Passion Projecct - Final Fantasy XIII Fan Fiction

“So, is there anything you miss from before all this?” Lightning asked Hope, as they stared up at the stars. They had set up camp in Palumpolum, though neither of them really felt the need too. They both knew they wouldn’t be sleeping tonight. Ever since he felt his comfortable life, ever since he was boarded on the train, sleeping didn’t seem possible. As exhausting as everything had been, he feared closing his eyes, if only for a moment.
“There is something, or someone, I should say. I miss her.” He told Lightning, the sorrow in his voice seeped through his every word.
“A girl? What was her name?”
“Cloe.” He smiled as he said it.
“That’s a nice name. How did you know Cloe?” Lightning asked him, it sounded like she was asking more out of courtesy than curiosity, but he didn’t care.
“She went to my school, we’d had classes together since we were little.. Her grey eyes sparkled, and her long black hair was often an adorable mess. With everyday she grew more beautiful. We had always been friends, and I had always had a slight crush on her. One day we started talking more and everything just fell into place.
Mom liked her, too! They were friends. The three of us used to do things together all the time.”
“I’m sorry, Hope.” She spoke in a genuine tone, she thought of Hope as her little brother, and this even made her feel sad.
“After all this is over, if we survive it, if she’d except me as a Pulse l’Cie, well I’d like to pick up where we left off. It’s strange to think she’s so close now, her house is near mine. I wonder if she’s still waiting for me.” He paused for a moment and listened to the silence, until he finally felt the need to break it. “What about you, Light? Ever considered love?” He laughed a little as he said this.
She laughed quietly for a moment, too. “I’m not really the type to fall in love. I prefer to be alone. Try to get some sleep, Hope. Tomorrow we’ll head to your house.”
“Okay. Good night, Light.” They both closed their eyes, and tried to get some sleep.
The next morning they continued their journey to Hope’s home. “Is this the place?” She asked him, staring at the large house in front of them.
“This is it.” He replied. They walked up to the door and rang the bell.
“Hope?” His dad answered the door.
“Moms gone.” Was all Hope could say.
Inside the house, they all sat in silence. After a moment, there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get that.” Hope’s dad walked to the door and opened it. “Oh, uh, hi Mr. Estheim.” They heard a girl’s soft voice say. “Sorry to bother you, I was just wondering, well, have you heard anything?” Her voice trailed off.  
“Cloe?” Hope started walking to the door.
“Hope? Is that really you?” Her grey eyes widened. She ran to him and embraced him. “I thought I’d never see you again.” She started to cry.  
He hugged her back. He was at a loss for words, not knowing what to say. Seeing her again bought back so many emotions. “I.. I missed you.” He finally managed.
She laughed as the tears continued to run down her face. “I missed you too!” She   
told him. She went from having a huge smile on her face, to a look of worry. “Hope, where’s Nora?”
“She’s gone.” Hope’s Dad said quietly, still standing by the door. After he said this, Snow, Lightning, Fang, and Hope’s Dad, Bartholomew, migrated into the other room.
Cloe let go of Hope, and walked over to the couch and sat. She looked down at her knees. Hope sat by her, and placed his hand on her thigh. “I’m so sorry.” Her voice was at a whisper.
“There’s something else you should know, too.” She looked at him, he pulled his glove down and she examined the brand.
