Alrighty, guys, J again.
I just had a glorious idea (yes, that happens occasionally). It's something I've always wanted to try.
We are starting a new way to write a story.
How it works: I am going to start the story off with the beginning (about 100 words or two paragraphs) and then am gonna let you guys write the next part in the comments section. So, we'll be writing together. We will also be writing responses too. This is gonna be fun.
The only rules as far as content is: keep it family friendly. That's important. And if you could keep your responses relatively short (100-ish words or two paragraphs) that way no one takes over the story. It's also important that you guys ACTUALLY WRITE RESPONSES! That way the story actually progresses. You don't have to be a good writer, it doesn't matter. So if you're reading this, write the next part to the story, please. That's what makes it fun.
So, yeah, the story doesn't have to make sense, it's just meant to be fun. Write whatever you want (remember keep it family friendly) and don't worry about making minor grammar mistakes. Let's see where this goes.
I will give you the title and beginning and you just continue the story where I leave off:
The Russian Bear.
Sweat covers me as I rush through the woods, doing my best to not fall over.
I hear screaming behind me, but I don’t turn back. Turning back would mean my
death. I really don’t want that. Instead, I run faster, hoping that its fierce
appetite has been sated. Not likely. I'm probably dead anyway.
I always wondered how I would die. I was not expecting this. Just yesterday
I was camping with my friends. Was it really yesterday? Seems like longer, this
is literally my worst nightmare. Most of my friends are dead already, and I’m
next. I run faster.
The fast gathering darkness makes it more and more difficult to pick my way through the forest, but by no means do I feel comfortable enough to stop.
ReplyDeleteWhen it becomes clear that pressing forward is futile I approach a large, I hope inconspicuous, tree. After struggling, I manage to gain the first branch. Suspended a mere two of three meters off the ground, I am far from concealed. There is more foliage farther up and I resolve to get higher. Slowing rising to my feet, my hands on the trunk for balance I catch sight of a human figure above me and nearly pitch to the ground in my surprise.
A young man in a dirty uniform is perched placidly a few branches above me. A charming smirk plays on his dirty face at my gasp. We stare at each other a few moments until he suddenly becomes tense. With the agility of a frightened monkey he descends to my branch and seizes the back of my coat.
This the moment, right here, right now where I am finally able to put my training to the test. Every instinct in my body tells me to shriek at this man but my training tells me not to. My training tells me to stay calm, to act swiftly and smartly. In this millisecond I need to decide whether to listen to that training, which has been little good to me so far, or to do what’s natural and scream as loud as I can. I need to make a right now. My millisecond is up.
DeleteI ram my elbow hard into his ribs and feel the tug on my coat lessen for a split-second. That's all I need. I wrap my arms around the trunk of the tree and swing my legs out over thin air, praying for another branch to be within grabbing distance. There's one about 9 inches above my hand but it's seems to be swaying despite the lack of wind. The slippery trunk tells me I can't hold on much longer. Both arms release their death grip on the tree and catch the branch, which I notice is alarmingly skinny. Walking my feet up the face of the tree, I manage to stand up and observe my new surroundings. Then three things happen at once. His face appears above me. I hear my branch crack. And suddenly I'm falling.
DeleteOkay. I was wrong. It’s right here, right now, where I can finally put my training to the test. Am I going to let myself crash to the ground, or am I going to grasp a branch and save myself? I summon all my willpower and reach out to grab onto whatever I can.
DeleteMy hand brushes hopelessly against the limbs, unable to save myself I brace for impact. For major, painful impact. This is the part where my life flashed before my eyes. I wish it had been more exciting. I say my last goodbye to this cruel world but get a shock when I hand gets a shock and suddenly I stop falling. I look up at my hand and see him holding it tightly, stopping me from falling with a look of mad concern over his face.
He swings me back into the tree with surprising ease and, as I cling to the branch gasping for breath, he begins tugging at my coat again. Whispering urgently in french he points towards a denser section of forest. I squint at the spot but see nothing, none the less, he continues to insist that we get higher. I jerk sharply out of his tightening grasp and am in the processes of wriggling away when I'm suddenly arrested by the sound of not-so-distant barking. They've put dogs on our trail.
ReplyDeleteMy slim hope surviving until morning vanishes and I numbly allow the young fugitive to pull me another fifteen or twenty feet higher into the tree where he pauses. I hear twigs snapping and bushes rustling nearby. Turning to the man I see that he has stepped away from the trunk. Before I have time to guess what he's doing, he's tucked his arm firmly around my waist and jumped from the tree.
What is with this guy? He holds tightly onto me as I fall and I swear I hear him laughing. That annoys me, but there’s not much I can do about it ‘cause this guy is stronger than I am. A lot stronger than I am. Right before we hit the ground, I hear him whisper some command and suddenly we stop falling. In fact, we start doing the opposite of falling. We start to lift back up into the sky.
ReplyDeleteI’m flying! I’ve always wanted to fly! I love this French guy! Although, I’m still planning on killing him, but I love him!
How is he doing this? I wondered magic has never been used for flight only healing. Perhaps he has found a way to "heal" anti-gravity into his flesh. Or maybe he is doing it some other way. Who knows? I didn't personally care at that moment, all I was thinking about was the fact that the trees were much father below us than I would have expected. It seemed that he was taking me somewhere. But where? Did he have something hiding behind the clouds? I immediately stopped daydreaming about a "castle in the sky" when his upward movement stopped and we began to fall. I tried to ask him why, but words sound wouldn't come out of my throat. I felt blood rushing to my head as our descent accelerated. Everything was confusing me, images started to become blurry and then everything went black.
ReplyDeleteSadly, it’s the smell of burning flesh that wakes me up. My eyes fly open and find myself staring into open flames. I instinctively jerk away but I am met with more flames. I take a second to spin my head around. I look to the left. Flames. To my right. Flames. And in one last attempt I look behind me…still more flames.
DeleteBut there’s something else. I strain to focus my eyes. I’m able to make out that that’s definitely the Frenchman staring at me, safe, on the other side of the fire. But he doesn’t appear to be enjoying it, like one might if you are purposely roasting them. He appears to be concerned, frantically jumping back in forth. Oh my word, I think he’s trying to save me.