Category: YouChallenge

“Are you really sure that’s how you want to start it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s so, been done before more times than I can think of that’s all,” She says, smiling at him, he looks down at the piece of paper in front of him, and scans over the words and then back up to her, his face shows his confusion.

“I think it works though, I mean, I know it’s been done heaps of times, but, it’s like the classic way to begin a story.”

“But do you really want to be known as that guy?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, don’t you want to be known as the guy who does all that cool shit, not the guy who doesn’t have anything original?”

“I seriously doubt the introduction of one story will make me look like some hack who can’t write his own original shit. I mean, seriously, look at all the shit I’ve got so far.”

“I know, and more people are starting to follow you, which is cool, and scary at the same time scary.”

“Scary?” he asks, turning his head to the side like a confused dog would do.

“Yeah, like, you’ve got to keep everything more original now, the more people come and read your stuff, the more original you need to be.  Answer me this, what do you plan to do with all these stories once you’re done?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean exactly what I just asked. When this is all over, what are you going to do with all this? What’s your game plan?” She asks.

“I don’t know, maybe throw it all together in a book, or a couple of books. I’m not really sure yet, it’s the last thing on my mind really,” he says as he shuffles in his seat.

She smiles and adjusts her glasses, “So let me get this right, you set out on this journey, and you don’t even have a plan what to with it all once you finish it?”

“Well sort of, but not exactly, I mean, I’ve got ideas, but I don’t have a foolproof plan in place if that’s what you’re asking. I’m more concerned with getting to the end first, after that I’ll see what happens.”

“What, you’re expecting people to come knocking on your door or something?”

“I guess something like that. You know, I started this to get noticed, to show what I’ve got to offer, to put myself out there, and honestly I believe that somewhere along the way it will happen.”

“Really? That seems pretty out there, I think you need a solid game plan, one that’ll knock people’s socks off. Otherwise, you’re just wasting your time and you might as well just rehash other people’s work instead of spending the time writing all this cool shit you do.”

“I think you’re over reacting, it’s not like I’m ripping anyone person off, heaps of people use it.”

“So, do you?”

“Well, I don’t know, but how many ways can you fucking write, once upon a time?”

END

The challenge was, ‘once upon a time…’

“It really is beautiful,” she says as she lays next to him on the grass, tightly holding his hand.

“I know, it’s a shame it will eventually kill us,” he says as they look up into the violent, red sky.

“Still at least we’ve got two years to enjoy it.”

He laughs and grips her hand tighter, “Well be crispy pieces of bacon well before that, the report Ferguson placed on Lewis’ desk yesterday predicts nine months before it will be too hot for anyone to actually go outside, and a week after that it will be hot enough that there will be no vegetation, anywhere on earth as they’ll be so dry they’ll just ignite because of the heat.”

“I guess we shouldn’t plan for Christmas then,” she says as she shifts closer to him, snuggling against him.

He laughs, “We should celebrate it early, like next week, and we’ll do your birthday two days after that and mine after that, or, we could just roll them into one day and save time.”

“That would be nice, I’d enjoy that,” she says softly as she closes her eyes. “You think they’ll find some way out?”

“What, from this?”

“Yeah, some way to survive?”

“I think if they had more time maybe, but, were way too late in the game to do anything but count down the days,” he says, suddenly from down in the village below a huge explosion rips through half of it, with screams and cries following soon after and then the sound of gunfire, he squeezes her close and kisses her on the forehead.

“Do you think this is how it’s going to end? Fighting among ourselves?”

“More than likely, they still think the government have secret rockets ready to escape, but it’s not the movies, it’s not going to happen like that, we’re all going to fry, that’s just the plain facts.”

“People have got to believe there’s hope, don’t they?”

“This isn’t hope, it’s fear, they’re afraid to die, they don’t want to give in to it, but they’re going to have no other choice when it happens, none of us will.”

A tear runs down her face and she wipes it away, “Listen to you being all brave, who would have thought you would be the one being all calm and accepting, you’ve come a long way from when we first met, grown up so quickly,” she says as she kisses his chest.

He laughs, “We’re lying here naked in the grass after making awesome love, while the rest of the world tries to kill each other in the hope of finding a way off this rock before what was once our sun tears this planet into small pieces, I think it’s the rest of the world that’s changed, not me,” he says as she lifts her head and stares into his eyes.

