echo
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...echo....echo...
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Post by echo on Nov 5, 2012 12:23:54 GMT -5
Come on then Me Time Forums, let's tell a story. I suggest we write a tale, collaborating together and seeing what happens. Here's how it will work: read the story as it stands, and then add some. Simple as that! You can add as much as you want, be it a few paragraphs, a chapter, or a single sentence. Just so long as it all flows into each other, it should be fine.
If you want, you can draw pictures, or you can present your part of the text however you want. You can change the story's focus, you can switch perspective, you can totally reinvent the style. You can take part as much or as little as you wish to, as long as you remember it's collaborative. Keep the story pushing forward! Note: this might fail. I've never tried it before, so it could crash and bur... But anyway, presenting...
THE FRESH CLOUD DIAMOND
It was a chilly December night, and snow had just begun to fall. Janey Grey zipped her coat up high to protect herself from the cold, and picked up her pace a little. Eyes on the pavement below her, she saw a few white flakes fall and rest on the concrete. Stupid bloody weather. She never saw the excitement of snow - sure, it looked pretty, but it was a nuisance to everyone but everyone. Sure, maybe little kids liked it if it meant they got out of school, but for everyone else it was nothing but trouble. She turned a corner to find her destination in front of her. She breathed a sigh of relief; she was glad to get in before this snow got too much. Taking a second to adjust the sizeable package she was holding, she gave a sharp rap on the metal door.
After a second, it swung open.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2012 15:40:34 GMT -5
The figure in the doorway was much wider than he was tall. Upon further inspection, Janey decided that the man reminded her of a basketball. Wrapped in a bright orange blanket that was almost as fuzzy as he was, he quickly gestured for Janey to come in out of the cold. In the seconds it took Janey to cross the threshold, a sharp breeze cut through the doorway inciting a shiver in the round man that appeared to transfer from his body to the tips of each strand of his glorious long red hair and beard. Janie forced back a chuckle formed when she realized that the shiver made the round man bounce, reaffirming the earlier basketball attribution.
Janie had always loved those moments, the moments wedged between first sight and introduction. For within these moments, the playground of imagination resided. She could ascribe any attribute and back story to life's characters in this moment before reality drenched them in normality. In the case of the round man, he was an emperor of a distant land that manufactured fire. Without the contents of this package, the embers produced by his empire's most popular flame manufacturer would turn to ice. Which would cause the nearby Frost nation to suspect competition in its virtually exclusive export, and the last thing his country needed was a...war
Janie blinked, she had forgotten about the war. How had she let it claw its way past her defenses. It was over. She was finished.
As she snapped back to reality, the round man did one last bounce, draped his orange blanket over his arm, and took a deep breath for his introduction.
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Post by ettennly on Nov 5, 2012 19:38:18 GMT -5
"Walter Dulley" bolstered the man as he extended his rather chubby hand. Janey closed the gap between their hands, and abrupt jolt went up her arm as he shook her hand. She watched in awe, amazed that his plump fingers where actually able to wrap around hers.
"Janey Grey" she quipped.
"I presume that is the the package?" His eyes affixed on the package dangling from her left hand. Janie nodded quickly handing it over. He motioned for her to follow him into the next room, she could hear a high pitched whistle coming from nearby. "You can have a seat Ms. Grey, Ms. Bynum will bring you a cup of tea."
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Post by thelittlestar89 on Nov 5, 2012 23:47:36 GMT -5
Janey sat in the hard chair Dulley had pointed out. In contrast to outside, this room was particularly hot, although she hadn't spied a heater or any sort of ventilation in the house. Besides that the room was typical. The other furniture looked averagely inviting, and the walls were painted a pumpkin pie orange. Everything in the room matched, except for her. Even Ms. Bynum matched the room as she strutted towards Janey in a fiery red suit.
"Did Dulley leave the package with you?"
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echo
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...echo....echo...
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Post by echo on Nov 6, 2012 4:34:36 GMT -5
"Do you see it in my hands?"
"I guess not."
"Well then."
