Weekly Short Story #3: Had Rather

"Gabriel, don't do it!" I shouted in vain. The moment I opened the door I saw Gabriel pointing a handgun to his head, smiling delightfully at me.

"Dave, Dave, Dave, how nice to see you! But I guess I'd rather continue with my plan," He closed his eyes as he pushed the gun closer to his face,"Feeling happy that you're the last person I see before I die?"

"Why would you want to do this? Why the heck would you want to end your own life?"

He opened his eyes and said coolly, "Because I have lost all respect for humanity,"

"But what about your family?"

"My parents have already disowned, I doubt they even bother whether I'm dead or not. Besides, I'm doing them a favour anyway. All my other siblings will get my share of the inheritance, it's a win-win situation,"

"But what about all your friends? How would they feel?"

"Most of them left me when they heard I got disowned, after all who wants a poor useless man as his friend? And you, ever since we came back from the war you have been too busy building your house and making love with your wife, "

"Erm...what about your......"

"Wait, I get what you're doing. You probably called the police already, eh? And they asked you to distract me until they get here and subdue me, am i right? That's pretty clever man, that's pretty clever, but you know what? That ain't gonna..."

"No look Gabriel, I didn't call the police, but please...just think about what you're doing. Come on, put the pistol down and we can sit down and have a chat, please," I pleaded desperately. I was lying though, I was saying all these to stall for time, hoping that someone would come and salvage this situation.

"Why do you care? This is my life, damn it! Everyone used to call me weak, that I couldn't make any of my own decisions. I'm sick of this mess I'm in, Dave. I want to be strong, to prove that I'm not just another pawn. So I've decided to kill myself. It's my choice, and I'm not going to change my mind just because you asked me to, heck I've been looking forward to this day for months!"

"Gabriel, just...please,"

"Dave, I suggest you get out of this room, unless you want to see your friend blowing his brains into pieces. You're a good man, trying to help me and all that, I will remember you in my afterlife," With that, he closed his eyes and cocked the handgun.

"NO!" It was too late, he pulled the trigger. Blood spilled onto the wall behind him. He collapsed onto the floor with that smile on his face. I could never forget that face. Eyes of the devil's, a smile like a twisted lunatic.

Weekly Short Story #2: A Petty Sort of Crush

"I told you, I own you on Facebook! So you'd better start tidying up our room now!" What the hell did he think we were? If he was not half paralysed I would have given him a hard punch onto his flubby face and hopefully make him spit out some blood for ordering me around like his slave. "Fine, Jacob," I hesitantly grabbed my creased clothes on the cluttered floor and placed them neatly into the wardrobe. Jacob wheeled himself in front of the computer with ease and began his daily routine of Friends for Sale. "Hey guess what," He picked up the can of Mountain Dew placed beside him and began gulping it down, "I'm another hundred thousand richer," He forgot to mention he was a hundred thousand richer on Friend for Sale. I never got the point of the game, after all it was just having a temporary virtual ownership over your friends and having a little topic for a conversation with them. But Jacob took it seriously, whenever someone buys the friends he owned, he would swear to get them back. In fact, recently he has been using real cash to buy 'locks' so that he can lock his friends to himself for a limited period. Quite a good waste of money. The perception of owning his friends did make him feel superior and helped him cope with his depression. I knew that he was using it to hide his insecurities, to hide his disability, to hide his bleak future caused by a disastrous accident. Still, he was beginning to cross the line with all the ordering around.

"Hey Clara, get me another can of Mountain Dew!" He shouted to the other end of our rented house. We moved in after the accident when we felt it was easier to take care of Jacob than living in a hostel with hundreds of students. The house was cheap, had decent facilities and was near the university. "I'll get it later, I'm too busy now!" Clara replied with a relatively softer shout. "I own you, damn it! And how the hell do you expect me to go down the stairs on a wheelchair to get it myself?" He crushed the empty can and flicked it to the ground, "Help me get rid of it, will you?" I gave him a hard stare, but his eyes were glued to the computer screen. Relax, he is half paralysed, it wouldn't be easy for him to throw it into the bin himself, I thought as I inhaled and composed myself. The door was given a hard knock before Clara walked in and handed Jacob the Mountain Dew. He snatched it away from her hands and returned to face the computer. "Come with me, we need to talk," Clara whispered into my ears as she gave me a sulk.

Normally when she said that it meant that something was wrong. I followed her out of the bedroom and into the living room. The living room was quite plain, with only a sofa and a 21-inch television, but we could not expect too much with the amount of money we paid for the rent. Clara looked up and stared at me, before she broke down and gave an exasperated sigh, "You know, the way he's treating us, I just can't stand it anymore, he and his stupid game. It's so..." "But he's half paralysed, and we are his only friends left. Especially when his at a state like this, we just have to bear with it" I interrupted her complaint. "So what if he is? That doesn't mean he can order us around so rudely like his pet," "We just have to bear with it," Clara gave another quick sigh after hearing it and walked away. I saw the look on her face as she left, and for that night I was rolling in bed and recalling that look she had. Was she correct? I thought as I heard Jacob's loud snores.

Clara was back to her normal self the next day. I asked her fruitlessly if she was okay and we pretended nothing had happened as the three of us entered the university together. "Hah, I bought Vincent for $210,000 dollars. What a cheap ass, I bet he's regretting all those things he said to me," Jacob gladly proclaimed to the both of us. Then, Vincent and his bunch of friends suddenly appeared in front of Jacob and blocked him, "Shut the hell up, you pile of shit," Vincent and Jacob were already on bad terms when they both had feelings for the same girl. Things got worse after the accident and Vincent got the girl once she saw the state Jacob was in. It did not help that Vincent called him names after the accident and asked everyone to do so. Everyone did after they stopped sympathising with Jacob after he started ordering them around.

