(c) Copyright 2010 Andrew Taraba All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication, montanization or reproduction is punishable by law. Copyright provided via Legal Zoom. Remove this after final publication.
Chapter 3
- Confrontation
"Imagination is so much different from reality, yet it's impact on reality is far greater than we could ever imagine...."
The morning sun shined on the trees. Glowing comets of dew dripped to the dirt. A light air made the leaves shiver in the trees.
An old man woke up and smelled the fresh air, a tear came to his eye. He sat up against what looked like wall made of cardboard. "Not again!” He searched around the area, under the newspaper and behind the dumpster. Footsteps from behind, he turned around, "Sir? Have you seen my house? I'm sure I left it on top of me last night!" The man lifted an eyebrow then continued walking...
"I hate sleeping on the ground!" Long said rubbing his back. "A stuffed animal would make sleeping much more comfortable!"
Mark turned around, his smile turned into a more serious shape, "You gotta help me man! I need to raise enough money to pay the fine or my dad's going to jail!"
"Yet another child must pay for the mistake of a parent..."
"What?"
"Oh nothing--" Long stopped as Luke showed up.
"Uh, Mark there's something I need to tell you." Luke said.
"He found out about Mark's dad?" Long asked himself. "I don't recall telling him about it."
Luke opened his mouth and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry Mark. I should have told you earlier..."Mark looked around, Long held his breath and Andrew shrugged, he looked back at Luke.
"Uh... This guy right here... is Matt!" Luke said as a boy with black hair, ragged shirt and tattered pants walked from behind. "He's the guy that plays guitar!"
Long almost fell out of his seat. Luke pushed Andrew over and Matt sat down.
"So this is Matt huh?" Mark smiled. "Hey Matt, by any chance, did your band play out in the streets last night?"
"Huh? No, why?"
"Well on my way back from the grocery store, I saw this band playing really nice music. When I looked over to see how much money was in the guitar case I jumped at the sheer sight!"
"What! How much money did they get?" Matt leaned closer.
Mark leaned a little closer and whispered, "Nothing!" He started cracking up. Matt looked down. "Welcome to our table!" Mark grinned.
"Hey my name's Long, Nice to meet you!"
"Oh thanks!" Matt said. "Nice table you got here, so that's Mark and uh, who's that guy?" Matt pointed over to Andrew who was eating alone at the edge of the table.
"Don't mind him..." Mark said, "His name's Andrew, he just follows us because he has no friends... I heard he’s a level zero!"
Matt started laughing, “A zero?”
“By the way Long’s a level three!” Luke said, “two more levels and he gets to go to the upper town schools!”
“I’ve been trying my best!” Long replied, “I just wana leave this damn town.”
“And I’m still a level one...” Matt laughed.
“Me too!” Mark said.
“If I ever make it, I’ll be sure to let you guys move in... They have huge houses up there! Could probably fit two or three families...”
“Well you better study more!” Luke spoke.
“I’m not your slave!”
"Oh! Guys I saw something weird on my way over here! Some guy walked behind a tree and another guy was waiting, and he handed the other guy a bag and that guy gave the other guy money!"
"Could you be any more confusing?" Mark laughed, "What was it?"
"I don't know it looked green! I'm going to find out!" Luke said.
"Yeah I saw it too." Matt added. "It looked like maybe forty or fifty bucks!"
"No not that green stuff!" Mark shouted, "The other green stuff!"
"I don't know... but I though you'd at least be a little interested in the fact that some kid has forty or fifty bucks!"
"Maybe that kid was the rich kid!" Mark snapped his finger.
"You really think so?" Luke replied.
"You guys heard about the rich kid too? I guess the rumor's gotten everywhere by now!" Matt laughed.
"We need to get some of that Green Stuff!" Mark shouted.
"We'll find it, sell it and split the money between us!" Luke added.
"Wait, you guys need to give me the money for now..." Mark tilted his head downward.
Luke and Matt started to laugh.
Long jumped in, "No he's serious."
"Selfish huh?" Luke laughed. "Sure you can have all the money!"
"Wait..." Mark made a sad face, "You don't understand."
"Yeah, we'll do all the work for you!" Matt and Luke laughed.
