Hello and good afternoon to my follower(s), now I'm quite aware that all of my stories so far have been that of romantic nature; cliche and dorky teenage love stories to be more specific, however tonight things shall be shaken up. I was given an English assignment recently, to write a creative and ideally nightmare-inducing ending to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of The House of Usher". I did not intend to share this story but the combination of the worst day I have had in high school and my teacher's positive reaction to reading it, I have decided to put it out there. (The entirety of the first paragraph is directly from Poe's work, the second paragraph on is my own.)
"During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone on horseback, though a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was --but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible. I looked upon the scene before me -- upon the mere house, and the simple landscape feature of the domain --upon the bleak walls --upon the vacant eye-like windows -- depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveler upon opium -- the bitter lapse into everyday life -- the hideous dropping off of the veil. There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart --an unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime. What crowded upon me as I pondered. I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion, that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have the power of thus affecting us, still the analysis of this power lies among considerations beyond our depth. It was possible, I reflected, that a mere different arrangement of the particulars of the scene, of the details of the picture, would be sufficient to modify, or perhaps to annihilate its capacity for sorrowful impression; and, acting upon this idea, I reined my horse to the precipitous brink of a black and lurid tarn that lay in unruffled luster by the dwelling, and gazed down --but with a shudder even more thrilling than before upon the remodeled and inverted images of the gray sedge, and the ghastly tree-stems, and the vacant and eye-like windows. Nevertheless, in this mansion of gloom I now proposed myself a sojourn of some weeks."
Leaves began to dance around my feet as the wind pulsated through the far off trees; my hair was whisked about like the flames of a roaring fire. The breeze, brisk and cool, was refreshing against my blood filled cheeks as the thought of going inside made my stomach churn. I had always avoided the house; it was shrouded in mystery and stories of terror for as long as I could remember. Through my adolescence I grew less and less apprehension for the creaky old house in the woods, but it remained a note in the back of my mind to stay away; that thought didn't always work unfortunately. We were young, around eighteen I believe, we had a couple drinks that we snatched out of my father's cabinet and were wandering aimlessly about town. Thomas and I found ourselves standing, staring intently at the house that we had been raised to fear. "We should uh, go inside", Thomas's speech slurred out of his mouth like molasses, I told him it was a bad idea but he confidently shook his head towards me and stumbles up the stairs to the house. Tiptoeing towards the door to spite my fear, he giggled with each step; he grasped the old wooden door handle and slowly pushed the door open. He turned to me and yelled drunkenly, "See is fine!" I sighed and took a step towards him when all of a sudden his collar was yanked into the darkness, the door slamming shut after his vanishing. I jumped backwards, falling over my own feet; quickly I got up kicking the dust behind me and ran for my life like a coward. I never saw Thomas again, except for in my nightmares that is.
So here I stand, staring at the door; the door that took my best friend away from me. "How could I have been so weak?", I asked myself, "I just let him go". Not a moment has gone by since, that I did not hear Thomas's endearing laugh in my head, or seeing when i close my eyes, the look of displeasure on his face anytime I called him "Tommy". I cherished all the memories of our friendship, I even keep a small drawing he once did for me when we were kids; a small slip of paper, about the size of my palm was sandwiched in my coat side pocket at all times. That is the reason I came here, I wanted to leave the drawing with him, or at least where I lost him; my wife Amy has wanted us to more closer to her parents as their age is rendering them forgetful and incapable to live on their own. We are set to leave in the morning but I had to do this before I journeyed onward.
Slowly I made my way towards the front door, dragging my feet along the cobbled pathway; the darkness had descended quickly and the wind began to howl through the trees. Each step, loudly creaking like one would expect of such an old house. I raised my hand to knock and chuckled at the realization, "This house has been vacant for longer than I've been alive", I reached for the handle and was startled by a loud caw from a crow. I quickly turned to see the bird perched upon a stump, and it seemed to be staring directly at me. I turned back to see the door open. "It must have been cracked open and the wind blew it open", I tried to reassure myself, I took a few steps inside of the house and the door slammed shut behind me. I jumped, ran to the door and tried to open the door; it was locked. Using all my weight and placing my foot against the door as leverage to pull the door open the door knob came clean off, I flew across the room landing on an old rug that dispersed dust everywhere upon my landing. I fanned the ancient dust away from my mouth with my hands, squinting my eyes to see through the darkness I saw a table in the middle of the room with a large candle sat lonesome in the middle. I grabbed the matches out of my pocket and lit the candle, giving me some light to see.
