A Little Walk

Transformed From: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
In the Style of an: Allegory

The boys travelled East on a brisk winters morning. The forest was dense and unforgiving, the trails could easily be lost if you were not paying attention. There were twelve of them: Alex, Adam, Jasper, John, Bert, Raymond, George, William, Joseph, Nick, Richard and Charles. George was the leader, because of a democratic vote, followed by his best friend Jasper. George was skinny, but taller than the rest, his hair was jet black, his nose was thin, and his lips were full. Jasper was short, and stubby, his hair was a dirty blond, and features had been lost in his face due to the fat under his chin and on his cheeks. Some of the weaker boys fell behind when travelling through the forest, their feat scraped on the soft mud beneath their feet.

After three hours of walking a black squirrel started to follow the boys. It was bushy and looked friendly. It didn’t interact with any of the other boys. The ground hardened, the trees parted, and the sun burst through. The boys loved the squirrel; it brought them luck they couldn’t have imagined. Their feet no longer squelched under them, and their back-backs didn’t feel as heavy. George kept a watchful eye on their guest. He didn’t understand why it would take the time to be with them. He didn’t think they were all that interesting.

They set up camp for the first night. They took all the necessary precautions, making sure the tents were correctly pegged, all zips were secure, and their bellies were full. In the early evening the squirrel stood upright, and looked into the infinite darkness that lay before him. It didn’t move. The boys soon drifted into unconsciousness and dreams pursued. As for George, he lay awake and waited for the right moment; the right moment to get out of the tent and go over to the squirrel. When he did depart from his shared tent he just about saw the black squirrel because one candle lit in the middle of the camp. George took good care in trying not to disturb the creature, until he was right behind it. George wrapped his hands round the animal and broke its neck. Jasper saw all of it. George accidently awoke him when he opened the tent.

Jasper told everyone the next morning. George was highly disappointed in him. The squirrel was wrapped around his bag. When Jasper sprung to mind in his head he wanted to punch the trunk of a tree. He was demoted from the leader of the group and Jasper was obviously promoted. Jasper looked like a pig, George thought. When walking that day the mud and puddles become unbearable. Make a wrong step and a boys leg would be lost. The bushes and trees became so close together that they had to go single file to stop bumping into one another. Raymond was the first to speak to George, ‘That squirrel gave us luck. The ground was hard and the trees were far.’ George didn’t reply, he did not want to humour such a gullible fool. At lunch they discovered the crate of full water bottles had gone missing. It was soon found out that Alex had forgotten the crate at the last camp sight. Everybody sighed with dried throats.

Night soon fell and the boys bickered as to how to ration their food, and who deserved the most and who deserved the least. George and Alex deserved the least, they decided. As they set up their tents they heard footsteps coming their way. Everyone became on edge, they were petrified it could be a mad man. Two figures soon immerged from the darkness. One was a woman. One was a man. The woman was in red. And the man in black. The woman looked like love. And the man looked like death. Could it be? It turned out they were looking for directions to the way out the forest. George told them, and they headed west, hand in hand.

The next day wasn’t so bad, apart from one small thing. Everybody died, or seemed to anyway. It was midday, and the boys were having a rest. George was standing up, he looked like hell. All of the other boys were lying on the soft earth, all of their mouths opened simultaneously and white shadows lifted into the sky. It created a cloud above George’s bewildered head; it was not a dark cloud, but a rather light one. He pondered and cried for a while wondering desperately what to do. He couldn’t leave them, but he didn’t want to die with them. He ended up waiting five hours, thirty eight minutes and a couple of seconds. In this age George appreciated the nature surrounding him. The wind whistling, the birds singing songs to their significant other and the vibrant colours the forest had to offer, which hardly anybody would see. He thought just because a lake that is in a middle of forest, which nobody will ever see doesn’t make it any less beautiful and serene. As he thought this thought at five hours, thirty eight minutes and a couple of seconds the cloud of souls above his head plummeted back into the bodies of the boys surrounding him. The squirrel from George’s bag fell onto the leaves, and rested peacefully.

All of the boys awoke from what seemed like a deep slumber. They all looked at George and nothing sprung to mind. The trees appeared to part and a main road was in front of them. They left the forest and never returned. George saw an old lady walking down the street the next day; he grabbed her and told her everything.


by Frank Wheeler

The Ancient Mariner Transformation

Transformation into style of George Orwell

A mother pulled another shirt from the basket, placed it on the ironing board and continued to iron. This continued for some time until her son came running into the room, covered in mud, with grass stains all over his clothes. Her son appeared to be very excited. “What is it, son?” asked his mother.

“Mum!” he shouted, “I have to tell you about my expedition through the forest”

“But son, I have many clothes to iron and more chores to see to”

“Never mind that, this story is incredible. Now listen” he ordered.

“We were trekking through the forest. There were seven of us in total. All around us were trees, and the ground was muddy. It looked like it would be a difficult trip for my friends and I. Some of the boys lagged behind, dragging their feet, because the mud was difficult to walk through.  We used rakes to push bushes to the side to clear some paths. It was a difficult journey for all of us.”

“Okay son, that’s a very nice story, but if you don’t mind, I have work to d-“

“Please, wait; this is where the story gets interesting” he pleaded.