Mark hit his fist on the table, "Yesterday my dad got caught stealing from the market and now we have to pay a huge fine!"
Luke stopped, Long paused and Matt sat still. Long made eye movements with Luke and elbowed him. Luke hesitated, "Don't worry Mark... I'll find out what the Green Stuff is... For your dad..." Lunch ended with a ring and everyone went to their classes. "You didn't tell me that was Mark's dad!" Luke puled his hair.
"Just get to class." Long said, "We'll worry about it later..."
"What! This is serious!"
"Get out of here!" Long kicked Luke far to the door of his next class.
The classroom had trash in it. Long watched the paint peel. "Hey buddy you want to see something funny?" He whispered to the boy sitting next to him.
"What?"
"See if I put my foot right here!" Long said putting his foot at the edge of the boy's desk. "And I give a little push!" He pushed the corner and the entire desk crumpled down.
"No! Why'd you do that!" The boy yelled in a panic, "I need to study! You jerk!"
Everyone in class looked at them, "These darn desks always falling apart!" Long announced, before turning back to the boy and whispering, "Oh crap! You need to study? I'm so sorry!" Long helped the boy as quick as possible. He reset the legs and desktop and everything was back to wobbly position again. "There you go! Good as new!" Long said with a thumbs up. "Now go on and study!"
The boy grumpily got back to studying. Long sighed, "That was a close one!"
The instant the tests were passed out, the boy immediately flooded it with answers. "Hey stop laughing!" He whispered to Long.
"Sorry!" Long said covering his mouth. Crawling up the boy's shoulder was a curious eye, and every word the boy wrote down, so did Long. “Level four? Here I come!”
After school Luke spoke with Long. "Why didn't you tell me!" Luke started jumping around. "What are we going to do?"
"Calm down man!" Long started thinking to him self, "Now listen, all we have to do is find the rich kid, ask him for money and help Mark's dad! Then Mark will still be friends and everything will be okay!"
"Yeah, like we'll ever find the rich kid!" Luke said.
"We got close didn't we? What about your bonus? Give it to Mark!" Long replied.
"What? no way! How about I find out about the Green St--" Luke and Long got quiet... Mark stepped to the front of the school followed by Andrew.
"Don't follow me!" Mark shooed Andrew away.
"I have to go to work now." Luke said as he walked off.
"See ya!" Mark smiled and waved at Luke.
Luke shyly waved back, "I'll try to find out about that Green Stuff!" and he started walking faster.
"We need to find that rich kid!" Mark said.
"What should we do?" Long replied.
"We trap him, mug him and be friends with him!" Mark smiled.
"Good idea!" Long laughed.
"Hey wait up!"
Long and Mark both turned around.
Matt ran up to them, "It was nice meeting you guys today! Interesting lunch table, uh, I'll see you tomorrow... And I hope things get better for you Mark!"
"I hope so too!" Mark replied.
"Well I better get home..." Matt ran the opposite direction.
Long and Mark started walking home again. They passed the mountains and mountains of trash. As they walked an old man stopped them, "Do you think you can help me build a new house?"
"Go back to the slums!" Mark shouted, "Before the gang finds you!"
Long looked at Mark, "Gang?"
A small group of dark clothed boys approached them. “So this is the legendary Mark, the Gold Dragon!” One of the boy’s stepped up, “They say you only lost one fight...” He grinned, “That is... Until the market incident!” They all started laughing.
Mark’s fists began to shake. Long spoke, “Do you know these guys?”
“Not in the good way...” Mark replied.
“The Green Gang is growing, Mark, soon they’ll beat us and then... Just like your mother...”
Mark grinned, “They say you can never get bored in this town!” He clapped his fists together. “Watch an learn, Long! This is how you clean the streets!” He charged at them with fists held high....
Andrew pulled out a long, shining sword. "So no more training swords I see?" A young girl spoke.
"Nope!" Andrew replied, and their swords clashed. The sound of metal and sparks echoed as they fought.
"You fight well!" She replied, "Maybe someday the student will be able to surpass the teacher!"
"That day is today!" And Andrew swung his sword and the clash of metal dinged throughout the air. His sword snapped like a broken pencil, metal glistened in the air.