“A Pulse l’Cie?” She started lightly tracing his brand with her index finger, his hand still placed on her thigh.
He pulled his hand from her and looked the other way. “Yeah, a Pulse l’Cie.” He repeated.
“Hope, what’s wrong?” She asked him, the concern in her voice overbearing.
“I’m a l’Cie Cloe, you know what that means, don’t you?” He had just a touch of anger in his voice. “I’m not even human anymore.”
“Hope, look at me.” Hope turned and looked into her eyes. “I don’t care about what you are, I care about who you are. They say l’Cie are monsters, but sitting with you now, all I see is Hope. The same Hope I’ve always known.”
“You know what’ll happen to me though. I’ll either turn into crystal, or a monster.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want you to be a monster, so we better make sure we fulfill your focus.” You could hear the determination in her voice.
“What do you mean by we?” He gave her a skeptical look.
“I just got you back, you didn’t honestly think I would let you go, did you? What is your focus, anyways?”
“I don’t know yet. Snow thinks it’s to save Cocoon, but we can’t be sure.”
“Snow? Who’s Snow?”
“Oh!” He said, remembering he hadn’t introduced everyone. “Snow? Light? Fang?” He called out to each of them.
“Yeah, Hope?” Fang said as she walked in, followed by the other two.
“This is Cloe. Cloe, this is Fang, Light, and Snow.” He gestured to each of them as he spoke their name.
“So this is Cloe?” Lightning looked at her, she’s just an average girl. The way Hope talks about her, you’d think she was some sort of goddess. She thought.
“It’s nice to meet all of you!” Cloe stared up at the three of them.
“So, Hope, this is your girl, huh?” Snow punched his arm playfully as he said this.   
“I guess you could call her that.” Hope blushed, and rubbed his arm where Snow had hit it. “She wants to help us complete our focus.” He then stood up and looked at her. “It’s too dangerous, though!”
She stood up now, too. “Hope, I won’t take no for an answer. There’s nothing here for me, and since I’ve interacted with l’Cie now, I’ll be purged for sure. Plus, I’ve always longed for adventure! As dangerous as it might be, I’m not worried as long as I’m with you.” She protested.
“I say we take her, it’ll be dangerous, but her mind is made up. And I know what it’s like to want to do what you can for the person you love.” Snow told Hope, a smile across his face.
“You really want to come with us? It’s fight after fight, you know?” Lightning asked Cloe in her usual tone of voice.
“I know what I’m getting into. I’m prepared for anything we face, and want to be of any use I can.” Cloe stated.
“Cloe, are you sure about this?” Hope pleaded.
“Of course I am, Hope. I’d much rather be wherever you are, then worrying constantly about if I’ll ever see you again.” She was obviously very persistent.
“But I don’t want to have to constantly worry about you!” There was a pause, and Cloe just sat there, staring at him, speechless. “Fine, you can come, but promise me you’ll be careful?” Hope gave in.
Relief and happiness came across her face. “I promise!” She said as she wrapped her arms around him. He sighed, and hugged her back.
Fang then spoke, “So it’s settled, we’ll stay here for the night, and head out tomorrow.”
“Sounds like it! Good luck, kid.” Snow said, and he patted Cloe on the back. “I’m off to bed!” And with that they all headed to bed, to try and get a good night’s sleep, so they could continue their journey tomorrow.
“So now we need to save Sazh, and Vanille?” Cloe asked Hope as they exited the Estheim estate.
“Yeah. They’re in the Palamecia, so that’s where we’re heading.” He replied.

