tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70965884928793158642011-01-20T19:01:58.622-08:00I Was a Teenage BachelorA collection of short stories, poetry, and snippets of an average life.Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-4108522763975185122011-01-20T19:01:00.000-08:002011-01-20T19:01:58.629-08:002011-01-20T19:01:58.629-08:00Short Poem-thing because you all deserve something, I have done nothing for too long.Look!<br />
A cat.<br />
It's my cat.<br />
Look at her purr.<br />
Her name is Molly.<br />
She is shedding her fur.<br />
Getting it on my new shirt.<br />
That dang cat has got no manners.<br />
I'd train it but you can't train a cat.<br />
She's okay the rest of the time.<br />
I'm watching her sleep right now.<br />
That would be creepy, but...<br />
She's only a cat.<br />
And thank goodness,<br />
Cat's don't care.<br />
They don't.<br />
Meow.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-410852276397518512?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-37676946649004256272011-01-06T21:37:00.000-08:002011-01-06T21:37:39.689-08:002011-01-06T21:37:39.689-08:00Anthony- Day 6 Song: Wal-Mart<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xPbHz_pfyTI?fs=1" frameborder="0" height="295" width="480"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-3767694664900425627?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-83835826804249989582011-01-06T21:35:00.001-08:002011-01-06T21:35:02.045-08:002011-01-06T21:35:02.045-08:00River Song<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">River, river, flowing softly, did you turn a bend?<br />
Steady, silent, never violent, look, the rocks you rend.<br />
Can you hear me, little river, singing to you here?<br />
Carving grooves, you always move, and nothing do you fear.<br />
<br />
Flow on, flow on! I’ll sing my song, and you’ll sing yours.<br />
Water, glide gently on your way, leisurely tour.<br />
Don’t mind me, river, I’m just a man, I’m doomed to die.<br />
You’ll never end, flow on, my friend, from sources high.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Covered in ice, shining in white, safe in winter’s arms.<br />
Steady flowing, softly glowing, to you can come no harm.<br />
As in a fable, if I am able, I’ll amble alongside<br />
And if I’m tired, and so inspired, I’ll build a boat to ride.<br />
<br />
Home to many, life aplenty, water crystal clear.<br />
Through the woodlands, your quiet call sends, peace for all to hear.<br />
Don’t forget me, little river, someday I will return.<br />
You have much to teach young souls, and I have much to learn.</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-8383582680424998958?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-45612177297002003812010-11-30T22:51:00.000-08:002010-12-01T21:58:33.155-08:002010-12-01T21:58:33.155-08:00I fucking did it.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wu_F9uz-hZI/TPXv86coDZI/AAAAAAAAACA/ZF06ddIqOnc/s1600/nano_10_winner_240x120-7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Wu_F9uz-hZI/TPXv86coDZI/AAAAAAAAACA/ZF06ddIqOnc/s1600/nano_10_winner_240x120-7.png" /></a></div><a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/table-of-contents.html">Table of Contents</a><br />
<br />
I wrote 50,000 words in a month.<br />
<br />
Here, have a sample of my novel.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Chapter 4: First Night and Second Day</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Ever try to sleep on a solid plank of wood with no pillow, no sheets on top of you or under you, and below-freezing temperatures? (Not to mention a draft and a persistent smell of vomit?) That’s what it was like. Add in that the occupants of the cell next to us (or above us, there wasn’t much of a way to tell) were snoring like bears.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I’m not sure I slept at all that first night. Carson of course had no trouble sleeping, he was on the top bunk above me. At least he wasn’t snoring. I just laid in bed, getting increasingly uncomfortable as I felt the hours slide over me. A cricket started chirping after perhaps 2 hours of this.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I got out of bed (knowing I wasn’t going to be sleeping anyway anytime soon) and looked for the cricket. I found it in the corner, next to the wall. For some reason this wall smelled strongly of urine. I looked a little closer, squinting to see in the dark. And I saw that the wall had been re-plastered not long ago. It showed little to no signs of wear or aging. However, it still smelled like urine and my eyes were starting to hurt from trying to see in the dark. I fumbled my way back into bed. Or lack of bed.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I started, in my sleep-deprived state (I had slept perhaps four hours from the day of the trial until now) to laugh at my joke that I had come up with. My murmuring laughter woke up Carson. “What are you laughing about? You should be asleep.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Lack of bed.” For whatever reason, I found hearing myself say it out loud to be even funnier than the thought. I snorted audibly.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“What the heck are you talking about?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“It’s funny because wood.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“You really need some sleep. So sleep.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I did my best to cooperate. And I stared at the bottom of Carson’s bunk. I could see faint etchings carved into the bottom of it. I couldn’t make them out in the dark though. I closed my eyes again. This time, I almost drifted to sleep before I was awakened by the feeling of cold little feet running up my back. I sprang up in that sort of way people spring up when they look at the clock from bed and see that it’s already 11:00, and the mouse who had been exploring my upper back was flung off and landed somewhere else in the cell with a small squeaking noise. Where it landed, I also heard a small clattering noise. I got up again to see what the clattering was.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I walked over just in time to see the mouse scurry out of the cell. There was just enough light for me to be able to tell that the clattering noise was caused by a small pencil. I picked it up and looked at it closer. It looked like it was about half the length a normal pencil would be, perhaps it was ground down to its current length from over-use. It had a point on it, so it could be written with.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I took the little pencil back to my not-a-bed (I nearly laughed at my joke again, but I restrained myself so I wouldn’t wake up Carson. I wouldn’t want to see him angry) and I started to draw on the wall with it. The combination of not being able to see what I was doing and being heavily sleep-deprived made the result of my drawing hilarious. I continued to draw until what I could see began to swerve in and out of the perceptible reality as though there was a persistent fog everywhere. At that point I laid down and closed my eyes and I’m almost certain I fell asleep, if only for a couple of minutes. Then, a piercing bell rang out, and Carson hopped down from his bed, landing on what I just now noticed were fairly short feet.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">He turned quickly and saw me in bed. “Josh. Get up, quick. They’re doi- Oh damn. What did you do?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“What?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“The wall. You wrote all over the damn wall. What are you thinking?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“I don’t even remember writi-“</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Forget it, it doesn’t matter, we’ll work our way around it. For now, stand up by the bars, they’re doing inspection.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Inspection?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Yeah, they need to make sure none of us are dying or getting sickly-looking. If government workers come in here and see that we’re being maligned, or taken advantage of, the prison could get shut down. We may be criminals but we still have rights.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">We stood up, right next to the bars. The guards didn’t seem to be entering the cells, so my drawings on the wall would more than likely go unnoticed for the time being.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">The guards shined a penlight into, first, our left eyes, and then our right eyes. They looked us up and down for a little while before muttering “pass,” as one of them jotted something down on a clip board. They moved on down the corridor doing the same thing at all of the cells.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Okay. We’re good.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“So what do we do now?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Nothing, man. Absolutely nothing. That’s what people do in jails.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“What time is it?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Who cares? You got some sort of appointment to get to?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“I… No.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Relax. So… what did you write? We can wipe it off the wall after or something.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“I don’t even know. I was wicked tired when I wrote that.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Let me read what it says… Do you remember what you wrote at least?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Uh… no.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“I’m going to read it.” Carson walked over to the wall where I had apparently scrawled a lengthy message. I wasn’t even kidding when I said I didn’t remember writing it.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“ ’I watch the faceless, nameless masses stride before me, in a masked parade, a preordained charade of happiness. Doing only what they are told to do and never acting for themselves. Speaking as a crowd, with nothing to say. They believe, truly, that they are free. Can it be that I am one of them? Or am I truly who I think I am?’ … Dude, this is awesome!”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“I don’t remember any of this. I mean I don’t remember writing any of this.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“It keeps going, should I read more of it?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Yeah, I want to see where I went with that.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Okay, it goes on: ‘I refuse to walk the path set before me, leading from beginning to end, in a near straight line. I go to school, I work, I go to college, I work even more, I get married, I work some more, I have kids, I die. This isn’t what I want my life to be. My life should be this. I am born, I take my first steps, I begin to run, I meet with friends, we talk about our lives, I make the world a better place, I climb mountains, I swim oceans, I fall in love, I write her poetry when we’re happy, and I hold her when we’re sad. I want to make a fork in the road and follow it where I choose. I want to be remembered for destroying the barrier between living and thinking. I want to lift the veil blinding us from our true purposes. We are more than cogs in a system, we are human and we will be heard.’ This is nuts. Were you high or something when you wrote this?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“I’ve never been high.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“There’s even more. Should I keep going?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“I can’t believe I wrote that… Keep going!”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Numb from the flashing lights and blaring horns of the everyday we sit expressionless as the whole of reality flies by us, unable to perceive the subtle nuances of what it is to be alive. We are no better than machines unless we can express our ideas. And I plan to do so. I plan to open the minds of every one of these cogs in the machine the world has become. We’re always doing, acting, working, but does anyone ever take a moment to ask why? I’ve heard stories, I have. Stories about a wonderful past where people were people and machines were machines. There was no confusing the two. People wrote songs and danced in the streets. But as time went by, it all turned a solemn shade of grey as people spent more time listening to the ideas of those proclaimed the great thinkers and less time thinking for themselves. It was all but a matter of time before it boiled down to the point where, for whatever reason, people were content to have old ideas told to them, and respond to them with other old ideas, walking over the same plot of land, never once daring to venture out into the vast world of the imagination.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">‘Like sailing a ship with no wind, we sit below decks, believing ourselves to be moving at great speed, while the blind captain at the wheel thinks the little gust from his desk fan to be the ocean breeze sliding by. This is a ship with no rudders, and no bearing. The guests are content to drink themselves into a stupor with a cocktail of lies, superstition, and stereotype. I think it’s time we sober up, break planks from the deck, and start paddling. The shore of a colorful, artistic society is in view: the glorious past when it was not a crime punishable by death to have one or two things wrong with you, the world where you were given the chance to redeem yourself through good deeds or great talent. I know we can bring it back. The creative force within us is still there. The river of ingenuity still exists, it has simply ceased to flow and has not yet dried up.’ You wrote all this?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Like I’ve been saying, I don’t remember a thing.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“That’s where it ends.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“I guess that’s when I fell asleep or something.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Do you agree with what you wrote, at least?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Well, yeah. I guess that was my subconscious lashing out.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“I just thought of something.” Carson’s eyes lit up like moons as he said this.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“What?” I was made slightly nervous by this, Carson seemed like the type who always had absolutely absurd ideas and schemes.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Well, when we get out, let’s do that.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Do what?” I knew what he was referring to, of course, but I was still half-asleep.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">“Free them. Free everybody from the monotony. You’re right, you know. People are too damn lazy. It’s time they wake up.”</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-4561217729700200381?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-76377649115535031442010-10-27T04:29:00.000-07:002010-10-27T04:29:01.570-07:002010-10-27T04:29:01.570-07:00Steel 2<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/table-of-contents.html">Table of Contents</a><br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/09/steel.html">Prev. Chapter</a><br />