"Hahaha! You think that puny sword can beat mine?" The other persons sword lifted above Andrew's head and she swung it...
Andrew opened his eyes, he saw his hands gripped around a broken tree branch.
"Oh, I must have been day dreaming again..." He said hitting himself in the head. He dropped the stick and continued climbing up the stairs. At the top of a stair case trees were shaking in the wind. Gaps of light shined through and off the reflections of leaves. A smile crossed his face as he watched a cat stretch its paws across the grass. It layed flat in the sun bleached flower bed and relaxed, "That looks comfy!" He smiled looking down at his raggedy pants and old shoes.
"You stupid shit!" A voice called out.
Andrew's shining smile turned into a frown.
"You left the door unlocked again!" A fat man yelled, "I’ll take this house back if you keep it up!”
Andrew covered the scar on his right hand and walked passed the man.
"In this town everyone will try to steal from us higher ups!"
Andrew turned the golden knob. He ran inside the giant house and slammed the majestic door behind him.
The fat man looked through the door's oval, stained window and saw Andrew running up the stairs. "What a cry baby..." He turned around and stared at the trees, the sun set and the cat. "That kid’s so ungrateful... He doesn't even call me uncle anymore..." Andrew’s uncle marched down the stairs.
The moon shined brightly above the slums. “Thief!” Someone called out. The weak old man closed the lid and smiled, "No one's going to take my house!" He cuddled closely inside a mesh of newspaper, and held up a knife, before slowly drifting to sleep in his torn up cardboard box.
I didn't think it was boring it ws kind of interesting when mark said "gang" and andrews little day dream was something you dont see in most stories, keep up the good work andrewt i showed this to my friend and she said it was cool
ReplyDeleteThanks, yeah the day dream thing was something I came up with a long time ago, I wanted the readers to be reminded of their childhood, back when they used to day dream all the time too! I'm glad your friend liked it too!
ReplyDeleteNice post. I thought I founnd a mistake in the second paragraph of the chapter though. Man, if I had wireless access where I'm at, I could have referred to the right place.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I'll go look for it... I'm not very good at editing am I? lol
ReplyDeleteActually I changed the last part a little...
ReplyDeleteNobody is good at editing their own work. Even a few problems in my work get passed both my proofreaders and I. If I were back home, I would have been more precise.
ReplyDeleteYeah I see what you mean... we're all human... I hope your having fun on your trip or vacation.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Southern CA has been good, although I think I overexerted myself yesterday.
ReplyDeleteyou're in Southern California? That's where I live! Mostly why my story has a lot to do with gangs and marijuana because LA is known for all that... but I hope you're having a blast!
ReplyDeleteAlso I made some more "minor" changes, I'll have to check with legal zoom to see if it qualifies as "minor"... 25 words to be exact... lol
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's right I've seen mostly everything in there is. It has not been my first visit anyway, but I have not done much. You should not need to worry about copyright, since the work is automatically copyrighted. The thing You're dealing with is lawsuits and such.
ReplyDeleteYeah, usually people get excited about CA, movie stars and stuff but really I don't think there's much to do here, besides amusement parks and movies... Yeah the copyright stuff is fine since they said I could change up to 1/10 of the words and it'll still be cool...
ReplyDeleteyou chenged the beginning too I think the thing with the levels is pretty intresting and the gang stuff made mark seem even cooler he's my favorite character! lol my roommates name is mark I should show this to him
ReplyDeleteI prefer CA over where I currently live. Most of the well known cities in CA are along the coast, which means the temperature does not get really bad and with a cold ocean current it experiences no hurricanes, but my home gets unbearably hot in the summer. I live in the west coast though, so there is no time change, when I visit CA.
ReplyDelete@aDetectiveA yeah, I was planning on introducing it later in the story but this chapter needed a lot of jamming and stuff to make it better so I figured bombard the reader with new material and it should be a fun interesting thing to read!
ReplyDelete@Bryce Yeah I guess everybody likes the weather down here, I prefer CA just because famous people live here and every once in a while my friends will be like, "hey come to this restaurant, Mega64 is filming here!" Did you go to Comic-Con?