Historical Fiction

    I knew I did it. I infected them. All six of them. I cooked their food, they ate it, and they got the disease. I gave them typhoid.
It all started when I was 20 years old. It was 1933, and I had immigrated to America from my green home in Ireland. I loved Ireland very much but I wanted a chance in America. The land of opportunities. I love to cook and was excited to find work as a personal chef for the wealthier families. Finding a job as a personal chef was not too hard for me. A family in New Jersey hired me and soon I was cooking meals for them daily. Going to the market, buying the ingredients, returning and making supper. This was the regular routine. I made wonderful meals and never heard a complaint from the family. I was treated fairly. I stayed in their home and they paid me a fair amount.
Then the little boy got sick. He coughed and coughed and his parents didn’t want to believe it was typhoid. Soon after they got sick. Then the boy’s uncle, and the maid in the household got sick too. now everyone was sick besides me, of course. I knew I had infected them. I just refused to believe that I had. Typhoid is pretty common, not too hard to catch, I would tell myself. I was trying to make myself feel better. I like people, I don’t want to harm them, but I love cooking more, and I love money. I’m not good at much else. It’d be hard to find a job and something I’m not good at and I probably couldn’t afford to feed or house myself if I tried to find work elsewhere. I knew it just wouldn’t work. So I lied to myself and those around me. How could I have given anyone typhoid if I didn’t have it myself, right?
Wrong. See, I carry typhoid. The virus is in me, it just doesn’t effect me. The only way to give it to people is to handle their food. I’ve come to terms with it now but I never would have believed it back then.
So the sick family left to the hospital where they would stay until recovery, I wasn’t sure of how long that would take, all I know is that they informed me they would no longer need a personal chef. Being fired from my first job in America was difficult but I knew what needed to be done. I would find a new job, with a new family. Soon I received a letter from a family also located in New Jersey, the Werthingtons, offering a job. I immediately accepted and moved into their home.
They were a nice family. They greeted me and introduced me to their guest bedroom, my new bedroom. It was a comfortable life and I cooked three meals a day plus prepared snacks and went to the market to buy the ingredients. That day I was making a recipe for garlic chicken and needed to go out and buy the ingredients for it. I walked to the market through the streets of New Jersey. When I got there I found just the ingredients I needed and started on my journey home.

