English 3 - Rami Public Feed
"The Healer"
It would be 11:55 in 41... 42.. 43.. seconds. I couldn’t wait to get out of my Political science class. I loved the hands on work, writing papers, debating and analyzing political documents but the lectures were a killer. As the professor droned on and on I couldn’t help but drift off to sleep. There were violets and blues all around me, and I felt at peace. A feeling I had not felt since I got to Howard University. The dream shifted and before I knew it I was floating above the clouds to a woman with a snake wrapped around her ankle. She had to be about 40 feet tall with kinky brown hair that shielded her eyes. She wore a brown cloak that was torn at the bottom. Her hands were slender and her skin was a rich coco powder brown. It was if she was beckoning me to come closer. It felt as if there was a magnet in the pit of my stomach and she was drawing me to her. The force began to get so strong that it caused me physical pain. I shouted for her to stop but she shook her head sadly and continued to pull me in. Looking into my eyes she opened her mouth as if she were about to speak until suddenly.
“Makenna Jameson!”
I jolted up in my seat as if someone had just prodded me with electric rods. And looked up at my teacher.
“Uhh, hi.. Proffessor Davis. I was just resting my eyes for our big midterm tomorrow”
“As I can see that Ms.Jameson, if you want to pass this class you’ll have to do more then rest your eyes.”
“Yes sir, I understand it will never happen again.”
“I hope so.”
As I collected my things and ran out of the classroom, I kept thinking about my dream. It was a recurring nightmare, I guess but the woman’s face wasn’t scary. It looked as if it pained her to inflict pain on me. Oh, well I didn’t have time to think about dreams, midterms were tomorrow and I needed to catch up on my studying. I carried my shoulder bag and walked back to the dorms. The air was chilly and the On the way there I saw my friend Anita sitting outside.
“Hey Anita, what’re you doing outside? It’s freezing out here.”
“Hey Makenna, and they’re doing some kind of clean sweep of the dorms. There are a ton of people in the buildings with masks on. I hope they finish soon, I need to study and their interfering with my Calculus time.”
“Oh my gosh, I hope they didn’t find anything serious, this is not the time to try and care about our health now. I need to graduate with a 3.5 or I loose my scholarship.”
“Yeah. Hey, do you want to go over to the Labs it’s freezing and they have to keep the temperature high in there or the science geeks freak out.”
“Sure, let’s go.”
We walked over through the campus over to the science buildings. I didn’t know this portion of campus very well, I stayed in the social sciences area. We walked into a building furnished after a Greek temple. We walked in and Anita was right, it was burning hot. I took of my leather jacket and hung it up.
“Makenna, come over here.”
Anita called me into one of the labs and put on one of the lab coats hanging on the coat rack.
“Anita, are you sure we’re allowed to be in here? I think we’ll be in some serious trouble if we screw with anything.”
“Oh relax, I’m in here almost every day. Did you forget I am a genealogy major, I know what I’m doing. I’m working on a project, you can help. I just need a small blood sample. All you have to do is prick your finger and squeeze some of the blood onto the sheet. I’ll put it through the machine and then I’ll be able to retieve some information about your ancestors.”
“That would be really cool, I am adopted but I never thought I would have the money too look up information about anyone related to me. But I do know that my birth mother and father died in a car crash 19 years ago.”
“Cool, so I’ll really be able to dig into some records.”
I pricked my finger with the pin sitting on the counter and squeezed the tip of my finger until blood ran on to the sheet of thin paper. Anita took the sheet and ran it through the scantron machine. I sat down and anticipated the results. I was nervous. Up until now I never really thought about where I came from. Of course, as a child I had dreams that maybe I was a magical princess who would some day rule over Genovia but reality set in and I accepted my adopted family and loved them with all my heart. I thought to myself Makenna, this does not change anything. Your parents love you and you wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world. You’re just finding out where you are from.
“Anita how long will this take. I don’t want to be here all day, you know we have-”
Before I could even finish my sentence an administrator walked in and yelled.
“HEY! What are you doing in here, you can’t use the equipment unathourized. GET OUT!”
We ran out of the lab before he could even get another word in, I grabbed my jacket and bag and we ran back to the dorms. Out of breath and sweaty I almost strangled Anita.
“You said it wouldn’t be a problem! If I get kicked out of school you owe me time and money!!”
“Relax, he was just a transfer intern, they all leave tomorrow. He won’t even know who we are.”
“Better not or we’re going to rumble.”
She laughed heartily.
“Oh, Makenna that’s why I like you, always so conscious.”
“Whatever, I hope they’re little investigation is over because I’m going to my dorm.”
“Okay, see you later.”
I walked into the dorm the floors were covered in broken yellow caution tape. Probably from oblivious college students ripping it down and continuing to their rooms. I took the elevator to my floor, walked down the hall, and unlocked the door to my room.
“Oh my god!”
My room was torn apart, my mattress was flipped on to the floor, all the stuffing spread on to my desk and even in my closet. My clothes were strewn around the room and my laptop was gone. “What the hell happened?” I screamed. I walked in the room looking for anything that I could salvage. Even my toiletries were gone, my hair pins, heck whoever did this took my care package from home. I ran down the steps to Anita’s floor and banged on the door to her room.
“Anita! Open up! Someone ruined my room.”
She opened the door slowly and looked at me with her eyes wide open.
“Makenna, come in. I need to talk to you.”
“Anita, are you okay, what’s going on?”
“I just got a fax from the lab, we need to talk.”
“Talk about what? Anita! Tell me.”
“If I tell you you’re going to have to trust me.”
“I will.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“Makenna, you are Ethiopian from a tribe known as the Oromo people. I screened through your records and your DNA says you are a healer. Oromo mythology says that healers were regarded as one of the highest honors. It also says that the goddess of healing, Dachambe, watched over them through dreams and gave them beyond supernatural powers. Healers could heal anyone wit the palm of their hands. And they had the ability to live forever if they decided to be dedicated.”
“..What? How did you find all of this through one spot of blood?”
“Makena, I have always had my suspicions that you were a healer. I’m not an average student, I am apart of a team who looks for healers throughout the world and protects them. It is my job to protect you from the government.”
I laughed hard.
“Protect me?! Anita, you’re 5’4 and 135 lbs. And you sound like some conspiracy theorists. What does the government want with me?”
