Writing Odd

J

Juliacoolo

Odd (Abstract Poetry):
It strikes me a bit odd that you sway so gracefully in the dark.
That without even a hint of light, your eyes light up the room.
Wasn’t it the fairy tales, where mind could meet matter?
Aren’t you supposed to be merely a dream?
How is it, that I can never wrap my brain around what’s standing here in front of me.
Why can’t I understand what’s right under my nose.
What is it about You that makes you grow a thousand different ways every time I blink?
And how do You keep that soft inner glow shining so bright, from no matter what angle of you I find myself adoring?
Why do you drive me crazy, searching for flaws
Just so I can get my mind off of you
And how can someone, such a criminal, be so innocent
Where are the laws and the rules of stealing
Who says You can take what You please
My heart belongs to me, doesn’t it?
Which is more concrete, possession or rights?
I suppose, I’m the true thief here
For what’s yours is yours, was yours, and always will be
And whether I like to admit it or not, I like it that way
And I suppose the answer to all my questions, is the questions themselves
Because if they were truly for You, why would I be asking myself?



Little Lucy:
The roar of the engine gradually faded as Lucy's parents left for their Supper. A star-like twinkle shined off the back bunker of the car, as it fell into the mouth of nightfall consuming the final minutes of sunset. She stood by the window aside the door, her small hands gripping the middle bar while her finger nails scraped the black screen behind it. Goosebumps subsequently followed the chill down her spine, when the compliance of being alone entered her mind. The child brought her hand to her mouth, and aggresively gnawed at the pink and white polished nails her mother had just recently painted.

Lightning flashed, and the thunder that followed sent Lucy running towards her living room. She climbed onto the couch, closed her eyes, and made herself cozy with the corner of the leather loveseat. Afraid of the dark, and even more so, being home alone, Lucy recalled the comforting message her father gave her right before he and her mother went out...

""Now Lucy, you know that you can reach mommy and daddy any time you need us, right? I promise, this is the Last time we'll leave you here alone."

Her father sighed

"Yes daddy"

"Alright Sweetie, well you have fu-"

"But daddy...wh- what if something happens.."

Martin bit his lip, ran his fingers through his hair, and momentarily closed his eyes.

Lucy's eyes glossed over as her pink berrett came loose, allowing a lock of light brown hair to fall in front of her wimpering, porcelean face. Martin rolled his
eyes, and replied sternly.

"Nothing is going to happen Lucy, you're safe here, and I don't want to here any more about it."

While hurt from her fathers harsh tone, and obvlivious to his sweating forehead and nervous look, she felt safe from her fathers words, and hugged his legs

Loosening her grip on the cushion, Lucy calmed her panicked breath and wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve. As she turned over, lucy saw two objects sitting on the coffee table. Leaning towards it, a pile of shiny silver coins sat neatly on the wood. Next to it, a red post-it note, with "Thanks" written in sloppy, quickly-written handwriting was folded and neatly set beside the 30 or so pieces of silver. Perplexed, Lucy contemplated why her parents would leave such a sum of money lying around.

She once again started quivering as a recent memory boiled in her brain.
"Mommy said she and daddy were going on a really long vacation sometime...I bet this money is for my babysitter" she naively thought to herself.
Much to her delight, a cold, dry limb touched her hand. Finally a bit cheered up, she giggled and smiled.

"Juuudieee! You silly dog, this money is for my baby sitter, not for you!"

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Judas the dog munched on his dog food, as he watched a tall man in a black trench coat finish his job, and take his pay.




Terminator:

A spasm of emotional and physical distress clouded his mind, as the road behind him flew past. Having one last chance to keep his job, stop signs were decor, and the lights associated merely sped up the pace of action. More likely to end the life of an innocent by-passer than be late, Thomas was determined as one can be to finally do something right. After all, he'd surely be fired if he was late another day.

The morning radio buzzed as Thomas swiveled and swerved through the concrete jungle of New York City. While stuck momentarily in traffic, Thomas glanced around the surroundings and met eyes with a young woman of what seemed to be a strong familiarity. Thomas cranked down the window of his blue, 95' Eagle and stretched out his head into the warm April air.

"Afternoon" Thomas said quietly, second guessing himself mid-word over the possible reactions from this woman. 

Her cool green eyes lit up, and with a quick sigh of delight, smiled at Thomas and turned to face him

"Thomas? Is that you? My my it's been a while. What have you been up to?"

Thomas returned a somewhat lesser of a smile, trying to hide the jubilant flow of memories such an encounter brought back.

" Heh - I've been doing uhh.. great, how'bout you Karen? You look just as great as you did back in law school."