As I walked down the dark paths on my way home from picking up ingredients for tonight’s meal I thought about the last family I had worked for. I knew I had infected them with typhoid and now their son was dead, and each one of them is still sick in the hospital. It was all my fault and no one knew. No one but me. At least I hoped. It scared me to think of the possibility that someone might have any idea of what I had done. It was a possibility that someone out there knew. It’d have to be someone smart though, and I’ve found few smart people exist. As I pondered the thought of someone knowing about what I had done I started to walk a little faster, just wanting to get home to the new family I would soon infect. With each step I seemed to quicken my pace when I felt a hand grab my arm tightly. I screamed at this unwanted surprise and started to struggle.

“Shh.” I could hear a man say in a way that I assume was supposed to be comforting, but was anything but.
“Let me go!” I demanded. At that he loosened his grip but still held on tightly enough that I wasn’t going to attempt an escape.
“Sorry, I really didn’t think this over before I decided to so harshly grab you. I simply wanted to talk to you about something.” He smiled a charming smile. I looked at his face and saw he looked about my age. He was very handsome actually, and his voice was soothing. He was a bit taller than me with dark hair and dark brown eyes.
“Well if you wanted to talk to me you could have only stopped me and asked to talk.”
I told him.
“Yes, I’m sorry. Let me start over. Ms. Mallon, could I speak with you?” He asked, sounding very polite.
“I suppose.” As I said this I now thought about what he could want to talk about. It’s not often men I’ve never seen before stop me on the street to have a conversation. Did he know something he shouldn’t? And how did he know my name?
“Ah, well, this probably isn’t the best time. I suppose you must be back soon to prepare dinner. Meet me tomorrow at the market, and we can talk then.”
I hesitated, not sure if it was completely safe to agree to meeting with this strange man, but I was far too curious now to refuse. “Tomorrow, then. 5:30.”
“Very well. Goodbye, Ms. Mallon.” He said as he walked the opposite direction of me. I watched him walk off for only a moment before continuing my walk home.
I couldn’t stop thinking about what he was going to say to me tomorrow. I was so frightened that he had found out my secret and wanted to blackmail me, or turn me in. If he were going to turn me in though why would he talk to me before hand? All of these thoughts and many more danced in my head as I prepared dinner.
“Ready!” I called to the family. Each of them bounded down the stairs and started to eat. I watched the family stuff their chicken into their faces, looking so healthy and happy. Their cheeks glowed a warm color and their smiles shined. I thought back to the last family I had infected. They looked like this too, before their skin lost all color and became dull and pale. Their eyes were dark as they gazed into space like I could only imagine a zombie would. Such life can fade so fast.
I decided to go to bed early that night. That way I would have lots of sleep for what was to come the next day. Not that I was sure I would need much sleep for that day, but it’s good to be safe. It took me awhile to fall asleep but finally after some tossing and turning I fell into a comfortable slumber.
The next morning I woke up and had the usual day. I prepared snacks and meals for the children and spent my time doing nothing very memorable. Mainly I just sat around anxiously. After a long day of staring at the clock I saw that it was finally 5:00. I decided to start walking to the market. I walked with anticipation and soon found myself in the place the man had stopped me yesterday.
“Hello, Ms. Mallon.” And apparently where he decided to meet me today. His familiar voice sounded from behind me.
“Oh, hello Mr., uhm.” My voice trailed off, as I did not know his name.
“Just, Thomas. You can call me Thomas.” He looked down at me and said, he was quite a bit taller than me.
“Hello, Thomas.” I greeted him.
“So, shall we discuss what we came to discuss?” He asked at we walked along the path to the market.
“I think that would be best.”
“Well, you see, I happen to beware of the fact that you carry typhoid, which I know you’re also aware of.” His calm voice startled me. He knew. He knew about the people I infected. What could he want?
“Wh-what are you talking about?” I tried to act like I didn’t know, but knew I wasn’t the best liar.
“Oh, Ms. Mallon, no need to worry. No need to lie, either. I’m not here to turn you in or anything like that. No, quite the opposite really. I’m here to offer you an additional job. A job where we would be partners.” I wasn’t sure how to take this. What kind of job would we want to offer me?
“What kind of job do you speak of?”
“Well you see, I work with a group of men who, well, are looking to get money. What faster way to get money than to rob the wealthy? What better way to rob the wealthy than to have them all leave their home? What better way to have them all leave their home than to make each of them sick and need to stay in the hospital a few days? I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this.” I couldn’t believe what he was saying. It was almost hard to take him seriously, at least it would be if it weren’t for his sincerity.
“Have you lost your mind? You want me to get them sick, and when they’re at the hospital leave your men to rob their house?” It sounded even crazier coming out of my own mouth.
“To put it simply, yes. Of course you’ll get a cut in the profits. About 25% I’d say.”
“I don’t care, I’m not a thief!”
“Exactly. We wouldn’t want you stealing anything. All you need to do it get them sick. You’re already doing that with every meal you make them. Plus, in the last family you infected, a little boy died. It’s not going to get much worse than that. Just take the job.” He sounded very convincing but I still wasn’t sure.
“What if we were discovered? The consequences aren’t worth the risk, right?”
“If that’s how you felt wouldn’t you have stopped cooking by now?” Thomas said, and I had no reply. We sat in the silence for a moment before he spoke once more, “Look, just think it over. If you do decide to accept my offer then meet me three days from now on the bridge on your way to the market.”
“I’ll think about it.”

