Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Text Out of Context
Most of us use text messages as a way to communicate with others. Write a very short story that revolves around a misunderstanding that occurs due to this type of communication. You can take this in any direction you'd like (missed sarcasm, misspellings, wrong phone number/person, auto-correct goof). Your story must be a minimum of 500 words. It is due at the end of the week (by the end of Friday's class).
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A funky idea. Not sure if I really like it though. A little rough around the edges and not my best work.
ReplyDeleteThey stared at each other from a distance. Their eyes narrowed in sync, and they drew their blades in unison. As they charged, and the armies behind them roared forwards, they couldn’t help but remember.
Remember the days when they were mere children. When they were growing up together. When they were planning on sharing their futures with one another.
Back then, when their only concern was whether they would like that night’s dinner or not.
As their blades collided, they had tears in their eyes, but they knew that this war was necessary. The invaders had given them no other choice. The armies of Earth must clash, and in the clash, the brothers would fight.
By nightfall, one of them would be dead.
Their blades clashed and clanged, and the brothers’ sweat dripped down their brows as they fought to the death. They wanted to stop fighting. They each wanted to spare the others. But they knew that the moment the bloodshed ended, if they were both still living, all of the men and women on this planet would die. They had been named godly incarnations, and the rites of a sacred ceremony made this fight necessary to the strange beings whom had overtaken our planet. The fighting must continue.
The elder brother felt the blade enter his chest, and he smiled. It was over. His blade fell from his hand and clattered to the ground, and he fell forward.
The fighting on the battlefield ceased, and the younger brother knelt by his brother and cried out, an anguished scream leaving his lips.
In the sky, the strange black spheres that had orbited Earth vanished, one by one. The duty of man had been performed.
The human race had been spared.
But at what cost?
The younger brother stood, dropping his weapon, and walked away, his tears drying and his face hardening.
The invaders had made him a murderer.
He had saved the lives of all of these people, but he felt empty. As if he had not accomplished anything. Totally empty. Numb.
“Sir, what should we do now?” a soldier next to him asked.
Shut up, the brother thought, but remained silent.
“Sir? Orders?”
I said shut up! The brother said nothing and kept walking.
“Sir?”
Enough. He stopped walking, and drew the other sword he had slung around the other side of his waist, and thrust it into the man’s throat. The man’s eyes widened, and the blood began to spill from the wound. He dropped cold, and the brother removed his sword and kept walking. The blood on his sword left a trail behind him. The battlefield was silent as the last remaining men on Earth stared at him, waiting for him to tell them to return home, their thoughts on the loved ones that had not come, and who were certainly worrying about them.
He walked to the top of a large rock that stood at the end of the battlefield and stood to the top.
“Men of Earth, it is time for you to go home!” he shouted. The men cheered loudly, and he continued, retaining his stoic expression. “This Earth owes me a debt now. You forced me to take my brother’s life with my own hand. I singlehandedly saved the world. It is my Earth now. I hereby declare all nations united under one solitary ruler. Me.” The cheers grew louder, and the brother walked off of the stone and walked until he had vanished from sight.
Earth had been saved from destruction by a great enemy. But soon it will learn that its greatest enemy is not an invasion from the outside, but itself.
The conflict may be over, but the end has only begun.
And I don't know why the characters don't have names. I probably should have done that. Oops.
DeleteNah. Makes it a bit more mysterious... O.O
Delete“Ivy, look at it again! Tell me it doesn’t say . . . well, you know what.”
ReplyDeleteIvy let out a sigh, then reached to grab Kennedy’s phone on the floor. She cleared her throat as if preparing to make a presidential speech. Kennedy looked away even though she couldn’t read the phone’s screen from her bedroom floor. “Okay! I’m in love with you! Bye!” she tried to mimic Jared’s deep voice, but it sounded like a croaky moan.
Kennedy felt rolled over on her bedroom floor until she was on my back. “I don’t get it!” she moaned. “Love? I mean, we’re good friends and all, but we’ve never said we love each other—why would he say that—what if—” Kennedy gasped and sat straight up “—what if he likes me?”