“Is that code for your ready for round two?”

He looks down towards his erect member and looks back at her and laughs, “I’m not going to lie…..”

END

The challenge was, ‘why isn’t the sky blue anymore?’

“It’s not about the money,” he says as he looks into the man’s eyes.

“Bullshit, it’s always about money, everything is!” The big brute says as he pulls the hammer back and drives it down onto his hand, shattering two of his fingers. He clenches his teeth, refusing to give his tormentor satisfaction. He drives the hammer down again onto the two remaining fingers, but he still refuses to scream, even as he twists the hammers head over his pulverised fingers. Saliva drips from his mouth, mixed with blood, and he stares into his eyes, with nothing but hate.

“Fucking think you’re a big man don’t you? Think you’ve got the cohunes to do the job? I can see it in your dim witted eyes, you’re nothing more than a frightened little boy who likes to pull wings off flies because he’s afraid of them,” he says through gritted teeth. The brute backhands him across the face and he laughs as he spits a mouthful of blood to the floor. “Exactly what I thought.” He goes to swing another devastating punch but a woman’s voice breaks the tension.

“Stop Salvador, can’t you see he’s goading you into it, stay your hand my love, and let me see what Mister Parramore has to tell us,” she says as she walks from the back of the room, holding the golden box.

He laughs as he looks through his one good eyes at her and winks at Salvador, “She’s hot for me,” he says, Salvador drives another horrible left across his face and screams in anger, mixed with frustration.

“Fuck you little man, one more excuse, just one more and I’ll send you on your fucking way to the grave!”

“Salvador!” She screams.

He turns to her in a fit of rage and snarls, “Fuck him, he’s nothing but a piece of shit, just another hired gun for Watkins, let’s just end him and get the hell out of here!”

“No, he’s not like the rest, I know he knows something, don’t you?” She says as she places the box on a small table in front of him. “What power does this hold, and why does Watkins want it?”

“I never said I work for that piece of trash Watkins, I work for the owner of the box, and he wants it back!”

“Back?” She says as she laughs. “Mister Parramore, this box has been floating around for centuries, from collector to collector, each paying a higher price than the last, there is no true owner.”

“Shows how much you really know Angela, the box is part of a group of items that’s were used to breach the infinite realities, when combined with the ring of Razmats it activates and opens a doorway to the land of the Gods.”

“You lie?”

“I’m not lying, you can see for yourself, there’s a chain around my neck, that’s Razmats ring,” she stands there and looks at Salvador who charges at him and pulls the chain free. “Easy there tiger I was offering it to you, now all you have to do is place the chain in the small crevice in the center of the box and you’ll see I’m telling the truth,” he says. She snatches the chain and gently begins lowering it into the center of the box, suddenly the chain turns into a liquid and Parramore begins reciting words, ancient words that have no counterparts in the English language, and the room is engulfed in a pulse of bright green light, then, darkness. She looks at Salvador who gives her a confused look back and she looks towards Parramore.

“Fuck, the lying piece of shit escaped!” She screams as she looks at the empty chair.

“I need not escape,” a deep, gravely voice says from the darkness as the shadows begin to come together into the form of a gigantic figure. “For I am home,” it screams as it tears into the two.

END

The challenge was, ‘a collector after a piece.’

He looks over at her and smiles as he turns off the engine and releases his seat belt, looking over into the back at the two children who lie asleep.

“Poor dears, they were so excited to come here,” she’s says as she places a hand on his arm, he turns to her and smiles again.

“I know, all week it’s all they’ve been taking about, I guess the excitement wore them out.”

“And the long trip, we should have stayed with Mum and Dad instead of doing the drive on the same day,” she says.

“It’s almost better this way though,” he says as he places a hand on her leg. “More like when we first came here twenty-five years ago.”

“It was our first date, and almost our last,” she says with a giggle.

“Almost, but thankfully not, I felt like such a klutz all night, and was so sure I had messed it up,” he says as he grabs her and they kiss passionately.

“Thankfully though, you managed to redeem yourself,” she says as they sit with their foreheads touching, and staring into each other’s eyes.

