Welcome to Thomas's Life

Thomas is just your average fictional character. This blog follows various events in his life. These events appear in no chronological order whatsoever, so read as you please.

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Falling 1

Thrice in Thomas’s life, he has experienced the sensation of falling in a big way. The first time happened when Thomas was in his early teens. He was exploring a forest with his best friend Jack, when they decided it would be fun to start climbing trees.

“Come on,” Jack yelled down to Thomas. “This tree is perfect for climbing. There’s no danger at all.”

“I know,” Thomas shouted from the ground. “I’m just, um, warming up my arms so I can climb better.”

“Well there’s no better warm up than the main activity itself,” Jack replied, ignoring how fallacious his previous statement was. “Just get on up here already.”

“Fine, I’m coming,” Thomas muttered as he began to climb. A minute later, he had reached the same altitude as Jack, about 20 feet up in the air. “Is that better?”  “Yes, actually, it really is. Now. We have a couple of options: we can see how high we can climb this tree, try our hand at tree hopping, or race to the ground. We could even do a combination of some of them if we so pleased.”

“I like the get to the ground idea.” “Unfortunately, options were only presented as a courtesy, and we will be doing what I had already predetermined that we would do. We are going to try tree hopping. Tree hopping is when you—” “I know what tree hopping is,” Thomas interrupted. “But I don’t want to. You can’t make me.”

“Actually, I can,” Jack stated matter-of-factly. “You owe me a solid from when I helped you clean your room.” 

The blood drained from Thomas’s face as he realized Jack was right. The solids must be respected.

“Hey Thomas,” Jack said cooly. “Do me a solid and tree hop, will ya?”

Thomas wasn’t one to break the laws of etiquette. He crawled as far out on his branch as he dared before it broke, and pushed his legs against the branch with all his might. Unfortunately, the branch had decided that this stress was too much for it to handle, and it promptly broke underneath Thomas.

Both Thomas and Jack let out a cry of alarm as Thomas fell. He hit several branches and fell past them on his way down, but he reached an area between where the branches began and the ground. It was an area only about four feet high, but in his near horizontal position, it seemed much more to Thomas. The sensation of the fall unnerved Thomas, seeming to last for several minutes. 

The impact wasn’t nearly as bad as he though it would be. By some miracle, he walked away with nothing more than bruises and scratches, even though some were pretty significant. After scurrying down the tree, Jack helped him home, deciding it best to end their adventure. But to his credit, he helped clean Thomas up afterwards. 

Thomas wouldn’t remember most of the details of this brief escapade, but there’s one thing that would always stick with him. The brief terrifying and unnerving sensation of falling; the lack of control or ability to react. That would stay with him always.

[theworldofthomas-blog1]

What To Do

The two boys sat, trying hard to think of something to do.

“We could... light something on fire?” one of the boys asked.

“That’s ridiculous, Jack. Everything below waist height is dead this time of year. We’d accidentally burn down the mountain,” the other boy replied critically.

“Fine,” Jack said. “It was just an idea. We could... make food?”

“Dude. We just spent two hours cooking and eating chicken. We can’t go back into the kitchen.”

“Well I don’t see you contributing any ideas, Tommy,” Jack jabbed.

“I’ve told you, I don’t like it when people call me that. My name is Thomas, and that’s what I am to be called,” Thomas answered irritably, raising his voice. He stood up from the chair in his living room and started pacing. “We could draw something. We could watch a show. We could even make a mattress slide down the stairs!”

“Are you kidding me? That stuff is all too juvenile.” Jack’s voice was raised to match as he stood up too. “We aren’t two kids imagining up creatures and pretending to be them anymore! I want to do something REAL.” 

“Well why don’t you go and—” Thomas paused, then lit up. “Wait, I have an idea.” Thomas quieted for a second.

“Well, what is it? Don’t just leave me hanging.”

“What if we go to the grocery sto—”

“Uuuuugh, I’m tired of going to the store for entertainment,” Jack interrupted. “Don’t get me wrong, I think its fun, but we do it too often. We just went yesterday.”

“I wasn’t finished,”  Thomas stated. “Just hear me out. We each can only spend ten dollars on stuff, and afterwards we go explore the mountain again and spend the night up there. But this time, we’re only allowed to take our clothes and what we’ve bought.”

Jack’s face changed from that of exasperation to delight. “That’s a great idea! But isn’t ten dollars a little on the low side? How about twenty?”

“Fifteen.”

“Deal. And what about clothing? Are we allowed to change into something more suitable for the expedition?”

“Nope. We go as we are, T-shirts and shorts.”

“Well alright. I have high hopes for this trip, Thomas. I’ll leave a note for my parents, grab my money, and be right back.”

“Alright bro, I’ll be here waiting,” Thomas said as he walked Jack to the door. “See you in a few.”

The two boys performed their secret handshake that they created when they were younger, which took about 30 seconds. 

