Sunday, September 20, 2015
Friday, September 18, 2015
Writing
I love writing because I can create stories and escape into worlds that are oftentimes more enjoyable than my own....
Masquerade of the Dead (Revised)
The smell of recent rainfall pervades the air as I make my way up to the old abandoned looking mansion. I can smell the wet earth below me and suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I notice a graveyard on the side of the house that instantly sends chills trickling down my spine like a trail of ants. "Oh yeah, horror movie classic," I think to myself as I scoff, the damp cold air turning my breath into little white puffs adding to the fog floating over the graves. "It's like I'm in a Night of the Living Dead remake.." I attempt to lighten my thoughts with humor. I don't even know exactly why I'm here, all I know is it's Halloween and I'm with a group of people venturing up the steps to the front door of this huge mansion. And I don't have a very good feeling about it. The group of teenagers leading the way ring the doorbell and we all wait as an eerie gush of wind blows past us, filled with whispers of the dead. I want to turn around and run, but something keeps me there, almost against my own will. Maybe my curiosity. And candy. The door creaks open and reveals a short man that looks like someone hired Beetlejuice as a butler. Except his hair is all mossy green and his smile is much wider and creepier.
"Come in," he beckons, still smiling.
"Okay, this is enough with the horror movie references," I think to myself as I follow the group of people inside. "Wait," I try to stop myself, "What the hell am I doing?" My intuition is nagging at me to run, yet I almost feel hypnotized to stay and see what will happen.. "But do I really want to find out?" I hesitate and start to turn around, yet it's too late; the creepy butler has already noticed my uneasiness and walks over to me.
"Why hello there, Miss." He says in an exuberant voice. "You're in for a real treat," he starts to chuckle and I nervously swallow. I feel trapped, like if I tried escaping, the door wouldn't budge. Everyone else seems to be having a grand time, talking and laughing and following this man down a long hallway leading to who knows where.
"Oh, I'm so excited, aren't you?" A man dressed like Zorro looks over at me.
"Excited for what?" I ask with a look of genuine bewilderment on my face.
"You'll see..." He grins and takes off towards the front of the line.
The suspense is driving me crazy, I tap a girl next to me on the shoulder. "Um, excuse me, but do you know what we're here for?"
She turns to look at me, "You mean, you don't know?"
I shake my head and she gets this weirded out expression on her face, "It's for the Dance of the Dead, of course." She tells me as if I'm supposed to know that and then quickly turns back to her friends as they continue to gossip and laugh. Something about her voice sends chills down my spine, but I don't pay it much mind..
"The Dance of the Dead...." I ponder as we enter a huge ballroom decorated like a dance floor.
The little man goes up to the front of the stage and grabs a microphone, "Glad you could all make it tonight," he chuckles, "It's only once a year that the dead rise from their graves to dance with us." Suddenly he makes eye contact with me, my eyes full of fear, and he winks. "Now, it's time to summon them and begin the party!"
The lights dim down and everyone gets excited, while I just stand there feeling out of place. This is just all so strange and I've never been here before. "I knew I shouldn't of strayed far from my typical trick or treating route," my regret is beginning to set in, joining in with my fear.
"Now, let's chant together!" He raises his hands as if beckoning the dead to rise from their graves, "Sepulka Lenova Talasia! Mortis Geminius Rastolken!"
I begin to panic as everyone starts to chant along with him. Shortly after, moaning is heard from outside. I feel trapped and alone because no one seems to understand my confusion and I'm partly immobile, due to fear. I turn back around and look at the door, it's so inviting, I feel it pulling me towards it.... I start to slowly make my way back out to the hallway, eyes glaring at me from all angles. I continue walking anyway, as the strange man chuckles again and this time it echoes through his microphone making it sound more intimidating. I start walking faster without looking back, but just as I'm nearing the big majestic doors, they slam open and zombies begin to pour into the hallway while moaning and limping towards me. I quickly turn around and start running back into the room where all the people are and just as I do, they start ripping their face masks off and revealing rotting faces underneath. "All zombies unite, from graveyards everywhere!" The man starts to dance on stage, clicking his shiny heels. A zombie reaches out his hand for a dance and I step away from it just to bump into another zombie who puts a hand on my shoulder. I shake him off and start running towards a corner of the room, as he continues to reach his hand out; a smile forms on his rotting face, exposing decayed teeth and worms slithering through holes in his cheek, pouring out from his jaw. He slurps one of the worms back in and winks, as he runs a hand back through what's left of his dirt covered ratty hair. I am completely mortified at this point, as I panic to find an escape. This is just so surreal, I am completely freaking out, surrounded by hoards of terrifying zombies and they are blocking every possible exit. I am being encompassed by them and my fear is eating me alive, I can't handle it. And soon, they'll literally be eating me alive.