"You calling me a pile of shit? I bought you and here you are calling your owner a pile of shit? Screw you, you dick!"

"Oh, that retarded Facebook game of yours. I see, you bought me. But do I look like I fucking care? Why don't you get up from your chair and punish me for calling you a pile of shit, you pile of shit,"

"Why you...Jonathan, help me with..." I immediately took a step forward.

"Jonathan, Jonathan, what are you, a dog to a useless moron? I can see the way he treats the both of you, the way he pushes you about. What are you going to do about it, huh? Are you going to help someone who only knows how to order others to do things for him? Come on, think!" I began to think about what Vincent had said, and suddenly lost all motivation to help Jacob.

"Clara, please, tell him off, tell him off!" That was the first time I actually heard Jacob say please, but Clara stayed rooted to the ground.

"The both of you, why won't you help me? You guys always stood up for me..."

"'Cause they finally realised what a pile of worthless shit you actually are, Mr. Jacob,"

"Shut the hell up, you bastard! I own you..."

Amid all the bickering, I looked at Clara, our eyes interlocked, asking each other for the correct words that should come out of our mouths.

Weekly Short Story #1: Guilty

Everyday I would pray to God for my death. I was suffering from all the pain and disappointment in my life anyway, there was no point for me to live. Then my wish was granted and I felt sad ever since. I mean, it felt great when I was begging and pleading for what I wanted, it was like saying a 'Fuck you' to nature, telling her to destroy her creation. But when I died I realise I could not have the feeling again, neither could I store the memory I had of that feeling. So it was all wasted. How wasted...

No one ever comes here anymore. What used to be a bustling town with an adequate population of 11,024, with its grandeur castles that towered over the serene Victorian cottages blowing lush smoke out of their chimneys, with the occassional sunburst seranading the emerald fields that outstretched into the teal mountains, which hung like a wave of curtains, has been reduced to a ghost town.

Pretty Face 2

Warning: A lot of vulgarities

So I tell ya, yesterday was fuckin' ace man, fuckin' A. I went to that retard Andy's house party with ma buddies, and I tell ya, I wasn't there to celebrate that his new shit house and stuff. No man, I was there for da chicks! Been a long while since I had an f'ing good time, and man has needs, ya know, man has needs. So I looked around and I was like, "SHIT MAN! I'd an f'ing good time with all of them!" I have this policy, 'Once fucked, get the hell out'. So I ain't gonna hook up any'o them, or they be killing me. And then this girl suddenly just walked in, and I'm like thinkin' in ma mind, "HOLY SHIT, NICE BOOBIES!" Then I'm looking at her ass, and damn, it was fine! It was fine!

So I hooked ma buddies up with a bunch 'o bitches and I zoomed in on ma prey. Ma buddies, they call me an eagle. Ya know why? Cause once I see ma prey, I gunna grab it, and it ain't escaping ma claws. Earl the Eagle, mighty fine name, dun ya think? I be walking to her, and then I said my worst pick-up line, "Were you arrested earlier? It's gotta be illegal to look that good," and she laughed. I was thinking, DAMN-AMMM!, what a easy girl with a set of nice racks. I told her ma name was Eddie and she said hers was Racheal-something, I dunno! So we chatted awhile 'bout some boring old stuff and I asked her, "Screw me if I am wrong, but haven't we met before? "

She said no, and soon enough she was at ma house, and I can't describe how it was 'cause ya too young, but I tell ya, it was a f'ing good time.

She been calling me lately, but I dun really give a shit tho'. I'm a fuckin' eagle, that's all.

Am I Truly Happy?

Maybe. I'm not sure if I'm happy now. Sure, I'm satisfied with my current life, it could be worse you know. At least I'm not starving to death or smack right in the middle of a war that doesn't concern me. That would be really unsatisfying. Yet I can't say that I am 100% happy. It seems to me that I still haven't found my purpose in life. How can one feel fulfilled when he does not even know what he is born into this world to do, and how to do it? And especially at this age, when I'm discovering my potential, yet I don't have the power to utilise it. One thing's for sure, I want to help people. It doesn't matter what or how. But still, you can't fully help someone if you can't even help yourself. Not easy though, for I'm a rebounding mass of energy inside (don't ask why) and sometimes, I need help too. For some reason though, the help I get from people close to me aren't quite effective. Maybe it's because the way I view my problems is different from how others view it. Just like everybody else, I guess. Even when I help others deal with their problems, it is just helping them identify the causes and giving them advice on how to solve it. Wait, why am I going into all these useless banter?

Well, do I even want to be truly 100% happy? Maybe not. Maybe I need some sorrow to make life more interesting. I don't know, frankly. All I know is that my life is good enough, and that I should treasure what I have now, before I grow up and can never do what I can do now again.

I know this is not a story but who cares? Do you even bother reading such a long-winded writeup? I don't know, frankly.

Vote Of No Confidence

How many of you are sick of being so successful? How many of you are bored of having a good score in everything you do? I know many of you are, so today I stand here to tell you, tell you that I have had enough! Enough of feeling proud of myself, enough of being happy. This is the time for change. This is a time for us to overrule this regime that has been keeping the hatred hidden inside us for so long. We must tell ourselves, we are pathetic. We are unable to get anything right! We can never do well for anything at all! You might think, why make life so miserable for ourselves? Well, to tell you the truth, happiness is making our life miserable for ourselves. Which one of you think that you are actually worth anything? Well, you are wrong! None of you are masters, because you all lack the capacity -the capacity to do better!

We must rise against all these bright times! Today, we shall mark the great change. Today, the sky will be darker. Today, we will look upon ourselves as fools. Today, we shall give ourselves impossible tasks so that we can hate ourselves! Today, YOU shall vote for No Confidence!