Untitled

Chapter One

This story takes place in a cold small town, quietly hidden in a thick forrest. A small population of 4,000 people, most of which unknown to the rest of the world. This was the intintion of its founders, for they disliked the world, and all of its inhabitants. These were not hateful people, mearly, misunderstood. This town started with a dream, that one day no one shall feel the pain, the tightening of the chest that comes from despair. John Leven was the founder of this small town. This town which is always rained upon.

John never meant to create a town. People saw his actions, and began to follow. This is John's story. A story which was found in the drawer of John's small studio apartment.

A small child, not knowning of the world's dark intention, was very trusting of the world. Everyone in John's eyes was a nice, loving person. But this was far from the case. John was born into a family of theifs, and liers. Run only by their need for beer, and drugs. Every city has them. Victims of this epidemic. This disease called drug abuse. But nobody cares about these children. They attend school, and are expected to act as if nothing is wrong. Sometimes we call these people "the quiet ones", or the "shy" ones. But this is far from the case.

John was a short, thin child with dark brown hair, with a tiny lighter brownish patch on the right side of his bangs. Nobody talked to John. They just let him alone his whole life. It wasn't until his later adolesant years would people begin to recognize him.

John never cried about this. To him, this was normal. He had a very unique way to cope with this sadness of which he wasn't aware of. "This is my life, this is how life is lived. There are those who talk, and those who act. If I just keep moving, no trouble will come my way." This was his way of life, and this is what he told himself everynight.

John had begun to doubt the reason for his living in his teens. He had grown much taller, and because of his parents fequent moving from place to place, had learned many different ways to cope with his sadness. His mother finally decided to stop moving, and settled down with her mother, and John had stayed in a school for a whole year for the first time in his life.

People then began to notice, that quiet boy in the corner, always staring down at his plate, never saying anything. And naturally, people out of curiosity approached him. Having no idea how to deal with people, due to his lack of people skills John's first contact with another being, was far from pleasant.

It was a smart-type girl, one who was soft spoken, and always calm. John was nervously stirring his noodles, and making quick replies.

"I've just realized that even though I've been in the same class as you for over 3 months now, I have yet to know your name. What is it?" The girl calmly asked.

John almost startled quickly replied, and while doing so spilling his milk.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry, I need to clean this up. Please forgive me."

The girl laughed, and walked back to the table where the girls sat located on the other side of the room. John stood to get to the napkins, and in doing so tripped over his bag which had been sitting next to him, making a loud noise.

The room had grown disturbingly quiet, and all eyes were fixed upon John. John was now known to the rest of his world. The world of which he had from the start of his life had been quietly observing. The world now looked upon John for the first time, and now recognised him. John was now to the world an idiot.

It was the end of the day, and John was making his usual way home. He walked along a long path alone. Today was a cold day in the middle of December. John looked at the ground. Just staring as he walked, maybe hoping that he would find something interesting, something that, because it was on the ground, a thing that only people used to walk on, but not notice, he would find something that nobody had seen.

After walking around twenty minutes John had noticed a noise that he had quietly ignored the whole walk. It was a small noise that was made from the contents of Johns green bag falling the floor through a hole. John began to back track gathering his stuff, and wondered. Where had this hole come from. The it hit him, it was that time, the time when he tripped on the bag during lunch.

He accepted the fact that it had happend, but was reminded of the first embarrasing moment with the first person whom he had ever had contact with. Still realizing he did not know the girls name, and how everyone around him now though lower of him because of his actions.

After walking back up the long path he realized his only pen was missing. It was a dark blood red pen given to him by his father just before he had been sent to prison. John had decided that he would look at school for it the next day, and put it aside for the moment. John walked home that day not knowing what to do for the time being.

Chapter Two

The next day John went directly to his desk after arriving at school. Class wouldn't start for another thirty minutes, but John still felt all he had to do was sit, and stare at his desk. He occasionally looked up at the clock, and for 15 minutes John did nothing else. The other students began to come into the class room. One by one, or in small clusters of two or three. It was then John's eye acted on it's own, and noticed the girl from yesterday had entered the room. John quickly corrected his sight back to the desk.

