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    PSEUDONAME 1

    Running head: PSEUDONAME

    PSEUDONAME

    English 315 Creative Writing II

    Missouri State University

    Brendan BAKER Schmidt

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    PSEUDONAME

    The End

    The smash shakes the ground, rippling out shock-waves that travel for miles. The

    concrete building sways, looking as if it's about to topple over. A mixture of metal rods, beamsand glass fall street-side crushing the pavement forcing it to buckle and fall into the sewers

    below. The smell of the city's sewage overcomes the scene. Rotting rat carcasses and humanbyproduct overwhelm my mind. My stomach takes control as I fall to my knees grasping my

    abdomen. Like a brick being forced through my throat, my lunch finds my mouth for the secondtime. I try and hold back the vomit, forcing myself to relax and not think of my current

    surroundings. I close my mouth by wrapping my lips under my teeth, pressing down to forcethem shut. I place my hands over my ears to block out the war behind me. Forcing my mind to

    stop, slowing down my thoughts and concentrating on the moment. I have put forth so much

    effort over the past few months to warp my mind in a type of cerebral saran-warp to protect thosearound me. I could sense the looming power lurk inside my empty stomach. Another crashbolsters through my hands ricocheting through my ear beating on my mind like a drum. I open

    my eyes and turn to the cause of the crash. Still on my knees I place my hands on the ground andpush, twisting my body in a 180 fashion. Over my head flies a blue BMW, head-first crashing

    against a glass building down the crumbling street. It's hood slices into the towering giantleaving a shattering rainfall in its wake. Quickly redirecting its vector in a sharp motion

    alongside of the building it now topples downward towards the street tumbling away like afootball. Suddenly the BMW stops, and rises from the street. Mac raises the beamer from the

    ground placing its heavy burden over his head. His back and arms bend backwards readying forthe throw. He snaps his muscles forward and the car launches into the air. I hear the crash of the

    car but take myself to my feet. I dare not take my sight off Mac, I think to myself, he might beable to help me. I take off running towards the Super, dodging catapulted cars and razor sharp

    glass. Titan! I yell at Mac.Andrew! I reach him out of breath, panting as sweat drops from the face.

    Titan... She's... She's.. I stutter over my words.I know Andrew, I know. Are you hurt? Huffing, I give him a look of confusion. Are

    you hurt?No.. I'm Fine. But Naut is dead and I can't find the others. I think... I think they might all

    be de...STOP! He yells, We need to keep our cal...Fuck! Titan grabs me tight pulling me

    towards his chest popping several of my vertebra, and leaps. An oil trunk crashes and incinerateseverything around where I just was standing. I see the ground distance itself from us as Mac uses

    his super-strength to catapult us in the air. The explosion launches us so high the sounds of battleand smell of feces vanish. We enter a cloud dense with water. I can feel the moisture collect on

    my face, refreshing my senses. We exit the cloud as quickly as we entered it, above us lies thedark blue heavens of the open sky. Feelings of serenity and tranquility course through my body.

    We're too high! Mac yells. The sounds of the passing wind muffle his words but I still hear himclearly. When we come down we'll hit the ground with too great of a speed. Ever so slowly did

    our acceleration diminish as we began to reach the peak of our flight. Our bodies for a mere

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    PSEUDONAME 3

    moment are completely weightless and with that instance my mind reflects.

    The Middle

    Andrew, nice to finally get the chance to meet you. Please take a seat.Do I get the couch or the chair?

    Either of which you prefer. Most choose the couch, but I must say the chair is far morerelaxing.

    The couch, please. I step towards the couch dazily, confused about my intentions. Whywas I here? I approach the couch taking the pillows occupying the seat and move them over to

    the opposite side. The couch was comfortable enough, not too hard not too soft, quite relaxing ifI may say so.

    Your mother has spoken a great deal about you to me, and to be honest Im quite excited

    about getting to know you. Her voice was soothing and also sounding as something was to bedesired. What personal gain could she get by trying to tinker with my mind? I want to start byyou telling me why you think you're here. If you don't mind.

