Okay, here goes the first story. It's long, I know. This was something I wrote every night before bed for about week. I didn't plan it out or anything, just wrote and this is what I came up with. Just a caution, this is one of the thing that was written mostly at one in the morning when I'm a little slap happy....Just warning you. (Disclaimer+ The bad grammar is part of the writing===read Mark Twain s Huck Finn)
The Nameless One
Have you ever forgotten something? Really forgotten something, not like, where
you put your homework, or what day it is, or even if you fed the dog or not. No, forgotten something that will change your life. Forgotten something so important
that- Wait! I’m getting ahead of myself…
I tend to do that…often.
Well,
dear reader, this is my story. Beware, it isn't the happiest or sanest of stories.
It’s not a love story, or an action story, or a story about a talking
cow who likes to eat canned vegetables.
No, this story is about seeking what is lost.
I
would ask you where you would like me to start, but obviously, I will begin at
the beginning; or well, more like what I thought was the end, and in lots of
ways it was. There I go, getting ahead
of myself.. Anyway the beginning/
end.
*
The
tears of the heavens fell like tiny stars upon my brow…Too much? Yeah, I’m no good with the poetic stuff. I’ll just start again. It was raining. Well, not the light drizzle depicted in the
over-done sentence above. Um…It was
pouring? (Got it!) And least to say, I was getting wet. But I didn't care. I mean, why should I care that I was standing
outside in only a pair of boxers, in the
middle of a rainstorm with lightning all around. Nope, no reason to care or be worried in the
least. I was too angry to be
worried. I was too angry to be anything
but angry…well maybe a little hungry too (Girls, it’s a guy thing).
“Why
on earth is this happening to me?!” I yelled, as if trying to compete with the
thunder. “Better yet, what is happening
to me?” Screaming, shouting, and pointing at the sky as if it would answer
back.
“Why
am I here? WHO AM I? Would someone please answer me! Anybody? Anybody?” A streak of blazing light
lit up the sky.
“Hello,
stranger.”
All
of a sudden, out of the blue, without warning, or what ever you want to say
that you didn’t see it coming; I mean there was this little girl with a blue
umbrella looking up at me where, just a moment before, had been no girl! Yeah, without warning.
“Um,
hello.” (Great line, I know. But give a man a break. What would you have
said if a little blue girl had popped out of nowhere? Yup, that’s what I thought! ) I glanced down
at my boxer shorts and started caring (just a little mind you). She just stared up at me, big blue eyes
blinking out rain. Coming to look at
here she seemed all blue; Blue umbrella, blue eyes, blue clothes, and get this
BLUE HAIR! Weird, right?
“Um
what are you doing out in this storm?”
Me, playing fatherly.
“What
are YOU doing out in this storm?”
Fatherliness
gone.
“It’s
complicated. Never mind. Answer my question!”
“Which
one?”
“What
do you mean ‘which one’? What are you
doing out in this storm!?”
“Is
that the question you want me to answer?”
“Yes
it is! Who are you?”
“Who
are YOU?”
The
question stopped me in my tracks. Who
was I?
“Isn’t
that what you wanted to know?”
Creepy
little girl.
“This
is something I can’t tell you. No one
can tell you. This is something you must
find out for yourself. This is your
quest. Who are YOU? But the real question is, are you ready to
find out?” She tuned and started to walk away.
Regaining
my scenes, I called out, “Wait, What is your name?”
With
a glance back she said, “I am anybody.”
Then the strange little blue girl with her blue umbrella
disappeared.
Not
in a cloud of smoke like some cheesy magician, but she sort of faded as if she
was never there.
I
was kind of freaked. I didn’t usually
hallucinate about little blue people (Falalalala…never mind) but it had been a
bad day. A bad day, huh, understatement
of the year.