“Until then, Ms. Mallon.” And with those words he stopped walking, turned, and proceeded the other way.

I then went to the market, bought what I needed, returned home, cooked. The ordinary routine. This is how the next three days went. I would do as I always did, thinking about Thomas’s offer all the while. Then Monday came, exactly three days since I had last spoken with him. It was time to start heading to the market. The bridge was just out of the way of the shortcut I usually took to get to the market. I made it to the place I would usually turn at to take the shortcut, but I kept walking straight towards the bridge. I really hadn’t made my decision, but my legs just seemed to bring me closer to the bridge with every step. When I got to the bridge Thomas was already there, surrounded by a couple other men, both clean shaven. Not at all how I would imagine a band of robbers.

“Ms. Mallon! Good to see you’ve joined us. I decided to bring the rest of the group. This is Harry.” He gestured to a tall light haired man with fair skin. “And Sam.” He now gestured to the shortest of three men standing in front of me. His hair was dark and he wore a hat.

“Nice to meet you both.” I said politely.

“Same to you.” Harry said and Sam nodded in agreement.

“So what have you decided upon? Would you like to work with us?” Thomas said, getting straight to the point.

I paused for a moment asking myself what I was going to tell him. Did I want to work with them? “Yes.” The word came out of my mouth unexpectedly and I tried to hide the panic that was happening inside my mind.
Thomas smiled the same charming smile he had the first time we meant. “Great! Well then here is the plan. We will meet in the alley on the way to the market everyday. When we meet you will tell us if the family is starting to get sick. When they are we’ll tell you the plan from there.”
“Very well.” It sounded simple enough. I was starting not to regret accepting.
“For now, how about we walk you to the market. If we’re all going to work together best we get to know each other.” Thomas said and we all headed towards the market.
We had simple conversations and I learned that Thomas and his men meet at Thomas’s house often. I was also told that Harry is an incredibly smart man who studies diseases and such as a hobby. He was friends with a friend of the last family I had infected. His friend told him about how each of them had contracted typhoid, and he had apparently mentioned me. Harry thought about and decided I must of been a carrier of typhoid. Afterwards Harry came up with the plan to use me to their advantage and I was tracked down. This is how Thomas knew my name when we met.
Soon I had finished shopping at the market, and returned home. Over the next few days I watched the family, just waiting for them to get sick. Thomas came with me too the market everyday, occasionally bringing Sam, Harry, or them both. Two weeks had passed when finally Mr. Werthingtons had started coughing and looking pale. So that day I let Thomas know that within days the whole family would be sick.
“Aw, well then you’re probably wondering about the plan. Simple really, you leave it to us. Just let us know when they’re all out of the house. All you really need to do is start looking for new employment now.” I would be upset about this plan except I figured it was best that I wasn’t too involved.
“Okay.” I agreed.
“Oh, and by the way, if you need a place to stay between jobs you can stay with me.” This surprised me. Last time I just stayed in motel for a few nights hoping to find employment quickly.
“Thank you.”
“Of course, Ms. Mallon.”
“You can call me Mary, you know.”
“Of course, Mary.”

Within a few days, just as I had expected they were all very sick. They were all in the hospital and I let Thomas know. I gathered my stuff from the Werthingtons house and was now staying in Thomas’s house. He had me stay there when he, Sam, and Harry went to rob the house. I sat on on this couch, waiting for their return, being sure not to touch any of the food in his home. Sooner than I expected they walked through the door with luggage bags full of cash and things of value. They gave me my portion, which they promised me was 25% but I didn’t have the ambition to make sure..
Over the next few days I lived with Thomas. He had things to do most of the time but we talked often and I enjoyed his company. I felt safe when I was with him, and I didn’t want to leave, but I was soon hired by a new family, who I infected quickly and the men stole from them too. This happened three more times and I had enough money to not have to work for awhile. Of course I still did. I was working for another family when Harry delivered some unpleasant news. A man named George Soper had been looking into the sick families and found that many of them had something in common, me. Also the fact that many of them found missing items after their recovery.
Harry had heard about this from a friend of his and it was a disturbing thought to all of us. We figured we just had to try and be more careful somehow.
I was cooking dinner for another family when someone knocked on the door, asking for me. He was older looking man, he told me he was a reporter.
“Hi, I’m a reporter looking into the disease typhoid. I was hoping to ask you a few questions. My name is George Soper.” George Soper was here in front of me. Wanting to question me. I wasn’t sure if I should be calm or just run from him.
“What questions?” I decided to ask, curious as to what he could want to know.
“Well there are studies going on, suggesting that typhoid can be carried. It can be given to families through food.”

“And what are you suggesting, Mr. Soper?”

“Well it is believed that you could be a carrier of the disease.” How’d he know? I wasn’t sure what to say at this point.

“Really? How come I haven’t heard about this? If I’m a carrier I think I would know. I’m not interested in answering any of your questions. Good day, Mr. Soper.” After saying this I stepped inside the house again and closed the door. I was panicking. I had to tell Thomas and the others about this tomorrow.

So I did. The next day I told them the whole story and they said that the best thing to do was to get rid of George.
“We’re not murderers!” I said almost bursting into tears. This wasn’t what I wanted to happen at all.
“Shh.” Thomas said just like he did when grabbed me in the alley, only this time I found it much more comforting. “It’ll be okay. You don’t have to take any part in it. I’m doing it to keep you safe, Mary. We can’t have anything happen to you. I can’t have anything happen to you.” He said, and brushed a piece of my hair behind my ear. I wasn’t sure what options I had at this point. I couldn’t speak.
“Okay.” I managed, and closed my eyes to let a tear fall down my face. He wiped it away and hugged me.

