Thursday, February 05, 2009

Shadowed Silence

All right-i-o!

I promised something special for today and something special is what you'll get! So, today I have a short story-ish thing that I wish to share with all of you. A few weeks ago, I posted a different story that I wrote for a website called cleanplace.net and this story is from the same place. Bellow you'll find the challenge and then my story. You be the judge as to whether or not you think I followed the guidelines well, or not. I really hope I did!

Who knows, maybe you'll be inspired to write your own creation using the theme of Terror! You never know what wonderfully disastrous stories you can concoct when inspired. I started writing this in Chemistry class (and no I wasn't ignoring my teacher.. entirely! I'm joking!), and it sort of grew into something unexpected, which is good too!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it. It is 50 or so words off of 1000, so understand that it will take a minute or two to get through.

Well, that's it for today! I'll "see" you all again tomorrow! (The picture is cool, is it not?!)

~Books
b-crazy


This month, we are going to focus on feelings--and how we can convey them through showing!
Write a story that conveys the following feeling: Terror
You should NOT use the WORD terror, nor any derivative (i.e. terrorize, terrified, etc). Use actions and word choice to convey the feeling.
All characters should be NEW, and no fanfic. Remember to edit!
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, present day, First Person POV
Word Count: 500-1000

Have fun!

~*~

“Ever have the feeling that you are being watched or that someone is lying in wait for you around the next corner? For those few precious seconds leading up to the corner, your heart races and flutters like a caged bird, screaming danger to all your senses. Then, your steps begin to falter as your fists clench and sweat dots your brow. Your entire being does not want to turn the corner because, by now, you've convinced yourself that someone is there, watching and waiting for you. Crazy, eh? What started out as a simple thought had quickly developed into an uncontrollable fear.

“Anyways, you end up turning the corner and no one is there. No one and no thing. You breathe a huge sigh of relief, wipe the sweat from your brow and then continue on your way, the problem resolved and already edging from your memory.

“I'm sure we've all had similar experiences where our minds play tricks with our senses, placing non-existent objects and beings in our path and making us do a double take. On your way home from school or work or while you walk all alone late at night, that's when fear is supposed to strike, right? Never in the comfort of our own homes, right? So, why..?” I shake my head and pause in my monologue. I can tell I have the class' undivided attention by the way their eyes hungrily follow my every movement as I pace back and forth.

“Let me explain,” I continue. “I never thought that fear could hunt me down and barricade me inside my own home. Those strong walls are meant to protect me from the world's icy grip and yet, instead they turned on my and trapped me inside that cold, cold night. The furniture and objects that comforted me after long and trying days or the food that waited with silent cries to be eaten... how could they ever do me wrong?

“I had nothing to fear and nothing to suspect on that January afternoon as I unlocked my door and hit the four buttons that disabled the alarm. It was all routine and nothing seemed to be out of place and nothing could ruin my happy, light mood. I tossed my shoes and jacket into a pile and then jumped for the couch, performing my perfect twirl and sit as I did so.

“My body bounced gently against the cushions and I reached over for the many TV remotes resting on the side table. After school cartoons are my favourite way to relax after a long day of work and thinking. Without much thought, I settled into a steady stream of cartoons for the next couple of hours. Show after show came up and I drank up the funny and amusing characters along with their weird and outrageous setting.

“Pretty soon, three hours had passed and night had fallen. I glanced up at my clock. Six o'clock. I had another hour or so before my folks came home, maybe more. Pushing myself from the black couch, I stretched my tired muscles. It's trying to lay in one position for hours, you know. I covered my mouth with my left hand as I yawned and reach my right hand out to turn off the television.” I mimed the actions as I spoke, placing myself in the scene and bringing my fellow classmates along with me as I journeyed to my living room. The 'act' was not actually an act for me, but they didn't know that. The memory, barely a week old, flashed vividly in my mind's eye as I reached out and hit the power button, stopping the constant chatter and plunging the room into silence.

“Silence is golden, they say,” I whispered into the still room. My classmates were so silent that I could drop a pin and the sound would have echoed. “Silence is a good thing and something to achieve, they say. Who they are, I don't know, but they are wrong. Silence is a nightmare, a curse and an enemy. The black hand that squeezes you tight and blocks off all escape, is silence. The sound that echoes loudly in your ear and presses down on you are your solitude, is silence. Silence found me and chose that moment to attack.

“With the TV noise off, silence crept in and invaded my soul. My mind began to hear strange noises coming from the bathroom and laundry room. Doors creaked and stairs squeaked as I walked by. Darkness waited patiently at my door for me to... crack and let it in. I couldn't do that though. I had to stay strong and sane. Strong and sane. Strong.. and... sane..? Right? I had to stay sane? Already I couldn't remember what to do with myself and so, I did what any scared person would do. I sat down on the floor, curled in my legs and began to rock back and forth. My eyes darted fervently about, studying everything. Was it my imagination or were the shadows reaching out for me? Their long, tendrils snaked across the floor in my direction. I hugged my legs closer to my body and continued to rock.

“How had my mood taken such a downward turn? I rested a hand to my heart and felt my heart beat quicken in fear. Would this nightmare ever end? Would the darkness ever let way to the light?

“As I sat huddled in fear, all these questions and more crowded my brain and I fell into a fitful sleep, not wishing to wake into the ever pressing silence. The ever pressing shadowed silence...”

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