Realistic or Modern Not Your Paradise

[Lena]

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The roads are perfectly paved. There's chalk drawings left by some child on the sidewalk under your feet. Birdsong drifts from the tall trees in the front yard. A mini-van drives past, going exactly the speed limit. A soccer mom's empty eyes stare straight ahead of her as she sits in the driver's seat. The sweet smell of flowers from one yard or another hangs in the air, a solid presence despite the breeze. It coats your tongue, insistent and even a little unpleasant. Still, the spring air is far more fresh here than in the city. Not as much car exhaust, no factory fumes...


Have you ever thought about how if someone screamed in one of the identical houses here, no one would hear it?


Another car blows past, music blasting too loudly for the neighborhood. It parks by third church in as many miles. A gaggle of goth kids hops out of it, forming a pack as they head inside.


There's something off about them, about the dead-eyed soccer mom, about the drawings on the sidewalk. Sometimes you think you're the only person in this neighborhood who bothers locking their doors.


It would be so easy for a monster to hide here, and if you didn't know any better, you'd say this place is teeming with them.


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[Lena]

Jimmy Winters – Human, psychic – Nurse, 23 – 7:00 AM, Saturday, at a gas station


Jimmy shoved his hands into his pockets as he picked a few nutri-bars. Can't be that unhealthy if the cover had things like "protein" and "whole grains" written on it in big bold letters, along with pictures of berries that the bars would not taste like, right? Jimmy added two bottles of colored drinks that he was fully aware were simply salt-and-sugar water and ignored the urge to scoff at the neon letters spelling "electrolytes" out on the label. Though he could see right through any way that they could manage to say "salt-and-sugar water," he was still investing in the product, and, as far as he was concerned, that took away any right he had to scoff at it.


He proceeded to checkout, ignoring the weird feeling of dread coiling in the pit of his stomach when he met the eyes of the cashier. The guy was pretty cute, anyways. He wasn't sure what the deal was, here, and guessed it was just this place. It wasn't that close to where Hannah... to the scene of the Event, but it resembled the place enough to make him uncomfortable. Either way, he suppressed a shudder, payed with cash, thanked the cashier and was out the door. If he wanted to get anything done today, he had to be quick; despite the fact that it was the weekend, he had a shift at the hospital in a few hours. Nonetheless, he found himself staring at the parking space next to his own car for far too long of a time than it was probably acceptable to stare at a parking space anywhere ever.


----


"Tara S." – Pagan God – third grade teacher – 7:00 AM, Saturday, on the streets


The goddess didn't sleep, not really, but that particular morning, she found herself waking up to the smell of something fresh. So much fresher than she could find here. The kind of fresh she had prowled the urban landscape to her her hands on... she didn't eat much here. It wasn't like she needed to. Much like a snake (a metaphor she found greatly enjoyed), when she did have a meal, she'd be full for weeks. So she made a habit of eating out. The rotten flesh and soul one would find here were so not worth the convenience.


So the smell had seemed off. She realized, that morning, as the smell of food trickled in, that she was hungry, despite the successful hunt not two weeks ago. She pulled on a pristine white sundress (there was nothing she enjoyed more than seeing the stains of red on something that should have been so pure, and later on, they'd be gone as though they never were), and sprayed on a thick cloud of sweet perfume to hide the smell of something rotten. She didn't bother with shoes. She didn't bleed, and no one would point it out. So she slipped out of the house, tracking the scent of something fresh and human.

 

[Blarg222]

Oliver awoke to the sight of blood on the ceiling, though strange enough not his ceiling. He got up and looked around at the strange room, as the events of the past 24 hours reappeared in his head. He went in to the bathroom where he, as expected, found the remains of dead man. He was cheeky fellow whom he had held very educated discussion and was kind enough to invite him back to his apartment to detail some of his research on the town. Unfortunately, he never got to finish though Oliver did take care to retrieve his notes, seeing them as a good way to pass his time at home. He quickly did his normal routine for this situation, mixed the Phosphorus with the potassium chlorite trigger, set to 5 minutes, grabbed a bagel, got his shoes, and left. He soon walked out to the pavement and bit into the bagel only to taste a tart raisin within, which he promptly threw into a nearby trash can as a third floor apartment behind him exploded into a erupting flame from the kitchen oven. He briskly walked away from the scene back to his home, a rather humble abode but one he enjoyed no less. He walked inside, setting down in his study where he found the pile of essays he had to grade, as well as his consultation schedule. He always hated this time, it was the only time where his students saw his home. There they would receive additional instruction on contested grades or failures. The boredom these events drained him, so he was at least thankful for this morning's affair. He sat down and looked through the essays, hoping some of his students could tell him a theme of the Cold War that did not put him to sleep.

