Rosalie

Rosalie

by

Patrick Harron

Rosalie was a lonely girl,

but no one knew quite why.

She sat alone in a field of bone,

and looked up at the sky.

She could not hear the heavens weep,

nor hear the angels cry.

All she did was close her eyes,

an' allow herself to die.

Part IV: Abberation

Abberation

The first known instance of what would later become known as an aberration took place on October 3rd at 1:36 am GMT, when Japanese authorities responded to a call of a wild animal on the loose in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo.

Those that survived the initial contact with the creature described at "ferocious, intelligent, and completely malevolent." by the end of the indecent it took the efforts of over 30 police officers with support from the Japanese Defense Force to take it down.

The creature, described as a humanoid reptilian creature over 2m tall. With 17cm long claws, and hide tough enough to stop bullets. It was capable of tearing through steel and stone, as easily as flesh and its rampage resulted in 12 deaths, and 37 injuries of various severity. The Prime Minister of Japan tried her best to cover up the incident but it wasn't long till images and video of the event were loose on the internet causing a flurry of media coverage, even more so when the world realized it was not a hoax.

Thought to be an isolated incident, most blamed contamination from the alien ship, while others blamed the suggestive techniques of a prominent biological engineering firm known for its questionable practices. It wouldn't be till a similar attack, miles away off the coast of Hawaii that people would begin to grow concerned.

Autopsy of the second creature would reveal some startling facts covered up during the Japan attack. The creature was human. Human DNA had been exposed to some sort of unstable retrovirus, the result turning the helpless victim into a rampaging beast. Additionally, the agent, believed to be of alien origin, had been discovered in roughly 80% of the population with most people experiencing no symptoms. Additional studies, provided little useful data.

It has been theorized that the agent can cause an allergic reaction that caused the cells of the body to react in an unusual manner and alter the DNA in ways that were unpredictable. What's worse, there was no way to predict who would suffer a negative reaction.

It wasn't long until the appearance of these creatures, known as aberrations, hit the continental United States and began terrorizing its citizens.

Metahumans

The alien contamination was not wholly without advantageous effect. It was discovered, by chance, that instances of people displaying unusual physical characteristics. Enhanced strength, speed, agility, even mental acuity, had been observed to various degrees in a small percentage of the population. The government began recruiting these exception individuals to combat the Aberrations, as well as to keep America safe, with many being stationed at the wall to provide additional security.

Laws were passed requiring all citizens with extraordinary abilities to register with the government and, later additional bills were passed altering the selective service system so that all metahumans (regardless of gender) were required to serve a term of four years in the armed forces.

As a result the strength of the American military swelled, and its ability to police, and protect itself grew, the threat of aberrations was contained, and became another, carefully monitored, tool of the military.

The Dark Side of Power

More recently there have been disturbing reports. Stories of the possibility that metahumans could devolve into an aberration. More than once, it had been observed that some individuals who overuse their powers, develop mental instability. If this illness is left untreated and the individual continues to use their power it is widely believed that they risk devolving into a Aberration. Though the scientific validity of this theory has been hotly debated, agents in the field have routine physicals, and mental evaluations.

Part III: The Craft

The Craft

The ship that crash landed into the New Jersey coastline created an unprecedented level of fear and confusion in the United States as well as around the world. It had become the most significant event in human history, and every news outlet was covering little else. It had become the most widespread topic of destruction, and analysts, writers, and scientists all speculated on its origin, and purpose.

Even the greatest minds had no answers, their guesses were as good as the speculation of a child, and no hypothesis was thrown out, and they all scrambled to discover facts that would back up their hypothesis.

What they did know was little, and raised far more questions than it answered. They knew that the ship was roughly 1200m wide with a smooth, polished, metallic surface that did not match any known materials native to planet earth. It had no obvious openings or windows, though it had signs of external damage upon impact, these seemed to repair themselves, as if the metal had properties more consistent in a living life form.

The most notable feature perhaps, is it that is surrounded by an energy field, a force field protecting it from intrusion, and seemingly invulnerable to any weapon made by man. Numerous attempts have been made over the years to penetrate the barrier, and all have resulted in failure.

The Slums

The area around the craft is mostly barren, the impact of the ship having destroyed most of the buildings, and landscape of the area. The crater extended out into the Atlantic and much of the crash site is now submerged.

The people that survived the impact were negligible, but even the surrounding areas had significant amounts of their infrastructure destroyed, leaving many homeless, or without power. Those that had nowhere to go or no money were stuck. They became statistics, nameless faces in an ever growing numbers of people that had not yet learned they were casualties. 

As the numbers of homeless grew the area around the crash site became the location of temporary shelters, but as the numbers swelled they could not sustain the people, and the area devolved into a slum, the last refuge for the truly desperate. The army tried to keep the peace and to turn people away but with prewar tensions on the rise they could do little to keep order.

The Wall

Therefore the government decided to construct a wall around the crash site, as much to keep people out as to contain the alien ship. Many were given temporary jobs, building the 600m wall. It was difficult work, and many died during its construction. Worse still, as the war broke out many sections had to be repaired, and other rebuilt entirely. 

