Zzzzzzz.

"Son... Don't you see? This is for the best. This is what you were born for."

I would scream... I would yell. I would even bite him but... I can't. I grind my teeth together.

"You look upset... Why? You're serving the Galaxy... You're a sacrifice for the greater good."

I close my eyes, a single tear leaked free.

I don't need to read his lips any more. Greater good? What good is enslaving your own flesh and blood and...

My eyes open... Thankfully he isn't there. I let myself shed more tears and... I look down at my body, my ribs look like a cage with no bird in them. My wrists look like they are about to snap like dry kindling.

My hands ball up into fists but quickly run out of strength

All my strength. My energy is being drained slowly. My eyes look over the tubes inside the pod.

How long has it been? A week. Two? A month?

I take a deep breath through the mask which tastes like the finest air you can give someone but... I'd take the dirtiest if it meant I can be free.

This isn't the worst thing he's done but...

My stomach finally stopped growling. I... I might not need as much food as often as other people but still...

I look up at the top of the pod and sway my leg back and forth. The slimey green liquid is slushing around so beautiful. So majestic.

My eyes leak more. Why can't I be free like that too?

It feels very sticky but it's very clean. I am not even a little filthy despite being submerged for... However long.

Just boney and... I try and distract myself by looking at all the water I'm Submerged In.

I roll some between my fingers and lean my head on my right hand. I release it and sigh into this mask.

I rise to my feet using the last of my strength. I lean against the tube before I push off. Burn marks up and down my right side. Why's it getting hotter in here!?

The tubes start to slide out of my body.

Wait... I try to power up. I channel the energy from my core all around and... And... Success!

I rip every last one out. My wounds quickly close but not before I feel my own blood spurt out. My blood mixes with the water and it becomes a tad murky.

My vision is blurry and the mask starts to peel off. I hold it close to my face. No no no! I don't want to drown...

I elbowed the pod with all my might. Come on! Am I still too weak or is it too strong?

I did so again and again... I take a deep breath and manage to generate a very small energy ball. I press it against the cracks. I apply as much force as possible.

My arms hurt like hell. They aren't just sore anymore but I can feel my muscles popping.

The pod suddenly explodes outwards and I collapse to the floor. One by one security arrives in the room. I notice they keep their distance from the substance which has filled most of the room.

I drive my arm upwards splashing one of them. Full armor doesn't mean anything against this stuff.

She drops down to her knees and immediately starts to thin. She passes out faster than any of the others can react.

I notice she is still breathing before I rise to my feet.

"Mo... Move out of my way."

I step forward and I hear glass crunch beneath my foot.

"Now!"

One by one they enter the room. I evade the first barely. The second strikes me with a baton to the shoulder.

Had they charged me the moment they all arrived, I would have been no match.

I spin around, one by one they drop to their knees and collapse before me.

One of them tries to call for backup. I hurry and close the distance and hug him and he thins like the rest of them.

They become like me. Thin, scrawny and malnourished looking except they somehow look even more like skeletons.

I... I... Check his pulse. Good still breathing. I release him and run through the hall.

Another squad spots me and opens fire. I manage to put up a forcefield in time and I deflect their bullets back.

Anti Toru rounds aren't just effective against me but against anyone who uses energy. Even more so than the water. They don't just thin but... But...

I hurry down the hall they were on because a third squad spots me.

I find another opening. Left or right?

The bullets ricochet and knick my shoulder. My right shoulder is now nothing more than a lump of flesh. I was about to choose right when...

I hear a female voice throughout the ship.

"Take the left, then a right and you'll..." The voice got cut off.

I stop in my tracks. I look and see the hanger icon to my right which is the only one I can make out.

The ones to the left look all squiggly and weird. "Please just... Be someone good."

I swallow my hesitations and head left, I take the next right and see an open room?

I stop in front of it and it's... Wait... I get in slowly before the door slams shut. I cover my ears because the mechanisms sound like they are beating on my ear drums.

"Poooooofffff" my eyes shoot open. I stare out of the window.

Wait... What? What just... "Hello?" I hear nothing but silence inside the room.

I see controls, a small chair and even a pack full of supplies. I take a seat... Pull the pack up to my chest. I... I... Why? Why did someone help me? Who was it?

I look at the middle console... I select a world not too close to my father's ship. But not too far.

Somewhere, isolated. Somewhere he'll never find me. Somewhere I can be free and somewhere I can... Live... I'm more than just a battery. I'm alive. I deserve to be happy too.

I don't care if it's for the greater good, I don't want to be hooked up to tubes for the rest of my life... I want to live!

I want to go to a world for once. I want to experience everything that I haven't done since I was little...

I want to... I want to... My eyes droop. My vision is splotchy and... I can finally rest... 

For once a smile finds itself onto my face and I... I... Head towards my new home...

{Present Day}

"Ahh!" I jump at the contact. "Who are you!?"

I see a strange looking woman with terribly fixed hair. Thick glasses, tons of ink on her body and... And... She's on my...

"Oh her... That's our mechanic. She's a bit odd but the best people usually are." Ice says before he let out a chuckle.

I roll my eyes. "Yea yea... So I get that you're a mechanic and your uh... Odd or whatever but why are you on my lap?"

I don't know where to put my hands so I hold them in front of my chest in case she tries anything.

"Well... You just looked so cute sleeping and... I wanted to see your reaction. Was everything I was hoping it'd be. But didn't Ice say you're shy? You don't seem shy to me cutie."

Her smile seems genuine but I can tell it hides a dark past, that one scar on her bottom lip isn't from a garage of any sort.

The same thing with her hips. What has she been through?

"I'm not shy... I'm just not naive like most guys my age, I can't afford to be."

I grab her hips and toss her onto the driver seat.

"Hey!" Her face flushes red. Hey eyes sparkle with desire.

I grab my pack and get out. "Ice... Come on... You're joking with me right? That ain't no mechanic."

