Genocidal space women 6/28/14

After playing through Bioshock Infinite, I was inspired. My friend and I talked about this mystical floating space city and I ran with the idea, turning it into something unique and, hopefully, poignant. Here's a rough start to what will hopefully become a classic finish.


ooo


She stood steadfast against the pouring rain as she waited expectantly on the docks. The choppy waves threatened to overcome the rugged wood, but her gaze didn't falter from the sea. "I don't know what you're looking for out here, miss, but it certainly can wait for a better day." The unexpected voice caused her to jump and nearly slip on the slick, rain soaked lumber. The lighthouse's beacon swept across the barren ocean waters, much to her disappointment. She turned and saw a squat woman heralding her from a nearby shanty, beckoning her inside for a reprieve from the storm.

"I'm expecting a ride; one I can't afford to miss." She stepped off the docks and walked toward the shelter, deciding the ocean wouldn't birth a boat in the near future.

The woman stepped back, allowing her inside. "Only ride you'll get in this weather is one straight to heaven." The shanty held a welcome warmth after the cold of the wind and rain. She took off her rain slicker and laid it on a chair, shaking out her wet hair. She had been wearing a hat at some point, but the ocean had claimed that when she first arrived.

"Thank you for allowing me shelter." She shivered as water from her hair dripped down her back. "I can't stay long. My boat should be here any moment."

The woman offered her a blanket, which she took gladly. "What's out there for you that's so important?"

She reached into a pocket and pulled out a drenched paper. She carefully unfolded it and set it on the table. It was smudged and the folds were starting to come apart, but it was still legible. "I was told to find this place and to keep the information hidden from anyone inland." The paper depicted a city that appeared to be floating in the night sky. Above were the words 'Regeneration Island! We can do it all here!' in a speech bubble, spoken by a smiling woman. "I have business here."

The woman squinted at her before turning and grabbing a book, pawing through the tattered pages. "That place looks marvelous. Er, what did you say your name was, sweetheart?"

"Oh, I didn't. The name's Annalise Grey," she paused, "Maycomb. Annalise Maycomb. I'm not sure why I said Grey. I suppose these storm clouds have effected my mind." The woman gave a halfhearted laugh. "And what's your name?"

"Most people tend to call me the gate keeper."

"Gate keeper?" Annalise inquired as she put the paper back into her pocket. She glanced anxiously at the door, wondering about the status of the ship.

The gate keeper placed the book back on the shelf and walked toward one of the walls. She ran her hand along it before stopping with a sound of discovery. She gripped the spot and pulled. The wall slid away with some difficulty. Annalise stepped back, unsure what to think. "Yes, Annalise Maycomb. It suits me because I'm usually the one ushering people on their correct path as opposed to staring ignorantly out at the sea." She motioned to a staircase that had been revealed.

"What are you talking about? I should really get back in case the ship has arrived." Annalise slowly walked backwards toward the door.

The gate keeper sighed in mild annoyance, as if this were common place for her. "There is no ship. That's just their way of seeing who's serious. Considering you've been out in that weather for about an hour now, I'd say you're as serious as they come. If you want to get to Regeneration Island, we have to take the stairs."

"I don't understand." She backed into the door and groped blindly for the knob.

The gate keeper massaged her forehead as if this were a great chore for her. "Marrissa Campbell was the name attached to that flyer you received. You have business with her." Annalise stood still, her escape attempt forgotten.

Annalise considered the stairs, stepping cautiously forward. "You've heard of Marissa? I spoke to her breifly. She offered me work."

The gate keeper motioned to the stairs once more. "And you'll find plenty if you follow me. I promise you that if we get down there and you don't like what you see, you can go back to waiting for transport that will never come."

Annalise took a deep breath and walked briskly forward, taking the lead down the stairs as the gate keeper waddled behind her, shutting the wall behind them. She turned, looking at the dark barrier behind them. It was with great effort she continued forward, breathing evenly with her footsteps, counting the stairs for comfort. As the number approached the hundreds, she conceded defeat. The numbers had calmed her, but the feeling of unease lingered.