A military base was placed at the base of the wall not far from the slums. Its job was to man the watch towers, so that nobody got into the crash site, as well as to conduct studies of the ship and the surrounding area.

The military presence also served to regulate the slums, by handing out what little food supplies, and doing its best to give the people medical treatment. Despite offers from foreign powers, the United States accepted to aid, believing that any offers were thinly veiled attempts to gain access to the craft. 

The overpopulation of the slums would eventually solve itself, as famine, and disease, spread across the encampment, claiming countless more lives. The soldiers did what they could but eventually another, smaller, wall was built to quarantine the area, and access to the slums was restricted. In the slums people continued to kill, starve, and die, while the rest of the nation tried its best to ignore their suffering.

Part II: The War

The war began as all wars do. An accusation, a spark of misunderstanding, ignites, flaring to life, as long held distrust with all human hearts blazes to life.

This war was no different and as the United States struggled to learn anything about the alien threat that landed in their backyard the world grew restless. Their critics insisted they do more, and demanded more access to the craft. Unable to access the ship themselves America refused, not willing to allowed foreign powers full access.

The world powers did not take this refusal lightly, and united behind the UN they made formal demands for the United States to back down and relinquish control of the alien ship. To punctuate the seriousness of their demand they set ships to the American coastline, weapons trained on the fallen ship, and Washington DC. They gave the United States one week to comply.

America refused the ultimatum, and seven years of bloody war followed.

It was the first war upon American soil in centuries, and its people were not prepared for the carnage of war. Many fled, many more died. United States brought the full extent of it's military to bare to defend it's people. The results were catastrophic and millions died on both sides. The United States were victorious, but the world's military was weakened it's people beaten and afraid. A treaty was proposed, more out of fear, than of a desire for peace.  In the end it would be signed, and the nations of the world began the struggle to rebuild. For the first time since before World War II America pulled away from the world, its people began to grow insular, nervous, and fearful.

Part I: The Crash

“For centuries humanity has looked up at the stars wondering and believing that they were not alone in the universe. Today after all we have seen, we wish to God that we were wrong.”

-Author unknown

July 15, 2043

It has been a long time my friend. Three decades have come and gone. Years of pain and strife, of peace and war. Much of what we once were has been lost, some has been reclaimed, while others seem long out of reach. I write this now, not so that we remember what has changed, but so that we never forget.

Those thirty years ago we received an answer to a question. A question long sought after. The answer came to us not from science, not from God, nor from war or peace. Instead it came to us with fiery ambivalence.

The craft first entered Earth’s space at approximately 8:00am GMT. It hit our atmosphere hard, entering just over the sea of Japan. Its rough entry sent shock-waves around the globe, and created tremors felt all the way round the world.

Nearly a quarter of a mile wide it flew across our skies at estimated speeds of up to Mach 20, it was unlike anything anyone had ever seen, as as it made it way over North America, electrical systems died, and stopped working. Sending panic spreading around the continent. Humanity was shocked, unprepared for the event. People reached out to their churches and their governments for answers, and as they watched the craft fall across the sky, a strange orange mist trailing behind it. 

The craft's journey ended in the United States where it struck area that used to part of Northern New Jersey. The impact created a crater a mile wide, and the earth shook, toppling buildings, and flooding homes. Dirt and dust were thrown into the air darkening the sky, and the estimated human cost is said to be in the millions.

When the government finally reacted the nations people were already in a panic, and for a while it seemed that a flood of panic, and terror might overtake the nation. Thankfully order would be maintained and the US military would lock the area down, and despite the harsh reality of the situation they minimized the loss of any additional human lives. 

The world did not end.

It was days later, when the shock had faded, that people first asked the question “Who are they?”

The people would not receive their answer, the craft remained silent. People turned on the government, demanding answers they thought were being withheld. This false belief was echoed by the UN who still harbored distrust toward the United States. Together they demanded answers, ones that the American government just didn't have. This distrust would eventually lead to war, as the world tried to take the answers that America just didn't have.

The Beast of Skred, A Nonsense Poem

The Beast of Skred

Near an island by the Sea

Lived the Beast of Ilse de Skred

It grakes and groones with eyes of red

And slunkles through the Bay of Dread

Seeking prey to slay instead

If ever you see the grankled beast of Skred

Remember these words or end up dead

Parkle low and stay umbred

Brandish steel and keep your head

For few survive the Beast of Skred

30 Minute Children's Story

Yesterday in my Children's Literature class we were tasked with writing a short children's story using random themes that we drew out of a hat. The theme that  I drew was "Good Friends Stick Together", and this is the story that I came up with in only 30 minutes (with no time allowed for editing either). Enjoy!

Once upon a time, in a land far away, lived two gnomes. These two gnomes, Rachet and Widget lived side by side in a small forest by the lake.
Everyday Rachet and Widget looked up at the sky and Rachet imagined what it would be like to soar through the sky like an eagle, or fly from tree to tree like a sparrow.

