#412 words

[tartabinger]

A simple jolt and all there is to greet him is darkness as he falls.

Falling...               falling...                             falling...                                                  ...or has he stopped?

Young, frightened eyes rake through the unending abyss as spasming lungs battle for air. Tremoring hands clasp over sensitive ears as silence roars within the confines of his small? head.

A soft, ongoing cry.

Moments pass before trembling hands move away and push against the textureless ground. Fear gnaws deep into his bones as he uses the strucutres around him to rise to his feet; structures he was lucky to avoid hitting on his way down.

The world sends no indictation of progress to him as his feet shuffle - are they shuffling? - towards the way out. Hands meet solid object and drag down until they discover a lever, push down, pull and no.

no

nononononononononononononononononononononononononopleasenosavemesavemesavemesavemesaveohglorioustsaritsaipraytoyouonthisdarknighttoprotectmefromevilandwardawaydarknessblessedbeyourpersonandhavemercyuponmyintrusion

Black darker than the abyss itself greets him and a single dull blue eye stares down into his. His cheeks soak as air tears itself from broken lungs. Hand out, solid solid solid that’s solid go away go away go away.

Fingers clasp the solid object and his knees sting as he fights for air. Free hand reaches out to the floor and grasps at the ground, fibres catching beneath his nails instead of gliding across impossible smooth rock.

Blink,               he’s alone.

Tick        Tock               Tick                      Tock

Sound bleeds back into the world. He registers the object he bragged onto was the doorframe and he takes a moment before rising once again. He stumbles through darkened hallways alone, fingertips dancing across walls, until he reaches the one room he expects to be lit up and pours himself a glass of water.

Everything aches and sweat drenches almost every inch of his body - including his face, even if his sore eyes tell him otherwise. He takes a sip and visualises his position within the palace as his free hand grasps the counter. Dull blue eyes slip closed and he forces himself to breathe slow and deep.

Silence begins to creep back in and he squeezes his eyes closed in response. He’s okay. He’s okay. He’s okay. A pitched shatter echoes within his mind and his eyes snap open. He whips his head around looking for an intruder as water spills over the countertop. His right hand stings but he doesn’t need to look at it to know what happened.

His left hand reaches up and rakes down his face as Ajax groans a quiet-                      “...fuck...”

[authorangelita]

Posted my 90th Mac work today! 🎉

And I worked on the Matty story a little bit more:

Matty released a breath that she felt like she'd been holding for months.  Her own knees were weak, and she had to close her eyes against the tears that threatened to fall. 

[loubagga0713]

How I’ve been feeling lately...

I have been feeling overall really relaxed lately. In class the discussions that we have about our emotions for the week, I have noticed that an overwhelming amount of the time, students are upset or stressed. And clearly as a college student I understand that. This last week I had two tests, one of which I was completely unprepared for until the day of the exam. But even with this stress I have been feeling a lot of bliss. I have stayed up cramming for the tests, and getting angry with myself for not starting to study sooner. Even through all of that I have been able to remind myself that it all will work out. I like to live by the quote, at least I try to live by the quote “Everything will be okay in the end; if it’s not okay, it’s not the end”. Something about the reassurance in this quote leads me to feeling happy, relaxed and calm. It reminds me that even through the normal human mess ups, that t’s not the end of the world. It is really easy as students and just people in general, to think that if you mess up on a quiz or an assignment that it’s going to ruin everything. But most of the time it doesn’t ruin anything. I have always thought I’m going to fail classes if I don’t do great, but I have never failed a class, ever. I always pull through. And that quote and mentality help me to feel understanding of myself and acceptance that I am just human and mess up, it’s okay to mess up every now and then. I have accepted that not understanding that being stressed about a test doesn’t mean I’m going to fail a class. Even if I do mess up and fail one class, failing does not mean I’m going to do nothing with my life, I can still achieve my dreams. The picture is from this weekend, I finished all of my work and decided not to stress. I pushed aside my school stress, which I normally do not do, and went to Halloween Horror Nights and had fun. I forgave myself for not spending that time doing homework and just relaxed and enjoyed being carefree. So to recap, I have been feeling relieved, happy, accepting of myself, understanding. And even though it is not an emotion, I have been feeling overwhelmingly human, and that’s okay to be.

[asheewrites]

Kitsu-Cub 3

After he laid down. He licked the side of my face. The side. As if everything else wasn't bad enough yet. It was disgusting, and... and! I raised my heckles and actually growled at him, hair standing on end. 'You are very, very easy to agitate. Is that by any chance the reason for your exile?' I snapped at him, teeth closing around- nothing. The image dissipated.

