NoraNora
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Hello, everyone.
Below is my submission for the writing challenge, I rarely play Male as the main character, much less in First Person but in this one I do. I'm just trying to rein in some feedback, so here goes.
__________________________________________________________________________
The universe seemed infinite that day. I could not put my finger on it, but there was something about the sun, and how it gleamed beyond the curtains that made me think of guiding hands beckoning me towards the outside world, away from the darkness I preferred. I had to write that night and the night before. I had slept through the morning and had forgotten how vibrant the sky could look in such light. I held my coffee to my lips, the aroma of the fresh ground beans combined with the world rising outside was a majestic feeling. I was a god, basking in idleness watching my subjects move to seek their destinies, or so I liked to think. In truth, I was no one. Arietta had left me again, the woman I called my muse. My pen. My inspiration. She had packed her bags last week and walked out of my life forever. It was a final thing, to walk out; to simply, choose to leave and never return. Modern humans disgusted me. Modern; because to leave after such a whirlwind romance proved one to be nothing more than a pleasure seeker. An empty soul, in need of filling and filling again. There are so many of those now. I could not understand such a concept, for though I was always averse to relationships, I presumed Arietta would be different. Her musical name, her golden hair, those wide, blue eyes filled with understanding, was all for show. She was just like the rest of them, common and bored.
And though I too, was not a gifted Romeo I preferred to linger in the darkness, to ink my words in my little studio apartment rather than run outside with the rest of my counterparts, who were often called "Young and Wild." I was young, perhaps but never wild. I had never felt lost, or unidentified or whatever else she had called herself before she left. "You just don't understand." She said, "I need to find me." She had explained while I stared after her as she stepped out into the corridor. I could see my neighbor across the hall, he glanced towards us while he stood beyond his door. I could see him taking his time rummaging through his pockets for his keys. "Geez, Kenny. You want to pull up a chair?" I snapped.
"See? This is just what I mean!" Cried Arietta, "You never listen to me!"
I never noticed how blotchy her face turned when she was angry, her rosacea always got worse when she was upset. I still had relief crème marks all over my pillows to prove her excessive use of product; evidently, it was useless in treating her condition. I don't remember what I said, but it somehow made her angrier with me. It seemed I could never win with her, whatever I said or thought made her go into the wrong direction. I was never good with women; they've always complicated things. I used to have a strict routine and a steady writing schedule. With Arietta, our lives were busy with bringing strays home or visiting children's hospitals to cheer on the dying. (I never understood that, if they were dying, they were dying.) Or the dreaded, Clean Green volunteer groups she used to force to join in on. It was a waste of my time. My publisher's last letter to me was a carefully worded warning. I needed to keep focus. I had brought this to her attention, and it was like standing in front of a shotgun.
I sat beyond my computer; my coffee was cold by now. Ah well, I have always enjoyed cold coffee. I started typing. Arietta, Arietta, Arietta. Her name was the only word I could write that day. Funny, I had earlier thought the universe seemed infinite.
I had decided to move like my fellow creatures outside; to walk down my hallways, and step into the busy streets below. I buried my hands in my pockets, my shoulders hunched towards my ears.
Okay, I was upset. I needed another cup of coffee.
There was a place I knew, she brought me there once. The window was written in green, things like 'Fair Trade' and 'Organic' gave the impression that this place served the best coffee you could ask for, and it did. "Black, please." I asked the barista, who started noting it down on a brown notepad. I paid the ridiculous amount and walked towards the pickup point. My coffee came in a grey paper cup, it was just the sort of color one would expect at these new, hip coffee joints. I walked out, sipping my cup as I wandered the streets and then I saw her...
Arietta.
My so-called muse was on a motorbike driven by some muscled individual, with her hair in the wind. Her hair was the same golden sheen that had beckoned me this morning to wake. What a moment in time, to stand there with my organic coffee, right across from the blowing engine of a vehicle that carried my girl away. Arietta had seemingly found herself, on the back of an oversized baboon. I chucked my coffee into the bin in an instant. She turned towards me then, and I stared. Her flushed cheeks were not her rosacea this time, she did not expect to see me so soon.
"Yo." I mouthed, the coolest greeting I could think of. My hands were back into my pockets.