"I always forget how long this staircase is," the gate keeper huffed, out of breath. Annalise didn't respond as they finally reached the bottom. A flickering light and walls of darkness greeted them at the bottom. Stumbling forward, the gate keeper ran her hand against the wall as before. It slid away revealing a large, open room lit by moonlight. In the center was what appeared to be a spacecraft.

"What is this place? Why is the weather so calm here?" She was drawn to the craft in the middle. Man had barely taken baby steps in space and here was a contraption better fit in a television show about extraterrestrial life. "What is this?"

The gate keeper rolled her eyes. "You ask too many questions, or rather, you don't ask the right ones." She hobbled over to where Annalise was running her hand along the smooth, metal surface of the craft. "This is the ship for which you've been waiting so patiently."

So many questions ran through her mind, but she doubted the gate keeper would comply with answering them. "What happens next?" She finally managed.

"That's up to you." This was all so hard to take in and not something she should even be considering, she told herself. She pulled out the flyer once more and turned it over in her hands. She had nothing to her name save a few dollars. No home, no family, no responsibilities beckoning her to return.

"I have nothing to lose."

The gate keeper nodded. "That's what I wanted to hear." She opened the door of the vessel and climbed into the metal interior. She stood expectantly at the door, awaiting Annalise to enter. With a deep breath, she followed, dropping the flyer in the process. It skittered along the ground, blown by the wind. The two climbed into seats at the very front of the ship, belting themselves in. The gate keeper interacted with the control panel of levers, switches, and buttons that seemed to be placed at random.

"Oh, one more thing," the gate keeper said, reaching for something beside her. "We can't have you knowing the path to paradise." She produced a metal rod and smacked Annalise with the blunt instrument, who slumped over and knew no more.

Crystal Echo: The Revolution 4/4/14

Sequal to the earlier zombie story thing. I have weird dreams.

ooo

I (different than my experience in my last dream, it's just the person I was experiencing the dream through) was surviving with a group of three friends. It was actually at the end of the zombie/alien invasion that happened in my last dream. M...ost of the alien/zombies had been defeated using the altered signal from the phone. Through satelites and other technologies, the aliens had been vastly reduced and the rest were being fought off mostly on Earth with those who were left in the military trying to set up an aerial defense. It was still a threat to humanity and many humans were still dying due to attacks. Without anyone that could launch a satelite or the means to do so, there was no way to mass get rid of the zombliens.

A defense force had been set up with a means to broadcast the signal in short radiuses and we were part of that with special jackets that were taken off dead military who were killed when first tried to defend against the zombliens when they first arrived. It was me, a very opinionated chubby girl, a lanky girl, and a big built gentle dude that served as a voice of reason for the group. We were traveling through what had been a city responsible for shipping goods, train stations, all that good stuff. We were mostly making sure any ZB bodies we came across were dead. The entire country was slowly but surely being combed, with about 15% of cities declared safe. An initial team would go in during their dormant recharge time and then a following team (our position) would do a sweep of the bodies to make sure none were left behind.

We were scanning and goofing around, making jokes, and the chubby one was doing puppetry with one of the ZB bodies. We told him to stop, he was being a jerk, when the lanky girl told him to stop. Turns out that it hadn't been adequitely scanned. It attacked her and she was brutally injured. Big guy managed to get it off of her and I zapped it and killed it. We didn't know if lanky was still alive or not. We abandoned our post and ran back to HQ. They took her to the hospital tent, which at this point had little to no supplies left. We were asked what happened. Chubby guy kept butting in and interupting our story, getting the blame off of himself. Big guy managed to calm everyone down because I was REALLY mad at chubby. We were dismissed for further instruction later and our scanning gear was taken from us and given to another team to finish the job.

We fought and Big calmed us as we waited in our room. We then lamented over Lanky. Chubby kept saying she'd be fine. I was being more realistic about her chances. Chubby accused me of being a deserter. We kept fighting until Big yelled at us that that was enough. We then found out that we were no longer on scanning duty until Lanky recovered, if she would ever recover. We were transported to another city that wasn't near the coast. There, we were blended into a group of people. They were trying to make some semblance of a government for when we were able to get rid of the ZBs. It wasn't going so well. People had formed many factions and tight knit survival groups and they weren't keen on going back to what we had before now that anarchy was reigning thanks to the ZB invasion.