An awkward silence followed as Ms. Bynum poured the tea. Janey noticed she was making enough for four cups.
"Will somebody be joining us?" she inquired. Ms. Bynum grunted in the affirmative.
"Dulley wants to talk business with a partner, and for some reason he wants you here too." Ignoring the last remark, Janey asked who the partner was.
"Mikey Moore."
Jane's face went white. The firey room she was in suddenly felt deathly cold. She tried to speak. Nothing came out her mouth but a croak. Ms. Bynum looked up from her tea at the noise and saw Janey's face, half-paralysed with something like fear.
"A personal friend?"
Janey stood up, her head whirling. "I have to..." she stopped, tried to calm her nerves, and spoke again. "I have to get out of here, I have to go, I'm sorry, I can't--"
"Not so fast, Ms. Grey," boomed a voice from the doorway. She whirled around to find a man standing there - a man she knew well.
Mikey Moore.
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alassieth
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In a world of my own creation.
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Post by alassieth on Nov 6, 2012 18:36:56 GMT -5
He was a striking figure, even the slightly greying hair at his temples gave him an appearance of sophistication. His eyes seemed to sparkle with warmth and charisma but Janey knew that his soul was as dark and cold as the gathering night outdoors. Try though she might she could not escape his influence, could not be free of him completely. He was always there, as if following her through her life's paths and turning up to taunt her, to remind her of what she could never forget. This was the man that had killed her mother, yet still she could feel the old habits return as she dropped her eyes from his and bowed her head in subservience.
"Hello father." She said.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2012 21:41:15 GMT -5
"Father? You sure know how to pour on the nostalgia, Ms Grey." He said with a grin.
Why had she said that? How dare her head be anywhere but held high in this monster's presence. Is this why the memory of the war crept even into her safe, protected imagination? It didn't matter. It was over. Then why--why was her damn head still bowed.
"Father!?" Walter exclaimed, "You never mentioned your children, Mikey."
"Well I "
"It's okay, Mr. Dulley..." Janey interrupted. Her head lifted, her back straightened, and her eyes reacquired the room's fire. "...I don't mention him much either"
Janey glared at her father, but it was the monster within him that caught her gaze. Fortunately, her automated response to her father's appearance had faded. It wouldn't happen again.
Besides, her fear was misplaced, a relic of times long past. Her father would not dare try anything here. People knew she left to deliver a package. The name and address of Walter Dulley were well documented.
"Too many eyes" Janey thought.
Her father was many things, but sloppy was not one of them. Doing anything to her here lacked finesse. For now, she was safe.
"Ah," her father playfully clutched his chest, broke her gaze and smiled, "that one stung, Ms. Grey, but well-deserved I confess. At any rate, you didn't bring us here for a family reunion, Walter. She's delivered our package, sign whatever paperwork she has so she may be on her way."
"Right. Right," Walter said as he snatched the drop-off form from Janey and quickly signed his name. "But she can't leave, I want her to witness what she, if even only briefly, held in her possession!"
Walter carefully cleared the table and retrieved a beautiful golden letter opener from his pocket. With caution, Walter sliced through the tape that held the package shut and threw open the cardboard flaps.
She now realized why Walter had wanted her to know what she had carried.
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echo
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...echo....echo...
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Post by echo on Nov 8, 2012 10:13:52 GMT -5
"No", she breathed
CHAPTER ONE
"The balls, Nev! Get the balls!"
"Aye aye Cap'n!"
Neville ran to the huge cupboard, panting. He flung open the doors and looked for the crystalline spheres that the Cap'n had called for.
"C'mon, where are you..." he muttered, scanning the shelves inside. He saw tins of food, weapons, huge books full of records, and...aha!
At the very bottom lay the two balls, shining like diamonds. One was green, one blue. They had rough indentations around them, but they still rolled as neatly as the day they were formed. He grabbed them both and rushed back out to the deck.
"Cap'n!" he thrust the balls to the man he knew only by title. The Cap'n was a tall gentleman with a bald head and a fine beard. He took the balls from Neville and leapt over the side of the ship without a second thought.