“I still can’t believe they’re closing the old girl down though, I mean, she’s almost heritage listed for sure, my Grandfather used to bring my Dad and uncle Robert here when they were kids, and Dad us, it’s just a shame, it really is. I still can believe they’re going to build four high rise apartment on top of her, it’s just wrong, old man Rudy would turn in his grave.”

“Progress, income for the city, affordable housing for students, Clive, it’s best for the city, well that’s what they keep ramming down everyone’s throat.”

“Yeah well, it’s just wrong, I spent so many years of my life here before you, Dad would bring me, Dalton and Fletcher here every Sunday for the double B bill, I mean this place is the reason why I got into films in the first place, if I had the money…”

“If you had the money it wouldn’t matter honey,” she says as she snuggles next to him. “But it’s part of the reason why I love you so much, you care, it’s a rare thing,” she says as she kiss him on the cheek. “At least they allowed you to do this last night, to see her off properly.”

He smiles and lets out a laugh, “I don’t think they were comfortable allowing me to do this, I mean, I had to literally beg them to allow me to do this one last show before they tear her down, if old man Rudy was alive it wouldn’t have even been a question, but Rodney is nothing like his old man, he’s more money, not passion.”

A white light breaks the darkness and shines on the large screen and he looks at his wife and kisses her.

“Go get em stud,” she says as he climbs out of the car and walks up onto the strange, a hundred or more car horns beep like crazy and headlights flash as he reaches the center and stands in front of the microphone.

“My name is Clive Silverstone, I grew up in this town, and every Sunday my Dad, George, who is no longer with us brought me and my brothers here to be amazed by the wonders of film, and tonight I’m taking you on a trip as we farewell a true lady of the night. So sit back and get comfy, because we’re in for one hell of a final ride.”

END

The challenge was, ‘going to the last drive-in.’

“So Sammy comes into the room and says, ‘hello nurse’ and then proceeds to try and dry hump all of the actresses who were there to audition for the roles of the triplets, before we even had the chance to get in and find the right girls, the right way. So just picture it, there I am, trying to quickly work my way through the applications so I can make sure I get something good and Terry is out there trying to fight Sammy off the girls, because she knows, once Sammy gets hold of them they’ll be worthless. That’s when I hear someone scream from the other room, so I run out to see Sammy standing there, his twelve inch cock hanging out, with Terry of all people slobbering over it. I grabbed Terry by her hair and tossed her into my office and told Sammy to get out, he waved his cock around, towards the girls like it was a flag, and said he was doing a live show in twenty minutes and the more girls the merrier. Half the girls ran out the door behind him, leaving their wet patches and I was left with these three,” he says as he nods towards the three girls.

“Does it worry you that none of them look anything remotely alike, and the script calls for triplets?”

“Sometimes you’ve got to ask the viewer for a little bit of leeway, this is one of those moments, but honestly, porn doesn’t really matter, people don’t care for the story, they just want good, wholesome, fucking, as long as they have good in and out bits, no one cares.”

“This isn’t what we started this company for, we said we were going to be different, stories, acting, and then fucking, now, it’s like you don’t even care, you just want money and nothing else.”

“That’s not true, we started this with one vision, and sure, over the last few days it’s changed a little, I mean, seriously, have you seen how fucking stupid some of these people in this industry are?”

“It doesn’t matter, we said we were going to change it all, make it worth something, maybe even do some legit movies, now your just throwing anyone who’ll open there legs and suck cock in front of the camera, I-I-I, it’s just not what I envisioned us  doing, that’s all.”

“I promise, once we have all this shit down, once we have a system, and a good assortment of good, smart, intelligent, actors, we’ll do what we planned, but right now we’ve got to work through the dumb ones, just to begin with, okay?”

“Okay, fine, let’s just get started and we’ll pick it up later on, when we’re not so, busy,” he says as he looks over towards the girls. “Okay everyone, we’re going to go from the top again, so can you all get in your places!” he yells out, as he looks through the camera lenses. “And ACTION!” he calls out, he moves the cameras lens up along the candle and captures the stone walls of the dungeon in the candles flickering flames, the three naked girls lay shackled against the wall as a chainsaw crashes to the floor, covered in blood and the dirty, blood covered man drops his pants.

“Who’s first?” he growls.