    I'm here... I was at a loss for words. My mother had talked me into coming here after Igot out of the hospital, but I never really asked myself why. She is worried for my well being, I

    know this, but nothing really connected. I'm here, because my mother referred me to you. She'sbeen seeing you for several months now and it's helped her deal with things better, I guess. She

    wants me to be able to as well. But as for why I'm really here? I don't know.Many people come to see me for reasons they don't even know. But to speak with me

    about your issues won't solve them. When it comes to figuring out the solution to a problem, it'son your hands. I can merely help guide you towards a better way with dealing with your personal

    expression. At all of our ages we never can seem to gain a grip on our emotions, and manypeople, including myself, need to talk with someone who's knowledgeable with emotions. They

    can help us understand what we really feel but what we choose to do with that interpretation isup to, well, the person. No one person can force you to choose one way or another, and anyone

    who tries is merely manipulating you into thinking so.I can agree with all of that.

    Well good. I would like to start by you telling me some details about yourself.I'm 16, soon to be 17. I attend.. I pause for a moment and restart that sentence, I did

    attend Columbia University High School for the Gifted. But due to some health problems I washospitalized for several weeks and cannot finish the semester. I don't go out, I don't have any

    friends, and I don't like change. Why were you hospitalized for several weeks?

    I was in a coma for 3 weeks.Oh, dear. Why?

    The doctors don't really know. Several other of my peers were there too, but none stayedas long as me. No one was comatose for more than 2 days, other than me.

    That's terrible.I'm fine now.

    What happened?

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    PSEUDONAME 4

    I really cannot say, I don't remember. She's so inquisitive, I don't see why this has

    anything to do with anything. She continues on for 45 minutes asking questions about school,friends, my mother. However, she always brought the topic back to the hospital.What really

    does this have to do with anything?Oh, well, I'm just trying to understand some things about your past. Trauma leaves a

    very large burden on us, more so in the unconscious mind. Your mother told me... (DING) Hersentence was cut short by the ring of the doorbell downstairs. It looks like my next client is

    here. I glance at the clock on the table next to the chair, 4:50pm. my session was only supposedto last until 4:30. Alright, we'll pickup on this topic next week. But I want you to do something

    for me in the meantime. A voice calls out form downstairs interrupting her.Jane! You here? A man yells out.

    I'll be right down! She turns to me and continues to say, I want you to keep a journalof all the things that are on your mind. You won't have to show me this journal, but I I want to try

    to bring some things into the foreground. Alright? Will you do this for me? Without any thought

    I replied.Yes.Good, now off you go. I will see you the same time next week. I stand up and walk out

    the house ignoring anything about my surroundings, including the man who had stopped Janefrom telling me what my mother told her. That bugs me, people talking about me behind my

    back. Just doesn't seem fair. I prefer if someone has something to say about me they say it to myface.

    I continue home thinking about what had gone on in the house. When I committed myselfto keeping a journal of my thoughts I hadn't really been listening. I wanted to know what my

    mother had told her. So with that thought in my head I pulled out a study Black Warrior penciland a fresh, clean notebook. I sit down in-front of the boob-tube and begin my writings while

    watching the evening news. I didn't get far, a few blurby sentences, before the news anchorcaught my attention. Early this morning everyone's favorite super, Titan, saved a school bus of

    children from the wicked villain known as Vermin. The vicious Vermin hi-jacked the school buson its morning route, taking the children hostage. Before police could even arrive on the scene

    Titan had tagged-and-bagged the vile Vermin. From everyone here at Channel 5, we thank youTitan. I quickly take my pencil and being writing whatever thoughts come to my mind.

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    PSEUDONAME 5

    The Middle (continued)

    So what have you written?Whatever was on my mind when I had time. I sink into the couch as Jane begins the

    session of questions.Can I see them? I hand her notebook. She takes a minute or two to analyze the contents

    of the document giving an expressionless look for the majority of the time. A slight smile comesover her mouth as her eyes shift up to meet mine. Very interesting. Motivation is a key element

    in understanding the world around us, but more importantly, the people in that world. We oftenhave a hard time understanding the various perspectives each individual may perceive.