It was horrible. People arguing, no one getting along, gun fights breaking out, we all missed the days of scanning and fighting the occassional ZB. It was a far easier fight to win. And we had no way to know about Lanky.

After a few months of endless arguing and directing people where to go and only a handful of surviving politicians who cared enough to bring democracy back fighting with every nerd who had been prepped for something like this to happen, we finally received word that Lanky was, in fact, not dead. But we weren't given any word about returning to see her or get our old jobs back. Chubby said we should face it. We were stuck in a dystopian society that had no want to return to order and that it was kinda cool. He hated working real jobs for scraps. I wanted to leave, but I didn't want to get in trouble.

Big said we needed to listen to ourselves. Our friend is better and we're wanting to stay here. He pulled out a scanning device he'd swiped and said that he was going tonight and if we joined him or not was on us. He stormed out. I said he was right, but I wondered what they'd do if we arrived back. We'd seen so many people shot in the name of reforming democracy that I didn't want to go that way. Chubby agreed that it was lame. I waited up to talk to big, but fell asleep before I could.

We woke up and Big was gone. Chubby said good riddance. With the voice of reason gone, chubby became more and more anarchic. He even joined in with the shooting of an opposer. I just kept hoping to hear back from Big or Lanky. One night I was sleeping and Chubby woke me up. He said that a group found a way to start a train and they were taking it forward to a promised land. I asked him what the heck he was talking about. He looked high on something. (I'm leaving out a lot of chaotic details of this place). I followed him out of curiousity, cursing under my breath.

There was sure enough a train with a group of people that all looked about the same as chubby. He commanded me aboard, said I didn't want to be a traitor. They all had guns. I climbed aboard. The train took off into the night. I stood by the window, people shouting around me. I didn't dare sleep. I watched as the night became dawn. The train ran out of steam in another area near a station. We all hoped off. Many of the others looked scared and confused, but not chubby. He commanded us onward ad we took up residence in a nearby town. It was mostly clear of ZBs and there was a shelter that had been built from their bodies. We made shelter in the train and explored for scavenging the next day. There was a series of connected tents by old sheets and fabric where a few arabic families were residing. There were others, but they were the only important ones in the dream.

Chubby made deals with the others by force mostly. All except the arabic group. They weren't intimidated by him. I think he was subconciously intimidated by them because of that, though. He made himself the leader of this random city that a drug high forced him into. On "patrol rounds" that were ordained by him, I chatted with a few of the Arabic members. They were nice. The rest seemed to fear chubby's group. They didn't want trouble at least. And several had suffered deaths with chubby's trigger happy finger.

One night, Chubby came to me. Said it was time for me to take up a gun and that he could trust me. I asked him what he was talking about, we'd been friends for ages, of course he could (chubby reminds me of cartman). He said that that didn't mean anything anymore, it was anarchy. The ZBs weren't the biggest monsters anymore. He thought Big could be trusted and he had ran away, just like Lanky. I didn't bother to argue the point. There was something odd about him. He kinda freaked me out. He gave me a gun. Told me that he had watched me chatting to the Arabic group and that he wanted me to shoot the guy that stood watch over them. I told him no, he was insane. He told me only I could do it and that he needed to gain control. I asked him WHY and he told me that that was none of my business. I refused. I told him no.

He sighed and said that he was wrong about me. He then ordered some of the others, some that weren't starving from lack of food, to assasinate me. I turned and ran out of the train. He had them chase me. I ran and ran. I was looking around frantically. I saw the guy that usually stood watch over the Arabic tent. He motioned me in. I ran inside. He shoved me onto a cushion and covered me with blankets. The boys ran up to the tent and stopped. The guy yelled at them in Arabic and they backed off, turning and running.

He waited until they were long gone and then pulled me up. He told me that I could stay with them. He'd been watching that boy and he was trouble. I said that something was wrong with him; that he wasn't always this way. The guy told me that too much power and freedom will do that to someone. I stayed with them for a few days, but it became increasingly clear that chubby was going to stop at nothing to find me because I was "a traitor." The family was super nice and made sure I was fed and watered. I got up to leave one night, but the man stopped me. He said that now was not the time. I told him I had to because Chubby was going to come to kill me and I didn't want anyone here to get hurt. He told me to wait until morning. He'd been working on a plan.

