Shame Road

[Falcon2001]

Red laughed maniacally. We awaken - conciousness is ours. Strings of blood flowed over his majestic muscled body, as he walked around testing his new frame.

 

Blue pushed her glasses up higher onto her nose. So we have. It seems that he has undergone quite a shock to his central nervous system. Something, it appears, has damaged his psyche.

 

Shut up, you know-it-all. Now I can lead him to vengeance against those who have wronged him.

 

Green laughed, stretching languidly. Her auburn hair and pouty lips were mere elements in a face and body designed for one quite readily apparent thing. The poor baby, he's been alone so long.

 

The last thing he needs is either of you controlling his life. College is hard enough on him as it stands.

 

You're just sore because you're such a frigid bitch. Lighten up, Blue.

 

A fourth person hid among the shadows, peering out at the others with a carefully designed expression. In the formless, shapeless room, he still managed to hide his appearance, muttering to himself the whole time. Yellow good, yellow saves Jeral from harm. Yellow is the nice one. Yesssss.

 

There were more of us. This is an unforeseen circumstance.

 

Who cares? Less competition.

 

Is that all you think about, Red?

 

What else is there?

 

The four continued to bicker, and the game begins, supplanted deep in the brain of a simple man who knows too little about what is really going on inside.

Edited December 19, 2004 by Falcon2001

[Falcon2001]

Title

 

"Hello?"

 

Jeral awoke with a start, looking around sheepishly. His teacher was staring at him, along with the rest of the class. A quick glance around proved his inital thoughts - he had fallen asleep in Ms. Carmichael's class again.

 

"Mr. Jones, what exactly is your problem. Do you not get enough sleep at home or something? I have a hard time believing that someone as intelligent as you could possibly

 

Stupid bitch. Jeral really should stop paying attention to her. Blah blah blah, pay attention in class, study hard, you're so smart. One of these days you need to haul off and slap that whore.

 

keep sleeping through all of my classes like you do" Her voice was stern and the look in her eyes made Jeral look away, embarassed.

 

"I'm sorry, Ms. Carmichael. I'll stay awake from now on." He said, looking at the ground.

 

Ooh, his teacher's quite the little minx. If she wasn't so uptight like some people I know...

 

I'd advise you to shut up, immediately.

 

Or you'll what? Lecture me to death? Leave the poor boy in my extremely capable hands and I'll start making up for all the torment and misery this poor boy's been through - just as soon as I find a capable partner.

 

That's all you ever think about isn't it, Green? Animal lust and seduction.

 

Of course, my dear. That's what I am.

 

He stayed awake through class, listening mindlessly to her lecture on the history of telecommunications. Through the entire thing, he found his mind wandering around, and he almost slumped forward again before catching himself.

 

I'm such a loser. Damnit. he thought to himself, quickly pulling out a sketchpad and idly doodling to pass the time. The rest of the class period skipped on by fairly quickly, and he found himself walking down to the cafeteria as he did every day, even though he had long past run out of money to spend there. He dug his hands into his black jeans and headed down the stairs.

 

On his way down, he bumped into a pair of people, reeling back from the shock. He went to head on his way, mumbling a quick "Sorry." but one of them grabbed his arm, jerking him around. "Watch where you're going, dickhead. I don't have time for stupid little faggots like you."

 

Seriously though, this is the part where you smile and drive your hand into his chest, searching for organs to rip out.

 

Jeral smiled faintly and walked off, but as he turned to leave, he was momentarily paralyzed by a girl coming up the stairs. Long black hair and emerald eyes caught him in a vice grip, squished him flat and left him standing there watching her walk off.

 

Rowr, what a body. I'd love to let my fingers do the walking around that map.

 

I would have figured you'd be more into men, Green. So you're a lesbian now?

 

I prefer the term open-minded.

 

You're such a slut.

 

What a stupid statement. Of course I am.

 

Hmm, that girl...I want that girl. Jeral must have that girl.

 

So there you are, Yellow. I thought I told you to leave!

 

You don't order us around, with your big muscles. Someday I'll have those too.

 

You disgust me.

[Falcon2001]

Red leapt into the air, landing on his hands. From this vantage point, he looked at the other incarnations with a wry grin on his face. By this time his body had fully formed, and from where he was standing, it was magnificent. Red hair sprouted from a tanned head with glaring red eyes and a perfectly sculpted body. Blood ran over form, dripping to the ground and disappearing seconds later. So what should we do? This kid's obviously too broken up over something to look after himself, and we all know that we're more powerful than we seem.

 

Blue sniffed, pushing her glasses back up her nose. I would have assumed you already knew WHAT caused the shock that eventually led to our manifestation in our current forms. She brushed something unseen off of her long white coat and continued. Jeral has gone through several severe crisis situations in his life - nothing singularly destructive but over time, they have built up to create a very palpable force that dictates his current behavior and overrides his natural-born societal tendencies.

 

Green threw her slender hands up in the air. Well, what does it all mean? Unlike you, the rest of us have more important things to do than stick our nose in books all day.

 

Must I remind you that I've never actually read a book, just as you've never actually been with a man and Red over there has never acted on any of his homicidal impulses. In fact, she said, looking over at the miserable little pile of flesh that was Yellow, He's the only one that's really come close to fulfilling his incarnation outside of Jeral.

 

Damnit, Blue. We're all nothing but figments of a kid's imagination. Anything he's ever dreamed, we have done. Ever person he ever wished he could kill, I have. Ever girl he ever wanted to fuck, Green has. Ever thing he ever coveted, Yellow has already been there and done that - and every book he's ever read, you have read as well.

 

Regardless, what has happened is that he is unable to act out these dreams because he is deeply, violently ashamed of himself, for all the wrong reasons. He believes he is ugly, so he never tries to approach women. He believes he is weak, so he never acts out when people try to oppress him. He believes he is stupid, so he never tries to use the intellect he has. And through it all, he believes he can never achieve enough to have the things he wants, so he doesn't try. Yellow is by far the strongest of all of us, because it is through us that he was incarnated.

 

Red shrugged. Just more intellectual bullshit. I think in the end, it's up to us to take care of this kid. We'll have to do a lot more than watch - I think it's time that we started to teach this kid how to really live.

[Falcon2001]

Quick note - I will not be answering any questions about the story - you'll have to figure it out yourself.

 

On top of that - you can go HERE:

 

The discussion/comments thread.

 

To talk about the story or give me suggestions. I <3 the critic's corner and nobody uses it.

Edited December 21, 2004 by Falcon2001