END

The challenge was, ‘the flickering flames illuminated the dungeon.’

He stands there, staring at the glass window, trying to decide what inside takes his fancy. It’s been a long time, he begins to think to himself, since he’s indulged himself on such a fine treat, scratch that, just a treat, fine or cheap, either way, it’s been a long while. A voice bursts through the speakers of the hospital and he jumps ever so slightly.

“Doctor Everly, can you come to ward B, room twelve,” the voice says, he grumbles under his breath and turns back to the window, looking again at the many different flavours and sizes that the machine holds, his mouth waters as he finally locks his eyes on the prize and he digs into his pockets, pulling out a handful of coins and he rifles through them until he finds what he is after and begins sliding them into the machine.

“So, what did you choose?” A voice asks from behind, he jumps and turns quickly around, looking at the scantily dressed young woman, running his old weary eyes up and down her, before letting out a groan.

“That, is none of your business young lady, why don’t you go and put some clothes on,” he says as he turns back to the machine and continues to put in his money.

“There’s no need to be rude old man, I’ve only been waiting, patiently I might add, for you to make up your mind for the last twenty minutes, so maybe you could just hurry yourself up!”

He stops and turns again, once more looking her up and down, “How dare you, the youth of today have no respect for the elderly, I’ll have you know I fought in two worlds wars to make this world safe for brats like you, so if I want to take twenty minutes choosing a fucking treat, that I rarely ever do, I will do, just that!”

She smiles, “What the fuck old man, you think I give a fuck about what you’ve supposedly done for me? We’re standing in exactly the same position right now, and no bullshit, what I did in the war speech is not going to change a god damn thing, so sure, take your time, I don’t give a fuck, but if anyone has the right out of you and me to be fucking angry, bitter or holier than tho, it’s me, not you?”

“What? You’re just another typical kid who believes the world owes you everything, well girly, I don’t owe you a thing, so why don’t you just run along before you embarrass yourself anymore.”

She grabs him by the collar and slams him into the vending machine, “You stupid old fucking man, I was a passenger in the car you fucking totalled, you took my fucking life from me and act like you don’t even fucking care, so why don’t you run along!”

His jaw drops as the tragic moments that took place before he found himself standing in front of the vending machine rip through his mind like a hot poker, he stopped at his local pub and spent the next four hours getting totally ripped before stumbling back in his car and heading home, he remembers the headlight of the oncoming car, the horn sounding and then the impact and his lip quivers and he looks into the dead girls eyes and realises, that maybe today is not going to play out as planned.

END

The challenge was, ‘old man at the vending machine.’

“So what, you think he’s an alien just because he’s too good?” She says with a laugh as she takes a long drag on the joint.

“Either that or he’s like some undercover rock star looking to grow his popularity by posing as a busker for some documentary that he’s putting together,” she says as she giggles to herself.

“Mary, you’re totally wasted,” she says as she takes another drag of the joint and passes it to Mary.

“This bush shit is hardly doing anything, I’m totally straight,” Mary says as she takes a drag.

“Bush shit? This is like Jamaican Red, I didn’t even need to take a toke to start feeling it, you’re wasted honey,” she says as she falls back into the couch and begins laughing hysterically, Mary slaps her on the leg and giggles.

“You’re the one who’s wasted, I’m serious, he just showed up with this awesome light show and started pulling people from everywhere, it’s just way too weird for him to be that good and I’d never noticed him before.”

“You’re in love with him that’s what it is,” she says, Mary slaps her on the leg again, harder this time.

“Am not, he’s just too good to be just a busker, if you don’t believe me lets go to the mall and I’ll show you!”

“You’re in love, you’re in love!”

“Cut it out Megan, and get your skanky arse off my couch and let’s go!”

“You’re fucking serious?”

“Too right I am,” she says as he gets to her feet and falls back on the couch.

“You’re so wasted bitch!” Megan says with a giggle, Mary forces herself up again and grabs Megan by the arm and pulls her up, and they stumble out the door, arriving some time later at the mall, seeing the large group of people instantly, all bobbing their heads and tapping their feet to the strange, ambient sounds coming from within the crowd, Mary looks at Megan with a I told you so look and the girls push their way towards the front.