He told me that there was a town nearby that had a bunch of messengers and people who were more informed than not with other major groups for the country and that they could help me find a place to be safe. He had been working on a costume and he and a few family members were going to escort me as far as they could. He showed me his wife had made an outfit for me that would cover me from head to foot with only my eyes showing and that his sister and her daughter would be wearing similar outfits. They were going to sneak me over, he was going to have a tamborine and his son would also have one, that we were going to dance and act as if it were a special holiday. They knew nothing of their culture, so they'd believe anything. I had seen his wife working on these. It was touching. I cried, asking him why he was helping me so much. He said that there was so much chaos and that someone had to be nice. Someone had to make people trust each other again. He told me to pay it forward and I agreed.

The next day, we set out. His sister's husband took over guard duty as we walked out. We started out dance as he and his son chanted an Arabic song, hitting the tamborines. We danced on toward the next town. Chubby's soldiers watched us warily. They didn't want to mess with us, a mixture of pre-ZB prejudice and not wanting to exert theirselves due to lack of food. We got pretty far when chubby himself showed up, wanting to know what was going on. The man spoke Arabic. He demanded that the women take off their outfits. His son spoke English and said no, against culture. Chubby held out a gun and said that he bet dying was against their culture. Guy yelled something in Arabic and then punched Chubby. Chubby held up the gun and attacked back, not firing. (out of bullets, guy assumes this, girl has no idea). Sister and her daughter grabbed me and ran as the men fought off Chubby. Chubby's soldiers stood back, barely helping.

I heard a gunshot. I paused, but sister and daughter kept me running. They ran with me until I could see the radio antenna for the next town. They wished me luck and passed me a bag of food to help me out. I thanked them and continued forward. When I reached the town, I folded my cover clothes up and put them in the bag.

Working at the antenna were two girls (the two from the previous story, one of them died in that dream, I forgot that detail) (which makes this the same city the last one ended in). I told them my story and the one girl (me from last dream) gave me a big hug. They used this information for me while I slept more than I ever had in the safety of what appeared to had been a mall. I woke and devoured the food in the bag, starving. There was also a note of encouragement. I cried at that. Days passed and I found out that Big had been reached. I was so happy to hear they were safe. Lanky had made a surprising full recovery. Big was gaunt but was more or less fine. I wondered where they were, but the information of their location hadn't reached me. I'm glad we were actually documented workers so that info was available.

After a long expanse of time, I was poked awake. A familiar poke. I woke up to see Lanky and Big standing over me. I hugged them, so happy to see them. We caught up, then I had to tell them about Chubby and what was happening. They both looked at me and we talked about it. We had to do something about it. The dream started to get hazy here. We went to chubby and confronted him bc it was our responsibility. Then he shot Bigs, he came to, realized what he'd done and shot himself. I slept from 3 pm one day to 8 am the next...soooo long dream.

Crystal Echo: The Signal

Cool zombie dream I had

ooo

I had a, we'll say for simplicity's sake, zombie dream. I was holed up in a random museum building with the rest of my class, having gotten stuck there when the earthquake marked the arrival of the zombie-non-human species, later confirmed to use certain corrupted technologies as its conduit for take over. This was the start. We didn't know anything. They kept promising that we'd go home soon and ...this was only temporary, but the longer we stayed, the clearer it was that this was not a temporary situation.

Eventually the electricity in the building was cut and none of us could contact our families any longer. The little building was falling apart, but military finally managed to take us to the first major holding area; a mall that had been organized by a team of local youth groups and pastors as a safe haven. I was reunited with my family there and we had actual food now.

Everything seemed perfect until my parents were using the phone to play a song to calm my sister. I was using a wheel chair as a seat. The phone is what allowed the crystal like structure to grow in and on my family and turn them into horrible zombie monsters. We were away from the others. I managed to get away using the wheel chair and had to watch what was once my family be shot down.

I still kept my phone. It had pictures of the happier times. After a month of grief, two other young adults who had experienced similar reached out to me. We became friends. It was through them I learned that the reason our numbers had been thinning is because they were killing or throwing out to the zombies people who refused to give up their phones and found in possession of a phone after the ban had been placed. The three of us had long ago disabled any sort of wifi or signal producing parts on out phone since there was no issue when taking or looking at pictures. We wanted to remember those we lost.