The whole room was dimly lit with the flickering light, I could now see the plain white drapes hanging above the windows and down along the frame of the door; the beautifully carved wooden banister and basic wooden furniture around the room. I ran my fingers along the elaborately crafted banister, as I looked around to the other rooms. Two doors, both boarded shut were on the far right side of the room, I looked to the one door on the left. Picking up the candle and using it to illuminate the other room, I went to the windows, they were nailed shut. Walking back to the main hall I heard something, a low voiced chuckle, I turned the corner to see a shadowy figure on the stairs. I lifted the candle and saw Thomas's face, aged with a nefarious smile creeping across his face. Jaw hung low I had no words, "Well it took you long enough", Thomas said infuriated. "Thomas, what are you doing here! Why didn't you leave? The police searched the house, they didn't find anyone, I - I don't get it", Thomas began to laugh, "I couldn't leave, he wouldn't let me", Thomas pointed tot he top of the stairs in thin air, "Thomas no one's up there", I said concerned he had gone mad. His laugh became maniacal; his insane cackle filled the room. Laughing whilst looking at his feet, his head slowly crept up, "There's no way out", his laugh grew louder. "Thomas why are you doing th..", Thomas cut me off, "Why did you leave me?". I had no answer, "Tommy I'm so sorry", He slowly stood up and waltzed down the few steps, he turned his back foot sideways and planted his right into my chest knocking me back against the door, the candle in my hand flung out of my grasp and rolled across the floor, lighting the drapes on fire. Winded and woozy from hitting my head against the door I looked up to see the room filled with roaring flames and smoke; Thomas stood in front of me smiling down at me. I crammed my hand into my coat pocket, reaching out shakily I handed him the drawing; he took it from my fingers, perused the paper for a moment, crumpled it and threw it into the flames. Gasping for air, I passed out with my last sight, being Thomas's malicious smile.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Valentine's Day
Walter had always hated his job; he worked harder than anyone else at the restaurant, yet he still got no respect or credit from the management. On a regular basis he stayed past his shift to help out when ever he could and yet earlier this week he got the words, "I'd like you to show some effort, for once.", barked at him by his manager; after nine months of this monotonous and mind-numbing job, he was finding himself watching the hands on the clock, until he got to go home. It was a standard Thursday, he got out of school, drove home and worked on his homework. After feeding his dogs and talking with his mother about their days, he kissed her on the forehead and headed out to work.
He stood in front of the main doors to the restaurant and took a deep breath before begrudgingly opening the door. He punched his time card in and ventured his way back to the kitchen. He was a server, take your order, have small chit-chat and bring you your food. He liked it when he got to know his customers, when they were kind and indulged in the innocuous conversations; unfortunately he typically got assigned the party tables, ten or more people all yelling and being obnoxious. It was a quiet shift, only two people came in during the night so he was doing his school work in between his reoccurring, "How's everything going over here? Anything I can get for you?", check ups. Ten minutes before closing, when everyone was wiping down tables and stacking chairs, his manager came out from his office, "Meeting in the break room in five minutes!", he sighed deeply and continued stacking chairs.
He walked into the break room and saw mostly everyone was already there, staring at their manager standing in front of them. "Nice of you to join us.", "I was just finishing up..", he was cut off by the manager, "Don't give me some excuse", the manager said with such a demeaning tone that he didn't respond; he simply nodded as his hands coiled into fists. The others that were missing piled in the back quickly and were given a mere look of disapproval. Their manager cleared his throat, "So guys look, I know that no one wants to work tomorrow seeing as it's valentine's day..", Walters eyes dropped to the floor, "... so I will take volunteers first before I assign people, anyone willing to work tomorrow night?". Walters hand rose to the ceiling with his head hung low, as he knew he had no plans for valentine's day.
He got home after work on Thursday and the rest of the night became a blur. A storm of homework and chores, it whizzed past in a flash. Morning came quickly, propped up with pillows, a textbook in his lap; Walter was awoke by the deafening blare of his alarm clock. His mornings were all the same, let the dogs outside, pack his school bag, say goodbye to his mom and rush out while eating an improved breakfast, usually whatever fruit he could find. This morning however, everything was coated with cynicism because Walter simply despised valentine's day; not that the tradition isn't cute or anything, but he resented those who were happy whilst he was alone on such a romantic occasion. It didn't help that the one girl he had an eye on was in three of his classes on valentine's day. Gwynneth Peters, she went by Gwynn; he fell in love with her the first day of school. Much like the Sailor sees the nurse across the dance floor in a 1950's movie, he saw her and was rendered paralyzed by her light blue eyes.