"I could not be any better! 'Catching some breakfast and then on my way to work. I just got hired to a new firm and start today! Speaking of which, you wouldn't happen to know where the Cornell Law firm is? Big tall building, blue glass panels? That's all the director told me"

Having had any affection cut to kisses from grandma since his dorming days, Thomas replied quickly in the high of the moment.

"Oh wow, congrats! Kinda, I've been working at a law firm a few blocks from there for quite a while now. Take Brendan St. down towards the pier. Once you've reached the Kmart, take the next right near a tall gas sign. If you see a Swan... Cleaners... you've gone too far"

Thomas quickly flickered his eyes to the passenger seat, and gently slid his janitorial 
uniform onto the floor, and out of sight. He crisped his collar, and subsequently returned his gaze to Karen.

"Thanks! Well it was nice seeing you "Terminator", I guess we'll see each other in court some time, huh?"

They both laughed as Karen’s turn signal turned green, leaving Thomas with a smug little grin on his face.

"Thomas the Terminator" he said out loud slowly, while staring up into space. "Those 
were the days"

Images of his wild college days swam through his conscious. Parties and hangovers, concerts and cheating on tests, an instant satisfaction met his being. It had been years since Thomas felt as good as he did then, having been kicked out of college and juggling jobs ever since.

The traffic subsided as Thomas made his way to Halloway. Despite Halloway 
being one of the richest firms on the East Coast, working there as a custodian was hardly a nice job.


"I guess the fat-cat bosses ate too much of their self-elected Lawyer of the Month cake" he would say while rolling his eyes at the sight of a nasty, clogged up toilet. 

Thomas passed by the employee lot and parked in the Walmart spots just across the street. Last time a hands worker parked in the employee lot, his car got keyed, and spray painted with obscenities by "the kids down the block". Throwing on his work slacks, Thomas got out of his car and walked towards Halloway. A bright light shined in his eyes, and he shaded them with his hand to look up. Above him, the reflective panels of Halloway's exterior directed the morning's sun onto him, casting a luminous blue glow.

His eyes stared at the skyscraper with eyes wide, as his face turned from awed to panicked. 

"Tall building...blue panels. Ah! I gave Karen directions to Halloway, not Cornell!"
Every bit of excitement from the conversation on the road faded, as the problem at hand captivated Thomas' every train of thought. 

"If I go in and keep my job, not only will I have ruined Karen's first day on the job, but when she walks into Halloway looking for Cornell, she'll see me cleaning the floors... But if I don't go in I'll get fired and have to live in the car again"

The stress of all his past failures and the one at hand infuriated Thomas. He threw his work hat on the ground and stomped on it as he walked back towards his car.
"To heck with it all!" he loudly exclaimed, while slamming the car door and driving off.
Thomas slouched in his seat as he sulkily drove around town. Karen would be at Halloway in an hour, and knowing so, Thomas felt his legacy of disappointments stronger than ever. Finally reaching the point of dizziness, the old car stopped at a small coffee shop near the east side of town. He entered the shop, back arched, face drooping, and got in line to spend his last few dollars. Soon behind him stood a young girl. The girl had energetic eyes, and was wearing a cheap-looking white gown with expensive-looking dress shoes in stark contrast. Thomas' eyes then turned to the child’s hand. Accompanied by a thin, paper bracelet around her wrist, a wad of money hung loosely in her grasp. Thomas closed his eyes as his depression evermore encased his mind.

"Kids these days have more money than me. I guess there's just no hope for people like me..."

His eyes popped open as the young, sprightly barista called out to him - "I can help you when you're ready sir!"

"Just give me a cup with a shot of peppermint" he said grumbling, throwing an assortment of coins on the table from his pocket. With a day as such, Thomas could only sit frozen in his own misery. He probably could have stayed there and soaked in dismay for hours, but minutes after he got his drink, a high-pitched squeak rung through the room.

"Eeeeek! Give! Me! My! Drink!" The little girl stomped and pouted as little girls do when they don't get their way.

"I'm sorry sweetie, that man over there had the last shot of peppermint" 

The barista's finger led to Thomas, who's cloudy eyes once again saw the girl with the hospital gown, this time, with fiery eyes matching her long, braided red hair. She pounded her feet against the floor as she came up to Thomas, put her hands on her hips, and gave him the disgusted, pouting face of a girl her age. 

"You're a old ugly bully!" The little Girl kicked Thomas in the shin and ran out the door crying.

Thomas buried his face in his hands, letting the tears flow as his life seemed to be falling from under him in a matter of minutes. He sulked out of the shop, only to be met by an even more appalling scene. Windows broken, tires slashed, his old Eagle had been completely trashed. Painted in bright orange letters read, "Don't show up to work tomorrow", followed by other profanities and derogatory slurs. Thomas had enough. It was all too much. He ran towards the pier without a hint of hesitation.

