Mind Blown Like Glass

He dragged his fingers through his hair, and left furrows along his head.

He pinched and scratched, tugging his flesh like clay.

He broke scabs up, mixing them back in, ignoring how gritty it was making him.

The blood... there was so much blood... and as water on a potter's wheel, it was welcome.

He dug out his bones and broke them to splinters, to better support the delicate structures he wanted.

He pulled himself into the kiln, and hoped he'd done the glaze right this time.

Wide Open Range

He stayed close to the walls, and tried not disturb any of the debris that was everywhere these days. Windows were blocked, boarded up or outright avoided. It was never proven if... it... operated more by sight or sound, but either one seemed able to draw it near.

It made no attempt to disguise it's approach. That always unsettled him.

He'd seen it across town once, drawn by someone else's carelessness. It spotted him immediately, but made no move. It just cocked it's head a little and once it was sure he was frozen in fear and watching... it began stalking whoever had drawn it, impossibly silent for anything of its size.

Unable to move, to breathe, to blink, he could never forget how the thing was able to sneak up on the poor bastard. It was the first and only time he'd ever seen it not just stomp a straight line to it's victim. It was so unusual for it, so perfectly done... he shuddered. It wanted him to know that it wasn't even playing with them.

He felt a warmth on his ear, and his breath caught in his throat.

An Impressed Hero

Why am I here?

What?

I said, why am I here? Why did you bring me here?

We needed your help; I thought that was obvious.

No, that's why you brought SOMEONE here. Why did you bring ME here?

We– what?

Anyone. It could've been anyone else. Out of all existence... why ME?

...

There must be a reason! There are stronger, smarter, BETTER people out there! What made ME the best choice?!

We... we–

WHY DID YOU RIP ME AWAY FROM MY LIFE FOR THIS!?

We– we didn't! We would never!

You did! YOU DID! I had family! A job! I wasn't some lonely orphan or hermit, that no one would miss! Do you understand what you've done to my loved ones? Best case scenario, they think I'm DEAD. Worst case, they think I CHOSE to leave them. That I just ran away to do anything... to be anywhere else that wasn't with them.

But... we...

Who's going to take care of the kids while their mother is working all the time? What's she going to be able to tell them when they ask about their father? I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a single parent family... but they shouldn't have to be one.

...

Are you getting this? I am hoping, PRAYING, that my wife is able to find someone to love her and help raise my kids, and quickly, because I don't believe I'm ever going to be able to go back. And even if I am, when? If your problems could be solved quickly, you wouldn't need ME, now would you?

... I...

Nevermind. Let's just keep going.

Up, Up, Reach Up

The tree grew in the middle of the downs. Not the exact middle, nothing so obviously significant; the fact that it grew at all was enough. After all, nothing else in the downs did.

Things lived in the downs, true enough. But they didn't grow. They ate, slept, killed, died, went through all the motions of life... but nothing aged, nothing got bigger. Whatever they were when it happened, so they'd been ever since. Except for the tree.

The tree flourished. It towered over all else for miles around. It had no competition. Only the desperate even went near it, and they rarely came back.

True, the tree would get hit by every lightning bolt to come down during thunderstorms, but that seemed to mean nothing to it. It shook. It steamed in the rain. It grew.

Learning through Teaching

The goal here is to sound natural.

That... that's it?

Yep. It doesn't matter what's being said, as long as it flows like a real conversation.

Seems kind of unimportant.

Not at all. For that sense of realism, it's far more important than any amount of accuracy in physics or protocol.

Surely not!

Oh, yes! The audience is people; that is what they know, what they are most familiar with. Some people may know the science behind something, and will go "it doesn't work like that!" when they see the impossible. Some people are familiar with organizations, and will go "you could never get away with that!" when they see a Lieutenant getting orders from a Major. But many will not.

And speech?

Everyone knows what people talk like. For instance, no one says "unimportant" in casual conversation. They'd say it "doesn't matter"

Oh, come on!

I know, it's terrible. We have all these words for things, very precise words, but unless it's a formal speech or written down, people use the same, small common words for everything. Anyway. The audience can accept anything, if the people are still acting like people. It's only when they go "No one would ever talk like THAT!" that you've failed, since everyone knows what people should sound like.

So how's this going so far?

Well, it could be better. Real people interrupt each other, pause in the middle of thoughts, say um and er and that. Honestly, real conversation is like a poorly made engine. Stops, starts, revving up and hiccuping all the time. People's minds are rarely organized enough for smooth dialogue.