“Makenna, don’t doubt my abilities. If I need to I would die for you. And the government wants you so they can kill you. You don’t understand the power the sick have in this world. People will pay millions of dollars so that they can live. Parents spend their life savings on children who get leukemia. Billions of dollars are given to government funded programs to find a cure. But if you can keep a person alive and still sickly they will spend thousands to survive. Your powers take all this money away in the blink of an eye. You are the key to saving the human race and you are also the one girl who can put us in the worst economic crisis this world has ever seen.”
I sat there silent and then there was a knock at the door.
“Makenna... Open up. We want to speak with you.”
Cover Up
Chief Inquisitorial Detective Marrows stood before a line of firemen, all solemnly standing with their arms folded in a way that could easily insinuate anger, distrust, or protest.
“Lieutenant Michaels, I require an answer, “ Detective Marrows stated impatiently. “Now.”
A rather gruff man stepped forward and uneasily glanced around the firehouse for a moment, his pupils constricted as he saw the police squad standing just outside.
“I’m afraid I can’t make that decision without a captain present,” he responded nervously.
“Well, Unfortunately, your captain is dead,” Marrows sneered. “but you already knew that, didn’t you?”
The whole team of firemen shifted posture as the obvious tension in the room rose to the tipping point.
“I don’t appreciate your tone,” Michaels responded. “Chief Detective.”
“Frankly, that doesn’t matter to me.” Marrows stated bluntly. “What matters to me, is the assurance that your squad will report the fire that burned down the CAGT building as an accident.”
“But there is obvious evidence that the fire was ignited by an arsonist,” Michaels said. “you wouldn’t need to be an expert to see that.”
Lieutenant Michaels looked at Detective Marrows with an apprehensive stare. They both knew it wasn’t an accident that a whole team of prominent CAGT protesters perished in the fire. A whole team including the Lieutenant’s mentor, Captain Nichols.
“I don’t care if God himself came down and told the whole city that the fire wasn’t an accident,” Marrows stated impatiently. “it is required that your team reports the fire as such. This is a matter of national security.”
Michaels sneered. “So, protecting national security to you is murdering civilians in order to keep your party members in office?”
The firemen standing behind the lieutenant exchanged glances of discomfort.
Marrows Paused before answering.
“I suggest you watch your tongue, Michaels.” he said. “I would hate to have to dispatch a team of Collectors to retrieve you and your family for processing”
The Chief Detective’s threat resonated throughout the whole firehouse. The line of firemen shifted angrily.
“How dare you threaten my family!” Lieutenant Michaels shouted. “You have no right!”
“Actually,” Marrows responded. “I do.”
A fire ignited in the Lieutenant’s eyes. He lunged for the Chief Detective, his face distorted in anger. A single fat vein protruded from his neck. Alas, his attack was too slow for the detective, who produced a handgun within milliseconds. The previously quiet firehouse echoed with the discharge of Marrow’s retaliation. Blood splattered every surface in front of the detective as Michaels’ corpse fell to the ground with a pathetic thud.
The remaining firemen were scattered across the firehouse floor, streaks of crimson blood stained their yellow uniforms. Before they could regain their composures and attempt to retaliate, squads of police officers and Collectors stormed the firehouse, disarming and retaining all the firemen. They were marched outside and thrown against the steel door of the firehouse. One by one they turned to face their captors, squinting from the intense sunlight.
“Well,” Detective Marrows started. "What are you waiting for? Death by firing squad effective immediately."
The detective disappeared amongst his government personnel. Shortly after, a crescendo of bullets resonated throughout the empty streets surrounding the firehouse."Khai" by Stephen Holts
Prologue
Rain was falling lightly in a mixture of mist and drizzle. Even still, there was enough of it for there to be a white tent hanging over the funeral. Wayman watched the rain collect, and then drop from the edge of the tent to the puddle in the grass next to him. He had stopped listening to the funeral a long time ago and was instead watching the rain.
He watched as the heavier rain drops splashed into the puddle every minute or so, while the mist constantly sank in, sending tiny ripples running all around the puddle. The wind would blow every now and then, allowing mist to kiss Wayman’s face and hands, giving him a chill that ran through his body. Rain was always present at a Sierian funeral.
Wayman wondered if it was in fact the wind rain that gave him chills, or the fact that this was his ninth funeral this year and it was mid February. He stared at the banner with the dead boy’s face on it and sighed as guilt settled in like the mist on the tent.
Wayman settled into his favorite chair in his study. It croaked with age as he settled in, reminding him that he needed to replace it. He smiled. For years he’d been telling himself to replace that chair, but everyday he forgets until he settles into it again at the end of each day.
He felt something underneath him. When he pulled the folded piece of paper out from under him, he instantly began to cry. It was the program from the funeral he had been to the previous weekend. He was so young.
He sucked it up, buried his feelings, and chalked the death up to part of his job.
Keep it together, Wayman. He willed himself. There will be a new one tomorrow.
He was wrong. It was another week until Wayman met Khai. He seemed extremely young; no more than 14. His silence intimidated Wayman. He seemed like a rock, in face and in manner. Never speaking or showing any emotion. He knows why he’s here, Wayman thought.
Wayman sighed. That was just his life.
Wayman’s father was an engineer and to keep Wayman safe, he taught him everything he knew. Engineers are specialties, and specialties are safe from both of the treacherous fields that are forced upon those who aren’t: soldier, or slave.
Wayman’s training was nothing passed the creation of lasers. When his father died, the only thing he inherited was a pack of blue prints. Guns. That was the business. He didn't realize it until after his father died, but now he knew that they weren't engineers innovating new technologies, but simple workers assembling weapons; and his father left Wayman the most dangerous one.
When Wayman had first seen it, he instantly knew that the blue prints were nothing but parts of a weapon that made even the most elaborate war machine look like a water gun. That's why he had me learn lasers. He had thought.
Somehow, Wayman's father had figured out how to turn the very sun into a weapon. Using mirrors and lasers, he managed to capture sunlight, focus it tint a beam, and fire it out of a cannon.His job wasn't much worse than the plans under his floor.
But something happened. Somehow the Sierrians had discovered the plans, and had killed him lab partner to punish Wayman.
Since then, he's been ordered to test the new weapon on humans. With the plans, his father left him front row tickets to ten funerals.
