Façades.

Population Risks

Everything was completely black. One moment I was in my restroom brushing my teeth and the next in complete darkness. Where was I?

There was a sudden sound; it roared like a car engine, but much, much louder. The lights went on and I was surrounded by hundreds of people. The thoughts began rushing in:

Oh no, I was chosen. Why me? Fuck! I’m a goner! Why couldn’t it be Matt, he’s such a dick! No one will miss him!

The chatter got increasingly louder as people began recognizing one another. I didn’t recognize anyone until someone tackled me to the ground.

“You too?” he said. “Wow, they really want our blood line out of this world, huh?”

It sounded familiar.

“Hey! Andrew,” he continued. “Joseph is here too!”

My two brothers were chosen as well. With them were Salvador, Michelle and Christen, family friends.

There was another sound and a screen above us lit up. A man cleared his throat and began reading us the rules:

Good evening Sector-93156, welcome to The Thinner. According to Amendment # 42 people in sectors are to be chosen at random, by a computer, to be put in the game to help reduce the increasing world population. Today is October 6th 3034 and as decreed by the world laws, players will be chosen from the Western Hemisphere on even years. The game is simple: survive and you live. Fall and you lay your life for us to take. Recent studies have shown that bringing family into the game with you increases the yields for an interesting game and the most deaths, thus effective as of now, family members of the chosen will be brought along. Due to that being unfair to those family members, they receive a special item. It is referred to as Item-343523, but you may call it: Instant Cement. The item instantly freezes a person where they stand –if said person lands on the path of the Instant Cement–. You are all on a 16-floor parking structure. There are 25 cars parked randomly throughout the structure. Your only way of survival is through those cars. There are 500 of you on this game and only 100 of you will survive. The Reapers reside throughout the parking structure as well. They cannot get you once you’re in the car. If the Reapers touch you, you lost the game and your life is ours. The game will start in 10 minutes. I hope Lady Luck is on your side tonight.

Goodbye, Sector-93156.

EDIT: Title subject to change and I don't update here like at all, I would give you my tumblr, but that one is more for personal stuff. Anyways, if you actually bother to read, here is my deviant art account (I'll be posting my writing there): http://hecfactor11.deviantart.com/

[Untitled.]

“In, out, in, out, in, out,” I repeated. “This is easy, nothing to worry about.”
I continued going up with the destination in mind. I dared not look down to the path that led me to this point. My hand clenched to the next hole, carefully making sure that I did not fall.

"I am stupid," I thought. "Why did I not bring any equipment with me on this climb? Ah, now, I remember. The local oracle had told me that I could not climb this cliff without taking risks."
I replied that "climbing is a risk in itself."

I was not allowed to climb unless I did it of my own strength and God-made tools, my hands. Therefore, 7562 feet later and I am here, tired and hungry with nothing but God’s fuel: air.

I wanted to sleep. I wanted to give up and fall into the abyss that lay below me. “In, out, in, out, in, out,” I repeated once more.

This constant jabbing at the monumental rock to ascend reminded me of Cassandra. It was foolish of me to let her go. We were at the lobby. An argument arose and she stormed off. The elevator was too slow for her so she ran to the stairs. I ran after her.

“Wait, Cassandra! Please wait,” I shouted. “I didn’t mean it!”

She did not respond.

I continued to run after her. Her, an athlete, sprinted up the stairs in an alarming speed, while, I, an Olympic couch potato, gasped for air after the third flight of stairs.

Click Clack. Click Clack. Click Clack.

All I was able to hear was her high heels.

Click Clack. Click Clack. Click Clack.

It was almost as if they were mocking me, laughing at me for my incompetence.

Click Clack. In, out. Click Clack. In, out.

My ears buzzed with these sounds. Click Clack.

I continued climbing. In, out.

She continued dashing to her apartment on the 15th floor. Click Clack.

I gathered all my strength and continued on my ascent. In, out. Click Clack. In, out. Click Clack.

It continued. Upon reaching the eighth floor, the sounds of her heels stopped. I giggled at the thought of her heels having the last laugh. Laughter turned into sorrow and I began to sob.

I yelled.

“In, in, in, in,” I began.

“Just get IN. Please, I just wanted you to let me in,” I told the mountain, thinking of that night.

