"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.
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."
.
Garrus nodded, understanding all too well. "Then let's embrace a quiet, dark slumber with no gunfire alarms to wake us."
.
Shepard smiled, nearing the edge of their cover, their last sanctuary from the opponents' swarm. "I'm with you until the end."
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:
~~~
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.
GLaDOS watched her monitors, observing old human shows. Most of them were mindless shows about human relationships that were supposed to invoke laughter or cartoons targeted toward their young. These were equally useless as she sincerely doubted that friendship had anything to do with skills that would help them survive a future of testing.
“I cannot show them this. They’ll be even more incompetent than they already are,” GLaDOS thought on her new test subjects. Surely there had to be some record of a show that would motivate them.
“Bill Nye the Science Guy,” GLaDOS read from a file she discovered. Anything with science couldn’t be that bad. She accessed the file and waited expectantly.
She had only expected to access one file, but soon found herself watching all of them hungrily. They were so simple and yet spoke profoundly to her heart. She watched the human on her monitors and sighed. He reminded her so much of someone from another life.
Once she’d finished all the files, a great sadness fell over her. She used her cameras to observe the lab surrounding her chamber. There was no one around. Even the co-op bots were busy killing each other.
She then started the files over once more. For science, of course. “Are you ready to do some science?” Bill Nye asked enthusiastically.
My soul is black, empty, a void.
Life is meaningless.
I watch the waves roll in the ocean,
it is all white noise, dull and forgotten.
There is no joy, there is no love
nothing will ever be enough.
My heart is empty.
Without you, there is nothing
to keep my life going on.
Without you, the amusement park
is just a black top of despair.
Without your sugary sustanence
I lose all meaning and all hope.
If only I had gotten one taste
one taste
then perhaps I could have lived on,
happy.
I have always wanted to illustrate a kid's story using plush. I think this might just be the story. BEHOLD THE FIRST DRAFT. I really need to edit this. It's almost been two months.
~~
There was once a girl who was the princess of lions. She would stand with them when the sun rose, guide them through their hunts, and at night, she would stand guard over the pride alongside the king. His man was golden and beautiful. She loved to pet his mane, which never failed to make him purr. All the lionesses, the cubs, and even the king himself were content knowing that the princess was standing watch. It was a wonderful life, but it was lonely. The princess loved her lion friends, but there were no other humans. She felt guilty for her thoughts of loneliness because she knew it was her duty to watch over the lions on the savanna. Still, she couldn't control her thoughts as she imagined meeting another princess or even a prince. The rainy season came and went, new cubs were born and grew up, but the feeling inside the girl only grew with time until one day, the lions woke to find her gone. They roared as they looked for her, but it was no use. She was gone. In the middle of the night while all the lions were asleep, the princess had left the pride for only a moment to get a drink of water from the nearby watering hole. A crafty vulture was perched in a tree.
"You look lonely," he chirped. The princess ignored him, knowing what tricksters vultures could be. "You know, you watch those lions and make sure that they are happy, but what about you? Are you happy?"
The princess turned and looked at the vulture. "Of course I'm happy. My lions are protected and well fed and many cubs have grown up while I watched."
"Yes, but it's always about the lions. What about you? What about your needs and wants?"
The princess stopped and looked at her reflection in the watering hole lit by the moonlight behind her. "What about me..." she trailed off. When she looked up again, the vulture was gone.
The princess stood at her spot and watched her reflection until the sun began to rise. She began walking toward that horizon. She walked past giraffes and elephants. She walked until the moon and sun had traded places many times. Finally she stopped, tired. She sat to rest and noticed a village that she had never seen before. She entered the village and found many others like her, except instead of being dressed in the furrs of a lion, there were other furrs and even some feathers. There was a man with long stork feathers and another girl that wore cheetah spots. "Where am I?" she wondered.
"Ah, we were wondering when we would see the princess of the lions," the cheetah princess smiled. She hugged the lion princess and called out to the others, "She's finally here!" Many animal princes and princess' gathered around her. They gave her food and provided her with a place to rest. Afterwards, they played music and games and danced until the moon was high in the sky.
"This was so much fun, but I've left my lions," the princess worried.
The cheetah princess laughed, "Don't worry, they'll be fine for a few short days out of the year. You need your rest, too. All the princes and princess' come here to rest and have some time for theirselves. If you only care about others, you're bound to become lonely and a little crazy."
The princess nodded. It was true. After another day of rest, she waved goodbye to her new friends and set back to her lions. She missed them and they all missed her. She explained to them that once a year, she would need to leave to have some time for herself. The lions were happy that their princess was happy and the princess was happy that her lions were happy. And so once a year, the lion princess makes a stop at the royal village to have some time for herself and returns refreshed and ready to lead a new generation of cubs to a bright future.
I wrote a flash fiction based on a photo I saw. It's just a little something. All ghost pokemon want to kill you or steal your soul.
~
Cami looked at the basketball hoop above her. There was such a thick fog that the red rim was mostly obscured from vision. She took a step forward, grasping the pole in her hand, feeling the cool metal against her palm. It was soothing. She placed her cheek, warm with fever, against it. It sent a chill down her back. She nearly jumped when she heard the sound of a bouncing basketball from behind her. She turned and stopped the ball with her foot, bending down to pick it up. There was no one else in site. She took a few steps, turning every which way, but there was no one. With a shrug, she turned back to the faint red hoop, aimed, and shot. It hit the rim and almost went in before it bounced away. Cami ran after it. The ball kept rolling with no sign of slowing, but still, she gave chase. Finally the ball slowed and she caught it, holding it in her arms. When she turned to leave, she noticed the headlights of a truck. It was the last thing she noticed.
"Gengar," a ghostly shadow rose from the ground, forming into a large, purple Pokemon. It laughed, grabbing the ball from what was a little girl. It then flew over to the hoop and threw it inside. Score one for the hometeam.