In between Calculus and Government class, he and Gwynn were talking at her locker. "So have you got any plans for tonight Walt?", he loved that she called him Walt, "No, I can't say that I do, I have to work tonight.", he said with the best smile he could fabricate, "Well do you know where Pete is going to take me tonight?" she said with an eager smile while she bit her lip. "Oh come on Gwynn, Petey is my best friend but he doesn't tell me things like that! Sports, video games and what we're going to do in the summer, that's what we talk about.", Gwynn nodded, grinned halfheartedly and looked in her locker, "Well I know it'll be special, Petey's crazy about you", her smile widened and her eyes lit up, "Thanks Walt", two big forearms wrapper around her waist and picked her up, her feet dangling down. "Hello beautiful", Pete said with confidence, placed her down and kissed her. Breaking away from the tender kiss, he slugged Walter in the shoulder, "Hey bud! How goes it?", "It's all good Petey, I better head to Government, see you around man.". He scurried away, not wanting to see his best friend slobber all over his love.
The day continued as any other school day except it had an extra spoonful of couples kissing in the halls. He got an email from his manager saying that he started work at eight o'clock tonight until closing. He took the opportunity, drove home and started cooking for his mom and brothers. His two older brothers visit every year on valentines day to see their mother. She has been sick for a long time, a lot of medical jargon basically boils down to she can't breathe without an oxygen tank. It's been tough for Walter over the years looking after her but valentine's day was the hardest day because she reminisces about her husband and their father. He passed away when Walter was three.
Walter set the table as his brothers, Joe and Nate were arguing over who was taller; Chicken Alfredo pasta with broccoli, sat on the table with a bouquet of roses in the center that Nate had brought. Walter pulled the chair out for his mom, kissed her on the cheek and gave his brothers the two finger salute. He was off for work once again.
Walter walked into the restaurant and picked up his table assignments for the night out of his mail slot. It read, Table 9, Table 2, Table 8 and Table 16, those were all single pair tables so he was ecstatic. Walter was switching shifts in a minute with Frannie, a co-worker of his. Frannie came over in the break room, "Careful with table two, I think this girl got stood up, she's been there for an hour and a half just eating bread.", Walter nodded and got his order notebook. He greeted the first couple of the night and took them to the back, very nice, older couple he sat them down and they were too busy staring at one another to acknowledge his existence. He glimpsed over the booth wall to see the aforementioned girl and he saw Gwynn staring into the vase of flowers. "Gwynn, what's going on? Where's Petey?", hearing his name made her choke up, she tried to speak but was at a loss for words. Walter took her hands in his, "Breathe, it's okay, what happened?", she took a very slow breath, "I called him, when he was a half an hour late and a girl picked up the phone..", she lost her breath and a tear rolled down her cheek, "he grabbed the phone from her and started spouting off some bullshit about why he was late, he could barely talk.. he was clearly drunk."
They sat talking for a few minutes until his manager came over, "Seriously? Get to work Walter.", "I'm sorry sir, right away.", he stormed off and closed his office door. "I will be right back, I'm so sorry.", she wiper her nose and sniffled, "Don't be silly, go", Walter got up and turned the corner around the booth, she looked down at her phone in her lap, she was startled when Walter came back, "You look gorgeous Gwynn.", she blushed and smiled, "Thanks Walt".
He quickly ran to the kitchen and began frantically dialing on his phone. He stood there tapping his foot impatiently waiting, "Hey Walt, what's up bud?", "Joe, man I need a favor.".
Still processing everything, Gwynn sat there spinning her phone on the table. Walter came jogging around the corner and out of breath, "Gwynn come with me", he put his hand out to grab, "Wh.. Where are we going?", she wiped her eyes carefully to not smudge her makeup; "Just trust me.", he smiled at her and she at him. She took his hand and they walked towards the front doors, "Walter! where do you think you're going! you have three hours left on your shift.", his manager barked at him from across the room. Walter squared up to him, about a foot away from him, "I quit.", took his order notebook and firmly placed it on his managers chest. He grabbed Gwynn's hand, "Let's go".