“See you dude,” Jack replied as he mounted his bike and rode off.

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Say Please

“Tommy, stop it,” Haley giggled as she twisted away from him. 

“You started it darling, you need to be able to take what you dish out,” Tom replied as he laughed and continued to tickle her.

She kept giggling as she scooted as far away from him as she could without opening the door to Tom’s small car, but he followed with each movement.

“Fine,” Haley said as she fell still. “I’m not actually ticklish. I just fake it because I think it’s funny when people try to tickle me.”

“Oh really?” Tom asked as his efforts were unaffected. “You aren’t ticklish? Not even riiiiggghht.... Here!?” He exclaimed as he moved his hand to right under her left shoulder, a spot where nobody else knew she was extremely ticklish. 

Haley let out a small squeak of surprise and involuntarily jumped a bit closer, and Tom’s hands stopped as he looked her in the eyes. “That was adorable,” he said.

“Oh whatever,” she replied, rolling her eyes at him. “My squeaks are not cute.”

His face softened as he said, “I wasn’t kidding about that adorable thing. My heart stopped for a little bit because of it. However, my heart stops kind of often with you.” He moved closer and brushed her face with his hand, which she held there, eyes closed. 

“I love you,” Tom whispered as he pulled her in for a kiss. 

A second later, Haley breathed “I love you too” as they broke away, still holding each other. “Which is why I’m doing this,” she said as she began to tickle him mercilessly.

Tom, being incredibly ticklish, was helpless for a moment, squirming in his seat as Haley refused to let up. Breathless, he managed to grab both of her arms and hold her for a second, but she broke loose and kept going with persistence. Eventually, he secured both of Haley’s arms and regained his breath.

“That was a vile thing to do, sneak attacking me like that,” Tom murmured. “However, now that I have your arms, that leaves me free to do this.” He began to tickle her without mercy. As she tried to get away, he moved her even closer to him, to the point where she was on his lap.

“No,” Haley said in a strange combination of gasp and giggle, “Stop.”

“I’m just repaying the debt from when you were attacking me,” Tom responded as he continued to tickle her. 

“Mercy, have mercy,” Haley squeaked in between laughs.

“Say please, and I’ll stop tickling you and let you go,” Tom declared.

“I will not!”

“Just say please, and I’ll be done.”

“Never! I will not yield!” 

“All you have to do is say just a few tiny words and I’ll release you.”

“No! Never! I’ll never say please to you!”

“And why is that?” Tom inquired loudly, slowing down to a stop as she locked eyes with him.

“Because of what you’ve threatened to do if I say please, Tommy boy.” Haley explained.

“And what threat is that?” Tom asked. 

“If I say please,” Haley continued, looking up at him, “You’ll let me go.”

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The Laugh

“I never could understand why she hates her laugh,” Thomas said to his roommate Jack, rocking back in his chair.

“Actually, that’s not very uncommon, especially for girls,” Jack replied as he tinkered around with an old clock. “It’s probably because it’s too real.”

“Too real?” Thomas asked.

“Sure. When people show their true selves, it reveals a level of vulnerability they are likely not aware of, and are certainly uncomfortable with. Genuine laughter is part of that true self.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. A laugh shouldn’t be something that can be despised. It doesn’t uncloak dark secrets, or divulge a worse part of one’s personality,” Thomas stated.

“So? Even if something isn’t part of one’s personality, it certainly is part of their persona. If one thinks it ugly, they’ll hide it. And if it shows them at their core, even more so.”

“But— But—” Thomas stammered, now sitting forward. “But you mustn’t have heard her laugh. A more beautiful sound couldn’t found if you searched for several lifetimes.” 

Thomas, his tone softened, was now lost in his recollection of her laugh. “It could chase away cloudy days, move mountains of misery, turn away rivers of worry. Winds come just to carry its joyous sound further. Animals draw near to feel the sense of ease that accompanies her laugh. Trees and grasses lean towards her, only to be inches closer to the source of such a wonderful noise. It brings the whole world to a stop.”

Jack raised an eyebrow at this hopeless loverboy. “Is that so?”

“It may be a slight exaggeration. Maybe it doesn’t stop the whole world,” Thomas said. “But it sure does stop mine. My heart skips a beat or more whenever I see her, just for the possibility of hearing her laugh.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Jack replied, shutting him down. “She’ll still hate it. Maybe it’s as marvelous you say, but her laugh reveals her in a way she finds uncomfortable. And she definitely doesn’t realize her laugh’s glory, if there really is any.”

Thomas was unfazed by Jack’s artlessness. “Maybe you’re right. But someday she’ll know. Someday when she laughs, she’ll see what I see. She’ll watch as my vexations cease, my fears dissolve, and my weariness fade. She’ll see my face and no longer worry for her laugh.” 

Thomas’s eyes seemed to shine with the memory of her laugh. “She’ll see what I see. I can feel it.”