<br />
3 years ago, in a newly-successful chemical lab known as Nuelemen Inc., a vial containing a sedative meant to help restrain prisoners was being carried down the hall to a testing chamber. The hall was brightly lit, and the person carrying the vial down the hall was very cheery: a bob in her stride and a hum in her throat. In fact, there was a thick air of cheeriness at the plant. The company was still small enough that it maintained the feel of a small business, but successful enough that it could afford the luxuries of a larger business. There was a small waterfall in the lobby, to give an example. <br />
The woman, who was a moderately attractive Spanish woman named Rosa, handed her little vial to the short, bespectacled man who was sitting at the work desk in the room she had just walked into. “Thank you, Rosa. Did you manage to work out the protein anomaly that was in the last formula?”<br />
“Yes, just recently. The new formula appears to be stable. No worries!”<br />
“Very good. How about the C-11 compound? How’s that one coming along?” The man fixed her with an expectant, twitchy gaze.<br />
“It still photodegrades too quickly to be useful.”<br />
“Have you tried working with it in the dark?” The man’s gaze narrowed.<br />
“Well, of course we have. But its intended use-“<br />
“You can stop right there, you’ve made your point.” The man settled back in his chair, evidently sated by her response. “Have one of the interns try to work that out. You can start on the new fruit preservative.”<br />
“I’ll start on that right away, Mr. Klatch.” She left promptly, her dislike of the man evident in her eyes, which darted around the room nervously as she spoke to him. The bob eventually found its way back into her step as she made her way back to her own office, and by the time she sat down, she was again humming.<br />
Back in the dimly lit, cramped office, the man with the thick round glasses perched on his nose took out a syringe, and drew some of the contents of the vial into it. The man in the chamber had been on a steady IV drip of a weak tranquilizer for the past couple of hours, and was growing delirious. “Benjamin. How are you doing?”<br />
“I… I’m getting tired. How long did I have to lay here? My arms are getting sore.”<br />
“Wait just a few more minutes, Ben.” The man with the glasses closed the valve feeding the IV drip from the bag into the man’s arm and injected the serum into the man’s bloodstream.<br />
After a few moments, (during which Ben asked “What was in that syringe?”) he suddenly grew very quiet and very still. His eyes slowly slipped shut. <br />
<br />
The patient’s vitals were measured and monitored closely over the next month. He was kept in a comatose state during this time by the tranquilizer. The long-term nature of the test was to determine the long-term effects of the sedative. Three weeks into the testing, the patient’s heart stopped.<br />
The patient was disconnected from the IV and prepped for an autopsy. The body was unstrapped from the gurney, and a time of death was called. The patient’s family was notified. They were surprised to hear about him, he had run away from home years ago and had resorted to becoming a medical guinea pig to survive.<br />
The body was left alone on the autopsy table while the staff at Nuelemen gathered in a meeting room to discuss what had gone wrong.<br />
Meanwhile, the body of the patient, Ben, fell off of the autopsy table and rose to its feet. It began to shuffle toward the door before a surgeon who was hired to carry out the autopsy walked in to the room. The lights in the room were off.<br />
Ben fell to the ground, after tripping on his own feet. “Yes, I’ll be back in a moment, I just forgot the folder in here.”<br />
The surgeon turned on the lights, and saw the corpse lying on the ground. “They can’t even put a body on a table the right way… honestly.” The surgeon stooped down to lift the body back onto the table. (Ben was a small man, about 5’4”. The surgeon was roughly 6’2” and so lifting the body by himself was not a problem.)<br />
While the surgeon carried the body back to the table, the body sunk its jaws into the arm of the surgeon.<br />
“Ow!” The surgeon immediately dropped the body onto the floor. “What the hell?”<br />
The deceased once again rose to its feet. “Hlll muh…” it mumbled. Its voice was a deep rasp cut off by the swollen tongue in its mouth. The surgeon grabbed a needle and loaded it with a powerful tranquilizer from the nearby operating table before plunging it into the neck of the cadaver. He depressed the plunger and stepped back, watching the impossible, tottering figure before him. His breaths were heavy and he began to perspire with mounting anticipation.<br />
The zombie did not fall to the floor as the surgeon expected. The surgeon kicked the zombie away and ran out of the room back to the meeting hall.<br />
“The patient is alive! And he bit me!” yelled the surgeon upon entering. The zombie stumbled after the surgeon into the meeting room. “See? There he is!”<br />
Some of the staff screamed in fear, some of the staff scrambled for the other door of the meeting room, and two of them stayed to try to fight off the body.<br />
“Why is he alive? His heart stopped! He had no pulse for a full 4 hours!” A tall man with a wispy goatee exclaimed.<br />
“Hold him down. I’ll get a pulse to make sure he’s actually alive.” Mr. Klatch stated authoritatively. The surgeon and the man with the goatee complied, and held what was left of Ben against the wall. It bit the man with the goatee on the shoulder.<br />
“Ah! Dammit… I’m bleeding a little!”<br />
“I told you, he bites. Grab his neck so he can’t do that again.”<br />
“Right, I don’t want to get bit again.” The man with the goatee grasped the throat of the corpse and the bespectacled man took a pulse.<br />
“… Something isn’t right.” Klatch said.<br />
“Well, obviously, he came back to life.” The surgeon said.<br />
“No… He didn’t. There is no pulse. I… I think we have a zombie here.”<br />
“An honest to goodness zombie? We should kill it immediately to stop the spread.” The man with the goatee said.<br />
“No… I should kill all three of you right now. It bit both of you and you’re both infected.” Klatch's eyes narrowed as he reached slowly toward his pocket.<br />
“Wait… you’re not going to kill us!” The surgeon said.<br />
“You’re insane!” The goatee-man said.<br />
“No. I’m perfectly sane.” Klatch said. And he took out a hunting knife from his pocket and killed all three of them with a series of stabs to the eyes, neck, and gut.<br />
The bespectacled man washed himself off, being very careful to completely wash off the blood from his hands. He put on a pair of latex gloves and put each of the bodies into large black garbage bags before hauling them, with his pick-up-truck, to the city dump. He returned to Nuelemen, which had become deserted after the rest of the employees fled the scene after watching him murder two of their coworkers. And there, he began to come up with a plan to combat what he knew would one day become a worldwide pandemic.<br />
Eventually, the corpses were found by rats, and nibbled upon. This infected the rats with the virus, but they were not zombified. They became carriers of the virus.<br />
<br />
3 years later, a rat wandered into a water treatment plant and defecated into a water tank. The little pieces of poop stuck to the inside of the pipes that carried the water out of the plant to the nearby city of Detroit. The water, over time, eroded the poop and the particles made their way into the drinking supply of the city. Two weeks after that, a man dropped dead while walking his dog. An hour later, across town, a woman fell to her knees and collapsed while playing tennis with her friend. 30 minutes after that, an elderly couple died in their sleep at the same time as one another.<br />
Over the next several days, over 70% of the population died suddenly. And soon after, they rose again to devour the remaining 30%. Some fought, and some fled. But once all the people who had not been infected were either eaten or evacuated, the horde spread out across the state of Illinois, before reaching into Tennessee, Ohio, and the Carolinas. It was not long before much of the countryside was overrun with zombies. Of course, news reports were fired off, and armies were called in.<br />
The armies didn’t kill all of them, and soon ran out of ammunition before some of them retreated, and others were resupplied. A tactical nuke strike was called on Detroit and several other major metropolitan centers in the area, such as Chicago and Indianapolis. But it was too little, too late.<br />
Before long, the virus reached New York City, where a very prepared city awaited it. Many of the citizens purified their own drinking water to keep from contracting the virus, and some “Zombie Watch Groups” sprung up to defend against any zombies. For 5 years, NYC remained uninfected, against all odds. The subways were patrolled and the bridges were monitored.<br />
But after 5 years, the zombies began to organize, however primitively. They, all at once, from all directions, staged an all-out rush of the city, through the subway tunnels and over the bridges. The zombie watch movement ended up defending the United Nations while they decided what the world was going to do about it. <br />
<br />
During those five years, the zombie infestation spread westward all the way to the Mississippi river, and south all the way to the tip of Florida, where, for a grotesque couple of weeks, Disney World remained open even though much of it was overrun by the infection. A zombified man in a Mickey Mouse costume was seen chasing a young girl. <br />
The rides continued to run, as they were mostly automated. Some thrill-seekers simply wandered around Disney World, killing zombies who happened to be wearing a costume. Finally, it was forced to close when people stopped coming there altogether, due to nearly all major airlines closing.<br />
It also made its way into Canada, where it went north before curving off to the west. Finally, it curved south again, into Montana. By the time NYC was overrun, most of the rest of the continent with the exceptions of Hawaii (Hawaii never got infected with the zombie virus, and a notable group of survivors actually found refuge there about 25 years after the infection first appeared in Detroit), Greenland (Because no one wants to go to Greenland, not even a zombie), and most of the Caribbean islands except for Aruba (A tourist in Aruba spread the infection).<br />
<br />
The UN finally decided after 2 months of discussion that a state of global pandemic must be called. The message was sent out via short-wave radio which was the most reliable method of communication left before the representatives from each country, and the members of the zombie watch, were airlifted to safety at an undisclosed island in the Pacific Ocean. Quarantines were enacted across the globe, in places with and without the infection.<br />
15 years later, the world’s human population was reduced to 1% of what it was originally. 5 years later, that decreased to 0.1%, and this is when our story takes place.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-7637764911553503144?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-78404718557875285322010-10-18T15:37:00.000-07:002010-10-18T15:37:51.905-07:002010-10-18T15:37:51.905-07:00The Russian Sleep Experiment<a href="http://rip747.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/russian-sleep-experiment-the-best-short-story-ive-read/">Sauce.</a><br />
<br />
*Disclaimer: I didn't write this.<br />
<br />
>>The Russian Sleep Experiment Orange Soda 05/28/09(Thu)15:47 No.2052750<br />
<br />
Russian researchers in the late 1940's kept five people awake for fifteen days using an experimental gas based stimulant. They were kept in a sealed environment to carefully monitor their oxygen intake so the gas didn't kill them, since it was toxic in high concentrations. This was before closed circuit cameras so they had only microphones and 5 inch thick glass porthole sized windows into the chamber to monitor them. The chamber was stocked with books, cots to sleep on but no bedding, running water and toilet, and enough dried food to last all five for over a month.<br />
<br />
The test subjects were political prisoners deemed enemies of the state during world war II.<br />
<br />
Everything was fine for the first 5 days, the subjects hardly complained having been promised (falsely) that they would be freed if they submitted to the test and did not sleep for 30 days. Their conversations and activities were monitored and it was noted that they continued to talk about increasingly traumatic incidents in their past, and the general tone of their conversations took on a darker aspect after the 4 day mark.<br />
<br />
After five days they started to complain about the circumstances and events that lead them to where they were and started to demonstrate severe paranoia. They stopped talking to each other and began alternately whispering to the microphones and one way mirrored portholes. Oddly they all seemed to think they could win the trust of the experimenters by turning over their comrades, the other subjects in captivity with them. At first the researchers suspected this was an effect of the gas itself...<br />
