Monday, September 21, 2009

Chapter 2 The Voice





Edith - 10 years
Michael - 8 years




Our first meeting was most likely a chance encounter between our minds. His happened to be searching and mine happened to be the most open then of all those at the lab.

“Help me!”

The voice seemed to come from somewhere in the room with me. It was so sudden that I almost fell out of the bed. My room was dark since I had only said goodnight to my mother an hour before, and hearing a voice coming from somewhere right next to me was enough to send me to the ceiling.

“Hello?” I whispered, hoping that my parents in the next room wouldn’t hear me.

“Help me. I think they’re gonna do something to me. They’re thinking that I’m too powerful.” It was clear that it was a boy’s voice-- a young boy. And he was terrified.

“Who? And what’re they gonna do? Where are you?” I still whispered as my thoughts ran away with me. A good person would help others in need, and he needed help. I badly wanted to help him, but with my ten year old brain, I didn’t know how or what I could do.

“I don’t know where I am. I can’t see anything. I’m in a room. I can just hear them thinking.”


I wasn’t phased by the voice I heard inside my head. It was his fright that touched me and made me want to help.

“What’s your name?” I asked, hoping that if I couldn’t help him, I could at least calm him.

“You don’t have to talk,” he said sullenly. “I can hear you when you think.”

“Oh. Well, I’m Edith, but you can call me Edy.”

He was quiet for a moment. Our connection grew heavy with his sadness and anger. “I don’t have a name.”


“I can name you. I read a lot, so I’ve got a whole bunch of names.” I thought through all of my favorites until I found one he seemed to like. “I like that one too. Michael it is.”

We started talking to each other in that way. He didn’t have much to say about normal stuff even though he was really smart. So I would spend time telling him about my life before the lab letting him ask me a million questions and he would help me with my homework.

Then one day, he asked me, “Edy, where are you?”

“I’m in my room. Why?”

“There’s a lot of pink in your room.”


“You can see what I’m seeing? That’s so cool! I didn’t know you could do that.”

“I couldn’t before. I’ve been working on my powers though, so now I can.”

I can't remember how far into the friendship we were. It seemed like I'd hardly known him at all before his power started growing stronger. But it made me happy to sense his good feeling of accomplishment through our link. I wanted it to continue, so I suggested another activity the two of us could try with his new found power. “Hey, I can show you the lab and stuff now, not just tell you about it.”


We would spend a lot of time wandering around the lab, looking around and visiting the garden (always my favorite as a kid) and the study. We were together more often than not, although there were times he would have to pull away. It was those times I noticed just how lonely I had been before Michael and I began talking. There were no other kids my age at the lab. My father had moved my mother and I there so he could continue his work without interference from any officials.

I had come to trust Michael. He was my only friend, and being so close as to be inside my head, he was my best friend. But I couldn’t tell the adults about him. I was sure they wouldn’t believe me. Michael said I had to be careful with the adults.

One day, Michael said, “Edy, I wanna try something, but you have to go back to your room.”

In my room, Michael had me lay down on my bed. “We’re not taking a nap, are we?”

“No, but well kinda. Just trust me, okay?”

And I really did.


When I opened my eyes, I let out a gasp. We were standing on a playground I remembered playing on when I was little. It was my most favorite park. My mother used to walk me down the street so I could go play on it when we lived in the Neutral Territory.

“Wow! I remember this place. How did we get here?”

Michael explained matter of factly, “It’s your memory. This one was very strong. I think I‘ve seen you dream about it sometimes.”


I looked over at the spot where his voice came from, but he was only a blurry light. “Michael, why can’t I see you?”

“Because I don’t know what I look like, so I don’t know how to make myself. You’re blurry too.” At his mention of it, I glanced down at myself and noticed that I was an indefinite purple blur. “That’s ‘cause you haven’t had any practice. Plus, you never seem to look in a mirror.”

I looked over at the playground structure. “Race ya!” I ran off with him following behind me.

“What is it?” He asked when we stopped in front of the large structure.

“A playground. You know, kids play on it. C’mon, I’ll show ya!” I grabbed his blurry representation of himself and yanked him up with me. Once we were at the top, I stopped to look around. “Hey, I can’t see very far. What’s that white over there?”


“Well, it’s just a memory. So we can only see what you remember, and you don’t seem to remember further than the playground.” Michael looked around, exploring what I did remember. “So what do you do now?”

“Slide down the pole is what!” I slid down the pole and ran out from underneath it so I could look at Michael’s blurry shape. “Now you.”

“Edy, that looks stupid.”

“It’s fun I’m telling you. Pretend you’re a fireman and there’s a fire.” My physical representation fell on the ground. “Help, I’m burning! You have to save me or I’m going to die.”


Michael was amused enough to humor me. He slid down the pole and ran over to me. “Now what?”

“Put out the fire, silly.” I kicked the sand at him. “Save me!”

He laughed mischievously before throwing some sand at me. The sand passed harmlessly through my physical representation of myself, tickling my frontal lobe. “You’re safe now, right?”

“Well, the fire’s out, but you were too late. Now I’m a zombie.” And I chased him around the playground.


“So kids actually play like that?” Michael said when we sat down on the benches to examine the memory in greater detail.