“We continued to walk, when a squirrel came running towards us. This squirrel was small, and it was black. My friend told me how black squirrels were very rare. It was a very striking squirrel, I thought. It came to us and stayed. We all thought how weird it was, because it wasn’t running away. It accompanied us on our travels. We all noticed a difference in the forest as we walked on. The paths were clear, the ground became firm and the tress opened up above us, allowing sunlight to pass through. The boys were happy about our companion as it seemed to have brought us good luck as we made our way through the large forest. We made camp for the night in a patch of area clear of trees, as it was beginning to get dark. As we setup the camp and sat beside the fire, the squirrel stood beside us looking into the dark of the night, almost as if he was standing guard, protecting us from whatever laid ahead in the darkness. Our nerves calmed, and we were very thankful for having the squirrel with us. Some of us even prayed, thanking God for giving us this blessing. My friends went to sleep with clear minds, however, I didn’t. Whilst my friends were asleep, I got up, went over to the black squirrel, and kicked it away, into the dark.”

“What? Why? Why would you kick it away? It was helping you…” questioned the mother.

“Just let me finish and you’ll see” he told her.

“I turned around to check if I had woken up any of my friends, but they all appeared to be asleep. I went back to bed myself, when I realised that the night had become very cold. I tried to sleep but then I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around, and all my friends were standing above me. They asked me why I kicked the squirrel away. They seemed angry, and scared. Then, a strong wind came upon us, blowing out the fire and causing our tents to collapse. My friends all blamed it on the absence of the squirrel. They all assumed that the good luck was gone, and had been replaced with bad luck, and they blamed me for it, because I kicked away the squirrel away. Since there was no place for us to sleep anymore, we decided to carry on our expedition through the night. We were all very tired, and the conditions were worse than when we started off. It was very cold, the winds were strong, and it was raining. The ground became muddy, and the paths were filled with shrubs and thorns. We moved at a very slow pace. My friends were bitter towards me, as they blamed me for the terrible conditions we were in. Some of us kept on falling, getting covered in mud, and we all had to stop and help each other up every time.”

“You got what you deserved. You should treat nature with respect.” The mother told her son.

The son looked down at his feet and was embarrassed by his actions. He then continued to tell the story. “Things were beginning to calm down however, as we continued. The rain had stopped, and it was no longer so cold. We were making our way when I tripped over a root form a tree, getting covered in mud. I got up by myself, as none of my friends came to help me, however, when I looked around, my friends were nowhere to be seen. I was alone in the forest, and it was very quiet. I wasn’t sure what to do, or where they went. I made my backwards from where I was going, however, I had lost my bearings and I wasn’t sure what direction to go. So I just moved forward. Nothing but me and the forest I was in. I walked along, as the path was clear, unlike before, however, there was something different.  I noticed that, the greenery was illuminated, almost as if they were glowing. Then I looked around, and realised that the whole forest was glowing. Everywhere around me, nature was giving out a dim white light. It was beautiful. As I walked through the forest, I lost focus on what was ahead of me and instead I looked around me; at the trees; the sky and the moon. Soon, bright red birds came to fly beside me. It then came to my attention that there were hundreds of them, in front of me, in the trees and to my sides. The scene that was before me, it was amazing. Nature looked wonderful as I stood in it. Something came upon me just then. I realised that, this is the work of God. He created me, he created the trees and he created the birds. He created everything. And he loves his creation. I wonder what God thought of me, when he saw me kick his squirrel”

“He probably thought bad of you, and thought you needed to be taught a lesson. Have you?” the mother asked

“Yes I have” her son replied.

“And what lesson did you learn?”

“To respect God’s creation” he said proudly.

“So what happened next” she asked.

“Once I realised what I had to, everything went black. I opened my eyes to find that I was back at the place where we camped. My friends were asleep around me, and the black squirrel was still there, standing beside us.”

- Anas 

A Moment

Poem: Raymond Carver – Happiness

Transformation: Realistic Short story

A Moment

It’s five a.m. The alarm clock rings on as the troubled man awakens from his equally troubling slumber. He lays there, in his bed, unable to get up. He stares at the ceiling with his tired eyes, and sighs. He is sighing as he realises that, today, will be like every other day, in the troubled man’s life. He musters the energy to get up and out of bed. The alarm clock’s ring stops as the man turns it off, however its sound lingers through its echo around the empty house. The troubled man’s feet are greeted warmly by his antique Persian rug. The floor suddenly turns hard and cold as the troubled man steps onto the marble floor of his bathroom. The troubled man brushed his teeth and bathed a luxurious bath.