“I’m sure you’d love that . . .” Ivy snidely replied, flipping through a fashion magazine.
“No, I wouldn’t—I don’t like him! I didn’t even reply to him! We’re good friends. That’s it—that’s all it’ll ever be.” Kennedy’s cheeks reddened. “Now what am I supposed to do when he comes back from the city tomorrow? We were supposed to hang out. Should I cancel it?”
Ivy flipped her fiery red hair, and it cascaded down the back of Kennedy’s beanbag chair, where she sat nearby. “Kennedy, you’re overreacting. It was probably just a mistake—if anything. Stuff like that happens all the time. I’m sure you’ll figure it out when you guys meet up.”
“So, my roommate is actually insane, Kennedy—you wouldn’t ever believe it! This one night, I was trying to go to sleep, and it was about 2 AM in the morning, and he—”
Kennedy and Jared sat together in an almost empty coffee shop, at the far end of time, catching up, the way they used to in high school. As Jared spoke, she couldn’t even look him in the eyes. She feared that if her brown irises met with his hazel ones, something would stir in his heart, and he might say he l-o-v-e-s her all over again.
“—And I couldn’t believe he got in trouble, either! I mean, yeah, we’re all freshmen I guess, but how could he ever think that doing that was okay? Then, the RA came up to our floor, and he--”
Kennedy swirled the thick straw of her cappuccino until the foam in her beverage dissolved. She felt Jared staring at her, but she couldn’t look up. Was he ogling over her face, falling deeper and deeper in love with her every second? Did he find the way she avoided his stare adorable? He was probably melting in his seat at the opportunity he had just to be there with her. Ugh.
“—Oh, which reminds me, Kennedy. Did you get my text?”
Oh, no. Here it comes.
Kennedy felt her eyes involuntarily finding his. Jared looked at her sincerely, waiting for her to answer. “Yeah . . . what about it?” She clenched her straw as if it would save her for what was to come next.
“What about it?” Jared spat. “What’d you think?”
“Jared,” Kennedy sighed, finally letting go of the dented straw. He looked at her the same way he did before—big-eyed, hopeful, waiting for something to happen like a lost puppy. “The truth is, I don’t get why you sent that. I mean, we’re friends and all, but I really don’t know why you’re in love with me, ‘cause—”
“In love with you?” Jared interrupted. His face flashed a tint of red. “I never sent that. I was just talking about this link to this article about lacrosse—because you know, you’re into that sport and all . . .” His words faded off as he took out his phone and speedily began scrolling through it.
“No, Jared you said it—look!” Kennedy held out her phone, with the words shining brightly:
Okay! I’m in love with you! Bye!
“Oh, I meant to say I miss you,” he said, bashfully looking down.
Kennedy slumped back in her seat. “Oh, okay . . .” she tried, with a smile, “I mean, that makes sense.”
“I do love you, though,” he continued. “Like, more than a friend.”
Kevin stared at his phone. Rachel, was cheating on him? With a guy named Jason? Furious, Kevin threw his phone across the room. It shattered against the wall, but Kevin was too occupied to notice. Jake huh? Going through his mind, Kevin tried to figure out who this ‘Jake’ was. Did he go to school? The name did sound familiar…
ReplyDeleteRipping threw a stack of books on his desk, Kevin lifted up his school year book out of the pile. As he flipped through its pages, Kevin could hear his injured phone ring in a distorted tone. However, he ignored it as he landed on the list of students in his class. Scanning them, Kevin felt a twinge of annoyance when he noticed that there were two Jakes in his class. Both were good looking, so it would be harder to discern which one his girlfriend cheated on him with.
Closing the book, he dashed to his computer and went to his school’s blog. Some of the students who went on were stupid enough to put their addresses down, so he was hoping that at least one of the Jakes were stupid too. Bingo. Grinning darkly, Kevin printed out the address and raced out the door.
Thirty minutes and a near death experience crossing the street later, Kevin stood outside of Jake #1’s house. Kevin knocked on the door sharply. A few minutes later, a burly kid opened the door. Kevin stepped back in surprise. He was bigger than he looked his year book photo! He looked more like a mutant hippo than a person. Jake #1 grunted, “Is there something you need?”