He looked at his new young "partner".
What's your name, boy?
The young boy looked back at Wayman, and in his eyes Wayman saw his entire life in the labor fields. "Khai, sir. Just Khai."
A Beautiful Monster
Day 34. I’m already starting to notice the changes in my self and others. We can’t believe this is happening. We have wings. It’s like we’re angels. But angels know where they came from and who they are. I can’t remember anything after escaping the school and people in white cloaks. I see my little sister Angel playing with Harmony. They are so young and naïve. They just are as confused as we are. Red is getting firewood for the night. He is so strong and is there for us even though we barely know him. The only person I know is my sister. Red and Harmony we found while trying to escape the school. Are there others out there like us? Are they different? Why did they want to experiment on kids? Those questions won’t be answered any time soon. Maybe when we do find them, than they can become apart of our family. Or flock.
Melody’s’ eyes started to flutter as she fell asleep. The next morning the shine was shining brightly over the ocean. She stretched and tried to feel for her sister that always slept with her, even when they were younger. Once she didn’t feel her sisters’ body she jolted up. No one was there. Not Red nor Harmony, not even Angel. The only thing next to her was a note. It said:
I have you sister and the rest of your friends too. If you know what’s good for you and them, you better come home now. Your decision between whether they die or not. Your choice.
With anger, she screamed at the top of her lungs as her wings came out of her back. Slow and steady and white as snowflakes, they picked her up from the ground and she flew back to the school.
Finally she got there within the hour. She realized that they were closer than she thought. But when you’re trying to run, or rather fly, home is always closer than you think. This isn’t home to her. This is prison, where they prick needles in her skin and watch her like a lab rat.
“Melody!”
She heard a scream. It sounded like Angel. She started running as fast as she can, into a battle scene room. Big as a gymnasium with padding, almost like a training center. Suddenly, three men in white cloaks grabbed her. They help her hands behind her back and she had no have of escaping without hurting herself.
“No! Let go of me! Where is Angel? Angel! Harmony! Red!" she started.
“Angel!” she cried out as she saw her little sister being held at gunpoint by a man in all black. She noticed it said FBI on his badge, was he a detective.
Scared and afraid, her wings glided open as white as pigment but smooth as the wind. Her wings flutter, babies eyes when they start to first open. She stares down her enemy showing that she is not afraid.
"Let her go!” she demanded.
"Now why would I do that? She is too precious and we might use her for more experiments and possibly other things. " he replied while a sinister grin spread across his face. “Try to fight them than I’ll kill her just liked I killed your friends.” He says as he points across the room.
She swayed her head to the other side of the room and sees Harmony and Reds’ lifeless body lying on the floor. Blood is oozing out from the gunshots that are placed in their heads. Red’s eyes stare blankly at her almost have if they’re saying why did you have him kill me? She quickly turned away and repeated with anger “Let her go!”
The sinister grin was still on his face and his lips slowly said, “Come. Get. Her.”
Her wings started to swing and sweep in more wind with every push. The look in her eyes was pain and anger that could pierce through any soul. She dove in the crowd of people with white cloaks. Fast moving bullets shot out of the guns trying to shoot her down. But she was determined. Fast and quick she glided over the enemies trying to safely get Angel. But she wasn’t quick enough; the FBI agent pointed his gun in the air and shot her point blank in the stomach. As if in slow motion, she fell to the ground.
“Melody!” her sister screamed and she ran to her sister’s side.
As soon as she got to her sister’s side, the FBI agent shot Angel right in her chest. Her sister watched and screamed out in pain as her sister collapsed to the ground. Melody reached out for her dying sister and pulled her close.
“It hurts.” Angel started to whimper.
“I know it does.” Melody replied. “Just relax and the pain will go away.” She said with tears slowly going down her face. “I love you Angel so much. Now we can be together forever in peace.”
“I love you too.” As she said those four words, Angels’ body went lifeless as her eyes started to close.
The FBI agent looked into Melody’s eyes and she thought This is it. All this and I was going to get killed anyway. I’m sorry Angel I couldn’t save you. He shot her in the head. Once her head dropped to the floor in defeat, he turned around to look at the men in cloak and said, “Next time try using younger kids. They don’t talk back as much and they cooperate. If another experiment tries to escape or leave the school…Get. Rid. Of. Them. By any costs. There is no contemplating. We invested to much money into this avian project. Now clean this up and get back to work.” He looked back at the work that he has done. As he walked away he thought It would be cool to have wings.
"Jangwa" - Winston Wright
Note to Reader:
As of now if you are reading this it probably means I have been inspired by something that will play an imperative role to the main purpose of this piece. It is Monday, January 2nd, 2012, 1:20 AM. I still have not started my pre-calculus benchmark and I am catching a flight to Philadelphia tonight. It has come to my understanding that I should be very grateful for the age of humanity I was brought up in. Sometimes, it is difficult for me to think of my life as interactions between humans (a.k.a humanity). I realized at an earlier aged I didn’t ever want to be in the presence of most of my peers. Being a twelve year old saying you do not like people sounds extremely sick in a humane sense. I now understand that Humanity has evolved from what it used to be. At one point I get tired of the microwave society I have fell accustomed to. I used to think that technology was the evil of all evils but it came to my realization that it is not technology itself, but mankind’s manipulation of technology. We live in an age where we are holding our planet hostage, and waging war among each other in every aspect using the Earth’s womb as a battlefield. As a human being, it is my understanding that my life is no different from anyone else’s. We are all apart of a global/cosmic consciousness. But right now we are not willing to channel humanity’s greatness for the greater good of humanity. I do not want to ramble, but I like to think of Earth right now as a radioactive barren wasteland, once home to a great kingdom. In closing it is up to myself, you, as well as the rest of humanity to restore that great kingdom to its once awesome existence.
To Mother
Sagan
Asimov,
Ad Astra.
Chapter 1
“Heima’s Dream”
Babu
We had skies that allowed the veins of our bodies to run free, opposed to the sky that suffocates us now like a plastic bag over our heads. Our ground was covered in the nerve endings of Terra Madre and as we marched with our companions she responded in a plentiful abundance of life.
Heima
What happened as of now? Why must we live in such an isolated dessert? Was the entire world like this?