"Fresh flesh..." I hear a zombie mutter, "Fresh flesh..." They all start to repeat.
"Oh fuck," I quickly scan the room, "Now that they've caught on I'm not dead like them, they're going to eat me if I don't get the hell out of here...." Suddenly an open window catches my eye, just as a group of zombies that are standing in front of it began to disperse around the room dancing and twirling each other around. I was shaking off every slimy cold hand that touched me, and trying hard not to look at any of them because I was already horrified enough. Then the creepy butler jumps out in front of me as I am making my way through the gaps in between the dancing corpses.
"Enjoying yourself?" He asks as I shake my head and try to push past him, "Why are you in such a hurry? The party has just begun."
I ignore him as I continue sliding past everyone in my way; he is following closely behind me and I am picking up my pace with every step he takes towards me. "I have to jump out that window, it's my only option..." I think to myself as I'm nearing it.
"Oh come on," the man insists, "At least give me one dance."
Just as the dance floor clears in front of me, I see my chance to dart across the remaining space between me and the window. I take the chance and run up to the window, diving through it and rolling myself up like a ball before landing on the ground below. While trying to get back up, I feel something hard next to me so I instinctively run my hand across it, feeling engraved letters in it. My heart starts beating fast and then it sets in "Oh shit... I'm in the graveyard..." The ground rumbles below me and I quickly roll off of it, right before a bone protrudes out from the dirt. But something is attached to it, grimy looking fingers holding it as if using it like a shovel. Then the ground erupts, and a rotting corpse reveals itself while spitting out clumps of dirt with grass. It stops to hear the music blasting from inside, "Damn it, I'm late again!" I'm having trouble identifying it's gender as I watch it climb up out of the grave. I try to stay as still as possible, while shivering from the cold and my fear. The genderless corpse makes its way past the graveyard towards the front yard, limping the whole way. And then I notice the light shining through the hole in the ground, "No, not this again. I'm not letting my curiosity get the best of me.." I try and crawl away, but then I hear the sounds of a distant orchestra playing so elegantly, also coming from below the ground. I decide to take a quick peek and then suddenly the ground collapses under me, causing me to fall down a long winding spiral. "What the hell is going on?" I try and grab ahold of something, anything, yet there's nothing but walls of dirt surrounding me. The orchestra is getting louder now and more violent sounding. The flow of the music rapidly increases and so does my heart rate. I don't know where I'm headed, but I don't have a very good feeling about it.
Next Chapter: "The Underground Realm of the Undead"
"Come in," he beckons, still smiling.
"Okay, this is enough with the horror movie references," I think to myself as I follow the group of people inside. "Wait," I try to stop myself, "What the hell am I doing?" My intuition is nagging at me to run, yet I almost feel hypnotized to stay and see what will happen.. "But do I really want to find out?" I hesitate and start to turn around, yet it's too late; the creepy butler has already noticed my uneasiness and walks over to me.
"Why hello there, Miss." He says in an exuberant voice. "You're in for a real treat," he starts to chuckle and I nervously swallow. I feel trapped, like if I tried escaping, the door wouldn't budge. Everyone else seems to be having a grand time, talking and laughing and following this man down a long hallway leading to who knows where.
"Oh, I'm so excited, aren't you?" A man dressed like Zorro looks over at me.
"Excited for what?" I ask with a look of genuine bewilderment on my face.
"You'll see..." He grins and takes off towards the front of the line.
The suspense is driving me crazy, I tap a girl next to me on the shoulder. "Um, excuse me, but do you know what we're here for?"
She turns to look at me, "You mean, you don't know?"
I shake my head and she gets this weirded out expression on her face, "It's for the Dance of the Dead, of course." She tells me as if I'm supposed to know that and then quickly turns back to her friends as they continue to gossip and laugh. Something about her voice sends chills down my spine, but I don't pay it much mind..
"The Dance of the Dead...." I ponder as we enter a huge ballroom decorated like a dance floor.
The little man goes up to the front of the stage and grabs a microphone, "Glad you could all make it tonight," he chuckles, "It's only once a year that the dead rise from their graves to dance with us." Suddenly he makes eye contact with me, my eyes full of fear, and he winks. "Now, it's time to summon them and begin the party!"
The lights dim down and everyone gets excited, while I just stand there feeling out of place. This is just all so strange and I've never been here before. "I knew I shouldn't of strayed far from my typical trick or treating route," my regret is beginning to set in, joining in with my fear.
"Now, let's chant together!" He raises his hands as if beckoning the dead to rise from their graves, "Sepulka Lenova Talasia! Mortis Geminius Rastolken!"