“See,” Mary says as he points to the strange looking little man as he drives his fingers precisely down onto the keyboard, lights flicker from a rig behind him and he spins around, as the song comes to its crescendo, the crowd applaud hysterically, with cheers for more, money litters the inner circle that the people surround and he holds up one hand.

“You are all too kind, but alas, this is my final song for the day, it’s something I wrote the other morning, I call it Rondo Alla Turca, please enjoy,” he says as he starts to play. Mary turns to Megan and laughs.

“See this guy is absolutely twisted,” Mary says.

“I think he’s really talented, don’t you feel it? He just wrote this and it sounds beautiful, I feel it, I really do, don’t you?”

“Sure, I also used to love it when my parents played it too me when I was a baby.”

“What, are you still high? Didn’t you just hear him?”

“Yeah, that’s what I mean, this is one of Mozart’s most famous pieces. Actually,” she says as she smiles, “all of the stuff he’s been playing is Mozart’s.”

“You don’t think this guy actually is, Mozart?” Megan says.

They both look at the strange, little man and then at each other.

END

The challenge was, ‘a strange busker in the mall.’

Every day for the last six months she’s been there, well okay, not every day. Actually I’ve already fucked this up, and it’s ruining my awesome introduction I had planned out in my head. So let me start again, every day for the last six months, whenever I’ve been on the U-Twenty-Six from Geelong to Melbourne, which by the way is almost every day, she’s been there, in the same seat, not doing anything but starring off into space, looking sad most of the time, frightened other times, but she’s always there. I wouldn’t say she not pretty, but she’s not ugly, I mean if she smiled at me I’d smile back for sure, so I guess she’s pretty enough. Anyway, when I got off the train two days ago, in Melbourne, I saw her as usual, she was dressed in the same business suit she always wore, regardless of the day or time, and something happened when I got off, for the first real time, ever, I think, I looked back, directly at her, and she looked up and saw me looking at her, and she did the craziest thing, she leapt up and banged against the door like a woman possessed as the train flew off, everyone around her acted as though she wasn’t there, but I saw her. It was weird, totally, absolutely, insanely, weird. And it was going to get weirder, you see, as I walked to the office, I stopped to get some breakfast, as I always do, today was a slow one for the small take away store as the bacon and egg muffin felt like it was at least two hours old and a large cup of coffee taste like it was not just burnt but cremated. Anyway as I was trying not to choke on the stale muffin I noticed the flyer on the pole outside the shop, it was a picture of this woman, and it had big letter above it that said ‘MISSING.’ I recognised the woman from the flyer immediately and dropped my fucking coffee on the floor, no great loss really. And then I panicked and ran out of the shop, to the pole and ripped the flyer down. From what I could gather eight months ago, Melissa Wong, the woman I had been seeing on the train for the last six months, left for work as she always did, catching the morning train from Geelong to Southern Cross station in Melbourne, and just disappeared, she never showed up for work, never used her pass card to leave the station, she just vanished into thin air. There was a number on the bottom of the flyer, and against my better judgment, I called and spoke to her sister, Anne-May and explained what I knew, she grew quite the more I explained to her about how I had seen her sister every time I was on the train and then she agreed to meet me, at the station, that night, and I went off to work, although all I could think about all day was Melissa Wong, and what she was doing on the train.

When I first saw her I was gob smacked, turned out Melissa and Anne-May were identical twins, which made it very bizarre as I had spent most of the day thinking about Melissa. We chatted while we waited for the train, mostly small talk, nothing of any importance, but we did find out that we had a lot of things in common, hell we even had a laugh together at one stage, and then, right on time, the train arrived, half empty as normal and a shit load of people wanting to get on. We stepped, sorry, we were rushed through the doors and there she sat, sad and looking at the ground, as always, and for the second time, since I had started seeing her, she looked up and I saw a tear run down her face and she smiled and so did her sister, she had finally been found, and then a beautiful white light engulfed the whole train, and I was left with a feeling of total happiness, as were the other passengers and for the remainder of the ride home Anne-May and I talked, about everything and anything and made plans to see each other again. It seemed the unfortunate fate of her sister brought us together, and for some reason we both knew somehow, it was meant to be. The hunt still continues for her body and whoever purported the crime, but at least I know, her soul is at rest.

END

The challenge was, ‘lonely girl on the subway.’