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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 14, 2011 18:19:59 GMT -5
Nell awoke sweating, but she wouldn’t be able to take a shower. Not after her dream. She supposed it was her subconscious’ way of paying her back for the strain of repressing so many memories. They needed an outlet, and they’d found it. She pushed herself up out of bed, or rather futon, the afghan falling from her chest into her lap. She pushed her fingers up through her bangs, feeling the perspiration on her forehead and shuddering as she thought back to her memory. It was one of those dreams where the important things stayed the same, but the details were mussed up, and a lot of it was blurry and out of focus. She knew her memories well enough to pin down what had happened all those years ago, however.
It was after her sister had died, and she’d taken her paper cranes into the bathroom, setting them on fire and burning them in the wastebasket. Her mother had come in to find ash on Nell’s hands, on the floor. And she turned the shower on, but Nell thought nothing of it until the woman stripped her and pushed her into the scalding water. From there, even the details of the memory were fuzzy. She remembered curling up on the tiles after trying to escape. She remembered her mom’s soft smile. She remembered the stinging pain and in the present she gasped, taking in a lungful of air. Close to the edge, she sat up quickly and attempted to stretch, but that only caused pain in her abdomen. The only mirror she had stood inside her tiny closet, and she lifted her shirt up in front of it.
Nell’s pelvic bone stood out against her skin, her scar slanting from her hip to just below her naval. Luckily, it had been longer than it was deep, otherwise she'd have lost a lot more blood. Pulling her shirt down, she tried her best not to think of it. It would be easier just to erase the past, but she couldn’t erase scars. They’d follow her wherever she went. At least she could cover them up in the winter time. Now the last of her scars were just appearing, the ones she received just before running away. The bruises and welts that her family was going to blame Nell for, because apparently she was a problem child who got into plenty of fights.
Continuing to inspect herself in the smudged mirror, she wondered if she should modify her appearance. However, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She liked the color of her hair too much to dye it, and she didn’t want to go around wearing colored contacts. So she convinced herself she was safe all this way up north, and that there was no way anyone could find her. Sighing, she changed and willed away the horrible memory, the first time her mother actually went that far in her physical abuse. The clothes stuck to her skin and she had bags beneath her eyes, but she decided the cold air outside would actually be good for her that day. It was an auspicious start to the day, but she wouldn’t let it be an auspicious night.
So she made her way to one of the only places that could make her happy: Burger King. Fast food in the morning? A good attack on the arteries was sure to wake her up and give her a better outlook on the day. She walked there and got two whoppers and two large fries—she apologized to her digestive system, knowing she should be treating it better. But she was hungry and it was cheap. Nell sat down at a table, gazing out the window and the slushy white streets. Damn, she needed to get out of this mood.
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Post by JAKE CHRISTIAN CAMERON on Jun 20, 2011 4:23:20 GMT -5
Everywhere Jake looked, there was water, as far as the eye could see, nothing else. So he just swam, and swam, and swam. It was pretty nice actually, and for some reason, he didn't get tired. Then, without him noticing, everything disappeared. He opened his eyes to see that he was in his dorm. He moved around a bit, trying to find a comfortable position so that he could go back to sleep. The dream was.. relaxing, for lack of a better word. For him, at least. He didn't want to think about how the other elementals would react if they had had the same dream. Sadly, though, sleep wouldn't come back. He sighed, opening both his eyes and rubbing them awake. He sat up and stared at the ceiling for a while, amazed as ever at the beauty of it. Whoever thought about the idea of putting a see through bottom under the lake was a genius. An absolute genius. He spent a few more minutes just gawking at the ceiling and the designs and patterns it created with the help of the early morning sun.
Finally, he shook his head a little, and jumped out of bed, ready to start the day. He made his way to the bathroom, grabbing a set of clothes and a towel on the way. What better way to start the day than with a bath? He loved baths. Cold ones, warm ones, it didn't matter, really. As long as something was water-related, he loved it. Stripping off his clothes, he stepped into the shower and turned the knob that would let the water flow. The water was cold at first, and he gasped a little when it hit his bare skin, but he got used to it in a few seconds, and after that, it was refreshing. Not to mention it did wonders waking him up completely. When he was done, he stepped out, dried himself, and pulled his clothes on. Then he grabbed his toothbrush, put a little toothpaste and stuck it in his mouth, singing a song he had heard on tv from one of the toothpaste commercials about brushing teeth three times a day.
He was about to walk out of the bathroom when he was done, when he caught sight of himself in the mirror. Slapping his forehead with his palm, he shook his head a little. His T-shirt was on backwards. No wonder it was a little tight around the neck. How careless of him, It was a good thing he had noticed it, or he would have ended up looking like a retard out there. He pulled it off, turned it around, and slipped it back on, making sure that it was on right this time, before he finally left the bathroom, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated and all other synonyms of said words.