<br />
After nine days the first of them started screaming. He ran the length of the chamber repeatedly yelling at the top of his lungs for 3 hours straight, he continued attempting to scream but was only able to produce occasional squeaks. The researchers postulated that he had physically torn his vocal cords. The most surprising thing about this behavior is how the other captives reacted to it... or rather didn't react to it. They continued whispering to the microphones until the second of the captives started to scream. The 2 non screaming captives took the books apart, smeared page after page with their own feces and pasted them calmly over the glass portholes. The screaming promptly stopped.<br />
<br />
So did the whispering to the microphones.<br />
<br />
After 3 more days passed. The researchers checked the microphones hourly to make sure they were working, since they thought it impossible that no sound could be coming with 5 people inside. The oxygen consumption in the chamber indicated that all 5 must still be alive. In fact it was the amount of oxygen 5 people would consume at a very heavy level of strenuous exercise. On the morning of the 14th day the researchers did something they said they would not do to get a reaction from the captives, they used the intercom inside the chamber, hoping to provoke any response from the captives they were afraid were either dead or vegetables.<br />
<br />
They announced: "We are opening the chamber to test the microphones step away from the doors and lie flat on the floor or you will be shot. Compliance will earn one of you your immediate freedom."<br />
<br />
To their surprise they heard a single phrase in a calm voice response: "We no longer want to be freed."<br />
<br />
Debate broke out among the researchers and the military forces funding the research. Unable to provoke any more response using the intercom it was finally decided to open the chamber at midnight on the fifteenth day.<br />
<br />
The chamber was flushed of the stimulant gas and filled with fresh air and immediately voices from the microphones began to object. 3 different voices began begging, as if pleading for the life of loved ones to turn the gas back on. The chamber was opened and soldiers sent in to retrieve the test subjects. They began to scream louder than ever, and so did the soldiers when they saw what was inside. Four of the five subjects were still alive, although no one could rightly call the state that any of them in 'life.'<br />
<br />
The food rations past day 5 had not been so much as touched. There were chunks of meat from the dead test subject's thighs and chest stuffed into the drain in the center of the chamber, blocking the drain and allowing 4 inches of water to accumulate on the floor. Precisely how much of the water on the floor was actually blood was never determined. All four 'surviving' test subjects also had large portions of muscle and skin torn away from their bodies. The destruction of flesh and exposed bone on their finger tips indicated that the wounds were inflicted by hand, not with teeth as the researchers initially thought. Closer examination of the position and angles of the wounds indicated that most if not all of them were self-inflicted.<br />
<br />
The abdominal organs below the ribcage of all four test subjects had been removed. While the heart, lungs and diaphragm remained in place, the skin and most of the muscles attached to the ribs had been ripped off, exposing the lungs through the ribcage. All the blood vessels and organs remained intact, they had just been taken out and laid on the floor, fanning out around the eviscerated but still living bodies of the subjects. The digestive tract of all four could be seen to be working, digesting food. It quickly became apparent that what they were digesting was their own flesh that they had ripped off and eaten over the course of days.<br />
<br />
Most of the soldiers were Russian special operatives at the facility, but still many refused to return to the chamber to remove the test subjects. They continued to scream to be left in the chamber and alternately begged and demanded that the gas be turned back on, lest they fall asleep...<br />
<br />
To everyone's surprise the test subjects put up a fierce fight in the process of being removed from the chamber. One of the Russian soldiers died from having his throat ripped out, another was gravely injured by having his testicles ripped off and an artery in his leg severed by one of the subject's teeth. Another 5 of the soldiers lost their lives if you count ones that committed suicide in the weeks following the incident.<br />
<br />
In the struggle one of the four living subjects had his spleen ruptured and he bled out almost immediately. The medical researchers attempted to sedate him but this proved impossible. He was injected with more than ten times the human dose of a morphine derivative and still fought like a cornered animal, breaking the ribs and arm of one doctor. When heart was seen to beat for a full two minutes after he had bled out to the point there was more air in his vascular system than blood. Even after it stopped he continued to scream and flail for another 3 minutes, struggling attack anyone in reach and just repeating the word "MORE" over and over, weaker and weaker, until he finally fell silent.<br />
<br />
The surviving three test subjects were heavily restrained and moved to a medical facility, the two with intact vocal cords continuously begging for the gas demanding to be kept awake...<br />
<br />
The most injured of the three was taken to the only surgical operating room that the facility had. In the process of preparing the subject to have his organs placed back within his body it was found that he was effectively immune to the sedative they had given him to prepare him for the surgery. He fought furiously against his restraints when the anesthetic gas was brought out to put him under. He managed to tear most of the way through a 4 inch wide leather strap on one wrist, even through the weight of a 200 pound soldier holding that wrist as well. It took only a little more anesthetic than normal to put him under, and the instant his eyelids fluttered and closed, his heart stopped. In the autopsy of the test subject that died on the operating table it was found that his blood had triple the normal level of oxygen. His muscles that were still attached to his skeleton were badly torn and he had broken 9 bones in his struggle to not be subdued. Most of them were from the force his own muscles had exerted on them.<br />
<br />
The second survivor had been the first of the group of five to start screaming. His vocal cords destroyed he was unable to beg or object to surgery, and he only reacted by shaking his head violently in disapproval when the anesthetic gas was brought near him. He shook his head yes when someone suggested, reluctantly, they try the surgery without anesthetic, and did not react for the entire 6 hour procedure of replacing his abdominal organs and attempting to cover them with what remained of his skin. The surgeon presiding stated repeatedly that it should be medically possible for the patient to still be alive. One terrified nurse assisting the surgery stated that she had seen the patients mouth curl into a smile several times, whenever his eyes met hers.<br />
<br />
When the surgery ended the subject looked at the surgeon and began to wheeze loudly, attempting to talk while struggling. Assuming this must be something of drastic importance the surgeon had a pen and pad fetched so the patient could write his message. It was simple "Keep cutting."<br />
<br />
The other two test subjects were given the same surgery, both without anesthetic as well. Although they had to be injected with a paralytic for the duration of the operation. The surgeon found it impossible to perform the operation while the patients laughed continuously. Once paralyzed the subjects could only follow the attending researchers with their eyes. The paralytic cleared their system in an abnormally short period of time and they were soon trying to escape their bonds. The moment they could speak they were again asking for the stimulant gas. The researchers tried asking why they had injured themselves, why they had ripped out their own guts and why they wanted to be given the gas again.<br />
<br />
Only one response was given: "I must remain awake."<br />
<br />
All three subject's restraints were reinforced and they were placed back into the chamber awaiting determination as to what should be done with them. The researchers, facing the wrath of their military 'benefactors' for having failed the stated goals of their project considered euthanizing the surviving subjects. The commanding officer, an ex-KGB instead saw potential, and wanted to see what would happen if they were put back on the gas. The researchers strongly objected, but were overruled.<br />
<br />
In preparation for being sealed in the chamber again the subjects were connected to an EEG monitor and had their restraints padded for long term confinement. To everyone's surprise all three stopped struggling the moment it was let slip that they were going back on the gas. It was obvious that at this point all three were putting up a great struggle to stay awake. One of subjects that could speak was humming loudly and continuously; the mute subject was straining his legs against the leather bonds with all his might, first left, then right, then left again for something to focus on. The remaining subject was holding his head off his pillow and blinking rapidly. Having been the first to be wired for EEG most of the researchers were monitoring his brain waves in surprise. They were normal most of the time but sometimes flat lined inexplicably. It looked as if he were repeatedly suffering brain death, before returning to normal. As they focused on paper scrolling out of the brainwave monitor only one nurse saw his eyes slip shut at the same moment his head hit the pillow. His brainwaves immediately changed to that of deep sleep, then flatlined for the last time as his heart simultaneously stopped.<br />
<br />
The only remaining subject that could speak started screaming to be sealed in now. His brainwaves showed the same flatlines as one who had just died from falling asleep. The commander gave the order to seal the chamber with both subjects inside, as well as 3 researchers. One of the named three immediately drew his gun and shot the commander point blank between the eyes, then turned the gun on the mute subject and blew his brains out as well.<br />
<br />
He pointed his gun at the remaining subject, still restrained to a bed as the remaining members of the medical and research team fled the room. "I won't be locked in here with these things! Not with you!" he screamed at the man strapped to the table. "WHAT ARE YOU?" he demanded. "I must know!"<br />
<br />
The subject smiled.<br />
<br />
"Have you forgotten so easily?" The subject asked. "We are you." "We are the madness that lurks within you all, begging to be free at every moment in your deepest animal mind." "We are what you hide from in your beds every night. We are what you sedate into silence and paralysis when you go to the nocturnal haven where we cannot tread."<br />
<br />
The researcher paused. Then aimed at the subject's heart and fired.<br />
<br />
The EEG flatlined as the subject weakly choked out "so... nearly... free...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-7840471855787528532?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-43786574397796642502010-10-17T18:53:00.000-07:002010-10-17T18:53:56.206-07:002010-10-17T18:53:56.206-07:00A Cardboard Box House Named The House Of Fun<object style="background-image: url("http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/4wVOtZIVmfA/hqdefault.jpg");" height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4wVOtZIVmfA?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4wVOtZIVmfA?fs=1&hl=en_US" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />This is the mother of all cardboard box houses.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-4378657439779664250?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-73723119229497579102010-10-16T14:07:00.000-07:002010-10-16T14:09:54.519-07:002010-10-16T14:09:54.519-07:00Cardboard Box HousesI believe that one is never too old for a good ol' cardboard box house. Comment with your preferred design of box house.<br />
<br />
Mine is in the video.<br />
<br />
<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pb3dxtagR3A?hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pb3dxtagR3A?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
<br />