*
Alright,
so right now you might be wondering what the heck is wrong with this guy. (Or you might not be. I mean, you could be wondering about you
girlfriend or what your mom is making for dinner.) Well, even if you don’t care at all (which
doesn't completely make sense because you are still reading this) I’ll tell you
anyway. You see, I’d forgotten something
important. (Yes, even more important than bringing nachos to a super bowl
party) I had forgotten my past. I could remember nothing, zipo, nada! I guess it wouldn’t be that bad except I had
forgotten my name. How could somebody
forget who they are after being themselves for years? (Okay that even confused me a little…don’t
worry about it.) Well I had managed it.
I had woken up in the very field in the middle of nowhere with nothing
in my head but emptiness. It was scary,
scarier than anything I had ever thought was scary before. Well, actually I wouldn’t know that because I
had forgotten everything! You don’t know
scary until you wake up in a pounding headache in the middle of a random field,
and you don’t know you name….(well a flying hippo with razor sharp teeth and a
tail made of fiery whips might rival)
At
this point in my quest (which I wasn’t really calling a quest at the time, just
hoping that it was a really bad dream) I was tired of yelling at the sky. Believe it or not, this was not my favorite
pass time, so I walked out of the field.
Now you might be wondering how I could walk out of the only place I
could ever remember (or you might not be I mean either way….You are a sad
strange little man and you have my pity…heheheh) Well it was simple. One foot in front of the other.
Right foot
Left foot
Right foot
Letf fo-Well you get the
picture.
Time
must fly when you have no memory because soon I found myself in a little
town. Not too little, mind you, I had to
squint to see the other side. By now the
rain had completely stopped and it was hot and dry. The monster within me (known as The Hunger)
was trying to swallow my lungs, so I had to find a place to eat. I saw what looked to be a diner (Yeah, I
didn’t know they still existed either) and I started to walk towards it. (Forgetting that I had no money on me) Just as I about 10 ¾ feet from the entrance I
heard a voice.
“Hey,
Mister fancy pants, you ain’t got no britches on, or shoes, or a shirt for that
matter.”
Darn,
I guess money wasn’t the only thing I forgot.
Glancing around the building I saw an older woman with gray/blond hair
done in corn rows. She was wearing
faded blue jeans and a bright yellow shirt.
(And by bright I mean that it almost hurt to look at it.)
“Them
folks won’t serve you lookin’ like that, probably won’t even let ya in. Why don’t ya get on down to my place. If ya
give me a hand with me pigs I’ll feed ya.”
With
one glance at my boxers I followed the Woman.
She had a pretty fast pace but I knew I wouldn't loose her because you
could probably see her shirt from outer space.
We
walked to the outskirts of the town to a yellow ranch-style home. I stared at the house wondering if maybe in
my memory lapse I had moved back a like ten years.
“Here
take these slop buckets down yonder to the pigs.” She thrust two slop buckets at me. “When you get back I’ll have some lunch for
ya.” With that she went into the house
leaving me with only the slop buckets for company. When I finally looked at my companions I
realized why she wanted me to do it. The
slop smelled really, really bad. They
smelled worse than anything I had—Okay, Maybe I should stop saying that.
Moving
on, I heaved the buckets down past the house and stopped. How far was ‘down yonder’? For all I knew it
could be a few feet, a mile, or a days walk.
I ruled out the last one because she said that I’d be back by
lunch. But then again I had no idea what
time it was because I wasn't wearing a watch.
(Did I usually wear a watch; hmm I should probably learn to tell time by
the sun, just in case.) At this point in time I saw the pig pen. It was just down the hill from the
house. Not really a day’s walk. So once
again I picked up the stinking bucket held my breath and started walking.
Have
you ever walked down a hill, holding your breath with two slop buckets! DO NOT
JUDGE ME UNTIL YOU HAVE!!!! I finally
got down to the pen and with a sigh of relief I dumped the slop in. The pig’s cage was muddy and smelly. Yet, the pigs grunted and snorted as if they
were happy. How could anyone be happy
living like dirt and eating scraps off of other peoples table?
I
was so engrossed in watching the pigs that I didn’t hear the Yellow-Shirt Woman
come up behind me.
“Wonderful
creatures, aren’t they?”
“W-what!?”
I jumped in surprise.
“The
pigs. They choose to be happy even
though they live like this.”