Babu
Why of course not my young darling. There were cities of Gold, Platinum, and Silver. Mega metropolises that ruled the highest points of the sky acting as receptors to the beams of sun and moonlight. But we must not speak of the past anymore.
Heima
But why not Babu? I dream of a time where I could see birds flying, the beast racing along the stone, the days of night, when man became alive. I’d give anything to see the things that you saw, to breathe the air you breathed…
Babu
You mustn’t talk about such silly dreams. You will never see nor want to see the things that I witnessed. At the time of my existence, life may have seemed well, but I and everyone around me were only contributing to the downfall of mankind.
Heima
But Babu I want to know of the marvelous things man could achieve. It could have only been better back then… Some say that the end of the world is upon us, but I think we are living in the end of the world. Life doesn’t seem natural. I only know of the same blistering sun, and the redundant seas of sand that go on until the edge of the world. What more can be out there? There has to be something more to life.
The current year is 2035 and contrary to beliefs, the beginning of the end of humanity has not come because of nuclear welfare. Humanity has been in an unstable period of changes as if a pandemic of death has spread across the world. But not death in the way that most of us would think of it, but death in progression of human thought.
Kiume
Oya! Heima, come play some ball with me. We wont have this sun forever.
Heima
What may he mean by that? The sun is the object that makes man suffer for human’s mistreatment upon the heavens. At least according to Nabi…
Kiume
Heima come over and play ball!
Heima
You must be patient little boy. I am too old to be playing ball with you. Don’t you have anything better to do in life?
Kiume
Better? Life? Ball is my life. Now please play.
Heima
All right little boy… But we must not be late for supper, shall Mamai notice we will be in trouble. How can he only have ball, as is life? Do we, the misfortunate descendants of human beings have nothing but finite things such as ball to live for?
The new place of Earth is now called Terra Madre by its inhabitants and by the heretics Jangwa. Many have came to believe that the Earth is now a desolate planet nowhere near the possibility of being apart of the galactic consciousness called the milky way. Not many humans no anything of the realm outside of the planet. Life’s everlasting redundancy has taken a toll on humanity. Because of the early humans of the 21st century pursuit in warfare, the infighting was taken to a cosmic level. The sun is always in the sky, and the oceans have turned to sand. And just for the reader of this journal to know, Jangwa is not referring to the physical state of the world…
-
Nabi
From Uglies to Beautifuls
A world filled with creatures who have eyes, hands, feet- the same characteristics as a human; but are not human beings. They're called Uglies. It's ironic because once they become teenagers, they become Beautifuls. When they are Uglies, they are: ugly, shy, and confused. Once they metamorphasize into Beautifuls, they are: beautiful, friendly, talkitive, energetic, loving, and... gain power. No, not that, “I'm stronger because I'm older” kind of power. They actually gain super powers. Crazy, I know. What's even crazier is that, I fell in love with Greig who was a Beautiful. He didn't tell me he was, not until he propsed. There is a consequence when you marry a Beautiful, you begin to gain super powers. I gained the power of invisibility. I'm telling you a little too much of the endings and not the beginings. So let me tell you how I came to know of Greig and how exactly it is I fell in love with him.
The day I met Greig was quite hilarious. I met him at Shoprite. As I was picking fresh tomatoes at the produce section isle 1, a man came up to me awkwardly,
“You are beautiful, mami!” Damn all spanish speakers. Is it just me that gets annoyed when someone calls me mami, or am I the only one? I would have been polite only if he had not ended it with “mami”.“Who you think you talkin' to, ma?”
“I AM NOT YOUR MOTHER. Now leave me alone.”
“Can't a brother get your number though?” and that is when Greig comes along raising his voice up, “Hey man, she's my girl. Now if you could kidly leave, I'd appreciate it.”
I was in dismay. Who would want me as their girlfriend?, I thought to myself. As I kept trying to figure out if it was one of my friends, I turned around to see who it was. I saw a man in his mid twenties, nice medium cut long hair, aqua blue eyes, and a fit body. I agreed saying in my most convincing voice, “See, this is why I wanted you to leave. My boyfriend John gets pissed off when other guys hit on me.” What a gullible being, the man believed me and simply responded, “Oh, my bad. Have a nice day y'all.”, and left. After he left we both laughed for a good 5 minutes.
“You're a great liar!”
“As are you...uhm- what's your name?”
“Oh right, how could I have forgotten to introduce myself. I'm Greig, and you are?”
“I'm Cataleya. Nice to meet you. Thanks for pretending to be my boyfriend!”
“Oh no problem, I save girls lives, that's what I'm known for.” “Haha, clever of you to say.”
“I try, I try. I need to get going now, I left my dog at the house, I must go and take him out for a walk! May I have your number?” HE JUST ASKED FOR MY NUMBER, MY NUMBER.
“Of course you can have it!” I gave him my number along with a hug.
I knew that it was too good to be true. Who was I kidding, a guy with perfect looks going for me? My friends would always joke about how I would become a nun, and I'm starting to believe I will. In the beginning of December I received a phone call from Greig. “Hey Cataleya!” I didn't recognize his voice. It was about 3 months since I met him. “Mathew, is it you?” I asked confused. “No silly, it is Greig. Do you remember me?”
“Oh. The man who's job is to save girls lives. I do remember!”To not make myself seem desperate I pretended to have plans. “Hmm. Let me check my calendar. Just a second. Perfect, I have nothing planned for tomorrow so, yes I will take your offer. See you tomorrow night!”
“Okay great Cataleya. See you tomorrow night.” Once I hanged up the phone I realized I did not have a dress to wear. Since I was bored anyway, I decided to go to the mall to see if I could buy one. After hours of searching for one, I found the perfect dress. Tick-tock, tick-tock, I was counting down the hours that were left until my date. 3 o'clock, 4 o'clock, 5 o'clock, and it was time to go to Red Lobster. I got there early, I didn't want to make a bad first impression. Dinner was nice. We talked for about 2 hours straight, then ate. And all of a sudden, as he was drinking his Fanta orange soda, he had to leave. He used the same excuse as last time, “I left my dog at the house, I must go and take him out for a walk, sorry!”. After that he called and apologized. I forgave him of course. But after a while, it made me suspicious. I didn't want to ask him if something was wrong so I waited for him to let me know what was happening. Monday morning he called me to ask for us to meet at Municipal Park; he sounded worried. I agreed to meet him at 5 o'clock sharp. He wasn't there on time. I waited for an hour, and as I was getting ready to leave he showed up saying, “Wait, don't leave just yet.” I sat back down on the bench and asked, “Is everything alright?”