The last two pictures were taken from inside the box house.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-7372311922949757910?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-24881240822101536922010-10-11T06:42:00.000-07:002010-10-11T06:42:57.585-07:002010-10-11T06:42:57.585-07:00Brain pt. 5<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal;"><a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/table-of-contents.html">Table of Contents</a> </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal;"><a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/brain-pt-4.html">Prev. log</a></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal;"> Log 5: I woke up the next morning in a small, brightly lit room with multiple drains in the floor. Then I heard a loud buzz, much like an alarm, and a small nozzle slid out of the wall. I looked at it for a moment, not sure what to expect. Then, a very tightly compressed stream of water shot out of it, directly at me. I tried to get up and found that my legs were bound to the floor with s set of chains. I held up my hand, deflecting the stream around me.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> This was a very, very high-pressure stream. I have no doubt that if I had allowed it to hit me, it would have cut my flesh with great ease. Then, I heard a small whir from behind me. I turned my head to see another nozzle coming out from the wall. I help up my other hand, and stopped the stream before it exited the nozzle. I continued to hold back the stream until I heard a break, and the nozzle flew off with the force of a large rifle round, which I was just barely able to curve before it hit me. Now the water simply began to flood the room. Note that this whole time I was still holding back the first stream of water. I then applied the technique I used on the second nozzle on the first, and broke off the nozzle in this way. </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> Now that the water was simply flowing into the drain systems, I was able to focus on freeing my legs. I strained with the shackles until my hands began to grow numb. Then I tried freeing my legs with my new abilities. This did not work either, the shackles were too thick and heavy. That’s when I noticed the water was no longer draining, but slowly filling the room. A hole opened in the ceiling. A third nozzle protruded from the wall and fired at me. This time, I redirected the stream so it would hit my shackles. At first it did not seem to be doing anything (and I was becoming alarmed by the rapidly rising water level in the room, which was up past my ankles now) but slowly the metal began to chip and crack, finally giving way. Then, unexpectedly, the stream cut into my leg in the split-second it took me to adjust the stream onto the second shackle. </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> By the time I had freed myself, the water level in the room had reached my chest when sitting down. So I stood up and found that my leg was more severely injured than I had thought. I shifted my weight onto my other leg immediately, and tried to get a better look at the wound. It looked like a messy stab wound, which was very unnerving. This wound was the result of a stream of water hitting my leg for a split second. If my reaction had been much slower, I could have lost my leg easily. I forced open the drains along the floor, allowing the water to spill out. Then I focused on my leg, curious as to whether I could heal wounds with my new abilities. I tried pinching the wound together with one hand while forcing the tissues together with my mind (which hurt immensely) and meshing the skin together with my “free” hand (which also hurt immensely.) The fact that I had no medical experience whatsoever didn’t help.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> What resulted was very ugly-looking but at least it wasn’t bleeding. I got up again and tried putting weight on it, and it still hurt to put weight on it. Effectively, I could not heal a wound with my abilities. At least, not yet. Perhaps I would discover some way to heal myself later on. It was during my thinking this that perhaps ten or twenty nozzles began pointing at me. And they all fired on me in short bursts, out of sync with one another. </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> It was impossible to stop each blast individually, they were much too hard to predict. So I lifted water out of the drain and made a thick dome of water around myself, allowing enough room inside to move around and breathe. For the most part, it worked. It dissipated the impacts rather well. Then I began methodically ripping the nozzles off. Eventually, they were all spouting water at a great rate. The drains remained open but they began to become filled up completely. Eventually the water level began to rise again and this time there was nowhere for the water to go but up. I let the water-shield down and propelled myself upward with a stream of water under my feet through the hole in the ceiling. It was hard to balance on the pillar of water at first but I managed.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> It was dark inside the upward tunnel and it was perhaps 50 feet long. I finally ended up in an absolutely enormous room with no windows and no way in or out except for the way which I had just come in. This is what I thought at first. After a few seconds of observation I found that there was another entrance: a hole near the ceiling about 50 feet above me on the far end of the room, which in addition to being 50 feet tall was 200 feet wide and 400 feet long. The only way I could se myself getting up there was by using the water. So I waited for the water level to begin to rise, knowing full well that it would take a while. When the water was about 6 inches deep, there was a tremendous rumbling, and the walls on either side began to push inward at about 2 mi/h. So I quickly formulated and enacted a plan.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> I pulled as much water as I could through the hole in the floor. Then, I began to run with my hands flying in wide vertical arcs on both sides, bringing the water behind me. By the time I began running, the room had shrunk to being only 100 feet wide. So my run became a sprint, and the water behind me quickly turned into a huge wave. I stopped 50 feet before the end of the room (at this point the room was only 20 feet wide) and let the wave I had created lift me up to the little hole near the ceiling.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> I heard the walls pound together about 4 or 5 seconds after I reached the hole. I walked down the corridor the hole opened into until I reached the door. This time I opened it instead of ripping it away from the wall.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> And inside I found the short man with the glasses and some of his colleagues. “Welcome, Mr. Octavian. Brilliant move creating a wave with the water. Most of our subjects don’t figure that part out.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “What happens to them when they don’t figure it out?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “Oh. We stop the walls of course, and they undergo a reversal surgery and are placed back into society.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “So… When they fail, they get to leave?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “Yes, they get to leave. Without any telekinesis or memory that any of this happened.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “So… do they still get paid?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “No. Why would we do that? They don’t have any memory of us, and therefore they never think to ask us for their payment. We don’t pay for failure because failure doesn’t pay.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “How many of the patients make it as far as I have?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “About 35%.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “How many make it past the first part?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “About half.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “How many patients are there?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “That’s enough questions for today, Mr. Octavian. Back to your room.” </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> I was getting used to this pattern. I pass some sort of test, I see the mysterious man with the glasses, I ask him questions, and when I ask one he doesn’t want to answer, he ends the discussion and gets his attendants to bring me back to my room. They’re keeping secrets. They know something they think I shouldn’t. I don’t like to be ignorant. Here’s one example… Just what WAS in that IV they were running into my arm the first time I woke up?</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-2488124082210153692?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-76476179044864252602010-10-08T22:12:00.000-07:002010-10-11T06:43:46.861-07:002010-10-11T06:43:46.861-07:00Brain pt. 4<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal;"> <a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/table-of-contents.html">Table of Contents</a></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal;"> <a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html">Prev. log</a></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal;"> Log 4: They determined I was mentally healthy with a series of medical examinations, the majority of which were simple questions, such as “Is this card blue, or is it red?” (Being shown a green card) “When you look at this picture, do you feel happy?” (while being shown a picture of a baby laughing) and “Does this disgust you?” (while being shown a picture of a woman with a smashed-in eyeball.) I answered their little questions and was brought back to the room where I first awoke. The steel gurney had been replaced with a cot. The straps were gone, as was the IV. The TV was dusted, plugged in, and showing a gentle sitcom. I noticed that there was a window on the wall behind where the steel gurney had been. I must have been unable to see it earlier with my head restrained. There was a small night table next to the bed with a small velvet pouch on it.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “Please enjoy your stay, Mr. Octavian.” said the attendant who had escorted me back to my room. As he closed the door behind him, I heard a decisive click. I know what you may be thinking. Why didn’t I simply rip this one off the hinges, too? I was not in the mood. That, and there was the fact that this was a solid steel door perhaps 1 foot thick, which likely had a very complex locking mechanism.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">I took this time to explore the room. The first thing I did was turn off the TV. Then I opened the shades that were over the window, and looked out. What I saw defied explanation. But I’m going to go ahead and try to explain it anyway.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> Looking down, I could not see the ground, only a dim blue haze. Straight ahead was another building that looked to be roughly the same as the one I was in. I could not see all the way across very easily, but it looked like there were windows on that building as well. There may have been people in that building, but I couldn’t tell. I looked up to see if there was a top of the building. Then I noticed that the building across the way did not have a bottom. It appeared to be floating. The bottom was maybe 100 feet below where I was. The top was perhaps 300 feet above where I was (assuming that the building across the way was the same height. I had no way of knowing) and held in the air by an absolutely massive blimp. Looking more closely, I could see small airships docking on the bottom of the building, and detaching to float gently downward toward the earth.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">I then checked the pouch on the night table. It was filled with 40 or 50 miniature ping-pong balls. There was a note under it. It read simply, “For your amusement.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> I checked the floor for weaknesses, but there seemed to be a very hard material under the carpet throughout the room. An interesting consequence of my knocking on the floor was that I heard knocking come back up through the floor, perhaps from a fellow surgery patient below me.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">The TV was a very old, tube-type TV. I turned it back on and flipped through the channels. There was the sitcom, and on the next channel there was a nature documentary about koalas, and on the next one there was a looping infomercial. I watched this for a bit, and the following is what I heard.<br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “If you are watching this that means that you are a lucky recipient of the new, experimental, Neural Streamlining Procedure! Please stay tuned for a description for the implications of your surgery.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> It began to play calming piano music as the image switched from one of a bed of flowers to a video of a middle-aged man standing in a contemporary-looking house with comfortable-looking furniture. “Hello, and welcome to SOFPIH, Scientists Opting For Perfection In Humanity.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> The man began walking with a relaxed stride and continued to speak in a relaxed voice. “We here at SOFPIH believe that the human race can and should improve itself. We are above nature, and it’s time we showed it! Using the latest in room-temperature superconducting technology, we have enabled our patients to harness the massive power of telekinesis, among many, many other things! I myself am among these patients.” The man lifted his bangs, showing a very faint scar across his forehead. “We believe that humans today are weak, relying too much on technology to make life easier for them. Becoming slaves to the machines that serve us. We believe that humans can and should take back the power to do great things. To get up and enter the modern world!”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “Among your improvements, in addition to the telekinesis that you have gained, you have also gained a tenfold increase in mental speed, increased articulation when speaking, and confidence. Isn’t progress just beautiful?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> The image switched to that of a woman cooking in the kitchen. “Not only did my surgery increase my confidence, it inspired me to try new things.” A cook-book was floating in front of her, and she was using both hands to crack an egg into a bowl. The piano music was still playing.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “We believe in a better tomorrow. A tomorrow with art.” A video clip of a man painting a very large wall by moving paint-rollers through the air ten or twenty feet above him, painting a serene landscape.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">“A tomorrow with safety.” A video clip of a man being invisibly restrained by a police officer outside of a convenience store.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “A tomorrow with music.” A video clip of a man playing the serene music on a piano partly with his hands, and partly by the keys near the bottom that appeared to be pressed down my an invisible finger.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “A tomorrow with fewer deaths, and more time spent in the home with family.” A soldier stopping bullets in front of him, which cross-faded into a family, including the soldier, enjoying a family meal.