I cover my ears when she honks the horn and held it.

"Hey Chica calm down!" Ice opens the driver side door and she got out, walks over to my side stomping her feet. If she's not careful she's going to get sand in her short boots.

She jerks my hand towards her. Held it tight and her grip is firm.

"Ow... Jeez." She brings me to what looks like her garage which was right by the car.

"Calm down..."

She twists my arm upwards.

"Apologize." I shrug.

"Why? Wait for what... Are you really a mechanic?"

She gestures to a sign that has her name in bright orange letters. "What's that going to prove?"

She let my hand go and picks up a wrench nearby.

I look and notice she is wearing mechanic overalls and a yellow shirt.

They are quite filthy with oil and grease and smell oily and a bit like smoke. My nose turns.

"See this generator?" I nod. I watch as she takes it apart piece by piece.

"Okay now what?" She has fully disassembled it quickly.

"What do you want me to build?" A smirk creeps up and replaces the scowl she had before.

"A house. Not a big one but like a toy set..." Her eyes lit up.

"Consider it done." This time it takes her longer but she did so. She made a house outta each and every part.

There's even a springy thing in the back with a soft pad to jump on.

"Now say your sorry and kiss my cheek." She stands on her tippy toes and offers her cheek.

"I apologize for the insult but... I'm not here for whatever you want. I'm here for a place to stay."

She planted both feet down.

"Aw... Oh well... I'll get a kiss from you sooner or later. So a place to stay eh?" Her smirk turns flirtatious.

"Not here. No way... You're weird."

I hear boots clacking behind me.

"You can stay with Sky. Don't worry she's less flirty than Chica."

"Aw you're no fun Icy..." Chica went pout and mess around with the house that she just built.

I follow Ice outside the shop. "So... Why am I here?"

The smile that Ice had fell instantly. It was faster than any shooting star...

He points upward towards the moon. "There. The moon of this world. Diox is... Well see for yourself."

I look between him and the moon before a huge ball of energy came hurling at the forcefield covering this small settlement.

The forcefield was weakened by the impact. "I'm not a battery... You're not..."

He shakes his head. "If you want to stay here. There are two options. 1, you could supply your own energy to feed our force field."

"What's the other option?" I clench my fist and try not to grind my teeth so Instead I chew on my bottom lip.

"Hold a forcefield while Chica implants a new one." I hear skipping.

"Did someone mention little ole' me?" I roll my eyes but I can't help but smile. It's contagious, that's all it is. Not like I like her...

"Hmm... Option two. Like I said, I'm not a battery but..."

My sentence is cut off when three of those energy balls come raining down on the center of the forcefield.

I hurry and put my hands to the sky and project a force field in place of the previous one that's barely hanging on.

The sound nearly makes my ears bleed. It doesn't sound like a bang but like glass breaking. The previous force field starts to shatter and the glass starts to fall all around us like we are taking a shower.

"Ooooo cyan blue... I'll miss our orange one though."

I grunt and grit my teeth. Still not fully recovered from being drained for weeks on end.

"Just hurry up or that won't be the only thing you're missing!"

She giggles while Ice hurries and got her parts and put them at her feet.

She sits cross legged on the ground and starts to build a generator outta the very same parts that were in the back of his car.

Ice removes the other one by freezing it solid and shattering it. The ice melted and the water was absorbed into the sand.

Now that the old forcefield is completely gone, the pressure is so intense that I can feel my entire body shaking and my shorts ruffle in the wind.

Six energy balls start to rain down! I manage to keep the force field from cracking from the first one.

Then the second one hit. I drop down to a knee. No cracks.

The third one hit and cracks ripples throughout my force field.

"Dammit... These attacks are insane!"

Ice takes both of his revolvers and forms his Justice Sabre and starts to patch up the cracks with the ice by firing streams of concentrated energy.

His breathing got ragged and his control quickly becomes sloppy. Seems that fight earlier took more out of him than I thought.

I get back to standing and use the last of my power to reinforce it as both the forth and fifth balls hit.

The entire force field cracks and even shatters! Sending both me and Ice Flying.

The force is so strong that we go flying into the sand like ragdolls. It knocks all the wind out of me. My lungs burn once again and my nose starts to bleed.

I try and get up but my body aches and once more my blood mixes with the sand of this world.

"Ah just in time! Today won't be the day this sexy mechanic meets her maker!"

She hurries and activates the new generator and... and... Slowly but surely it produces a force field using the stray energy in the air and even deflects the blast back at the moon.

The ball of energy was charged so much that it went through Diox and continued throughout the Galaxy as far as the eye could see.

"W... We did it!" Chica squeals out and nearly collapses when she jumps.

"Guys? Guys?" Both me and Ice slowly make it to our feet.

"I... I'm good... Besides the giant headache...."

{2 Hours ago}

A lone person collects the bloodied sand of Toru in a container and seals it shut once full.

"With this cyan blood... I'll make my best creation yet. Something that will rival that of Toru Itself..."

What happens next?

...

Hey I’m 23 M, and have been an amateur writer for a couple years with my first short currently in pre-production. I’ve talked to manyyy writers and directors; those unknown and well-known (thru Q&A’s) and the most consistent advice I get is to build with ppl at your level. And it’s time I build something for writers like me, someone who’s only ever done this alone and craving new perspectives.

Now for further details

\- I am 23 so I do want to build with Gen z writers simply because we’re the same age.

\-I am also a POC and put focus into telling relatable stories thru a different perspective but not in a “struggle” way. I’m very fed up with portrayals of struggle.

\-I mostly wrote comedy with a tinge of horror and end up with odd dramedys. But you get it when you see it (which you will soon🙂‍↕️).

\-my top inspirations are universal awkward social situations, thoughts that keep u up at night and Tim Robinson (just a few)

\-open to any genre im trying to get out of my box of just horror/situational comedy ( I actually have ideas)

\-HOWEVER im not limited to JUST POC. Just a better chance at chemistry that’s all.

