Not at all, I did not mean to preach in the slightest. I simply believe that a philosophical question such as that, no matter the disregard in it’s asking, deserved a little more to it than a mere, yes or no. And you have to know me by now, I have a lot of time on my hands and tend to look deeply into things with greater care than most, some may say that is a positive quality. Concerning my father, indeed he still does not approve of our communication despite my best efforts to convince him that this is harmless and I see you as a close friend now. I just do not understand where  he is coming from when he asks me to cease these letters and then refuses to explain why. It is simply not like him.

How are things at your place? Are you still having a rough time with your “captors” as you refer to them. If they are as imprisoning as you say they are, how is it that you are able to write these letters to me almost everyday? This has to mean you have some sense of freedom, does it not? Things cannot be as bad as you depict them, most things in life are never as bad as we see them.

Sincerely This Hopeful Soul,

Yes, I have been hiding behind the bushes looking at you like some kind of stalker would…in case you missed it, that was sarcasm.  Both you and I have been curious to see each other after our long stream of letters, but don’t get all smug thinking that you know me all too well; or at all for that matter.  It’s not like I wanted to leave; I just had other things to take care of, something much more important than waiting around in some empty graveyard for some boy I have never met before.  And for the record, I’m not some shy little girl. If I could find the chance, I will take it.

Boy, you should read this over again and listen to yourself preaching.  Getting another lecture is the last thing I wanted to see.  You didn’t have to look so deeply into that question.  It was something I asked on a whim, but thanks for replying with your…long winded answer.

By the way, does your father still not approve of you sending letters to a stranger?  He’s being pretty uptight if you ask me. 

Sincerely the Girl in the Coffin,

Looks like we just missed each other again.  I can tell it rained this morning, but your letter is still dry. Plus I can see the exact spot beneath the tree where you laid, as explained in your last letter, just where the overgrown grass gave way for a mysterious slender figure.  It is truly amazing that after all the letters we have exchanged, we have not crossed paths yet.  Have you wondered why this is, or has it been of your accord?  Sometimes I suspect you are hiding just there behind the bushes, simply too afraid to come out; to confront the one person who maybe, just maybe, might care enough to be there for you during whatever it is you have going on that has made you this way.  I don’t want to be too pushy but I want to help; I can help.  However, until that magical day we finally meet, you can go ahead and hide behind those rustling bushes behind the iron gate, that is all fine with me. 

Anyway, you once asked me if I thought life was fair.  But given the circumstances then, I couldn’t give you a straight answer; however, I think I figured it out now.  From an individual’s perspective, life has never been, nor ever will be, “fair” because quite frankly if everything were made to perform as expected there would be no growth or change.  But as soon as this is applied to the grander scheme of things, “fair” is about one of the only things life can be.  To make fire, something must be destroyed; as one life ends, somewhere else another begins; there is always calm after the storm; and I know for each and every one of our frustrations, lies a solution just waiting to be found.  Regardless, I am not saying your situation is justified; simply marked off as one of the pangs of life’s ambiguous fairness no matter the severity but just like all things, good or bad, this too shall pass.  Besides, you have me to keep you company until then. 

Sincerely the Boy in the Graveyard,

Back to PostAWeek                                                                                                                              #0413093

How much of this could one require?

Rather, how much more could one soul take?

To live on display that’s so clearly fake!

Fake fire?  Fake pants? Fake every-little-thing.

But will NOT fake that which hath made these pants sing!

Yes.  When do sing; sang with every-little-fiber. 

A time without the fire; without the liar. 

But though the fire might briefly run astray,

Be sure it WILL come back another day. 

For I only laugh to keep from weeping,

Only smile to hide the pain,

Only deepen the lies I’m keeping,

To distract, evade, deflect, and feign.

.

..

…

….

…..

……

…….

……..

………

……….

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

Of which light does wonder and amaze,

Was never doused in it’s entire.

Maybe no one can stop these pants ablaze.

Back to PostAWeek                                                                                                                                 #0211079

if (can read above)

{ you.highFive(4Awesome); }

if (comprehend still)

{ i.Hug(you); }

else

{                         }   

/* you get NOTHING!! */

Well for those of you who actually read my blog, first of all, Thank You; second of all, you may know I have this odd fetish for code writing/encryption/cryptology and what not, which has only heightened to all new levels of geekdom with my studies in computer programming; and I suppose, that trip to the NSA museum in high school didn’t help.  Yup, codes are pretty much all I think in these days; and surprisingly in a British accent as well due to this UK YouTube sensation I have been watching recently, meaning I am socoollike.  See what I did there, yet another code?  There just is no end to it!  For example, you may notice a string of seven numbers at the bottom of this post; the organizational nerd inside of me loves finding new ways to condense information into little bits such as this.  In this case, that little bit of code tells me first what week number it is since I began my PostAWeek challenge (2 digits), second it also states what week number it is out of the year so out of 52 weeks (2 digits), and last it tells me the date using a Julian Day Chart which is very unecessary because WordPress tracks what date I post this but what that literally tells me is the number of the day of the year (three digits).  Confused yet?  Well then brace yourselves because I have just begun! 

Something most people might not know about me is that whenever I purchase or receive a new notebook, which I do quite often, whether it be a personal notebook or one for school work; inside the front cover of the notebook, I love writing my name in every language and code I know.  Let’s see if I can list them just off the top of my head.  First, in english of course; second, I took three years of japanese in high school so I write my name in all three forms: hirigana, katakana, and kanji.  Third, I write my name in the code I use the most which has appeared on this blog before (O. O |-. |- [. |- |_|. _|.).  The name of this code was forgotten in all the years since I discovered it but recently I found it has traces leading back to ancient Norse runes; unfortunately, in discovering this I found a later version of their runic writing system that I had to learn as well, which is the fourth variation of my name in my notebooks.  The fifth version of my name is written in a code my cousin created himself and was kind enough to give me and is akin in appearance to what some may believe to be alien language.  Speaking of which, anyone remember the movie District 9?  In the months before the movie release to theaters, I joined the online community of hype-obssessed maniacs ogling over a new alien movie with lots of blood and BOOM!  Anyway, in joining this community the creators gave away downloads to the font file of the alien writing they used in the movie.  So indeed, I write in an alien language which is the sixth variation.  The seventh version of my name is written in Alchemic symbology and I would rather not divulge the reasons why I know this code (k thx).  The eighth and last variation of my name is written in a form I actually created myself.  I like to call it Shadow Writing, partly because that’s an amazing name for a writing form and partly because it actually does have to do with shadows, and again sorry, I can’t give away all my secrets.  Maybe I will tell you more about Shadow Writing one day but I am sure you understand.   

It is around ten minutes from midnight right now, which I guess is a testament to my procrastination skills because it is sunday here, the last day of the week, and I am just now going to post my first entry for PostAWeek.  I swear I will get better at this; not only with punctuality but with content as well because I really don’t have that much to talk about right now.  This is partly due to the fact that I have finals this week and I have done with my homework what I have done with this PostAWeek entry.  Yes, I know it is absolutely horrible to wait to the very last minute (or last five) but I suppose in the great scheme of things that is the reason why anyone participates in challenges like PostAWeek/Day, which is certainly so in my case.  So here it goes.  *cough*cough*  My name is Travis Tell and I WILL be a recovering procrastinator on Tuesday, when all of my assignments are due. 

Sleeplessly yours,

travisT

Back to PostAWeek                                                                                                                                 #0110072

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Continued from >>here<<

The ride?” At that moment Oren gave a look at Rain and a subtle smile appeared on his face, “The ride was really, really good, I enjoyed it a lot.”  Suddenly Rain felt like he should look behind him to see if Oren had been referring to someone else because that last twenty minutes of the train ride was little to be desired.  “What is with that smile? He said he enjoyed the ride like it was my doing; maybe this guy really does take pleasure in someone else’s pain.  What other reason could there be for him leading me on like that on the train when he is talking to someone he is clearly in a relationship with on the phone right now?”  Rain thought.  As Rain waited for Oren to finish, he just stood there still mesmerized by Oren’s smile that adorned that deceptively innocent face.  Rain had thought all this time that Oren was genuinely a good guy and was falling even more for him with each city they passed by.  Unfortunately, all of that was thrown out the window when Oren decided to use Rain as a napkin drawing out all of the pent up hormonal pressure that Rain was trying to quell inside of him ever since Oren boarded the train.  “Alright, I’ll talk to you later.  Bye” Oren stated over the phone.  “Your mother,” Rain asked Oren.  “No that was, err, my girlfriend.”  Oren replied.  “Ha! I knew it! He is straight and all of this emotional BULL I have been going through on this train ride was all in my head and he really was just messing with me to see if he could get a rise out of it!  And it worked; I hope he is satisfied with how it all turned out.  After all that hoping I did and wishing, and after I actually had a good time all the way up until now, all of it was smashed to pieces in one fell swoop.  I suppose it was never meant to be anyway, two strangers on a train, I mean.  How could anything possibly go anywhere from there except in different directions.  I couldn’t do a long-distance thing anyway.  Jeez, look at me!  I’m here contemplating a relationship that wasn’t even possible, he has a girlfriend.  Whatever, I can’t wait to get out of here.”  Rain screamed in his mind.  Oren noticed the frustration bubbling inside of Rain as they stood there in brief silence.  “Hey, what were you about to say?” Oren asked.  “Oh it’s nothing really.  I should really let you get going; you probably have someone waiting for you out there, right?”  Rain said with a deceptive smile.  “Well, no one important.”  Oren replied.  “What do you mean, ‘no one important’?  You were just talking to your girlfriend….  You know, never mind, I don’t want to know.”  Rain responded as he made a motion to turn away and head back for the train.  However, Oren interjected, “Hey wait up, man, why are you being like this?”  “It’s nothing really; I think the train is getting ready to leave.”  Rain said hurriedly.  “Hold on, there was something I was meaning to say.” Oren spoke slowly and with an air of sincerity, enough to catch Rain’s attention and turn back around to face him.  Oren looked Rain straight in the eye with a noticeable look of longing that Rain found to be very tempting if not for the fact that he was still angry with Oren.  However, all of that angry feeling went flying out the window the moment Oren took one great step toward Rain, after which they were now face to face with each other.  If either one of them made any sudden movements they would have been touching.  “Get a grip on yourself!” Rain screamed to himself, “It’s all an act, he wants to put one final nail in the coffin before I leave…But he is so beautiful, I just want to get lost in his smile.” 