This... this arrogant old one huffed! Apparently amused! And waited. Looking at me. After a time that... got embarrassing for both of us, I stepped away a little and laid down again, a little out of reach. 'Aaaah, corrective and preventive action, at least you got a good head on your shoulder,' I heard. In my head. And then he inclined his, continuing: 'So, except for attacking me, what exactly do you want, lil' cub?' ... I... oh. Oh. Right. ... I had. I had forgotten about that. 'I... need... a place to rest and recover. It has been a long journey,' because it had been. '... and you went on that journey because you are... not exiled, yes?,' he thought at me, rolling in the grass. He was... rolling in the grass. Like... like a normal fox. I stood on my front paws at that. And swivelled my tail: 'A journey is... recommended. To widen your horizons' 'Yeah, to find a master to teach you, properly,' he said. 'Exactly,' I agreed. It was proper procedure. 'And that's why you got to a land where - reasonably - no Kitsune's should exist' My tail twitched at the fox who chewed a spade of grass. With apparent enjoyment. And hissed: 'Your point?!' 'There is no shame in being exiled, cubby. I mean, some....', he told me while still chewing on the bloody plant. I growled again. It just started. 'Your buttons are remarkably easy to push, tiny" I didn't stop growling. '... I can't even begin to describe how unbelievably delighted and overjoyed I'd be to kepp you as my pupil, you little disaster of Kitsune-kind' That was the moment where any and all spiritual barriers that kept me from accessing the well within the land broke and I felt - for the first time in months - safe. 'Tha-thank you, I-' He licked over my whole face. And walked past me. When my teeth closed around the after image of his tail this time, I gave chase. Barking, I ran after his fleeing form. How DARE HE!!!

[asheewrites]

Gabaliens 3

The next time I woke up from a stabbing pain in my head.

Again, it felt like.

As if my head was already used to the pain.

A… familiar kind of thing? Like well-run tracks?

It happened again, but wouldn’t have been enough to wake me this time. I was pretty sure.

I heard a noise not too far away. Rustling.

I grabbed the nearest object – a pillow, apparently – and held it towards the thing. I still felt like my blood was stabbing me, I didn’t want it to get worse.

By actual stabbing. Or something.

 If there wasn’t so much pain and it wouldn’t get worse by asking? Knowing why I was tortured? Cool.

 The rustling stopped.

And a concerned voice – it didn’t help the headache at all – said: “You really should not be awake yet. Again”

There were some more noises and when I looked – my eyeballs felt even more on fire when I did – I saw a person puttering around, dimming lights as the first thing.

“What are you, metabolising the anaesthetics? An Odrelk?”

“AH!”, the last word sparked fireworks in my head. It felt like someone cut my brain and I held my head, eyes swimming, dark lines at the edges of vision.

“Oh, I am… terribly sorry, you are terribly resilient… you…. are human, aren’t you? From… earth? There are stories about you”

This time, it didn’t hurt as bad. But it certainly didn’t feel great when he spoke. I guessed it was a he. Still hurt, though. Everything, that is.

 “Resilient and strong and able to withstand more pain stimuli than most species known to the federal planet alliance. Your whole nervous system can be completely overpowered and you still move and… I see proof of that. You can partially even shut it down, you still function under stress not suitable for life… and your metabolism is just…”, he finally stopped talking.

I rubbed my head.

“You just… I’ll leave for a while. The pain won’t be gone for three… ah… five of your circadian circles?”, he sounded unsure.

The fact that circadian meant a day was something I was not… actively aware of… usually. Wouldn’t have been able to say, actually. It was weird. That I knew that, too.

Everything was weird.

The… person went away, saying: “Try to heal. There is… nutrition-bars. If you are hungry. And water. Until later”, and the wall closed again.

 I was not sure if I should be happy.

[bhj406]

This Changes Everything

I liked Naomi Klein’s writing a little more Zizek’s. It’s more straightforward and easier to read, though longer. I feel that the writing is more accessible and is open to a wider audience. Which, for the purpose of the book is a well placed move. I feel that she wrote the book in a way gives us the ethos, pathos and logos that is needed for an argument. It’s done in a way that presents the history and reasons people took that route, which personally I like. Mainly because it feels like it builds upon each other. It’s done in a way that makes the person want to read. It reads like a story in some parts to help draw in the reader, like when she describes the speakers and lectures.

In the beginning of the book, I personally liked the questions that she posed. It stuck out to me, because of the validity of what she’s asking. She poses, “what’s wrong with us?” and mentions about sacrifice and what we’re doing as a society to ourselves. Which, feels poetic and important to think about. (Straying on what would we do as a race if things go bad enough, but that’s a tangent.) She prompts a lot of questions throughout the book and Klein, I feel, likes to use pointed questions into steering us to her side. “Most provocative is Australian climate expert Clive Hamilton, who has wondered aloud whether “thegeoengineers [are] modern-day Phaetons, who dare to regulate the sun, and who must be struck down by Zeus before they destroy the earth?” She presents the information on the other argument and what’s going on and then ends it with some questions that are pointed and poised. This quote, while not her own, really fits as it has a connotation and history to it which we can relate to and derive our own meaning. I personally like the questions as they make one think. It goads one into thinking about the argument and the facts rather than just passively read.

It’s a lot of history and examples to wade through, but it makes sense why it’s there which I can’t fault. It’s there to help explain the different view points and why they’re there. I feel like the book is a plea in a way, at the end. “The stakes are simply too high, and time too short, to settle for anything less.” That really drove the point home, to me.