Lupin
the cold blustery morning that I set out on that fateful journey was as I said before, cold, and blustery. that time of year all the leaves had fallen and any that were left blew around the cracked pavement of that town like the lost souls of it's inhabitants. I was determined to escape that ghost town. so I left. or tried to. the stories of those who had tried before me echoed in my mind. as I tiptoed nimbly down one of the many abandoned streets, I recalled the tales my elders had told. tales of bright young men (it was always a guy, why wasn't it ever a girl?) who sneaked out in the dead of night, much like what I was doing, and were never heard from again. I always found these endings secretly amusing, 'yeah,' I would think to myself 'they never sent any word, because it sucks here. also who would bring their message? they would have to, and who would want to come back to this hell? nobody, that's who, so who's to say they're all dead?' I took this confidence and ran with it, literally.
Ronne
I look back at my home, a cozy little thing, nestled in the side of a hill. I see my mum and little sister waving. I'll miss them. it's no their fault I have to leave, something just told me it was time. I look back again, and smile sadly as i watch their already tiny hands grow smaller and smaller as I walk farther and farther away. "goodbye." I say softly. wiping a tiny droplet from my cheek. I walk for a long time, watching as the rolling hills and gentle valleys fade into each other, I sing and recite poetry as I walk, the words I imagine to be my company, they stay with me, in my heart and in my head, long after they've parted with my lips. I stop around noon, and pull out a sandwich, it's a skimpy little thing, with the thinnest slice of mutton one can imagine, and the tiniest dollop of goat's butter smeared across the stale bread. it's dry and crumbly, but it's the most food I've had in days, I sit there, cherishing every last bite of it. savoring the energy I will need to escape the seemingly endless hills.
Lupin
I had only walked about half a mile past the towns borders, before I saw the signs. nobody knows who put them there, and nobody has ever searched to find out. they were warning signs of course, warnings to never leave the village, never to let anyone in the village, and never under any circumstances, to remove a sign. I walked past them, as I walked I saw the signs became much more detailed, bloody pictures of what looked like human hands, severed human hands, holding signs. images showing evil monsters, with golden crowns on their horned brows and precious gems imbedded into their scaly arms. depictions of giant snakes eating children up, bloodier and bloodier the signs became, until, I saw a different sign, this one had a picture of a meadow, something I had only read about in my fake, plastic covered town, and an arrow, pointing to the left, as my eyes followed the arrow I swear an entirely new path emerged, this one seemed gentler somehow, maybe it was the lack of signs that told you just how bloody a death you would be facing if you disobeyed them, or maybe it was something else, I dunno.
Ronne
I got up, dusted myself off, and continued walking in a southern direction for quite some time, before remembering that I was supposed to go west. "towards the ocean" my mother had said. I looked in the direction of this supposed ocean, I felt a tug in my gut, something told me not to go that way, that I should keep going south. so I turned away from the sun, and faced south again, again I felt a tug, but this time it was different, like I was needed, I had gotten that feeling only once before, and that time, I didn't listen to it. my sister doesn't have a father now because of that mistake, nor our mother a husband. I decide to go south, "if it's just a silly feeling," I say to the waving grass, "than I can just turn back, and go south, like mum told me to." the grass seems to agree with me, it waves encouragingly, I laugh at myself, encouraging grass? what's next, singing flowers?
Lupin
I follow the path for a long time, kicking up what looks like tiny gray pieces of pavement, I remember some one calling such things pebbles once, I think. I decide that's what I'll call them too. so I kick up the 'pebbles' as I walk, and watch as the large boulders star turning into, tall brown things, with thin green things attached to them, I think I remember something about these too! they're called. . .trees! yup that's what they are. I look up at the 'trees' and smile as I breathe in everything starts feeling. . .cleaner somehow, gone is the smell of toxic chemicals I've smelled my entire life, this new scent, it feels fresh, and clear, sweet, but not too sweet, crisp and soft at the same time, it smells. . . alive! something moves in the 'trees' i look up, this I know, it's a bird, one of the old men in our village has a dead one on his wall, or he used to, until he sold it for grain to feed his children. it was a large, handsome shiny black thing, nothing like the ugly vultures that circle the town constantly, just waiting for a child to drop from hunger, a mother to fall over, exhausted, a father to drop his heavy load of wood, and lay beside it until the vultures were done, and his family could bury the bones. but this bird was different, it was a blue, a blue I had never seen before, one that shimmered in the greenish lighting, I was beautiful, such a bright, lively thing. I had to follow it.