    Putting yourself in someone else's shoes.Precisely. But do you think we can ever really enter someone else's shoes? I ponder for

    a few moments, trying to picture myself in loafing around in another's shoes. I think of mymother and the hardships she's encountered in her life; the death of her parents, the loss of a

    husband, and the recent trauma in my life. It doesn't make me sad, not anymore, nothing does.No. I don't think we can ever truly feel what someone else feels. We would need their

    experiences, their faults and perfections, their past and essentially their future.Feel what they feel..She said it in the way as if she was referring to a larger point,

    How so?

    Without the experiences that make a person who they are, we can never truly understand

    what they've been through. And even then people all have a different way of interpreting theworld around them, whose to say one's sadness is the same as another's?

    Wouldn't you assume that sadness transcends personal reality and acts more as acollective, existing more in the unconscious mind?

    How so?It was Carl Jung who stated his theory of a 'collective unconscious' in which everyone's

    personality was formulated from the series of events through self actualization. Meaning the

    January 8th, 2008

    Why do superheroes save us? (Titan - saved school bus)

    January 10th, 2008

    Over the last few days I've done some thinking over that question, keeping me up at night. Supers willinglyrisk their lives to rescue humans, right. But why? Personal gain aside from an ego trip is public glory. But whatmotivates them? (Naut saved suicide jumper.)

    January 11th, 2008

    Personal glory could have something to do with it but what about satisfaction? When humans eat food, they

    get satisfied, the same goes for almost every receptive task, an adrenaline rush maybe? (Elastic saved a speeding

    train)

    Jan 12, 08

    Mom's making fish........ again.

    January 14 2008

    Motivation pushes all of us to do something, but what in root cause powers motivation? I look at the news onTV and aside from Supers saving mankind I see people getting shot, house burning down and women getting raped. Thissick world we live in makes me thank the gods for the Supers. (Ironically no super activity today)

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    events we experience in our lives shapes our outcome and who we are. Ultimately this collective

    stands in an absolute form. So in simple terms everyone gets the same set of criteria to decideupon, but no one consciously makes these choices, it's done in our subconscious thought

    process. What Jane just said intrigues me. My mind starts to rush with knowledge of analyticalpsychology and I connect the dots.

    So, theoretically if someone could tap into that subconscious reality they would beconnected to everyone's sub-inherent thought?

    In a matter of words, yes, I supposed they could. (DING)Is our time over already?

    I believe so for today. Will you continue to write in your journal for me?I guess.

    Good. I will see you next week. I stood up and walk out of the door. For the first time Inotice the off-white color of the the walls and the plush green carpet. I head downstairs, only to

    find an empty room. Where's the man? I head to the front door and reach for the handle. It

    suddenly turns and the door comes swinging open, striking my forehead. The force of theopening door is tremendous, pushing me back nearly four feet.Oh, my, Im so very sorry! Are you ok? Its the same man from the previous week.

    Yea, I'm... I say as I attempt the rub out the pain. Jane comes swiftly down the stepsafter hearing the noise.

    Is everything okay?Yeah, I just decided to assault your other client, Jane. Sorry about that.

    Are you okay Andrew? Jane asks me.Yes, just dandy. I say sarcastically.

    Oh, well good. Um... Andrew this is Mac, your assaulter. Mac this is Andrew.

    The End (continued)

    For the moment I feel like Neil Armstrong taking that first jump onto lunar soil. Thatslow fall to the surface, while your lunch hovers inside your stomach, weightless. It isn't long

    before our decent surpasses our ascent velocity. Like a metal to an electromagnet, Mac and Iplummet back to where we once came from. As we reenter the rain-clouds, our hair all astray

    from the increasing wind, the memory of my grandfather comes to the foreground. On rainy dayshe would tell us jokes for entertainment and for some odd reason my favorite was always, You

    know Andrew, it's not the fall that kills you, it's that sudden stop. Without fail that statementalways forces me to chuckle, and this time was no different. As we b-line for the ground I crack a

    laugh, our bodies still tightly wrapped together by Titan's arms. We exit the clouds with me stilllaughing.

    What's so funny?Huh? Oh, just a joke my grandpa used to tell us. I say while I laugh.

    You're plummeting to your demise and you're laughing, must be a good joke.No, not really, thats the funny thing. The cityscape appears below us in all its metallic

    glory. I feel like Im a missile rocketing towards a predetermined target, and on impact my visionwill turn into white-noise.