The troubled man’s house was large, for he was not without his riches, but none of it was enough to wash away his troubles. He made his way to his kitchen through the maze of corridors that was his house. The early sun’s rays painted his kitchen a glorious yellow through his glass wall overlooking the rest of the street. It was breath taking; however, not for the troubled man. He saw its beauty, but he also saw its ugly. The troubled man made himself a coffee and went to sit beside the large window overlooking his kitchen and living room. He looked at the beautiful day and thought nothing of it. This morning has been like any other morning for the troubled man. The troubled man sipped his coffee as his trace of thought was broken by the sight of two boys walking up the road. The man’s eyes lit up when he saw them. The two boys were delivering the newspaper. They had on their caps and their sweaters. One of the boys had a bag over his shoulder full of newspapers. The sun lit up their bright happy faces. They laughed and they played as they delivered their papers together. The man caught a glint of the sun against the white teeth of one of the boy’s ear to ear grin. The boys’ laughter and chatter ceased, but the smiles were there to stay on their faces as was the sun to the early morning sky. The silence was there yet so much could be heard and seen. Nature came alive during the silence. The birds were in song; the trees swayed in the wind; the silent flight of a butterfly proved a spectacle in the moment; this moment.  This moment that had seized the man and the two boys; this moment where the man looked over at the two boys, and noticed, that, above all things, they were happy. In this moment the boys weren’t saying anything to each other. They were nothing but a couple of young early risers, full of life, who were doing this thing together. In this moment, where the boys enjoyed each other’s company and were delivering the newspaper under the sun of the early hours of the morning, the new days’ adventures just waiting to behold them. It was in this moment where all the man’s troubles left him, forgotten for all space and time. The man continued to stare in awe. ‘They are so at ease!’ he thought, ‘They are so happy…’ the man said. It was only then that the man realised that, he was envious of them; envious of their youth; their energy; their happiness. He wished the moment could go on, forever. The man didn’t want to go back to his troubles; to the lifeless days of adulthood. He wanted to stay in the moment with the boys, where life shined brightly; where the beauty could take his breath away; where he could be happy, and content. The man wished he could reach out to the boys; the boys who were happy, delivering the newspaper, and walking together under the bright sun and pale moon of the crisp Wednesday morning. The man wanted to tell them to appreciate their happiness. He wanted to tell them to appreciate their life, before it leaves them; before they grow old. He wanted to tell them to use their imagination and go on adventures and build ships and explore space and slay monsters and save the universe; he wanted them to be happy, forever. He wanted to tell them, before it was too late, that this is the happiest they’ll ever be. That it only gets worse. But he couldn’t. The man knew he couldn’t, for many reasons. But most importantly, the man knew he couldn’t tell them that their lives will get worse; that they’ll have to work; and earn money; and pay to live their life of sadness, as this will rob them of their happiness now. And the moment will end. The man knew he had to let them be, that he had to allow their short happy lives to go on unharmed, for it doesn’t last long. The man knew they needed as much of it as they could get. The man stayed in the moment. He looked on, clasping at the last rays of life that emit from the boys. The man wished never to return to his troubles. The boys walked on, coming and going like a train of youthful radiance. In trying so hard to grasp, the man lost control of the moment, and alas, the moment had passed. The troubled man’s troubles returned. His head was swarmed with things he wished he could forget. The troubled man would be late for work today if he didn’t leave soon. The troubled man realised this. He quickly got up, tied his tie, and stepped outside, only to find a newspaper at his feet. The troubled man picked it up, but all the man saw was money and war. The troubled man wept. To himself, the troubled man thought about how horrid the world has become. He thought about how separate those boys were from it all. How separate all three of them were in that moment that had passed.

- Lemon Man 

One Summer's Day

One summer’s day

It took quite a while for Adrian to end up where he was at this present moment. A beautiful view of the sunset horizon, a pretty German girl, and an ice cream stain on his shirt. Perfect. It wasn’t meant to be like this either but Adrian had learned long ago – Life turns in the strangest ways to get to the greatest place. This whole account of Adrian’s outing would make a lot more sense if it started from the beginning so it would be appropriate to bring it right back to the start of it all: a small estate in Canning Town.

It was a hot summer’s day. A very hot summer’s day. Adrian was sure that despite his brown complexion he had begun to tan. Adrian furrowed his brow in annoyance as he leaned against the rusted, rental car for the Seafront trip. He was spending a week out in Canning Town with his aunt and uncle in their small council flat. His mind was with his closest friends, who at this moment in time were competing in the European Championships for breaking in Holland. That would have been perfect for Adrian. Nothing better than somersaulting in the air, adrenaline pumping through your system and people roaring in amazement as you represented your country at the most elite level. Then again, things could be worse than spending a week with some relatives. Aunt Mumbai appeared, her eyes glittering with excitement. She was wearing a bright orange sundress and flip flops. “Don’t you feel jubilant? A beautiful day to the beach! Bright-on!” she exclaimed as she danced around a depressed Adrian and hurled her bags in the boot of the rental.

“Nice wordplay” Adrian said dryly as he pulled out his phone. If he couldn’t escape physically perhaps he could escape virtually.

“Now, now, you won’t be needing that” sang Uncle Tom as he swiped Adrian’s phone from his hand, leaving him to clutch the warm, summer air.

“What the hell?” Adrian whined, rising to his feet.

“The youth of today are so caught up in their gadgets, they can’t appreciate true beauty when they have it” Uncle Tom teased as he slipped the phone away. Uncle Tom always spoke with a poetic essence. Adrian thought it was kind of cool but it wasn’t necessarily a likeable asset at a time like this. Adrian looked Uncle Tom up and down. He wore flowery shorts and flip flops however from the top; Uncle Tom sported a large, black bomber jacket and a scarf.

“What is up with that?” Adrian asked, raising his hand to cover the smirk that was arising.

“That is truly...crazy, dear” Aunt Mumbai laughed unapologetically. “What? You never know when the hay fever might catch you” Uncle Tom explained casually. With the pre-journey banter finished, Aunt Mumbai, Uncle Tom and Adrian hopped into the rental and began the drive to Brighton Seafront.

