Story Pictures

You know the story I last posted? Well, I was asked to make a picture for the first couple paragraphs to show my photo taking abilities. I'm pretty proud of it, since there wasn't much to photograph. What do you think?

New Story!

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't posted in so long, but my teachers decided to go test crazy and then I lost power for a week so things didn't really work out. Anyway, I wrote a short story, actually two. One was for a Halloween story contest that I never got to enter because my power went out right before I submitted it (no joke) and the other is for a "simple" assignment. Let's see if you guys can guess which one's which.

Into the Whiteness (Not yet finished)

Five years after two thousand twelve and the evidence that proves Hollywood was wrong is abundant. Man has survived, but just barely, and the Earth still exists as a semi-hospitable planet. Perhaps it was the Mayan’s direct translation we should have been analyzing instead of some clueless film director’s take on the wording. The world shall change as we know it. It was simple, so very simple. In fact, it could have been avoidable. However, it wasn’t. Man’s egotistical ways prevented that. Over thousands of years, our seemingly complex—though actually simple—nature has failed to change, and for that we are facing extinction.

            We were given five years more, and we squandered every minute.

            So, I shrug on my jacket and slip on my snow boots that are three sizes to small—the ones with more holes than shoe. Quickly, I think about grabbing the tattered hat that makes me feel colder with it on, but decided against it. I shout a goodbye to Joe and scamper out of the shack we had decided to camp in for the time being.

            My weak bones sing as the whipping air sends sharp, painful snowflakes spiraling at my skin. I inhale deeply before proceeding to trudge through the foot of snow that has accumulated. My failing body groans at every move I make. Muscles that have been deprived of necessary nutrients protest my journey and try to convince me it would be wiser to turn back.

            I roll my eyes at my dying self and continue to lift one foot out of the blanket at a time. It’s slow moving, but there isn’t a thing I can do to change it. If I move too quickly, I could fall, and I know that if I drop then I’m done. The signs that proclaim the end of my life are coming more frequently now.

            It started to show in the little things, like losing my breath after only minutes of walking. That was fine when Laurence was healthy. He could help me at such times. However, when he fell ill, I knew I hadn’t much time left.

            The fever came as everyone said it did—painful and lasting. Tremors rocked his body for days and a fever that heated our entire cave plagued his body. Then, he appeared to be getting better. That night, everyone slept. In the morning, when we awoke, he was gone.

            We couldn’t bury his body, for the ground has been frozen solid since July, so we covered him in a blanket of snow. Sometimes, I dream the wolves get him. When I wake up, I realize it was just a dream—there are no wolves anymore. They were killed off in the second year, when crops could no longer be grown, just like every other big game animal.

            I blink, trying to erase Laurence from my mind. For a while, there had been something between us. It wasn’t quite a romance, but more a friendship that was twisted by the relentless snow. He is—was—ten years older than me, but Joe’s older as well. However, Joe—my brother—has never thought of me in such a way. In fact, he was furious when he found Laurence kissing me that one day.

            Later that night, I had heard him lecturing Laurence, even though my brother was younger. “Are you an idiot? We can’t look after another life! We can’t even take care of our own?” Laurence had said it was just a kiss, and that it meant nothing. “If you create a life, you lose yours.”

            Still, my brother doesn’t know I had heard their conversation. Even though I agreed with Laurence, his words still hurt. Yes, all we were was friends, but he had been my first kiss; I had told him I wanted to have one before we died.

            I stub my toe on a rock that was concealed by the thick blanket of snow and nearly fall over. Swearing at my stupidity, I continue walking. One foot in front of the other, I must remind myself.

            Almost a week ago—if my internal clock is still functioning correctly—I contracted the fever. It came less violently than it did with Laurence, but it caused me great pain nevertheless. Now, I’m reaching the end. I’m in the stage right before death, the one that makes everyone think the sickness is nearly gone.

            Tonight, I’m going to die. That’s why I’ve left Joe. I can’t let him wake up to discover his only remaining family member left is dead. So, I decided I was going to go away to leave him. That way, he won’t have to see me pass.