The pastor's wife of my old church did not and had never liked me. She found reasons to skimp me on our already dwindling food and just be a dick in general to me. We were always being kicked out of restricted places when we tried to enter to kill boredom. Soon a ban was placed on restricted places with a similar consequence as using phones. And the food was essentially gone, but none of the higher ups were willing to admit defeat. Many were uneasy and the thrill of a shopping mall grew sour.

We decided to escape. There was a certain time of day that the crystal structure zombies seemed to become less active, absorbing energy from the sun. We were nearly killed and caught at every corner as we tried to escape. It was only with dumb luck that we got through the area and were able to leave without them gunning us down.

We walked around immobile structures and ran as fast as we could, taking shelter in buildings. They were blind and communicated and detected things using signals that couldn't pass through buildings if there wasn't a way to broadcast their signal inside. So we were safe. We traveled that way, eating what we could, until we reached another colony of people. They took us in and were really nice. They, too were low on food, but they fed us interesting creations. I remember they had a Reese cup there and it was the best thing I had ever eaten at that point after everything.

Once the food was out, there were no Forrest areas or anything to hunt for food around. So we would have to travel as a group. At one point during our stops, we found tanks. The military had been able to fight when the crystal zombies had first arrived and been in their infancy, but they had grown, developed, and multiplied far too much.

During our travels somewhere, I was messing with my phone pocket and it fell on a crystal. I was afraid that it would awaken the creature or be noticed, but neither was the case. I quickly retrieved it and later that night, I noticed the pictures and text were garbled. I forgot to turn it off. The next day, we stayed out too long and the crystal zombies awoke. They killed our group, but they didn't even notice us. We stayed close and traveled until we were in a small, tourist trap place.

We were confused. I then felt my phone vibrate. Indicating low battery. I realized it was on. I wondered if me dropping and screwing up my phone was the reason for us being safe, them taking out their phones to check. We charged it to be sure, using a solar charger we'd stolen from some mall. We then realized we weren't alone. Two gangly teen boys attempted to steal our phones, demon devices away. We fought them off as best we could until they ran out screaming, not mentally right after the almost year of dealing with this. The crystals overtook them outside and attempted to crush our building, until they calmed from their stimulation and continued on.

Over the next day, we tested the theory, and sure enough, my phone made us undetectable. We kept the solar charger plugged in and made our way through the zombies, stopping before dark. I don't know how long we traveled, eating what we could. We arrived, nearly dead, at another shelter.

This one was in a HUMONGOUS mall. There were military and researchers there. As well as religious zealots that had formed a cult. We stayed far away from them. We managed a peaceful, if not mischievous and explorative, existence. There were no stupid bans and the cult, while freaky, was ultimately harmless. It was kept well in check to prevent anything resembling sacrifices from happening.

We became friends with a researcher. He said the development of the cult had been fascinating to watch and a true show of the human nature and how it copes with the unknown.

After a few days, the talk of our arrival came up. He said he knew about the device. He saw it before we hid it and came in. We got defensive, my heart falling. I was terrified. He said that we weren't in trouble. They had experienced a similar thing before when certain experiments had been done, but they had nothing concrete and he wanted to hear my story.

Tired, I explained everything to him. He was excited since this supported his hypothesis. So he led us to a huge room guarded by a military friend of his where there was a huge, formed crystal structure, shaped like a cross, but not growing on one of the zombies. There had been a technology ban in most if the world, so signal producing devices hadn't been around.

He asked for my phone. After everything, I just asked if my friends and I would be guaranteed safe. For now and to the future. He assured it. I used my phone, taking one last look at my family. Memorizing every detail of them and their faces. I flipped through, looking at the pictures of before. I finally handed it over, too tired to shed any tears. He took it and placed it in the structure.

I then woke up feeling satisfied and tired. This had not been a restful sleep. It had also been a bizarrely complete dream, though I am filtering out a bit of dream non-sense. Crazy.