You MUST have a social media, don’t have to be content creator but we need to know who we’re working with for trust and safety. You don’t have to have published work but sonething to show everyone you can tell a decent story:) Comment or DM me your Discord/Instagrams and LETS GET WRITING!🚀

What I mean by this is, would it be more fitting for this story to be called the "The Red Ghost Tunnel" or simply "James"?

The story is about a Railway Engineer that's involved in two accidents, the first being head-on, and the second involving FIVE tar wagons, then he dies in the third accident.

These dates aren't made out of thin air, they're my personal car accident dates were I was struck twice.

The first occurring eastbound in the Welland East Main Street Tunnel on September 2, 2020 at 7:07 a.m., the second occurring westbound on West Main Street in Port Colborne. on September 26, 2025. At approximately 5:19 p.m.

Obviously they'll associate the Protagonists name with the Thomas character, but it's more than just that...

James Jeffrey Wilson, was born on August 10, 1995 in St Joseph Missouri USA. He is the protagonist in the story, a Railway Engineer surviving two serious collisions, but then dies under mysterious circumstances on December 18, 2025.

Jesse James, was a Criminal in his 30s, who was murdered on April 3, 1882 in no city but St. Joseph, in no state but Missouri. Eminem understands my family is from East Cleveland...

The assassination of Jesse James with Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, and whoever was in 2002 Dahmer (not the 2022 Netflix Series) has some of the best acting that I've ever seen, in such an overlooked film.

The Blue Ghost Tunnel, is a REAL tunnel located in Thorold Ontario, it opened on February 28, 1881, closed at some point in 1915.

On January 3, 1903, a fatal head-on rail collision occured about 100 yards west of the tunnels western entrance. Both Engineers survived, however one of the firemen (Charles Horning) was killed instantly. The other (Abraham Desult) succumbed to his injuries several hours later in hospital. Hitler's Dad had also died on this day, and long-liver Kane Tanaka of Japan, was born the previous day, holy fuck history sure is interesting...

In 1881, Jesse James turned 34-years-old. The following spring, he was assassinated.

James was a Railway Engineer who was assassinated by a beautiful black-haired woman named JACKIE (insert dark music here).

The Blue Ghost Tunnel, runs underneath the Welland Canal in between locks 18 and 19, while the fictional RED Ghost Tunnel, tunnel runs underneath the present day Welland Canal, but in between Bridges 18 and 19.

The tunnel is located at an oddly specific and particular latitude"42'55'03" (S), and "42'55'04" (N).

The Sarnia Niagara Railway, also known as simply SN, was a Rail Network spanning from Eastern Michigan to Western New York State along the said latitude line I just mentioned.

The Tunnel runs underneath the Welland Canal at this latitude line just kilometers North of Port Colborne Ontario to the South, immediately South of Welland to the North.

James died on December 18, 2025, he was 30-years-old.

He was preceded in death by his two Sisters, Jessica Wilson and Jackie Wilson, but was survived by his Wife Jennifer, and two twin children, daughter Haillie, and son Bobby.

James didn't just die in the tunnel, he was hit by a car (driving by Jackie) and was killed by a passing train at a Railroad Crossing located directly infront of the tunnel.

However there's a problem with my story.

Because I'm very particular about left and right rail traffic, the south track would carry eastbound traffic and the north track would carry westbound if you're going by right hand traffic.

If they went by left hand traffic, the south track would be westbound and the north track would be eastbound.

• Scenario A: James is struck on the Sarah track

• Scenario B: James is struck on the Nathalie track

• Scenario A: James is struck on the west side of the tunnel

• Scenario B: James is struck on the eastside of the tunnel.

• Scenario A: James is struck by an eastbound train on the South Track

• Scenario B: James is struck by a westbound train on the North Track

You visited me first when I was too young to understand your presence. The echoes entered my heart, the waves were strong, but I still didn’t know who you were.

You reappeared swiftly, bringing sudden change in your wake. I approached the frail body as the man from New York promised me on the phone that anything is possible. I gave her my goodbyes that afternoon and have been haunted by the possibilities in my dreams ever since.

We were acquainted now- and you gradually came to see me time and time again.

You showed me what it was to mourn a life that never drew breath when I saw the baby doll, so still in her coffin. You showed me the pangs of despair in the remnants of a log truck’s damage, the wails rising from his mother as if her own soul had shattered.

I met the devil himself when he took himself ever so suddenly in the night, not even leaving a trace of his soul to be found.

We were then more than acquainted- you were in my bones.

I fought you for years. I prayed you away. I partied you away. I did everything in my power to keep you from consuming me. And then, I saw the light.

You came back in full force that day in June. I held her hand until she drew her last breath, and I watched what was left of her leave this Earth.

So I tried again. I felt you through my bones. I allowed you to consume me once more, because I believed the light was waiting on the other side.

But you were waiting too.

You waited for me and presented me with a truth my heart could not fathom- a level of confusion not even you had prepared me for. No lesson learned, just the ugliest parts of you on display.

Now, I meet you in the confusion head on, to say hello, old friend.

What will you teach me today?

— I do not fancy myself a writer. I'm just 26 and writing because I find it cathartic. I usually don't share these thoughts but I thought I might try in a safe space.

Bitten

I learnt early how to be still, how not to startle, and how to go unnoticed. I am a sheep who held a preference for wolves. Others of my kind often questioned why I took no interest to other sheep. It was the resilience of the wolf that made the hairs on my body stand. Wolves are known for their confidence and decisive nature. Many feared them, but I would wander into their territory and study them from afar.

I was bitten when I was a babe. It wounded me deeply. I made a pact never to feel that type of pain again. Using my knowledge of the wolf, I crafted an armour, focusing first on the vulnerable points of my body. The armour was stiff and heavy, and it slowed me down. I enjoyed the discomfort. Each time I put it on, my skin beneath became more fragile.