“In,” I whispered. I laughed. My voice sounded like the heels that night, clicking and clacking their way into my loneliness.

I finally blurted, “out.” I let go of the rock. I lost my balance. I lost myself. I fell.

I fell much like the night Cassandra left me. I was hysterical. I continued walking up the stairs, absent of the mocking sounds of her heels. I reached her apartment.

I reached for a rock once more, attempting to grab hold of the cliff during my fall.

I knocked. She did not answer.

My hand slipped.

I opened the door with my spare key. She began to scream for me to leave.

“I don’t want you anymore,” she said at the top of her lungs. “You were a waste of time!”

I fell further to the ground. My hands attempted to clutch to any holes that were visible.

I grabbed her. It is extraordinary how much a fall changes someone. The adrenaline fueled my anger for her.

I continued to fall.

I pushed her. She tried to escape my wrath but tripped. I saw my chance. I dragged her by her hair. Upon reaching the window, I picked her up and threw her. She grabbed on to my hand. I held her up, then I let go. She fell.

I did not bother grabbing on to any holes now.

She did not scream. She only stared. Her silence pierced me. As she was opening her mouth, she reached the sidewalk.

Her silence still pierces me. The silence of me falling down this cliff felt the same as that night, but I dared not yell.

I stared.

I opened my mouth:

“I love you,” I whispered. “Cass-”

January 06, 2009

Today marks the first of every Tuesday where our school will have concerts during University Hour. Along with the concert, they had other activities going along in the campus, the most noticeable one, to me, was the protest to raise awareness of what is going on in Gaza.

Anyway, the band, Breezy Love Joy, was singing one of their songs as the protest started. He sang, “I just want to be free, set me free, I want to feel free.”

As he uttered those words the 30-40 students protesting passed by, each holding a different sign, to give an awareness to the students enjoying the concert.

A student with the biggest poster stepped forward from the back of the stage, it read, "End the Siege on Gaza." He continued to walk forward.

His eyes met mine, and with his stare I was aware not only of the deaths of hundreds, for the past few days, but the death of the personal soul. He stared. The vocalist sang, “Set me free-e-e.” The back up singers followed. They all sang for freedom.

The sounds and the stare resonated into my body. The protesters continued to walk. With each step they created ripples in my head. One thought to another, it was forever continuous.

The last of the protesters passed, and the vocalist whispered, “I just want to be free.”
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I know this isn't fiction, but I haven't had time to edit and write chapter two. It will be up soon. I'm a bit disappointed that no one commented on this blog, but I was happy to see that my deviantart account and fiction press got traffic and people commented. Anyway, I'll get to writing chapter two. For now, I will post random blogs and short stories. I will not talk about my day, but I'm thinking of getting another blogspot so I can blog about my day. Maybe, I will.
Anyway, I believe I subscribed to all of my followers. I thought I had done it before, but I guess not. I'll be reading your posts too (:

The Movement

       We have been traveling for a couple of weeks and it was nice to stop to eat cooked food. The café was nearly empty. There was only a group of students dining here, besides us and the staff. The students were laughing quite loudly at some apparent joke. I wished that our stay in the café could be as interesting as their laugh entailed. The red seats and the metallic table were as cold as the weather; all reminders of the absence of warm feeling that home brings.
       A middle-aged woman came over to our table. She was wearing skin tight spandex pants and a white button-down shirt. She wore a small pink apron over her clothing. Her curly chestnut-brown hair surrounded her oval-shaped head in a pleasing manner. No grey hairs, I guess the hair follicles were still capable of producing the coloring in her hair. Her thin lips wore a silky red lipstick that didn’t seem to match her green eye shadow.
       “So what is the sweet couple having today,” she managed to spit out while she chewed gum. “The special today is grilled cheese with chicken fritters.” She stood there with a blank expression, and a notepad and pen in hand, ready to take our order.
“Oh, we’re not together,” I replied. “We’re just really good friends.”
       Emily ordered an omelet while I choose the pancakes. The warm feeling going down my esophagus reminded me of home. I was pleased with my selection. I was so busy consuming my food that I didn’t notice the placement of the syrup which caused me to spill it all over my jeans. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I attempted to play it cool.
“Can I borrow your car keys Emily?” I asked. “I want to change jeans.”
“Why?” asked Emily, perplexed.
       I ignored her question and waited until she handed me the keys. After a couple of minutes of intense waiting, she finally gave up and handed me the keys. I was halfway out of the establishment when I heard Emily say, “I don’t get you sometimes. You’re so weird, Joseph.”
       I zipped up my jacket and prepared myself for the cold weather. No, it wasn’t cold, it was freezing, cold was a windy low 60 degree weather, this was 3 inch snow day. My jacket was too thin and I could feel the icy wind and the snow hitting my back.
       There was a cop car hiding behind a “Welcome to Happy Times Café” sign. The two officers were outside of the car, one pointing a radar gun at unsuspecting victims, the other was just leaning on the car door minding his own business.
       I walked around the café to the almost empty parking lot, where I noticed that two individuals had their car parked in the middle of the road and each had a rifle at hand. Both were wearing jeans and a t-shirt, one wore a cowboy hat. The man with the cowboy hat was very well built, so I was scared for my life. I could see their mouths moving but couldn’t hear any words until the scrawnier one yelled, “I have to tell him!”
       The voice sounded familiar, so I looked up and stared at him for a while. The two men started coming forward towards me, and I noticed it was Nicholas, my brother.
“Why hello there Joe*,” he whispered as he came face to face with me, “aren’t you going to give your older brother a hug?”
       I gave him an almost robotic hug because I wasn’t sure if the cold weather was messing with my head. After I successfully changed jeans, we started to walk towards his car whilst we caught up with one another. I told him that I was in a road trip with Emily while he confessed that his alibi for running away from home was false. He told me about his adventures with his friend Benjamin. I was so enthralled with his stories that I didn’t notice that we’ve been walking deeper and deeper into the forest, and that for the past minute I was walking forward by myself. When I turned around my brother and Benjamin were aiming their rifles at me.
       The face that once showed a blissful smile now showed one of despair. I panicked. I ran. I ran away from the bullets that started buzzing by my body, and away from the fact that my brother was behind it all.
       After minutes of my flight response and countless bullets, I hid behind a tree. I was hoping that if I was quiet enough I can leave the forest undetected. My breathing did not help. Weeks of being sedentary in a car really did wonders to the body. Both passed by the tree. I tiptoed from tree to tree until about the fifth one down when I stepped on a branch making a loud cracking sound.
       Nicholas and Benjamin ran towards me aiming their guns once more. I ran, confused on why he was shooting me and where the energy to keep running away came. I heard a bullet pass my ear, or it might have skinned my ear but I was too worried on survival to feel the pain my ear might be emitting.
       The next bullet hit my right hand. The pain was immediate and “it hurt like a mother,” as the folks back home will say. I couldn’t hear bullets anymore. I heard Benjamin yelling for me to stop. I looked at my hand and couldn’t grasp how my hand looked perfectly fine. It was just a rosy red, as if someone had smacked it a few seconds ago.
“About time you stopped,” they said in unison.
“About time I stop? Are you kidding me! What the fuck is your problem? You and your best friend,” I yelled, bitterly, “are shooting at me for no reason! What the fuck were you even shooting at me?”
“They’re not real bullets,” added Benjamin.
“We started to shoot at you because the cop was looking at us,” explained my brother, “you see, you’re in great da-”
“WHAT?” I yelled. “Why would you aim a gun at someone if an officer was looking at you? That’s insane.”