            Smiling to myself, for I’ve chosen an excellent time to walk—the relentless blizzard covers my tracks in the time it takes me to move a foot forward—I begin the hardest part of my journey. Now, the gentle slope becomes a dangerously steep grade, and the thick layer of snow that only continues to deepen proves to be dangerous.

            I can’t help but sigh in relief when the tree that marks the approach of the clearing comes into view. It’s a large one, and at one point it was a home to apples, or at least that’s what Joe tells me. Now, it’s denuded of everything but the pathetic bark wrapped around it’s gnarled bole and mangled limbs.

            When we trekked through this area before I caught the fever, this tree stood out to me. Later, I came this way to explore. Now, I’m returning through snow, a fever that wants to kill me, and an ankle I twisted a few days earlier. The only thing that keeps me moving forward is the desire to find out what lies beyond.

            Joe is a devout Catholic who firmly believed in Heaven, Hell, and all the spaces in between. I don’t. Earth id it, and one just has to make the best out of it using the time they are given. Now, I’m really hoping Joe is right because my seventeen years were pathetic.

            The clearing comes into view and a rush of fear overwhelms me. Wouldn’t I prefer to pass with Joe holding my hand, whispering calming stories of a day and age when life was glorious? No, I had chosen this, and I was going to go through with it.

            I step forward and a rock jumps up from the ground and trips me. I land face first in the snow and am overcome with a wave of ferocious dizziness. Finally, I cry. The tears freeze on my face, not even getting a chance to ride the slide to the ground. I’m dying.

            If the fever doesn’t take me soon, hypothermia will.

            I decide I want to see the sky one more time, even if it is white from the cloud cover. I crawl forward, yelping at the pain in my knee. Then, flop onto my back and look up through the trees and see the white sky, and I watch as flakes as big as eyes swirl down from space.

            It was amazing that such a simple thing could give me such peace. What’s even more amazing that if NASA had just destroyed the meteor, like it promised, I’d be leaving for college. I just guess every complicated story is really just many simple ones.

            The meteor was going to hit Earth; the space program knew that. They evacuated the projected area of collision and warned people in surrounding areas to prepare for the worst. They told the news it wasn’t that big of a deal, and it would be easy to destroy it.

            The reporters asked them why they wouldn’t just get rid of it. NASA’s reply was the curt and hostile, “It would cost more money to destroy it than to just let it hit.” So, when impact came, everyone was shocked.

            It had been predicted that most of the rock’s mass would burn up in it’s descent through our atmosphere, but it didn’t. People died. But that wasn’t the worst part.

            Earth was knocked out of its orbit around the sun. I suppose it is still moving in an elliptical fashion, but other than that everything is changing. The days are literally becoming longer, and over five years they have become roughly twenty-six hours long. Of those hours, the sun appears for roughly six, if any at all. The rest of the time, we sit in darkness.

            Joe says eventually the Earth is going to have to stop moving. According to him, we will either stop on our own, or collide with another planet, like Mars, which continues to grow bigger in the sky.

            I don’t enjoy thinking about such things, for they trouble me with a sadness that can’t be resolved with a hug and a promise that things are going to get better. I stopped believing in such foolishness years ago. That way, less could hurt me.

            But as life would see it, things still do. Loss still hurts, even when I think I’m too numb to feel for another dead soul. However, I no longer feel remorse for the children crying because their parents are dead. The ones who come up to us and beg for food.

            I give them what I can, knowing I still have to eat. It doesn’t help; they’ll still die anyway. We all will.

            So, I close my eyes and dream of writing perfect essays, acing tests I never took, and getting into my perfect university. When morning comes, I don’t wake up; I’m too busy graduating. My brother’s there and so are my parents, all smiles because I’ve done it. And from my body, which I am leaving, slips one more tear, but it doesn’t even make it past my lashes.

           

 Sapphire Eyes

            Her eyes were gorgeous, anyone would attest to that. They glittered in the haunting candle light that cast grotesque shadows over everything in the room. Somehow, the ghastly shadows failed to depreciate the beauty of the sister sapphires sitting below finely trimmed brows.