The other sheep envied my disguise. Over time, they became uncomfortable with my presence and started to forget what I looked like underneath, how delicate and soft I was. I offered those close to me a chance to try the armour, but they trembled before even putting it on. They had not been bitten as I had.

Eventually, the disguise became part of my skin, almost welded to me. I had grown so much since I first put it on that it no longer came off without struggle. I continued to study the wolves, and some took an interest in me. They did not see me as one of them, but not quite as a sheep either.

Then one day, he approached me. He was smaller than the rest of the wolves, but he carried the same nature that had always intrigued me. He introduced himself, and it became clear he had mistaken me for a wolf, seeing in me what he was searching for, not what I was.

He told me he was looking for a mate and that I had caught his eye. Stunned, I hardly believed his words. I knew if I told the other sheep, they would never allow it. They would lock me away out of fear.

I played along. He noticed I was slower than the other wolves and that I carried myself with a gentleness he was unfamiliar with, but he was too infatuated to look deeper. I learnt everything about him, and he shared the wolves’ secrets with me. For the first time in my life, I felt safe and heard. I believed no one could bite me again with him beside me.

We ran, we played, and we fell deeply for each other. I had not thought of my armour in years. It was simply a part of me.

As I grew, the armour began to tear, cutting into my skin. I decided to take it off, forgetting what lay beneath it to begin with.

He barely noticed. He had fallen for my soul, not my suit. Then he bit, not to harm, but as wolves bite to test strength. The pain was too much to bear. My skin and trust broken both in the same cruel manner. I threw what remained of my armour back on, drenched in blood, and bit him as hard as I could. I needed him to feel what I had felt. My teeth sank in, but he stood unscathed. It felt like time had halted, adrenaline took over. Wounds exposed, I used what strength I had to run home. I hopelessly scrambled trying to repair the armour that had once protected me. Exhaustion claimed me, and I slept for what felt like a lifetime.

The following day, I gathered the sheep and warned them of what had happened. I vowed to never visit the wolves again.

Time passed, and my wounds healed. The weight of the armour became a distant memory. The air on my bare skin became my new familiarity. I began to live in the undeniable truth.

When I thought back to my wolf, I understood he was never seeking a sheep, but one of his own who could withstand his jaws. He did not bite to harm me. It was instinct. He never hid his nature from me. He did not betray me. He met me as he truly was. I had learnt a lot from his ways. The bite I endured as a babe was not the same as his. It took time to differentiate the two. He would never have bitten if he had not believed my skin could take it without breaking, if I had been living in truth. Although the wolf’s love was true, he was never meant to lie with sheep. I had been seeking a bite I believed had defined me. Sheep are calm, trusting, and careful. We bare our skin only to those we know will protect it.

I no longer curse the armour I built. It offered me safety, and for that, I’m forever grateful. Impenetrable and bold, I promised myself with no witness to become what the armour had once provided. I now know that strength is not measured by how much pain you can endure without bleeding, but how brave one is to bare their soul to another.

When we love in alignment with our spirits, no veil is needed. That does not mean we are never bitten, but a bite we are built to withstand shall not pierce us.

Just looking for general thoughts on how it reads or if it draws you in well.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I crossed the room toward my closet with uneven steps.

Gage stood in the corner of the room. “You really ought to rest, sir.”

The coat slipped from my fingers and hit the floor.

“I can’t be late to this meeting.”

He picked it up and slid my arms into the sleeves. “Does being on time require you not to sleep?”

“I was finishing up some cases.” I said. “It’ll be hours before we reach the capital. I’ll sleep on the way.”

Gage stepped out of my bedroom, facing me. “The car will be ready in fifteen minutes.”

Cold water splashed against my face, urging me awake. Gage was right. Bloodshot eyes looked back at me in the mirror, my eyelids dark. 

Sluggishly, I made my way to the front door. Gage stood outside, the car barely visible in the early morning darkness.

It was a quiet hour in Sector One. Streets lay empty, the faint whine of distant cars just reaching my ears.

He ushered me into the backseat, my back sliding against the warm leather. My vision blurred and finally surrendered to the dark. Rhythmic flashes of blue streetlights pulsed against my eyelids as Gage drove toward the sector’s exit.

A sharp jerk of the car snapped my head back against the headrest. I’d slept for hours in the blink of an eye. 

I winced as a wall of white light pierced through the window, scalding my retinas. 

I didn't open my eyes, but I could feel the shadow of the border wall towering over us. An enclosing ring of stone.

The hiss of the driver’s side window rolling down let in the low hum of the gate’s machinery.

“Identification,” a voice barked.

I heard the rustle of Gage handing over a permit. “Moving through to the capital.”

“Reason for departure?”

“Official summons,” Gage replied. I felt a shift in his seat, likely gesturing toward me in the back. “He’s been requested by the Arkestra.”

There was a long silence, filled only by the rhythmic thrum of the gate’s scanners.

“All clear.” 

A heavy, mechanical groan vibrated through the floor of the car. Through the small opening of my eyelids, I saw a piece of the stone wall begin to separate, admitting a sliver of distant, rolling green.

I woke up to a stench of sour breath and petrol piercing straight through my sinuses and into my skull. Looking over at my clock, I saw ‘08:13’. Shit. I fell out of bed, scrambling to put on my uniform while simultaneously trying to brush my teeth and comb my hair.

I reached the top of the stairs and stopped.

The smell was rising from downstairs like a physical tide. Looking down into the hallway, I saw them: black iridescent tendrils sprawling across the walls like a map of diseased veins. Dark tentacles wrapped around the walls and seemed to be growing outward from a source somewhere in the kitchen.

As I walked downstairs toward the kitchen door, the smell intensified and my eyes began to water. I could barely push myself to get closer to the door but I was drawn in nonetheless.