    Hold on tight! Titan yells. I clinch every muscle in my body. My eyes are wide-shut to

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    PSEUDONAME 7

    the point where it hurts. The sounds of crashing glass and boom explosions range back into my

    head. The smells of the city, again, consume my mind. I open my eyes slightly as we fall into acove between buildings far from where we once were, I think this is Sixth Street. Windows

    rushing by us, I watch our reflection. I glance towards the ground and like a drop of bloodseeping into the empty spaces of a white shirt, a red stretchy surface extends to all four corners

    of the pavements below.Elastic! Is the only thing Mac is able to say before we enter the rubber-band like Super.

    We quickly decelerate still traveling towards the ground. And like something from a cartoon weslowly and genteelly come to a stop. Right as one would think we were to rebound like off a

    trampoline Elastic unravels, dropping us to the ground to resume his normal form. I was alive.Elastic, where are the others?

    Mate, I dont know how to tell you this, but I think they're all dead...Naut is dead. I say

    Joan, Plato, Felix, Stella, Marvin, Quicksilver, Puck... And with every name Titan asks,

    Elastic just shakes his head, a dead look in his eye. I can feel his pain and sorrow, this distance,the turmoil. These were his friends, brothers and sisters at arms, defAndrews of justice and law,his family. Mac, like me, shows no emotion. He knows he must carry on, otherwise he will join

    the rest. There is a battle to be fought.A crash sounds as stone pieces burst from a nearby building, its contents spilling out

    filling the street with remnants of history and culture. I look to Titan, his eyes are stern andfocused, he knows what he must do. Stay here, Andrew. Elastic, ready? He shakes his head in

    affirmation. Good. Mac looks at me and says, Remember what I've told you. Do what youcan, but no matter what, stay alive. A nearby building explodes, bursting like a balloon,

    scattering rubble and debris everywhere. With a blink of an eye a metal beam as sharp as kitchencutlery catapults for us at blistering speeds. Before we even have time to react it enters Elastic's

    body, exiting on the same plane. His blood smears across our faces as his body consumes part ofthe velocity and bolsters back into the building behind us sticking like a dart. FUCK! Screams

    Titan. He clinches his eyes and looks to root of the blast. From the smoky remnants arises asilhouetted frame. A female, slAndrew in body yet gifted, slightly glides above the ground. With

    no physical body part touching the ground.Greetings the one they call, Titan. A voice calls out, cast with an echo of vibrant force.

    Mac doesn't say anything, he just stands there. The smoke begins to clear. An all-black-mattedsuit with fine-line loops of orange and blue that wrap around the body covers the figure. Her skin

    as coarse as sand, with lips sewn shut. Her hairs flutters out as if touching an electromagnet. Shehas no eyelids, and where her eyes should be lies a black ominous hole, void of anything. My

    name is Meredith.I know who you are. Mac speaks. And I want you to leave now, and go back to the

    hell you came from.NEVER! Her lips are sewn shut... How is it she speak... Telepathy.

    Clever kid. She moves towards Mac and I.Don't move, Andrew. Her movement was quick, as though she melded with the air, she

    whisks around us. She has no feet, I think to myself, she's just... air?A spiral of color twists around me like the wind, her face becomes slightly visible

    floating right in front of my own. I don't feel a thing.

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    PSEUDONAME 8

    So stern this one, fearless, yet so fragile. Andrew, is it? Why would a handsome boy like

    you be hanging around an old archaic thing like super-lad over here? I look to Mac, he doesn'tlook back. He's staring straight forward as though the wench never moved. No matter. It's not as

    though the world will have its guardian-angel for long. Mac's eyes didn't move. She circlesaround Titan, rising to his face. Is there anything big strongTitan is afraid of?