The room now had noise, and because others were there, John noticed that everything had changed from how it was when it was just him in the room. It seemed more lively. The students interacted with the room, not as one, but as seperate. They co-existed with each other, as if the room, and students were communicating on a level unseen by others.

The teacher had entered the room, and class was to start. John sat in the back corner as to avoid eye contact with the teacher. John never raised his hand, had questions, nor did he speak infront of the class. John had good grades, but purposely made them less than what they could be to avoid being noticed.

The girl sat one desk to the left, and two desks up. It was a safe distance for him to watch, and not be noticed. He watched her closely observing her, and trying to understand her. Though he still didnt know her name, he was able to learn about her. She wore clothes that were neatly folded as he could tell by the lack of ruffles he found on everyone else's clothes. He hair was shiny, and her skin was fair. Her eyes where faint black, and had a shine in the back that could only been if you focused on them. She didn't smile much, and kept her words to herself most of the time. She was usually seen in a group of 3 other girls.

As the day went on John began to notice that he was changing. He didn't understand what it was, but he felt different, and at a loss. Why had someone affected him this much. He tried to think of the cause of this problem of which he had found himself in. He then came to the conclusion that the girl was the only thing that could be the cause. He glanced over at her, and then noticed something he hadn't before. It wasn't something about her, it was the pen she was using. It was a very familiar shade of red, and had a small gold engraving on it that he couldn't make out. It was not after a while of looking at the pen that he noticed the crack on the lid of the pin. He was almost sure that it was his pen, and that the crack was from it falling onto the floor from his bag.

John wasn't too concerned about the pen. He hated his father for his lack of responsability for his actions, and felt that even though he was gone, it would be too soon before he saw him again. But John felt an odd urge to talk to her, so he felt the pen was the only exscuse he had to do so. He spent the rest of the afternoon running the conversation through his head, and when and where it would take place.

The lunch bell rang loudly through Johns absent mind, bringing the rest of the world back down him. The shock made John fall out of his chair, again making a loud noise which brought the attention of the class to him. This time there would be no class bell to bring the eyes of others away from John. John looked at all the unfamiliar faces he saw, and was frightened by the confused looks all around. Everyone but the girl seemed as if they hadn't noticed he had been there, like he just fell through the ceiling. The teacher noticed the direction of the class, and noticed Johns uneasiness. The teacher kindly decided to save John this day, and stood up and announced the class had 10 minutes to get there lunch, and return to the classroom.

Chapter Three

John was relieved that the disturbance he had created for himself had cleared, and that he was no longer being strangled by the stare of others. Today John had brought his lunch with him not becuase he disliked the food of the school, simply he did not want to walk in the line along side others. To John this was the easiest way to lower the attention placed on him. As John began to open his lunch a shadow appeared. It blocked his light and was unfamiliar to him. John slowly looked up to see what had blocked his light, only to see it was the girl.

She had approached John so soflty, and so quietly that he hadn't noticed her. He couldn't look anywhere else but her eyes, and it felt to John that the air that had so graciously provided him with life had become still and hard to breathe. John tried to stay calm, but found that he was trembling. Was John scared of this girl? He asked himself.

"Why are you always eating alone" she calmly asked John as he knocked his bag over allowing the apple to roll across the desk.

John was hesitant to answer the girl. He did not know who she was, or why she was talking to him. After a few seconds of awkward silence John began to answer the girl. "I always eat alone because I have no one to eat with."

The girl now had more of a serious look in her eyes, and this was all John noticed because the trembling increased causing him to lose his focus. "Why?" She asked John.

This time John was a bit disturbed and answered far too quickly, and a bit loudly. "Because thats just how it is."

The girl had a confused look on her face for a few seconds. John could only focus on her eyes, and how they began to change. It was odd, and John couldn't put his finger on it. She hadn't moved, but something about her was completly different from the calm girl earlier. "Well maybe I can change that." the girl said in a lifting tone.