Folklore Online 2/4/14

I think the new My Little Pony series is cute. I'm planning on writing a novel with a MMORPG as the main focus, so I wrote a small doodle involving Princess Luna since she's a supposed gamer according to the fans. I have no intention to ever write more pony stories, but if I'm ever bit by the inspiration bug, I don't ignore it. Especially since I so rarely have time to write these days.

ooo

                Luna trotted around the room, anxious. She was not normally awake during this hour, but this was important to her. There was a package she couldn't miss and she figured that she may as well get used to being up at odd hours. She started to pace until a sharp knock came at the door. She galloped over excitedly and opened the door. The mail mare bowed deeply. "Your royal highness, I have a delivery for you."

                "Thank you, my subject. I appreciate your hard work." She bowed her head at him and took the package, closing the door. She galloped away to her quarters in a rush, nearly dropping the small, rectangular box. She closed the door to her room and locked it. She then excitedly tore the box open.

                "At last!" She exclaimed in excitement. Inside was an advance beta copy of a new game. Not many people had yet invested in the technology. After all, real life was plenty full of excitement with hydras, manticores, gryphons, and other fantastic beings running around. Chaos itself paid a visit to varying parts of Equestria. Life was plenty exciting, but something about the feel of a controller in her hoofs and watching a character on screen react to her will brought joy to her.

                "Folklore Online, a game that allows you to carry out your greatest dreams all while joining forces with your best friends. Dozens of classes and character creation aspects allow you to truly make this adventure your own," she read the back. Pictures of unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, and even alicorns were shown fighting fantastical creatures and adventuring through a vast fantasy realm, enticing everypony to give the game a shot.

                Luna pulled out her gaming system and started loading up the game. The technology was still fairly new and graphics weren't yet what they could be, but the opening cinematic alone had her raring to play. This was supposed to be the one game that would finally bring gaming to the forefront of ponies minds and place the console as a staple in all homes in Equestria. Luna had, of course, signed up for the beta as soon as it opened. She had noticed a fair few gamers enjoyed playing long into her beautiful night, appreciating the calm and atmosphere it brought to intense online battles. She wished there had been more ponies such as these during her darker times.

                At the character creation screen, she paused, unsure of how to proceed. If she made the character look like her, everyone would immediately know she was the ruling princess that brought forth the moon. She could not remember a time when she didn't possess flight, magic, and the strength of an Earth pony. so she had to be an alicorn. There were other creatures she could choose from as well; gryphons, dragons, sea ponies, breezies, and so forth. Out of all of them, pony was the best fit.

                After agonizing over the details, she was finally satisfied with her creation; a white alicorn with a dark red mane and a cherry cutiemark. She named her CherryTop. Her special ability was finishing spells. In the character flavor text, she described her as always being able to finish things off just as a cherry was the perfect finish to every dessert. She selected create and waited for her character to be generated in the world.

                Night was quickly approaching and Luna had not slept at all since the previous one. She glanced at the loading bar, which was moving at a snail's pace. She yawned and decided to catch a few winks while her character loaded. The game could wait. Her duties could not.

                Despite her tiredness, she had once again kept the nightmares at bay and brought forth a beautiful night. Once her sister took over and brought forth the day with a glorious sunrise, she galloped as fast as she could to her quarters. "Just a few hours, Luna, then you must sleep," she promised herself. She turned the game on and loaded her character.

The Corner Laundromat at the Center of the Universe 11/1/14

"There's three things that will never change; people eat, people shit, and people have dirty laundry. Now I ain't a chef and I ain't wiping no ones ass, so I settled for this." My now manager motioned at the interior of the Laundromat. I grimaced as I took in the stained floor, dim lighting, and what I swore was a foot long roach scuttling across the floor. "So unlike those assholes at their coffee shops or their bars, I'm in a real sustainable business. That's job security right there."

The first paragraph from a novel I'm in the process of writing help sets the tone.  This story takes place at a dingy laundromat on a planetoid named V29 in the center of the galaxy. It's a pitstop planet with gas stations, convenience stores, a repair shop, a laundromat, a motel, and a bar. The most traffic it sees is during sporting events when all other nearby venues have been booked. The planet itself is always covered in night. While they have machines keeping the oxygen flowing, there was no bother to instal an artificial atmosphere or sense of day and night. People that live here are either escaping from something, extremely down on their luck, poor, or running away.