They planned on tracking George down the next, and I spent the day trying not to think about it. I met them on my way to the market that day and they told me they had already taken care of it. It took a lot but I kept from crying. I really didn’t want anyone to die.
I would of been upset but these boys were my friends now, my family even. I cared for them more than I had cared for anyone since I came to America. Especially Thomas. I believe that I have fallen in love with him, and that he feels the same.
I decided to tell him one day on the way to the market. “I love you Thomas, I really do.” I found the courage to say.
“I love you too, Mary.” He told me, and the emotion in his words was confirmation enough that we felt the same. I was extremely happy that day. That is, until there was a knock at the door. They asked for “Typhoid Mary.” They had to of known that I had typhoid then. I fought with them, telling them they were crazy and that I couldn’t have Typhoid. All the same they demanded a DNA sample to test for it. Within a day they confirmed that I had Typhoid, and told me I was going to be quarantined on an island of my own. I never heard of Thomas again and after that and came to live on my own island, where I have nothing to do but write, so that’s exactly what I’m doing. Just hoping for the day I can get back to being a cook.

Story I Wrote Awhile Ago

“Rose,” He took my hand. “Everything will be fine.” He wiped a tear away just before it was about to fall off my face. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you.” He embraced me and everything seemed fine for a minute. 

And then I woke up. The alarm clock played a song and let me know it was time I dragged my body out of bed at six in the morning for another day of school. Every single  day, the same routine. I wake up, do my hair, get dressed, brush my teeth, and try to keep from breaking down due to the exhaustion I feel. 

I’m always so tired. I can rarely sleep at night. It’s ironic considering how much I love sleep. It’s an escape from the real world. A place where I can just be numb, or even happy. Happy like I was last night. I got a whole six hours of sleep and dreamed that the guy I’ve liked for a long time was with me, keeping my tears from soaking my clothes. 

School that day was the same as everyday; long, boring, educational. The highlights of my day are the times when I get to see Christopher. No one makes me feel like he makes me feel. Happy. People come close to making me happy, but no one ever seems to succeed like he does.

Pretty soon it was lunch time. I put my math book in my locker and walked down the long hall to the crowded lunchroom. “Rooooose!” Christopher elongated my name as he approached me. 

“Chriiiiistopher!” I smiled and elongated his name as he did mine. “Are you getting lunch?” 

“No, but I’ll stand in line with you.” He stood in line with me to get lunch almost everyday.  

“Oh, alright.” I smiled at him. We then had our normal conversations about classes, teachers, and people. This was just another day. 

DIFFERENT PART OF THE STORY THAT I HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO YET 

“Christopher, I really like you.” I couldn’t stop myself from blurting that out in a moment like this. Luckily it was only at a whisper. “No, I love you.” Now I felt like covering my mouth with my hands, but I didn’t want to make a fool of myself. ‘Why? Why? WHY?’ I yelled at myself in my head. 

“I love you, too. You’re one of my best friends.” Was his response. 

“Friends.” I repeated, the sorrow in my voice more obvious then I hoped. 

“Yeah, friends. That’s all we’ll ever be. It’s all we’re meant to be. Friends.” I wanted to run away in that moment. How was I supposed to respond to that? I did the only thing I had the strength to do. I didn’t make a sound. I just sat in the silence. 

What is Love?

“What is love?” She asks herself aloud. She lies in bed, staring at the ceiling. She doesn’t want to be doing this, but she’s stuck. She’s stuck on the same question as everyone else. So confused as to why this question makes her stop and think. “Why can’t I just understand?” She now rolls over and the words are slightly muffled by the pillow that is now covering half of her mouth. “Is there really an answer at all? Or are there are a million answers?” She thinks, only in her head this time. She’s always just felt numb about the topic. Sure, she dwells on it, but it doesn’t really make her feel. It only makes her curious. She believes that the thought of it shouldn’t make her feel, because she doesn’t understand what it’s supposed to feel like. If you don’t know how to feel about it, then how are you supposed to feel at all when it comes to the subject of love. She’d rather ignore it’s existent. Pretend it isn’t even real, but how can she? When every movie, song, and book is about this thing called “love.” So she just thinks about it. Always asking the same question. “What is love?”