“No, not at all.”
“Why, what's wrong?”
“Promise me you will not walk away.”
Three years passed. It was my 28th birthday, 12 o'clock sharp. And I was looking at the moon remembering how sweet and sincere Greig sounded when he said the words “I love you.”. I heard a voice that sounded just like Greig. When I was thinking about him saying “I love you.”, he was behind me whispering “I love you”.
“Holy crap, it IS you!”, I reacted. “Shouldn't you go back to Moonapia before they come and find you?”He got on one knee and said, “Will you marry me Cataleya?” Tears of happiness fell down my cheeks. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, a million times yes!” Jokingly we call ourselves the fantastic 4. We have a daughter Casey who has the power to teleport, a son who is incredibly fast, and as for me-I can become invisible when ever I want to, and Creig has always has the power to read minds.
Medium Coffee, Extra/Extra
The first week of January has just dawned upon us, and I was once again by myself working in my kitchen. Like any other morning, I ordered a cup of coffee from the automatic coffee maker. “Medium extra/extra, on the way!” it replied with a robotic voice, and I began the day's work on the project I was sure would win the science fair. It was an amazing machine that was capable of switching the minds of any two beings into each other's bodies.
As the coffee maker began pouring my coffee into a styrofoam cup, I was nearing the end of the project’s completion. So I went and got the mouse and and the canary, I had previously bought from the pet store, and prepared the machine for its first testing. Once ready, I gazed at the perplex items spinning and whizzing in front of me, holding the coffee I was too excited to drink, and prepared the switching process. To my relief, the machine whirred and hummed into action, my grin stretching from ear to ear.
The machine rumbled, and began to glow a vibrant yellow in front of its targets. The bird, though, startled by the sounds, began to flutter around. The bird flew into the air, flinging itself onto the machine. I watched in horror as the laser-like gun swung towards me. And with a terrible trippy whirl of colors, I felt my body fall to the floor and everything go black.
When I awoke, what I assume to be a few minutes later, I first noticed that I was almost 5 feet shorter. Then to my horror, realized that I also had no arms... nor legs. Then finally it dawned to me, that I was no longer myself... but my automatic coffee maker. Instantly, I knew something horrible happened. But I knew how my object worked, and it could certainly be reversed with the switch of a toggle.
So instantly I began to set up a rescue plan. I began to teach myself how my new body worked. The boiler, the cream and sugar inserter, the speaker and the pouring spout. Through the device's motion-sensing detector which I could use as an eye, I could see my cell phone sitting on the counter. Aiming carefully, I began shooting packets of sugar at it. Obviously, I like to keep a lot of sugar inside, so I was quite in luck. Yet as more and more bounced pathetically off the phone, I began to feel exhausted.
Soaking the packets in cream before launch proved a smarter idea. A soggy packet of sugar finally knocked my phone to the floor, but it had just occurred to me that I had no way to dial someone for help. I had to wait for one of my parents to come home. Surely this couldn’t last for too long.
After hours of misery and guilt gave no progress, I was left with a terrible regret for the day's events. Determined not to give up hope, I began to pour cups of coffee to maintain my entertainment. I fought not only my own freedom, but also still maintained the thought of also winning the science fair. I soon found my sugar and cream dispenser to be empty, and sank again into a deplorable depression.
A large bang shocked me from my unaware slumber. Before me, having fixed himself up from the floor, stood my own body. It looked me with a slight happiness. “I have been upgraded.” it announced in a slightly concerning monotone. The kitchen was silent as I struggled to understand the situation. Then it said, “Would you like some coffee?'”
The idea dawned on me, and I wasted no time in seeing the possibility of this revelation. I told the coffee maker, which was now in control of my body, that I really needed help. It observed me cautiously, then asked if I would like that with extra cream or sugar. Maintaining patience, as difficult as it was at this point, I explained the instruction more detailed. I watched with great anticipation as my body of seventeen jerked its way out of my kitchen. It rounded the corner down the steps, and there was a hopeless crash. It had tripped down the steps. But to my relief, I heard it continue on its way out the door.
Minutes passed... then hours. I entertained myself shooting expresso packet projectiles at the bird. On the morning of the third day, the day of the science fair, I accepted that the coffee maker had failed in its control of my body, and that help was unfortunately not on its way. Grasped by the despair of one who must solve the puzzle of coffee maker suicide, I accepted the situation, and unfortunately my fate.
Driven on by an unrelenting hatred towards my creation, I began expelling the entire amount of water in my boiler. As the floor filled with boiling hot water, the first hints of deadly steam flickered in my mechanisms, I began the acceptance of my coffee-suicide as the water would soon be reaching the counter.
Once the plumber had visited and cleaned my kitchen, I was identified as the fault, unplugged and sent away to a repair shop. The owner there, finding nothing to remove but a faulty speech chip, soon put me up for sale. I only know this because, on being reconnected to the power outlet, I found myself in a shiny, open room, which looked very similar to that of the teachers lounge at my school. Missing my electronic voice, I could only listen to the conversation of the teachers, discussing the odd conduct of their participants in the fair. The end of their discussion stopped at his arrival. I gazed at the door in silent misery, as my body stepped vibrantly into the room, displaying its newly designed poster-board. At the top of the list I could only make out, “Medium coffee, extra/extra.”
"Common Deception"
Water Stream
1/13/12
Nightfall. The night was dark and timid, like one that is
illustrated in the children’s books, when the witch glides across the aphotic
sky. It was silent, not a sound was made. It was 4am. I had just came from the
scorch ring demons that live below. I am defined as a 12 year old boy; living
in Syracuse, New York, with a wealthy mother of two, and a dad who has more
affairs than Bill Clinton, but little do they know. I am not what I perceive to
be. I full not only the world, but also myself, into pretending to be something
far beyond my reach. I lie my way into the human race, I walk amongst them, I
praise their flag, I go to school, I eat and breathe in their presence, but is
that enough?