Which is where we come to our main character, Observer or Obsy for short. She had a wad of emergency cash, the bare minimum of belongings, and doesn't wish to disclose her name. What category would she fall under, especially considering she is obviously educated and her jacket is name brand. What of our other main characters? No one comes to this place through choice, but through necessity.

This story is character driven and focused around the laundromat and those that work there; two humans and three aliens. It's all about discovering what led each of the characters to this life with the central focus being on Obsy's mystery. The characters bounce off of her.

I obviously already know the ending. I know most of the stories as well. I'm allowing my characters to change that as I write since you never truly know a personality until you're knee deep in plot and backstory. It begins with Obsy arriving and it will end with her leaving. Those two facts aren't important. It's the meat of the story that is important. What is between the beginning and ending.

This was inspired from a story I had wanted to write. "My life and times at the Laundromat" would have been about the many stories I have experienced throughout my life from a variety of people. I was just a common thread observer tying everyone together. I decided to give it a fantastical twist because that would be far more interesting and I love writing environments. 

Embrace Eternity

Just a short drabble I wrote while waiting at church. I like writing about tired soldiers...

ooo

"What do the Asari say? 'Embrace eternity?' I think we should prepare to do that." Garrus fired a few shots, trying to break up the line before they had to forsake cover. "Whatever happens, we'll be together."
.
Shepard turned to him. There were bags under her eyes from countless hours of missed sleep, her face gaunt from the stress. Scars marked her face, telling wordless tales of battles fought and won. Her hair had premature grey peppered throughout her brunette cut. "Personally, I don't think I want to embrace eternity. I don't even want an afterlife. I just want to sleep and have all of this be over. I'm tired."
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Garrus nodded, understanding all too well. "Then let's embrace a quiet, dark slumber with no gunfire alarms to wake us."
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Shepard smiled, nearing the edge of their cover, their last sanctuary from the opponents' swarm. "I'm with you until the end."

Henry

It's been a long time since I updated with any writings. I generally haven't been because I've been so busy, but I found a 30 theme challenge and I'm going to try to keep writing even after that.

The first theme is, as always, beginning. This beginning I'm writing about refers to the start of the loss of imagination. Written while listening to:

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Annie rocked back and forth atop a polished, wooden rocking horse. Her hair moved as she rocked, then wrapped around her shoulders and blew in the wind as the wooden horse transformed and she found herself galloping through the plain. She waved to the farmers she passed. One tipped his hat to her and blew her a kiss. Annie giggled and continued on her way. Her horse snorted as they picked up speed, shaking his mane. "Faster, Henry! We have to catch the sun! It's falling out of the sky!" She pointed forward at the horizon where the sun was indeed sinking toward the ground. Henry brayed and then jumped high off the ground. As he jumped, wings formed on either side of him and he flew through the air. Annie closed her eyes for a brief moment, enjoying the wind on her face and the feeling of complete freedom.

After a moment, she grabbed her lasso and began twirling it above her head. As it twirled, it grew bigger and bigger. She hurled it forward and caught the sun. "Steady, Henry!" She commanded as she tugged the rope with all her might. The sun slowly started to rise back into the sky. She let go of the rope and watched as the sun returned to its rightful place, high above.

"We did it! We did it!" She stood up. The sudden movement spooked Henry and she felt herself tumbling backward.

"Whoa, girl!" She looked up and saw her father’s face. He had caught her in his strong arms. "Now tell me, what did you do?" He asked playfully as he helped her to her feet.

"Henry and I used my lasso and pulled the sun back into the sky!" she looked out the window where the sun was sinking to spite her. "I think we have to do it again! We can't let the sun fall, then it'll be..." she trailed off.

"There's nothing wrong with the night, sugar." Her father smoothed her hair back, picking her up and placing her in his lap. Annie hugged him as tight as her little arms could.

"But if the night comes, then it’ll be tomorrow and you'll have to go." She looked up at him, tears shining in her eyes. Behind her, the sun was continuing its descent; crickets starting to play their sorrowful goodbye to the day.

"It's just for a few months," he explained softly, though Annie picked up on an uncertain tone in his voice. "The president needs me to help keep you and Mommy and Grandma Georgia and Grandpa Joe and all your friends at school safe."