How
on earth she knew what I was thinking I will never know.
“Now,
of course, I feed them scraps and the like the mud but the analogy still
applies.”
“What
analogy?’
“That
no matter your surroundings, you live like dirt and eat scraps, happiness is a
choice. It’s not just some random
feeling that people can’t control. If
you want to be happy even in the darkest moments, if you choose it, it will
be.”
“I
guess I had never thought of it that way.”
And
we stood there, looking at snorting pigs for a while, both lost in our own
thoughts. Then Yellow-Shirt Woman
handed me a shirt, a pair of pants, shoes, and a pair of socks. “They were my husbands, they should fit.”
I
didn’t ask why her husband wouldn’t need them any more because not all guys are
rude, unfeeling, jerks.
“Thank
you.” I said putting them on.
“And
here’s your pay. I made it to-go. I hope you find what you are looking for,
stranger. I hope you know when you have
found it.”
I
found this an odd thing to say but shrugged it off as we walked for the rode
out of town. I thanked her once again
and set out. Then I remembered something. (I know that is pretty cool, but it wasn’t
from my past; so not as cool as I would like it to be.)
“I
never got your name.”
“I’m
just somebody choosing to be happy.” And
then the woman with the yellow shirt faded away.
Are
you sensing a pattern yet? Well I sure
was. But she wasn’t creepy like the little
blue girl.
Figuring
that this rode was as good as any, I started walking. Not running, or marching, or stomping, just
right, left, right, left….
*
So, you know that
I said that time travels fast when you have amnesia…I lied. The walk took ages and if I hadn’t had my
lunch to-go I would have not made it.
(Okay, I probably would have but The Hunger would have eaten my kidneys
as well as my lungs.) By the time I
reached any form of civilization it was like eight o’clock. (But I really didn’t know because I wasn’t
wearing a watch…we already went over this didn’t we… I’m just a forgetful
person.) The field and farm town must
have been like 3 feet apart!
Anyway,
now that I was fully clothed, I could walk through town. (Well, I could have done it before…You know
right, left, right, left…But now I do it with class…sort of) I was just walking
down a random sidewalk when I saw a skinny kid with glasses and a black
eye.
“Hey,
kid, are you alright?”
“Yeah
Stranger, don’t you worry about me. You
see the blood blends in with the red T-Shirt.”
A grin split his face revealing a split lip and a missing tooth. Okay, yeah, a little gross.
What
did this kid do to get slammed this hard?
Steal a girlfriend? Insulted a mother’s cooking?
“Bet
your wondering what I did to get all this?”
“Um,
yeah, actually I was.” CREEPY! With a capital ‘K’ wait ‘C’…whatever. But then something even more creepy happened. His brown eyes behind his wire rimmed glasses
changed INTO BLUE!!!! Well, changing
eyes, that’s new…..
“Whoa! Dude your eyes just changed!”
“Changed?
How?”
I
knew he knew exactly what I was talking about but being the nice guy I am, I
dropped it.
“So,
how did you eat that knuckle sandwich?”
“With
firm feet and a straight back.” Again the gap toothed smile.
“What?”
“I
stood, you know, didn’t back down. This
guy wanted me to do something I didn’t believe in. I stood my ground and, well, he didn’t like
it all that much. But you know what they say, ‘If you stand for nothing, you
will fall for everything.’ I’d rather
take a fist any day than be everyone’s floor mat.”
I
whistled, impressed and ignored the fact that his eyes were now hazel. “Who are you, Superman?”
“Nah,
I’m just everybody who has ever stood for what they believe in.”
We
shook hands, and I walked away.
“Good
luck, stranger. I hope you find it!”
“Find
what?” I said, turning around, but the kid was gone. Where on earth, could the kid have gone? I mean, there were no placed to hide, no
dumpsters or alleyways. And no way that
anyone could run that fast. It was as if
he had just….Disappeared!