Oren broke Rain’s inner rant once he started to speak, “I have been meaning to ask you something important.  This morning when we were talking about all of our favorite things, what you do for fun, how you used to hate television commercials but now that you can fast forward through them you sort of miss it and absolutely anything at all that came through our minds, I felt something between us, something that just made sense to me and felt right…and I have a pretty good idea that you felt something too.”

  “He can’t honestly believe that I’m this gullible, he must think I am an idiot or something to continue to fall for the little ruse he has going on.” Rain thought as he remembered the phone call Oren just got finished with, “I mean he just got off the phone with his girlfriend, which he admitted himself.  If he’s trying to convince me he is gay, he sort of blew it with that little detail.” 

“I was scared to ask earlier because I didn’t know how to bring it up, really.  It was something I have never done especially just after meeting someone for the first time.  I really don’t know what came over me but I don’t regret it.  I only regret getting off that forsaken train because you’re still on it.”  Oren continued on to say. 

As Rain listened to Oren, he was forced back to what had happened that morning when things got intimate between them and wondered if that was what he was referring to, “Was it possible he was awake the entire time?” 

“I know this is unfair to you but I just really need to know, it would kill me if I didn’t even try to find out the truth… After we finished our conversation this morning, just before I started to doze off I slid over into your seat.  At that moment you held me in a way that is beyond words and then, I’m not sure, but something took over me and the next I knew I was even closer to you then before and it felt like it was where I was meant to be.  But then when I woke up this morning you were gone, I thought it was because of me.  I was afraid I scared you off and you hated me for what I did that morning.  So I need to know, was it because of how I acted this morning?  Did I offend you?  Or am I not the only one who feels like this?” 

Rain was shocked, he did not expect anything like this, he was literally speechless, “I…uhh…”  That was all that came out of Rain’s mouth along with a lovely wide-eyed stare that I am sure we would all laugh at a little later, but then the unthinkable happened. 

“All aboooooaaaaard!” was yelled up and down the train signaling for the passengers to return back to their seats. 

The call back to the train was the only thing that processed in Rain’s mind because he was still baffled by what Oren had just said to him that he almost stumbled trying to walk backward, “I’m sorry, I need to go.”  While Rain was turning around to head back for the train he felt a quick and gentle hand grab his own and was suddenly spun around back to facing Oren.  Without a warning and without a single thought in either of their minds, Oren kissed Rain with all of the passion and intensity that he could muster that could finally voice to Rain all of the feelings Oren had for him that were too much for words.  Oren closed his eyes and held on for dear life to Rain’s hand as he grabbed his waist with his other hand and pulled him so close that there was no longer any space between them.  When Rain’s mind finally caught up with him he was wide-eyed and shocked but the very next moment he closed his eyes and let all of those feelings and emotions rush in and set his soul free, the first thought that followed that came into his mind after that was an image of fireworks.  He didn’t know why there were fireworks but he would have loved to stand there all day and watch the magic and wonderment of it all. The next thought that came over Rain was the unmistakable awareness of how cold he was before Oren pulled him so close; fortunately, now he was overcome with the warmth that constantly enveloped Oren and similar to the fireworks, he never wanted to leave.  Just as all good things must come to an end, Oren remembered the train that was moments away from leaving and thus was forced to break their first kiss.  When Oren lifted his head from Rain’s, he noticed Rain was still trapped in the moment for a second longer with his eyes closed and breathing scarce.  Rain opened his eyes, and was graced with the perfect image of Oren smiling back at him unlike any of the other smiles Rain had admired before; this was a different smile, a better one, and by far his favorite thus far.  With a sentiment of concern, Oren said to Rain, “Your train.”  At that moment, all of the worry that was bound to get to him eventually, flooded him at once; similar to when Cinderella realized it was midnight he quickly turned back to the train and made a run for the car door, which surprisingly held the train employee that Oren had gotten to know so well earlier who was currently waving at Rain to hurry back inside, it appeared he was watching them the entire time and was kind enough to give them a moment or two.  Once Rain had returned to the train platform he made a quick look back at Oren who had not moved from the exact spot where they shared the most amazing kiss Rain had ever had in his life.  Oren just gave that gorgeous smile of his and waved to Rain for the last time.  For a moment, Rain considered jumping train and staying here with Oren and he almost went through with it, placing one foot back down on the platform steps; however, he had important things to do in Seattle and needed to get back.  So all he could do was smile and wave back at Oren and hope and wish that he would meet him again someday.  With that, Rain turned back around and entered the train.  The doors were closed behind him and almost immediately after the train began to shake and swerve with movement.  Rain returned to his seat on the second level of the train car and rushed to pull back the curtain that covered the window to steal one last look at Oren standing there with that beautiful smile, possibly for the last time.  Unfortunately, Oren was no longer standing there, that wonderful spot where Oren stole a kiss from Rain, and in fact was nowhere to be found.  With a crushed heart, Rain closed the curtains over the window and was left in a general darkness.  He did not feel like watching the passing scenery at the moment, but simply sit there and wonder, “Why did he make me fall for him?” 

The hours passed and the train traveled on into the night.  Rain had taken to laying across the two seats he had to himself now that Oren was gone, before falling asleep he requested a blanket and wore a thick coat but nothing compared to the warmth of a warm body beside you to keep you company.  Rain thought that what he felt fell along the lines of wanting to be needed or in other words he wanted to be wanted by someone and at the very moment he finds that person he was forced to leave them far behind possibly forever.  He so desperately felt like going back there just to be with Oren again but every time he thought of this notion he fell back to all the troubles he had waiting for him back in Seattle.  “Going back home is supposed to be a good thing but all I want to do is get as far away from them as possible.”  Rain said to himself.  

The “them” he was referring to was his family that had so graciously demanded his swift return in order to, as they put it “Get my act together and finally contribute my part to the world”.  “Give me a break,” Rain ranted on in his head, “This is just their way of coping with the fact that they are embarrassed of having a gay son.  They are convinced that as long as I have a job, any job, that will then make me being gay okay to the world.  I have been trying to tell them that no one has the right to judge me but they never listen!  I could care less what other people think about business that is not their own; I’ll choose to do what I want, when I want.  I want to focus on school now and work toward getting a degree but will they ever listen? Unlikely. I thought that was what parents are supposed to push you toward, a degree, but no, apparently to them gays are not worthy to attend school and better ourselves in society.  So I have had enough of the phone calls and constant letters sent telling me what to do with my life.  I’m heading over there to tell them off, and if they still feel like no longer helping me out with paying for college I am just going to take the last of my things there and move out.  The two years dealing with their crap when I came out just before junior year of high school was hell enough, I do NOT need any more of this while I try to get my life together during college.”  At this point, Rain was already fuming from everything he had to put up with and trying to devise the best way to tell them that he was not going to move back home just so he can appease their twisted opinion on homosexuality.  Following this he thought of his three year old little brother, Rion, pronounced just the same as Ryan and, yes, his parents do think they are clever.  Rain began praying deeply and sincerely that Rion would never have to go through any of this if he grew up to be gay as well.  Rain prayed that his parents would see the error of their ways and raise Rion to be free and expressive and not secretly hold a grudge against them if he were to embrace a lifestyle that was different to their narrow beliefs of how boys should behave.  Rain also made a mental note to make sure Rion knows that he is there for him for absolutely anything at all, “I will not let them make Rion’s life a living hell!”  Finally, Rain allowed his thoughts to wander back to Oren, wonderful Oren, and the exact moment they had their first kiss and how he had not expected it at all and nothing but good feeling and good thoughts flowed through Rain.  He thought of how much fun and how funny their entire time together was especially all of the mean things he thought about Oren when he was trying to be sincere and earnest.  The thought of perhaps seeing Oren one day and once again falling fast into his arms and maybe him stealing a kiss from Oren, at last, allowed him to drift ever so slowly off into a very calm and deep sleep; well deserved after a long day such as this. 

The morning came and Rain woke up with a shaking chill that violently demanded a cup of coffee and no one would get hurt.  Fortunately, the dining car was selling cups of coffee and cinnamon rolls; something small before the train arrives in Seattle.  We were two hours away and Rain would have given a million dollars just to turn around now and never go back, however, this train was stubbornly insistent on forcing Rain to the exact place he didn’t want to be at right now; despite the fact that he got on the train himself.  Stuck at a moot point in the internal argument he was having with himself inside his head Rain decided he no longer wanted to stay conscious for the entire two hours left on this ride.  Rain pulled his jacket close, lifted his leg and fell back into a deep sleep.