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “In conclusion, here at SOFPIH, we are dedicated to making the best people out of the most normal. To give greatness to those who need it most. Already, thousands of people have successfully had the surgery done and have returned to the public. And one day, you will join them. Thank you.” The image faded out, but the piano didn’t.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> And it was soon replaced by a fade-in of a bed of flowers. “If you are watching this then that means you ar-“<br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> I turned off the TV. And I knew immediately that everything that the man was saying was a lie. I could see strings holding up the cook book. I’ve seen pianos that play themselves, they’re quite common. The video of the man painting the wall could very well have been faked, video editing was powerful. And the soldier stopping bullets lacked a scar across his forehead. Propaganda, that’s all this place was. Brainwashing. To break people before they leave. Perhaps to create a slave race of telekinetic laborers. Or to raise an army of super-soldiers.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> I went back to the bed, and fell asleep, thoughts of the very gall of this place buzzing around in my head.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/brain-pt-5.html">Next Log</a> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-7647617904486425260?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-60890855708643842952010-10-08T07:50:00.000-07:002010-10-08T07:50:29.742-07:002010-10-08T07:50:29.742-07:00Sal Jackson 1-3<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/table-of-contents.html">Table of Contents</a></span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/09/sal-jackson-1-2.html">Part Two</a></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Part 3- The plot begins to take on significance. (I Promise.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/09/sal-jackson-1-2.html"></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Writing is significantly harder when you’re two years old and are therefore not supposed to logically be able to write. But then again, most two-year-olds have only been around for two years, and therefore lack the wisdom to want to write, the experience to have things to write about, and the perception to know what things to write about. This is my second time around the course, of course, so I am able to write, however slowly and painfully, my thoughts.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">My second birthday was coming up much faster than I remember my first coming up, and so I began to plan out exactly how I would prevent my grandmother, grandfather, and uncle from boarding the train that killed them. If I could prevent this, I was certain that my life would turn out much better this time. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">I wrote out ideas (kind of) of what exactly to say to them to prevent them from doing so. To say anything that would have any significant effect on them in terms of what they were going to decide (as the advice of a two-year-old must be taken with a grain of salt) would involve explaining my rather unorthodox situation plainly, and would of course, require that what I call my “cover” would be blown.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">But I was prepared for it, if it had to come to that. If it would save three lives, I was prepared to sacrifice knowing exactly what the next 92 years would bring. The way I knew them now, they brought nothing but sadness and loss. I, as you might imagine, didn’t have any problem with giving up that particular future. It was more of a burden off of my shoulders than anything. I was prepared for whatever it brought with it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">I was now able to reach low shelves and take things off of low shelves, and put whatever I was currently holding on a low shelf. I know you take this for granted, but imagine being trapped in the body of a baby for 2 years with your mind as it is right now. There is no worse prison than your own body. But slowly I am regaining the freedoms of motion. Trust me, knowing how to walk and to run and to do anything really won’t help you learn how to do those things any better if you start over. It’s like being trained to fly a jumbo jet with crisp controls and nearly everything automated for you, and then trying to fly a tiny single-engine plane with a wobbly steering wheel with landing gear you lower with a hand-crank. You don’t realize how much of what you do every day is automated, like breathing. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">During my first few weeks I often forgot to breathe. As you might imagine, I didn’t remember how to hold in “by products” either. Also, I forgot to blink and would always wonder why my eyes were always so dry. Of course I can do all of those things NOW, but still, it took two years. Well, almost two years. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Soon, after all of my planning was through, my birthday arrived. Many family members showed up, not nearly as many as had shown up the year before, but enough to call it a party and not a gathering. There was cake, and presents, and finally, almost at the end of the party, my grandparents and uncle arrived at last, and my uncle knocked at the door. My father answered the door, let them in and gave them each a hug. I was opening a present at the time. As I recall, it was a miniature Xylophone. At the sight of them, as I had previously resolved to do, I stood up, walked over to them, and looked them dead in the eye as I said, “Hello. Welcome to the party, I trust you’re having a good time? Enjoying yourselves?” They were struck dumb. I seized the moment and continued. “I know you’re shocked. If a two-year-old started talking to ME like this, I’d be struck dumb too. But I have something to tell you, something very important.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">“… And… what might that be, Torrey?” My Grandfather, who seemed to be taking all this a bit too well, asked me. (Two things… One, my grandfather as I later found out was senile, which may have accounted for his unexplained and frankly unwarranted acceptance of the situation. Two, my name was often shortened to “Torrey.” Only later, in my teens, did people begin to call me Sal.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">“In a couple of weeks, you were planning to board a train.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">“Ah, yes. We were.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">“Do not get on the train. It is going to crash, and everyone on it is going to die. Postpone your trip.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">“… Excuse me?”</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">This is where my REAL plan began. “I am the ghost of the conductor of the train, and I have possessed your grand-son. I traveled back in time to warn you. But the international laws of time travel state that I can only warn one group of people, and I cannot warn myself.” (Of course, this was complete bull. I just needed a cover story so ridiculous that it defied explanation.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">“Um… Eh?” I think my grandfather at this point was at his wit’s end. “Oh… er. Well, then, yes… I believe… Hm. Alright, Torrey. We can postpone our trip if it will save our lives.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">“My time here is finished. I must return to the sand-lords of hell, to which I sold my soul to return here.” (Now, I was just toying with them, I was having too much fun with this.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">“Oh… well… good luck with that, as it was.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">I then, finishing the act, plopped onto the floor, and tried my best to look as though I had begun to cry. My family dismissed it as a freak incident, and never spoke of it again (I think not, at least). </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The party soon ended with a bit of a tense air surrounding the departing guests. My parents remained wary of me for several days following that incident. And two months later, my grandparents and uncle were still alive.</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-6089085570864384295?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-52757508009024086432010-10-07T13:33:00.000-07:002010-10-27T04:31:45.639-07:002010-10-27T04:31:45.639-07:00Table of ContentsPoetry-<br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/09/war-poem.html">War Poem</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Sal Jackson-<br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/09/sal-jackson-prologue.html">Prologue</a><br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/09/sal-jackson-1-1.html">Chapter 1 Part 1</a><br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/09/sal-jackson-1-2.html">Part 2</a><br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/sal-jackson-1-3.html">Part 3</a><br />
<br />
Mud-<br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/09/mud.html">Prologue<br />
</a><br />
<br />
Fog-<br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/09/train.html">Part 1<br />
</a><br />
<br />
Steel-<br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/09/steel.html">Part 1</a><br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/steel-2.html">Part 2</a><br />
<br />
Ocean-<br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/09/ocean-1.html">Part 1</a><br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/09/ocean-2.html">Part 2<br />
</a><br />
<br />
Brain-<br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/brain.html">Log 1</a><br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/brain-pt-2.html">Log 2</a><br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html">Log 3</a><br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/brain-pt-4.html">Log 4</a><br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/brain-pt-5.html">Log 5</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-5275750800902408643?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-18363450856924810072010-10-07T12:45:00.000-07:002010-10-11T06:53:32.190-07:002010-10-11T06:53:32.190-07:00Brain pt. 3<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/table-of-contents.html">Table of Contents</a><a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/brain-pt-2.html"><br />
Part 2<br />
</a><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal;">Log 3: The second I realized that I was being attacked, it was as though time was slowed; in that I could actually see the air bending around the darts as they came at me. I was moving accordingly slowly, but I found the darts, at this speed, quite easier to dodge, akin to dodging a thrown baseball from a hundred feet away. As they continued to fly out of the holes in the walls, I noticed that the rate at which they were coming towards me was increasing, as was the number of holes. I soon realized that there was such a great volume of darts that I wouldn’t be able to dodge them all. Instead, I tried to knock them off course, which was very difficult. Again, like deflecting a thrown baseball with your bare hands.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> And that’s when I noticed that the darts were curving away from my hand before I touched them. I was causing them to curve with my focus alone. Once I realized this, I expanded my focus to include the darts that weren’t heading toward me. I brought them to a stop, and brought them into a large sphere, which I used to shield myself. Once I was sufficiently protected, I continued to make my way across the room. </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> Time returned to normal, and my ears began to ring with the sound of darts clicking against each other as my makeshift shield did its job. This was an interesting side-effect of time slowing down… it was as though someone had flipped a mute switch on reality. And sound I did hear was of very low pitch, so it was barely audible. </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> I found a door, and this time, instead of looking around mindlessly to find a key, I used my power that I felt coursing through my mind to rip it off its hinges with a flick of my finger. The darts immediately stopped flying toward me from the walls seconds after the door hit the ground. I let my dart-shield fall to the floor, which resulted in a satisfying clattering. Before taking another step (which would have been suicide, as the darts were coated with synthesized black widow venom) I waved my hand and all of the darts littering the floor went flying into the wall next to me.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> I, at last, took the opportunity to look into the room I had just opened. I saw the man who had put me under the last time I was awake, along with a number of other medical-looking people. “Ah, you’ve survived the first day of rehab.” The short man with the glasses said. “And not a scratch on you. Good, good, good. Those darts were coated with synthesized black widow venom.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “What kind of rehab IS this? And what did you do to me!?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">“We simply improved you. No cause for anger.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “… Improved me?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">“Well, I’d certainly call the addition of telekinesis to one’s skill-set to be an improvement. You do <i>like</i> your new abilities, correct?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “Well… yes.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">“Good. I can see that you are the first person for whom the surgery has worked so flawlessly. Some of our test subjects descended into madness after realizing how much power they had.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “What happened to them?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">“We had them killed. An angry person with your abilities would be… unstoppable. Law enforcement simply would be no match, and countless people would die without cause.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “What exactly did you do to my brain?