This
was too much! What in the world was happening?! First Creepy-Blue Girl in a
huge rainstorm! Second, a kind old woman with a strange fascination with pigs! And now a kid with freaking changing eyes! On
top of it all I couldn’t even remember my dog’s name, or if I had a dog, or if
I had a purple llama whose name was King Charles the III! My life had hit ultimate rock bottom!
I
stomped off. (Yeah, I know now I can’t
say ‘Right! Left!” Repeatedly) taking one sidewalk after another, avoiding all
the people who just ignored me back.
*
After
hours of senseless walking, the sky darkened and the stars came out. I was still angry. (No, I do not have anger problems whatever
Jarrod might say, anyway he has…issues).
With
all these people passing me, I should’ve felt so…not alone. Yet, I felt more alone than in that random
field. There, at least, Creepy-Blue Girl
had talked to me. Gee, I mean, if any of
these sophisticated city folk had heard me screaming at the sky, they would
have avoided all connection with me, just in case my madness was
contagious. Yet, Creepy-Blue Girl had
come and talked to me, a stark-raving mad stranger (and half naked at that).
Lost
in my somewhat depressing thoughts, I didn’t realize that I had wandered away
from the hordes of people into a quiet park (Well as quiet as it can get in a
big city). As I walked through the park,
my anger faded into the shadows around me.
The park was peaceful and empty.
That is where I was wrong. (The
world just loves to contradict me) It was my last, final mistake!
There was this random lady sitting on a bench
in complete shadow. It was only because
I had been having a really weird day that I walked up to a complete stranger in
a dark park. (Just so you know I was
playing with you before, I am writing this now, aren’t I, so I am not dead in a
ditch somewhere. Ladies you can calm
down now.) But, yes, being the brave
guy I was, I walked up to this dark lady.
“Hello.” I sat
down next to her.
“Hello, stranger.”
She looked up at me revealing her large, dark eyes. They were stranger than the changing ones I
had seen earlier. They seemed so
peaceful, yet they held a hint of sadness.
“The world is
raging war on all of us. You walk around
a corner and find violence, haters, everywhere.
It is as though the world is trying to take the soul straight out of
people. People die everyday for the
simplest, stupidest reason. Money, fame,
fun! The world is turning to darkness.”
I wondered if this
was how she started all her conversations and if so, if she ad many
friends. I didn’t say anything. What do you say to that?
“Tell me, how can
anyone be happy when all is ripped away from them?”
“A woman once told
me that happiness was a choice. A
feeling to be chosen. If you choose it,
you are happy.”
“She is a wise
woman. Yes, happiness is a choice, but
what if you are too angry to be happy?
To angry to think of the choice?”
“I don’t know.”
“You
forgive.” She looked out in the
darkness, closing her eyes slightly.
“You see, forgiveness is the passageway to happiness. If you are holding a grudge or hating someone
then you can not be happy and the whole world is a darker place. A place filled with shadows needs one more
light. To forgive is to let go. To let go, is to let other things, not hate
or violence, but love and happiness show.”
She was silent, letting the truth of her words echo into the darkness.
“What is you
name?”
She looked at me
and gave me a small smile. “What is a
name, stranger? I am the small voice
that nobody really wants to hear, anyone with a prideful heart. Have you found what you are looking for,
stranger?”
I stared at her,
finally understanding, “Yes, I think I have.”
I stared off into
the darkness, knowing that when I looked back, she would be gone.
*
I sat alone in the
dark, thinking of the one question I had asked at the beginning of the
day. ‘Who am I?’ I had screamed into a
raging sky. ‘Are you ready to know?’
Answered the Blue Girl. Now I finally
understood it all.
A flash of blue light drew my eyes
and there before me stood Blue Girl. She
looked the same as before except she was missing the blue umbrella.
“Hello, stranger.”
“Hello.”
“Have you found
what you have been searching for? The
answer to your question?”
“I believe I
have.” She smiled and behind her I saw each of the people I had met
before. The Pig Woman, The Changing-Eye
Kid, and the Dark Lady from the park.
They looked the same as before except faded as though you could walk
right through them.
“You asked each of
s a question, do you now understand the answers we gave?”
I thought for a
moment, trying to place the question.