I begin to panic as everyone starts to chant along with him. Shortly after, moaning is heard from outside. I feel trapped and alone because no one seems to understand my confusion and I'm partly immobile, due to fear. I turn back around and look at the door, it's so inviting, I feel it pulling me towards it.... I start to slowly make my way back out to the hallway, eyes glaring at me from all angles. I continue walking anyway, as the strange man chuckles again and this time it echoes through his microphone making it sound more intimidating. I start walking faster without looking back, but just as I'm nearing the big majestic doors, they slam open and zombies begin to pour into the hallway while moaning and limping towards me. I quickly turn around and start running back into the room where all the people are and just as I do, they start ripping their face masks off and revealing rotting faces underneath. "All zombies unite, from graveyards everywhere!" The man starts to dance on stage, clicking his shiny heels. A zombie reaches out his hand for a dance and I step away from it just to bump into another zombie who puts a hand on my shoulder. I shake him off and start running towards a corner of the room, as he continues to reach his hand out; a smile forms on his rotting face, exposing decayed teeth and worms slithering through holes in his cheek, pouring out from his jaw. He slurps one of the worms back in and winks, as he runs a hand back through what's left of his dirt covered ratty hair. I am completely mortified at this point, as I panic to find an escape. This is just so surreal, I am completely freaking out, surrounded by hoards of terrifying zombies and they are blocking every possible exit. I am being encompassed by them and my fear is eating me alive, I can't handle it. And soon, they'll literally be eating me alive.
"Fresh flesh..." I hear a zombie mutter, "Fresh flesh..." They all start to repeat.
"Oh fuck," I quickly scan the room, "Now that they've caught on I'm not dead like them, they're going to eat me if I don't get the hell out of here...." Suddenly an open window catches my eye, just as a group of zombies that are standing in front of it began to disperse around the room dancing and twirling each other around. I was shaking off every slimy cold hand that touched me, and trying hard not to look at any of them because I was already horrified enough. Then the creepy butler jumps out in front of me as I am making my way through the gaps in between the dancing corpses.
"Enjoying yourself?" He asks as I shake my head and try to push past him, "Why are you in such a hurry? The party has just begun."
I ignore him as I continue sliding past everyone in my way; he is following closely behind me and I am picking up my pace with every step he takes towards me. "I have to jump out that window, it's my only option..." I think to myself as I'm nearing it.
"Oh come on," the man insists, "At least give me one dance."
Just as the dance floor clears in front of me, I see my chance to dart across the remaining space between me and the window. I take the chance and run up to the window, diving through it and rolling myself up like a ball before landing on the ground below. While trying to get back up, I feel something hard next to me so I instinctively run my hand across it, feeling engraved letters in it. My heart starts beating fast and then it sets in "Oh shit... I'm in the graveyard..." The ground rumbles below me and I quickly roll off of it, right before a bone protrudes out from the dirt. But something is attached to it, grimy looking fingers holding it as if using it like a shovel. Then the ground erupts, and a rotting corpse reveals itself while spitting out clumps of dirt with grass. It stops to hear the music blasting from inside, "Damn it, I'm late again!" I'm having trouble identifying it's gender as I watch it climb up out of the grave. I try to stay as still as possible, while shivering from the cold and my fear. The genderless corpse makes its way past the graveyard towards the front yard, limping the whole way. And then I notice the light shining through the hole in the ground, "No, not this again. I'm not letting my curiosity get the best of me.." I try and crawl away, but then I hear the sounds of a distant orchestra playing so elegantly, also coming from below the ground. I decide to take a quick peek and then suddenly the ground collapses under me, causing me to fall down a long winding spiral. "What the hell is going on?" I try and grab ahold of something, anything, yet there's nothing but walls of dirt surrounding me. The orchestra is getting louder now and more violent sounding. The flow of the music rapidly increases and so does my heart rate. I don't know where I'm headed, but I don't have a very good feeling about it.
Next Chapter: "The Underground Realm of the Undead"
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
The Cure For Death: Reversing Damage
Imagine breaking a vase into tiny little shards of glass, some so small that they grind into dust when you try and put them back together. Or imagine crumpling a piece of paper so that a million wrinkles form and even flattening it out with a book won't make them cease to exist, the creases are so embedded and even paper has begun to miss from the parts where it seems the paper was crumpled and rubbed together causing bits of it to come off. Sometimes we need new parts to exchange the old ones, hence organ transplants and what not. But replacing every little bit of the damaged object/body would be a process that's proved to be far more complicated than we can achieve. Down to every little part, every cell and it's specific functions. How would you train new cells to carry out the same functions. Maybe we'd have better luck using synthetic measures, implanting nanobots into a person's body that have been pre-trained to carry out specific actions.
Cont.
Cont.
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