Challenge Results - Anthology

 Here lays every coherent story from each day of this month:

To count as a coherent story is to have 5 or more paragraphs

And I guess that is it, Keep your expectations high, I want to watch them crash and burn.

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31th Day of March:

Cold -

In the smoke of a cigarette, I could see figures made of shadows, they clouded themselves together to warm from the cold. The small silhouette shivered uncontrollably and the big ones hugged it tighter, I knew how it would end, I saw the scene so many times, forever etched on the frozen corpses inside houses like this, maybe my brain is compensating for this empty house, maybe is too much to ask for peace of mind during my little cigarette break.

It is such a funny sight seeing the limp cloth on the glove where my fingers should be, they blackned and broke off on their own thanks to gangrene. It shouldn’t be so amusing, but I couldn’t help but laugh at it, I would never be able to a spok ever again…

“ha, if I stopped to think about all the things I am not able to do thanks to gangrene, I think I would start crying” I say to no one, touching my leg stumps with my free hand.

I take a deep drag of the cigarette, feeling the smoke burning in my lungs, It was the only thing that made me feel warm nowadays, burning from within, burning my lifeline, not that it matters anyway, I doubt I would live long enough for cancer to get me, I think start smoking was the best decision I made in a very long time.

“Maybe it was the only one”

I wish I could cry.

1st Day of April:

Gay Best Friend System -

Congratulations Host Daniel Cartridge, For Meeting All Requirements, You Are Now Bounded With The “Gay Best Friend System”.

The what now?


I was greeted by this flying prompt in my vision right after waking up. Maybe the pressure of the midterms were too much and I have finally snapped, but I have read too many novels to not know what to do in this kind of situation.

The room...  was still mine, my roommate was nowhere to be seen. My side of the room was a complete mess,  littered with dirty laundry and old magazines that I found in a dumpster (They were in such great state), I was due to clean it up anytime this week...

No No No, I am getting side tracked “what is up with this Gay Best Friend System?

[I am glad you asked Host, The Gay Best Friend System, or G.B.F.S for short is the auxiliar system that will help you fulfill your supporting character duties]

I… What?

“Supporting character for whom?” I, don’t even know what to say

[The Main Characters Obviously]

.

.

.

And who the fuck are the main characters?????????


2sd Day of April:

I Have Only One Skill-

I was transported into another world, a world of fantasy with dragons and levels, yes,this is a isekai, the only place for me, was obviously right beside the king, I was the chosen one after all, they needed me, I needed them, I would save them from the demon king, and in exchange I would have all of my dreams fulfilled, so in fact that I woul never regret coming here in the first place, not that it would take too much to be glad for being here, it is my wish made true, whatever I could do to escape from that… place.

But the thing is, I can only have one skill, that is the way of this world, people have one skill and one skill only, it teaches them how to tamper with the laws of the universe, in ways no one could ever expect from where I came from, to jumping yards upon yards, to even flight and spewing fire, like the dragons the king seemed to fear,


As the chosen one, it seems my whole schtick is that I have infinte potential for growth. but, what am I even going to choose from, is what I always keep coming back at the end of the day.


But I think I know what skill I want, If I can only have one, make it be Omnipotence

How could it ever go wrong?

3rd Day Of April:

Horrible Circumstances -

The room was so unbearably dark, nothing like my bedroom, nothing like any room in my house. What is happening, I have no idea, one moment I was leving the house to help a friend, the last thing I remember is feeling an horrible pain in the back of my head and then everything turned dark.


I try to touch the back of my head, but I feel my hand stopping midway, they were cuffed to the guard of the bed, that woke me right up. I tried to get up, but my feet were chained too, I could hear the rattle of metal on metal as I moved my legs, I became terrified at that.

Before I could try to free myself, suddenly in front of my eyes appeared a block of text in all bold and capitalized.