She raised her chin, a rebellious sort of action that girls made to suggest they did not care. "Noah." She said while the other guy squinted his eyes at me as if I was an invisible being he was trying to discern. "This him?" He asked her in a way that suggested I was miles away when in truth I was barely a few feet from the pavement they were parked on. I did not like the man. I watched her dislodge from the oversized male, and press her feet to the floor, she did not look at me as she did. Her lips moved into the other man's direction, and I figured it was to reply to his two-worded question. I wanted to leave, but I didn't for fear I'd look weak or worse just awkward. I wanted to show her, that I could be an adult about this. "Noah, this is Jamesy."She said as a means of an introduction. "With a Y." He chipped in as if he was proud of that addition to an otherwise fine name. " Will try to remember that," I replied, sarcasm evident though Jamesy did not seem to understand sarcasm. Arietta did however and was now, glaring at me. "Is Jamesy a good listener, Ari? Hard to listen to anything beyond that engine, I'd think." I said while Jamesy laughed for no apparent reason other than his presumption that I was complimenting his bike. We argued again, the streets slowed down as we did, and Jamesy stepped back and mumbled something about "Baggage."
Damn it all, I was done.
"You judge everyone, Noah! Everyone! Nobody is good enough." She exploded while I remained on the sidewalk, hands still in my pockets. "Don't be angry at me, darling. Pour that enthusiasm into... what was it? Ah yes, finding yourself...that's it." I replied, with a nod towards her new boyfriend.
"Ooooh you fuck!" She hissed.
"Yes, The best fuck of your life." I agreed before I was thrown at. First, it was her tiny handbag, then Jamesy's helmet flew towards me, then her helmet and lastly her shoes. I heard numerous curses while I walked off, the curious thing throughout was that I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to kiss the bitch, while I remained mobile on the pathway towards an opposite direction. "You do not need that." I told myself, "You don't."
Needless to say, I remained in my godlike solitude for a while, Arietta became a demon, a nightmare, and at times she kissed me while I fought her, she screwed me while I fought her until my mind went blank and It was the only pleasure I felt. I could still recall how her voice turned when she whispered between short shattered breaths, it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard.
"Arietta." I murmured against my pillow. "You little bitch."
Below is my submission for the writing challenge, I rarely play Male as the main character, much less in First Person but in this one I do. I'm just trying to rein in some feedback, so here goes.
__________________________________________________________________________
The universe seemed infinite that day. I could not put my finger on it, but there was something about the sun, and how it gleamed beyond the curtains that made me think of guiding hands beckoning me towards the outside world, away from the darkness I preferred. I had to write that night and the night before. I had slept through the morning and had forgotten how vibrant the sky could look in such light. I held my coffee to my lips, the aroma of the fresh ground beans combined with the world rising outside was a majestic feeling. I was a god, basking in idleness watching my subjects move to seek their destinies, or so I liked to think. In truth, I was no one. Arietta had left me again, the woman I called my muse. My pen. My inspiration. She had packed her bags last week and walked out of my life forever. It was a final thing, to walk out; to simply, choose to leave and never return. Modern humans disgusted me. Modern; because to leave after such a whirlwind romance proved one to be nothing more than a pleasure seeker. An empty soul, in need of filling and filling again. There are so many of those now. I could not understand such a concept, for though I was always averse to relationships, I presumed Arietta would be different. Her musical name, her golden hair, those wide, blue eyes filled with understanding, was all for show. She was just like the rest of them, common and bored.
And though I too, was not a gifted Romeo I preferred to linger in the darkness, to ink my words in my little studio apartment rather than run outside with the rest of my counterparts, who were often called "Young and Wild." I was young, perhaps but never wild. I had never felt lost, or unidentified or whatever else she had called herself before she left. "You just don't understand." She said, "I need to find me." She had explained while I stared after her as she stepped out into the corridor. I could see my neighbor across the hall, he glanced towards us while he stood beyond his door. I could see him taking his time rummaging through his pockets for his keys. "Geez, Kenny. You want to pull up a chair?" I snapped.
"See? This is just what I mean!" Cried Arietta, "You never listen to me!"