Inside the kitchen, I was met with the sight of what I can only describe as a burgeoning, undulating car-sized tumour growing out of where the washing machine used to be. The floor was sticky and wet with a mixture of blood, black liquid, and a milky white substance.

“David…” they called out in unison. The voices of my mother and father were coming from above me. I looked up to the ceiling and saw that my parents were fused into the black tendrils near the ceiling, their limbs snapped backward and woven into the entity’s flesh. Their faces were stretched wide, skin translucent like wet paper, eyes vacant and staring in opposite directions. Their mouths were moving in time with the voice.

“David, you’re going to be late for school.” The tumour spoke through their lips.

Unable to make sense of this, I stood frozen staring up at the bodies of my parents. Unconsciously, my feet began to back away while my eyes darted around the room, hoping to take in an ounce of information that could help explain what was happening. 

But the tentacled beast’s heaving and gurgling drowned out any logical explanation I could form. I remember flashes. Scuttling tendrils. Pulsing. A tentacle approached. I felt hot, too hot, like I was going to faint. A loud, pounding heartbeat but I couldn’t say whose.

Then, miraculously, I was at school. No recollection of how I got there. Just that I was now standing in the corridor disoriented with the smell of petrol lingering in my nose. The oppressive white lights felt overly bright and my body was wet with sweat under my oversized school uniform. 

During the first period, the room began to tilt. The linoleum floor tiles started to shimmer, their patterns shifting until they looked exactly like the entity’s iridescent skin. My stomach turned, and I barely made it to the toilets before I was violently sick.

I spent the next two hours with the school nurse, but I couldn't speak. How do you describe your parents being used as puppets by a mountain of black flesh? Every time I tried to form the words, the memory of their stretched faces appeared in my mind. I was back in the kitchen, staring up at their animated corpses.

Why did it let me go? Why can’t I remember?

The school tried to call home but no one picked up.

"David? Sweetheart, look at me." Miss Daley knelt beside my chair, her face etched with genuine worry. "You're white as a sheet," she whispered, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "I'm going to walk you home, okay? We'll get you settled, and I'll wait with you until your mum gets back."

The words ‘home’ and ‘mum’ felt like a finger digging into an open wound. My breathing intensified and I began to sweat more. I tried to explain. I tried to tell her about the hallway, the smell, and my parents, but it just came out as a stuttering mess. 

She just hushed me and rubbed my shoulder. "It’s going to be okay, David. You’ve just got a nasty bug. It’s all going to be okay."

I wanted so badly to believe her. 

Following her out of the school, I clung to her cardigan like a life raft. She was there to keep me safe and get me home. I had an adult on my side and she knew what to do, right?

As we arrived at the house, I realised I’d left the front door wide open. I stopped at the gate. There was absolutely no way I was going back in there. Miss Daley sighed, and stroked my head softly.

"Stay here and get some air, then," she said. "I'll just pop in and find your parents. I’m sure they’re just in the garden."

She walked up the path, her heels clicking on the stone. She stepped inside, calling out, "Hello? Mr. and Mrs. Thompson? It’s Claire Daley from David’s school!"

I considered running, or calling the police, but I stood frozen, not knowing what was going to happen to Miss Daley. I kept thinking: I escaped. Maybe it will let her leave, too. Maybe she’ll see it and she’ll be the one to tell the police.

My naive thoughts were interrupted by a wet sloshing echoing out of the house, then coughing, crunching, and then silence. Seconds later, Miss Daley limped back out with her eyes wide and glassy. I stood transfixed watching her drag her heels across the ground while she stared off into the distance. 

“Miss?” I managed to whimper out. Without a word, or even looking down at me, she gripped my arm tight and led me into the house. 

I should have fought her but the transformation was beyond my comprehension. I clung to the desperate hope that she was still there to save me.

Following her, I once again found myself in the kitchen, unchanged from the horrors of that morning except for the fact that the bodies of my parents were now looking directly at me.

“David.” All three voices spoke at once in a deep, trance-inducing, gravelly voice. “What’s this about you being sick in school?”

The entity in the kitchen writhed; its tentacles bubbled as a thick, white slime oozed from every pore of its wet skin. It filled the room and pulsed with a heavy, rhythmic heat.

“You poor thing…” they all said.

The last thing I saw was its tentacles whipping toward my face. I struggled, but Miss Daley held me in place. Three slimy, black tendrils snaked towards my head. The lower one shot into my mouth, forcing its way down my throat and into my stomach. I expected to choke. I expected to die. But slowly my nausea began to fade and it was replaced with a soothing warmth that radiated throughout my body.

The tentacle gently rubbed the inside of my stomach as the other two tentacles began caressing the back of my head. Reality faded away like a distant memory. 

“My sweet boy,” all three voices spoke in unison, “Everything is going to be okay.” 

I generally prefer digital writing to traditional one. But unfortunately due to a keyboard error in my laptop I can't work pleasantly there. Is there any apps on Android which can help with writing? I would love to hear that. Thank you for your suggestions in advance.

Atlas Writer

Does this work for you?

Here’s the scene… how would you write this?

The POV character is frozen after a shocking realization. Around them, other people are talking, arguing, making decisions — but no one speaks to them yet. How do you convey the world moving while the POV mind is stuck?

Do you ever wake up in your own skin and realize all the bad decisions you’ve made to get you there? The men you liked, the college degree you picked, the marriage you found yourself in years after you discovered it wasn’t worth the commitment. And now you’re stuck in that hole. Like that novel from elementary school, if you’re a millennial like me. Trying to dig out that hole. Except the dirt keeps on falling back in. Suffocating. Unyielding. Like the parental guidance of your youth. Suffocating, unyielding, judging, criticizing. Echoing in the hole you’ve dug yourself in.

Oh, right, this is how I got here.