Despite Adrian’s reluctance towards the trip even he had to admit that the Seafront was a good place to be on a Saturday. The sky was a light blue with the occasional puffy cloud and the sun kissed everyone below with pleasant warmth. The smells from various food stalls drifted in the air; the aromas telling which culture they came from. Vibrant music was playing in the distance calling Adrian to join the party. “So... what are we going to do?” Adrian pondered as his Aunt and Uncle took in their surroundings.

“The question, my brother’s only son, is what are you going to do? Me and your aunt fancy eating at some restaurants. We don’t want to be with you any more than you want to be with us” Uncle Tom replied in mock irritancy. Aunt Mumbai stifled a laugh as they strolled away arm in arm.

“Fair enough” Adrian mumbled as he walked towards the pier and hopefully some adventure.

Walking along the pier, Adrian caught a glimpse of the towering Ferris wheel. He would have loved to go on it but that would make him look too much like a loser. It was bad enough feeling like one. He didn’t mind too much though. The weather was nice and everyone was feeling the positive energy summer brought every year. The fresh breeze and sight of the sea was calming in contrast to the bustling streets of Canning Town. Rhythmic clapping caught the ears of Adrian and as he peered up ahead he spotted a large crowd surrounding a group of dancers dressed in bright, colourful clothing. The crowd cheered as the dances spun on their heads and moved with the same pace as the up-beat music. As Adrian drew nearer he saw one of the performers get three people to kneel on the wooden surface of the pier. The crowd parted to make some sort of runaway. “Okay ladies and gentlemen. My colleague here is about to do what is called a webster!” shouted a dancer in a green vest. One of the dancers, wearing a red cap, walked backwards. The crowd watched eagerly as he ran forward and leaped into the air somersaulting once then landing on his feet. The crowd clapped enthusiastically for him. “If anyone feels they can do better, feel free to try!” the dancer in the green vest challenged as he clapped his fellow performers on their backs. Adrian couldn’t help but crack a flippant smile. He and his friends did things like this at their local gym regularly!

“I think everyone should see my Jesus flip!” Adrian exclaimed. Some of the crowd looked at him with no interest while others sniggered. Even the dancers gave him a sceptical look.

“Okay then, go ahead” the green vest dancer laughed. Adrian took his turn to walk backwards a distance and prepare for what had been the only little bit of excitement all day. Adrian caught a glimpse of a pretty girl that was standing on the side in a blue hoodie but he didn’t take notice for long. He had a bar to set. Adrian ran forward. The crowd caught their breath in anticipation as he ran forward then executed a powerful cartwheel that bounced him into the air. He distinctly held the shape of a crucifix then closed in, doing a backward somersault and landing perfectly on his feet. The crowd cheered in utter amazement as Adrian flashed a grin at the dancers whose mouths were gaping in awe.

“Easy” Adrian thought to himself as he casually walked down the pier, looking out the horizon.

“Hey, um, I was really impressed with that thing” squeaked a tiny voice with a peculiar accent. Adrian whirled around and almost stumbled over himself. Before him was the pretty girl he saw earlier but he had never paid attention. Her mane of tawny hair fell carelessly past her shoulders and her hazel eyes were mesmerizing.

“Um, y-yo...” Adrian stammered.

“Yo?” the girl replied in confusion, her accent coming out more strongly.

“I mean thanks” Adrian spluttered.

“Oh, okay” the girl laughed, shying away from him. “My name is Lea”.

“And I am Adrian”. Adrian offered his hand and Lea reached for it. Her hands were soft and delicate to touch. “So...Lea, where you from?”

“Germany” she smiled, “And you?”

“Here you know...” Adrian answered awkwardly. There was a moments silence between the two but then Adrian decided to break it. “Why don’t we do something?”

“Yes, that would be nice” Lea replied, her eyes brightening. “It would be nice to explore the pier with somebody”.

Adrian spent the majority of the day with Lea. Letting the truth be told it was one of the best days out Adrian had in a long time. They went to a Caribbean food stall. Adrian had an ice cream and was already accustomed to the tastes of the Caribbean and felt to introduce Lea to it. “Hmmm, this is good!” Lea exclaimed as she continued stuffing the spicy meat into her mouth “What is it, lamb?”

“Frog legs!” Adrian laughed as Lea spat it out her mouth in disgust. Adrian was sobbing from laughter at Lea’s expense.

“Funny to you?” Lea asked, as she grabbed Adrian’s ice cream and planted it on his face before sprinting away

“Okay, I see how it is!” Adrian teased as he took off in hot pursuit.

The rest of the day was fairly smooth. They teased each other as they rode on the Ferris wheel, laughed together as they posed behind cut-outs of mermaids, and splashed water on each other while exchanging amusing stories. They finally rested on the beach and began to wind down, looking to the fiery orange horizon. The waves lapped soothingly and stars pin-pointed the violet sky.   

“So you’re uncle really is a consecutive at Lamborghini?” Adrian asked for the fifth time.

“Yes, it is not ‘all that’, as you people would say” Lea sighed, giving him a playful punch on the shoulder.

“Better than rental crap, I had to take here” Adrian countered. “Your Dad really has a share in a multi-million whatever company?”

“Yeah. It is not all good though. I rarely get to see him now and I’m always travelling to different countries, never settling” Lea replied.

