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The Notebook Maker

Well hullo there! Im just a simple 16 year old guy trying my hand at writing. Hope ya'll like it

This is a story about the notebook maker and a very special girl.

Once in a time not so long ago, where people have these pieces of plastic that contained volumes and volumes of stories. In that time there was also a young notebook maker. His hair was jet black, and so was his eyes. His hands were long and slim, much like an artist's. His skill in making notebooks was unparalled in his city, but only few were given the chance to own one of his works. This young craftsman had a peculiarity, he saw the world as black and white. Dull and utterly lifeless. He longed for a splash of color, to see the endless expanse of blue in the oceans and the sky, and to feel the warmth of the sun. But this young man also had a secret. By day he was a simple notebook maker, all smiles and charm, but at night he was a monster. Every night, as the night spread like like ink on water across the sky, he became an abomination. Blades for fingers that are as sharp as scimitars , a wolfish head, teeth like a shark's, but his eyes were still the same shade of black. Deep, sad black. His howls could be heard throughout the city. A suburban beast.

Months passed like clouds on a roadtrip. The young notebook maker saw a subtle change in his surroundings. The sky seemed to flicker with a bluish hue. The sun felt warm on his skin but only for a fleeting moment. He wondered on what brought the change.

By day, he wandered the city letting the flickering blue sky be his guide. He wandered the city looking up at the sky as if he had never seen it before. Maybe he didn't,at least not with the color. For three days the young craftsman roamed the city, the night after his third day of searching, the man decided to let the beast in him to find the source. As the sun set and moon rose along with her daughters, the stars. The beast wondered how he could find the source of the extraordinary change. He randomly leapt from roof to roof and as he flew through the air like a bullet he saw the answer in the stars. The beast paused and marveled at the sky. The stars were still there, shining, beautiful, but there were some who shone more brightly than the rest. The beast followed the line they traced across the sky until he found himself standing in front of a field of roses and lavenders.

A single solitary house stood in the middle of the field of red and violet, devoid of any special ornaments. Though plain looking it radiated a warmth, a feeling of home. The beast knew he was in the right place for he could see the colors. He was reminded of a time when the world was full of laughter, mischief, love, and pain. A world where people wrote long, sappy, and honest letters to the people they love. As he paced to the house he snarled as he remembered how everything was reducued to the little plastic rectangles that people were now living with. It seemed that he forgot that he was in in his beastly form only when he knocked on the door did he realize that he was hideous, but it was too late now. The door opened revealing a young woman.

She was beautiful. Small, slender, and delicate. It was as if she was an elf straight out from fairy tales. Her hair, cut just above her shoulders, shimmered with a million colors as the light danced on it. Her facial features were strangely familiar to the beast, but what shocked him most more than her smile was her eyes. The same deep, sad black stared right into his, so black that they reflected the stars above them. The beast was drowning in them, losing himself. He took a step back as she took a step forward. She was dressed in nothing but a simple nightgown. The night was warm and the air smelled of perfume.

"Hello there." The girl said smiling.

The beast not knowing how to reply simply growled. Not in a menacing way, but rather a simple rumble in acknowledgement. A million thoughts raced through his head. Was she a sorceress? An angel perhaps? There was simply something ethereal about her, but what bothered him most was the fact that her face held no fear. Not even when he towered over her, or he was in fact a beast. The beast only faintly remembered the expression on the woman's face. It was the face of understanding.

The woman stepped forward boldly to the beast and touched his face. The beast closed his eyes relishing the feeling of the warmth on his cheek. His cheek! The beast opened his eyes started and saw that he was a beast no more. Simply a man with a blade and scars all over his torso and arms.

"Thank you." The craftsman said.

The woman smiled and beckoned him inside. As the young man stepped inside the woman's home he marveled at the strange feeling of home that he was experiencing. Everything seemed to be so familiar and yet different at the same time. The fireplace in front of the room was still shooting out red sparks.

"Ephermal fireflies." The man remarked.

"Excuse me?" The woman replied, facing him.

The man pointed at the sparks made by the fireplace as they danced and weaved through the air only to disappear.

The woman smiled warmly at him and said. "We are going to get along just fine."

The woman bade him to sit in one of the two chairs in front of the fireplace as she said that she would make coffee. A table was placed between them and a silky black carpet was placed underneath the three. The man heard the whistle of the kettle and the mellifluous humming of the woman in her kitchen. The man closed his eyes and tried to think about what he should the woman. Who was she? What was her name? The man sighed for he knew that these were not the questions he wanted to ask. As the thoughts rumbled inside his head, his hands were moving of their own accord. They were feeling the supple texture of the leather. The craftsman's thoughts were dragged into his art. He wanted to thank this woman by making her a notebook. But he had a rule, he could not make a noteboom without knowing the person he was making it for. His musings were interrupted by the woman.