Meanwhile, a few stores down the coffee shop, the young girl from the shop ran into her mothers arms, and cried on her shoulder.

"A mean man took all the yummy stuff mommy!", the girl whined.

"I told you to stay by me and that we were just getting a few things. You just got back from the hospital Jane, you have to be careful!"

"But mommy, i just wanted some peppermint drink that's all! And the mean man took it all!"

"Jane! You just got diagnosed with high-risk diabetes! You could have died if you would have drunk that. We went over this in the car!"

The mom grasped her child tightly, thanking God that her child avoided death.

Thomas' vision was blurry and shifting from the tears in his eyes and pain in his 
head. He started stumbling from dizziness and fell face-first onto the long, cement 
bridge overlooking the deep Manhattan sea. Crawling his way to the edge, he looked at 
his reflection in the water, and at the scene behind him. Behind him, cars were 
zooming by, a bit fast for it being so early, and seemingly all going one way. 

Thomas' mouth was open and quivering with agony. Blood dripped from his forehead and stung his already swollen eyes. His head hug drooping down from the side of the bridge, for he had not the energy to lift it up. Reaching his arms over as well to wipe the fluid from his eyes, Thomas glanced at his watch, and barely made out the time on the hands of the clock.

9:57, it read. Thoughts of Karen and how he had ruined her first day of work again stabbed Thomas.

"She'll be pulling up to Halloway in a matter of minutes..." 

With a lifetime of misfortune thrust into one unlucky man on his final hours on earth, Thomas, with his last will, pushed his body off the ledge, and plummeted to his death.
The water was disturbingly still, as Thomas' body lay there, aside the bridge. Quite the opposite however, was occurring on the bridge its self. Even more so than the moment ago, cars were flying down the bridge at speeds far above the speed limit. The cause of such chaos? No, not the tragic suicide of an innocent man, rather, a much more interesting catastrophe. 

A few blocks from Halloway Legal, A tall building, once sporting beautiful blue panels known as Cornell law firm was engulfed in a scorching inferno.

There were no survivors
 

Zyflair

Yes, sir. Of course, sir.
Advanced Member
Member
RE: A short story I wrote at 1 AM

"Overly dramatic and cheesy" was one way of describing the story, I suppose. We have a lovely tale about mister Thomas, a train wreck, a mess of human emotions and disasters, a failure. As tragic as you intended to make this story, I could not help but snicker at the scene where Thomas "saved" that child's life. Overall, it was an enjoyable read.

The grammar and spelling, however, is pretty terrible (clearly obvious that you didn't even run this through spellcheck). Being a literary mechanic, it prevented me from enjoying as much as I liked, but no matter. 1 AM inspirations are inspirations and must be read.

Happy Writing,

~Zyflair
 
J

Juliacoolo

RE: A short story I wrote at 1 AM

Did you also catch the second person he saved unintentionally?
 

King Arceus

Aspiring Trainer
Elite Member
Advanced Member
Member
RE: A short story I wrote at 1 AM

JaySee said:
Did you also catch the second person he saved unintentionally?

I didn't; maybe I just missed it. Overall I thought it was a good read, but like Zyflair said, there were some spelling errors.
 
J

Juliacoolo

RE: A short story I wrote at 1 AM

The second person he saved was Karen.

And I'll do a S/G check soon.
 

Zyflair

Yes, sir. Of course, sir.
Advanced Member
Member
RE: A short story I wrote at 1 AM

See, Thomas gave Karen the wrong directions. She wanted to go to Cornell, but ended up going somewhere else. At the same time, Cornell caught on fire that killed everyone inside.
 
J

Juliacoolo

RE: A short story I wrote at 1 AM

Thanks GMD!

Updated with Spellcheck :p
 

arcanine227

Need something interesting...
Member
RE: A short story I wrote at 1 AM

Wow JaySee I thought that was really great. You should wright more!!!
 
J

Juliacoolo

RE: A short story I wrote at 1 AM

Thanks! This isn't really the type of thing you write a sequel for, but if I end up making anything else interesting I'll post it.
 
J

Juliacoolo

Well thanks ^_^ I'm glad you enjoyed these.

I have two other pieces that I'll be adding once "Odd" has some time to be read.
 

HolyMackerel

been here forevs yo
Member
These are nice! I can't really say much about poetry since I'm a novice myself, but I liked your short stories, even if the second one had a darker ending. It was interesting how he ended up saving them on accident.
 
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