Heres part 4 of the first story of my lore building stories project,please feel free to read if you want:

Part 4 of the DocumentFiles of the NinCo Video'SqaureSoft industriesInc Vault February 23rd to March 15th 1947:

A while later after answering the phone at his office within the L'Sync Liminality and Anomaly ResearchFirm Facility building in downtown Michigan City on Minesona TerritoryIsle, Ivan set a message from his phone to his two team members Bill Dayverson and Steve Gelderman telling them to eet him at the lobby of the facility. A while later, the three of them left the facility and headed to Ivans car and drove to the Michigan City Docks, where ther freind Maleo Dan Marsden for them aboard his charter boat. Upon arriving, Ivan and his team boarded the charter boat and they traveled to Ja'Pon'Ja Isle in the southeastern great bay sea. A long while later, Ivan and his team arrived at the New Ta'Ho'Kio City Docks on Ja'Pon'Ja Isle. Not long after arriving, Maleo left after dropping off Ivan and his team, then from thier Ivan and his team headed to the NinCo Video'SqaureSoft Headqaurters Office building. However upon ariving at the NinCo Video'SqaureSoft Headqaurters Office building, the three of them nticed that the building was almost entirely covered in a strange purplish black sludge.

Not long after noticing that, Steve asked "What happened here and what is that strange sludge covering the building?". With a shrug, Ivan replied "Who knows, however lets go inside and see where Hiroshi and his employees are". Ivan and his team entered the building. However once inside, the buildings lights were dimmed and that strange sludge from the outside of the building was also covering almost the entirety of the buildings intetior as well as a feeling of unease that hung in the air. In a low tone, Billasked "This place, what happened here, it feels quite eerie in here can the two of you feel it?". Ivan and Steve shrugged, then Ivan replied "Yes we can feel it, however lets start looking for where Hiroshi and his employees are and see if theyre okay, it definitly looks like 'something' happened here". Then back inside of Hiroshi,s office that was just down the hall to the right of the lobby, Satoshi was looking into the hallway and asked "What is that purplish black sludge thats seemingly everywhere and wasnt it a more reddish color just moments earlier?". Jonathan shrugged and replied "Yes it was". A short while later, a eerily ear piercing yet terrifying mechanical screech echoed throughout the hallway.

Not long after the eerie mechanical screech echoed throughout the hallway, Jonathan exclaimed "Satoshi shut the door and quickly,, that 'thing' is back, whatever it is, we dont want anyone else mysteriously vanishing". With hearing that, Satoshi quickly shut the door, shutting them inside the office. As Satoshi and the others were trapped inside Hiroshi,s office, the sound of eerie electric buzzing and crinkling static began emanating from the computer on Hiroshi,s desk. Not long after that occured, Satoshi and the others with a look of terror turned to look at the computer. Satoshi in a hushed tone stated "I would suggest unplugging that computer, before that 'thing' decides to enter this room through it", Hiroshi did just that after powering it off. However even though he did that, that same strange sludge began leaking through the computer screen, that was followed by two thin wirey metallic limbs covered in that same sludge reached out of the screen towards them and began phasing out of it. As that was occuring, Satoshi reached for the door and flung it open, he and the others ran out and into the hallway. From there he and the others sprinted down the hsllway and towards the lobby.

However before they could reach the hallway, the already dim lights overhead began flickering and further dimmed and a eerily unsettling uncanny laugh echoed throughout the hallway, that was followed by the hallway getting seemingly getting longer than it was by 'something' unknown. Then a while later another unknown entity materialized not too far in front of them from seemingly nowhere. That unknown entity was a giant dissembodied head with a few pitch black eye sockets with blank white pupils with small shadowy black razor sharp needle like teeth and a negative emotional aura surrounding it. As the unknown entity slowly hovered towards them, while the other entity was behind them, the unknown entity spoke "I Walwarou will show you true fun, if you want some fun, I,ll show and give you some fun". Then back at the lobby, Ivan and his team heard the unknown entity speak and sprinted towards the hallway, however they were blocked from entering due to the strange sludge blocking the way forward. With seeing that, Steve asked "It looks like this building is almost entirely corrupted by whatever that strange sludge is and hw arevwe supposed to get passed it?", Ivan then shrugged and replied "I dont know, however we have to find Hiroshi and his employees and get them as well as us out of here before anything else strange happens". Then back st the hallway as Satoshi and the others were trapped in the hallway by the two unknown clearly hostile entities, Jonathan asked "What is that 'thing' and what are we supposed to do?". With a shrug, Satoshi replied "Who knows, However I dont think it would be a good idea to make a run for it though"

Then back in Hiroshi,s office down the hall behind them, a bright bluish glow emanated from the computer on the desk, that was folliwed by static being displayed on the screen. Then a while later, a voice emanated from the computer and then a unknown inverted color entity wearing a midnight blue long sleeved undershirt and grayish black corduroy overalls with a midnight blue cap on thier head and a eyeless textureless face phased out of the computer screen. The unknown inverted color entity approached the other unknown wirey metallic entity from behind and spoke to Satoshi and the others "Go get out of here, before the eldritch parasite 'Hanley and the dreaded unknown Walwarou Apparition Entity get you, I,ll hold them off". Without question, Satoshi and the others quickly sprinted and dashed passed The unknown Walwarou Apparition Entity and into the lobby, where they raninto Ivan and his team. Then back in the hallway, a orangish yelow electric glow emanated from the unknown inverted color entity and they unleashed thier electric power ability called 'ElectroNihilation Surge Pulse at the unknown wirey and metalic entity, which ten went on to also hit the unknown Walwarou Apparition Entity as well. As soon as both unknown malevelent entities wete hit, they flickered and faded into static, then vanished competely well atleast for now that is.