They’re not like us. The greatest
aspect about the mortal world is that they contain a wondrous gift called,
feelings. We don’t feel, emotions are only a state of mind. Where I’m from,
feelings are forbidden. The boss of our colony believes feelings are a way of
human nature. To eliminate one from feelings, at five years, we remove the
hearts from every child. It’s a horrible dark thing to encounter. You can hear
the scream and anguish from the child to the highest peak of the venomous
forest. The dark clouds hover the world as the scream gets louder, they enjoy
the sound of pain and agony, it’s the blood which keeps them alive. I felt the
pain of the little girl. I felt
the knife as it drove through her hepatic vein, and the pulmonary artery. I
felt the cry, I felt the intrigued sadness, I felt the anger, and the hatred.
Myself. Being me, is not something I
want. I’m a monster. I’m the one your parents say to watch out for, I’m the one
your friends say never to go out with. I’m the one that can fool the world. I’m
the one that can make you drown in your own blood. I’m the one you should never
trust. I’m the one you shall never love.
The Moon. After the human form of me
caressed my body, I sent out for my bed. The only place where safety is a
promise. I crept through the window of my cluttered room. My mortal parents are
asleep. I hear their dreams, their thoughts, and their fears relating to their
long run down days at the office. I hear my brother, crying, and sweating with
terror. I cant read his dreams, his mind is controlled by someone much more
powerful than I. Oh, how scared the poor fella must be. The dream is dangerous,
its a poison, its a defining characterized image of the world I am embarrassed
to say I’m apart of. I decide to leave Tim at his dream if any disturbance,
could kill him instantly. So I slipped on my pajamas, and stared at the moon,
the moon stared back. Its lucent light gleamed where my heart should be, but
wasn’t. The light didn’t hurt. It was soft, and elegant, it touches my body
with such grace, and respect. If only nights like this could last forever, no
pain, no sorrow, no suffering, only the light, and the noise of nightfall.
It’s Saturday. Tim was already awake. I
heard him downstairs talking about the new Forge game coming out today. I also
heard the words “no,” and “you already have 36 games you don’t even play with,”
and my parents characterizing Tim as “Spoiled.” I began to block out the
conversation, and focused on getting dressed. Even though its been two years
I’ve been part of this earth world. I am still not used to the need of a
“shower.” A shower is defined as water particles falling down from a faucet
like object which hovers over a something called a “bath tub,” and while your
in the shower, you use a substance known as soap, which is stuff that
supposedly makes you smell good.
I dried myself. The feeling of dryness
releases the tension on my false coating. As I dressed my body with jeans and a
T-shirt I sat there on the edge of my bed, staring at my frame. I can’t help
but stare. It’s amazing how I can look like this; so beautiful so innocent, so
human, while underneath I look like a sloppy joe.
The Mirror. Mirrors aren’t true, their
lies through a 2 inch piece of glass. Mirrors are expected to define our
existence, by glancing at the reflection of a person that should be but isn’t.
They fool us. We’re not what they want us to be; we’re the exact opposite. I’m
not what the mirror sees, I’m much worse.
My home. I live nowhere. The world
contains nothing. It’s crowded with emptiness, but filled with the sadness of
corrupted souls. The world of Sheferous has no life, no meaning, and no
defiance. It’s made of arousing fires, causing the atmospheres to look sluggy
and gray, killing everything in its path. Volcanoes erupt, oozing out the
deathly substances of lava. The living, do not live hear. The kind and generous
do not live here. The love and the caring do not live here. I live here.
The outer layer of ourselves. We are
feared by many, due to our misleading appearance. We are naked, clothes are
forbidden. Our ears are angled upright, our fingers are clawed, our skin is
pink and wrinkled, like a shaved chi Wawa. I am sent to earth as a spy, my
world wants to destroy and conquer. I pretend to be an orphan, in which my
parents adopted 10 months ago. I have been going back and forth from Sheferous
to earth, feeding my colony the updates, and information about the world that
will soon be theirs.
Who am I? Hello my name is Gretty, I am
a boy who is 4,000 years old, and I was sent to earth to stalk the lives of
billions of people. As a disguise, I wear a body suit, which slowly and
painfully transforms me into a human. Who would’ve guessed it?
The Good Life. I walk in unison with my
family. Holding hands, side by side, buying ice cream, biking along the river,
fishing with my dad, my mother congratulating me on my excellence. Tim and I
jumping, rolling, skating, screaming, doodling, watching, laughing, enjoying,
going, and never stopping. This is
my world. I live here.
Fading into darkness. As night casted
over, I slipped out of bed, getting ready to go to the world that initially
runs through my blood. I went out into the night; blackness was showing its
true colors. I stood in the middle of the street; I closed my eyes and imagined
the fire, the smoke, and the lifeless zone. I opened my eyes when I heard,
deaths scream. I was here, but god knows I didn’t want to be. After living hear
for so long, this world still gives me the creeps. I shivered and shaked in
terror as Henderous (leader of the colony) called my name. His voice was in full command. You
could hear death parting from his lips.
“GRETTY!” Henderous thundered.
“Yes, Sir,” I said, as the words
trembled through my mouth.
“GIVE ME THE REPORT OF THE HUMANS!”
I told him about how they have a
something called “The holidays” coming up in a month, and within the series of
events called the holidays there would be a huge ceremony called “New Years.” I
explained to him that new years is a holiday in which earth celebrates a new
decade. He then decided, he would strike them on that very date, January 1st.
As he spoke of the torturous language of death, I felt my body drop to the
floor. I felt my mind spin from one direction, to the other. I felt my knees weaken.
I felt my teeth chatter. I felt the thought of, a land so precious, and so well
respected, crumble down, and transforming into a world where staying alive is
never a promise.
New Years. Chaos erupted. People;
Burning, running, gliding, yelling, crying, saving, praying, hoping for an end
of the pain, and the sorrows. Buildings; crashing, slamming, jamming, creating
a fog of dust. Fire; flaming, boiling, dancing to the sound of ending lives.
Henderous; roaring, towering, defeating, smashing, creating a world where death
is a sport, not an action. The creatures far and below; biting, fighting,
killing kids, mothers, sons, cousins, grandparents, pets, anything living. ME;
watching, despairing, hurting, standing, nowhere, nothing, empty, souless,
mindless, heartless, this was the end.