"Coffee's ready!" She announced as she entered the living room.

The man accepted a cup and took a sip. It was delicious, almost heavenly. It was the right amount of sugar, milk, and coffee.

"This is amazing!" The man exclaimed.

The woman blushed and said her thanks. "What is your name?" She asked.

"Sirobalba is my name, but you may call me Siro." The man replied.

"Sirobalba, that's an interesting name."

"Yes it is. May I ask what is yours?"

"My name is Jeanna."

"Ji-yah-nah?" The man slowly pronounced her name, almost as if he was tasting it.

"What brings you here Siro? I mean, I practically live in the middle of nowhere. How did you find me?"

The man swallowed and slowly began, "I followed the stars and the colors. I was born into a world of black and white, devoid of color and of warmth. So when the colors started showing up, i followed them and they led me to you."

"Were you cursed as a child?" Jeanna asked him worriedly.

Siro was confused at her tone. "No, the doctors and psychiatrists said that it was all mental. As for the beast form, that is a curse i brought upon myself."

They sat in silence, only the crackling of the flames and the sounds of crickets filled the night.

"How did you turn into a beast?" Jeanna finally asked.

"I was... tired of being human, of feeling. The pain of being alone overtook me." Siro replied, his voice raw with emotion. "I took it upon myself to let my demons loose. What you saw was a reflection of my darkness."

Jeanna approached him, placing her mug on the table. "We all have curses and darkness within us." She placed her hands on both Siro's cheeks. "Light and dark, love and hate, these are what make life worth living. They are the colors you were looking for Siro. Accept that pain comes hand in hand with happiness, and that loves comes with grief. Everything must be kept in balance." She kissed his forehead and told him to rest. She left him alone and headed upstairs to her room.

Siro stared into the flames with tears in his eyes, each drop looked like liquid fire streaming down his face. All his life, all he had ever known was pain, sorrow, and loneliness. The kiss that Jeanna gave him burned through him like a fever. It... made him feel alive. He smiled into the flames and waved his hand. A stack of papers, a needle, thread, leather, wood, and twine suddenly appeared before him. He may not know the woman yet, but he knew that he could trust her. His fingers fell into their natural rhythm, folding, cutting, and sewing with practiced ease. A few minutes later, he was finished. The notebook was a hardbound, covered by leather black as midnight. Golden designs decorated the corners, the pages were blank and white as newly fallen snow. The designs on the cover grew and became more complicated. Siro smiled as the notebook became alive, starting to reflect its future owner.

Everything seemed to be alright in the world until Siro heard a scream and the breaking of glass. Panicked, Siro shouted, "Jeanna! Are you alright?" He ran up the stairs looking for her. In his haste, his feet were cut by the broken shards of glass on the floor. He winced and struggled to the window.

He saw Jeanna surrounded by 4 monsters. One weilded a noose, another held a judge's hammer, another seemed to be impaled by broken shards of a mirror, and the last one was clad in a black cloak and weilding a scythe.

Jeanna was screaming, her cries could be heard for miles and miles. Wherever the monsters stepped, the flowers around them die. Creating a serpent like pattern chasing Jeanna.

Siro was enraged, he finally found peace and he was not about to let anyone or anything take it away from him. He leapt through rhe broken window, transforming into a beast midair. When he landed, he immediately ran after Jeanna. He had to protect her, he had to make sure she was safe. Deep in his heart, he knew that he loved her, the first person to ever know him. His anger and desire to protect Jeanna fueled him. He ran faster and when he neared the the first monster, he lunged. His beast instincts knew whatvthey were supposed to do. With claws out, his teeth bared, he roared in fury as he felt gis paws sink into the creature. The creature struggled and tried to strange him with the noose, but Siro was quick. He easily killed the monster beneath him and its bretheren. He turned back to human and approached Jeanna.

"Hey, it's going to be okay, i got you, your safe now." He mumbled into her ear, comforting her while she sobbed into his chest, cradled in his arms.

"What were they?" Siro asked.

"My demons."

With those words. The earth shook and the monsters reformed. Jeanna starte screaming again and attempted to run but Siro held her close.

"You have to face them Jeanna!" He shouted over the howling of the wind.

"I can't!" Sobbed Jeanna, her hair whipping all around her face. "They're too strong for me."

Siro took her face in his hands, locked his eyes with hers and said. "I believe in you Jeanna. You can make it though this. I'm here now and I'll always be." He handed her the notebook he had made and let her go.

Jeanna's eyes blazed with the fire of determination. She gritted her teeth and turned the notebook to the monsters.

"You will haunt me no more!" She screamed, her voice silencing the raging winds and the shaking earth. The monsters melted into ink like puddles. They floated in the air.

Depression

Self-Judgement

Self-Doubt

Death

(To be continued)

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