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sweepyhead · 7 years ago

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World Building

“What would make a good story?” Janice asked. Funny how she never strayed far from the usual question, although it never seemed to solve itself no matter how much they talked about it.

“Description,” James answered, “lots and lots of description.”

A freezing gust howled, filling the space between them with the coarse sound of barking dogs. In this time of day, onlookers would stop and stare, amused by the two possibly deranged teens swinging contently. No one knows why they hung around the swing, not that they’ve tried to ask. When the moon bares its face between the cotton candy clouds, the siblings swing by without fail. It’s quite the mystery

“Bloody-good suggestion Holmes,” Janice smiled, shifting her position on the swing. Though James barely noticed due to the weak lamppost.

“It was merely elementary my dear Watson.”

Janice combed their hazel brown hair, hidden underneath her fleece grey hoodie. They never really asked to look this similar, how could they? The cruel reality of being born is to exist without given a choice. But of course, James and Janice were lucky to have met each other in the womb. A mutual friendship between the same person, two halves of a whole.

Janice quirked a brow, “What about dialogue, that’s an important tool as well yes?”

“Sure,” James paused. He bent down to grab a piece of gravel, tossing it from hand to hand, “we’ve been stating fundamentals, how about the core plot?”

He brought a circular rock close to Jess, without hesitation would be the appropriate phrase for this. Normally, people would ignore James due to his eccentric nature, while Janice is the social butterfly. But unlike conventional blokes, the normalcy tattooed on everyone’s forehead doesn’t exist in the sibling’s diction.

Janice brushed her hand against James, as she palmed the rock in her delicate, supple hand. She closed her eyes, lost in deep thought,

“Smooth with a few rough patches, you’re thinking of conflicts in the plot right?”

“Bingo.” James smirked a few seconds early, “You always seemed to get my weird analogies.”

“Well, I think all that time messing with your hair connected my fingers to your brain James bond.”

“Is that why I know you’re thinking of Tacos? Janice, play nice and share this scrumptious thought.”

James and Janice snorted, before exploding into spontaneous laughter. Not that it was particularly funny. Their laughter represented a deep level of understanding, a statement to the world known only to them alone. Or maybe they were just enthralled with how well they really knew each other.

“Weird just runs in the family huh?” Jess giggled, the laughter waning and so did the atmosphere.

“Agreeing would be an understatement”

Janice pulled herself, along with the swing back. She gathered momentum, and tucked her legs in as she launched herself forward. Janice swung so high that James swore she would’ve re-enacted her falling act. Luckily she didn’t, instead, she held the chains tight while she oscillated back and forth.

“Hey, James?” Janice said

“Yeah sis.”

“I miss mom.”

Janice propped her legs towards the ground, and dug her shoes into the gravel. She pulled her hoodie close to her body, which hugged the hairs that stood on end. Janice was always calm and collected, but little did anyone know that she only ever showed her true nature to her other self. The swing sets rusted parts shivered, a common occurrence that only happened on cold nights like these.

“It wasn’t your fault,” James said, clenching the dirty chains on the swing.

“You don’t know that!” Janice screamed, her voice trembling with the immense pressure sinking in her stomach, “Maybe mom would still be sleeping in her bed if I had said something, maybe she would still be telling us her awful jokes if only I had just fucking told step-douche off.”

Janice kept yelling at James, or so it seemed. In reality, James knew she was begging to someone else, begging to return what was rightfully theirs. Their guardian angel. No matter how much Janice and James prayed, screamed and cried, no one was there to grant such a wish. As cruel as it is, this was a puzzle that will never be completed. Leaving the both of them at home with the devil himself, until they can finally break out of their cage.

Janice stopped herself, wiping the tears rolling down her cheeks, “I’m sorry James, I know this isn’t something you can change. I just can’t help but feel so helpless.“

“I know sis, I know…”

Silence once again shrouded their consciousness. Like a translucent blanket, it wasn’t enough to completely hide their thoughts from each other.

“Hey, Janice,” James said

“Yeah bro?”

“Do you think maybe this isn’t real, and someone out there is reading this?”

Janice stood up, as the gravelly ground crunched beneath her feet, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, what if nothing is real? What if our thoughts and words were carefully orchestrated to entertain the masses?”

“That’s crazy,” Jess stomped, “who would want to read that?”

James got up and stood alongside Janice. He pulled down her hoodie and saw his face, or more specifically the face they shared.

“What if there’s someone out there narrating the very thing I just did there, kind of like reading it in third person,” James said

They both looked away from the playground, outside of the boundary set by the scene. James squinted his eyes, as he witnessed a light flicker.

“Did you see that Watson?”

“Sure did Holmes.”

They took each other’s hand, then paced towards the edge of the playground. The sound of gravel crackling created a false sense of security, a ruse to perpetuate the lie. But that won’t work. After enduring their step-fathers constant berating, they’ve learned to stay critical of every situation, even the very reality they exist in. James stuck his hand out, only to be blocked by something.

They looked at each other, thoroughly perplexed by this invisible wall. What could it be blocking them from? And most importantly, what is the world like beyond this playground? The siblings couldn’t quite recall what they did to get here, like as if they just existed in the moment. The siblings placed their hands on the barrier, and faced each other. They didn’t utter a word, instead, they nodded to each other, a silent gesture that spoke a million words. They took a deep breath and pushed against the barrier as one.

The playground warped, stretching into the force of their hands like rubber. The scenery caved in, further hiding their arms under layers of the background. In one quick moment, the world snapped. A punctured hole engulfed their arms, which pulled both of them into a backdrop of white.

They were falling. They looked up in their free fall, and watched the rusty swing of the playground fade into a distant dot. The adrenaline shot up from their toes, all the way to their hearts as they spun wildly into the milky abyss. Janice screamed her lungs out, but all they heard was the ringing in their ears. James could barely keep his eyes open with the wind blowing into his face. Oddly enough, it reminded them of the decrepit swing. Despite their fear of dying, they both held each other’s hands tight in this seemingly infinite free fall.

Eventually, they both collapsed in a sea of black. A yin-yang contrast to the white. They no longer saw each other as people, or so they thought.

“Blah blah blah, shut it, narrator.”

…

“Janice here. I’m not sure what happened but it seems like James and I have taken over this narrative.”

“Hey, Janice.”

“Yes, brother?”

“Try making a description for us.”

Janice smiled, even though she couldn’t. The words you are reading right now is her bridge, the connector to her perfect world. A world that they can be happy to exist in.

“How’s that James?”

“Quite impressive Janice.”

“Thanks Holmes, what shall we talk about now?”

“The most important topic Watson.”

“Worldbuilding,” they said together. They plucked some letters off the page and sailed off into a blank slate to create their ideal world.

#short story #story #critique please

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