“I guess... but I’d love to travel and see different places”.

“It is tiring. Who knows when next I’ll see you? You find something good about a place and you get torn from it”

“If only you understood where I’m coming from. In Canning Town people would kill for that. If some of my boys had the opportunities you had, they’d be in a better place” Adrian argued.

“Different not better. People spend all their lives working, pleasing others getting money and for what? Don’t you think you want to look back and say you left something for people to be proud of?” Lea replied.

“I hear what you’re saying. Money doesn’t last. Got do something worth being remembered for” Adrian answered.

“See you do understand Adrian” Lea said softly, stroking his cheek. Adrian rested his head in her lap and closed his eyes, taking it all in, bathing in the moment. It was one of those days that Adrian didn’t want to end. “I still can’t believe you made me eat frog legs”.

“Den mund halten. You put ice cream on my shirt” Adrian chuckled.

“No, you shut up” Lea insisted playfully “Nice view, is it not?”

“Yeah” Adrian agreed. “A very nice view”.

Ayo

       

  

Life and Death and Love and Fate and Lies and People

The story I am about to tell doesn’t include any characters based on real people, any similarities are solely coincidental. 

‘There are three things in life young man that you have to have: something to do, someone to love and something to hope for.’ The old man croaked at me, he was standing so close that I could almost taste the brand of cigarettes he smoked. His features were extremely defined; a nose which seemed too large for his face, his ears were also very large and so were his eyes, but I think that was the fact that they were magnified so much by his thick glasses. His jaw line for an old man was impressive; perhaps it could have cut glass back in the day. I did not know this man, which was surprising because I lived in a village with the population of about four; but I obviously looked like a friendly face to approach on a mild spring evening to talk about life. ‘I’ve got two of them. Thank you.’ He gave me a cold look and continued walking down the road to where I could only guess where his final destination lay. 

In my right hand I held two books, one of which was Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the other, poetry by Allan Ginsberg. I was meeting a person on a bench which overlooked the small village that I lived in. No matter what the weather was the bench was always cold, someone must have died on it a very long time ago. I was meeting a girl, a female, a person without a penis if you must know. She wasn’t a romantic option, trust me. Don’t get me wrong she was beautiful, she had hair a dark brown, so dark that it was almost black, but get it in the right light it glinted brown. Her eyes were very nearly black as well, but look for long enough brown was visible even if for a few seconds. Anyway, we had swapped books and we were just switching back, that was the only reason for our rendezvous, don’t get any dreamy ideas.  

I sat down on the bench, it was cold; she turned up and sat next to me about five minutes later. We sat there for about another five minutes looking down at the village, for some reason we found it strangely fascinating; we didn’t talk, we just breathed. Then to break the silence she asked if I had the books and I said yes, there was no need to lie. I put the two books in between the little gap between myself and her, she returned my book, A Clockwork Orange. ‘Walk?’ She asked. I looked into her eyes which seemed to have no end and then I finally nodded; to get to the forest where walking would usually take place we needed to wind our way through the alleyways and streets of the village. 

We strolled down the hill on which the bench was placed. There wasn’t much to talk about when it came to the village and its inhabitants. It was dull to say the least; I can only describe it as being an only child without any cousins and parents that rarely talk to you, and grandparents that don’t give you a sloppy kiss on the forehead when you see them. That is how lonely and depressing the village was. The girl was new to the village.
‘Why?’ I asked.
‘I didn’t want to, trust me, I could see no reason as to me moving to a place where they have the most boring people on the planet...no offence.’ She quickly replied.
‘None taken.’
We reached the end of the hill and started to walk past the first or last few houses of the village, it depended where you were standing. It was pretty much night time, the clock if I was at home would have struck ten when we turned to the conversation of people; people in general. We both decided that we did not much rather care for them. We did not like the way they lied, and talked and could let you down in so many different ways. We both had trust issues; that was obvious. She asked who had let me down; and I treated her to the story of my old school friend. He was new at my primary school, I would have been around six or seven, and so was he. After he had been rejected and laughed at by a boy who was supposed to show him around the school I volunteered to show him the disappointments of our prison; the way all of the taps leaked in the toilets and the way the basketball hoop had fallen down and was now merely propped against the post rather than on top of it. Then one day in high school when we were growing into men he posted a half naked picture of himself on the internet. People liked it; he grew self confidence, then he became a dick. That was that, the friendship was over. Just like that. Over. I then asked what made her so cold and she simply replied, ‘Someone promised they would always be there for me, but they weren’t.’ I left it at that, perhaps half a tear would have been in the corner of her eye; but I couldn’t see; but I sensed one was there. 

