Aspiring Writers

Lucas and I decided to both write a short story about the above picture. All we had to go on was this one picture. Here they are, enjoy!

Lucas’s:

“We came as four, We left as four”

It was snowing, unusual for London this time of year, I looked over at the boys

all confidently walking in stride, laughing, and chuckling over the pints we had

at O’Malleys. I couldn’t get over that we were getting snow in July, but hey; I guess it’s that global warming nonsense.

“Hey Rou!” I said. “You fucking cunt, I can’t believe you did that to O’Malley, the poor fuck!”

“Oh mate, did you like that?” Rou Replied hastily. “That’s what I call the ol’

switcheroo!” he laughed.

I took a drag off my cigarette, and rejoiced in my head of the night and the times

had. It’s not every night I can get these four knuckle heads together.

“Hey, Eddie!”, Rou Shouted.

“What!?!” I said, stumbling around trying to find another fag.

“Do you see that mate?” Rou said.

Looking around immediately I didn’t notice anything. Just a long black railing that

had been holding me up primarily, and endless snow which was starting to piss me off.

“….no” I replied dully, i felt my cheek twitch as I looked him in the eye.

“Mate, look. Seriously Mate. Fuck.” Rou shouted.

I looked over and instantly realized that Kaleb, and Que were gone.

“Where the fuck did they go?” I shouted back, halfway whipping my dick out to piss.

“The fuck if I know!?” Shouted Rou.

I stepped off a small ledge to take a leak. It was now apparent I had too much to drink.

I started to wonder if maybe the boys were playing a prank on me, when I saw it.

A small crack that shimmered on the branches right in front of my face.

“ROU!” I shouted, nearly falling over. “Do you see that mate?!”

I turned my head, to see more shimmering cracks, and what seemed to be holograms.

I saw three bodies shadowed standing side by side. The yellow light seem to illuminate them as if they were from another universe, or worse. Dead. I choked on the bitter cold July air, and lost my balance in fear as I fell from the upper railing where I had so cleverly decided to piss from.

“Fuck!” I yelled, as I hit the pavement with extreme lament, then darkness.

An intense hum, flooded my head, as the wind picked up and the sounds grew darker.

I opened my eyes and reached for the back of my head. I stared up into the black

sky, dead trees hanging over head. The snow hit my face gentle rain, and I stuck my

tongue out for a taste. As I pulled my hand back to see blood.

“Rou??” I shouted. “Are you there?”

“Yes Eddie. We are all here.” Rou replied calmly, as if he had been here for years.

“We’ve been waiting for you.” He added.

“Where the fuck are we mate? First we’re at the O’Malleys, fucking around like usual

then we’re here… What happened?

Rou calmly looked at me, his eyes pierced through me, powerful and seeking.

They pierced through me as eyes should never pierced, calmly and prevailing.

He pulled me up from what seemed like a cement ground with blood from my head, to

a standing position where I realized there was now no blood. I looked around and

saw Rou, Kaleb and Que. They were all standing silent as Rou took one step forward.

“You’re dead Eddie.” Rou said, with a gaunt look on his face.

“wha… What!?” I said. Still trying to figure out if my head was split into from

the fall.

“We came as four, and we left as four.” Rou said.

It was then, the memories came rushing back.

It wasn’t July when it was snowing it was December, the four of us had walked into

a O’Malleys as usual. Rou had decided to once again play a poor trick on O’Malley,

the blind Bar Tender. Malley had a small trinket, he always kept with himself so he could tell

the time and properly tend bar with currency and drinks. It was a strange gadget to say

the least. It resembled a pocket watch on steroids with strange markings on the precipice.

I remembered Rou punched the old man in the stomach, and took this trinket as he was laughing

manically.

“Fuck you old man!” Rou shouted. “We got your stupid fucking watch now don’t we!” He cackled. “Think of that next time you tell us we’ve had enough you blind fuck!”

“What you have taken. You will remain.” O”Malley said calmly as his eyes seem to deepen.

“What you remain, you will take.” He said, as he was trying to catch his breath.

I realized now what we had done. “We came as four, and we left as four.”

We had taken a trinket together as four, from Death himself. We are now Death.

Lydia’s:

Journal Entry 23:

It was a spring day, the warm kind with a scent of rain riding on it’s coattails. I was minding my own business, watching everyone else enjoy the weather. I don’t know why the others never bothered to invite me, but for some reason they didn’t. I would sit alongside the retaining wall next to the benches and watch the passerby’s traveling on their errands. It never failed that I would see groups of them; sometimes children, sometimes teenagers, sometimes grown adults. They would be in a group of four or so, laughing and joking amongst themselves. “How exciting!” I would think to myself. “What fun would it be to have someone alongside you to enjoy this beautiful weather?” It made me happy to see them. To know they had someone with whom to share the gorgeous day and joke about life with. I suppose I envied them too; why couldn’t I have just as much fun?

As fate would have it, and fate only has it it’s way, this day was different. I’m not sure if I sensed it then, but I don’t know how I could have missed the signs looking back. The air was clearer, the scent of rain crisper. I think everyone who passed by was smiling, which was odd. I always saw a few grumps in the lot. But not this day. And then she was there. She was enchanting. The light glinted off her eye in such a way that it almost blinded you. Her hands were so delicate and smooth. And oh her hair! It was glistening and beautiful blowing in the wind. I was speechless, so she was the first to speak. “What’s a handsome fellow doing over here all by himself?” with that cheeky smile of hers.

“Oh, I like to watch the people pass by. It’s refreshing to be alone sometimes y’know?” I stammered at her. She just looked at me, not through me, but into my soul.

“But you don’t choose to be alone, do you? Mind if I sit?” Of course I didn’t. I patted the ground next to me and she gracefully sat. We talked on that day. Talked about life, where we were from, where we were wanting to go. And we watched the people and I taught her the beauty in seeing them go on their merry ways. We would think up back stories to the groups we saw. The groups were always theJour most fun. We would name them and talk about what they were doing at that particular time.

The days went by and began to blend together. We would meet every day and sit there on the ledge. Eventually I invited her home with me and we began to build a life together. We still go out on that ledge, though. One particular group of people caught our eye in those early weeks. Every day we’d see the same group of four walk past our perch. We gave them names, of course, and stories about their lives. They were young, I believe college-age perhaps. It never failed that they would be there through the seasons. We began to really adopt these people as our own, seeing as we saw them each day and felt like we knew what they were up to. It was so fun to watch them grow and hear snippets of what they were doing in their lives. It was just the two of us, and I grew to want only that companionship. It was fun watching the people in groups, but just two seemed to be the perfect number for me. Those four really made me happy though. They were all so jovial and kind to one another.

I guess I’m reminiscing now because it’s another beautiful spring day with rain tugging at the hem of it. We finally moved from that neighborhood; it’d been something we both wanted. The new area is much better with fresher food and better trees and hiding places. But I always think back to that cement wall, where those four would walk every day, and where I met the love of my life. The picture is fuzzy now, yet always ingrained in my mind.

–From the Mind of a Squirrel