The girl turned the desk infront of John around so that the two were now facing each other. She quickly grabbed her bag and lunch and sat in it. This somehow calmed John in a way he didn't understand. The trembling stopped, and he couldn't look at the girl anymore. The two sat there. John starred at his lunch, while the girl ate hers. After five minutes of awkward silence the girl began to look at John.

"Am I boring you?" The girl asked in a lowered tone.

John quickly looked up and objected. "No! that's not it. I just don't really talk alot. It's not you, it's me, really it is." He was again drawn to the girls eyes. He noticed that they had again changed in a way he couldn't explain.

"Really? Why's that. I don't mean to be nosey. It's just that people are social creatures, and naturally they have a need to assosiate with something. So if you don't talk doesn't that eventually cause you pain?"

John couldn't answer her for a while. He found it hard to take in what she had just said. He couldn't take it all in, only the word "pain" had struck him. As John gathered his thoughts into words the bell rang, and John was left in almost a trance of displacement with himself.

"It was nice talking to you. Maybe we can do it again sometime." The girl smiled and said to John.

"Yea, maybe." John said in a lowered tone.

Chapter Four

John had once again as he always does began the walk home. Today it was raining, and John had no umbrella. Instead John held his waterproof bag above his head protecting him from the water. He walked at a slower pace than usual. Ofcourse he was never to eager to return home. He felt that truly ther was nothing there for him. Nothing left for him to care about. In his eyes it was a broken family, and lost cause.

A soft crack of thunder broke Johns silent walking. It was soft, but loud enough to make him look up from the ground. He looked up and his bag caught his eye. He once again noticed the hole and remembered he forgot all about his pen. John no longer cared for the pen. John didn't think, only looked at the hole as he walked. The soft patter of rain falling to the ground drew John into a daze.

He began to fall into a feeling of nastalgia. He was reminded of another time, when he had walked alone up a rainy set of stairs. He had made it up to a festival where he saw many people having fun together. One family especially caught his eye. It was a small boy around his age with his parents. The child was complaining to them about wanting candy from a stall. John watched as they argued, and eventually the father gave him the candy he wanted. He watchd as they played, and held hands.

John was knocked out of his day dreaming by a car which had hit a puddle next to John soaking him. John no longer cared if he got any wetter, and let the bag carelessly drop to his side. John had began to shiver as the water made him very cold.

After arriving at his house John already knew that an argue was going on. This was daily. He would enter the door, and be greeted by the yelling of his mother, and grandmother. He didn't really care about the arguments most of the time. They were usually about nothing important, it was just a background noise to John.

John made his way to his room and changed into some new dry clothes. John went to the mirror and noticed that he hadn't gotten a haircut in a while. His brown hair had now reached his nose. He really didn't want a hair cut, and decided he would argue with his mother about it later.

John was beat from the days commotion. Not only that John began to sneeze. He had caught a cold. John though about his life. What meaning was there to it? He thought. He was quickly falling into a state of malaise.

"I can't do anything right. And I have no one to depend on. What a meaningless life this is." John quietly told himself.

The arguing outside of Johns room had stopped. He began to fall into a deep sleep. And that night dreamt of being in a large room. A room where he felt alone, like he was walking home, but wansn't moving. He was on a stage. He couldn't see anything but the chair he was sitting in located on the stage. It was under a bright beam of light.

He then heard the crackle of a speaker. "Students please rise."

Naturally John rose. His jean's leg was caught on a broken part of the chair causing him to trip. John was now on the floor. Staring at an apple that had appeared out of nowhere. Then the lights of the room lit up. And John couldn't make out faces. All he could do was feel the sharp painful staring of a huge crowd of people in the audience. John instantly began to curl into a ball, squeezing his chest tight as if it where about to burst. The air grew cold, and John wasn't able to breathe.

At that time a figure walked onto the stage. It walked into John's sight. He couldn't look to the figures face.

"Why are you hiding on this stage by yourself?" the figure asked.

John recognized this voice. It was the voice of the girl. John's pain numbed away, and he was able to move, and breathe again. He began to stand up when the loud annoying sound of his alarm clock woke him from his slumber. John sneezed, and wiped his runny nose. John decided to go to school that day, despite being sick. He didn't think about it, he just felt like it.