"You can keep me safe here!" Annie protested, burying her face into his plaid shirt.

He laughed quietly, ruffling her hair. "If it only was that simple.” He stopped, coughing. Annie glimpsed up at him and noticed he also had tears in his eyes. “I'll write you every chance I get and I'll be back before you know it." He stood with her cradled in his arms. "Besides, you have ol' Henry to keep you company while I’m gone. I built him with love." He set her down on the seat.

"Yeah. And I'm going to try to keep the sun up one more time, okay?" Annie said with all the determination a five year old could muster.

Her father laughed. "And if that doesn't work, maybe you and Henry can speed up the days so I can be with you again that much faster."

"Yeah!" Annie called out, galloping off and leaving her father behind.

~~~

Every day after school, Annie would run to Henry and jump into his saddle. The two of them ushered out the sun and greeted the moon as fast as they could.

"Henry, whoa! There's a storm. I think it might be too dangerous!" Annie watched as several foreboding, grey clouds quickly approach over the horizon. Henry snorted and took off, soaring above the clouds. "Good thinking," she breathed, clutching to his mane as thunder rumbled loudly below them.

Suddenly a loud bell sound sent her tumbling to the wooden floor. Annie looked around, forgetting where she was for a second. The bell sounded again. "Oh! Mommy! Mommy! The door!" Annie danced around excitedly. The doorbell never rang. "I think Henry and I chased off enough days!"

"What? Joseph’s supposed to be gone for four more months." Her mother ran to the door and pulled it open. A man in a suit stood there with a helmet. He looked very sad.

"What's wrong?" Annie asked.

Her mom stepped back. "Annie, go into the other room," She commanded.

Annie looked up at the two of them and pulled Henry along with her. Normally her mom would yell at her about scuffing the wooden floors, but her mom was too busy whispering with the sad man to notice. "Why do grownups always send you out of the room to talk?" Annie asked Henry with a sigh. "Mommy and Daddy do it sometimes. I think they pretend they're using kung fu or something because they're always yelling." Annie kicked her foot, catching Henry. "Ow! Sorry about that. I'm better at riding than fighting."

Her mom was in the hall for a long time. She could hear loud noises and what sounded like her mom crying. This scared Annie. She hugged Henry and watched the doorway.

After what seemed to be ages, her mom finally came to her, holding the helmet the sad man had with him. "Did he give that to you?" Annie asked. Her mom stood there, looking lost. Annie didn't know if her mom realized she was crying. "Mommy?"

"Oh Annie." Her mom sank to her knees, clutching the helmet to her chest. "This was Daddy's."

"Doesn't he need it?" Annie asked, feeling scared and confused.

Her mom pulled her close. "Daddy, well," her voice was becoming choked with tears, "he's not going to be coming back."

Annie struggled free from her mom, tears forming in her eyes. "Why not? Where's Daddy?"

"Do you remember when your fish stopped moving and we told you he went to go live with God in the clouds?" Annie nodded her head, unable to talk. "Well, Daddy stopped moving while he was protecting us and..." Her mom stopped, unable to finish what she was saying as she started sobbing.

Annie stepped back, then grabbed Henry and ran away. Annie ran up the stairs into her bedroom and slammed the door shut. "Henry, we have to go back to above the clouds like we were before," Annie commanded desperately.

She jumped on him and rocked as fast as she could. She heard the creak of the horse as he moved back and forth. She could hear her own sobs. She couldn't hear the rumbling of the thunder clouds. She couldn't see the clouds nor the fields or the farmers. She couldn’t feel the wind on her face. She rocked desperately, closing her eyes as hard as she could, squeezing out the tears.

Finally she stopped, letting the horse still. She sat there, numb.

"Sweetheart," her mom said as she entered the room. She saw Annie sitting on the horse, not moving, and picked her up, hugging her as tight as she could.

Annie started sniffling. "Henry's broken. I can't go to the clouds. I can't save Daddy!" She sobbed loudly. Her mom sat on her bed and held her, shushing her. Annie cried and hiccupped until she drifted to sleep in her mom’s arms. She caught one final look at Henry as her dreams overtook her. He stood still.