Rain awoke with a giant yell that, if there had been anyone around, would have startled the entire car.  However, there was no one in any of the seats around him, in fact, the train was not moving anymore.  While Rain struggled with that moment just coming out of sleep where you don’t know where you are, he sat up in his chair and pulled back the curtains on the train window beside him.  Rain saw only a black brick wall greeting him kindly at the window, he was momentarily bemused at this sight and then decided he must be in Seattle already, they were inside the station.  Rain quickly got up and ran down the stairs to the lower deck level and headed for the door.  It was already opened and Rain saw no one around still.  Rain walked out of the train and onto the train station platform and took a quick look around.  Still no one.  He was beginning to get worried but then decided that the passengers were ahead of him and the crew were restocking and refueling; no one sticks around the train when they get to their destination and this is the final stop.  So Rain went walking around to what he believed the main terminal waiting area, he came to this conclusion due to the overly-exaggerated neon sign that read, “Exit to City Level”.  Rain followed the blistering sign and entered what he believed the main terminal.  However, there still was no one to be found, not a single soul.  Rain found more markings and assumed they were not lying when they pointed toward the street level and followed them to the pin.  After about ten minutes of walking around the building he reached what he thought was the ticketing and reservation booth but, yet again, there was no one to be found.  Now Rain was worried.  He continued to follow the signs that lead outside and was sure there would be people outside walking around in the busy Seattle scene, it was around nine o’clock in the morning so there should be people outside running about their business.  To Rain’s great surprise and his dismay, once he entered the street level, there still was no one in sight.  “This is getting really freaky,” Rain thought to himself as he headed toward the nearest bus stop, “The busses have to be full of people, I’ll just catch one and get home.  Maybe I’m just tired from the long exhausting trip.  Yeah, that’s it.”  Rain found the bus stop he needed to be at and waited for it to drive by.  Rain looked left and up the street: no one, he looked right and down the street: still no one, he looked left and up the street once again and, “Whoa!  Where did that come from?”  Right in front of Rain was a bus that seemed to have showed up out of nowhere.  Rain just looked at it curiously and stared at it up and down the sides.  It did not move and all of the windows were suspiciously tinted so you could not see inside of them.  Suddenly, the bus door swung open and Rain went to look inside.  To Rain’s horror there was no one at the driver’s seat, the bus appeared to be driving on it’s own.   “Okay it’s official, this is really creepy.”  Rain said out loud.  “Hey are you getting on?” came a familiar and melodic voice from inside the bus.  Rain couldn’t help but investigate the voice and took a step inside to see who owned the voice, it sounded so very familiar.  When Rain rounded the corner he was greeted with a most spectacular sight, it was Oren sitting alone on an empty bus in an aisle seat near the back, almost exactly to where they sat on the train.  “Hey you!” said Oren so sweetly, “Are you coming?”  Rain just could not stay away.  “Yeah, sure,” he replied, “Where are we going?”   “Where ever you want to go, really, just as long as I go with you, okay?”  Oren asked.  “No, of course, I would love for you to come with me.”  Rain said, but then he realized something, “If only I knew where we were.”  In the time Rain had entered the bus and spoken to Oren and taken a seat next to him, the bus had started to move on it’s own again at a leisurely pace but he had lost so much time that he was now lost.  He took a look around him out the tinted windows and he did not recognize a single thing, “You would think since I’ve lived here for a few years that I would be able to navigate around the city.”  Rain stated, “Oh well, let’s just ride for a while, I’m bound to figure out where we are eventually, right?”   “Sure,” Oren replied with a deep smile.  Rain stopped looking out the windows and turned to Oren, staring back into his piercing hazel eyes that took a liking to his own.  He wanted to be no where else than on this bus with Oren, he didn’t even know where they were going and everything was perfect in his mind.   “Say, how did you get out here?  I left you in Spokane, didn’t I?”  Rain asked.  “I jumped back on the train, I just could not bear to lose you so I got back on and followed you all the way here.  I wanted to spend more time with you,” Oren said in his gentle and sweet voice as he scooted closer and closer to Rain.  Rain was speechless after hearing this, “Had he really left everything he had behind to follow me here?” he thought to himself.  Suddenly, Oren was now brushing himself up against Rain and was still leaning closer.  Oren raised his arm and reached up toward Rain who let him get as close as he wanted.  Oren grabbed the back of Rain’s head and pulled him so close to where their mouths met and did a brilliant reenactment of their first kiss.  In the midst of the same passionate kiss as before, Rain’s breathing started to become scarce once again and he could feel himself melt among Oren’s warm body just as before.  And then any moment from now there will be…yes, there it is, those brilliant fireworks, just as before.  Previously Rain thought that public displays of affection on a public transit such as a bus were tacky and often inappropriate, however, seeing as they were all alone, literally because there was not even a driver on this ghostly moving bus, he believed it to be one of those exceptions that he would let slide just this once; and maybe a few times more if Oren is up to it later.  Their passionate kiss lasted for what seemed like forever, both never wanting to let go of one another for fear that they might be forced to part and go separate ways just like before when they had had their first kiss.  So Rain took this to heart, he wanted to savor every last bit of passion he had for Oren before he would lose him again and picked up both of his arms and placed them on Oren’s shoulders where they rested; accentuating his longing for Oren.  Slowly Oren grabbed Rain’s arms and removed them from his shoulders, placing them back on top of Rain’s lap.  Oren directed Rain to a facing forward position in his seat using his kiss as he stood up from his seat.  Oren took one last look at Rain as Rain stared back in absolute pleasure.  Oren smiled that special smile that always could send Rain into a blissful trance and slowly turned away and walked off the bus.  Rain was mesmerized as Oren walked out when realization began to take hold of him, “When did the bus stop?  Where is Oren going?  Why is he getting off the bus?”  All these questions surged through Rain’s mind but the thought of getting off and pursuing Oren never crossed his mind.  Rain watched Oren through the oddly no longer tinted bus windows as he crossed the front of the bus and stopped just at the side of the bus at the very window Rain was sitting at; almost imitating the day before when Oren had gotten off the train.  Rain put his hand up to the window and a single tear began to form underneath his eye because he knew what was going on.  Oren was only a onetime thing and then he was to never see him again.  All of a sudden, Rain stood up from his seat and turned to face the window beside him and with all the might he could conjure up from within him he pounded on the window hoping to break through or catch Oren’s attention.  “Come back!  It’s not fair!  I don’t want to lose you yet!  Come back inside! Don’t leave!  Don’t leave me!” Rain screamed at the still standing and still smiling Oren just inches away on the other side of the window.  At the very last moment, as Rain continued to pound on the window he could see a single teardrop fall from Oren’s face as well as he too placed his hand up against the glass window separating them.  Despite the inevitability of the bus taking off and putting even greater distance between them, Oren never stopped smiling that beautiful smile that when all hope was lost for Rain, mitigated some fraction of the loss Rain started feeling.  Then it happened, the forsaken bus revved it’s engines and began to move, leaving Oren behind and both of them cold and alone.  Rain stood at the window for quite some time just staring back down the evil road that, despite all his wishing and pleading only stood resolute in it’s decision to carry Oren away from Rain.  When the street Oren had been standing on was out of sight and the street after the street Oren was standing was out of sight as well, Rain decided to retake his seat on the bus.  Once settled back down he suddenly felt several drops of liquid fall upon the back of his right palm that was rested on his lap.  Instinctively, Rain looked toward the ceiling believing there might be a leak, however, the ceiling appeared brand new.  Rain soon discovered that the mysterious fluid was actually coming from himself because he had not realized that he was crying more profusely than before.  As if a spell had immediately been placed on him after seeing his own tears and realizing they were all for Oren, Rain became unsettling tired.  He took a quick look around the bus and only saw building after building pass by that were still very unfamiliar to him.  However, he no longer cared about any of this and decided that he would just lay down on the bus seat and just let the ghost bus take him wherever it wanted, the fact that it took him far away from Oren was painful enough, no where else could be worse.  Rain laid across the seat drifting off into a most deep sleep, he felt like he could break out into tears once again but the exhaustion beat him to the punch.  Slowly Rain began to close his eyes, fading further and further into the loving arms of sleep that would take him away from his pain. 