[Welcome Host, to the Final Girl System - Your First Task is to survive to the end of Rotten Blood : Unearthed Grievances]

the f…

The sound of a heavy iron door opening fills the run, the darkness giving way to an electric cold light, on the doorway was… Something, it wasn’t a human, no it was nothing like anything I had ever seen before, with arms so long, too long, they dragged on the floor. The horrible smell of raw sewage and rotten meat assaulted my senses.

I wanted to scream

But only a low muffle could be heard through the gag.

“BriDe… i… BroUght yOu… DinNEr”

He dragged behind him an unconscious man, there was a trail of blood coming from his head, but I could see the faint rise of his chest.


Did he say… Dinner?


4th Day of April:

The Thing That Needs to Be Done-


Have you ever woke up in the middle of the night, short of breath because you had a nightmare, but the memories, the memories of what you saw, they don’t stick, they fade away like salt on a windowsill? It is a strange way to describe it, but that is how I feel every night; I know that feeling quite well, is how I have been living my life for thirteen years now, and always I have this nagging feeling that I forgot to do something important.


I wake up in darkness, the sun will not be up for hours and I can no longer fall sleep, I have adrenaline pumping in my veins, and whatever it is that my mind sees whenever I come to slumber, my body knows it can’t handle, not a second time, not while still remembers.


So I get up, I put some socks, my favorite shows, tousle my hair, back and forth no style feels quite right, when I look in the mirror it always feels like the face looking back is mine, it has too high of a nose, it has no hair at all while I show no sign of starting balding, it is quite the startling sight to be sure, but oh well, once you get used to the sobbing, it is quite comforting, have someone you know would never be able to leave, as unsightly as they look.


but I still question, flossing my teeth, buttering my toast, I just can’t quite put my finger to it, the thing that needs to be done, I check my wallet, I check all the rooms in the house, every cage is covered because I don’t like how they get agitated when there is enough sunlight, like, they shake and tremble, it is better if they could be this quiet all the time, but I need the blankets for a peaceful night of sleep.


I butter my toast and eat it, I have something that I forgot and I can’t remember what it is, it must be something important, I know it is, I have this internal clocking warning me, for years on end, but still, the sensation does not goes away, that is it, until the smell hits my nose.


I eat my toast, but there is no butter left on the house, I should write it down for the next time I go grocery shopping, the wet thuds that the black sack makes with each step on the stair is so funny, I don’t know why, it reminds me the time mom forgot to buy beer one weekend, her head made the same noise under dad’s foot, I should check on them, they stopped smelling, but no matter how much oil and wax I lay their bodies with, it doesn’t seem to be enough to keep the insects from eating them, I really hate flies.


But my siblings must be hungry by now, I always forget to feed them.

The sound of rattling chains echoes on my crowded home

5th Day of April:

Highway to Hell -

Moses parted the sea so the people of israel could be free from their shackles at the hand of the pharaoh of which enslaved them, a noble cause, god did so that he could command the waters as he saw fit, as he thought it to be the best way to handle with a crowd of starving weak people, that could not bear to do a detour, to take another route, as the soldier approached and the less leeway they had.


Well, I don’t know where I am trying to get with this story, I don’t think I have ever believed it to be true, or I used to not believe, but it changed when the ocean parted itself for the first time in my life time.


I remember the earth trembling under the might of, something, maybe the powers from below, as hellfire spewed from the bowels of earth and the clouds of ash and smoke surrounded the globe like a nuclear winter.


We thought it was the end of times, the apocalypse, hell on earth with the four horsemen and all.


a lot of people died.


And it was before we even saw the first demon.


That was when all hell broke loose.

6th Day of April:

A Sudden Confession -

I like you in a non platonic fashion, and would deeply appreciate if you mulled over the thought of us being together in a relationship


That was written in this piece of paper, the guy who handed it to me was still right in front of me, looking quite interested in the shrubs in the park.


Like I understand that I am quite the catch, I am hot, to die for one might say, that one being me, I would totally die for me.


But, well, I can clearly imagine any girl with eyes would fall for me, even use notes to communicate said love, they might be shy. I have a very friendly disposition and a stunning smile but maybe my height could seem intimidating.


doubt that would be the case for this fella though, he is a good head taller than me.