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">“We streamlined the connections between the neurons, allowing your brain to generate massive electromagnetic fields. The mathematics behind your abilities are extremely complex, so of course to allow them to be practical, we had to ‘program’ the set of mathematical laws associated with your abilities into your subconscious so your abilities would be useable. Perhaps when we completely perfect the method, we’ll make the telekinetic effect weaker. There’s no practical use for abilities of your strength.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “Yes, I can’t imagine any.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">“So, you feel alright, John? No headaches?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “No, no headaches… And my name is Neligula.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">“What an odd name… Is this your last name?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “No. My last name is Octavian.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">“Neligula Octavian? Okay, that’s a great deal more eccentric than John Smith.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> “Yes, so am I.” I was rapidly regaining my memory. I was remembering why I wandered into this shady clinic in the first place. I had been disowned by all of my closest friends after I slit that man’s throat and tried asking them for help disposing of the body. None of them would help, so I burned the body, and after I learned from the last friend that stayed true to me that the police were after me, I ditched my car and my job. And I wandered the streets for weeks before coming across the flyer on the side of the Dumpster. It changed my life, of course.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> I wandered in, hoping to score some money with which to begin building a new identity. They didn’t ask any questions save, “Are you ready to begin a new life?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">Of course I said yes. And then they brought me into the room in the back. And that’s when my memory ended.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"> I couldn’t let them know of my past. I was sure even then that there was more dirt in my past than I remembered. Even the name had been made up. I still didn’t actually remember my name. I know that if they found out what kind of man I am, they would try to take these powers back.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">And I wouldn’t have any of that… I <i>liked</i> these powers.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/brain-pt-4.html">Next Log </a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-1836345085692481007?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-52660650904369661402010-10-06T20:42:00.000-07:002010-10-07T13:35:58.160-07:002010-10-07T13:35:58.160-07:00Brain pt. 2<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/table-of-contents.html">Table of Contents</a><a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/brain.html"><br />
Part One</a><br />
Log 2: I awoke in a room with no windows and no doors, with nothing in the room but a puddle of oil. I would only see it because of the light that was firmly bolted to the ceiling. I called out several times. There was no answer but my own echo. It was cold. I was hungry. But I was curious. So I began to explore my little jail cell, and found nothing in it but the puddle of oil.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"> However, I did find one interesting feature of my prison. There was a little vial near the puddle of oil, which looked like it was connected to some intricate mechanism. I tried to touch the vial, but my finger was too wide for the little hole it was set in. It looked like it was meant to hold a liquid of some sort. So I spat into it. And nothing happened. In fact, the saliva appeared to pass through the bottom of the little vial as though it were not there.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"> So I looked back to the oil puddle, which was the only other thing in the room, other than the light, which was far above my reach. So I walked back to the oil puddle, and an idea began to form in my head. Was this some sort of puzzle? Maybe the oil was supposed to go into the little vial.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"> I then tried to scoop the oil into my hands and carry it to the vial. It didn’t work, the oil found its way through the tiniest gaps between my hands. Then I tried pushing it along the floor, but found that that wouldn’t work either, as the oil was resting in a wide depression in the floor and simply flowed around my hands back to its original position.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"> But I didn’t give up because I was desperate and I couldn’t think of anything else to do. So I pushed at it again, focusing very hard. This time, it actually made it out of the little dip. I was surprised by this, and that’s when I saw something that made me realize my life had been drastically altered by whatever operation it was that took place under my head.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"> The oil was over the edge of both of my hands, but it was moving as though there were an invisible wall pushing it. I was so shocked by this that I lost my concentration and the oil went back to being a puddle. Some of it sloshed back into the depression. I caught my breath, and tried again, this time putting more focus through my mind. Slowly but surely the oil began to slide out of the depression. I then cupped by hands and found that with this newfound power, I could hold the oil as though my hands were a seamless container. I walked over to the little vial and poured the oil from my hands. It settled into the vial and didn’t pass through the bottom. Then, a small spark leapt across the top of the vial, causing a little bang, which resulted in a series of whirs and clicks inside the wall, ending in a panel falling off of the wall, opening a lit chamber wide enough for me to crawl through.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"> I entered it and found myself blocked about 10 feet into the crawlspace by a transparent acrylic pane. Yes, I discovered it by ramming my face into it. On the other side of the pane there was a little ball, and a slot large enough for the ball to roll into. Remembering what had just happened in the previous room, I tried focusing on the ball, while running my hand over the pane close to it. Sure enough, after a few minutes of intense focus, the ball moved into the little hole, and after a few little humming noises, the pane slid upward into the wall of the chamber and I was able to crawl through the rest of it.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"> It ended abruptly and I found myself on the floor of a large room. More specifically, I found myself inside of a locked, barred, wooden cell in the corner of a large room. The key was just outside of my reach, on the floor outside of the cell. I strained and reached for it before a strange realization struck me. These were a series of tests. Specifically, a series of tests designed to affirm that the surgery had gone well. Having gained a noticeable boost of confidence from realizing this, I pointed at the key and, using purely my new-found abilities, slid the key toward me across the floor, until it hit the bottom of the set of bars locking the cell. I bent down, picked it up, and unlocked the bars.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"> I stepped out into the large room, and that’s when the darts started flying towards me from the walls.<br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html">Part Three</a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-5266065090436966140?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-10042513422193493982010-10-04T04:34:00.000-07:002010-10-04T04:34:52.275-07:002010-10-04T04:34:52.275-07:00NaNoWriMoThis is a month-long thing. When you write a 50,000 word novel in a month. The longest thing I've ever written so far was only 10,000 words, and it took me a year. So I'll be uploading parts of my story (We're not allowed to start writing until November, but I'm excited as piss.) about twice a week over the month. I want you all to do me a favor. Just COMPLETELY lose all respect for me as a writer if I don't finish this. I need motivation in the form of fear of humiliation.<br />
The tentative title is "A Stroll." Will keep you posted.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-1004251342219349398?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-29435550737904813012010-10-02T10:31:00.000-07:002010-10-02T10:31:23.921-07:002010-10-02T10:31:23.921-07:00Walk With My Dog.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wu_F9uz-hZI/TKdkVUoHxaI/AAAAAAAAAB8/HwODJH7JHgg/s1600/SANY0089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wu_F9uz-hZI/TKdkVUoHxaI/AAAAAAAAAB8/HwODJH7JHgg/s320/SANY0089.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>It's a fucking beautiful day, so I took my dog for a walk.<br />
We went into the woods behind my old highschool and explored them for a bit.<br />
Long story short, she fucking bit off the head of a chipmunk.<br />
Pic related: It's my dog.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-2943555073790481301?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-5681064326568955382010-10-01T18:13:00.000-07:002010-10-07T13:49:06.659-07:002010-10-07T13:49:06.659-07:00Brain<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/table-of-contents.html">Table of Contents</a><br />
<br />
Log 1: I woke up in a hospital bed. My head hurt, I reached up to feel it and found that my head had been shaved. I ran my hand down from the top of my head and it crossed a line of stitches. I began to panic, and that's when five or six men in white coats rushed in, restrained me, and then one of them injected me with what I am guessing was a tranquilizer. It was slow to affect me, but when it did, I went under very quickly.<br />
<br />
<br />
I awoke again (this is pure guesswork, there were no windows, no clocks, and therefore no way to tell time) perhaps a few days later, feeling very famished. I felt my head again. The stitches were removed and a thin stubble covered my head. There was a definite thin scar across my forehead where the stitches had been, and it felt like there was a bump in my skull under the stitches. I decided to try my luck and call out for a glass of water. "Hello! Is anyone out there?"<br />
<br />
A voice responded, "Stay there, just a moment."<br />
<br />
I complied, fearing that if I did not, bad things were sure to happen, specifically a return of the tranquilizer. I checked my surroundings. There were, as I have mentioned, no windows, and one door. I was strapped to a steel gurney with a thin mat between me and the cold steel. I had an IV attached to my arm. I couldn't turn my head far enough to see what was in the bag it was feeding from. There was a TV in the corner of the room, but is looked as though it hadn't been used in years.<br />
<br />
"Alright, Mr. Smith. You called?"<br />
<br />
"My name isn't Mr.Smith..."<br />
<br />
"Really? What is it?"<br />
<br />
"Uh... Damn. I know it wasn't Mr. Smith."<br />
<br />
"Well, what was it? I'm listening."<br />
<br />
It was like something was deliberately clouding my brain. "Uh... I... Call me... John?"<br />
<br />
"Okay, your name is Mr. John Smith?" I realized that I was playing into his hands perfectly. But my mind was too fouled up to do anything about it. So I cooperated.<br />
<br />
"May I have a glass of water?"<br />
<br />
"Yes. Stay here, while I get it."<br />
<br />
The man left quickly. He was short, stout, and bespectacled. He had no hair on the top of his head, just on the sides of it, and he walked with a cane. It seemed as though he only used the cane because he liked it, not out of necessity. He returned a little under a minute later carrying the glass of water. He carefully unstrapped one of my hands and I grabbed the glass of water and began to drink furiously.<br />
<br />
"I should take this time to tell you that the operation has been confirmed as a success. The memory loss you are currently experiencing should wear off in a few days, at which point we will give you the allotted sum promised by the contract you signed prior to the surgery."<br />
<br />
"... What operation? The one in my head?"<br />
<br />
"Yes, that one precisely. It has been confirmed as a success by EEG scans of your brain waves, particularly the theta waves. Activity in those regions has increased by a thousandfold."<br />
<br />
"What does that mean?"<br />
<br />
"The implications of the surgery will be explained to you in a few days, as part of the recovery and rehabilitation process."<br />
<br />
"... Oh. What's in this IV?"<br />
<br />
"Mr. Smith, I think it's best you go back to sleep." He said before, blindingly quickly I might add, he injected a heavy dose of the tranquilizer into my arm. The last sound I heard was the glass shattering on the floor next to the gurney.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/brain-pt-2.html">Part Two</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-568106432656895538?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-56131401911030731222010-09-30T10:17:00.000-07:002010-09-30T10:17:50.477-07:002010-09-30T10:17:50.477-07:00Joe vs Kühlschrankhey fridge hiking man<br />you keep carrying that fridge<br />you fucking badass<br /><br /><object style="background-image: url("http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/PLLyZf0f83I/hqdefault.jpg");" height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PLLyZf0f83I?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PLLyZf0f83I?fs=1&hl=en_US" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-5613140191103073122?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-67492798913058814472010-09-29T19:13:00.000-07:002010-09-29T19:13:58.532-07:002010-09-29T19:13:58.532-07:00Watch this while I work on my next story.<object style="background-image: url("http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/8uywXDhdRQM/hqdefault.jpg");" height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8uywXDhdRQM?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8uywXDhdRQM?fs=1&hl=en_US" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-6749279891305881447?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-54039448096661105572010-09-27T13:48:00.000-07:002010-09-27T13:48:35.222-07:002010-09-27T13:48:35.222-07:00My attempt at a rap...<a href="http://vocaroo.com/?media=vmKZ07VnTQMmKEaNJ">Click this</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-5403944809666110557?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-11897083479749072532010-09-24T09:28:00.000-07:002010-10-08T08:26:56.810-07:002010-10-08T08:26:56.810-07:00Sal Jackson 1-2<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/table-of-contents.html">Table of Contents</a><br />