Suddenly, Rain awoke with a giant jump up from his laying down position on the bus seat, as if he had just been electrocuted or something equally as shocking.  Rain was absolutely stunned when he finally realized it had been nothing more than wild dream, the ghost bus, the empty city, and, horribly meeting Oren was not real as well.  The truth was that Rain was still on the train and was about twenty minutes out from Seattle.  There was a strange silence among all the passengers as the inevitable end of our cross-country train ride was drawing to an end.  It was almost as if our entire world was coming to an end and this was the exact moments leading up to the Rapture.  The family behind me were huddled together speaking quietly while smiling contently as if this was the last time they would be together on this earthly plain.  Then the mother and father took a quick look over at me and as our eyes met they greeted me with a morning smile and a head nod that implied all the knowing of the coming end.  Rain honestly believed their arrival into Seattle to be the end for him because of who was awaiting him at the gate.  There was so much bad blood that he just simply could not emphasize enough how much there was exactly or even how much he really did not want to be in this position.  Eventually, Rain decided to let it be and worry about all of it when he had to in Seattle.  For now he would wake himself up and pack everything he brought out of his bags over the course of the trip.  He put away a very convenient pillow that was able to fit into a space half it’s size (but was a poor substitute for the very nice and warm pillow he was granted the morning before), a pair of slippers, and a…duck? “How did the duck get there?”  Rain said as he was sure he had put the thing away after he had his little battle with Oren.  “And how did I not notice it all this time? Maybe the camouflage actually works,” Rain said.  He picked up the sneaky duck and examined it for any possible sorcery in it’s tricks, but alas, it was no more than a rubber duck.  After replacing the last item left out in his little corner of the train back into his backpack, Rain stuck it in the corner away from immediate sight and took to some sightseeing before he had to disembark.  Once back at the sightseeing car, Rain was absolutely astonished at how beautiful the Washington woodland area was.  It was truly a sight to behold.  There were vast mountains with mysterious and majestic fog flowing over the tops and trickling down to the forever rushing river that laid below the train.  It was times like this that Rain wished he had a camera.  His phone didn’t even have a camera on it.  Just then Rain pulled out an older but still functional cell phone from his pocket and turned it over in his hand.  “I need a new phone,” Rain thought to himself.  He flipped the phone back over and turned it on.  Once the damned thing got through it’s startup epileptic seizure-like gurgles and beeps, Rain was surprised to find he had a practically full text message inbox.  “Who the hell is texting me?  I never text anyone,” Rain thought to himself as he clicked on the first message on top which read “rubber duck” from…Rain stopped to catch his breath, the text message was from Oren, but how did Oren’s number get on his phone, or how did Oren get his cell phone number?  Then, Rain became thoroughly confused at his message and tried to figure out it’s meaning.  He began thinking in random spurts, still affected by the fact that he has Oren’s number and can still contact him.  Rain suddenly realized the messages must be in the order they were typed so he skipped down to the very last message and began reading:  “Hey Rain, it’s Oren.  After you helped me out by wiping off the chocolate on my face, haha, I stole your phone while you were looking away at the window, you really did like the view, didn’t you?  I was going to do something to get even for when you pushed me in front of the train conductor but decided to leave you my phone number instead (along with stealing your number as well).  So I would love to talk to you later about that explosion of a kiss we just had a moment ago, as I am typing this message while still sitting in the train station terminal area because I could barely stand after you left me.  But I can tell you probably still have your phone off right now because you have not responded yet, so when you do finally turn your phone on and see that I have spammed your inbox just know I’m still thinking about you and give me a call or text me anytime.  I’ll be waiting for you.  Oh and by the way, I hid your duck somewhere on the seat, we must not forget your favorite rubber ducky. Rain stared down at his old and junky cell phone and could only smile; both in pure joy of Oren’s very cute message that in texting standards would be considered as an essay and in the fact that despite their distance Oren’s still has this effect on him.  Through all of this excitement, Rain didn’t even realize that the train had pulled into the long winding tunnel that immediately precedes the Seattle train station or that the train had also pulled into the train station itself and was not stopped completely.  Fortunately for Rain he was tipped off of his arrival in Seattle by the family behind and to the right of him who had seen his dazed and mesmerized facial expressions and thought it prudent to warn him that the train had arrived in the terminal; this was a very keen family, oh I might have also forgotten to mention that the father bared a striking similarity to one Johnny Depp, but I digress.  After a heartfelt appreciation gesture toward the family as they departed from the train, Rain leapt from his seat in haste due to this renewed feeling of joy that had overcome him generating from his cell phone, for now, he had forgotten what was waiting for him outside.  He grabbed his backpack and the one suitcase he had stashed on the lower level and disembarked the forsaken train, which had indeed become forsaken when he was the last soul to jump ship, so to speak.  Rain crossed the platform rolling his luggage behind him and followed the signs leading him to the main terminal.  He made quick work of making sure there were people around this time just so he knew that this was not a dream.  The first person he saw after the train emptied was at the terminal gate where the ticketing agent was hastily looking through paperwork and kept placing a hand over a intercom receiver as if itching to yell at someone, or perhaps everyone; not to mention the look of disgust that neatly polished her face bright pink.  Rain continued on up a ramp, down a flight of stairs across another terminal and finally through an electric sliding door that automatically opened like the lid of pandora’s box that would thus release the torment that was hidden behind it’s doors.  Like a rushing river, the door opened to a homely mother standing in the middle of the waiting area with a look of impatience and disappointment on her face that repelled any and all passersby for at least a five foot radius in the area.  Then she locked on her target, Rain, and returning to that rushing river which had released it’s full force of guilt and shame upon Rain and had proven very effective because at that moment all the happiness that had come from the mystical and wondrous cell phone that was still in Rain’s hand had dissipated into poof of empty lies and nonsensical dreaming that would never become reality.  Because after all, being gay is wrong.  Rain had noticed his mother lock eyes with him.  He had stopped to assess the situation, he saw his mom, but no dad, which was to be expected.  He couldn’t be bothered with dragging himself to the train station to see his disgrace of son.  Now, where was Rion?  Just then, a little mess of unknown stickiness, smiles, and a little drool came toddling up to Rain’s mother and looked up at her staring, who then followed her gaze to finally settle upon Rain.  “RAINY!!” screamed the little bundle of innocence.  Rain felt better again to see Rion, he returned the scream with a wide smile and dropped his things, making sure his luggage made as loud a bang as possible as it hit the ground, and opened his arms wide preparing for little Rion to perform their traditional brother greeting; of which consisted Rion performing a full force tackle, similar to a football player, right across Rain’s chest in which he grabbed the little torpedo and followed through with his momentum falling backward and eventually sticking his landing with his back and Rion on his chest.  Rain and Rion were close brothers, could you tell?  Anyway, Rain had been a step ahead of Rion and placed his backpack directly behind him so he may use it as a landing pad, ensuring not to repeat the infamous birthday incident where Rain had fallen back on a rock that had jumped out onto the grass behind him.  Let’s just say the rock never made it home that evening; Mrs. Rock and the little pebbles were now short a man back at the quarry.  Rain’s mother quickly walked up to the two brothers wrestling on the ground and made a quick and demanding motion for them to cease and desist and to follow her to the car at once.  Rion quickly obliged illustrating the apparent stranglehold their mother still had over him but Rain stopped and pondered listening to her instructions for a moment longer, he then followed suit with Rion.  Rain picked up his luggage from the ground and shoved his backpack onto Rion who, although had some difficulty keeping it above the ground, took it graciously; of course after the customary sibling scowl of ‘good grief I’m not your slave’ which as previously stated quickly changed over to respectful compliance.  Both boys followed their mother out to the car that waited for them on the city street level where they boarded the automobile and made their way back to their family home, where Rain’s father ever so eagerly awaited Rain’s joyous return; and if my assumptions are correct and sarcasm is indeed difficult to decipher in a novel or written word in general than I wish to clarify that I was being facetious when I say Rain’s father believed Rain’s return to be joyous.  Rain’s father was outrageously and exaggeratedly disappointed in Rain’s behavior and could not help but look forward to the mere anticipation of Rain’s inevitable departure from his home permanently; possibly the only idea that both Rain and his father could actually agree on. 

After twenty minutes of highway speed driving and awkward silence except for the occasional goofy looks Rion exchanged with Rain and vice-versa when their mother was not looking, they finally arrived at their quaint cottage-like home somewhat within the woods a little ways in and away from any other houses.  It was a two-story home with the traditional white picket fence that untraditionally did not fully border the entire front yard or even half of the front yard, there was only a single row of the white fence that crossed the entire yard only in the front, the side fences went missing one day in Rain’s Senior year of high school when his parents had yelled at him for the last time not to jump over them.  To this day Rain sticks to his story of not having anything to do with the missing fence and, in fact, has a reliable alibi, which after just one month closed the case permanently due to the trustworthiness of the witness, one of Rain’s most proud moments if he does say so himself.  Behind this overly explained white picket fencing lies the infamous house of Rain’s parents painted over with a grotesque beige coloring with matching tones across the shingles to emphasize just how particularly bland the residents are.  Rain was definitely happy to be rid of this house, and seeing how he was unwillingly returning to it today would turn that into an extra large ‘Was’.  Now that is enough describing the hideous-ness of this unlucky house (Fact: It is not the house’s fault it looks this way.), Rain, Rion and their mother, Cordelia, (I’m sure you can imagine what kind of person one might be with a name like Cordelia) ceremoniously walked up to the house and entered the front door.  Rain’s father had watched them pull up and unload the car from the upstairs window so was ready for them when they entered the house.  “Hey dad,” Rain blurted out after he placed his luggage near the sofa so he could evaluate his father’s reaction and gauge his next response to fit the situation; it had always been this icy around the house and he had become a master at reading the signs, nevertheless, there was always those precious moments where his stubborn ways manage to slip through Rain’s defenses and ruin both of their days.  However, maybe it was because Rain had returned per his request and was ultimately being the obedient son he had always wanted, no matter how small that part of him may be, that Rain’s father, Ouran, (you can almost hear all of the narcissism in just his name) seemed to be in at the very least a tolerable mood today.  Ouran gave Rain a stare and a grunt of recognition and found his way to the kitchen for some breakfast.  Rain, seeing as they were finished with pleasantries, took up his luggage and motioned for Rion to follow him to his old bedroom where he would retreat very possibly until dinner time came round or he decided to go out; Rain could not think of any reason why he would go out but he felt that to get away from here is all the reason he needed.  Once he got to his room he was astounded at how exceptionally ordinary it was.  Nothing had changed in the past year and a half he had been away at school.  The bed was practically in the same crumpled mess  and used up linens that he left it, the closet door, he could swear, was in the exact same position he had left it when he emptied it out into a box to move into his dorm, and most importantly, all the papers and little bits of trash and trinkets he had left behind, to keep something behind for them to dwell on in the event they grew a caring nerve in their body and felt they had Empty Nest Syndrome come upon them overnight.  However, no, all of this was untouched, slightly dusted and the room had a very strong musty smell as if the door had not been opened since he had closed it almost two years ago.  Rain gathered up all the strength he had to step back in time and relive all the feelings he once had of being trapped against his will in a house that would never be a home, not as long as the treatment stayed the same but he soldiered on for the sake of his younger brother who had, luckily, brought with him enough good energy to take his mind off of things.

>>To Be Continued<<

Keep in mind, I have not even taken the time to go back and reread what I have so far.  I am simply copy-and-pasting the entire file onto a new post page.  So, if the main character, Rain, comes off as a creeper/stalker/rapist or anything else negative, that was not my intention and will definitely be edited to give off a positive impression in December.  Of course, along with that I still know of some plot holes within my writing and plan to get to that later so I can boost my word count; only adding, no editing.   Thanks! 

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“Oh…My…Gosh…look at him sitting there like nothing happened.  Maybe he actually was asleep while all of that happened last night.  Maybe I am a horrible rapist and took advantage of a kind and innocent boy while he was fast asleep, oh gosh, I’m going to hell.  I am so going to HELL!!  How could I do that to him after all the things we talked about and got to know each other fairly well in all of 4 hours, and at 4 o’clock in the morning too?  I wake up and there he is, being all handsome and nice and beautiful.  I feel horrible.   Maybe I could make it up to him.  Maybe somehow I could make up for the horrible things I have done.  Okay, I’m just going to get up and go talk to him, maybe he didn’t feel anything last night, it will all be fine, it’s like nothing ever happened.  Okay…here I go…Oh God!  He’s looking this way!  No!  Just act natural! Act natural!  Just smile back….no, not too much!!  Okay, it’s all fine, he smiled back.  Now if someone violated me like I did him, I would not smile back like he just did.  Maybe he really was fast asleep while everything went down this morning.  Okay, I’m going to get up and…damn…he’s getting up to leave.”

One might assume this the psychotic ramblings of a hormonal teenage girl ogling a fine specimen she just made a pass at from across the room, however, you would only be half correct.  This, in fact, was the psychotic ramblings of a hormonal teenage boy ogling a fine specimen he just made a pass at from across the room; who is often mistaken for a teenage girl when unsuspecting strangers read his mind.  This boy is named Rain, no he is not some Indian tribal child who has an understandably strange name like Dances in the Rain, but it goes back to a long story about how his parents first met that is for another time, right now Rain, or Rain Dellmeriwz as he is formally known in the bureaucratic system, is sitting quite sorrowly as the fine specimen gets up and walks away, losing his current opportunity to interact with the specimen which was what he most longed for at this moment.  Instead, Rain decides to let his mind wander for the time being, melding his thoughts into the passing scenery as the train speeds on. 