Walter pulled into his drive way and ran around to give a helping hand for her to get out of his truck. They walked around the garage, and he led her to the patio. Walking around her corner, Gwynn's face was illuminated by the path of candles leading to a table, neatly set up. Flowers in the middle, candles in the middle with two Cup-O-Noodles, one for each of them. She stood in awe, her gorgeous brown hair glimmering in the light and turned to see him smiling at her, "How.. How did you do th..", "My brother owed me one", he smiled and gestured towards the table. He pulled her chair out for her, sat down himself and said embarrassed, "I'm sorry for the food, my brother's not much of a chef", he rubbed his head and chuckled to himself. She thought it was adorable and grabbed his hand on the table, "Walt, thank you.", he turned pink in the cheeks, "It's my pleasure Gwynn".
They talked for hours, losing track of time, it was eleven o'clock. Walter noticed the time on his watch and quickly got up, "I better get you home.", he walked around the table, before she got up and kissed her on the cheek, "Happy Valentine's day gorgeous.", he began to walk away and was stopped when his wrist was grabbed, she pulled him back, coiled her hand around the back of his neck and kissed him. In that moment he realized, maybe valentine's day wasn't so bad after all.
He stood in front of the main doors to the restaurant and took a deep breath before begrudgingly opening the door. He punched his time card in and ventured his way back to the kitchen. He was a server, take your order, have small chit-chat and bring you your food. He liked it when he got to know his customers, when they were kind and indulged in the innocuous conversations; unfortunately he typically got assigned the party tables, ten or more people all yelling and being obnoxious. It was a quiet shift, only two people came in during the night so he was doing his school work in between his reoccurring, "How's everything going over here? Anything I can get for you?", check ups. Ten minutes before closing, when everyone was wiping down tables and stacking chairs, his manager came out from his office, "Meeting in the break room in five minutes!", he sighed deeply and continued stacking chairs.
He walked into the break room and saw mostly everyone was already there, staring at their manager standing in front of them. "Nice of you to join us.", "I was just finishing up..", he was cut off by the manager, "Don't give me some excuse", the manager said with such a demeaning tone that he didn't respond; he simply nodded as his hands coiled into fists. The others that were missing piled in the back quickly and were given a mere look of disapproval. Their manager cleared his throat, "So guys look, I know that no one wants to work tomorrow seeing as it's valentine's day..", Walters eyes dropped to the floor, "... so I will take volunteers first before I assign people, anyone willing to work tomorrow night?". Walters hand rose to the ceiling with his head hung low, as he knew he had no plans for valentine's day.
He got home after work on Thursday and the rest of the night became a blur. A storm of homework and chores, it whizzed past in a flash. Morning came quickly, propped up with pillows, a textbook in his lap; Walter was awoke by the deafening blare of his alarm clock. His mornings were all the same, let the dogs outside, pack his school bag, say goodbye to his mom and rush out while eating an improved breakfast, usually whatever fruit he could find. This morning however, everything was coated with cynicism because Walter simply despised valentine's day; not that the tradition isn't cute or anything, but he resented those who were happy whilst he was alone on such a romantic occasion. It didn't help that the one girl he had an eye on was in three of his classes on valentine's day. Gwynneth Peters, she went by Gwynn; he fell in love with her the first day of school. Much like the Sailor sees the nurse across the dance floor in a 1950's movie, he saw her and was rendered paralyzed by her light blue eyes.
In between Calculus and Government class, he and Gwynn were talking at her locker. "So have you got any plans for tonight Walt?", he loved that she called him Walt, "No, I can't say that I do, I have to work tonight.", he said with the best smile he could fabricate, "Well do you know where Pete is going to take me tonight?" she said with an eager smile while she bit her lip. "Oh come on Gwynn, Petey is my best friend but he doesn't tell me things like that! Sports, video games and what we're going to do in the summer, that's what we talk about.", Gwynn nodded, grinned halfheartedly and looked in her locker, "Well I know it'll be special, Petey's crazy about you", her smile widened and her eyes lit up, "Thanks Walt", two big forearms wrapper around her waist and picked her up, her feet dangling down. "Hello beautiful", Pete said with confidence, placed her down and kissed her. Breaking away from the tender kiss, he slugged Walter in the shoulder, "Hey bud! How goes it?", "It's all good Petey, I better head to Government, see you around man.". He scurried away, not wanting to see his best friend slobber all over his love.