<br />
WAIT! Read <a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/09/sal-jackson-1-1.html">this</a> first.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"> I soon learned that it was indeed backwards in time. When I woke up, several days after that, I saw a calendar. It read: July 27, 1950. 7 months later, I said my first words. “I missed you.” My parents were baffled. I then realized the enormity of what I had just done, and attempted to recover by following it with, “ahmissoo” to try to disguise what I had just said as idle gibberish. Two weeks after that I said dada, to try to disguise my development as normal. As far as I could tell, they bought it. If I altered the course of history too much, the situations that I dreamed of running into so I would be able to handle them with the wisdom I now possessed would never happen. There were some situations I knew I would be able to prevent, that may render almost all of the others irrelevant. For that time, I set my sights on the relatively near future, my second birthday, when I would try to prevent the deaths of my grandparents and my uncle, which I imagined would have an overwhelmingly positive effect on my father and perhaps my entire second childhood.</span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">2 months after that, I started to walk. You may not understand the immense joy this brought me. I walked without my old limp. There was no pain in my leg. Granted I couldn’t see over windowsills, and mostly, I couldn’t do much with my reduced stature, but I could <i>move</i>. This was as new an experience to me as it would have been if I was any other normal baby.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">My first birthday was eventful, as I saw faces I never remembered seeing the first time around. An uncle I never saw again, and my grandmother, who wasn’t able to make it to my 2<sup>nd</sup> birthday for whatever reason before being killed in the train crash. Until that moment, I was almost certain that I never met her. Maybe I didn’t. I’ll never know, but all I remember is that for a few seconds, she held me as one would hold a baby while my uncle took a picture. She then as soon as the flash went off put me back down and resumed smoking her cigarette. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">There really isn’t much that’s significant about a first birthday. The guest of honor is too young to appreciate all the attention, and most of the guests who have brought presents don’t realize that most likely the baby will never remember receiving them. Most of these presents are returned or more often thrown out in the weeks following the birthday. I got a rattle from an aunt (which never saw use), a stroller from the uncle (my parents already had a much nicer stroller, so they sold the uncle’s at their next tag sale), I got some war bonds from my grandfather on my mother’s side (what use those might be to a baby, I’ll never understand, as I never did go to college), and my grandmother, again on the mother’s side, gave me a hand-knit set of pajamas. (I never wore them as they were very itchy.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">I thanked everyone for the gifts, by yelling, “tankoo.” (Of course, I could have given a full-blown acceptance speech if I wanted to, but it would’ve done more harm than good. I hadn’t blown my “cover” yet and didn’t plan on it.) Another baby from down the street was in attendance; this one was a newborn and of course stole some of the spotlight. That’s not to say I cared all that much. I was just thinking about what I could do differently. That first year was mind-numbingly boring. If you’ve ever wondered why babies cry so much it’s probably because they’re likely tearfully bored out of their minds.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">I wanted to at some point drastically alter the course of my life. But I didn’t have the means to yet and I didn’t want to alter it so much that the future I knew was the wrong one entirely. If that were the case, this wouldn’t be a very interesting story at all. <br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/sal-jackson-1-3.html">Part Three</a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-1189708347974907253?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-89454490892006848422010-09-20T17:36:00.000-07:002010-09-20T17:38:08.882-07:002010-09-20T17:38:08.882-07:00OBSOLETE: An Encyclopedia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wu_F9uz-hZI/TJf-X_JqCEI/AAAAAAAAAB0/m_qPRRBkcqI/s1600/phonebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Wu_F9uz-hZI/TJf-X_JqCEI/AAAAAAAAAB0/m_qPRRBkcqI/s320/phonebook.jpg" /></a></div><a href="http://obsoletethebook.com/post/712686131">OBSOLETE: An Encyclopedia</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-8945449089200684842?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-85874283111771045992010-09-18T10:41:00.001-07:002010-09-18T10:41:15.922-07:002010-09-18T10:41:15.922-07:00Let me just say one thing.If you are using Internet Explorer... Stop using internet explorer. It is unstable, cluttered, and slow. Use Firefox or Chrome. You're welcome.<br />
<br />
(inb4 flamewar)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-8587428311177104599?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-21722435417071437252010-09-17T10:54:00.000-07:002010-10-07T13:42:12.471-07:002010-10-07T13:42:12.471-07:00Ocean 2<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/table-of-contents.html">Table of Contents</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/09/ocean-1.html">Part One</a><br />
<br />
Back on the Dovetailer which had since moved 15 miles west, Victoria shouted at the top of her lungs “Land, ho!” as a small peak pierced the horizon. Gail and Jacob looked excitedly to the west over the bow as the peak grew in size. As they came closer it became apparent that this was not an ordinary mountain. There were grey-tan streaks running up the sides of the mountain, which easily surpassed 4 miles in height. It was not a steep mountain, at perhaps 10 miles wide, but it was still a very imposing sight. In the shadow of the mountain, a forest began to rise over the horizon. As they drew closer, Oliver took out his telescope to look at the shore. There, he saw a group of 10 men and 8 women, led by a man holding what appeared to be a telescope, looking back. “Fly the white flag! This is inhabited land and they know we’re coming!”<br />
Hurley raised the white flag, a universal symbol for peace, as they drew closer to the island. Oliver looked through the telescope again. Now there were roughly 30 people on the beach, and 3 of them had telescopes. One of the children waved at them. “I think they’re friendly, we can rest here for a few days and map out the region, and perhaps establish trade routes.”<br />
They were now a half-mile from shore. “Lower the canoes, we’re sending a greeting party to make sure we have permission to land.” Jason and Kato lowered the canoe down the side of the boat, until it reached the water. Bane rolled down a rope ladder after it. “Okay, I want Kato, Hurley, and Victoria on that boat. The rest of us will remain here until you come back with the go-ahead.”<br />
Kato, Hurley, and Victoria climbed into the boat, and Hurley and Kato began to row while Victoria steered the canoe. As they came within a few feet of the shore, two of the native men helped them pull the canoe out of the water. “They seem friendly.” Hurley remarked.<br />
Victoria then spoke. “Hello, we are explorers from Eupyrdiem, and we come in peace, bringing with us foods, knowledge, and culture from our native land. Do we have permission to come ashore?”<br />
One of the men looked at the other and then said “Moa jai nehebati.”<br />
The other one replied “Jai nehebati, maraseh.”<br />
Hurley and Victoria exchanged sheepish grins, as they did not speak the native tongue.<br />
Kato, however, stepped forward. “ Assa! Juha feh wohru. Kemito feh, seila verat, od jika fei fotila.”<br />
The first native replied with a warm smile, “Yae, yae. Juha nura. Mei feh lanera, ‘kolia feh wohru od s’ourama ni fotila.’ ”<br />
Hurley and Victoria were awestruck. “Kato, how do you know their language?”<br />
“They speak the language of my people. I am guessing they are a colony.”<br />
“Oh… So what did you say?”<br />
“I said, ’Hello! We come in peace. We come to explore, trade goods, and share knowledge.’ And then he said, ‘Good, good. You come. We always say, ‘We love peace and the advancement of knowledge.’ ‘ Which is actually the motto of the International Relations bureau of my country, which is how I know they’re Feurun and not Khabae.”<br />
Side note: Feura is much like Japan. Khaba is much like Japan before they modernized. The two countries share a common language, are neighbors, and are close allies, but their opinions towards the rest of the world are different. Feura is peaceful, and dedicated to the advancement of technology, the pursuit of peace, and the discovery of new lands. However, this hunger for expansion and development has left Feura with a small pollution problem and a very high population, and therefore, a need to colonize new lands. Feura is democratic and has a Prime Minister.<br />
Khaba is much more isolated. While they don’t invade neighboring countries like Feura sometimes does, they also do not at all welcome outsiders. Only one country ever tried to invade Khaba, but they failed miserably, as Khaba has an advanced military. They didn’t even need any help from Feura. They have a very refined, culture, distinct even from Feura; and are ruled by an Emperor. Khaba has a medium population density. End side note.<br />
Kato spoke again, “Shieh feh so muhra cressan?”<br />
The native responded. “Ah.”<br />
“Kato, what did you say that time?” Hurley asked.<br />
“I said ‘Do we have permission to land?’ and he said ‘Yeah.’ ”<br />
They got back on the boat, and Hurley and Kato began to paddle. “Ourah!” Kato yelled back to the shore. He then said, “Ourah means thank you. It is a very useful phrase, the Feurun people put much value in the showing of gratitude.”<br />
Reaching the boat, they climbed up the ladder lowered by Bane and Jason.<br />
“Okay, status report.”<br />
“They’re friendly and we have permission to land.” Victoria said promptly, smiling.<br />
“Follow my lead when we interact with them. They are Feurun, like me. We don’t want to offend them. This is the only civilization for hundreds of miles if we’re indeed where I think we are, so their hospitality is of great benefit to us.”<br />
Oliver grew concerned and excited. “If there is no civilization except them here, does that mean we can claim a land perhaps 200 or 300 miles to the south?”<br />
“Yes, as far as I know, and no one really knows much about the land down there. To the best of my knowledge no one at all lives there. If we go, we should take great caution; the land may not sustain us.”<br />
“Understood, Kato. Thank you for your advice. Let’s go meet the locals.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, 200 miles to the north of them, the Jaywing and its crew floated out of an intense storm that had rocked them for 2 days. Its crew were in turmoil not because of the storm itself (they had weathered much worse), but because the storm had knocked their beloved captain into the raging sea 15 hours beforehand.<br />
“I still can’t believe he’s dead…” Tracy looked out at the sea, which was now calm enough to float a paper boat on.<br />
Zachary walked up and stood next to Tracy. “He was a good man… His life set an example we should all strive to follow.”<br />
“There’s no way he died.” Gill said, confidently. “He’s a man of the sea through and through. How could the sea kill a man of the sea?”<br />
“He who lives by the sword dies by the sword.”Murphy said with a sad, thoughtful smile. A few tears ran down his face as he said this. “Those were 8-foot seas. There’s no way anyone would survive being tossed around in there.” All of them were crying, even Grayson.<br />
Zachary blinked and then glared out towards the horizon with a determined stare. “We have to get this shipment to Carial. It’s what we set out to do, and we’re already halfway there. Murphy? Aren’t we halfway there?” (Carial is much like Italy.)<br />
Murphy scribbled a few things down on a piece of paper, looking up twice at the relative positions of the moon and sun, before replying “We’re about five-eighths of the way, actually. We have perhaps two weeks of travel left before we reach our destination.”<br />
“Two weeks… We have to get the shipment there on time; if we don’t have any more delays and the seas stay calm we should make it.”<br />
“We need to elect a new captain.” Victor said. “Two weeks is too long to go without a leader.”<br />
“Okay, I’ll do it.” Zachary said.<br />
“No… I think I should.” Tracy said, speaking with no trace of her earlier grief. “Tyler was training me for this very position when he died. His death must not be in vain.”<br />
“You’ve only been sailing for what, 5 years? Your brother and I sailed for 15 years before you joined us.”<br />
“GUYS! One thing Tyler would NOT want us doing is us fighting. We’re going to elect a leader the good old fashioned way… With a vote. All in favor of Zachary as captain?” Grayson yelled strictly.<br />
Murphy, Zachary, and Grayson raised their hands.<br />
“All in favor of Tracy as captain?” Grayson continued.<br />
Gill, Victor, Francine, and, finally, Tracy raised their hands.<br />
“Okay. That’s settled. The new captain is Tracy; no ifs, ands, or buts about it.” Grayson concluded.<br />
Zachary swallowed audibly before asking, “Orders, captain?”<br />
“… As captain, my first order is that we hold a formal funeral service to honor the memory of Tyler. My second order is for Francine to cook something. We haven’t eaten since the storm hit us.”<br />