Historical Fiction Scene - Typhoid Mary and Messy.

Messy is the grossest roommate to ever exist. She leaves food unwrapped in the fridge for days to rot until someone else has to dispose of it. What’s worse is it’s my food. The food I took the time to cook for everyone. I’m not sure how Messy and my other roommates feel about this but I feel like I must bring it up because it’s driving me insane.
    I walked into the main room of our apartment where to my delight I found everyone except for Messy gathered around. “Hey everyone, it’s come to my attention that Messy may be the most disgusting person to live with on the face of the planet.” I said, being very straight forward.
     A few of them nodded and Lucy responded with, “I can’t argue with that.”
    “We have to end it. I say we take a vote. Either we give her a chance and tell her to start cleaning up after herself, or we get rid of her now, and just tell her to leave.” I suggested. “All in favor of giving her a warning.” As each of my three roommates began to raise there hands I felt the anxiety in my stomach. I was so hoping they would vote to get rid of her. Maybe I should of just done it myself. “Alright, I’ll have a talk with her when she gets home.” And with that I joined my roommates in other conversation.
    Not very long passed before the door opened and in stepped Messy. It had been raining out and she threw her muddy boots on the carpet like it was normal. It took everything in me not to slap her, or yell something awful at her. “Hello, Messy.” I said in my the friendliest voice I could manage.
    “Oh hi Mary!” She said with the same smile on her face that she always seemed to have. That annoying smile I would love to get rid of.
    “The others and I talked and, well, Messy you’re just so... Messy. It’s starting to get to some of us and we wondering if you could try and do better.” After saying this I tried so hard to push a smile onto my face that I felt I would explode, but eventually succeed.
    “Oh, of course! Sorry about that.” The smile on her face hadn’t left throughout the whole conversation. “Well I’m going to get to bed.” She said as she took her coat off and through it on the couch next to her.
    “Don’t you think you should put your coat away? Clean your boots off?” I asked, making it sound as if I were going to give her the option.
    “Well sure, but I have work early tomorrow and I’m tired. Don’t you think I could get it done sometime tomorrow?”
    “You could get it done sometime tomorrow, but I believe it’d be best to just do it now.”
    “Oh come on, Mary!” She giggled.
    “No. Do it tonight. I’m sick of your messes and no one is going to clean up after you this time.” As I said this the smile faded from her face and I couldn’t help the curl of my own lips. Seeing Messy sad, now that’s a special occasion.
    “Oh well, I guess I could do it real fast.” She gave in and I tried to stop smiling.
    “Good.” I said as I turned and walked out of the room, still smiling. I returned to my other roommates.
    “How’d it go?” Lucy asked.
    “Very well.” I continued to smile....

3-Part-Story-Mash-Up

    It all started when Mrs. Gopher was tripped. It probably wouldn’t of just been ignored, except Mrs. Gopher now had a broken leg and arm. The hospital bill was outrageous and Mr. Gopher was furious. Now I have been hired, Angus Cow, to solve the mystery. I have to find who tripped Mrs. Gopher, and they will have to pay the price. They will have to pay the hospital bill.
     I started at the crime seen, as any good detective would. The tripping took place at a concert. Mr. Lizard was performing at a local stage and Mrs. and Mr. Gopher are huge fans of his classic love songs. I need to look into who else was at that concert. 

 UNFINISHED 

Embelish a Classified Ad story

I have an inward hate of old people. People above 55 deserve to die. Their stench alone grosses me out. That is why I created “The Apartment.” Those oldies above 55 never come out. Some say this is manslaughter, I say, this is justice.  My classified add brought many customers to my new death machine. One by one “The Apartment” chewed their brittle bones and rid the world of their wrinkly oldness and old person smell.

Soon many old people were flocking to the call of  “GORGEOUS BRAND NEW APTS Free Rent! $0 Deposit! Come see our amazing facility!” Each of them smiled as they laid eyes on the rooms perfectly suited to their old persony needs. Little did they know that this was no ordinary old folks home. This place was living. And they would die here.