“Hey, man.  You sleep well?”  Said a voice from behind Rain, who almost got whiplash from turning around startled, to find to his delightful surprise that it was the Specimen who had so elegantly inquired from behind.  “Umm, yeah actually I did,” replied Rain. 

However, what this Specimen of the Fine sort does not realize is that around 4:00am this morning when he boarded the train and decided to sit beside Rain, once he had fallen asleep the Specimen made himself very comfortable up against Rain, which by no means gave way to any form of complaint on Rain’s part but in retrospect, a level of intimacy was attained that if both parties were conscious at the time would very much suggest a very close relationship much greater than a chance encounter on a cross-country train ride on a Thursday morning.  To Rain’s great misfortune, one party member was fast asleep while, in Rain’s mind, the party went on into the night.  “No.” Rain thinks to himself, “Last night was merely the stirrings of a restless body while the mind ran away from the difficulties that arise from being conscious for too long.  Nevertheless, if we return to the current situation, it is utterly pointless for Rain to fight these feelings because it is all he can think of at the moment, especially that intense warmth feeling that grew exponentially inside of him throughout his body and which was only fueled further once the Specimen fell into his arms and fit perfectly; and did a few other noteworthy actions that Rain could not recount without setting off a couple of fire alarms in the process.  Then suddenly it hit rain, “I really need to stop calling him Specimen.” 

At this very moment, said Specimen was finishing up an exceptional tid-bit about how surprisingly well he slept this morning; of which included a nice notion of anticipating the need for a blanket to get through the night, which fortunately turned out to be for naught; at this Rain just slowly shakes his head in disbelief in himself and thinks, “I am so going to hell…”  In any case, Rain continued the conversation like this:  “Yeah, I am surprised that I didn’t need a blanket either.  But before I carry this any further, I really need to ask your name again.  I know I was probably responding in coherent sentences this morning when we spoke but some of the information was going straight through me.  And now I realize that is a very bull-shit way of saying I forgot your name, so please, won’t you end my suffering…”  As Rain spoke those words the (FINE, I cannot stress that fact enough) Specimen widened his smile and added a very slight and sexy tilting of the head to enunciate his attention to my words and for that, “I think I might be in love with him,” Rain thought.  “Nah, that’s alright, man, my name is Oren.  It was way early, I know.  I shouldn’t have kept you up with all of my questions, it’s just I like meeting new people on the train and you just happened to be awake.  Anyway, I shouldn’t have kept you up.”  With that, Oren placed an open hand in front of Rain who accepted it graciously, as well as borderline obsessively, finally sealing their acquaintance.  Once their arms withdrew, Oren took an awkward look about him and stared toward his feet almost as if he longed for a pebble on the ground to fidget with to make the time pass, until he spoke out once more, “So, how much of last night do you remember?”  Now this question, took Rain aback.  Had he been awake this morning as he played Johnny-touch-me with Oren without his consent…was he going to accuse him of rape? Or sue him? But no, he wouldn’t have asked like that if he meant ill-will toward me… “Well, I remember you getting on around 4:00am, almost killing the person behind us with your runaway luggage and then sitting beside me, getting exceptionally comfortable; nice black fuzzy slippers by the way, then we talked about so many things: where you are going, where I’m going, why we chose this forsaken train, why it is stupid to eat up at the dining car, and so much other stuff.  How long did we talk for?  3 hours or so?  It didn’t feel anything near that long, but I remember it all, it just takes some thinking to it.” 

“Oh, that’s a relief, I didn’t want to have to reenact all of last night to get you up to speed with all of the things I know about you.” 

“I believe I don’t know what you are talking about, I didn’t tell you anything black-mail worthy!”

“Oh really?  Well I believe your imaginary friend Seymour the Satanic Seal could contest to that.”

“How the…?!”

“Yup, are you sure you weren’t drinking last night, man? You really just let it all out.”  Oren’s smirk becomes a devilish gleam that mirrored Rain’s increasing embarrassment. 

“Well then, excuse me as I find the nearest exit and jump to my demise.” 

“But then who will keep me company on this endless, what did you call it earlier, forsaken train ride to hell.  Besides nothing you told me was worth killing yourself over; if you don’t count your experience in 9^th grade involving what I think you said was a bucket of water, a treadmill, and a pair of women’s pantyhose.  I believe you said something about a practical joke gone terribly wrong.” 

“That’s it, my life is over, I divulged one of my deepest and most emotionally repressed secrets to a guy I’ve only known for a couple of hours, what’s next, did I tell you about that time at summer camp where I found myself tied to the center-court tree trunk, 8 feet up and completely naked.”

“No you didn’t! You were starting to say something to that effect but we got interrupted by the attendant telling us to quiet down the laughing.” 

“Great!  Hey, you do know this means I need to get even, it’s only fair that you tell me some of your deepest secrets and horrid memories.” 

“That’s easy, this one time at band camp…”

“Wait, stop there!  You were in band?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Hahaha! That’s embarrassing enough, you only owe me one more now” 

“Wait a second, there is great esteem to be earned by joining band!” 

“Maybe a rock band, punk band, or any other actual band with the purpose of recording music, but not a high school marching band, that is the lame of the lame.  Maybe if you played a rock-worthy instrument, so what did you play?” 

“The trombone.” 

Rain breaks into further laughing, “That is too funny.  However, you do have the gorgeous factor going for you so perhaps that was enough to cancel out the band-geek-dom.  Suddenly, Rain has an aside:  “Things between us seem to actually be getting better, maybe I can escape persecution from what happened last night.  Let’s just put it all behind me.  And I wonder what he’ll say to that little flirt I added in there, other than this morning I would have guessed he was straight as an arrow.” 

“Nah not gorgeous, more God-like!  I mean the girls just go nuts around me, it gets a little old.  You know what I mean, right?  I mean, look at you, you’re not too bad yourself.” 

“Damn, that could be a straight answer, and it could be the type of answer I’m looking for.  Points off his Fine-ocity for being confusing…” Rain ranted within his mind.  Then he said to Oren, “No, none of that.  I mean in the beginning maybe, but I sort of attained a reputation at my old school that sort of made all of that stop.”  

“Oh I see, you like playing on the wild side of things.  Then you’re my kind of guy, we’ll get along just fine, especially if we were to go clubbing, whoa, we would be unstoppable.” 

“Damnit, it’s still confusing, is he straight or is he gay?!” Rain battered himself from inside. 

Rain said aloud, “It has been a while since I’ve shakin’ my groove thang in public!” 

“Well, if you call it your ‘groove thang’ I don’t think you should be shaking it in public, just saying.” 

“Screw you, Oren, I have great dance moves you have no idea!  I could show you right now!  Right here, let’s do this.” 

With a sudden blast of courage, Rain was up to standing in front of Oren in the middle of the sight-seer car and dance away like a fool just to shut him up about his moves.  “Grab my Ipod,” he demanded.  “Choose any song and I will blow your mind with my awesome moves of amazing awesomeness!” 

“Man, Rain, I don’t know about this, there are little children here, we don’t want to traumatize them.” 

“Whatever man, grab it and let’s do this!” 

“Okay, okay.”  Oren grabs the Ipod and looks through the playlist.  “I don’t know about this.” 

“Just hit shuffle!” Rain exclaimed. 

“Fine…there!” The music begins to play which turns out to be “Like a G6” by the Far East Movement and much to Oren’s surprise Rain breaks out into a seemingly choreographed routine that has him moving all around the seats they had been sitting on for the past hour.  Once Rain was finished Oren clapped heartily in applause. 

“Alright, alright, you can dance, but let’s get out of here before you start a riot.  Everyone is staring at you.” 

Rain and Oren exited the sight-seeing car laughing out loud all the way into the next car, in fact, they laughed all the way to their seats.  Once back at their seats, Rain couldn’t help but be reminded of the racy morning he had once Oren was nearly shoulder-length away again.  Oren had adjusted his seat so he could lean back into a comfortable lying down position which made to emphasize his lovely abs through his t-shirt that absolutely just made Rain’s morning all over again.  All Rain could do to not stare at his increasingly masculine body that lay sprawled out before him was to shuffle through his backpack in front of him searching for something and nothing at the same time.  Rain remembers his younger brother often hiding his toys in Rain’s bag when he wasn’t looking and was checking to make sure nothing that could be construed as embarrassing could be found within his stuff, there was enough embarrassing surprises today.  After a good 5 minutes searching through the same pocket over and over again he stumbles upon a rubber duck neatly tucked away at the bottom of the bag that is painted with a military fatigue design.  “That wasn’t there a moment ago…” Rain thought to himself. 

“Hey, what do you got there?” Of course Oren chose that exact moment to come out of his half-asleep state to look up at the rubber military ducky that was in Rain’s hand.  Of course! 

“Nothing.  My little brother just likes hiding his toys in my stuff sometimes.”

“A likely story, give it here.”  Rain hands the duck to Oren, “Well then, it is a pretty nice duck.  If I had to choose a duck I would definitely choose one like this, man.  Are you sure it isn’t yours? I mean I won’t judge or anything.  What toys a man brings with him into the bathroom is his business, you know?  It’s perfectly alright.” 