    Him. He refers to me... why? What does he have to fear from me?HIM! Why you ignorant fool, you, like your friends, will pay. She elevates her airy

    body. Still no movement from Titan, why isn't he doing anything? To your knees! Like a dogTitan falls to his knees. I cant move... I'm frozen. Mac must be too! Telekinesis? You cease to

    impress me child. Now, Andrew, watch the power of a true Super.Titan, get up! TITAN! He just stares. Mac get up, do something! Mac! Mac! The

    feeling of power fills the air, Titan's chest begins to protrude. The air intensifies as Mac's chestbolsters. I continue to yell, MAC! MAC! DO SOMETHING! Meredith beings to scream, the

    screech filling my ears. It drafts a sound I've never heard, as though she was ripping soul from

    body. My eardrums feel like bursting. Suddenly inside my very chest I feel something...something deep in that figurative core.. I feel... anger, sadness, violent, grungy, death, life,happiness, joy, glee, pain, sorrow, sexual, pure, but most predominate, power.. Mac's eyes dart to

    meet mine, and with that his chest ruptures. His bones smack my face and blood showers mybody.

    I regain some sense of reality, and my sight, wiping the blood from my eyes as I look upto Meredith. I see in midair, floating there, Titan's core, his soulhis heart.

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    The Middle (continued... again)

    Over the past few months, I became obsessed with Supers and their abilities. My desire to

    become something more than just a mere human drives my mind wild with creative ideas. So itseems in this world of mass chaos and treacherous villainy, our need for the Supers grows by

    with the passing minute. The police, having to deal with the escalation in crime, look to theSupers for protection and so do the people of the world. However, this comes at a great cost.

    The moment I met Mac, I knew his secret. He is a man who has a lot to hide, thus entrusts

    his secrets with a person who knows how to deal with a great deal of life's challenges. Thoughshe does not have the experience of being able to throw cars and rescue people from burning

    buildings, Jane possesses the ability to comfort one's mind and bring it to a state of solitude. Itwas in the past a defense of mine to hide those secrets I hold most dearthe reasoning behind my

    hospital trip. So today, I've decided, I will tell her. What's troubling you today Andrew?

    Oh, nothing. Just... I pause. I don't want to do it, but at the same time I know she canhelp. If Mac can divulge information such as his secrets to her, so can I. The first time I camehere I told you about my being hospitalized for a long period of time. Three weeks to be more

    precise.Yes, I remember. I position myself in a comfortable manner on the comfy chair and

    begin to reveal my secrets.

    The Beginning

    I sit at the large marble table reading over the my lab findings for a chemical imbalancefor TH and KA. I glance at Mark, my lab partner. Did you get the co-efficient for the problem?

    Not yet, I'm trying to figure it out right now. Did you find the balance for the two?Dude, this is pretty fucked up. I hate chemistry. I run my warm fingertips over the cold

    marble surface feeling every scar left by generations previous. My mind can't help but wanderinto the unknown vast origins of universe, trying to contemplate the true existence of love. For

    the first time in my recent memory I feel this way about someone. Their beauty overwhelms mysenses and consumes my mind. I understand the fact that it has only been 5 weeks since my

    coming out, but I can't help but feel this overpowering will to be with someone. My mind andbody have been tangled in this web of lies and deceit for such a long time, I was beginning to

    feel as though love was just an unspoken lie. Created by the media as a form of self expressionstowards the greater benefit of their bank accounts. Growing up in a predominantly white

    Christian family with high morals and pious expectations, being gay was formidable deal. Itranks with that of teen-pregnancy and drug abuse. Some even vouch saying that being gay, since

    it has no cure or remedy, amounts to being worse. But what do they know?For the first time in my desolate life, after ages of loneliness and solitude, my mind is free

    to think what it wants, and I am free tofeelwhat I wanted. The desire to hold and be held byanother man drives imagination crazy. I catch a glance from Nathan, the boy that fills my

    thoughts, from across the room. His eyes tell a story of gentle serenity and desperate temptation,a deadly combination. I've have been talking with him and speaking about the general idea of

    maybe treating him to a mentionable night on the town, but I have yet to hear a reply from his

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    PSEUDONAME 10

    sweet lips. Oh, those lips, how I desire thee. I close my eyes, in an attempt to assume and feel his

    desire towards me. Hoping that somewhere in the great cosmos that thoughts fill, I might be ableto hint towards the true nature of his feelings. Does he like me? Is he interested? All questions

    any newly admitting homosexual would have. My mind darts, shooting around emotions ofdesire, sexuality, happiness and joy. All of these emotions drive through my mind as I think of

    Nathan. It's almost as if we are connecting on some mental level, sharing and exchanging ouremotions.