 

[TerrorKitty]

Nirvana was sitting with three highschool students at a local outdoor cafe, two of them twins, both tall and skinny, not much in th way of curves but abnormally beautiful faces with light brown hair and brilliant emerald eyes. The other girl almost uncomparable, shorter than the other two yet still quite tall the young girl had bright red hair that matched with her freckles on soft pale skin, her body was that of a dream, perfectly rounded chest, nothing to big yet not small either, wide hips with the perfect amount of fat to look smooth and not anorexic. Nirvana was helping these three new girls catch up to the rest of the class when she spotted Tara, knowing full well what she was looking for. Smiling she waved the other teacher over.


@Lena

 

[Blarg222]

Maya woke up to her rather annoying alarm, its blare a sound which she dreaded daily. She quickly arose, her dorm room its usual dull white shade. Classes and work were kindly relieved from today's schedule which allowed her to work on her "extracurricular activities". She quickly got dressed, wrapping her hijab around her head and taking out her usual potion kit. She had already produced a variety of elixirs but it never hurt to practice. As she sat around working she soon remembered she was going to meet Nirvana and a couple of her friends at the local café. She quickly hurried there, waving to her as she neared.

 

[Lena]

Tara turned at the wave of her fellow teacher, sighing a little internally. She did not feel like dealing with colleagues right now, and neither was she a big fan of seafood. Brushing a strand of blond hair our of her face, she made her way over to the table. Though not what she had smelled, the students at the table seemed fresh enough, and Tara supposed that the girl was not one of the twins would make for a decent meal. Something that Tara might go after, if it was easy enough. Knowing the kind of company Mrs. K tended to keep, she pulled her dress down a little, revealing a bit more than she had been earlier, bending down to join the conversation in a way that showed even more.


"Good morning," She said, with a carefully faked smile.

 

[Wonder Woman]

Winter

Winter woke up the same way she usually does, with a person laying beside her. She looked around the room to confirm she was in the strangers house, Marcus? no... Luke?... no that wasn't his name ether... Julian! That was it!


After silently pulling on her outfit from the night before she creeped out of the house, no phone number left, no nothing; she just ran. After walking for awhile the girl turned to go the gas station hopefully to get something to eat before going home to get ready for class but she stopped when she saw this guy staring into a parking spot. "Hey, you ok?"


(@Lena)
​

 

[Lena]

Jimmy glanced up at the girl who approached him. She was tall (about the same height, he'd say, as Hannah had been, but now was the very worst time to think of Hannah). He shook his head a few times, looking a lot like a dog shaking off water. "Yeah, yeah..." He said in response to her question, nodding his head a few times and stretching his lips into a smile that didn't really reach his eyes. "I'm good. Just thinking... early morning, you know how it goes."


That was a weak explanation if he'd ever heard one. He hoped she didn't notice.


@Rocket

 

[SirDerpingtonIV]

Kaspar sat in silence, in the middle of his shop, his eyes glancing over the beautiful and intricate designs on the rocking chair he was currently making. He was using a small knife to carve the delicate wings of the Chaffinch into the back of the rocking chair. He had always carved birds of some sort into his woodwork, because they always helped him remember her. He paused, feeling the color and warmth of another memory, fuzzy and barely there, and he frowned, eyes full of grief as he paused his work. It was her face he knew, but yet.. he didn't. He simply saw a blur in his mind, with the ever torturing feeling that the memory was there, waiting to be found. It felt like the memory sat on the tip of his tongue so to speak, but yet, he just simply couldn't remember her. Her eyes, her face, her hair, all of it evaded him. Once he had known, not too long after his death, but the War had taken it from him, it had taken his love from him, and the world was so terribly dark now.


He shook his head slowly, trying to keep his mind on task, as he went back to work. Within an hour, the whole of the bird was carved into the wood, along with a myriad of other swirling, curving designs. He paused, wiping some sweat off his brow, before he looked up at the cieling and the walls, eyeing the drawings there. The drawings of the birds, covering the walls and the roof, birds of all kinds, Ospreys and Eagles, Finches and Crows, even an Ostrich. He didn't make the images himself, he simply purchased them. After all, he couldn't work a pencil or a brush like he could work a knife or saw. Woodworking simply.. spoke to him. Just like the birds sang in their secret, beautiful noise. He knew there were many birds in the world, but he never could remember which ones lived in Germany or not, but he knew they were birds, and Alese had loved birds..... Perhaps the pictures would help him, but they rarely did.