            She tilted her head ever so slightly to the side, pondering over the question asked. Unlike her companions, she was hesitant to take the odd-looking candy offered, even though the looks of pure pleasure on their faces reassured her it was safe for consumption.

            The boy, who was dressed as a Bloodsucker, elbowed her in the ribs. She glowered at him and returned to gnawing on the nail of her pointer finger.  The sapphires released the boy from their painful hold and returned to hover on the neatly wrapped, homemade sweet.

            She asked, speaking with an unexpected grace, what the candy was made of. When my response was not immediate, for coming up with a believable answer would take a moment, the girl flipped her dark brown hair off of her shoulder and shifted position.

            The other children chuckled behind her. To be fair, they were not younglings in their world—teenagers in fact. However, in the realm of the Nocturnal they would still be considered babes in arms, flesh still retaining the pink hue that induces the image of a newborn. 

            They were young, perhaps too youthful for their own good, but the clans were dwindling. More members were needed if a resistance of any authority was to be generated, and the best way to create such a force was to utilize the fresh ones, for their minds still have time to be molded in which ever way is most needed.

            But the girl with the sapphire eyes was different. She was not like the other human younglings; no, she was not like them at all. Her appearance—to the mortal eye—was one of an attractive female, but to the trained sight of a Soothsayer, it was clear she was more than just average.

            A faint glow emanated from her calloused palms, which were covered by lace gloves. Her blood-red lips—likely colored from the lip paint that mortals use—were full and cocked, a sign of smugness that should not belong to one so young. It was almost as if the girl was aware of something I was not.

            Another of her friends, who was dressed as a Werewolf, nudged her forward and said that she should take the candy so they could depart. I rewarded him with a falsely thankful smile; however, it wasn’t as if he could tell.

            She bit her nail, again, which was painted black. Her costume was the generic All-Hallows-Eve ensemble for girls: black tights, a tattered skirt, pointed shoes, and a lopsided hat. Her attempt at a witch was not noteworthy—not even close—but somehow she made the torn and hideous clothes look pleasing.

            Dark ringlets of chestnut hair fell to her shoulder, framing her interesting face. Her nose was not thin, but not wide, as well as being smooth and straight. A hard, obstinate jaw was clenched tightly as she thought of a way to kindly turn down the treat.

            One of her female friends, who was given an Nocturnally impotent piece—she would have no value as one of us—reached out to grab the candy. The sapphire girl stopped her friend and lifted her eyes until they focused on a new target.

            Behind her, the moon rose steadily, minutes away from reaching its most powerful point at midnight. She looked back at the glowing orb—the source of power for all Nocturnals—and flexed her fingers. Then, she took the candy from the palm.

            I sighed in relief. Finally, the girl had given in. She carefully unwrapped the paper around it and put the caramel colored candy to her nose. After smelling it thoroughly, she dropped her hand, letting my anger flare upwards.

            As a Soothsayer, I had to be careful. If my emotions bested me, I might end up changing the course of one’s path. That would result in a forfeit of our side, which was completely unacceptable.

            We were a much sought after group, us Soothsayers, for we could tell which children would be best for reaping. However, the Witches and Warlocks for whom we fought against thought it to be cheating if we changed the course of one’s destiny so that our side would benefit. So, we could only use our powers to affect those that belonged to us by the Laws of the Undead.

            I told the girl the candy was delicious, and pulled another powerless piece from my pocket and popped it into my mouth. It wasn’t until I swallowed it that she seemed to be content.

            She thanked me and motioned to her friends that it was time to go. I stiffened; she could not go—I needed them for the Contests. I stepped forward and calmly spoke out. Her friends turned to look at me, falling helpless to the spell my words cast.

            However, she did not turn, and I knew something was wrong. I spoke louder, more powerful spells, and still she did not face me. I leapt forward, crossing a distance that would be impossible for a mortal, and landed on her body. My claws came out, hooking into her skin.

            This time, she did turn around. She craned her neck so that I could see her face, which was no longer one that belonged to the girl I had seen moments before. It was one that belonged to Eden of Domini. I tensed and tried to pull my talons from her shoulders.