Today another elderly woman would be coming to see her new site of death. Her name was Rose, and she was 86 years old. Lately she had been living with her son and his family, but she had finally saved up enough money to move into her dream place. I went out to meet her , and was surprised to see that she was very fit, and attractive for an old person. Not to mention she smelled like vanilla, not like old people at all.   

“Hello.” I greeted her as she approached the apartment door.

“Hi.” She said in a voice that sounded nothing like the usual raspy voice of those her age.

“If you want to follow me inside, I’ll show you around. After you move in you can fix it to your liking.” I told her as we stepped through the door.

She gasped as she looked around the living room, “This is magnificent!” She exclaimed.  “ I love it! I’ll move in right away!”

“Deal!” I replied. “You’ll move in on this coming Monday if that’s all right with you.”

“That sounds perfect! I look forward to living here.” With that last statement, she turned and left.

MONDAY

Monday morning came along and I was waiting at the apartment to greet her and help her get situated. As I was helping her unpack her stuff I noticed a small box that was very heavy for its size.

“What’s in here?” I asked.

She replied, “A piece of the past. Go ahead and open it if you want.” I opened it. Inside were two gold Olympic track medals and one silver.

“Wow!” I couldn’t help gaping at her like a child. “You won all of these?”

“I sure did Johnny!”

“It’s Jonathan.” I quickly corrected her. She just laughed and continued unpacking. After unpacking she asked me if I would like a cup of tea.

While drinking my warm cup of tea I look over and see the face of this lovely elderly lady peering at me. My heart thumped. What was this? Am I really falling for this amazingly sweet Rose? Glancing at her face again I realized that must be the case. But I am sending her to her death! How could I do such a thing?! If I’m falling for her, does that mean I now need to save her?

I decided right that moment to try to persuade her to move right out and in with her son again. “Doesn’t your son live far away from here? Maybe you should move back in with him. What about your grandchildren? Won’t they miss you? It’s a bad decision moving into this apartment.”

“Don’t be silly Johnny! Moving into this apartment will be great for me! I’ll get to live alone for the first time in a long time, and I’ll get to spend time with you.”

“But, but, but....” Rose leaned over and kissed me. “What?!”

“Don’t argue with me, Johnny. I’m staying.” She smiled and I wasn’t sure what to say. At that, we sat and drank tea together. We laughed and when I finally looked at the clock I realized a few hours had gone by.

“I have to go now Rose, but thank you for a lovely time.” This was bad news. I couldn’t convince her to leave and no one had lasted for over a month in this apartment. I have thirty days to make her want to move. What could I possibly do to convince my lovely Rose.  As I sat at home I wondered about what I could do. What I should do to save her. Nothing was coming to mind until finally I thought of the solution. I’ll marry her! Then she’ll have to leave her apartment and stay with me! Then I could destroy that killer, and live out the rest of my life with Rose in happiness!

A week passed, then two. Rose and I spent more and more time together, both at her deadly apartment and my cosy condo. Then on a date to a romantic movie I “popped the question” so to speak. “Rose, will you marry me?”

“I don’t have very long to live Johnny, you know that. You wouldn’t be able to be happy after I die.”

“But darling I can’t be happy at all unless I’m with you. And

nothing could possibly make me a happier man.”

“If you insist Johnny. You know I love you just as much, and nothing could make me happier either.”

A Very Short Time Later

“Do you Jonathan, take you Rose, to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do.”

“And do you Rose take Jonathan to be your husband?”

“I do.”

“You may kiss the bride.”

After the wedding Rose moved into my condo almost immediately. She was safe from the apartment, which I tore down, and I was happy for a few months. Until she started to get sick.  

Rose was very critically ill for a week, then sadly she passed from this life. I was alone again, but I had bigger problems to deal with besides my grief.

The police had reopened the case of all the elderly people who had passed away. I was prime suspect in their murder. In the court case I plead guilty, knowing it was my fault and ready to accept my punishment. Maybe if Rose had still been alive I would have fought the sentence, but she was dead and I had nothing left to live for.

I got a life sentence because of my foolishness. So now I’m stuck here for the rest of my life, waiting for death and my Rose to come and bring me to the other side.