The village felt cold even though the air was humid. I think it was that kind of atmosphere. The village was still; if something moved you would know. There were about three people walking about; myself and the person without a penis beside me happened to meet all three of them. The first was a fairly young gentleman, he was cleanly shaven, but looked a bit socially inept. His hair was thick and red and it was pushed back with the help of a hair-band, his cheeks were rosy and his double chin was hard to miss, it seemed to engulf the collar on his freshly ironed shirt. He was on the other side of the road when we saw him, he was outside the butcher’s shop smoking a cigar, it wasn’t a Cuban cigar, they were hard to come by in these part. It was a long thin cigar. He spotted us over the road, and as soon as he did he took off his hair-band swiped back his hair with the hand he wasn’t holding the cigar in. He put the hair-band back on and whistled; the loud whistle that people do in the films when they’re in New York. It was ridiculous to do it in such a small village when the sky was virtually black. Anyway, beside this the person without a penis and I looked at each other and gave the look of ‘Oh God, another weirdo.’ Saying this, we still crossed the road, we even looked both ways before we did, that was ridiculous in itself, cars weren’t even parked, let alone driving at this time of night.
‘Gotta be careful you two.’ He whispered. I had no idea why he was whispering. He seemed to be a man of contradictions.
‘Why’s that sir?’ The girl asked, she was whispering and that was something that I had never seen before, the times I had had the pleasure of hearing her speak she was usually confident with her voice.
‘Fate and all, it’s all bullshit.’
‘Oh, don’t worry sir, I don’t believe in that.’ She replied quickly and had a slight smirk on her face.
The man with the hair-band struck his eyes to mine and questioned, ‘Do you?’
‘Well, I don’t know, sometimes I think so.’ I wasn’t going to lie; I was really bad at the whole act. I used to become sweaty and look all over the place. It was obvious. But as soon as I said ‘sometimes’ I knew that I had made a mistake.
‘I believe that you are an idiot. Why would the human race have a purpose or a reason to be here, or the reason for a person to be with another person? It’s stupid. Only people who cannot take the realities of this world believe in such fairy tale statements.’
‘Oh.’ I mumbled. I didn’t know what to say, he seemed like a timid man at first, but now his voice had raised and a cat had jumped onto a low wall to see what all the ruckus was about.
‘You probably think that you’re meant to be here. You think you’re meant to be walking with this lady. The lady you feel so much for. You probably think that you’re meant to spend the rest of your life with her.’ His eyes didn’t pull away from me during the speech.
‘Well, I don’t know about that.’ I replied.
The person without a penis interrupted and asked, ‘Oh, you don’t think that?’
‘I didn’t say that I do not not like you.’
‘What about the fact that you may not not not like me?’
There was a pause.
‘I’m going, thanks for the chat sir; I’ll take it in mind; it might become useful one day.’ And with that I crossed the road again and looked both ways. I didn’t wait to see what the reaction on the man’s face was; probably one of confusion. The girl came running after me and asked if I was okay. I nodded my head. The girl continued to say that she didn’t mean to make me uncomfortable and that she was just pulling my leg. After a short silence the girl uttered that she sort of believed in fate, but if she had shared it with the weird socially inept man there would’ve been an in depth conversation. ‘You need to learn to lie.’ That was her words of advice on that humid but strangely cold evening. 

We were half way through the village when I saw my neighbour June. She was a nosy old bag. She never let anyone have any secrets, so when I saw her I immediately thought that she would tell my mum about the little rendezvous I was having with the person without a penis that was stood next to me. I like friendships where it’s just you and another person; you don’t have to worry about meeting their friends, and being openly affectionate in public. When you truly get along with someone you don’t have to worry about always having a conversation in hand, their company is always enough.
‘Oh, hello, hello umm...’ The old bag stuttered.
‘Hello June.’ I wasn’t going to tell her my name. I told her every time I saw her.
‘Aren’t you going to introduce me to your little friend?’ She asked.
‘Of course, this is Miss. Fate.’ I smirked and looked at the girl, we were standing under a lamp post, so I managed to see a little brown in her eyes and it glinted, but as soon as I saw it the shade seemed to disappear.
‘What are you doing out this time of night?’ She continued to stammer.
‘I’m just dropping Miss. Fate home. She’s new to the village and she was lost. I hope you understand June.’
‘What I nice young lad. He’s a keeper isn’t he Miss. Fate?’ She managed to be looking at me and the girl at the same time. The person beside me just smiled and gave me a slight prod; I took the hint and said my goodbyes to June. 

We reached the forest, when entered the trees covered up the sky and the paths were pretty much pitch black. I found it relaxing. We talked about films, books and music; all the things I enjoyed about life. We managed to get to the end of the path without falling in the mud and making an embarrassment of our selves. At the end of the trail there was a junction; a left path and a right path, ‘Which one?’ she asked. I suggested that we should flip a coin; and so we did. The answer turned out to be left. The path was beside a lake, it was picturesque. The sky was also stunning. It seemed to be so many different colours.
We looked at each other and said, ‘Pick a colour on the count of three.’
‘1...2...3!’
‘Purple!’ I blurted out.
‘Peachy!’ She yelled.
We looked at one another and laughed.  Perhaps it wasn’t meant to be, like I said at the beginning. After walking another five or ten minutes she complained that her legs needed a rest. With that we turned off and went down a small pathway. It ended up by a stream, we decided this was a good place to sit; the ground was slightly damp, but not enough to leave a mark on my jeans and her dress. We sat down and talked about life, and talked about death, neither of which sounded too appealing. ‘Write me something.’ She said softly. I looked at her and said that I didn’t have any paper, or in fact a pen. As soon as I uttered those words she brought out a pen from her inside jacket pocket and held out her forearm. ‘I always needed a tattoo.’ I smiled and held her arm in front of me ready to write. It was very difficult. I was usually full of words but now I was empty. She said I could just sit there, it’s fine. I did just that and thought. She placed her head on my shoulder, it was heavy, I liked it.
‘Your heart’s beating quickly.’ She whispered.
‘I’m sorry. Maybe I’m just really unfit.’
‘I can feel it; I don’t like it.’ With that she raised her head back up and just sat next to me. After a few minutes a finally wrote, ‘I have created an idyllic creature who turned out to be true.’ She glanced at me and said, ‘I like it, it’s pretty.’ She brought her legs up to her chest and looked down. We sat there for a while in silence; even though we weren’t speaking I still enjoyed the company of her. 