Neville watched, amazed, as the balls did their work.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2012 20:37:48 GMT -5
Captain Bernard H. Sedelmeyer instantly activated his short range flying device as familiarly as breathing. He knew that once the balls even grazed those fluffy-looking masses of condensation that he only had a minute or two to reach a safe observation distance. Most cloud-gatherers simply tossed the balls out into the sky as if they were fishermen casting their net. However, The Cap'n was a purist, a true skymen. Sure, it was more risky and the kids playing battleship did love their safety regulations, but nothing could compare with seeing the process up close. So, he didn't mind the risk. Besides, if he were to go, it would be among the clouds.
The familiar hum of the balls could be heard even over his somewhat noisy and ancient air glider. His grizzly cheeks gathering water droplets like dew from the class 3 nimbus.
"The balls have dropped!" The cap'n radioed back to Neville who The Cap'n could hear chuckling on the other end.
"Roger that, Cap'n"
"Glad you have time to find this funny, lad. After you're finished giggling, I suggest you get ready to fire...and run"
"Sorry cap'n..I mean aye aye ca...wait, did you say run?"
"I said fire and run. We gotta catch this class 3 before it comes"
"Before who comes c..."
"Damn it, Neville, prepare to fire and ready our escape. It's an order not a request!"
Without an "aye aye" or a "copy that" the Cap'n could see one of his ship's retrieval cannons positioning.
The cloud retrieval process was a beautiful spectacle with a very precise method. In the Captain's mind, the technique of the cloud gatherers had never been successfully altered for decades. Although, the cap'n did enjoy the slang term the modern day gatherers gave to the collection orbs. "The balls have dropped," if the new generation had anything, it sure did have a sense of--
A thunderous rumble tickled the Captain's ears. Sadly, it looked like he might have to cut his viewing short and rush back to the ship. The cloud sang its standard monotone melody as the balls illuminated each droplet of the cloud's composition with resplendent alternating hues.
"Damn it," The Cap'n thought.
There wasn't enough time now. Once the cloud was illuminated, any premature or overdue retrieval of the balls by the cannon would cause the cloud to burst into life-ending steam. He had to wait for the precise color-shift. It was why the old ways, the dangerous ways, still got the best results. Only while near the cloud during the process could you efficiently gauge the timing and hope to save the cl--
The rumble had happened again, but louder this time.
"Cap'n?" Neville nervously radioed.
"Just a few more seconds!"
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echo
New Member
...echo....echo...
Posts: 10
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Post by echo on Nov 9, 2012 2:00:09 GMT -5
(nothing to add, because I want someone else to have a go. just to say that THIS IS SO MUCH FUN.)
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Post by chizorg on Nov 10, 2012 10:07:35 GMT -5
It began to tear, splitting elegantly with it's colour change. The captain cracked a smile, it was working but far from over.
He rose up higher, being caught by stray gusts as the air thinned, swooping in and around the densest sections of the cloud, avoid rays of lighting with relative ease for a man of his age, not that it was very obvious how old he was. Sure machines and regulations made it safe but that meant the true connection with the cloud was lost.
Plus it's awesome.
"she's caught up." the captain buzzed to Neville as the cloud twisted and wriggled under the pressure of the balls. I was make or break.
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Post by randomstuff1019 on Nov 21, 2012 23:35:48 GMT -5
"Pull 'er in!" Cap'n's voice bellowed urgently to the greenie.
The spheres started to activate their primary function, switching off the light blue light they sent to the depth of the cloud, and became to a deep pulsing crimson themselves. Within a minute, the cloud would be perfectly encased in the red light.
He pulled the antique glider to the outside of the nimbus as quickly as he dared possible. Time was of the essence now.
There was a tingling of his skin, and he fought the glider into a steep corner. Lightning flashed across his right, with a massive clap, leaving him slightly deaf and burned. There was only so much his skysuit and helmet could mitigate.
As he started to become cognitive again, he became aware of outbursts of "CAP'N!" and a long string of profanities.