Most I hear about in my hometown is something to do with gambling.
ReplyDeleteVegas? If you live in a gambling town well I'm sure it's a lot safer than a gang and drug affiliated town or state like CA... not to mention it's already fire season and there's already two fires...
ReplyDeleteWell, people are kind of stupid. It just depends where you live. I guess Vegas is obvious since Atlantic City is the east coast.
ReplyDeleteI guess there's always danger and crime in every town, but LA and NY... horrible... every night more news of something going wrong, it makes me sad... Not only is the US in two wars but there is also violence and war within our own country as well, I guess the theme of Death Note was right...
ReplyDeleteThings will only get worse.
ReplyDeleteyou're probably right, I've seen no evidence of improvement in society...
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to know are you going to be posting the the rest of the chapters?
ReplyDelete@aDetectiveA It would not be advisable for him to do that, since this is his only work. It's his choice though.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you can post chapters to a place called Wattpad, AndrewT. I've posted a few to that site and I have gotten about 29 or so total reads of the two pieces of writing I posted since I joined two days ago.
@AndrewT Society is just becoming more selfish, so it will definitely get worse. The Christian scriptures definitely say it will get worse and the selfishness of mankind will make it happen.
@aDetectiveA I actually finished most of the chapters, it was just a matter of how bad my editing was! But I also just didn't feel like posting may more chapters lol Maybe just one more, but what really mattered to me was my friends and family reading it.
ReplyDelete@Bryce I'll definitely check it out.. Wattpad.... Yes, unfortunately it will get worse, and the Biblical prophesy, it seems, is becoming more real every day... one world currency, homo acceptance, one world government, natural disasters... ect.
Thanks for showing me that site, just a few minutes on that site and I can already see how bog of a community it is... but you two people are also good company too!
ReplyDeleteNow, all we need is for schools to start expelling people because they can't comprehend that creationism does not necessarily go against science. There are multiple ways creationism could work, but one in particular fits with in place with an already existing scientific law. Things always get worse, before they get better.
ReplyDeleteThanks, AndrewT. It could help you though, since I do not have either enough following or enough orders on my books to exceed a hundred dollars. Just remember, you need to earn a minimum of $20 before Lulu sends you a check, $5 if you use Paypal, but it will be a smaller earning too, since it is monthly instead of quarterly. You could also get a page on facebook and have it import your blog. There are a few people there who might be interested, you just need to seek out the audience. All aDetectiveA and I can do is just let people know, but you can't rely just on us. I've been trying to spread my name out there some and just hoping somebody is intrigued by my work. One person on Wattpad thinks I am a talented writer and enjoyed the first excerpt I posted from my upcoming third book. Anyway, word-of-mouth is the best way to get things to be successful and the author must be among the crowd letting people know of their existence. One other place I suggest is Goodreads, but attracting a following there is much harder than Wattpad.
ReplyDeleteI see, thanks for the info... I agree, the best way to get an audience is form people you know in person. I told my cousin about your novels, he's really into the manga/anime stuff, and he want's to make his own manga someday so he likes to read other peoples stories and home-made manga to get motivation!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that. Tell your cousin that I hope he succeeds. Now, hopefully, we can help turn the tide in the collapse of good stories.
ReplyDeleteyes I agree completely! No more Transformers 2 like movies and no more lame TV shows... just because it's for Kids doesn't mean it has to be stupid... there's more ways to entertain children than just hyper violence and stupid stuff...
ReplyDeleteTrue, I'm connecting my laptop or my iPod to the television more often because there aren't really that many good television shows anymore. FMA Brotherhood is probably one of the only decent shows around nowadays.
ReplyDeleteI like FMA, watch it every Saturday on Adult Swim... I actually find the Boondocks very funny, not because it's stupid and immature like South Park but something that actually a little intelligent... Other than that most TV shows are pretty lame, that's why I usually stick to anime! :P I think if kids in the past had watched anime like FMA then there wouldn't be as much stupidity and ignorance in today's society... just my theory...
