140th post!! And Narrative for class!

Short Story: Second Draft

Name: Tabitha Colon   

                          Requesting Freedom

 Rose felt the soft, brown floor beneath her shoes. She closed her eyes, took in the smell of leaves, rainwater, and animals. She opened her eyes, with her head up, facing the bright orange sun gleaming down, right over the light blue sky. The sky was clear; no clouds in sight. Trees outlined the long soil path ahead. The trees had perfect green leaves, with glowing brown bark. Rabbits ran around the green grass that also outlines the soil path. Roses were sprinkled across the green valley on each side of the path. The bright red roses almost seemed unreal, how beautiful they looked. There was nothing beyond this...the path seemed as if it would just keep going. The rabbits then ran into their rabbit holes. The wind started to blow, and the leaves started to blow with it. The leaves of the trees made the sky ahead look green...to see the sky, she would have to look up, or sideways. Rose had never seen such scenery. Even in her dreams...nothing can ever equal to how happy she was at that moment. Compared to her old home, this was paradise. This was finally freedom. What she was used to was near darkness. Grey. Black. Surrounded by a crumbling wall. No windows, just a tiny hole for slight light, and air. The door was steel. The air was stuffy, dusty, grey fog surrounding her. She was trapped. Her captors were stubborn, irresponsible, nonsensical humans. She had only heard about the town that was outside her little box. Everything was mainstream. Store vendors were greedy goblins, only looking for money, rarely ever to help someone...or having a good business. Everyone worshipped evil. They looked forward to money, inanimate objects, and rebellion, never life. With all of these stories she heard, she was happy to be in her box. She wasn’t like the others. Thats why she is stuck here. She can’t leave, like she wanted to. She has no money, and now no friends or family. How was she going to get out of this horrible town? This place is for people who settle for less, or people who get lazy, and evil people looking for trouble and drama, or they just can’t afford anywhere else. She even hears gunshots from her little hole in the wall. It’s pretty scary for her to live in this little box, in the middle of an evil town.

On one of those foggy days, her friend who works in the hospital, “L” came in. She has long black hair, and is very tall. She is also very fit. She tries to work out as much as possible to keep safe in the town. She usually wears grey or black clothes to fit in. Her makeup is dark...eyeliner and dark lips...to seem like “one of them”. She is actually a good person, though. She was one of the people who are required to check up on cells to make sure the people were alive. Nobody knew, but L was actually a good person. She was just pretending to be evil, to blend in, so that she wouldn’t be locked up and she works here so that she can help these people. She had been trying to find a plan so that if they get enough people locked up here, she can let them loose, and the good can conquer the evil. L brought the girl a warm meal, which they only get on fridays. Meals were the only way she would be able to tell what day it was. She never knew what time it was, but the actual day was good enough to stay sane.

“So, hows the plan going? Has there been a spike yet?” She asked L.

“Sort of. Not enough, though. We have to keep getting the word out to pedestrians, but we have to do it carefully. Two of our men were already locked up by asking the wrong people if they wanted to change the town. Don’t worry girl, this can’t go on forever. Bad guys never win.”

She put her head down to her knees.

“They did this time.”

L looked at her...feeling bad yet determined to not let her think that way.

“You have to keep thinking positive, thats the only way to survive. You can’t keep thinking negative, or you really will never get out of here.”

“I know, but its so hard when you are surrounded by so much negativity, its starting to grow on me.

“You can’t let the evil take you. Just know that you would make your parents proud if you got out of here alive.”

She watched as L left the room and left her in darkness again. L’s comment made her feel much better. She really did know that this plan had to work. She always heard riots outside, eventually they were all taken in, but they can’t all fit in this place. They have to stop this some time. Hopefully in her lifetime.

 The riots had started to get more consistent. Less gunshots, less evil, she had heard from L. The plan might actually take action soon, she said. A long week after she talked to L, someone else walked in her cell. It was a doctor. She was taken aback because L was the only person that sees her.

“Where’s L?”

“Who? I’m Dr. Left, I’m here to make sure you are alive and well, we aren’t here to starve and kill people in here.” Rose became confused.

“No, L is supposed to come to my room. She always gives me food and all, where is she?

“Forget her for now, you won’t be seeing her anymore.”

