he turned out to in fact be a she. They decided on the spot to call her Marcella. Eventually their second child would arrive. Mark. I should really give Marcella a call, as she would be the one who’d most likely know what was up with him.
-"Cole, Cole, hi!"- Lydia's high pitched voice interrupted my thoughts. Her voice was the only thing I didnt like about her. I wondered if she would be willing to be my girlfriend under the condition of never speaking out loud again. I would learn sign language for her, would she for me? How rude would that be to ask of her, I mean she obviously has a major crush on me, maybe she would be ok with it?
-"Cole, Cole, I heard Mark is in town and the competitions are back on, are you going, you must be going tonight, are you going, Cole?"- She was just giddy with excitement, like everybody ever, when mentioning Mark. Except of me and Marcella of course, we know better than that, certainly by now. We both had to learn at a great cost, but still, neither of us seem to be strong enough to do whats necessary and cut him out of our lives. Until now. Suddenly, as I reflected, I realized that all had changed. I was no longer the mewling school-kid who'd sniffled in the corner while Jack Gresham and Jimmy Gatcombe had dominated the classroom with their boisterous posturing. I had grown into a man, with my own keys, and credit cards, and a nail gun. Why, it almost seemed as though Lydia's banshee-like screeching had given me just the empowerment I needed to do what needed to be done. That shrill, stabbing sound had woken me up, slapped me out of my trance. It made me realize then and there that I couldn't afford to just sit around waiting for life to happen to me. Nor could I afford to stand there thinking about Mark, that parasite. Beaming madly, I grabbed Lydia by the ears, and told her in no uncertain terms that I'd be back for her later. I was tremendously indebted to her, and those wailing cattish tones that arose from her throat. I left her standing there, open-mouthed (that was a good sign, I knew). It was time to put an end to Mark once and for all, along with the shower-time singing and those accursed competitions. Hell, maybe I'll take his boots, too. He won't be needing them, and I'm short a pair. After that, I'll find Marcella. No doubt, she'll be grateful too. Perhaps her parents will appreciate her a little more with their precious Mark out of the picture. Now, where did I leave that nail gun?
After retrieving the nail gun, I went to confront Mark and was ready to put a nail straight between his eyes, but unfortunately I was confronted by Kelly instead. Leggy Kelly...shapely Kelly...golden-haired, booby Kelly...I shook my head to clear my mind of those thoughts. “Did you want something?” she purred. “Yes. Can you fetch Mark for me?” I asked her with a slight tremor in my voice. I wished I’d sounded more confident, but Kelly had a way of reducing people in her presence to bibbling idiots. “Fine.” she huffed, blowing some hair out of her eyes in the process (which did things to me I struggled to conceal), then she proceeded to shout at the top of her lungs, “MARK! That midget friend of yours is here and being weird, can you make him go away, please?”. Midget? I was offended. “Just because I don’t have stilts for legs, that doesn’t make me a midget, you tall freak.” - that’s what I wanted to say to her, but instead I just shifted my weight from leg to the other uncomfortably, as Kelly narrowed her eyes at me...which just made things more uncomfortable as we waited for Mark to appear.
Finally, he showed up. I wondered if I could push their heads together and do them both with a single nail from the side. The nail probably wasn’t long enough for that, I soon realized. More problematic, though, was the fact that Marcella was standing behind Mark. What was she doing here? “Oh...hi, Marcella.” I greeted her awkwardly. “You know I hate it when you call me by my full name. It’s Marcy and you know it.” she huffed, rolling her eyes at me. “Is there something you wanted?” Mark asked me impatiently. “I took a deep breath, composed myself, and then replied, “As a matter of fact, Mark, there is...and you're probably not going to like it.”
-"Well what is it, Cole?" - Mark's voice showed no concern whatsoever, as if what I had said or possibly would ever say could never mean any threat to him. And then, as we all stared at each other for a brief moment, like in a some weird alternate universe Mexican stand off (with a nail gun) Mark smiled and unfortunately my stupid face followed. We exchanged smiles and I heard Kelly's voice coming from a distance -"Jesus, what is this all about?"-
-"Cole, whats going on?" - I heard Marcela chip in. Now there, there was a concern in THAT voice and it made me break eye contact with Mark and look at her and see her eyes grow bigger than ever when she noticed the nail gun in my hands. I panicked and blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.
-"Mark, I am taking Lydia to the contest tonight so... are you cool with that, you know, given your romantic history with her?"- I cant say I didn't enjoy saying that in front of Kelly.
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Post by Fox in the Snow on Jun 8, 2020 22:55:24 GMT
Do you have any plan of where the story is going, overall style/genre, key plot points you want to hit, or even a "length"? I'm sort of interested in joining, but not sure how regularly I'll be able to contribute and I don't want to "de-rail" anything in particular anyone has in mind.