Just then, Rain leaned over toward Oren and began punching him repeatedly in a playful way while trying to grab at the duck.  “It…is…not…mine…I…said!”  Oren held the duck in the air away from Rain as he continued to reach for it and pummel Oren with debilitating (in a whimsical way) punches that sent both into a whirlwind of laughter and playful banter.  Rain was pushing further and further onto Oren and was coincidentally forcing him over the edge of his arm rest that separated Oren from the aisle walkway.  Oren held up a finger as if to stop everything, “Hold up!  First of all, it is okay, you don’t need to hide in the closet about your secret rubber ducky fetish anymore, just let it all out.  Second of all, I am about a soft nudge in the wrong area away from falling into the aisle right now and I would like to kindly ask you to withdraw yourself back slowly so I don’t go crashing to the ground. I will hand over the duck, man, if you don’t make any sudden movements.”  With that Oren gave a wide smile and slowly brought his arm holding the rubber duck down from the air to hand to Rain.  However, Rain was not about to pass up a chance like this.  Rain slowly raised his hand to retrieve the hostage rubber ducky; once he made contact with the duck, he held onto it firmly and waited for Oren to let go.  Oren was skeptical at first but Rain began to slowly move backward with the duck so Oren loosened his grip in trust; but that was Rain’s plan all along, to lure Oren into a false sense of security.  As Oren relinquished the rubber duck to Rain and both slowly leaned back toward the window, Rain mustered up his clever ninja-like skills and snatched the duck out of Oren’s hand and made to force Oren over the edge.  With a resounding “YAWP,” Oren went falling over the edge of his seat and ended up sprawled across the aisle, which seemed to have been perfectly timed to one of the train attendants’ hurried entrance through the forward car door.  In a mass of chaos and confusion the attendant, rushing to get through to the back of the car, did not notice Oren’s little old self struggling to get up on the cabin floor and gave him a nice little kick in the leg before forcibly realizing that he was tired of this lame walking upright deal and decided to join Oren on the ground where all the fun was.  As all of this played out, Rain took a front row seat to the spectacle before him and was half a giggle away from full on breaking out into a wailing river of tears of amusement.  Rain sat back and enjoyed the show as Oren tried to recover.  

“Excuse me sir, so sorry about that, but I cannot allow you to sleep in the aisle,” said the employee to Oren after he came to.  “Oh, I wasn’t sleeping here I just fell, it was…”  Oren took a quick look at Rain who was stifling with his words and trying to hold back his almost impossible to control laughter that was bubbling within him.  Oren look backed at the train employee, “It was my fault, I am sorry.”  With that Oren returned to his seat; well after a bit of negotiating with the tangled mess his legs made with the employees legs, and rejoined Rain in their usual position and glared back at Rain, who was covering his face with his palm and kept looking away to the window every now or then to imitate the look of innocence.  “Okay, fine.  Maybe I deserved some of that, but you are so in trouble once I figure out a way to get back at you.”  Scolded Oren to Rain.  Finally releasing his laughter, Rain spoke out loud, “That is what you get for messing with my du…I mean my brother’s duck.”  He was taken aback by his own outburst.  “I mean, yeah, he is very fond of that duck.”

“Wait a second, you were about to say ‘my duck’ weren’t you?!” Oren reprimanded, “We went through all of that and the bloody rubber ducky is your duck after all!  You so owe me for this one; that’s right, you have to buy me a candy bar at the shop downstairs.” 

“What? No!” Rain interjected.  “But you made me fall, oh whatever will I do about the pain?” Oren said. 

“Oh whatever you big cry baby, he just kicked you in the ribs, big deal!  At least he missed a more sensitive region of your body.” 

“Sure! By this much!” Oren motioned with his pointer and thumb to signify how little the train employee had been away from his crotch area.  In fact, as Oren had laid on the aisle floor trying to quickly get up from the crash that Rain had so quickly orchestrated, and the train employee came rushing in to head backward on the train, Oren had in fact helped the process along by raising up slightly and putting more force and less distance between the train employees face and his crotch.  Luckily, the train employee was just shy by “that much” and instead landed nose first into Oren’s belly button.  A location where at that very instant Rain would have been most delighted to have been if the circumstances had been swapped out between the train employee and himself.  “Fine, let’s go get it now then because I don’t want to be around if that employee comes back again, I think he was aiming for your crotch in the first place, that whole movement he made was a little bit suspicious, especially how your legs got tangled up at the end; I mean how did that even happen?  It was like the wires of a pair of headphones.” Rain stated.   Rain thought this as good a time as any to set another hint out into their conversation as to decipher Oren’s very confusing remarks to whether he was, in fact, interested in Rain beyond a train ride companion and into something more.  Oh how Rain longed for something more, but he had to be sure he wasn’t barking up the wrong tree.  Oren got up, adjusted himself a little bit because his clothes had somewhat become a tattered mess in all of the confusion that had just ensued and continued toward the back of the car to a staircase that lead downstairs to the shop that sold little goodies to snack on; meanwhile, he carried on like this, “It was strange how close he got to me, he fell at my feet and somehow ended up near my torso.  Anyway, I could tell he was that kind of guy but he really did just fall on me by accident; thanks to someone here who decided to turn evil on me and get back by pushing me into oncoming traffic.  At least I get candy out of this.”  Oren then went about looking at the shop’s selection with a grin on his face.  “Jeez, you are like a…well, like a kid in a candy store, really.”  Both Oren and Rain took a great laugh at this and smiled as Oren grabbed a bar and Rain grabbed one too. 

It was a strange sight indeed to see two grown young adults purchasing two very sugary chocolate bars and exiting the shop as giddy as a school girl on Christmas morning who just received wind that she was about the get what every little girl wants in their life…a pony.  But to the passengers’ surprise, there they were, Oren and Rain returning to their seats with the happiest of smiles, of which Rain’s was not singly due to the fact that he held chocolaty goodness in the palm of his hand but also due to the infectious happiness Oren had on him that was currently working it’s way throughout his soul and into every fiber of his being.  With the recent events before this train ride dampening the light of his day, he feels as if he was never as happy as he was right here, right now, on this train with a guy he only met less than 24 hours ago, tearing open two candy bars with the gusto of a starving homeless man would be with the very last potato chip in a lonely bag of Doritos, and enjoying every moment of it, in fact, reveling in the simple and childish beauty of it all.  For a while, in Rain’s mind, what was waiting for him in Seattle didn’t exist and never did exist, all that was or ever will be, is sitting here with Oren, laughing about the bit of chocolate stuck on his nose and him asking Rain to get it off for him.  “Wait, what?” Rain thought to himself, “Did he just ask me to get some chocolate off of his face?”  Rain stared for a moment at the family sitting across the aisle and one seat back from him and Oren and could make out what they were whispering to each other perfectly so it wasn’t his hearing that was an issue, but this is not normal behavior for just a friendship between two guys, he seems like it means more.  “But what am I supposed to do, lick it off of him?  No, that’s too straightforward; if Oren is anything, it is not straightforward (giggle) but what could he possibly mean, we have no napkins around here maybe he is trying to flirt with me; maybe he is finally going to give me an answer to what I have been wondering all this time,” Rain thought to himself. 

Oren saw the slight confusion that his comment caused Rain to fall subject to so he suddenly decided to act on his impulses.  Oren reached over toward Rain and grabbed him gently by his hand and raised it up to eye level, meanwhile Rain was simply mesmerized by Oren’s hypnotizing hazel eye that perfectly matched his dirty blonde hair that knew exactly where it wanted to go, went there, and just tempted anyone with it’s elusive “run your hand through me” charm.  Oren began to smile intently at Rain as he held Rain’s hand in front of his face, Rain began to get shivers coursing through every bone in his body as Oren’s breath tingled down Rain’s palm, at this point, Rain was one intimate touch away from completely going berserk and jumping Oren right then and there.  Contrarily to the present mood, Oren nonchalantly caressed Rain’s long-sleeve that rested on his wrist, tugged on it and wiped the chocolate that had settled on his nose.  Rain’s feeling of bemusement only came into new light as Oren did this, because that mesmerizing smile that had adorned Oren’s face just a moment ago was now replaced with a new more devilish and sly smirk.  Rain was appalled, the jig was up, he was had, and now Oren knew full well that Rain was within the palm of his hand and there was nothing Rain could do about it.  After returning Rain’s hand back to him, chocolate-stained-sleeve and all, Oren dawned that devilish smirk and faced forward; Rain turned away to face the window for he didn’t know of what else to do.  As it appeared to Rain, all evidence pointed toward Oren being just another rude straight boy with a sick and twisted mind bent on taking advantage of other people’s feelings; especially leading on gay guys with a kind heart and the promise of more but all the while only out to see how far he could go with the elaborate act.  Rain was mortified. 

Rain was previously known, long ago, for more than his fair share of complexes and confidence issues, but all of that simply came with the territory of a little gay boy growing up…anywhere actually.  Fortunately as he got older and escaped the horrid environment of high school he was given a new respect toward life and things just seemed to snap into place from there, especially his homosexuality; it just felt right.  However at this very moment, he felt almost as if all of that might come crashing back into him because of how he was played just a few moments ago.  Now, Oren has closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, as if nothing had happened to make Rain almost dread being seated next to him.  So many mixed feelings Rain was experiencing right now; the want (and partial need) to like Oren despite how he lead Rain on today, the piercing awkward feeling that he was going through at this moment wanting so badly to get up and be somewhere else on this forsaken train, and the growing urge to lean over to the drifting Oren and either slap him in the face or make out with him, possibly both.  Sadly, the shock from it all cemented Rain to his seat for the next fifteen minutes until Oren was awakened by the voice from above, “Good morning ladies and gentlemen.  We are about ten minutes out from the station in Spokane, Washington so if Spokane is your destination please take this time to gather your belongings and double-check your seats for any other possessions.  This will be a smoking stop, so if you want to take a few minutes to grab a quick smoke or just walk around and stretch your legs in the beautiful fresh air and bright sunlight, feel free to do so.  We ask that you do not enter the station terminal or venture very far from your car as we will only stay for a fifteen minute stop and continue our journey on to Seattle.”  The announcer continued on into ‘Thank You’s to passengers who will be disembarking but Rain was focused once more on Oren.  Oren had given attention to the announcer’s words and had a look about him of recognition; it turned out that Spokane was Oren’s stop.  Oren gave a deep sigh almost in exasperation and got up to retrieve his bag from the luggage rack above.  “Well, Rain, this is my stop, it has been a very interesting ride with you, hopefully we will meet again, man.  You going to see me off the train?” Oren asked Rain.  That was the moment it hit Rain, “This morning!” he thought to himself.  Something happened this morning that was irrefutable proof that Oren held some sort of emotional bond, no matter how small, toward Rain.  If he was going to give Oren one last chance, although he didn’t deserve it, it was going to be by revealing the truth about this morning.  Rain so desperately wanted Oren to be more than just someone on a train, despite of course the obvious distance issue, he was still hopeful. 