The day continued as any other school day except it had an extra spoonful of couples kissing in the halls. He got an email from his manager saying that he started work at eight o'clock tonight until closing. He took the opportunity, drove home and started cooking for his mom and brothers. His two older brothers visit every year on valentines day to see their mother. She has been sick for a long time, a lot of medical jargon basically boils down to she can't breathe without an oxygen tank. It's been tough for Walter over the years looking after her but valentine's day was the hardest day because she reminisces about her husband and their father. He passed away when Walter was three.
Walter set the table as his brothers, Joe and Nate were arguing over who was taller; Chicken Alfredo pasta with broccoli, sat on the table with a bouquet of roses in the center that Nate had brought. Walter pulled the chair out for his mom, kissed her on the cheek and gave his brothers the two finger salute. He was off for work once again.
Walter walked into the restaurant and picked up his table assignments for the night out of his mail slot. It read, Table 9, Table 2, Table 8 and Table 16, those were all single pair tables so he was ecstatic. Walter was switching shifts in a minute with Frannie, a co-worker of his. Frannie came over in the break room, "Careful with table two, I think this girl got stood up, she's been there for an hour and a half just eating bread.", Walter nodded and got his order notebook. He greeted the first couple of the night and took them to the back, very nice, older couple he sat them down and they were too busy staring at one another to acknowledge his existence. He glimpsed over the booth wall to see the aforementioned girl and he saw Gwynn staring into the vase of flowers. "Gwynn, what's going on? Where's Petey?", hearing his name made her choke up, she tried to speak but was at a loss for words. Walter took her hands in his, "Breathe, it's okay, what happened?", she took a very slow breath, "I called him, when he was a half an hour late and a girl picked up the phone..", she lost her breath and a tear rolled down her cheek, "he grabbed the phone from her and started spouting off some bullshit about why he was late, he could barely talk.. he was clearly drunk."
They sat talking for a few minutes until his manager came over, "Seriously? Get to work Walter.", "I'm sorry sir, right away.", he stormed off and closed his office door. "I will be right back, I'm so sorry.", she wiper her nose and sniffled, "Don't be silly, go", Walter got up and turned the corner around the booth, she looked down at her phone in her lap, she was startled when Walter came back, "You look gorgeous Gwynn.", she blushed and smiled, "Thanks Walt".
He quickly ran to the kitchen and began frantically dialing on his phone. He stood there tapping his foot impatiently waiting, "Hey Walt, what's up bud?", "Joe, man I need a favor.".
Still processing everything, Gwynn sat there spinning her phone on the table. Walter came jogging around the corner and out of breath, "Gwynn come with me", he put his hand out to grab, "Wh.. Where are we going?", she wiped her eyes carefully to not smudge her makeup; "Just trust me.", he smiled at her and she at him. She took his hand and they walked towards the front doors, "Walter! where do you think you're going! you have three hours left on your shift.", his manager barked at him from across the room. Walter squared up to him, about a foot away from him, "I quit.", took his order notebook and firmly placed it on his managers chest. He grabbed Gwynn's hand, "Let's go".
Walter pulled into his drive way and ran around to give a helping hand for her to get out of his truck. They walked around the garage, and he led her to the patio. Walking around her corner, Gwynn's face was illuminated by the path of candles leading to a table, neatly set up. Flowers in the middle, candles in the middle with two Cup-O-Noodles, one for each of them. She stood in awe, her gorgeous brown hair glimmering in the light and turned to see him smiling at her, "How.. How did you do th..", "My brother owed me one", he smiled and gestured towards the table. He pulled her chair out for her, sat down himself and said embarrassed, "I'm sorry for the food, my brother's not much of a chef", he rubbed his head and chuckled to himself. She thought it was adorable and grabbed his hand on the table, "Walt, thank you.", he turned pink in the cheeks, "It's my pleasure Gwynn".
They talked for hours, losing track of time, it was eleven o'clock. Walter noticed the time on his watch and quickly got up, "I better get you home.", he walked around the table, before she got up and kissed her on the cheek, "Happy Valentine's day gorgeous.", he began to walk away and was stopped when his wrist was grabbed, she pulled him back, coiled her hand around the back of his neck and kissed him. In that moment he realized, maybe valentine's day wasn't so bad after all.
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