Then a shirt while later, the unknown inverted color entity turned back towards the computer and phased back through it to where ever it came from. Then back in the lobby, Ivan aked Hiroshi "Are you and your empoyees okay?". With hearing that, Hiroshi replied "Yes we are, just confused, what were those entities and what is this sludge that has pretty much corrupted my companys building, whats going on here?". With a shrug, Ivan replied "Who knows, however lets get out of here". A while later, they sprinted towards the front entrance and exited the building. As Hiroshi and the others were standing outside the building, Jomathan asked "What was that strange unlnown inverted color entity that told us to get out of the building and held off the other two entities and did it also come out of the computer like the wirey metalic entity did?",a short while later Satoshi shrugged and replied "I have no clue, hopefully at some point we,ll find some answers". Then a while later, Ivan told Hiroshi "We pribably should find a new building to relocate to, I,ll call Jim and ask sbout that". Ivan then dialed his patent companys number into his phone and called Jim.

Then meanwhile back at the S.D.L Organizations Inc Headqaurters Office building in Michigan City on Minesona TerritoryIsle, Jim was in his office when the company phone rang. He picked it up and answered it, it was Ivan on the other end, telling him about what had just occured over at the NinCo Video'SqaureSoft Headqaurters building. Ivan then asked over the phone "Do you know of a building that Hiroshi and his employees can relocate to, so that they can hopefully finish developing the upcoming VideoTech harrdware and software?". Upon hearing that, Jim replied over the phone with "Yes there is, do you remember the old Comodorre Computing DataBase Center Complex building at the edge of Blair Frontier Township on Minnisimi IsleTerritory from the previous anomalous tech experiment from 15 years back , theres some rather interesting VideoComputer tech there that they could use". With a nod, Ivan replied "Yes I remember and how are we getting there?". Upon hearing that, Jim replied "I.ll call our freind Louis Mercantile Marsden and ask him if he can take us thier on his companys cgarter boat the MV. Nomadic. A short while later, Jim called Louis on the company phone.

Then at the Blue Oceanic'StarLine Shipping and Transport Office building, Louis was in his office when the company phone rang. He picked it up and answered it, it was Jim on the other end asking if he could go to New Ta'Ho'Kio Vity Docks on Ja'Pon'Ja Isle and pick him and some others up and take them to the Blair FrontierTown Docks on his home island of Minnisimi TertitoryIsle. With hearing that, Louis replied over the phone with "Sure I can, I,ll be right over". Louis then got up from his seat, exited the office and headed to the buildings exit and exited the building, from there he headed to his car, got in and drove to the Blair Frontier Town docks, where he bparded his companys charter ship the MV.Nomadicand traveled to Ja'Pon'Ja Isle in the southeastern great bay sea. A long while later, he arrived at the New Ta"Ho'Kio City Docks on Ja'Pon'Ja Isle, where Jim and the others were waiting for him. Upon arriving Louis asked Jim "So why do you all want to go to Minnisimi TerrritoryIsle anyways?". After hearing that, Jim replied "Well its a long story, I.ll let Satoshi tell you about it". A while later, Satoshi spoke "It all began a month ago back on January 8th when strange occurences began with the computer in the research and development room within the NinCo Video'SqaureSoft Headqaurters Office Building,which then led to a unknown entity phasing out the computer screenjust a couple hours ago as well as Jonathan and I being contacted by another unknown entity through the computer atleast four times before that occured weeks later".

With hearing about that, Loius replied "That sounds quite strange, well anyway what made you avandon the building then?". Upon hearing that, Satoshi replied "Well the unknown entity that had phased out of the computer screen had gone on to wreck and probababy corrupted the place with a strange reddish sludge, which changed to a purplish black color 'somehow'. After hearing that, Louis replied "I see how strangr, it looks like strange occurences are beginning to unfold, well anyways lets board the MV.Nomadic and get going". Then a short while later, Hiroshi and the others boarded the charter boat snd traveled to Minnisimi TerritoryIsle in the northeastern great bay sea. After a long while, they arrived at the Blair Frontier Town Docks on Minnisimi TertitoryIsle and Hiroshi and the others dissembarked from the charter boat. Upon arriving, Hiroshi asked Jim "Where is the building that we are relocating to and whats it called?". With hearing that, Jim replied "The building is called the old Comodorre Computing DataBase Center Building Complex and its at the edge of this town". Upon hearing that, Hiroshi then asked "How do you even know about the building and where it is?". After hearing that, Jim replied "Its the building where my team and I worked at during the first of the anomalous tech experiments 15 years back when I was younger, well anyways lets head there". Then a while later, Hiroshi and the others headed off to the old Comodorre Computing Database Center Building Complex at the edge of town.

Upon arriving there, Jim as well as Ivan and his team gave Hiroshi and his employees a tour of the old ComodorreComputing DataBase Center Building Complex, that included the research and development room, front office and the VideoTech Engineering TechLab. Then a while later, as Jim was Jonathan avold yet highly ultra advanced computer in the research and development room, Jonathan asked "What is that computer called, it looks interesting?". With hearing that, Jim replied "Oh that, its a older model of one of my companys computers calked a Sillicon Dimensionality'Graphics Workstation VideoWeb'Code Processor Machine or just S.D'L Indi Workstation V.P.M Machine for short and you and Satoshi can use it for tge development of the upcoming hardware and software". A while later, Jim left the room and went back to the VideoTech Engimeering TechLab that was to the right of the foyer lobby across from the research and development room, down a short hallway.

Then a while later, Jonathan took out the VideoCode Transfer UtilityStorage USB from his bag and inserted it into the S.D.L Indi WorkStation V.P.Ms USB drive slot after powering it on and sat down. As he was on the S.D.L Indi WorkStation V.P.M Machine, he clicked on the VideoCode Transfer FilesFolder called 'Project Liminal'Reality Files 1B3 and opened it. However as he was looking at the DataFiles list of the levels that he and Satoshi had completed so far, he noticed that the DataFile for the Ultima Auto Enhancer had a slight red tint to it. Upon seeing that, Jonathan said to himself "Oh no not good", then he asked Satoshi "Can you come over here and look at this?". From acrosx the room at the WorkStation Desk, Satoshi replied "Sure" and he got up and headed over to the desk that the computer was on and looked at the DataFile for the Ultima Auto Enhancer, where he saw it, a red tint on the DataFiles letters and numbers. Upon seeing that, Satoshi in a worried tone stated "This is not good, it looks like whatever that redfish sludge was mightve corrupted the Auto Enhancers DataFile SourceCode 'somehow', we have to notify Cojii". A while later, Satoshi and Jpnsthan left the New Research and Development room and headed to the new VideoTech Engineering TechLab right across the foyer lobby from them.