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Post by Nora on Jun 8, 2020 23:04:51 GMT
Do you have any plan of where the story is going, overall style/genre, key plot points you want to hit, or even a "length"? I'm sort of interested in joining, but not sure how regularly I'll be able to contribute and I don't want to "de-rail" anything in particular anyone has in mind. please DO join. No specific plans. I think it would be great to have it go for at least one more page of posts and conclude it as a short story with some kind of specific tangible endining. but I have no idea what that will be. I am just as surprised to see where others take it in each post, as anyone. The characters and summary is based on what we all contributed so far. Feel free to create new characters, add new subplots, or resolve plots that have been outlined and are yet not resolved. I dont have a specific arc in my head and completely encourage any and all kinds of creativity. Just try to make it consistent with what was said before. You can contribute once or several times, its all up to you. The only rules are the ones in the first post. join us and create away . |
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Post by Fox in the Snow on Jun 9, 2020 3:24:07 GMT
Do you have any plan of where the story is going, overall style/genre, key plot points you want to hit, or even a "length"? I'm sort of interested in joining, but not sure how regularly I'll be able to contribute and I don't want to "de-rail" anything in particular anyone has in mind. please DO join. No specific plans. I think it would be great to have it go for at least one more page of posts and conclude it as a short story with some kind of specific tangible endining. but I have no idea what that will be. I am just as surprised to see where others take it in each post, as anyone. The characters and summary is based on what we all contributed so far. Feel free to create new characters, add new subplots, or resolve plots that have been outlined and are yet not resolved. I dont have a specific arc in my head and completely encourage any and all kinds of creativity. Just try to make it consistent with what was said before. You can contribute once or several times, its all up to you. The only rules are the ones in the first post. join us and create away . OK, great. I'll see what I can come up with. |
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Post by Fox in the Snow on Jun 9, 2020 3:32:59 GMT
It was a crisp night.
Cole proudly strutted into the club with Lydia on his arm, but he really didn’t care about that or her anymore. He’d decided to do something about this, about what he was seeing. Everyone preening in front of him, unaware of everything that was going on outside their own insular world. As they made their way through the crowd, the lights in his eyes, the sounds of girls giggling meaninglessly, glasses clinking. Then silence, he slowly looked around him, his eyes glazed over and the scene felt like it was in slow motion, he felt lost and a wave came over him, a sickness, something stronger than anything he’d felt before.
Then black, he felt as if he were falling and that’s the last thing he remembered
*Doh!, realised I've switched to 3rd person, my fallback as I don't like writing in 1st person. Feel free to switch back, or use the change of perspective
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Post by Nalkarj on Jun 10, 2020 15:27:43 GMT
I woke up and rubbed my eyes, but the world still seemed blurry for a few minutes. Blurry, yes, but not dark—the sun was coming up. It was morning. Goddamnit, it was morning.
Had I slept all night, or…? Or what, Cole? Hah! What a man! Lydia’s finally my girl (her voice was her voice, yes, but by God she was a pretty little thing) and the moment I’m going to take her to the Competitions I, what, pass out? Speaking of which, why on earth had I passed out? And where was Lyd? With Mark, no doubt. With Mark…
And where was I? I tried to uncrick my neck—ouch—and then look behind me. That’s where the Competition Stadium was, so, OK, I’m…
“Y’see grass and think it’s a bed, do ya?”
The voice belonged to an old lady on a porch—and I’m on the lawn of a house, that’s it, with an old porch and a mailbox reading “Dawson” and a ramshackle garage—and I was about to make some excuse when I saw the rifle in her hand. Pointed, unsurprisingly, at me.
“Go ahead, y’young idiot, just try to come up with an excuse. I bet I know, I bet I know. Drunk after the Competitions, y’are? Heh? Think you can sleep on my lawn? Piss on my lawn? That’s wha…”
By this point she’d gotten a good look at me, and her eyes grew the size of saucers. She put down the gun for a half-second—in, what, disbelief?—and then almost immediately pointed it at me again.
“You’re him!” she screamed, as if to wake up the neighborhood. “Someone call the police! Someone call the police!”
I said, “Ma’am, I’m very sorry I was on your lawn, I didn’t mean to… Really, I didn’t even go to the competitions, something—honestly, I don’t know what happened, but maybe the police would be a good idea…”
“Y’bet yer life it is.” Then, to someone inside: “Sam, get over here,” which got a response of “what the hell d’ya want, Judy?”
She turned back to me. “Y’ain’t leavin’ my sight. Y’try anything funny, this is aimed at your head.”
I almost laughed. “Ma’am, I don’t even know what’s going on. I was here last night with a girl I know, Lydia Dun, and…”
“Hah! And you were going to see Mark Reddy, yes, yes. The whole goddam world knows, y’young idiot. Just ’cause you were sweet on his girl didn’t mean y’had t’kill him—and with a nail through the head, my God!”
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I love this, but seriously I’m kind of confused on who’s who and what’s going on at this point.