They looked beautiful, but whenever someone came into his shop, which he tried to prevent, they were quiet.. confused, or perhaps felt.. nervous. Many thought he was crazy, a man looking so down, sitting alone in a room covered in drawings and paintings of birds, endlessly working. It was worse some times, the times when his memories of the War and his Loss would overcome him, and he would sit in the workshop and cry, ignorant of time, until some curious customer found him. He could see how they thought he was crazy, but truly didn't care. The opinions of the living meant so little to him. There was only one thing that mattered. Alese. He would find her again, and when he did, he would never let her go. He would never leave her again. They would be together forever, and he would apologize for how long he had been gone. She'd forgive him... she had to...


He stood, picking up the chair, and carrying it out of his workshop and into the main room of his shop and home, a wide, mostly empty room where he spoke with customers, and placed finished projects waiting to be picked up. He set it down with a satisfied sigh, examining the finished product, feeling quite satisfied with it. The birds made him feel comfortable, although some of his customers were concerned when they found that there was a bird of some sort on every single piece of furniture he made. It soon became his sort of signature, and many simply accepted it. He simply strode over behind the counter he had made, sitting in the chair behind it, and simply waiting, focusing his thoughts on trying to remember, but as two hours past by, little noticed by Kaspar, the doorbell rung, and he stood as his latest customers entered, making their empty and meaningless comments, before they thanked him, and handed him their paper, and they carried out the chair. He made the fake smiles required, although he had long ago stopped caring if people could see through them or not. He headed out the door soon after they left, deciding to walk through town. He sat down in a central park, admiring the scenery, and watching the birds, trying to coax a memory into the light of remembrance.

 

[ladyaliciaaa]

The wind brushed against Robyn's bare ankles as she bent down on the red paint chipped bench at the bus stop, adorned with dried up gum and candy wrappers to unclasp her glossy black high heels that her mother insisted she wear, "It'll make you look professional! unlike those shabby flats." she merely scoffed and fetched her trusty powder blue flats from a plastic bag and slipped them on before pressing the button on her phone and switching it's camera to front-facing.


Though her hair was pinned immaculately back and her plain silver blouse pressed, the deep circles under her eyes and the pallor of her freckled face still manage to give the overall impression that she had recently been flooded by a load of paperwork and blue prints to be sketched out, which in fact, was rather true. She re-applied a simple layer of cherry red lip gloss and powdered her cheeks with blush, the need to look well groomed was ever present when Robyn was in public.


She drew a bottle from her hand bag and unscrewed the bottle cap, taking a swift gulp of water to relieve her drying throat. Attending evening classes seemed to suck the last droplets of vivacity from herself, and she was in a poor mood. A glance at her watch indicated that the bus to uni was running 15 minutes late, she stood up and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans, she came to the unhappy conclusion that there was no other choice than to walk if she didn't want to miss the lectures. And so she started on her way. Her temper worsening by the minute.

 

[ladyaliciaaa]

'Click' the sound of the camera shutter always satisfied Lee, it was a sign of beauty, perfection. A moment of rapture, that he had captured something elegant and timeless, something you could always look back at. His eyes surveyed the park, the woodpecker tapping at the bark of a Cedar tree, a butterfly flitting from one flower to the next, a 20 something year old man sitting on a bench. His fingers throbbed from holding the camera, and he let go, allowing it to dangle from his neck. He cracked his knuckles before rummaging through his backpack and fishing out a cigarette from it's shabby case, and flicking his vividly orange plastic lighter. Lee inhaled a raspy breath and closed his eyes before exhaling a breath of smoke. There was no spark, no inspiration. He disliked days like this, a seemingly gorgeous day, yet nothing that struck a chord in him even after taking dozens of photos.

 

[Wonder Woman]

Winter smiled at the boy "ok, we'll have a nice day" she gave him a light smile before waking away, he seemed a little odd.


She decided she would take a detour into the park walking on the path, as she moved she threw her Snow White hair into a bun and smoothed down her dress. While she walked she spotted a man taking photos, 'who's that?' She wonders as she walks ahead but her walk didn't last much longer as her heels cause her to trip and fall right in front of the man.


@Lady Ravenshade

 

[ladyaliciaaa]

A high pitched yelp issued from Lee's mouth as the woman stumbled and barreled toward him, darn him and his slow reflexes. He reached down to offer his hand and to help her up "-shouldn't wear such high heels" he murmured through gritted teeth, he looked down to check that his camera hadn't taken any damage before facing the woman. "Uhm..your hair," he waved his hands toward the now disheveled bun and let go of her hand before stepping back to survey the injuries inflicted due to his clumsy response,


"-sorry for not catching you in time, uh, didn't really see you there," he shrugged his shoulders, before dousing the burning cigarette on the ground by using the heel of his sneakers and picking it up to toss it into the bin nearby.