But that all aside, Is this a prank?


I eye him, going from the note and its content to this guy who really knows how to appreciate the shrubbery.


He didn’t say anything, so I don’t know if I should say something, I really want to know if this is a prank.


I am just going to stare at him until something happens.

I don’t know what, maybe someone with a camera coming from inside the shrubs.

Man, he is very stupid if this is serious. If I was him, I would hand it the note and just run off, now look how awkward the situation got. But also, I gotta hand it to him, he is quite brave to wait for his answer, but the note said that I should mull over it... is he is going to wait until I finish mulling it over? and talking about mulling, what is up with all these big words, is he handing a confession or a school paper?

Ah, he started fidgeting

And going really red…

Could it be?


\-----


I regret everything, every single thing, from the moment I got out of bed to the moment I decided it was okay to keep breathing. I need to do something, anything, to make this unbearable silence go away, but he keeps staring, why isn’t he saying anything? If God is truly kind he will strike me dead.


7th Day of April:

Farewell-

I really want to strike the mortar, the bricks, the sacks of sand with my bare fists, I want to smash all the bones in my hand, I yearn for my skin to torn open, to feel the blood pumping through the wound, I want to feel the surge of adrenaline that pain brings, I want to feel awake, I want to feel alive, I just want to feel something for a change.


But who am I kidding, I have nothing going for myself, I have all the goods years kept in a jar, I am keeping them safe so that I can enjoy them in my old age. after all, aren’t what they taught us all, work hard so you can stop working sooner, save money, maybe make a difference, but I guess that depends what kind of job, I bet nurses and doctors have their moments when the child with cancer recovers, and they think to themselves that it is for that they live for, or something like that.


I wish I could wake up one day and stop feeling the soul crushing feeling that I have wasted all my years in a dead end job, how can I even start save some change for posterity when I have worked for 5 years and I am not even close to pay off my student loans.


I watched that movie from pixar, Soul, and I cried, I cried bitter tears, cherish the small moments of life? since I was small, I remember being made to study, being shamed for every little mistake, scoffed for wanting to play, for not working towards my great future.


I have no small moment to cherish, during school I worked to get into a good college, in college, I studied for a good paying job, and now, I work so that in my old age I can finally enjoy myself…


But here's the thing, I doubt I will have enough of myself for my old age, I never had the chance to become a proper person, I am nothing, and I am tired of being nothing, I’ve been tired for so long, so this is a farewell.

To whoever reading this note, please take care of mr. whiskers.










8th Day of April:

Charlie’s Monologue-

I loved my mom, she was the one present during the most part of my life, I remember her smile, it never failed to cheer me up, how sunny she was, she could light any dark day, one of my most cherished memories was when it rained during the autumn festival and since we couldn’t go, she taught me how to make pumpking pie, from the crust to the whipped cream, mom could make a pumpkin pie like no one.


One day, four years ago, I remember the first time I saw her so scared, looking over the shoulder while taking me to the car, I could see the trail of tears staining her face. I remember asking “What is going on?” and she said “its going to be alright, everything is going to be alright” more like to herself than to answer my question, her anxiety passing to me, I remember start shaking, I was such an useless child, such an horrible son, when I think about the day, I keep thinking all the things I could have done, over and over and over again. deep into the night, trying to think how I could have saved her.


But I am not a stupid child anymore, they would never let us leave

“Trust no one” was the last thing she said to me before they pulled her from the car


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I have not been idle in these 4 years. I tried escaping, to see what would happen, my goal was to get to the next town. So I would use my bike, go on foot, and in my latest tries, the car mom used to drive.


And during all those trials, it came to me, there is no escape from this town. at every trail would be neighbour, right on my path in the woods, in the middle of the night, always asking what I was doing, and why I was so dead set in giving my father a heart attack, I had no answer to that, I knew he was the reason mom is gone, they all were guilty.


But I stopped trying to escape a long time ago, there is no way, they have eyes on all sides.