“Can you shut up and listen to your older brother for once,” he said, “I’m trying to help you. You’re in great danger. The reason I was shooting you was because I’m on their side but I’m a double agent. They suspected me from the start but I served as a connection to you. The female cop over there, behind the welcome sign is part of the game, the other is clueless. They’ve been following you for days, as have we. Anyway, my assignment was to kill you because you serve as a threat to us, well them.”
“Okay,” I said, “I know you’re fucking with me, so I’m going to head back to Emily, she must be worried sick.”
       As I turned around to head back, the female officer was walking toward us. I couldn’t see her partner. She asked what had happened among us and why she heard bullets. I lied. I told her that we were just catching up on our childhood. She took out her pistol at the sight of the rifles.
“Throw your weapons on the ground, put your hands up and turn around,” she yelled.
They followed her instructions. I turned around and lifted my arms.
BANG!
Benjamin fell to the ground, instantly: dead. I closed my eyes. One of us was next. I got to my knees and awaited Death to sweep me from my feet.
BANG!
After the shot, I heard a thud. My brother fell to the ground, he was dead too.
“You are under arrest for the deaths of your Nicholas Houle and Benjamin Gray,” she said.
“I’m what?” I exclaimed, as tears ran down my face, “you killed them! They’ll trace it to you and you’ll go to jail!”
“Are they going to believe a cop or a civilian?” she asked. “I could simply tell them there was a heated argument among you three. I was taken by surprise and you stole my weapon, killing the two that lie dead right now. It’s as simple as that. Now, how much did he reveal?”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “Reveal what?”
“Stop acting so innocent,” she mentioned, “I know he told you something but if you keep denying it then you wouldn’t mind going in for questioning.”
       She handcuffed me and we headed toward the café. Her partner was leaning against the café, waiting for her to come back. He looked awkward, almost as if he were posing for a photo. Instead of walking to her car, we walked into the café where Emily was idly drinking coffee.
       The café was now empty. The students who were once there had left and the staff seemed to have disappeared. I, once again, envied the students.
She sat me down in front of Emily.
“It’s about time,” said Emily. “It took you two long enough.”
“You’re on their side?” I asked as I tried to squirm my way out of the handcuffs.
It proved fruitless. The cop tightened her grip on my body, restraining me from getting any closer to my friend.
Emily motioned for them to let go of me. “Just let him go,” she said, “he won’t do a thing. Why, yes of course, I’m on their side. Why do you think I choose to take you along for the road trip, instead of my boyfriend?”
“I thought you were my friend,” I said, sulking.
“Oh, but I am. It’s just,” Emily responded, “the game comes first. Now, let’s hurry, before he gets an idea and escapes.”
       We started to walk outside to be taken to her car and then into custody. I struggled away from the officer’s grasp. She was unusually strong. I wanted to escape to the forest but her strength was too much for my weak body.
       The other cop, to my surprise, was talking to another woman. The woman had smooth, silky white skin, almost pale, with a fair complexion. Her hair was curly and blond. She was wearing a sun dress, heels and a flowery hat; she was clearly not dressed for the weather. They seemed to enjoy each other’s company.
       The female officer called him over and I saw it as my chance of escape. I kicked her shin and started running toward the forest. The lady in the sun dress screamed and the male officer came my way. He punched me in the stomach. I lost all the air in my lungs. I fell to the ground and gasped for air.
       I was picked up from the floor and attempted to escape once more. Then I felt a huge force hit the back of my head and with a thud I fell to the ground. The last thing I saw were the exposed ankles of the woman in the sun dress. There seemed to be some writing on her right ankle. I focused all my energy in trying to read what it said. “Joseph, you’ll be okay.”
Her ankle told me that I’ll be okay.
       The woman’s message was the only thing that seemed to make sense at the moment. I closed my eyes and thought of her ankle.
       I woke up, tied to a chair in an empty room, my head resting on an empty table. There was an increasingly growing pain in the back of my head. The room was more desolate than the road Emily and I had traveled a few days ago.
More importantly, I knew that woman lied. I was not okay. I will not be okay and there was no hope for me anymore.
___________________________________
Author's Comments:
*The reason behind the (*) after the name Joe, is because I wasn't sure if Joe was short for Joseph.
I was told to never criticize my work when I present it, so I will not criticize what I wrote.
This is chapter one of the novel I'm writing titled, "Pieces."
Both titles (the chapter & book) aren't working titles so they are subject to change.

The only huge problem I had while writing this is the dialogue. I don't think I've ever written dialogue so I often found myself trying to make it work. I'm still not sure if that's the proper way to write dialogue.

Sorry for the cussing, it just seemed appropriate at that part of the writing.

As for the worries about being plagiarized, I do have all my writing backed up on my laptop, different emails and different blogs to show the improvement from first draft to final draft. (So if there is ever a discussion that I stole it from someone else, I have all that proof and if my laptop gets stolen, I can still see my writing.) I did get a fictionpress, so I will be posting it there before here. I also post it on my deviantart account before. So, thanks for reading. Please tell me what you think of the story.