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A Single Month (writing In Progress) - Literature - Nairaland

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A Single Month (writing In Progress) by Sorleia(f): 7:29pm On Apr 22, 2010
This is a story that I am currently writing. I hope to get some constructive criticism here smiley

A male teenager awoke in a bed unknown to him, yet it was familiar, as if he had slept there every night for his whole life. He got out of his bed and began preparing for the day. He followed a routine that he had never done before, but he knew exactly how it would go. He moved through a house he had never been in, but he knew he called it home. He prepared a breakfast in a kitchen he had never been in before yet knew where all the cooking supplies were. He returned to the unknown room that held his bed, and dressed in clothes he had never seen before, but were comfortable from repeated wearing, then brushed his teeth in a bathroom he'd never been in with an oddly familiar toothbrush.
When he looked in the mirror he saw an unknown face looking at him; one that he had worn his whole life. He had a handsome face, one that some called beautiful. He recalled from memories that he had never lived that he had often been mistaken as a girl when he was a child. This was partly because of his large bright blue eyes, and because of his long hair. He had dark brown layered hair that went below his shoulders. He put his hair into a braid without ever having learned how, but left the front of his hair to remain hanging down his forehead and to cover his ears.
He went to the front door of his house, put on his shoes and moved out to his unknown destination, following a path he had never taken, but was known clearly. His neighbor left her house and called out his name; a name he had never heard before. Erasmus. He knew instinctively that was his name, it carried a sense of being used like only a name could have. Erasmus called out the girls name without thinking; the name came easily to his lips, as if he had said it many times before. Rin.
Rin was average height among other girls her age, but she had a very slight build. Her hair was a bright blonde; a color that one would think was bleached except that he knew from his unlived memories that it was natural. Her hair had almost the same cut as his, except it was slightly longer in the front; coming down to partly cover her green eyes. He recalled having given her two hair clips as a birthday present that she now always wore to pull her hair over to the side of her head. Erasmus decides that Rin is fourteen, and his unlived memories tell him that he is the same age as she is.
Rin ran the short distance from her front door to the road where Erasmus stood. A thought of his from his unlived memories told him that Rin had always had a sort of crush on Erasmus. He supposed that he had one for her too. Neither of them had ever really done anything together aside from an occasional dessert from a local restaurant, and the walk to and from his unknown location each day.
"Good morning! How did you sleep?" greeted Rin.
Rin spoke in a language Erasmus had never heard, but could understand. As he was realizing he could speak this unknown language as well, Rin spoke again.
"Still having those sleeping problems?"
Erasmus responded, "Sleeping problems? No, I'm fine."
Erasmus looked back towards the road, sensing from his unknown schedule that if they didn't hurry they would be late. Rin leaned precariously to her side so that her head was in front of Erasmus and said, "If you say so. We should get going or we will be late."
They both began walking down an unknown road, taking a turn here, following the curve of the sidewalk there, watching the green scenery slowly flow by. This was a country area, so the unknown destination was a long walk. It didn't feel long though, it felt as if only moments had passed since Erasmus left his house.
Soon, the pair arrived at a chest high red brick wall. They followed the wall until a gate appeared. Upon seeing the gate, with a sinking feeling Erasmus realized the unknown destination was school. His unlived memories had not warned him about this. Whenever he had tried to think about his destination, all he got was blank. Erasmus realized that upon arriving here, his memories of the school all came flooding to him.
"Hey, you OK? School's annoying, but isn't that a bit overkill?" Rin questioned.
Erasmus realized that he had been standing there staring at the school. With heat rising in his cheeks he replied, "I'm fine, I must still be having problems sleeping."
Someone bopped Erasmus on the back of his head, but when he turned around no one was there. He quickly span in the other direction and saw Kyan standing there smirking.
"You need to wake up! It's a bright sunny day, now enjoy it!"
Kyan was quite a bit shorter than Erasmus, who was slightly taller than average. He had blonde hair that was peppered with a brownish tinge, a sign that his hair was turning brown. His hair used to be close to the color of Rin's, but now it wasn't even close. His hair was cut in a short fashion, lightly layered with a small wave in the front. In the back he wore a short pony-tail. His face was exactly what you would imagine when you thought about a hyper-active teenager. From his unlived memories, Erasmus could tell that Kyan had been his best friend for a long time.
"Yeah, I'll be able to enjoy it so much in school." Erasmus replied.
"Well, y'know what I meant."
Coming from the same direction that Kyan usually comes, Keelin walked up. Keelin was Kyan's identical twin sister.