Rose felt infuriated and began to feel her stomach turning.

“NO! WHERE IS SHE!?”

“Now, you have to calm down. I don’t want to have to take you to solitary confinement.”

“WHAT? THIS ISN’T AS CONFINED AS IT GETS? I’M IN A FREAKING BOX. I CAN’T BREATHE. IF I WANT TO TAKE IN FRESH AIR OR SOMETHING, MY WINDOWS IS A HOLE THE SIZE OF A PENNY! THIS ISN’T FREAKING SOLITARY CONFINEMENT? WHAT, ARE YOU GONNA TRAP ME IN A TINY ROOM WITH SHARP SPIKES ON THE WALLS?! HUH?!” Rose yelled, and she stared hard at this “Dr. Left”.

The doctor calmly looked at a person nearby, and he walked out. Then two people came in. They told her to calm down, and that this doesn’t have to be hard. She gave in, and they quietly escorted her to a thin, dark hallway. They threw her in a even smaller room. There wasn’t even a hole to breathe through.

“Now, we are only going to keep you here for today, people who stay here longer than that usually don’t survive.” The two people said.

They looked at each other and smiled as they closed the door. It suddenly became pitch black. She didn’t know where anything was. Instead of panicking, she decided to just sleep through it. She had wondered where L was. Was she captured? Why didn’t she come? Did she get out? All this wonder was enough to make her fall asleep.  

She woke up to the light of outside. Someone opened the door. It was the doctor again.

“Now are you ready to calm down?”

“Now are you ready to tell me where L is?” She responded.

“She is dead. They shot her during a riot. She deserved it, all of you people do.”

Rose widened her eyes. This news...it couldn’t be. How could they...is the town out there really that bad? The girl was devastated inside, but now that L is gone, she thought, maybe she could take her place, and finish what she started.

“I don’t care. Maybe she did deserve it. She was always nice to me. This town has seemed to grow on me, so I don’t even think I belong here.” Rose said, trying to hold in her tears.

The doctor seemed impressed.

“Well then, I see you have made some progress. We’ll take some tests on you and, maybe you will be getting out today! How long have you had mixed feelings?”

“For about a year already. All the good I tried, its stupid, you know?”

The girl was so relieved and happy that she would be able to get out. She had almost forgotten how sad she was a second ago about the death of L. It was a good death, unlike most of the people in this town. This plan will work. She is thinking positive, but at the same time, negative. What a strange mix.

 The next day, after all those dreadful tests, the girl took her first steps outside since she was 11. She is 14 now. The sky was grey and gloomy, everything seemed so sad and evil. This was not what she was expecting. Everyone was wearing the same ugly clothes. Everyone was blasting the same r&b, rap, and pop music. She really couldn’t stand pop. When she looked around, she spotted the goblins at each and every street corner, and every store. She noticed dark figures inside liquor stores. Signs of stars were marked everywhere. This place really did turn evil. The only thing that can get worst than this is people start killing people. As soon as she thought that, a gunshot went off. She swung her head around to look for the gunman, and saw only a dead body laying on the floor. Nobody acknowledged him, and the people who did were teenagers making fun of how he couldn’t defend himself. The girl tried not to look scared, worried that people would say something, so she just went walking on calmly, as if she would see that everyday. Nobody knew that this normal girl had so much fear inside her. She just walked the streets, noticing how bad this place really is. She came to a halt as two girls came up to her.

“Are you lost?” they asked.

“Um...why are you asking me? Why do you care?”

“Uh...no...no I don’t care...just...don’t tell the officers alright?”

“Did you work with L?”

“Oh thank god! You aren’t not evil...”

“Shhh! Don’t say it too loud!”

“Sorry, I am just so happy to see someone else. I can’t find L.”

“She...she died...in one of those riots. She was a good friend of mine. I just came out of the...asylum. She used to come and bring me food, and would tell me about the colony and the plan she had. Are you a part of the colony?”

“Oh dear, I am. Come, we’ll get you looking normal.”

“Thanks...uh...why don’t I look normal?”

“Your hair is crazy, your clothes are dirty, and your shoes are so 3 seasons ago.”

“I don’t care about shoes being in style anymore.”