‘Hi.’ A voice broke the stillness, and it was neither one of ours. We both jumped, I went so far as to stand up. Behind us was a young boy, he must have been around six or seven, he was holding his shoes under his right arm. His T-Shirt was red, so it illuminated terrifically in the dark.
‘Hey.’ The girl said.
‘I don’t want to get my shoes muddy.’ The little boy replied.
‘I’m sure we can take care of them for you.’ The girl replied to the reply.
‘What are you doing out here little man?’ I added.
‘My parents were arguing again.’ The boy continued replying.
‘I hate parents, they’re so frustrating. But it all blows over, come on let us take you back home.’ The girl suggested. The boy was happy to walk with us; he talked about how his parents shouted over the most stupid things. The girl contributed to this to say that her parents were divorced and that no-body would ever be as bad as them so his would be fine. She said that sometimes adults just shout at each other and argue to one another as to express their love, if everyone and everything was all hunky dory the world would be a rather terrible place. I didn’t have much to add on the subject because my parents used to sit in the living room at night and just fall asleep on different sofas without uttering a word. So maybe my parents were the least happy of all, more sad than those who shout and moan. 

We dropped the boy back home; he lived in one of the homes on the perimeter of the cold village. The door was open so we gave him a slight nudge and that was that. I never saw the child again. I never knew if his parents stayed together. I never knew if he became a slob. I never knew anything about him. 

I started to walk the person without a penis home and our hands brushed a couple of times. I think I looked into it a bit too much.
‘I don’t feel.’ She said out of the blue.
‘What?’ I replied, quite taken aback by such an abstract comment.
‘I don’t feel; me and you won’t go anywhere, it’s the closest I’ll get to liking anybody. It’s not your fault, it’s just the fact that I don’t love anybody and I won’t feel for anybody. I’ll let you down. I’ll make you cry. I’ll be a burden.’
‘You won’t be a burden.’
‘I will, you don’t know me.’
‘I know, but I want to.’ 

I saw her day after day after that day, every day was surreal, it was like I found someone that I could talk to about nothing in particular. Every day was a good day. 

Months’ past.

‘I found a guy. We go for walks. I just thought I’d tell you.’ She said on another cold evening overlooking the cold village.
‘Do you feel for him?’ I asked.
‘I don’t know.’

That was the one answer that said I would never be adequate. That was the answer where it justified all of my thoughts on people who lie. That was the answer that answered my queries on fate. That was the answer of my existence. 

I don’t know. 

D.R. Hayes

The Missing Star Spotted by Zero

First it started out as light rain, just normal rain. This was the late 21^st Century. Nobody thought anything of it. However, the rain continued, heavier and lighter, it depended on the day. But there was never a day where it didn’t rain. Then on the 25^th September 2187, the first major catastrophe hit London. A meteor. Not too big. The diameter was about five meters, but it catapulted right into the side of the Shard. An 87 storey skyscraper, which is now nearly 200 years old, it was well built, and survived the Third World War. It was once the tallest in Europe, but was overtaken by l'automne, in France a couple of decades later. The French didn’t like being beaten by the English, especially after the Prime Minister at the time, David Cameron, called them garlic eaters at a UN conference. Anyway, a meteor struck the Shard on the top floor, scraped it really. But five people died because of it. The remains of the meteor were never found, it was all very strange. It was all over the news, and the blame was on the astronomers of the time. How didn’t they see this? They had no answers. It just came out of the blue, they said. So, for about half a year or so, they were all on high alert, looking for whatever. But after this time period the hype calmed down, and all was back to normal. A year later, the second meteor hit, in a desert thankfully, a big one it was, 20 meters. It would have destroyed a big chunk of a city. Again, high alert, and many questions to be asked.  However, it all died down again, all very comical it was.

There was a new kid on the block at a newly built observatory in Scotland, his name was Zero. He was brought up to try and fit in, and not to look at anyone funny. It was weird, because by the mid 21^st Century, you were always told to stand out. You were told to dye your hair, be bright, be bold. That’s why when ‘designer babies’ became legal in 2040 all the celebrities made their children ginger. They were all trying to give a homage to the recently deceased David Bowie. It all kind of back fired, because there were so many ginger babies about, and there was a big back lash to the ‘designer baby’ law, and it became illegal again fifteen years later. So there was just a generation of ginger people which have all died out now. So by Zero’s time everyone had gone back to brown and blond hair, all the same. They all wore white turtle necks, and they all wore red blazers. It was a very strange time. Anyway, Zero had a big interest in the stars, every since he was a little lad. He looked up into the stars one evening and realised something was wrong, something was missing. There was a blackness were his favourite star would be. He called someone in to clarify he wasn’t going mad. The news spread and in Zero’s mind he was surprised nobody had realised before. It was kept a secret for many months, and everyone involved was looking at it. To everyone’s dismay the blackness was getting bigger.