Kevin clenched his fists. Hippo or no hippo, if this guy was seeing Rachel behind his back he was going down. “Who do you think you are?”
Jake the Hippo blinked in surprise at Kevin’s venomous tone. “Excuse me?”
Kevin narrowed his eyes. “Are you the jerk who’s dating Rachel?”
Jake the Hippo held up his hands in defense. “Whoa! Whoa! I don’t know any Rachel dude! I swear!”
Kevin stepped back. Jake the Hippo seemed more like Jake the Chihuahua right now. He was twiddling his thumbs nervously, contradicting his brawny size. “Uh, wrong house,” Kevin muttered quietly. Embarrassed, he quickly ran off the porch and down the street. So, all that was left was Jake #2.
This time, Kevin knew he had the right house. As soon as Jake #2 opened the door, Kevin instantly hated him. He was lean and scrawny, but Jake #2 held an arrogant kind of air. Rudely, Jake #2 demanded, “What do you want?”
Kevin glared at him, “Your hide you…you…girlfriend thief!”
Jake #2’s face was confused, but then recognition filled it. “Oh, you mean Rachel?” Jake #2 smirked. "You can have her; I have no use for useless things.”
Kevin grounded his teeth. A thing. He called his girl a thing. “Why you-!”
Jake #2 laughed. “Behave yourself, or else my dad, who happens to be a lawyer, will be very upset.”
Seeing red, Kevin tried to calm himself down. Arrogant and clever. Jake #2 was good. This was a no win situation. Kevin slowly released his breath. It was over. There was only one way to end this. Sighing, Kevin stalked off the porch. “Whatever.” Jake #2 grinned and went back into his house. Kevin sulked down the sidewalk as he headed home. So, all of this for nothing. Well, at least he now knew that Rachel was cheating on him. Sighing, Kevin rubbed his temples. What a horrid day.
"Hey man, just wanted to say that you left your cat in my room last night, come get it!"
ReplyDeleteIt was a typical, hung over Saturday morning when I received that text. I didn't remember anything from the night before, so anything was possible. Luckily, I woke up in my dorm. My house is only twenty minutes away, so I guess it's possible that my cat was there. I laid where I passed out, on my floor, trying to let my eyes adjust to the light. Gathering my thoughts always seems to be the worst part until I stand up and feel the rush of pain enter my head. Insult to injury was added when I realized I left my phone on the ground and had to repeat that process. I check the text again and in my disorientation, I accidently deleted it. Normally this wouldn't be bad, but I had no idea who sent that text, so my cat Snuggles was lost somewhere in a sleazy New Brunswick dorm. Cats aren't even allowed on campus. Nonetheless, my search began. I started to walk around campus aimlessly, trying to piece together where he could be. I ran into my roommate at grease trucks. I frantically asked where I went last night and what happened with giggles in the background. He laughed and took another bite of his Fat Cat sandwich, ironically. I hurried his chewing and then he responded,
"I have no idea dude. Oh man, you left IT there, didn't you?" Even more anxious, I scurried away. My mom was going to be so mad at me; she loves that cat and is probably freaking out right now. I was close to giving in and calling her at that point, there was nothing else to do. I could've waited for another text, but it would've been too late at that point. Walking around campus would lead me nowhere and I wasn't about to knock on every dorm asking for a cat, that's ridiculous. I took the campus shuttle to the spot closest to my house and walked the rest of the way. As I came closer, my steps slowed, fearing my mother's wrath and retribution. I turned on my street and I was basically at a crawling pace, but I had to do it. My house was in front of my and as I walked up, about to ring the doorbell, Snuggles jumped on the window ledge and looked at me FROM INSIDE. I was completely blown away and even more confused. Questioning my sanity, I turned around and started walking back. I then heard the exhaust of a familiar engine and realized it was mine. My friend and his roommate drove up next to me in MY car.
"What the hell are you two doing?" I asked.
"I texted you saying that you left your car at my dorm, didn't you get it?"