    I attempt to open my eyes. I feel my legs relax and weaken, as my body tumbles to thefloor. I feel no pain. My mind begins to trap my body as I enter the unknown state of mental

    reflection. Thoughts begin to fill my head. That of worry and fear from those surrounding mecourse through my veins. My mind panics, running wild like a monkey trying to escape from his

    cage, bouncing off every wall, banging in hopes to gain freedom. My brain begins to fill withuncharted memories and feelings. Starting with those of Nathan's, then those of random people

    in the room. Ashley's mother's drinking problem. Derek's drug addiction. More and more flow

    into my head. After several seconds the memories fade but their emotions heighten. I begin tofeel that of Ashley's mother and the reasoning as to why she takes to the bottle and beats herchildren. She finds gratification from the pain she amounts on her children and the torture she

    places them under. Thousands of these thoughts branching from one person to others, most I'venever met. Faster and faster they fill my mind until, they begin to spill out. I can hear people

    around me screaming in pain, or crying to torture. Nathan's voice was more potent. He is askingfor someone to kill him, because the grief is such a burden.

    More and more feelings overflow from my mind, absorbing themselves inside the mindsof those around me. I, having no control over what was happening, begin the twitch on the

    ground. The emotions overwhelm my body, taking their toll on my muscles. Screaming is theonly thing I can hear now. The sounds of children and adults sharing a moment of sheer agony. It

    wasn't just the classroom, no, I could feel that of every student and every teacher inside my entireschool. All screaming from the discomfort and misery. Everyone having no idea what truly was

    happening, not even me.The screams start to fade as one by one students reach their tolerance for pain, and begin

    to pass out. Their minds place them into a deep rest, rebooting their brains, unable tocomprehend the current state of events. Now on the ground my body rattles and shakes,

    convulsing in terror of the connection with everyone. Suddenly I stop. My mind clears itself ofall matters concerning personal affection and opens to the vast and unlimited connection of the

    unconscious. I feel... nothing... nothing but a connection with every living human being onearth, and beyond. A connection that can only be be described as a link to subconscious. It is

    impossible for me to elaborate any further, only that I feel what everyone else in this world feels,and more devastatingly I can control what everyone else feels. I fear for this connection, this

    state of dreaming and recall my mind to the upper levels of consciousness trying to resume mymodus operandi, but only resulting in failure. My mind draws a blank picture of black. The vast

    openness consumes my body, and I fall victim to my own thoughts.

    The Middle (continued... again, again)

    I spent the next 4 weeks in a coma, contemplating the feelings of those I had gathered. I

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    PSEUDONAME 11

    didn't know what they where, but more importantly, I didn't know whose they were.

    That's quite a tale, Andrew.I assure you its all tru...

    I know you're telling the truth, Andrew. From our talks I could sense there wassomething that was hiding. And by studying your ways of interaction with people, your lack of

    feeling and showing of emotion, lead me to conclude that this hospitalized time was indeed ledon by a series of strenuous events. All of which somehow effected you directly in an emotional

    way.When I woke up from the coma, I didn't know my own thoughts and feelings from those

    I had gathered. It was mixed between all these people and their emotions, so I separated myselffrom my feelings. Knowing my feelings are what triggered this instance in the first place, I got as

    far away from them as possible.Keeping yourself distanced from your emotions will only lead to an even greater scene

    of events.

    What do you mean?You locked your true feelings up for such an extended period of time, when you finallyallowed yourself to feel, they unleashed consuming the thoughts, somehow tapping into the

    unconscious that connects us all. Everyone in this world feels something, whether it be happinessor fear, they feel it. So, if everyone in this world feels, we all have to receive this information

    from the same place, some call this a collective unconscious. This unconsciousness connects allof us, and if somehow you were to able to communicate with this and manipulate it, you could in

    turn, be able to control people's motives. The true root to all nature, some might say.

    The Real AndrewMy heart is pounding. Nothing I could ever say could truly describe how I feel at this

    moment. I had to face the truth; Titan was dead, and I was alone. I glance at my hands, they're

    covered in Mac's blood. His lifeless body lies fallen next to mine. A gaping hole resides wherehis chest once was. I think to myself about why Mac said he fears me. I recollect on the things

    Jane once told me, about the ability to tap into the subconscious mind and somehow controlpeoples motivations. Was it true? Was I a Super? My whole life I yearned for something more, a

    larger purpose for life and my meaning. But I just came to think that all that was a normalhappenstance for humans, and that we all want something more.