The train soon began to slow down as it pulled into the Spokane train station.  Oren had gathered his things and Rain got up to follow him out of the train.  Once off the train, they walked a few feet away from the landing for some privacy and to make way for the following crowd.  “Well, Rain, this is where we part, thanks so much for making that forsaken train ride less boring, I had fun.  I liked our long chat this morning, it was insightful and I’ve never gotten to know anyone like that before.  Oh and thanks for the chocolate, and the sleeve.”  Oren said while laughing. 

“Funny you should mention this morning,” Rain replied, “I was wanting to ask you about something that happened this morning after you fell asleep.” 

“Oh man, I didn’t snore loud, did I?  I’m sometimes known for that.”  Oren said. 

“Wow is he really clueless or just faking it?” Rain thought.  “No nothing like that, it was actually something dealing with the way you…” 

At that moment, a few sporadic tones could be heard coming from the vicinity of Oren’s crotch; it was his cell phone ringing. 

“Hold that thought,” Oren said as he answered his phone, “Hey, baby!  Yeah I just arrived.  No, no one.  Yes, baby, I miss you too. 

>>To Be Continued<<

Oh wait!  It’s continued right here!

National Novel Writing Month!  Yup, it’s that time of year again, November, that magical month where thousands of people across the nation join together to finally get around to finishing that novel that’s been itching away at them from the back of their mind.  No longer will we repress those urges to write down every little plot idea.  No longer will our pages go blank and our pens go cold.  No longer will we subject ourselves to the harsh reality of daily social life because on this month, I am a hardcore writer; malnourished, sleep deprived, and determined to destroy those 50,000 words before November 30th!   Boo Yeah!!! 

Why am I telling you this?  Well, I am using this NaNoWriMo as motivation to finally get to those novels I’ve been promising and the creators suggest telling as many people as possible which will help to guilt me into finishing my novel if I ever get discouraged or lose spirit.  Therefore, with you as my witness I will do my absolute best to cross that 50k finish line on my first try; which is a great challenge.  If I succeed, this will serve as a major victory against that procrastination monster that lies deep within me; it must die!! 

Anyway, the object of NaNoWriMo is to put away your inner editor and write write write on with reckless abandon, so I thought it would be funny to simply post my unedited and ugly drafts up here for you to mock and criticize.  I will be writing two novels the first of which is titled Intense, which is a love story between two young men.  The second story is a fantasy novel that I don’t want to give away right now; plus I don’t have a title for it yet.  Currently, I am preparing details for both novels so I can join my fellow NaNoes for the kickoff of NaNoWriMo at midnight on November 1st in my full Halloween get-up.  Just look out for incoming updates, you never know where they may hit.  Happy November! 

travisT

P.S. – Recently, I just added a pretty lil’ chart at the top of this page that will reveal my current progress for this year’s NaNoWriMo; a green in the boxes means I am on track, a red suggests otherwise.  Along with that, is a second graph that shows a friendly Word War I am having against two of my WordPress buddies, their blogs are titled ‘Just A Girl’ and ’Plkw3rainbow’s Blog’ in my Blogroll.  Now go away!  I’m writing! 

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Prerequisites: Don’t know what HvZ is?  Visit: www.humansvszombies.org

In the days that followed that unbelievable week, all grade levels joined together from a common interest and recounted their misadventures during that 5-day fallout of civil society among the students and faculty at Father Duenas Memorial High School.  No one was spared; many did not wish it.  These are their stories.

Name: Carl Maine

Level: Senior

 Nothing could have prepared me for something like this!  Of course I attended all of the briefings and every instructional class the Mods(moderators) held after school, but even with the research and strategy suggestions that were found online and passed around when the majority was still alive, nothing came close to describing that unmistakable terror feeling of running down an enclosed hallway with two on your tail and only one bullet left.  But I digress, the real story lies in the outbreak.  Oh how ill-prepared the underclassmen were.  I remember that first day, they were dropping like flies.  I knew the O.Z. (Original Zombie) had his work cut out for him seeing as the entire school was participating, but I didn’t realize how easy it was to fall into the army of undead.  I swear my gang and I nearly pissed our pants after we saw the kill count for that day. 

It was 6am, Monday morning.  Even with the mandatory cease-fire order on the first morning of the game, my team had voted on getting there early to check in, take stock on weapons, and settle down before the excitement began.  As you can tell we took the game very seriously because of the prize waiting for us at the end and so we could finally put to use that Black-Ops training we mimicked perfectly from the new Rainbow Six game.  The nerds within us reveled without inhibition.  Considering the little time we had to prepare before hand, my team was definitely one to watch out for; we resembled the clichéd banding together of various specializations.  We had the Heavy, armed with our recently modified Nerf Gatling Gun and Warlock Axe, the Ninja, armed with nothing but a belt of socks and two Thunder Fury swords, the Commando, armed with a Rapid Fire and Stampede with enough ammo to supply an armada of Freshmen, the Scout, armed with a sock belt and four Mavericks, the Soldier, armed with 2 Mavericks and 2 Recons strapped to his side, the Tech, armed with a backpack full of Transforming Assault Blasters and served as our intelligence intercept throughout the game, and me, the Sniper, armed with the LongShot, the Big Bad Bow, and 2 Furys for when I want to get dirty. Our 7-man team was named the Enders as in we believed with every fiber of our being that we would live to the end of this game; how naive.  The Monday morning assembly started like any other, with the exception of the student body being heavily armed with every form of foam-dart gun imaginable.  After the principal made his peace, he handed the microphone off to the Lead Moderator of the game, the man who brought this onslaught of chaos upon this school and was highly praised for it. He introduced the game, final instructions, brief rules, and the underlying plot. Apparently some stupid person found this stupid biohazard container and stupidly decided to open it; frankly, he had it coming. Now he is all zombified and looking to take his stupid mistakes out on the rest of us, what a jerk!  Now as the Lead Mod closed out his speech, I noticed he put on an evil smile that I didn’t find comforting,  “Once you exit the gym, the game has begun and you can now be tagged, I thought we could make it a little more interesting…Will the following people please come forward: from the Senior class, Allen Hewer and Angelo Manubay, from the Junior class, Jericho Tobias and Michael Tan, from the Sophomore class, Patrick McDonald and Clinton Gloton, and from the Freshmen class, Aaron Smith and Vincent Stevens.”  As the chosen few came up to center stage he continued, “While I cannot tell you the identity of the O.Z. I can make you very paranoid.  The O.Z. is among these eight students in front of me and they will have a head start back to class.”  I sat in amazement.  Why would he pull a stunt like that?  I’m not paranoid, I’m using this to my advantage.  I know the two seniors well, they’d tell me if they were O.Z., which brings the number down to six and better odds for keeping an eye on them.  As the whole school watched the eight walk out of the gym with clever smiles on their faces we all felt like pulling out our guns and doing away with all of them right now.  But alas, all we could do was wait.  Once the last one pulled around the corner and was out of sight, the principal called order and routinely released us by class, Seniors first as usual.  All the seniors went running out the door trying to keep an eye on the eight who were blacklisted as possible zombie, but when we cleared the main entrance, no one was there.  Now I was paranoid.  The Enders and I were lucky to have banded together because at a game like this and stakes like these, unity was the first to go. It seemed like only two other teams were formed among the seniors with 3 or 4 members each.  Our chances of survival were looking good at the moment, then we reached the Cafeteria building. 

In anticipation of our inevitable splitting up to our different homerooms, the Enders devised a system that ensured that everyone was safe at all times.  After comparing and plotting all our schedules together we discovered that each of us had at least one other Ender in the same class for the first five periods, the last two, however, was not as simple.  The last two periods were electives, the group either had an Ender in the same class or the class next door, everyone except me.  I was alone in my seventh period, in a classroom away from the others.  Luckily, there was a safe zone within a reasonable distance.  The Enders were confident that my combat skills could get me to the safe zone which would serve as our after-school rendezvous point.  So there we were, seven students moving slow and steady in a tight formation down the hallway parallel to the West wing looking out for someone trying to kill us.  The hallways were empty of all life, which sent chills up my spine and adrenaline shooting through every nerve.  Guns raised, we walked together as quickly as we could before the stampede of students came and boxed us in.  Down the West wing hallway it was the Heavy and me who were the first to break formation, at the end of the hallway all was clear and we broke away; I couldn’t help but think this may be the last time I see my friends alive, and then I laughed heartily.  The game was getting more real each second.  Once 1st Period ended, S.O.P. had the Heavy and me wait to be the last ones to exit the room and make our way to the between-class rendezvous point where we regroup and caravan to our next classes.  When we got there the other Enders were waiting for us and I was glad to see them all alive still, so far none of us had to fire a single shot, yet.  For 2nd period, Scout and I were at the furthest classroom at the North Wing, we were on our own until the Enders regrouped at the second rendezvous point.  As we entered the classroom we couldn’t believe it, already five Seniors had turned.  The rules state that weapons must be concealed during class which was acceptable because classrooms were safe zones, so I wasn’t afraid to walk up to the zombified seniors and ask them how and, more importantly, who tagged them.  “Sorry Carl, no can do, you still have a pulse.  You are the enemy.”  With that they continued their silent whispering to each other.  I took a seat near Scout and told him what had happened.  “Damnit, I knew this was going to happen.  As soon as they turn they forget all allegiances with us and focus only on their team.  This is going to be a very interesting game.”  