Ronne
I watched the grass for a moment, still chucking at myself, when a pretty blue bird appeared, it shimmered under the bright afternoon sun, darting back and forth in front of me, almost as if trying to get my attention, i locked eyes with it, and it took off, headed south, but cutting across a large overgrow field, it turned, saw i wasn't following, and came back. I felt that tug again, and as I watched, the long grass parted to create a path that definitely hadn't been there before. the tug was harder now, rising up from my stomach and into my chest. the bird took of again, and this time, i followed, running down the new path after it, ready for an adventure.
the cold blustery morning that I set out on that fateful journey was as I said before, cold, and blustery. that time of year all the leaves had fallen and any that were left blew around the cracked pavement of that town like the lost souls of it's inhabitants. I was determined to escape that ghost town. so I left. or tried to. the stories of those who had tried before me echoed in my mind. as I tiptoed nimbly down one of the many abandoned streets, I recalled the tales my elders had told. tales of bright young men (it was always a guy, why wasn't it ever a girl?) who sneaked out in the dead of night, much like what I was doing, and were never heard from again. I always found these endings secretly amusing, 'yeah,' I would think to myself 'they never sent any word, because it sucks here. also who would bring their message? they would have to, and who would want to come back to this hell? nobody, that's who, so who's to say they're all dead?' I took this confidence and ran with it, literally.
Ronne
I look back at my home, a cozy little thing, nestled in the side of a hill. I see my mum and little sister waving. I'll miss them. it's no their fault I have to leave, something just told me it was time. I look back again, and smile sadly as i watch their already tiny hands grow smaller and smaller as I walk farther and farther away. "goodbye." I say softly. wiping a tiny droplet from my cheek. I walk for a long time, watching as the rolling hills and gentle valleys fade into each other, I sing and recite poetry as I walk, the words I imagine to be my company, they stay with me, in my heart and in my head, long after they've parted with my lips. I stop around noon, and pull out a sandwich, it's a skimpy little thing, with the thinnest slice of mutton one can imagine, and the tiniest dollop of goat's butter smeared across the stale bread. it's dry and crumbly, but it's the most food I've had in days, I sit there, cherishing every last bite of it. savoring the energy I will need to escape the seemingly endless hills.
Lupin
I had only walked about half a mile past the towns borders, before I saw the signs. nobody knows who put them there, and nobody has ever searched to find out. they were warning signs of course, warnings to never leave the village, never to let anyone in the village, and never under any circumstances, to remove a sign. I walked past them, as I walked I saw the signs became much more detailed, bloody pictures of what looked like human hands, severed human hands, holding signs. images showing evil monsters, with golden crowns on their horned brows and precious gems imbedded into their scaly arms. depictions of giant snakes eating children up, bloodier and bloodier the signs became, until, I saw a different sign, this one had a picture of a meadow, something I had only read about in my fake, plastic covered town, and an arrow, pointing to the left, as my eyes followed the arrow I swear an entirely new path emerged, this one seemed gentler somehow, maybe it was the lack of signs that told you just how bloody a death you would be facing if you disobeyed them, or maybe it was something else, I dunno.
Ronne
I got up, dusted myself off, and continued walking in a southern direction for quite some time, before remembering that I was supposed to go west. "towards the ocean" my mother had said. I looked in the direction of this supposed ocean, I felt a tug in my gut, something told me not to go that way, that I should keep going south. so I turned away from the sun, and faced south again, again I felt a tug, but this time it was different, like I was needed, I had gotten that feeling only once before, and that time, I didn't listen to it. my sister doesn't have a father now because of that mistake, nor our mother a husband. I decide to go south, "if it's just a silly feeling," I say to the waving grass, "than I can just turn back, and go south, like mum told me to." the grass seems to agree with me, it waves encouragingly, I laugh at myself, encouraging grass? what's next, singing flowers?
Lupin
I follow the path for a long time, kicking up what looks like tiny gray pieces of pavement, I remember some one calling such things pebbles once, I think. I decide that's what I'll call them too. so I kick up the 'pebbles' as I walk, and watch as the large boulders star turning into, tall brown things, with thin green things attached to them, I think I remember something about these too! they're called. . .trees! yup that's what they are. I look up at the 'trees' and smile as I breathe in everything starts feeling. . .cleaner somehow, gone is the smell of toxic chemicals I've smelled my entire life, this new scent, it feels fresh, and clear, sweet, but not too sweet, crisp and soft at the same time, it smells. . . alive! something moves in the 'trees' i look up, this I know, it's a bird, one of the old men in our village has a dead one on his wall, or he used to, until he sold it for grain to feed his children. it was a large, handsome shiny black thing, nothing like the ugly vultures that circle the town constantly, just waiting for a child to drop from hunger, a mother to fall over, exhausted, a father to drop his heavy load of wood, and lay beside it until the vultures were done, and his family could bury the bones. but this bird was different, it was a blue, a blue I had never seen before, one that shimmered in the greenish lighting, I was beautiful, such a bright, lively thing. I had to follow it.
Ronne
I watched the grass for a moment, still chucking at myself, when a pretty blue bird appeared, it shimmered under the bright afternoon sun, darting back and forth in front of me, almost as if trying to get my attention, i locked eyes with it, and it took off, headed south, but cutting across a large overgrow field, it turned, saw i wasn't following, and came back. I felt that tug again, and as I watched, the long grass parted to create a path that definitely hadn't been there before. the tug was harder now, rising up from my stomach and into my chest. the bird took of again, and this time, i followed, running down the new path after it, ready for an adventure.
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