ReplyDeleteI don't watch FMA Brotherhood on Adult Swim. I wait for the DVD releases, because Adult Swim has shortened openings and endings for all episodes and openings like "Again" by YUI and "Period" by Chemistry would be ruined on television, but played in full on the DVDs. Also, I've seen all 64 episodes on FUNimations video site. Somebody recommended the Boondocks to me, but it did not catch my interest. I agree that if kids watched anime like FMA, there would not be so much stupidity and ignorance. Even Rurouni Kenshin is much better than almost anything on television now. It's just too bad people bag on anime because they think cartoons are for kids, but like we discussed before, it is really the only thing that has good stories or even stories at all anymore.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Anime is the only thing today that has stories... and also Anime doesn't use gimmicks to get people to watch it, like Twilight uses "hot" vampires as a way to get girls to watch it, Transformers uses amazing CGI to get people to watch it... Anime just uses an amazing story line to get people to watch... I actually really like the Gears of War story telling, I think it's awesome!
ReplyDeleteMovies are just full of Special effects, CGI, and Gimmicks nowadays. There are also movie producers who take things that already had good stories and just makes it worse than before. If more movies were made that were based on books, I would it to be a faithful adaption of a book with a good story. FMA, the first anime series, is just one of those rare gems where story was actually good, although it deviated from the manga source, which I doubt any American TV/Movie Producer can actually accomplish.
ReplyDeleteBecause unlike Japanese Entertainment, American Directors and Writers only look for the short shock value or the little shallow things to give people a short laugh or a short tear, they never think of making a story with meaning, entertainment and emotion like so many Anime writers are able to do... I think all they have to do is subtract the Money and Fame factor from the equation...
ReplyDeleteSo True. Most of my family watches those kinds of stupid shows that have no stories at all. Basically, the only thing Japanese related that they like, which they have seen the first time around with me, was the three Live-action Death Note movies, yet they don't like the animated version, even though it is much more accurate than the first two Death Note movies, just because it is animated and they don't see that the heart attacks are much more believable in the animated version. Humankind has yet to overcome greed to be able to not think about money and fame.
ReplyDeleteYeah, in Japan anime plays in the movie theaters all the time, movies like "Spirited Away"... If an anime movie were ever released in theaters I'm sure the creators would be very sad to find how much criticism the general American audience would give... Heck, lots of people criticized the Death Note movies for not being "HD" or having "Good Shots".. I say so what? It's Death Note, it's a great story... same with video games too, people care too much about the graffics, they say games like Ocorina of Time suck because of the horrible graffics... They've forgotten what really matters...
ReplyDeleteThose movies were recorded before HD came around. I also did not like how people think the DBZ movies are HD as well, but really FUNimation only upscaled what they had, since the 13 movies were made before HD came about too. After all, I have not heard that the JP made HD masters of the movies. Basically FMA Brotherhood is only one of the few anime that debutted in HD, while many ongoing series (e.g. Detective Conan (Case Closed)) transitioned to HD, so finding the earlier episodes in HD is impossible, unless the Japanese did have HD masters.
ReplyDeleteYou were right! Wattpad is so much more efficient... though half the users just comment to say things like "Hey read my story" or "I'll read yours if you read mine" ...I think I still like Blogger better, more customization... and it has a humble feeling to it when I post things, like I don't have to anticipate what people are going to say about my writings, because this site is more humble... but I like them both! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYeah, they are like that. They are just trying find readers. I just pay them no mind now. I only had to deal with two of those comments anyway. I'm glad you like it.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of YouTube and their "Sub 4 Sub" crap... Well I've read a couple of the stories people have asked me to read... Though a lot of the stories on that site aren't really that "good", lol like I said in my first Blog here, Vampires aren't a good story device, but they are very popular.. and there sure are a lot of vampire stories...
ReplyDeleteTrue, at least, it is a way to show off our works, without revealing too much.
ReplyDeleteyes... I like your choice of words... I will "Show off" my works... I have found a lot of good writers on that site, though their stories aren't as compelling as an anime... I still find some of them "good".. while others I find really bad, like 7 million reads on a stupid story that just happens to have an interesting title with the word vampire in it... not cool... and I do like your third book a lot!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I might put up one or two more excerpts on there. I noticed you put up Green Success up there. I seems to be going over extremely well. Talented writers are hard to come by. I get the feeling that those writers care more about readers than good stories, just like many publisher are just throwing any vampire story out there that they can without even remotely trying to find a good vampire story. I think you mention Twilight once. I agree that it is dumb. I saw the first movie based on the series and they had every single vampire stereotype like a weird aura around them, super speed and strength, etc.