So I changed my goal.


They told me my mom was being held in a mental institute, that she was sick, but would never let me visit her.


But now, I know where they are hiding her.


And I want her back.

Regret

I have died, not in a good way, not the good death of being surrounded by loved ones and peacefully passing, or overdosing. No, by the state that my ghost was in the first years, I was not human, I was barely conscient most of the time, but my reflection on the rain water at the alleyway that it happened, showed a mush, I was cut to ribbons and probably chewed by something very hungry. Needless to say, the thing that killed me wasn't human.


No rime for passing, no time for regrets, my life I wasted, but it was mine to throw in the garbage, yeah, I wanted to die at every waking hour, but how dare you take away my choice of killing myself. I even had a neat stack of heroin, not that I used, I robbed this ex of mine while he dealt with some very dangerous looking guys, poor thing, his body was found 4 days later drifting amiss on the river, inside a black bodybag.


I thoufht about selling it, all that heroine, but like… I am skin and bones, I can't even cut a vegetables, even less cutting people.


Like, I can suck cock for a meal, convince a fuck buddy to let me stay the night, sometimes I can even score breakfast. like, my life isn't a sea of roses, but I was living by, doing an honest to god 5 to five 9.


Actually, it was quite funny, I didn't even had a house to get back to, but I somehow managed to score myself a position of… something, I don't even know what I have been working all this months, but I know they must have committed a mistake since the nametag on my table is not mine. Poor mitchell, he deserved this job way more than me, but alas, this office supply isn't going to steal itself.


So, I been talking about my life like I am still living it, and… ots hard somedays to realize that I am dead, for the most time, I spent dreaming, the thing about my life passing through my eyes, I thought it was an one time deal before you expired for good, but not really, when my eyes closed, or something like that, I simply forgot everything, my death, my miserable life, all of my mistakes, only to see them occur, again, and again… and sometimes I would wake, I would remember my death, I would drag my tattered body to an end to the alley way to the other, not much I could do, like, dead and all, until I ocrued the years, it isn't happening any time soon, because, you see, every time I wake up, I seem a little less… chewed. My face is not whole by any means, but now, I got my nose back, and I love my nose, cute as a button, my whole face was to die for, at least it used to be, the whinehouse treatment I had and all, I remember I used to have this scar on my face from necrosed tissue from that one time I tried krokodile, after that, never more, it fucked the only thing I liked about me.


The interesting thing is that it cut right through my nose, the scsr, that isn't the interesting part actually, that part kinda of sucked, but my reflection, it didn't have a trace of it. So peculiar, I can even think with big words like that, I was pretty sure I burned all the neurons with the english degree with the help of my crackpipe. Now I am just fucking with you, bet that you think since I am a junkie I tend to use every drug know to man, and to that, I guess I can't argue. But not crack, I am already a twig, the thing would burn through me faster than fire through hay.


Man, I feel so smart with all this big words and metaphors, almost reminds me of the great before, not the soul one, I did watch it after my death, I can stick my head through walls, it is so convenient, even if I have only two option, and can get too much pass through, guess just an eye and an ear pass through, but maybe it is because I only have one of those at moment.


But yeah, you know, when I was younger, I used to believe I was going to be big shit, make a difference, lot of difference you can do with an english degree, like, if you have no toilet paper and is too lazy to go buy right now.


But I didn't do that to mine, I left it at my parents house, it was something from before I got too fucked up, even if now I thought of it as a waste of time, a waste of money, and college being the place where I started going down this path. But the major was one of the last things I finished in my life, so I guess it mattered, so I left it in my room, together with all the memories of the son that used to be something… something that mattered, like, I wasn't going to change lives, but I had a chance of living happily, instead of haunting a shitty alley where junkies go to die and no one cares, having to relieve the same mistakes over and over again, dreading sleep, because even if it meant getting a little more whole, it also meant years of torture, never learning, never learning…


Something that I learned through the years in my own piece of hell is that ghost can cry. Tears of blood coming from the lacerations of my face, even when my left eye became whole, the tears were still blood red.