Keelin looked much the same as Kyan, same blonde turning brown hair color, almost the same height, they both had brown eyes, and they even had a similar hair style. Looks were about as far as their similarities went however. Erasmus recalled Keelin being very shy, except when she got tired of her brother's insane personality. She was also likely the smartest person in the school, occasionally helping Erasmus with a subject he didn't understand.
"Good morning Erasmus. Good morning Rin. How are you two doing today?"
"Alright." "I'm doing good." replied Erasmus and Rin simultaneously.
A few other students had arrived during the course of their greetings, and now there was a constant stream of students walking through.
"I'm going to get going so I'm not caught in traffic." After her parting words, Rin walked off into the crowd.
"Guess I'd better get going too." Kyan delivered two fake punches to Erasmus, then jumped the fence into school.
"It was nice seeing you again." And Keelin was also on her way.
Erasmus began on the way to his classroom, again following his schedule that he didn't know. He didn't know where he was going, or what class he was heading to. When he arrived at his class from his daze of following an unknown schedule, he noted that it was a math class. He entered the room, and was immediately confused by the lack of students, or a teacher. Had his schedule led him the wrong way? As he was turning around, he heard someone say his name. Erasmus' unlived memories seemed unsure exactly who it was, but he thought it was one of the teachers that taught history.
"Hello Erasmus. I am Ms. Mirely. Would you please come to the front office with me?"
"Sure, Is something wrong?"
"No, there is nothing wrong. I will let the man at the office explain it to you."
They walked in silence back to the front of the school. By now most students had made it to their classrooms, with only a few late students left walking around the school. As they were walking, Erasmus wondered if this had to do with his unusual feelings around his memories. Suddenly, Erasmus had another set of memories come flooding into his mind. It felt more normal than it did the first time; he didn't think the teacher even noticed his slight slow-down.
The new memories were a scene of Rin, Kyan, Keelin and himself all submitting an application to join in on an experiment being conducted by a few independent researchers. The experiment was being conducted on a machine called the TDT. Time and Dimensional Travel. They were testing traveling to alternate time and dimensions, but couldn't proceed farther until they had done experiments. The pamphlet said that all experiments would be safe, and they all got their parent's signature so that they were eligible. They hadn't honestly believed they would be chosen over the thousands of other people.
Erasmus and Ms. Mirely arrived at the office, where Ms. Mirely opened the door and ushered Erasmus inside. Erasmus noted that Ms. Mirely hadn't come inside after him, so he walked up to the front desk and asked why he was needed at the office. The receptionist at the desk pointed to a room on the right wall of the building and said, "There is a man was waiting for you in there."
Erasmus entered the room and saw an elderly man sitting behind a sturdy wooden desk. He had balding white hair that wasn't combed in any particular fashion, and dark brown eyes. He was wearing formal black pants, and a plain white short-sleeved button shirt.
"Hello Erasmus. My name is Dr. Xelios. I am a member of the team that created the theory that was used to build the TDT. We received your application to join us for the experiment, and it was decided that you would be allowed entry. You can bring two people with you if you want. Normally we would suggest bringing your parents, but under your circumstances, We will let you choose who to bring."
"I'm not really sure how to respond to all that, That's big news, " Erasmus barely said. His unlived memories weren't helping him out here. Then again, it's unlikely he had previously done this sort of thing.
"Yes, it is quite big news. If you or your parents have any questions, my number is on this card. We will be starting the experiment tomorrow at the location on the card. You will not need to bring anything with you. The TDT will only transfer living materials. If you are bringing someone who hasn't signed up for this previously, please have them or their parents to sign the same waver that you used to sign up originally."
"OK, I'll do that. I can bring anyone, right? Even other students?"
"Yes, you can bring anyone you want, as long as they or their parents have signed the waver. Now, I must be going. I hope to see you again tomorrow."
Dr. Xelios stood up and left the office. When Erasmus followed, he saw Dr. Xelios was already leaving the building. Erasmus began to walk back to his class, idly calculating the odds of being chosen to join the experiment.
Re: A Single Month (writing In Progress) by dominique(f): 3:08pm On Apr 25, 2010
it's pretty good though i'm not so keen on sci fi.
also, you should look at the very first sentence of the story. "a male teenager awoke . . ." . it was almost as if you were referring to him as the third person and it shouldn't be, since the story is according to Erasmus' perspective. it should have been "Erasmus awoke. . ." or "He awoke. . ." just my opinion though. keep up the good work smiley
Re: A Single Month (writing In Progress) by dumodust(m): 5:08pm On Apr 25, 2010
if you ask me, i think it's a good start, left me thinking of what you have up your sleeve. is he seeing the future or something else?
the beginning was good but a lot of contradictory statements stacked like that gave it a poetic rather than a narrative feel. i feel that the statements or actions can all be written then in the begining and in the end summarised as 'never done before, but he knew how, '

i agree with the correction above too.

all in all, nice work but as always, it will need more work later

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