“Well, everyone else does, so you better listen to us.”

“I just cant find any freedom anywhere, can I?”

She gumly continued on with the two girls.

All three girls were on there way to this colony. The girl refused to giver her name to them because she didn’t remember. She didn’t want to say she didn’t remember, because she was embarrassed by it, so she just told them that she wanted to stay safe and she couldn’t trust anyone yet, and to not take it personal. The girls suggested a nickname. They all had one. Then one of the girls suggested “Rose”. The girl loved that name, because she had always dreamed of seeing roses again. Rose agreed.

 They all arrived at this huge old abandoned building. Apparently, this was the colony. They went inside slowly and alerted everyone that it was them. There were about 20 people. Rose became really upset...and heartbroken that out of this huge town, only about 20 people were still good. A lot of people turned, she thought, and some people are still pretending. Rose greeted them all. Three kids, fifteen adults, and four teens, not including the new teen, Rose. The place was really big and roomy. There were about 50 rooms. It was like a mansion here, the perfect place to stay. How do they keep out the evil, though? Rose decided not to think about negativity and started thinking about a plan. They could all just walk out. Nobody was going to arrest 22 people, it would take a long time, and we would fight. This was the perfect idea to rise up against the evil.

 Rose stood with this colony for a couple of days before they decided to make the trip.They all went out at once, and some officers stopped them and asked where they thought they were going.

“We are getting out of this evil!” one of the women yelled.

The officers went after them, and tried arresting them, but they ran. They started to scream and made a riot. More people started to come in and scream with them. Officers were overwhelmed, and the evil was scared. They wrecked the town, fought back officers and the evil spirits. Even some of the officers went on their side. Rose then noticed the man who was shot when she first came in. He was still laying on the ground, rotting. As soon and Rose saw that, she became infuriated. She began screaming louder, and attacked officers. Would this riot ever end, or turn into a war? A goblin looked her way..and she became fearful. She grabbed a chair randomly lying on the ground and braced herself for the charge. The goblin came running as Rose swung the chair right into his face. The goblin fell, and dissolved into the ground. Rose noticed that this was happening to everyone. More monsters were just dissolving into the ground, back to where they came from. The screaming later died out, as there were no more goblins, no more spirits, no more evil. They are cheered, and all went their separate ways to either leave or stay. Rose wanted to leave. She invited the two girls, and they said they would be right behind her.
 Rose began to walk, and after a long time walking, she found herself walking in the middle of nowhere. Rose felt the soft, brown floor beneath her shoes. She closed her eyes, took in the smell of leaves, rainwater, and animals. She opened her eyes, with her head up, facing the bright orange sun gleaming down, right over the light blue sky. The sky was clear; no clouds in sight. Trees outlined the long soil path ahead. The trees had perfect green leaves, with glowing brown bark. Rabbits ran around the green grass that also outlines the soil path. Roses were sprinkled across the green valley on each side of the path. The bright red roses almost seemed unreal, how beautiful they looked. There was nothing beyond this...the path seemed as if it would just keep going. The rabbits then ran into their rabbit holes. The wind started to blow, and the leaves started to blow with it. The leaves of the trees made the sky ahead look green...to see the sky, she would have to look up, or sideways. Rose had never seen such scenery. Even in her dreams...nothing can ever equal to how happy she was at that moment. Compared to her old home, this was paradise. This was finally freedom. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her back. The pain was so overpowering, she fell to her knees, and then to the ground. She saw someone come up from behind her. It was one of the girls, holding a bloody knife. Rose thought, ‘Evil will never leave this earth’, as everything went black. Death may have been the only true freedom for her.
But she didn’t really die.
She just had opened the doors to a new paradise.
Her own world. Exactly what she wanted.

THE END

*PS: I AM NOT SUICIDAL OR ADDICTED WITH DEATH, OR THINKS THAT DEATH IS THE ONLY FREEDOM. KILLING YOURSELF FOR FREEDOM IS NOT THE MORAL OF THE STORY. ITS JUST SHOWING THAT NO MATTER WHAT, EVIL WILL BE EVERYWHERE, AND FOR ROSE, BEING STABBED WAS THE ONLY WAY SHE FULLY ESCAPED, SHE WENT TO “HEAVEN”.