The Little Heart-attack - Sci-Fi Story_Tenzin
I sat on my bean bag, frustrated. Why couldn’t I be as smart as my father? With his support, I should be on top of the world like him. He always treats me as though I’m his only child. Every time there’s a major crisis, I have to be with him because he doesn’t want anyone but me with him when he’s trying to solve something big. I guess I’m his inspiration. I wish I had someone as an inspiration... I wish I was my dad. Even though he’s old and annoying sometimes, he’s known as the smartest guy in the world. These days there are so many technologies that work with humans that people are getting lazier and lazier, day by day. Like what Dr. Ngawang once said about the technologies in 21st centuries and I quote, “Someday, technologies will take over the world and life as we know it, will be a lot easier.” I have to agree with the quote because it is true that technologies have definitely taken over the world and life is easier but life is too easy that everyone is getting more and more brainless. It sure is simple with bots doing all the works for us and you don’t have to think because everything is done for you. Researches have shown that there has never been this many obese people in the world. Every single household own a chef-la; she cooks all the meals and since she does all the cooking, there’s no need for anyone to be cooking. My dad has been telling me only 1% of whole population in United States has an IQ of 50 or more and they are encouraged to participate in the “----------”. He is the leader of that group because like I said earlier, he was named the “smartest guy in the world”.
I remember that day... The day my dad was pronounced the smartest guy to be alive. Year 3000, to be exact. Mr. Rondolsky gave a whole speech about my dad and how appreciative he is of him. He started of mentioning my dad and his alien friends from Mars and how he was the one who bonded with the aliens after 5 centuries of the humans thinking aliens are here to destroy our planet. When reality, they were actual nice beings. Even with their vicious, odd looks, dad figured out a way to talk with them through frequencies of sound waves with the little knowledge of physics, he had. Then he started talking about all the popular inventions that my dad had created in his life when he was a young. I could see his envious face even today. I want to see someone, who look up to me. I mean I still have time to shine. I’m only 23 and my dad, well my dad is really old. Now that I’m mentioning his age, he’s turning 76 this weekend!
I’ve planned a special secret birthday ceremony for him. He has no clue I’m planning it. Even though I feel as though he may have notice my behavior a teensy bit strange for the past few weeks because I have been getting home late at night. Though he never bothered to ask why I was coming so late. Every time I came in, he was in his lab with his machine gears working on a new robot called “Gee”. Gee, on the other hand was specially dedicated for his girlfriend, Gina. Gina was a decent woman for him and i accepted her in the family because she wasn’t dumb like the rest and she reminded me a littlle of my mother. It is such a tragic that every decent women that my dad married, ended up dying. My mom died when I was 13 due to a machine malfunction. The worst part is we couldn’t find her body because she was stuck in the time travelling device. Gina died 2 years ago because of my aunt. My aunt, well she’s a robot. She’s a human robot, meaning she looks completely like a human and has human organs except her brain. Her brain is made out of metal with chips. Her head is abnormally large but she is a beautiful creature.
“Gavin! Gavin! Wake Up! Are you okay?” my lovely sister blurred in front of my face.
“Yes..... Yes, I’m awake, Kasia.” I replied with pain in my neck. I had fallen asleep on the bean bag. “How did I end up falling asleep!!” I asked to myself because last time I checked, my sister was watching the television on her bed while I was on the bag, reading. I’ve never fallen asleep reading a book, no matter how boring or annoying it is.
“You looked really tired when you came in.” Kasia replied with a smile. Then it all came to mind. I was really tired last night with all these preparation for my dad’s birthday party this weekend. Wait, it is 2 am. His birthday will be tomorrow. I forgot the day was already over and new day is about to dawn. I remember I wrote a status up on my “Walls Of Faces”, social networking center saying I was organizing a birthday party for my dad. After only a second later, I ended up with 1 million 203 people giving me suggestions. Almost everyone of them were dumb, someone said “Kiss him for me” and then it became a trend of thousands saying “kiss him for me.” It was annoying as hell because my iRobot started acting weird cause of all the notification I was getting at the same time. To be honest, I was pretty jealous of how popular my dad was and how everyone seem to like him. That’s where all these junk popped up in my head, which made my head throb and fall asleep unconsciously.
With the help of Myla and Hollis, we finished all the decorations for tomorrow. Myla was one of the house maid that my dad had made for me and Hollis is my homework helper that I purchased at the mall. I got my speech ready and that included... Dun- dah- tah! my first new invention; a robot that can feel emotions. I’ve worked my butts off for this for 2 entire year while I was in college. Aside from that, today went by so quickly, I didn’t even realize I forgot to eat. I was starving! I begged chef la to make me a chicken noodle soup and some salad. I don’t know why but I wanted to be healthy tonight. The dinner was delish as always so i headed to sleep praying for tomorrow to go well.
“Mr. Gavin! Today is Professor Adonis Forest, bracket my father bracket, birthday.” Myla announced coming with a fresh pair of tan pants and a black tuxedo shirt, near my bed. I realized I have still forgotten to register “Professor Adonis Forest” as my dad on her brain chip instead I put in brackets because I was lazy.
“Thanks Myla! I got it! Leave the clothes on the table. I’m going to take a shower in a second. Tell chef-la to make me a vanilla bean coffee for me this morning. Oops! and don’t forget to wrap that gift for me!” I said with such anticipation, Myla got right to work. My shower lasted for about 5 minutes and I rushed through out the door with my brand new clothing.
At the party, my aunt successfully brought my dad to the ceremony without releasing the secret party. When he came in and heard the loud “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”, he almost collapsed. Everyone hushed while he wheezed; that very moment left everyone skipping a heart beat knowing the consequences of him dying. I had a playback of what would actually happen to me and the whole nation if my dad actually died. There would be no one as smart as him and there won’t be any changes to the whole planet even after million of years after his death. There will be only few smart ones and they’ll take over the world instead of helping each other out like my dad. However, he got up and all I hear is a huge sigh of relief from the crowd. Then I got up to the stage and got ready for the speech.