NASA was informed and their conclusion was that this blackness was in our Solar System and heading towards earth. NASA started to build a rocket to investigate, a non manned mission that is. It was launched on the 25^th December 2193, it headed for the blackness, and the images that were sent back were staggering. It was a prism shape, massive it was, heading exactly for Earth. By the images it seemed to be miles long. And to everyone’s dismay it seemed to have a hatch at the front it. A manned mission was needed. It was risky, but urgently needed. Astronauts by the names of David and Frank headed for the unknown phenomena. I’m not going to go into too much detail, but they landed on a ledge at the front of the cylinder and headed towards the door. It was plain and black, but with what looked like a lock in the middle of it. And to their absolute shock there was a mat in front of the door. Frank looked under it and there was a key. It was all very surreal. They let themselves in. David said that on his reader the air was fine to breathe, they took their helmets off, and gave cautious breaths. After years of training of what clean air was supposed to smell like they believed it was fine. They were greeted by a spiral of stairs. There was some gravity, but not as much as on earth, so it was a very strange feeling indeed. They couldn’t jog down the stairs, it was physically impossible, so they had to descend into the darkness very slowly, which gave them time to think about what was down there. The short answer was: they had no idea. The descent took what felt like an hour, no words were said between David and Frank in that time. Very eerie indeed. They came to the last step, and by the little torches on their helmets they could see a button on a stand. What else would they do apart from press it? Green and red lights illuminated a path into more darkness. They followed it, and at the end there was a table, with two seats, they were red surrounded by blackness. They sat down to talk to one another. They discussed their predicament and asked what they were going to do next. The answers were short and few.

‘Did you bring any of the food capsules?’ David asked after a moment of silence.

‘No, that was your job.’ Frank replied.

‘What do you mean? I specifically asked you to bring them.’

 ‘That’s not the case.’                                                                                                     

 ‘Chaps!’ An unknown voice echoed everywhere.

The two nearly had a heart attack, and being astronauts, that’s quite a feat. A light shone across the table and illuminated an odd looking face. It looked human, but most defiantly wasn’t. There was something odd about it. Nothing moved when it talked, apart from the mouth. Its teeth were Tipex white and its hair was too black to be human. The hair crossed diagonally across his forehead, and he had a little toothbrush mustache. It continued to talk.

‘Chaps, we have plenty to eat, do you wish to eat with me. My family has gone out for the day. To the planet Mars in fact. Do you know it?

‘Yeah, sure we’ve heard of it.’ Frank quivered.

‘We’ve got cow, I think that’s how you pronounce it. Pig, and toast. Any of those take your fancy?’

The two astronauts looked at each other in despair.

‘Well, it’s rude to keep people waiting, that’s what they say on your planet isn’t it?’

‘Toast, please.’ Frank and David said in unison.

‘Very well, young chaps. How old are you, I forgot to ask.’

‘37.’ Frank answered.

‘34’. Second David.

 ‘Bloody hell you twats.’ The weird thing said in a cockney accent, it had switched from upper class to cockney, strange wasn’t even the word to describe the situation. ‘That’s a bit young ain’t it? Me and the misses are 768, well she’s actually 39 kasd younger than me. That’s months to you, I think. We were told to leave our planet because it’s strange if you marry a woman younger than you… 34 and 37, bloody hell. I’ll be back with your toast.’

Frank and David were physically shaking; they were looking at each other not knowing what to say. The weird thing, returned with black toast, smothered in a green gloop of something. To draw the attention away from it, Frank tried to make conversation.

‘So how long have you been on the run?’

‘324 seihhi; that’s years to you.’

‘Why are you not speaking in a different language?’

‘I lived on your planet for fifty six seihhi, went travelling, and then came back.’

‘Oh really? What? Were you human?’

‘By golly yes.’

‘Did you like it there?’

‘Not really?’

‘Why?’

‘I didn’t really like anyone, and they all had different beliefs, and they didn’t really look the same. I like you two chaps, you look similar. I tried to make a change. I killed 20 million people.’

Frank and David looked at each other once again.

‘Come on, eat up, it took me ages to make that.’ The weird thing continued.

‘I’m not really hungry anymore.’ David said.

‘What?! It took me seihhi to make that. You know what? Forget it, you ungrateful bitch. I’ll just put it in the bloody bin then. You twat!’

And with that, the weird thing sprung from his chair and put the toast in the middle of the table, and pushed a button under the table. The toast was sucked up into a big hoover, and a screen of earth filled up half of the room. The astronauts saw a tiny ball plummeting to the earth and after it was through the atmosphere it ballooned out to the size of a football pitch and was heading right for New York. It hit. It destroyed about 95% of the city, and would have killed millions of people.

‘What have you done?’ David bellowed.

‘Humans are rubbish; I just did you a favour.’

‘My Nan lived there!’ David screamed.

‘Oh, I’m sorry.’

The weird thing got up from his seat suddenly, put his small hands on the men’s heads. After that the men disappeared, and all they saw was white. The next thing they knew was that David was inside his Nan’s body and Frank was inside her husband’s. They looked at each other, and screamed. They ran to the window and saw a meteor heading directly towards them. They died.

Next was nothing.

 D.R. Hayes