Now.. how to start his day? His stomach answered for him, grumbling more than a little and demanding to be satisfied. "Okay, okay, be patient, you'll get your food." he guessed he should have felt stupid, talking to his own stomach, but he didn't care. There was no one around to witness it anyway, and besides, when else would he have the chance to act silly and goof off? Certainly not in public with everyone else watching.
So he grabbed his wallet from his table, took a light jacket from inside his closet, his cellphone, just in case "someone" texted, and headed off, on the direction of town.
The weather was chilly, but with his jacket, it felt good. Stuffing his hands in his pockets to keep them warm, he scanned the streets, looking for someplace where he could get some food to satisfy his very demanding stomach. His eyes settled on one of the many fast food chains in the town. Burger King. His stomach growled in approval, and his legs did the rest, carrying him closer and closer until he was standing right in front of it. His eyes drifted to the window, and focused on the person sitting inside just in front of it. He forgot about his hunger for a moment, as a devious idea began to form in his mind. Bending down, he scooped up some of the half melted snow on the ground, and did his best to give it some solidity as a ball, before he hurled it at the window, right at Nell's face. He didn't throw it hard enough to break the window, though, that would get him into more than a little trouble. Just hard enough that it exploded and covered the whole window in bits of snow.
Whistling nonchalantly, turning his head this way and that, He pushed open the doors to the restaurant and made his way to the counter, where he ordered a simple burger and some soda. Yes, soda in the morning. He knew it was bad, but whatever. He was in the mood for some, and that was that. When his order arrived, he picked up his burger and his soda, before making his way to the table by the window, smiling mischievously at it's current occupant before saying, "Why hello there. That's quite a mess you have," he gestured at the window with his head, since his hands weren't really free at the moment, before continuing, "Mind if I join you?"
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Jun 21, 2011 21:47:11 GMT -5
Nell was on her way to calming herself with the mild pain of heartburn and greasy fries. Fast food is for forgetting. And that’s what she did best. Perhaps if she wanted to forget about it all, she should stop looking in mirrors. Should ignore the scars, and the nightmares, and the law hovering above her head. And she should start enjoying her completely unhealthy meal. Nell wasn’t one for diets, but she always used to be determined to stay healthy so she would never look like how her sister was before she died. The memories of her dying sister were still quite vivid in her mind, and it drove her to stay as healthy as possible. She was the surviving twin, after all; she felt she had some kind of responsibility to take care of herself. And so far, she’d been doing very good. Even without immunizations and vaccines, she’d never gotten sick once in her life. Not even the common cold, or the chickenpox. She had a feeling it had something to do with the fact that she pretty much killed her sister in the womb by stealing Tilly’s nutrients.
Absorbed in her thoughts about her sister, Nell’s gaze shifted from the window back to the food before her. Therefore, she did not even see Jake approach. She almost fell over when the snow collided with the window, but hung onto the table and booth for support. ”¡Dios mío!” came her usual exclamation of surprise. Other patrons seated around her looked toward the window in surprise, fries hanging from their gaping mouths. She blinked a few times before cracking up into laughter at noticing who was entering the establishment then. Patiently waiting, she continued to eat her food, waiting for Jake to pay for his own. What a way to start the day, she thought shaking her head lightly. Even though it seemed unbelievable, Jake’s little prank and even his presence picked up her mood pretty well. It distracted her from her thoughts, at least.
Cool as a cucumber—oh god, she reminded herself to stop using expressions like that—Jake walked over with his food in hand. He commented on the snow-splattered window as if observing the weather. She acquired a thoughtful expression as she gazed at the window, chin resting in her hand. ”Yeah, it was this random Water dude—I don’t think he’s all there in the head.” Of course, these were teasing words. Nell was nowhere near that mean, and she liked and respected Jake. No way would she insult him like that without being joking about it. She went to take a sip from her soda, and drew the straw out between her teeth. ”Gave me a bit of a fright.” She put the wrapper half way back on the straw and looked at Jake with innocent eyes. ”I’ll have to plan my vengeance.” Nell blew the straw wrapper off and it flew against his forehead before fluttering to the ground. ”In the meantime, join me in the consumption of our healthy breakfast.”
Bending over to pick up the straw—she hated to be a litterer—Nell resurfaced to ask. ”So why’d you choose this artery-clogging establishment for your morning meal?” It’s not like most people woke up in the morning thinking, “I’ll have Burger King today.” Or maybe Jake did. She wouldn’t be too surprised. That’s what happened with her, but she had reasons—minimum wage prevented most other meals, especially when she ate double portions. She had already finished one whopper, and was working on the next. ”I guess today is just a good day for death by fast food grease.”
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