“It was the same
question you have been asking yourself.” Blue Girl promted.
“Oh, I asked you
your names.” Now coming to think of it,
I didn’t know any of their names. I
mean, I was calling them Pig Woman and Blue Girl. When I had asked ‘Who are you?” the hadn’t
answered with their names (like normal people,. But as you might have noticed
these aren’t normal people …normal people don’t disappear or have changing
eyes) Instead of giving there names, they had given me something else…Not a
name but who they were. I looked up at
Blue Girl and saw her nodding. ( I will
never get used to the mind-reading)
“You understand?”
I nodded, excited.
“Who am I?” A warm voice that spent time in the sun. The Pig woman wearing the yellow shirt.
“You are…” I
stopped to think. “You are someone choosing
to be happy!”
She smiled a warm
smile and started to fade. “Remember
happiness is a choice. Carol Olsen!”
Then in a flash of yellow light, she disappeared. (Back to pigs …oink…. Okay that isn’t all
that funny….hehehe)
“Who am I?” The
kid with the changing eyes.
“You are everyone
who stands for what they believe in.”
“If you stand for
nothing, you will fall for everything!
James Sanders!” With one last gap-toothed grin, he to left in a flash of
red light.
“Who am I?” This
was a soft voice, almost like a whisper in the wind, yet it held so much
peace. It could only belong to the Dark
Lady in the park.
“You are the voice
that nobody really wants to listen to.
The voice that all the anger and hate wants to silence. The voice of forgiveness.”
She smiled. She truly was beautiful.
“Forgiveness is
stronger than any hate. It can calm the
biggest storms and douse the greatest fires.
My name is Talia Farse.” Then she
faded into the shadows.
They were all gone
but Blue-Girl. She was up at him (She
acted so old for her age…but then again I didn’t know her age…never mind).
“And now,
stranger, who are you? Do you want to know?”
“Before I answer
that I want to know why you always call me stranger?”
“Because, you are
a stranger to yourself. You must find
out who you are.”
“And I will. I want to know who I am beyond my name. I will go and find out. I really will. Thank you.”
Then she started
to fade.
“Wait!” I yelled,
“I never told you who you are. You are
anyone who helps a stark raving mad stranger in the middle of the pouring
rain. You are the helper!”
She smiled at me,
a big smile that would brighten even the dreariest of day. A smile of a child.
“My name is Molly
Hunts. And it is I who thanks you, Simon
Granger.” She put out her hand and I
took it. With a flash of light (Yup,
just normal light….non of that colored stuff) my past came back in a
flood. Everything. With that, Molly Hunt faded into blue
light.
I had been a star
football player in high school. I had a cat
named Butterfingers (which is weird because cats don’t have fingers…what was I
thinking!) which was neither a dog or a purple llama. Once, I had eaten 13 cheeseburgers on a dare,
(not all of them stayed down let me tell you….. You actually don’t want me to
tell you). I had broken my arm twice
and countless fingers. I had blond hair,
brown eyes, and large feet. I was 5’10
and had 14 freckles on my left ear. My
name was Simon Alfred Granger.
But this is not
who I am.
*
At the beginning
of the story, I told you it was about seeking what is losst. But now I’ll tell you that I never really
lost who I was. True, I had forgotten my
name but that doesn’t make me who I am.
I sill cannot tell you all of who I am (Depressing right.) because
everyday I am finding something new.
Right now, I am someone who could eat all the tacos in Taco Bell ®.
It took a lot of
really strange stuff for me to realize that a name aren’t all that
important. So, hopefully I can spare
you some crazy drama by asking you a simple question.
Who are you?
If you answer with
your name, you might wake up in some random field with a pounding headache and
an empty head.(Not that I’m saying your stupid or anything. I mean that you will have forgotten
everything. I’m sure you are very
smart…..I’ll stop talking now.)
So, well, I guess
this is the end of my story …well technically, it is really the beginning. The beginning of something great and new! The
start of—Getting ahead of myself again.
I tend to do that…a lot.
Well, without
further ado
The
End(/Beginning)