I never stopped crying. I just wish I could feel relief from these tears, instead I just feel pure anguish, no one can hear me screamimg, even from the top of my lungs, the winds just picks the scream and takes it so far away, I once saw a person turning to me after my longest scream, they didn't saw me, I fell sleep without remembering when my eyes closed.


I had a little brother, I forget him everytime I wake up, I wonde what is going on in his life, seeing as the people on both sides have changed more than once, maybe he is already a little grandpa, he was just five the last time I saw him, I wonder if he remembers me, O really hope he does not. Please, let them forget that I ever existed.


I am so exhausted, I wonder how long will it take? Why do I have to suffer, and suffer in such an horrible way, like, I understand that karma is a bitch, and I more than deserve it, but that is so much  mind can take wothout breaking, and because the fucking reset button in my dreams, I never reach that point, I just want to break, so bad, so horribly bad that not even this snail pace regeneration is going to be able to bring me back.


I want to break enough to stop caring, to break so bad that I become completely numb, that awake or asleep, nothing would be able to shake, I already have a wisp where it used to be my brain, I just wish i could truly die.


Why can't I just fucking die for real? I am so tired, so exhausted, can't I fade into nothingness, like it should be?


In my waking hours, I try to stop being, and during that horrible torture that is brought with sleep, I see new things, not in anyway affecting the display of my life laid bare, no, the thing that I see now are between the moments of respite before the repetion comences again.


It is flashes, of light, small voices, I can hear mom, she is saying something about the news, it seems there is a strange sickness going around the world, I wonder if it means more company for me.


How funny that, all this years of being dead, I never saw another dead, even though I remember the last car accident on the road in front of me, how her head split open after he went flying out of her car. Maybe if I had energy to mock her, I would, like how stupid she was for not wearing seatbelts, but instead, I felt so hopeful, with such a brutal death, maybe she would haunt that street, we could talk in our bout of wakefulness, and, I don't know, haunt each other till the end of time.


One can hope.


But no, she bled to death on the pavement, nobody asked an ambulance for her, this is not a very good neighbourhood, maybe someone would do something in the morning.


With her body cold in the pavement, I hoped to see her spirit, I wonder if it would get out of the corpse, it would be the first time I would see something like this.


But… no, I think i shouldn't had gotten near her.


Black wisps were released from her body, but instead to clumping together to maybe form what should be her, the wisps of darkness were draw to my mangled body, and I just… absorbed it, to the very last drop.


And she tasted so horrible, so empty, I could taste the pills on her blood, absynthe too, not a great mixture, the taste of sweat, of despair, she tasted awful, it made me want to gag, to puke what I had left that could be called of inwards, they hadn't been 'in' for a very long time.


But holding my stomach, holding back my puke, I realised my entrails being sucked back in, the slashes closed at naked eye, leaps and bounds from the prior way, the more I held her in, like taking a drag from the foulest of joints, I could feel my stomach becoming whole once again, until my ribs were completely covered in skin and all my organs were back inside of me, and at that moment, I couldn't hold any longer.


Puking empty orange bottles and shards of glass, they clawed their way out of my throat, until I completely emptied myself of her leftovers, being a photo of her and a man holding hands and smiling, looking happy, the last vestige. until it became smoke and disappeared in the wind.


So, what is up with that?


\-----


My sleep is really bad, like, it hasn’t been good since I died, that is for sure, but now, besides having my own nightmare of life to deal with, I see my life stopping right beside my very eyes, and suddenly cutting to another house, another scene, another body. It felt cramped, stifling, in a way that I never felt before, I was naked, it hurt, it hurt so bad, it was the first memory I had from, her, and sadly, it wasn’t the last.


Snippets of her days, of her life, her friends and… she didn’t have a family, she lost them.


Good, it wasn’t enough having the weight of my own life pressing me down, now I had to bear the regret of other souls…


A little more of pain, what is one more drop in an overflowing flood, it makes no difference, I wish it was the case.