Later that night, after they ate and made the preparations (Lit candles, a cross, and a portrait of Tyler Gill had painted months ago. He refused to explain why he had it) the funeral service began.<br />
It was led by Tracy. “All rise for a moment of silence.” The crew stood slowly and uniformly, their heads bowed in respect for their lost captain. “Be seated.” They sat the same way they rose. “We gather tonight in respect and remembrance of our captain, Tyler. He was my brother, and his loss is unimaginable in its magnitude. As Murphy pointed out earlier, his death is fitting in that he died the way he lived. We must do our best to carry on his legacy. Would anyone like to say anything?”<br />
“Oh, me! Me!” Gill waved his hand in the air.<br />
“Yes, Gill, go ahead.”<br />
Gill stepped up excitedly while Tracy sat down. He carried in his hand a bible. “I would like to read a single verse from God’s Word.” He paused for a moment, either waiting for approval or building suspense. It can only be guessed at. “‘He provided a large amount of iron to make nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, and more bronze than could be weighed.’ Chronicles 22:3.”<br />
There was silence for a moment, before Gill concluded. “May he rest in peace. Amen.” He then sat down. The silence thickened before Victor finally spoke. “Sorry to interrupt the silence and all… But… what did that quotation have to do with Tyler? If anything.”<br />
Gill sighed a deep, sorrowful sigh before replying “I knew you wouldn’t understand, Victor. I knew you wouldn’t understand either, Grayson.”<br />
“I didn’t say anything.” Grayson said.<br />
“Now Tyler” Gill continued, “he would have understood.” No one could really put up an argument to this, Tyler acted almost as an interpreter of Gill’s seemingly indecipherable actions.<br />
Finally, Murphy stood. “Tyler was a strong, brave captain. Under him, we fended off three pirate attacks, and weathered countless storms. We made innumerable trade runs across the Hailoin Ocean, and we’ve seen virtually the entire civilized world. His legacy will live on in us. We must not fail him.”<br />
Then a new silence began, this one in awe of Murphy’s sudden ability to completely shelve his persistent sarcasm in order to say something of great respect and truth. Then, Zachary stood.<br />
“There isn’t too much to say that hasn’t been said already, but Tyler was my best friend. Every Wednesday we would get together belowdecks and he’d play the harmonica and I’d play my banjo. It always sounded perfect, like it wouldn’t sound any better if we both got thousands of times better. It was real. We shared so many little jokes, that I’d say it wasn’t funny. But I can’t say that because it was in fact hilarious. Not having you here is going to be really weird. But we have to press on to respect his memory. We have to do right by him. May he rest in peace, Amen.” Zachary sat down, his eyes slowly filling with tears.<br />
Grayson stood. “I have been sailing with Tyler for 7 long years, and damn it, they were the best 7 years of my life.” He sat again.<br />
Francine stood. “Tyler was an amazing man, and no one can replace him. …I loved him.” She sat again with tears flooding down her face. The silence that followed this statement was not one of respect, but one of shock. All on board (especially Tracy) stared at Francine with their mouths agape. “What? Why are you all staring?” Her question was answered by everyone averting their gazes.<br />
Then, Victor stood. “I didn’t know Tyler for too long; a year isn’t long enough to really get to know someone. But what I knew of him, I liked. He was a good captain, and I’m hoping you’ll follow in his footsteps, Tracy. You have my support.”<br />
“Thank you, Victor.” A new silence dawned. The silence began in shocked solemnity, then grew to a silence of mourning, and then changed to a sorrowful silence, punctuated by soft, sad sighs from some of the crew members. Then it grew pleading, with several of the crew members (especially Francine) staring upward hopefully. Then the silence gained heat as people began to look up with a new fire in their eyes at each other. Their collective determination to live up to the example set for them by Tyler grew.<br />
Finally, Tracy stood up with her hands balled tightly into fists. She pointed southwest, over the bow, with a fiery passion. “Full speed ahead! We’re getting this shipment to Carial on time!”<br />
The crew yelled in unison, “Aye aye, Captain!” as the wheel was manned, and the sails were dropped.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-2172243541707143725?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7096588492879315864.post-49516468380343705192010-09-16T15:15:00.001-07:002010-10-07T13:41:10.725-07:002010-10-07T13:41:10.725-07:00Ocean 1<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/10/table-of-contents.html">Table of Contents</a><br />
<br />
Ocean<br />
<br />
Dramatis Personae:<br />
Crew of S.S. Dovetailer<br />
Oliver- Courageous and stoic Captain of the S.S. Dovetailer.<br />
Gail- The “Feisty” First Mate, childhood friend of Oliver.<br />
Victoria- Chief Navigator, is a musician and also the cartographer (mapmaker).<br />
Hurley- First deckhand, a calm counterpart to Gail, childhood friend of Oliver.<br />
Kato- Second deckhand, mysterious, obscure, yet wise at times<br />
Jason- Third deckhand, skilled yet shy swordsman<br />
Bane- Fourth deckhand, a skilled cook, and the “new guy.”<br />
<br />
Crew of Ravensight<br />
Iago- Sharp-witted and financially-oriented Captain of the S.S. Ravensight. Outwardly hostile, but not cruel.<br />
Rodrigo-The first mate: A sharp contrast to Iago. He’s a dull-witted man, but a man of good character.<br />
Jill- Chief navigator, the “normal” girl. She looks normal, acts normal, and is friendly enough.<br />
Larry- First deckhand, a quiet man with a shadowed past. Skilled with bomb-making.<br />
Valerie- Second deckhand, very headstrong and opinionated.<br />
Nylante- Third deckhand and cook, an old man from the bayou who will talk for hours… If you’re smart enough to listen.<br />
<br />
Crew of Jaywing<br />
Tyler (presumed dead)- Former captain of S.S. Jaywing, was training her sister in the ways of the sea.<br />
Tracy- Captain of the S.S. Jaywing, became captain after her brother was blown overboard during a storm.<br />
Zachary- First-mate and best friend of Tyler. Is not used to Tracy’s leadership.<br />
Murphy- Chief Navigator, a young man with a dry sense of humor.<br />
Grayson- First deckhand, a large man with an affinity for explosives and firearms.<br />
Victor- Second deckhand, and Victoria’s twin brother, but hasn’t spoken to her in years.<br />
Francine- Third deckhand, a connoisseur of obscure sea dishes, and a decent cook.<br />
Gill- Fourth deckhand, an eccentric guy. <br />
<br />
<br />
CHAPTER ONE<br />
<br />
Our story begins under the deck of the S.S. Dovetailer. It is several minutes before lunch, and Bane is cooking for the first time, since Hurley has retired from the position. Of course, the rest of the crew (especially Gail) is getting impatient. He is currently adding spices to the smoked yellowfin. Finishing that, he garnishes it with a lime peel. He first (knowing that the crew mostly eats meat) brings up the finished salmon dish.<br />
“New guy, what took you?” Gail yelled.<br />
“Sorry, the spice rack was a bit cluttered. I was organizing it so it should be faster next time.”<br />
Hurley glanced over. “What are you talking about, kid? I alphabetized them. They should have been organized just fine.”<br />
“It was a mess when I went to cook breakfast. Remember the storm a couple nights ago? I don’t think I used it since then, but when I opened it to look for the salt for the eggs, a bunch of stuff fell out. So I put it back in order. The rolling of the ship probably knocked over the spice rack.”<br />
“Forget about all that. What did you cook?” Oliver asked.<br />
“Um… Smoked yellowfin with some chopped basil and a lime garnish.” Bane said proudly.<br />
“Bane. How long did it take you to cut the peel in one long slice like this?” Victoria asked.<br />
“Maybe ten minutes?”<br />
“Yeah…. That’s ten minutes we could have been eating. Don’t do that next time. Kato, have you seen Jason?”<br />
“He said that he was going to be up in a moment.”<br />
“What’s he doing belowdecks?” Oliver asked with some concern.<br />
“He said he was stacking the cannonballs.”<br />
“Why would he do something silly like that? Someone get him.”<br />
Just then, Jason came up the stairs going below. “Hi guys. The cannonballs are stacked really neat now.”<br />
“Good job.”<br />
“Hey… hey Bane, what’s for lunch?” Jason asked.<br />
“Smoked tuna.”<br />
“Oh, cool! I love tuna.”<br />
They sat down to eat. This was the crew of the S.S. Dovetailer. Normally they were much friendlier, but they were hungry. And a hungry crew is a cranky crew. But as they ate, they grew gradually less and less hostile. By the end, they were downright jovial.<br />
This was an exploration vessel, so all who were aboard had a hearty thirst for the world’s sights and mysteries. They lived for experiences.<br />
<br />
About 50 miles northeast of them, lurked the Ravensight. Its crew was in very good spirits, as they had just sacked a smaller trader ship called the Squirreltail. Of course, being generally non-violent pirates who relied mostly on intimidation (they all wore masks while raiding ships) and threats to get what they wanted, they didn’t kill anyone aboard the Squirreltail. The worst thing they did was stab someone in the leg; which, for a pirate, is pretty merciful.<br />
At that moment, they were going through their haul. In with the treasure, Nylante found a rather large dead rat. It looked relatively fresh. “Boys, whaddaya say to a helping of Nylante’s rat casserole? This rat looks like it ain’t even been dead that long; it’d make for some fine eating.”<br />
“Ugh, Ny, seriously? Sorry, but I’m going to have to pass on that. Just looking at that thing is making me sick.” Valerie said with obvious disdain for the rodent.<br />
“I dunno, I’m pretty hungry, and if rat casserole is anything like what Nylante did to that chicken we captured from the S.S. Sandshrew, I’d be willing to try it.” Said Rodrigo with a hungrily vacant stare.<br />
“Yeah, I’ll second what Rod said. I’m up for some rat casserole.” Jill said with a grin.<br />
Iago looked over. “Larry, what’s your vote? I’m actually in favor of Nylante cooking that thing.”<br />
“Yes.” Larry said, and quickly returned to counting the gold coins in the burlap sack he had set down on the deck. <br />
Iago smiled. “So it’s settled, 5 to 1. We’re having rat casserole tonight.” And then, they heard a thump.<br />
“Guys, did you hear that?” Jill asked.<br />
Valerie was already looking over the edge of the boat. “It’s a guy clinging to a plank of wood. He looks tired.”<br />
“Okay, new vote. All in favor of bringing him aboard? I am personally in favor… With all this loot we scored, we can afford another deckhand no problem.”<br />
Everyone, this time including Valerie, raised their hand. Iago opened a small door next to the door to the wheelhouse, and took out a rope ladder. He brought it over to the side of the boat. “Hey, guy! Look up here!”<br />
The man was unresponsive.<br />
“Alright, everyone hold the ladder, I’m bringing him up.” Everyone took hold of the end of the ladder as Iago tossed it over the edge of the boat. He climbed down and grabbed the man by the waist, throwing him over his shoulder. He climbed back up, almost dropping the castaway several times. But eventually he made it back up.<br />
“Okay, we got him. He’s passed out, and he might have some water in his throat, but he’s breathing. Nylante, fetch some of that strong-smelling stuff you use to wake people up.” Iago began thrusting his wrist into his chest under the lung repeatedly, and the man spat out a good amount of seawater.<br />
“I’m on it.” He returned a minute later carrying a corked vial with a red herb in it. He uncorked the vial and waved it under the man’s nose. The man spluttered and coughed immediately, spitting out a bit of seawater in the process.<br />
They all backed away as the man sat up, holding his hand in front of his eyes to block out the bright sun. “Where am I? What are you all doing on my ship?”<br />
Iago laughed a bit. “You’re mistaken, I’m afraid. This is MY ship, the Ravensight. What’s your name?”<br />
The man hesitated for a bit, apparently concentrating intensely. “My name… My name is… Tyler.”<br />
“Tyler. Welcome. We found you adrift, and since you look like a man who knows his way around a boat, we’d like to invite you to join our crew. Your pay would be 5% of whatever we pillage.”<br />
“Pillage?”<br />
“This is a pirate ship. We take just enough from merchant and trade ships that they can recover to be pillaged again, but enough that we can feed ourselves and live comfortably. It used to be a merchant ship years ago, but I commandeered it after the original captain died, and the people you see here were the crew of that ship at the time. Except Larry, he joined us after double-crossing his own ship to help us. No one can recognize us as the crew of a pirate ship on land as we keep ourselves somewhat well-groomed, and because we take down our black flag and replace it with a Eupyrdian (In the world of Trimera, derived from the Latin for “Three Seas”, Eupyrdiem is the country with the greatest naval strength, comparable to England on earth) one long before any shore towns can see it. So we are free to land at normal ports without suspicion and use the money we take from those ships to buy food and supplies. We also dabble in trade, so some people even know us as traders. This is the way we live. So, I ask again, would you like to join us?”<br />
“I don’t remember much other than my name… Maybe joining you will help me remember who I am. Sure, I’ll take your offer.”<br />
And so the Ravensight gained its fourth deckhand, a mysterious drifter in the most literal sense of the word. Only time would tell if he would remember who he was.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://teenbachelor.blogspot.com/2010/09/ocean-2.html">Part Two</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7096588492879315864-4951646838034370519?l=teenbachelor.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Anthony A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09099602354123966304flaminglog0@gmail.com1