"SHUT THE HELL UP," Cap'n roared back.
Although this had happened to him many times before, it still always got the better of his nerves. And now, with the balls, the nubecipula as those grease-haired kids in their expensive fancy ships called them, almost fully activated he had less than five seconds to...
He flew out of the containment zone. And as calmly as he could, landed on his boat.
Pushing Neville, who was currently freaking out, aside, he walked to the helm and typed in the commands to fire.
Nine lines ran out across the air and connected with the orbs. Slowly and gently the cloud started to get reeled in and the humming sound he knew so well, grew louder once more. She was a wily one, for a class 3, but that was only for the better.
"And that's how you do it," Cap'n stated proudly. There was no no response, and he realized that Neville was awfully quiet for once.
"Neville?"
Cap'n turned around and saw him staring at the monitors. Neville had the same frightened expression pasted on his face that he had on when Captain Bernard had gotten back on. The monitor showed a fairly large mass on the screen.
"There's something out there, Cap'n." Neville could really state the obvious.
Those simple words though, spurred Captain Bernard into a frantic motion. He suspected what it might be. And knew there was no time to delay. Slamming his palm on the control panel, the ship started to hum to life.
He dashed outside, grabbing the sightscope on the way. He needed a few more minutes to finish reeling in the cloud before he could get the ship moving again.
"Hurry up," he absentmindedly told the balls.
"Cap'n?!"
"Not now Neville!"
He muttered once more to himself "Not now," and raised the sightscope. He took a deep breath and peered into the distance.
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Post by randomstuff1019 on Nov 21, 2012 23:43:29 GMT -5
(To echo echo, this is a really cool story! I honestly want to write more of it, but don't want to hijack it too much. Can't wait to see what someone thinks the 'fairly large mass' is. I had an idea, well two, but would either make it too short or too....boring IMO. Have at all!)
(Also, I don't think grammar is an issue right now. It's a story, not an essay. Just so long as its legible.)
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Post by almostadorkable on Nov 23, 2012 7:58:21 GMT -5
nothing to say other than I'm really glad someone's posting on this again it's so good! p.s sorry for disrupting the 'narrative flow'
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Post by Vanlanthiriel on Nov 23, 2012 23:48:40 GMT -5
An eerie flash of light almost blinded him. His mind eye saw a shark like bow of a ship drawing closer. His heart began to pound and his brow began to glisten. Quickly looking back at the cloud he was pulling in, the Cap'n cursed. One of the lines started to slacken and slowly started falling down.
"Neville, secure the lines!"
There was a sluggish shuffle inside, "The mass is growing, Cap'n."
"For God's sakes Neville, secure the lines or it's coming from your wages!"
The lines became taunt and the cloud continued its journey closer. Another flash cracked across the sky, and a shriek was heard. The door swung open and Neville poked his head out, shaking.
"Cap'n, we are going to get sucked into the ever growing darkness." Neville's voice wavered and squeaked.
"Keep your damned mouth shut, or I'll hurtle you into the sky to feed to the sharks!"
"Y..yes Cap'n," Neville stammered.
Cap'n gave a nervous chuckle when Neville went back inside. To the sharks indeed, he thought to himself. The only thing in the sky that gave him chills was the notorious Pirate Captain Melonie. She was a great boon in his side.
Melonie had beauty to captivate any man with eyes. Fiery red hair, a devastatingly curved body, and snakish eyes. Even one glance could devour a man's soul. Her ship had the same personality, first look and you knew you were done for. The shark's gaze was sparkling red, hanging from the bow of her ship.
The Cap'n's mind almost traveled back into the memories of her, prisoner inside the belly of that beast ship. He shook his mind clear, gave the cloud one last glance as it was finally reeled in. As he was about to yell at Neville to set a course to land, the shark figure formed again.
In the same instant, he moved his sightscope to the darkened shape. It started to dissipate, sparking another blinding white light. To the Cap'n's amazement, this was a class seven cumulonimbus. To his knowledge, it shouldn't have even arrived until a week later. As it drew closer, it began to show a deep crimson color.
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