I went through 2nd and 3rd periods on cruise control because after 3rd period came the fun part, Break, 45 minutes of all classrooms becoming locked out to students who were then forced outside to their dooms.  I couldn’t wait to see how many people would get tagged in 45 minutes.  Of course it would also give the Enders a chance to evaluate how effective the Zombie Horde was at hunting Humans but we’ll leave the statistics to Tech.  Once 3rd period ended, the Enders just stared at each other and smiled all thinking the same thing, “Game On!”  Following S.O.P., we exited the classroom 2nd only to the teacher and made our way to the Break period rendezvous point.  I was lucky to have Soldier, Commando, and Tech in my 3rd period so getting there would be a cake walk.  That’s when hell broke loose.  6 sophomores were walking toward the cramped hallway that funnelled everyone to the Cafeteria, when suddenly a loud scream could be heard echoing and the sophomores began firing down the hallway.  With the amount of yelling I could tell there were a lot of them so we had to act quickly.  I didn’t want to get into it without the full force of the Enders behind me so I looked for exits.  Tech must have been on the same brainwave as me because he pointed toward the front entrance of the school at the south end of the Quad and we made a run for it.  Soldier led the way while Commando covered our 6 with Tech and me in the middle.  In moments we were circling around back to the Cafeteria.  I stopped at one of the locked side gates of the Quad and looked for survivors.  Much to my surprise, I saw 2 sophomores still alive in a slew of about 15 stunned zombies.  They were over-dramatically mourning over the deaths of their comrades who were lying on their backs in the grass.  The Four of us chuckled, but I was still amazed at the 2 who had survived an attack that was right out of a Zombie horror flick.  The way those zombies traveled together and stampeded was surreal; I was having the time of my life! 

Following S.O.P., we were to have a different Break rendezvous point everyday, today was behind the West Wing Building.  Behind the West Wing was both private and open and perfect because no one was allowed back there but of course as Seniors we usually tend to know what rules we must follow and which ones we can skirt around.  Once there we found Scout, Ninja, and Heavy waiting for us already and we brought them up to speed of the situation.  “This isn’t good.  This means the zombies can actually think,”  Ninja said.  We busted out laughing at this, a little too much for comfort.  A few minutes passed and we were settled down each of us going through our own ammo and weapons making sure they are fine and within reach.  None of us wanted to sit down because the paranoia of the game was really setting in now, especially after what we experienced in the Quad.  I decided to get them talking about strategy again.  “The plan is simple, never split up, that’s how everyone ends up dead in the zombie films, they split up, stretch their resources and man-power so they become overpowered and turn on their teammates,” Commando said.  “I get that, but we have to account for ‘what if’s: What if we do have to, What if it is our last resort, what are we going to do then?”  said Tech.  I then jumped in, “I agree with him, we don’t want to but we should be prepared, just in case.”   “Since we already have our hiding spots around campus coded all we need to do is decide on a location quickly among us and then when we have to split up we all work toward regrouping at that location,”  Soldier said.  “What happens if we are rushed and we cannot decide on a location to meet?  I think since last time we discussed leaders no one could agree we should take turns being leader, only problem is that two people will be left out.  Anyone okay with not having a day to lead the group?” I said.  Scout and Soldier acknowledged.  “Perfect!  So are we good then?  The remaining 5 of us each take a turn leading through the week.  Who starts today?”  After a few tossings of a coin, Commando was made leader for the day or Alpha as we referred to him from then on.  “Well, Alpha, what are we to do now?” I asked.  “I think we’ve spent too much time here, we should keep moving,” he replied.  We packed up and headed back south toward the safe zone nearest the Quad.  Suddenly, screaming could be heard behind us and we spun around to be greeted by at least 5 zombies running at us.  Commando and Ninja took care of them easily but we could hear some more screams in front and coming through one of the gaps between the West Wing buildings.  They pushed us back into the parking lot away from campus and were coming at us from the left, right, and front.  They gathered at all three sides and looked to have us pinned against the fence.  The situation looked grim.  “What’s the plan, Alpha?” Ninja said.  “I think we’re going to have to split up, there’s about 30, we can’t take all of them at once.”  said Alpha.  “It’s a Hail Mary pass but I think we can split all of them up so we can take them on separately.”  The Zombies started slowly moving in.  “I got it! Heavy will lay some cover fire, Ninja and Soldier run left, Tech and I will run right, Snipe, Scout, and Heavy will charge at them and cut between that open gap between the building.  We separate, try to stun or shake them and meet up at SafeZone-P, everyone got it?”  There was no time to respond, some of the zombies started to charge at us as we spoke.  Heavy jumped in front of the group and laid down some fire, enough to have them back up a few feet.  Simultaneously, Heavy, Scout and I started forward clearing a path to the opening in the building, Soldier and Ninja booked it toward the north gym and Tech and Alpha headed for the front of the school.  The zombies fell into an unorganized mess, splitting up among the confusion and going after members of the Enders.  The rush from running from the Horde was exhilarating and exciting…and terrifying at the same time.  I was not about to let them stop me from winning this but running through that enclosed gap between the buildings that would take me near the cafeteria left me with uncertainty and a new level of adrenaline because I had no idea if there was another Horde waiting for us at the other side or if I would ever see my other friends alive again.  I wished them luck as I fired behind me down the opening and jumped into the next hallway.  To our dismay my fears were confirmed, the next hallway presented us with a whole new Horde that were, fortunately, sitting about nonchalant enjoying their break.  However, the moment they saw us running through the opening they jumped into zombie mode, jumping at the chance for another kill.  That’s when the crowd cleared and our prayers were answered.  On the opposite wall was the door to the cafeteria, a safe zone, it was about 4 yards away but there were so many of them.  All three of us knew it was our only option.  In a survival sprint we made it for the door, gunning down the closest zombies.  Scout made it to the door first as Heavy and I covered him, he threw it open, jumped in and we followed; more like fell in because they were right on top of us.  With zombie arms flailing to grab us and pull us back out, Scout shoved the door between them and us.  After an impossible situation like that, it seemed we were safe for the moment.  I hope the others made it. 

To Be Continued…

.

I want to hear your opinion about this. It’s definitely a big step for the story so I’m still undecided if I actually want to take it this way. Just tell me what you think.

Sorry if my thoughts are jumbled.

@Lan & Kayda: This is why I asked about the wings. At first I messed with the idea that only your two characters were Angels, then I said Hey! Let’s try making everyone Angels (so to speak).

@Allen: I will still need to figure out how to incorporate Vance and his world into it, I don’t want to change your character too much, if not at all.

Note: This approach is interesting because the story could be greatly extended to cover two different eras: Angels and Man. 

//Begin

What would you do if someone told you that there was no heaven? Would you believe them? Or would you just brush them off as someone with a belief that you do not agree with? But then what if they told you that this world we lived in right now was, in fact, heaven. Now they caught your interest. You’ll listen to what they have to say but you still don’t believe. They go on saying that all the things we believe in of a Second Coming and Afterlife have all come and gone already, there is really nothing left but the here and now. He tries to explain to you that in another time humans once resembled what we believe to be Angels today, and were so powerful that if their abilities were to be combined together they could rival God.  Fortunately, the humans were constantly at odds due to warring nations, races, and anything else you could think of; so a proper uprising against the Creator could never be made.

“Utter chaos” could not begin to describe the world in our past life. At the inception of the ‘Era of Angels’, the Chosen few who were alive at the beginning were given a choice. They were allowed to choose between a life of extraordinary power and ability, powers that could manipulate the natural forces around them, or a life of much more humbler means powerless, average, but equal. In their greed, they chose the former and began an existence of countless centuries of war and hate. More than 2000 years after the beginning the descendants of those Chosen few were so numerous that the entire planet created for them to inhabit was not nearly large enough to contain them. Suddenly, every planet that could support life (and some that couldn’t) was colonized by these so-called Angels and in their separation a general time of peace fell over these unstable creatures. But He knew it would not last long. A great war ensued like it always does, only this time the line between sides became blurred and horrible acts were committed putting the Creator at great risk. In an act of desperation, the Creator intervened and orchestrated the destruction of the Angels. War and violence was prevalent even until the very end.
Fulfilling His promise to them, he created another world. A world where life could be made better, but he still wanted the choice to be theirs. With the exception of one pivotal decision, their abilities; none would be gifted with the same abilities as the previous lifetime, all will be made powerless, all will be made equal. Upon second inspection of this new world, it appeared some still retained their violent natures, however, as long as good remained there would always be balance and hope. For a time this world existed with a balance between evil and good. Unfortunately, the Creator became aware of many Angels that survived the destruction. You see, when death rained down upon the Angels it was focused on a single chaotic center in the universe and worked outward to the surrounding colonies. With a universe so vast, Angel Colonies on the outer rims were safe from the blast. Afterward, the Creator made the new world at the epicenter of the blast where nothing but dust existed.  This new world could not be anymore perfect and good; true, evil existed, but goodness was always there to fight for what is right.  Unbeknownst to the Creator, those colonies that resided on the outer rim sought new territory and a better life for themselves.  Many of the Angels found their way to Earth and wanted only to be a part of this new peaceful existence; however, some still retained their hatred and despised the humans because they served as a new life or fresh start for the Angels that once were their enemies and killed their families.  In response to this the Creator manifested a legion of humans who were restored of their Angelic abilities in order to serve as guardians over the other humans and protectors against the surviving Angels.  This legion was scattered across the globe waiting for any sign of Angels interfering with the delicate balance that was mankind.  Among the good Angels, those who belonged to the legion were known as the Countless.  These mysterious beings were designed to lie dormant until the very moment an Angel appeared, then would all the knowledge and skills needed be granted upon them until the danger had passed. 

The conversation has gone far enough, this guy is creeping you out now.  You ask why is he telling you this and what is has to do with you.  He begins to go frantic.  He says that you are one of the Countless.  You bridge the gap between Angel and Human and have been granted a gift no other human can fully understand.  You’ve had enough, you start to walk away.  Thank him for the interesting story but you really must be going.  But suddenly his expression turns dark and ominous, and at that exact moment something goes off inside you, a feeling like none you’ve ever felt before.  A feeling so new and amazing that it distracts you from the fact that the man now has his arms around you and is dragging you away to a vehicle you did not see there a moment ago.  Your struggle begins too late, he has you and he places a bag over your head as he throws you into the back of the car.  It is a little dark, the sunlight outside is still too penetrating to not make it through the bag.  Then a piercing pain can be felt in your leg, most likely a needle.  He has injected you with something.  He closes the door and gets into the drivers seat, the sunlight begins to fade.  It’s too early for sunset, no, it’s your consciousness fading.  Before you go out you hear one last thing from him, “Sleep child…sleep into the night.  Let me chase your nightmares away…let me make everything right.”  Now it is dark. 

//End