    Mac's heart fell to the ground, causing a thud that catches my attention. With my focusback on the Super Meredith she spoke, He fears you because you hold the ability no other being

    could think imaginable.What's that?

    Your gift pushes the boundaries of man, elevating them to a new level. She begins tocircle me. All the pain you have caused to that school of children. All because you let your

    feelings out. You know what happened to most of them? They ended up in a psych-ward withimbalanced personality disorders. Some went crazy killings those they loved, and some just

    reverted back to their primal states, blocking out all higher thought process.I don't believe you.

    Well you should. She pauses and switches voices. Her godly resonation turns into

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    PSEUDONAME 12

    something much less sinistera voice of a young male. Andrew. That voice. I know that

    voice...Nathan? The airy Super fades into smoke and carries away with the blowing wind. The

    illusion of a demon lady fades, her eye wide and unblinking became a memory. A silhouettearises in the shadows from the broken buildings. A boy emerges from the rubble. Nathan, the boy

    my heart has fallen for climbs down the crush concrete.Hello, Andrew.

    Nathan, what are you doing? I ask.Paying you back for the pain you caused me. Ever since that day my mind has been

    overwhelmed by the looming emotions of others. All because of you, and your ability. Empathyis a very dangerous tool to use, and against others? You forced the world's feelings into the heads

    of all of us.Nathan, I had no choice... I wasn't in control of...

    It doesn't matter now, Andrew. The deed is done, and soon we won't have to worry about

    the destruction you can cause. Your power will no longer be abused by the likes of you or anyoneelse.Nathan, I beg you please don't do this... With that he looks up at my and mutters the

    words of I'm sorry, slowly across his lips. He closes his eyes to summon his powers. My bodybegins to feel a pressure. I must not let him see my pain, I tell myself, I need to stay strong. The

    pain grows as I feel my ribs begin to separate. My voice starts to quibble and a screech finds itsway out of my mouth. With every passing second the pain grows, my heart starts to race,

    pumping blood to my muscles which try to fend off against the growing strength. My back isbent, arching my chest outward. His screams get louder and more verbose. Pain is no longer

    causing the screaming, now its sheer force. My body begins to elevate off the ground, my armsand feet dangle in the rising. My head bent back, mouth open. I feel the rain enter my mouth,

    touching my lips and tongue, reminding my of the towering jump I had taken only minutes ago.It is with this memory, I decide to close my eyes and open my mind. It is with this breath

    that I will change the future of this world.

    50 Years After

  • 8/14/2019 Pseudo Name

    13/13

    PSEUDONAME 13

    May 14th, 2058

    It is now, for the first time in 50 years, I decide to tell the tale in the journal of that faithful day. The day I

    opened my mind to the unconscious of all man. With the developing of my ability I amounted to outcomes of being able

    to completely manipulate that of emotions, the root to all actions. With my ability, I took it upon myself, to change the

    outcome of the human race. That moment facing off against Meredith I took away for all life, the eerie essence ofwhat makes us free. And replaced it uniformity.

    Since my doing so our world has been cured of crimes of man against man, no longer is there war, or murder,

    just peace of prosperity. I rid the world of famine and replaced it with growth. The cures for AIDS, Cancer, TB, MS,amongst dozens of other has led to their irradiation.

    Still in this time of perfection, I lack anything of the olden days, when I was allowed to feel for another. The

    desire to touch another and be with someone no longer looms in the minds of others, just me. I am writing this on mydeathbed and any moment I will expire. And with me, my rules will cease to exist. The world will once again feel

    compassionately for one anther and as a side-effect war will come.

    I am writing this for reasons even unknown to myself, so maybe someday when humans look back upon the time

    of unprecedented progress and peace they might see the error of their ways. But the question I ask, was it all in vein?

    Should we sacrifice everything we hold most dear for the betterment of our species? I have granted all a taste of

    perfection, a society without reason to live, a society that obeys without second thought, and I can say withouthesitation, I am ready to die.