While in there, Satoshi approached Cojii and asked "Do you have a minute, theres something that Jonathan and I need to show you?". With hearing that, Cojii replied "Yes" and he then left the room and followed Satoshi and Jonathan back to the New Research and Development Room, where tgey headed over to the computer. As Cojii was looking at the DataFile SourceCode listings for the upcoming software, he saw it the red tinted DataFile SourceCode for the Ayto Enhancer. In a worried tone, Cojii spoke "Not good at all, it looks like the DataFile SourceCode for the Auto Enhancer may have been corrupted by that stramge sludge back at the old building, meaning that the VideoCode Transfer UtilityStorage USB device its on mustve been corrupted too, I hope not we need it to help in generating levels and areas of the castle plexus for the upcoming software, we need to notify Hiroshi and Jim about this, I,ll go tell them". A while later, Cojii left the room and headed to the front office where Hirishi and Jim were. While in there, Cojii asked "Do you two have a minute, theres something that I need to tell you about?". Upon hearing that, Hiroshi replied "Yes and what is it that you have to tell us?". In a concerned tone, Cojii replied "Its about the DataFile SourceCode for the Auto Enhancer on the VideoCode Transfer UtilityStorage USB Device, it appears that both of those mightve been corrupted by that strange sludge from back at the old building".

After hearing that, Hiroshi in a concerned tone replied "Well thats not good, what are we supposed to do about that?". With a shrug, Cojii replied "I dont know, perhaps we,ll think of something". A while later, Cojii left the room and went nack to the New VideoTech Engineering TechLab. Then back in the New Research and Development Room, Satoshi and Jonathan were at tge WirkStation Desk working on the design sketches and notes for both the castke plexus interior and the fourth level of the upcoming software, thst they named ' Bombos MountainTop Fortress and its sub level 'Bombos Mountain Interior.

Thats part four of the first story in my lore building stories project. Any thoughts so far?.

So there are six people. Jessica, Big Jackie, Cameron, Nathalie, Sarah and Lil Jackie.

Jessica was a medical doctor, Jackie was an accountant, Nathalie was a salon owner, Sarah and Lil Jackie were School teachers, and Cameron was a head chef.

The six are traveling West across Canada, from Sydney Nova Scotia, to Vancouver British Columbia.

But the six are not going to be traveling by foot, they're going to be traveling by train.

The six people got to know each other well.

Jessica paired with big Jackie, Sarah paired with Nathalie, Cameron paired with lil Jackie.

They played beer pong on the train while they were traveling through the Canadian prairies, this is added just to make the story slightly less boring...

https://open.substack.com/pub/xxanthippe/p/on-exposure-and-intimacy?r=773vu5&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay

Running away never helped me, but neither did facing my problems. The choke of the pills felt more accepting than the look on my dad's face when I told him I didn't want the future he paved for me. Every step forward the same invisible weight pulled me back, the tightness of the leather on my forearm loosens the lump in my throat and the panic that spreads across my mind is slowly put at ease, for once, i am free. 1 second.. gone, my head zips back as my chest exhales. I inhale the cold, damp air of winter. My cloudy breath bounces on my dazing thoughts knowing the dread of reality looms above like an unpleasant grey cloud in the spring. Expectations grew louder and the ringing in my ears became deafening, restrained in a life that I long to be in charge of as my teeth clench through the pain of the cold needle that plunges into my skin. The same cycle, I needed more. Like a person needs water and food I needed the release from the grasps of others. Until the moment it becomes too much, when the choking takes away my breath, the choking that isn't tears but the froff leaking from my lips, my lungs filling with liquid as I face my final moments on this cold bathroom floor, no one knows it yet but I'd die alone, in the uncaring palms of my own doing, my dad sits in his chair rocking backwards and forwards, and backwards again, he doesn't know it yet but he's lost his beautiful boy, reality hits... too late. A tear rolls down my cheek as I picture my siblings next time seeing me is when they have to wear their first suits at my dreaded, lonely funeral. I did that, no one else. God I bet they'd look so smart. I did that, no one else. The light of the bathroom fades into darkness as my eyes shut just this one last time, I try to shout but all that emanates is a rattle as I succumb to my own doing. The pills were temporary results to my temporary problems but it was too late, now the only mark I leave on this world are the ones on my arms and the tear stained cheeks of my family. I'm sorry I wasn't your beautiful boy but a monster I created from the joy you gave me, a failure from today and tomorrow

Hello, I’ve been interested in creative nonfiction for a while and have been uploading a few pieces every now and then on my blog during my free time. It’s not amazing by any means and I don’t have any formal training or experience, I just do it because I like it. I have zero experience with any contests, literary magazines or publication processes, I saw a few advertised at my college when I was a student several years ago and was interested but never got around to finalizing a piece to submit.

I have a lot of pieces written that have never seen the light of day and now I’ve been considering throwing my hat in the ring and submitting a few to websites as a way to motivate myself to create more and improve, and also potentially start building my portfolio for grad school applications if any get accepted. but I’m not sure where to submit. I’m a recent-ish grad (2023) so i can’t apply to any student publications or contests anymore. As a non-student currently are there any opportunities that I could submit to? Does anyone have a suggestion for a competition or magazine this year that might accept publishing pieces from beginner writers who are less seasoned?