ReplyDeleteyeah, I know what you mean... Vampires are lame anyways, seriously, I'd rather be a ninja or supersain than a lame vampire... I'll be ready to read whatever you post, I still haven't finished Divinity's End yet, I'll try to finish that and tell you what I think... I just hope the world realizes there's more to entertainment than just vampires and violence...
ReplyDeleteAlright. I just posted it on there so people could have chance to see if they like it. I probably did not stay consistent in Divinty's End, but I hope you like it in its entirety. Also, I'm already aware of at least one or two problems in it that neither myself nor my proofreader caught before publishing it. Maybe, if the sales are good, I will go back through at a later time and make some of the changes that it needs, then release it as a second edition.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm sure any mistakes left in it would be minor... second edition? You should make a special edition with alternate endings and secrets about the writer and stuff, just go all out and have fun with it... That would be pretty cool... Secret art books and other secret questions answered... Or at least I might do something like that someday...
ReplyDeleteProbably so. Well, it's just a thought. That seems interesting. I'd probably wait a while though on those kinds of books. I've only got two images that I can safely use, four, if you consider the images on the front cover so they would not look dull.
ReplyDeleteyeah, I know what you mean, wait a while before doing something like that... I have a few drawings I do for my story, every drawing I posted here is about my book, but their pretty lame... I only do them to help me visualize the story better, I usually throw them out when I'm done...
ReplyDeleteI don't really think you should do that. There might be time you want to remember what you did in an old work and those drawings could remind you.
ReplyDeleteyou're right... usually every reference I need I've posted on my YouTUbe channel, my main reference is the video "Let's Draw" ... because my Freshman year of Highschool was my most creative and I think I've forgotten why I was so creative back then... I want to go back and recall what made me like that... Most of the things I did back then was mainly art things, whether it be gum wrapper wallets, crazy Jackets or just a nice belt buckle design... plus Freshman year was the year I had the most friends... oh man, being a kid was so awesome! ... I just hope I'll raise my kids to preserve their childhood while still growing up and becoming a responsible adult... if I don't become a writer, I hope they will...
ReplyDeleteDon't give up on being a writer before you attempted to actually publish. You got a lot of fans and readers on Wattpad, even I like your work, so you are pretty well popular. Just face it, K-12 takes away our imaginations and sometimes it takes a good college instructor to realize it, if you don't on your own. When we are kids, we want to reach adulthood quickly, but once we are adults, we wish to be kids again. From what I remember, you're not of legal age yet, but you fit into the latter already. It really is funny people don't realize they lose the most important thing in the world until it is too late.
ReplyDeletethat right there is a well written comment... I agree 100%... we never realize what we had until we lost it first...
ReplyDeleteThanks. It is also true that once we realize what we lost, we strive so hard to get it back, due mostly to regret, just like Edward and Alphonse Elric lost so much trying to revive their mom, and when the story starts, they are trying to get their bodies back.
ReplyDeleteyes, I was thinking of a good anime example to use... I guess I had forgot about FMA... I can't think of any popular anime example.. how about Majoras Mask, the world ends in 3 days, and the moral behind the game is to use your time wisely, as you repeat those 3 days over and over again, while all the people want to do is party and prepare...
ReplyDeleteYou forgot about FMA, when you mentioned it in one post and that right next to Death Note, and a few other titles, it is one of the few anime that has an original story? That Majoras Mask example is exactly how I see the world right now.
ReplyDeletelol I always forget FMA! It's like one of my favorites, yet it's never off the top of my head! Maybe it's because when I watch anime I usually watch 10 series at a time... and FMA only has one episode a week while other series show lots of episodes during the week! I love Majoras Mask so much, yet I've only played it once this whole summer!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe example I gave though could have been from either FMA series, which were both really good. I liked the ending of FMAB better though, especially since it was the official ending of the series and not an ending cooked up by Bones.
ReplyDelete