I never noticed how blotchy her face turned when she was angry, her rosacea always got worse when she was upset. I still had relief crème marks all over my pillows to prove her excessive use of product; evidently, it was useless in treating her condition. I don't remember what I said, but it somehow made her angrier with me. It seemed I could never win with her, whatever I said or thought made her go into the wrong direction. I was never good with women; they've always complicated things. I used to have a strict routine and a steady writing schedule. With Arietta, our lives were busy with bringing strays home or visiting children's hospitals to cheer on the dying. (I never understood that, if they were dying, they were dying.) Or the dreaded, Clean Green volunteer groups she used to force to join in on. It was a waste of my time. My publisher's last letter to me was a carefully worded warning. I needed to keep focus. I had brought this to her attention, and it was like standing in front of a shotgun.
I sat beyond my computer; my coffee was cold by now. Ah well, I have always enjoyed cold coffee. I started typing. Arietta, Arietta, Arietta. Her name was the only word I could write that day. Funny, I had earlier thought the universe seemed infinite.
I had decided to move like my fellow creatures outside; to walk down my hallways, and step into the busy streets below. I buried my hands in my pockets, my shoulders hunched towards my ears.
Okay, I was upset. I needed another cup of coffee.
There was a place I knew, she brought me there once. The window was written in green, things like 'Fair Trade' and 'Organic' gave the impression that this place served the best coffee you could ask for, and it did. "Black, please." I asked the barista, who started noting it down on a brown notepad. I paid the ridiculous amount and walked towards the pickup point. My coffee came in a grey paper cup, it was just the sort of color one would expect at these new, hip coffee joints. I walked out, sipping my cup as I wandered the streets and then I saw her...
Arietta.
My so-called muse was on a motorbike driven by some muscled individual, with her hair in the wind. Her hair was the same golden sheen that had beckoned me this morning to wake. What a moment in time, to stand there with my organic coffee, right across from the blowing engine of a vehicle that carried my girl away. Arietta had seemingly found herself, on the back of an oversized baboon. I chucked my coffee into the bin in an instant. She turned towards me then, and I stared. Her flushed cheeks were not her rosacea this time, she did not expect to see me so soon.
"Yo." I mouthed, the coolest greeting I could think of. My hands were back into my pockets.
She raised her chin, a rebellious sort of action that girls made to suggest they did not care. "Noah." She said while the other guy squinted his eyes at me as if I was an invisible being he was trying to discern. "This him?" He asked her in a way that suggested I was miles away when in truth I was barely a few feet from the pavement they were parked on. I did not like the man. I watched her dislodge from the oversized male, and press her feet to the floor, she did not look at me as she did. Her lips moved into the other man's direction, and I figured it was to reply to his two-worded question. I wanted to leave, but I didn't for fear I'd look weak or worse just awkward. I wanted to show her, that I could be an adult about this. "Noah, this is Jamesy."She said as a means of an introduction. "With a Y." He chipped in as if he was proud of that addition to an otherwise fine name. " Will try to remember that," I replied, sarcasm evident though Jamesy did not seem to understand sarcasm. Arietta did however and was now, glaring at me. "Is Jamesy a good listener, Ari? Hard to listen to anything beyond that engine, I'd think." I said while Jamesy laughed for no apparent reason other than his presumption that I was complimenting his bike. We argued again, the streets slowed down as we did, and Jamesy stepped back and mumbled something about "Baggage."
Damn it all, I was done.
"You judge everyone, Noah! Everyone! Nobody is good enough." She exploded while I remained on the sidewalk, hands still in my pockets. "Don't be angry at me, darling. Pour that enthusiasm into... what was it? Ah yes, finding yourself...that's it." I replied, with a nod towards her new boyfriend.
"Ooooh you fuck!" She hissed.
"Yes, The best fuck of your life." I agreed before I was thrown at. First, it was her tiny handbag, then Jamesy's helmet flew towards me, then her helmet and lastly her shoes. I heard numerous curses while I walked off, the curious thing throughout was that I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to kiss the bitch, while I remained mobile on the pathway towards an opposite direction. "You do not need that." I told myself, "You don't."
Needless to say, I remained in my godlike solitude for a while, Arietta became a demon, a nightmare, and at times she kissed me while I fought her, she screwed me while I fought her until my mind went blank and It was the only pleasure I felt. I could still recall how her voice turned when she whispered between short shattered breaths, it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard.
"Arietta." I murmured against my pillow. "You little bitch."