“Uhm, usually. I mean, I had fun. Didn’t you?”

He was blurry, so I couldn’t see his expression and oddly I couldn‘t feel anything through our connection either. “Yeah, it was fun, Edy.”




Next Chapter -->




19 comments:

  1. It was really cool to learn more about Michael's powers, or at least what they were like at the beginning. That last line was really creepy (in a good way!). I think it's how you can just see one of his eyes in the accompanying picture - he could be thinking anything!

    That third picture of Edy is a great one - nice expression you captured there!

    I am all curious about Edy's parents now, seeing you made a quick mention of them. I had assumed Edy was being experimented on when you said she and Michael met in the labs but she just lived there, because of her father?

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  2. Oooh!!! This was SO good! And so well thought-out too, even down to how she would be blurry herself because she hadn't looked in any mirrors.

    I also assumed Edy as an experiment as well - it never crossed my mind that she could have been there for one of her parents! What a neat surprise! And it adds an interesting dynamic to their relationship as well, that she's related to the people who used to experiment on him.

    Love, love, LOVE this story! More please :)

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  3. I never even considered that you might think she was an experiment also. D'oh! Luckily, that assumption of mine (that you'd somehow know she wasn't an experiment herself) actually works out well. Surprise!

    Carla, thank you! I love that last picture. But the unblurry version. Once I finish, I think I might make a post and show all the test shots I took before I started working on this and that picture, but unblurry.

    As for your question, yes. XD *holds back any further comment*


    Laura, *hugs* Thank you so much. Your comment totally made my morning. I'm constantly bogged down by fears that I've gone too weird. But I haven't even started the weird parts yet.

    Their whole relationship is complicated, but her relation to the people working on him is half of the foundation of their odd dynamic.

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  4. This is a great look at the past. There's definitely something between these two - that they found each other in the way they did ...

    Another great chapter.

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  5. I just found this story. It's very hidden away, isn't it?

    Anyway - it's great and so interesting and creative and has good pictures and is well written. And so I'd like to invite you to a little Sims 3 story community I'm working on. :)

    http://valleysunsims.proboards.com/index.cgi

    No pressure and I understand if it's not your thing. But I do like to think of it as my little 19th century salon where I'm gathering the best Sims 3 story authors, and I think you'd fit in.

    It really is unique - the blurry memory reminds me a bit of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

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  6. Welcome, insidehopesprings! And thank you. There is definitely something with these two!

    Thank you very much, MedlyMisty. For your kind words and the invite. I suppose that I'm just another one of those people who're are horrible at self promotion. Plus, perhaps subconsciously, this is a story I am nervous to share with it being something that was once so close to me.


    I actually visited your forum just the other day (saw the link on Monday Morning's blog) and I loved reading through the threads and hearing from the others. You'll see me soon. ^___^

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  7. Wow. Bounced over here after your comments on my blog. Thanks you! This looks great and I'm really looking forward to diving into this one over the weekend!

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  8. Wow...how interesting! Like the others, I assumed that Edy was in the lab to because she was the subject of experiments. It makes more sense now why she is a human without abilities (I noticed that in chapter 1, and wondered about it).

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  9. Wow! Today was definitely a good day to go trolling for intriguing stories!

    I know you commented above that you really haven't gotten into the whole self-promotion thing - Trust me, I definitely understand that concept. But I'm definitely including a link over to your site when I update mine later today.

    Great jod!!!

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  10. Thanks for reading all. ^___^

    And thank you for the link back, unrepentantmisanthrope (that is one of the most wesome names).

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  11. Ooh I was with the others in the assumption that Edy was experimented on. I'm quite enticed seeing I was so off base, to see how this all pans out. Quite good!

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  12. I love this flashback. It explains just why they are so close. Michael can just climb in her head and (again) Edy is just totally trusts him.

    After reading the comments,I feel a bit weird for NOT once thinking that she is the one undergoing experiments. In chapter one you describe her as 'human' not as 'an experiment' and when Michael makes the link for the first time it is obvious he is kept soemwhere in the lab. I hope it's not Edy's father who is experimenting on him...

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  13. Well, I think part of the problem was that I hadn't clearly explained the term "experiment" so I'm very glad you asked! It was just something I took for granted. By the time this chapter was up, everyone was all, "OH, she was just there, not experimented on."

    I'll have to make sure in the next update to put a footnote that I updated the glossary with some super important terms that I forgot about. XD

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  14. I am really liking this story, TLF!

    I love how creative you are. I too liked that last blurry picture.

    I like Michael and Edy as best friends.

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  15. Thanks, Billy! I'm really glad you're enjoying it. This story means a lot to me. It was originally hard to share.

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  16. I love how you made the two physical, yet not, in the memory! Very clever!

    I'm also curious about how Edith's family came to the lab (other than her dad moved them there).

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  17. Hey, MM. Welcome back. :D And thank you. You'll definitely hear more about that bit later on.

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  18. Awww...I loved the conversation back and fourth between Edy and Michael, so cute. And how cool are those powers of his! Wow!

    Love your writing Lunar, everything you describe flows so beautifully.

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  19. Aw, thank you, Jennifer. That really means a lot.

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