A Preview
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Well, it's been awhile since I've written any stories. Or better yet any stories that I plan to post here. The following is a sample I've written some time ago for a game on another site and I decided to post it here as preview of the main series I want to post here.
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Sometimes as long as three years ago can seem as recent as yesterday.
There they would sit, the huge candied spheres of heaven. Sitting there waiting. Taunting, even. When I look back at all the ceaseless toil of planning, constructing, all the blood, sweat and tears I put into his harebrained schemes, the attempts to trick some kids into relinquishing their hard earned money, the distances we'd run when such attempts backfired, the injuries we sustained, the evenings I'd come home battered and bruised: All of that, all of it for the sake of some candy.
I laugh. But whether I laugh from nostalgia or how pathetic we were, I can't tell anymore. But I laugh regardless.
Sifu once told me that fate's sense of humor tends to shift with time. When I apply those words to the here and now, it leads me to the impression that fate's current sense of humor is either cruel or ironic.
I look back at that time again. I remember those few and far between moments fate allowed us some closure. Those few and far between moments where things fall into place. One of those few and far between moments where all just fell into place, and there were no strings attached; no last minute setbacks or backfires, no nagging sense of guilt and undeserving. In those moments all were right with the world. And when I look back at that moment I realize all that blood sweat and tears were for more than just a few jawbreakers.
It was the feeling of having accomplished a goal, having gotten somewhere, that maybe we weren't the unluckiest kids on Earth.
I look back once more, and I realize that I didn't possess such a fanatic craving for those candied spheres.
But I knew someone who did.
And it makes me wonder why I followed that someone in his ill-fated quests. Sure, I can remember being held in the grip of a megalomaniac, but that was after a terrible secret was released, and the rules changed. But I wonder what made me follow that boy before then, before he became so easily corrupted. Before he tried to grow from his brother's shadow.
I find my answer when I take a look around. Even before I left this quiet Western American suburb for the remote and mystic mountains of Northern China, there wasn't much for an adolescent to do for free. One could count that playground just around the corner, but as one grows older they find the past times of childhood such as going down a slide or riding a swing immature and to some extent; beneath them. Thankfully the town would provide much needed relief for those dog days of summer; bowling alleys with an arcade, movie theaters, go-carts and the candy store. But these things took on the likeness of a sleazy strip joint; one must pay the price if they wish to venture forth. And the fare would always be just outside one's budget.
But of course, not every kid is fortunate enough to receive a weekly allowance. So those who don't must barrow, or-in some cases-to my ever lasting guilt-con and steal from those who do. And so I bring you back to those long hours of planning, construction and execution. The endless toil and running to and fro, the setbacks, the obstacles and the constant failings, the evenings coming home to an empty house battered and bruised.
Much has changed, and not for the better: The bowling alley is now a beauty salon, the movie theater had been converted into a mini mall filled with identical fashion outlets, what used to be the go-carts now stands a parking lot and finally the greatest insult of all. My friends and I used to stand in this place with a mix of desire, envy and hunger carved upon our features. But those mixed feelings make way for a single disgust as our beloved candy is store is now a Starbucks. It's ironic how one spends three years of their lives giving themselves up and finding themselves again, only to return to find the very things they gave up in the hands of another or gone with time. Once again I point out I didn't have such a fanatic love for jawbreakers, but the sting of their departure is no less painful.
Then it hits me. This town has changed only in the physical sense. Back then, all of the wondrous places time and commercialism had done away held the same rules as the endless fashion/electronic/useless junk shops, salons and restaurants that stand in their place had one thing in common; a simple rule.
If you want to play, you have to pay
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And that's the long and short of it. Hope you guys like it and look out for the main series coming out this week.
---------
Sometimes as long as three years ago can seem as recent as yesterday.
There they would sit, the huge candied spheres of heaven. Sitting there waiting. Taunting, even. When I look back at all the ceaseless toil of planning, constructing, all the blood, sweat and tears I put into his harebrained schemes, the attempts to trick some kids into relinquishing their hard earned money, the distances we'd run when such attempts backfired, the injuries we sustained, the evenings I'd come home battered and bruised: All of that, all of it for the sake of some candy.
I laugh. But whether I laugh from nostalgia or how pathetic we were, I can't tell anymore. But I laugh regardless.
Sifu once told me that fate's sense of humor tends to shift with time. When I apply those words to the here and now, it leads me to the impression that fate's current sense of humor is either cruel or ironic.
I look back at that time again. I remember those few and far between moments fate allowed us some closure. Those few and far between moments where things fall into place. One of those few and far between moments where all just fell into place, and there were no strings attached; no last minute setbacks or backfires, no nagging sense of guilt and undeserving. In those moments all were right with the world. And when I look back at that moment I realize all that blood sweat and tears were for more than just a few jawbreakers.
It was the feeling of having accomplished a goal, having gotten somewhere, that maybe we weren't the unluckiest kids on Earth.
I look back once more, and I realize that I didn't possess such a fanatic craving for those candied spheres.
But I knew someone who did.
And it makes me wonder why I followed that someone in his ill-fated quests. Sure, I can remember being held in the grip of a megalomaniac, but that was after a terrible secret was released, and the rules changed. But I wonder what made me follow that boy before then, before he became so easily corrupted. Before he tried to grow from his brother's shadow.
I find my answer when I take a look around. Even before I left this quiet Western American suburb for the remote and mystic mountains of Northern China, there wasn't much for an adolescent to do for free. One could count that playground just around the corner, but as one grows older they find the past times of childhood such as going down a slide or riding a swing immature and to some extent; beneath them. Thankfully the town would provide much needed relief for those dog days of summer; bowling alleys with an arcade, movie theaters, go-carts and the candy store. But these things took on the likeness of a sleazy strip joint; one must pay the price if they wish to venture forth. And the fare would always be just outside one's budget.
But of course, not every kid is fortunate enough to receive a weekly allowance. So those who don't must barrow, or-in some cases-to my ever lasting guilt-con and steal from those who do. And so I bring you back to those long hours of planning, construction and execution. The endless toil and running to and fro, the setbacks, the obstacles and the constant failings, the evenings coming home to an empty house battered and bruised.
Much has changed, and not for the better: The bowling alley is now a beauty salon, the movie theater had been converted into a mini mall filled with identical fashion outlets, what used to be the go-carts now stands a parking lot and finally the greatest insult of all. My friends and I used to stand in this place with a mix of desire, envy and hunger carved upon our features. But those mixed feelings make way for a single disgust as our beloved candy is store is now a Starbucks. It's ironic how one spends three years of their lives giving themselves up and finding themselves again, only to return to find the very things they gave up in the hands of another or gone with time. Once again I point out I didn't have such a fanatic love for jawbreakers, but the sting of their departure is no less painful.
Then it hits me. This town has changed only in the physical sense. Back then, all of the wondrous places time and commercialism had done away held the same rules as the endless fashion/electronic/useless junk shops, salons and restaurants that stand in their place had one thing in common; a simple rule.
If you want to play, you have to pay
----------
And that's the long and short of it. Hope you guys like it and look out for the main series coming out this week.