“I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to come here from all over the world to celebrate my dear father, Adonis Forest’s 76th birthday! I want to thank my two baby robots, Myla & Hollis that has helped me organize this party. Now I would like to share some of my thoughts and wishes for my dad for his upcoming years. When I think of my father, I don’t know how to describe him. He’s the greatest man I will ever know. Now I know that every dad wants to hear their kids say I want to be just like my father and I am going to say it with actual deep feelings because I truly do envy him and when I grow up, I want to be just like you, dad.” I start my speech and I looked up and I can see everyone with an awe spark in their eyes. Then I continue, “ I really can’t imagine anyone as great as you to be my father. I am truly blessed to have you as my dad. You’re the best dad I can ever have.” I look up and I can see my dad tearing up but with a bold face. Then I get ready for the zenith of my speech. “. . . I would like to say that I’m going to be a married man soon.” The whole crowd goes nuts congratulating me starts blowing up champagnes. I skim through the crowd and see my dad in disbelieve as though he’s having some trouble. l reflected, did I just blurted something ridiculous in front of the crowd? instead of saying I’m getting married? The next thing I know, my dad’s on the floor and everyone hushes.
"My People" Sci-Fi Short Story amillatt
The smell of body odor and pungent deodorant consumed the dry forest air. Before thoughts could come to my mind I see her. From the height of this tree, the frail girl resembles Lily. On the tips of my toes, I cautiously move to the edge of the enormous branch, until I can get the perfect view of her. I am wrong. Still about 100 feet off the ground, I gaze at her innocent, sky blue eyes. These eyes seemed to hit the sun at the perfect moment, as if she planned it. Her eyes wandered around, scanning every inch of her surroundings. Her eyes slowly crept up to my location, and I lowered my body until my camouflage jumpsuit was practically conjoined to the branch. This human girl is either maniacal or doesn’t have any sense of direction. If my civilization knew she was in this close of a proximity to our refuge the situation it could mean disaster. I have to save her, she will be killed in seconds if she moves anymore. There are no more than 100 hundred if my kind , that is why we have an electric force field that bubbles around our land, only our blood can pierce the strong current. I pop my head back up and study her shimmering pink dress, why would you wear that hideous creation? She appears harmless, but with the increasing numbers of disappearances of my people I should make a more judicious decision. I pull my body up swiftly and leap downwards barley touching the branchs . A few seconds later my right foot collides with the ground , eye to eye with the now frightened girl. I get a closer look at the features of her face, 11 or 12... my age. Following the sharp pains in my neck, a grin erupts on her face. My vision becomes unclear, the dark brown tree trunk and her straight blonde hair swirl together. I fall to the ground, paralyzed, numb.
“This one is tiny compared to the rest, she will be worth about a thousand. We did it again.”a possible mans voice, fighting back is pointless. A trap is the only thought that I could form.. a trap...
My eye lid swiftly spread apart, the throbbing of my head overpowers my thoughts. I lift my upper body up and lift my hand up to try to comfort my forehead. My hands reach about two inches before they are shocked. A force cuff, is restricting my hand to this icy metal table. I am dressed in a thin hospital gown that stop a little pass my knees. Dejva strikes me, I see the fire. The four story white building was burning and then I turned around to the naked crowd running into the pitch black woods. Then another image of me looking through a greenish fluid that my body is submerged in. I see a human striking a scientist, knocking him down. The scienctist does not move,he just lies stiff in the corner of room. A deep males voice drags me back to reality, our eyes meet and then part just as fast.
“How much fluid will be obtain from this creature, Peter?” He questioned the nervous man beside him, holding a clipboard.
“The creature is a female and the smallest I’ve seen of her kind. She must have been one of the last ones created.” He says in confidence. Peter is correct right that night when it happened was when a considerable duplicates of me were being produced. I am nothing more than an experiment. My kind is designed to hold the cure for cancer, but I am the only one who was perfected. The others only show a glimpse of the actual cure, but are still valuable to the humans. An obnoxious beep interrupts my thoughts.Then Peter rushes to the computer set up on the other side of the room. He takes one look and then yells out.“Sir, we found it” turning towards the older man with a deep voice, confused by the information he rushes next to him. The wrinkles around Sir’s month scrunch together to form a smile.Then walks back to my metal table, fear tightens my every muscle in my body. As if it matters because the force cuffs cover both my feet and hands, trying to move would be painful and useless.
“So your the creature that my boss has been hassling me for and now your here. This should ensure that I am promoted” then turns to Peter “ I want every part of it’s body separated and sent straight to the lab. This cure will bring in millions” Sir said with excitement. “...and save millions of people.” he added on uninterestedly. Instead of being disturbed by the thought of being ripped apart limb by limb, I drifted away. I thought of my human friend Lily , whose parents helped my people escape from the fire. The family is made up of 3 people, one man who teaches my people who to constructed the force field, a women who teaches us and a brown hair girl who I grew up with. Those are the only humans I was supposed to trust and I did. Until they were banished after my people started to disappear, but I was certain it couldn’t have been them. I never got to officially say goodbye to Lily, so that is why I was in the forest. I went up in the tree, for a better view.
“This might hurt a little.” Peter states as he sticks a needle straight into my green vain .
“Why did you destroy our building?” I asked because I was never told about that day, I just have flashbacks. He looked at me with a mixture of shock and confusion. I understand his confusion because my kind aren’t supposed to under any circumstances speak to humans. My people are worried about our location being revealed, so that became a rule. After a few moments he responded.
“I didn’t do anything, religious extremist despised your creation. They said that the whole experiment was funded by the devil. The exact day that the scientist discovered that you were the cure, the extremist had already started to over take the laboratory. They set the whole place on fire by night. Their were going to be thousands just like you, who would have changed lives and science...”He trailed off. The needle had vanish from my arm. He must have lost someone close to cancer. Lily told me that scientist were desperate for a cure because 70 percent of the humans had developed some form of cancer. I can’t help but blame myself for those deaths. Then I remember how they inhumanly experiment on my people, they rip them apart and test pestilent chemicals on them. I sympathize the emotional and physical pain from both side. I stare at Peter as he pulls a white mask over his mouth and picks up one knife from a set of about 10. He cuts a square through my dress over my stomach. Then slowly pierces my thin layer of skin. I look straight at him the whole time, the pain is unbearable after Peter starts trying to cut through tissue. I start to loose conciseness, but I am satisfied. My people will no longer be hunted or brutally tortured. Now my people can thrive as a peaceful civilization and hopefully Lily and her family will return. I wish i would have got that goodbye, then my berating stops. My eye fling open an then darkness, complete darkness...
ENG3-007
- Term
- 2011-12