@Rocket

 

[Lena]

Jimmy shook his head once more as the girl who had come up to ask him if he was okay slipped away. This was good; he hadn't liked her. There was something rather odd about her, almost predatory, though he could not tell what it was. She also seemed like she was flirting at him, which was a stroke to his ego, but not welcome when he was thinking about his dead sister. "...Have a great day, too.." He muttered, only the noticing he was talking to thin air. There was another girl... No, woman, passing. He hoped that she would not think he was talking to her. She seemed tired. Jimmy was not sure where he got the observation from, since her makeup and clothes were on point, but there was definitely a weary feel to her.

 

[SirDerpingtonIV]

Kaspar began to hum a small song from his childhood to himself, looking along, eyes on the street, before he paused, eyes widening with disbelief. After all these years of searching, of desperation, of pain... there she is. Just.. walking along. All of his thoughts came rushing back in a sudden torrent, and he stood, eyes wide, eyes moist with tears, although he didn't realize it. He began to walk forward, before moving more rapidly. "Alese!" he shouted with joy, a bright smile stretched across his face. "Alese!" he called again, before running towards Robyn, talking rapidly in German, before throwing his arms around her in a rather tight hug, continuing to speak rapidly in German. "Alese my love, it's been so long! I told you I'd come back! I've been looking for you for so long, so, so long," he said, still speaking in German, a bright smile upon his face. "But.. what are you doing here in America? What about our home? Or Erik? How is he?" He stepped back from the hug, letting go of her, looking concerned. "I am sorry I have been gone so long, you must have been so lonely.. it's been.. so many years after all.... I won't leave you ever again, I promise you," he said, smiling. "You can trust me this time. I know what The War can do to people," he said, frowning, before he paused. "You.. still remember me, don't you? Please? Don't tell me the War has taken your memories aswell...." he asked pleadingly.

 

[ladyaliciaaa]

Robyn staggered back, a look of distress painted on her face as the man pulled her into a firm embrace, his arms around her shoulders and her body pressed against his, German spilled from his mouth and tears from his eyes. She twisted her head around looking for help, he was assaulting her and there was no one there to witness it save a man by the gas station, but he wasn't looking.


"Who's Alese?!" her voice was a pitch higher and she curled her hands into fists before slipping away from his hold and turning on her heel to face him with dark eyes and a look of vexation on her face "-who the heck do you think you are," her voice shook partly from the breath being knocked out of her and from the outrage growing inside of her.


"Whoever you're looking for, i'm not her, sorry. You probably mistook me for someone else," she drew a shaky breath before tucking a stray hair behind her ear and focusing her gaze at the cracks on the pavement. "If you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be" she pushed past him and raced off briskly, not waiting for an answer. She shoved then strange encounter to the back of her mind. The university was just around the corner, and she couldn't be late again.

 

[Wonder Woman]

Winter blushed lightly "It's fine, it's my fault for falling" Winter laughed lightly; she wasn't used to doing something stupid like that, she was usually over confident. 'You're so graceful Winter, it's not like you have a job were you have to be graceful and model' she thought to herself while fixing her hair. "Um, so my name is Winter Rose, call me winter"


@Lady Ravenshade

 

[ladyaliciaaa]

"You've got a nice name..I guess?" his statement turned out as a question rather than a compliment, he fixed his woolen sweater and rolled up it's left sleeve which had loosened without him realizing. He thought her pale hair was odd, and wondered why one would dye their hair white. Lee was at a loss for words and his mind searched for something to fill up the silence "--don't you have school or something to be at?" considering his circumstances it was not the best question to inquire about. After all, shouldn't he be at school. He laughed nervously and shuffled on the spot "I think I have to get going.. I've got things to do," he turned his eyes upward and pointed a thumb behind his shoulder in a lame excuse to escape the humiliating and troublesome conversation.


"You should watch where you're going," he offered Winter a smile before turning away to head off, he was planning to spend a few hours at the public library and then maybe going home to finish editing his photos on Photoshop, which he assumed would take 2 hours at the least. Lee's eyesight worsened as he grew older, and he preferred to wear glasses rather than contacts. Appearance was not a concern of his and so his hair was often unkempt and cloths askew.





@Rocket

 

[Wonder Woman]

"Um ok! Thanks again for helping me up see you around um... Guy?" Winter was confused to say the least, the boy was odd... Cute, but odd; he hadn't even told her his name. Winter was embaressed too, he had seemed to be staring at her hair which was her natural colour but not exactly a normal colour for humans.


She took off her heels to save herself from further embarrassment and walked to her dorm changing into a more reasonable outfit for class.



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Spoiler

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@Lady Ravenshade