            The witch smiled and touched her hand to my face. A bolt of red-hot electricity shot through my veins and I screamed out in pain. She laughed, as her body grew into one of a full-grown woman. Her pinkish skin became the stone cold grey of a mature witch.

            I swore as I fell to the ground; my claws had become lodged in her body and were separated from my body when she turned to stone. My own mud-brown eyes met her sapphire orbs. How could I have been so foolish? I knew the eyes of the leader of the enemy cult, but yet I had not connected them to the girl that was so odd.

            She chortled and looked up at the moon. It would be just minutes until the children transformed, which meant I would have that much longer to live; the Soothsayer who cast a metamorphic spell on another would need to be kept alive for the change to occur. Additionally, every powerful transformation occurred at midnight, on All-Hallows-Eve.

             However, I didn’t need to be in perfect condition for the change to occur. I only needed to be able to convey some of my power to the children so the candy could affect them.

            The witch knew this, for she was the leader of the enemy, and descended upon me. Her knees slammed into my chest, knocking me to the ground. I grunted and looked into those elated sapphire eyes. She cackled in the way that’s special to the magical and slammed her palm onto my chest.

            I roared in agony. She smacked me across the face and told me to be quiet, for if I was too loud the children might awaken from their spell. I grimaced and tried to think of a way to slip out from under her, but I saw no options.

            When I squirmed, trying to escape, she grabbed onto one of my fingers and plucked it off of my hand. I screamed, and she removed another. This time, I forced myself to remain silent.

            She smiled maliciously at me and watched the younglings on the deck of the creaky house. They were beginning to twitch. The Bloodsucker boy screamed, as his blood pooled around him, while the Werewolf howled in terror as fur sprouted from his skin.

            The girl dressed as a dark angel sprouted true wings, which were as dark as the night. Her short dress turned into a gown of itchy, white feathers that had at one point been taken from a true angel’s pinions.

            Her friend, who I had deemed as worthless since she was dressed a high school cheerleader, dropped to the ground, clutching her throat. The candy would end her, even though it was harmless to me.

            The witch resting on my chest cackled until the transformation was done. Then, she removed herself from my body, called her new minions, and extended her hand towards me.

            “Farewell, Soothsayer. Thou have been most useful this All-Hallows-Eve,” she told me as a life-ending whip of blue fire coiled around my body until it reached my neck. “’Tis a shame thee shall perish as such.” The last thing I saw before I expired were the sapphire orbs—the only ones in the world. 

Editing :)

So, I've entered a modeling contest for the sims 3 (on the officials). I've done a few others but this one if pretty relaxed. It's a free-for-all editing comp (if you want to), even though a lot of the people are beginners, but I decided to have some fun with these pictures.

Not sure I'm a fan of either of them, but they were still fun to edit. Basically, the competition is a fairytale one where we had to choose to make our model a princess or a fairy. Mine is a princess who wants to run away..... :)

The monkey looked down at the animal walking along the forest floor beneath it. One more step, and the  primate pounced, landing on the creature's shoulders. It smiled and said, "Hey Boots! The Map told me you would be here."

New Blog

Hey bloggers of the world, or people who unfortunately stumbled upon this link--sorry about leaving it in the open--nice to finally be able to address you as such. My name is, well how about you just call me Monks? Yeah, I know--it's not very original, but at least it's not my other choice (Blogger2.0).
Nah, I kid you. I actually do like my username, which is probably why I use it so much. You may see me around the interweb--the way kool kats say internet--with that username or ones like it. On that topic, if you happen to be a fan of the Sims 3 like me and have an account on the official site, feel free to friend me here.  Anyway, I think it's time I explain why I got a blog, you know, besides the obvious reason of having a portal in which I can freely spew my emotions into anonymously. I made this blog so that I can hopefully share pieces that I've written with the world and get feedback. I may also show some digital art I've made or photography I've taken depending on my mood. So, if you like the direction I plan to head in, feel free to  follow me. Maybe I'll have something out tomorrow.
:)

And the lion looked up from his delicious meal to to see who challenged him. The monkey pointed at the jungle, and said, "This is my home now, kitty." The lion shrugged and returned to eating his meat. "That's fine by me, as I'm only here on vacation."