One day Rachet decided that he was going to fly like a bird, he was sure he could do it. “Widget!” he said “I have an idea! I will build a machine, this machine will take us high up into the sky.” Widget wasn’t sure that Rachet’s machine would work, but being able to fly like a bird certainly seemed appealing.

Rachet got to work that very day in his workshop, making his plans and Widget went out into the forest collecting sticks, and stray feathers for Rachet’s machine. When she returned she set to work with her friend and they began to work.

They built wings, and feet. They made a head and tail. They crafted cogs and levers, they made scarves and goggles. They both worked together all day and in no time at all they had put together a big mechanical bird with two seats. One for Rachet, and one for Widget.

“Do you think it will fly Widget?” Asked Rachet apprehensively. Widget pondered for a moment before replying. She didn’t know if it would fly, but she trusted her friend.

“Of course it will fly!” She replied, patting Rachet on the back. “We built it together, how could we fail?” With that the two little gnomes got into the mechanical bird and Rachet pulled the big lever and the cogs began to turn, and the wings began to flap. Both the gnomes were very excited at the idea that soon they would be in the sky.

The bird began to flap harder and suddenly a great cloud of smoke erupted from the mechanical bird, and it sputtered to a halt, parts flying everywhere! Rachet was very sad. His mechanical bird wasn’t going to fly. “Our machine is broken. “ He said to Widget, with a tear in his eye.

“Don’t worry.” Widget told her friend. “We will fix it.”

“And HOW will we do that?” asked Rachet as he looked at all the bits of broken mechanical bird.

“Together.” replied Widget “Together”

And they did.

The Critical Eye

As a student of writing I am taught to look at things with a critical eye. I'm told to look closely at the structure and contents of a piece and determine which elements are weak, which ones should be cut, and which ones should be kept.

This serves as a great way to improve our my work as we strive to improve the quality of my writing. I can learn to see my own faults and areas where I  might stand to improve. This can be a great experience and I feel that because of this I have learned techniques that have made me better at writing.

Unfortunately this skill can be a double edged sword as I have become so used to critiquing that it has become almost second nature. This I have discovered is a talent that is not appreciated by the world at large.

Recently a close friend of mine received an opportunity to post articles on a website owned by his roommate and a friend. He seized upon this chance and is producing a series of articles for it, the first of which was posted just recently.

Now while I will say this is a close friend, and someone that I have a great deal of respect for, I discovered that I was displeased by the quality of his work. Previous to his being published on the website, he had talked with me about it and I liked his idea, and did my best to encourage him.

In my initial critique of his work I was unintentionally harsh. I pointed out some things in the piece that I had considered to be major flaws. I did this in a way that was viewed in a strongly negative manner. I did not mean to be hurtful to him, and through by blunt honesty (a trait he usually prides himself on) caused his feelings to be hurt, and for that I am deeply sorry.

The ensuing backlash of my criticism was negative and turned into a small internet disagreement between myself and a mutual friend coming to his defense. Thankfully it didn't progress much further than this, and the incident blew over fairly quickly. Still it left a bad taste in my mouth that I have not yet been able to get rid of (though some D&D and beer did help.

From this situation I have learned two things.

1. Always encourage your friend's creative work.
2. Never offer unsolicited criticism, not everybody wants my opinion,

Me. My Own, Worst Enemy

I have plenty of time to write on a daily basis, but I often make up excuses not to. I'm not sure why, I love to write, and I'd like to do so everyday. For some reason though a little voice in the back of my head keeps making up excuses for me not to do the very thing I know I want to do.

It's never a good reason either. I'll tell myself I'm too tired, or that I'll do some writing after dinner. Sometimes I manage to do this (this blog is proof of that.) but I really want to do MORE. I feel that I'm capable of doing so much more than the word scrawled on this crappy blog.

I have the desire, I have the capability. So what is stopping me from achieving my potential. Why don't I lock myself in my room, and not let myself out till I've written something of full of awesomeness? What is keeping me from writing stories, and blogs that make people actually want to read this thing?

In short. I am. There is some little voice in the back of my head that keeps telling me, that I am crap, and that anything I write is complete drivel, unsuitable for public consumption. Maybe I'm right, maybe not. More than a few people have expressed enjoyment in my work (maybe I'll post some here in the future) and I've even had someone express enjoyment of this blog to me in person. So It must be of some use at least.

It's been my experience that most writers express dissatisfaction with their own work, so I know this phenomenon is not unique to me, and the rare moments that I look at something I wrote and say to myself "I like this" are almost magickal [word spelling chosen for maximum pretension]! It doesn't happen often but its nice to know that I can produce something that makes an entire writing workshop tell me I need to write a novel (a work in progress).

I've gotten off track here a bit, and I'm not really sure where this post is going. Essentially I need to kick my ass, get my shit in gear and put some fucking words on a page. That's right I swore! Take THAT v-chip! (are those still a thing?)

Looking into the Mirror / How D&D Changed my Life for the Better

Sometimes I find myself wondering what my life would be like if I'd made different choices. I don't think it's just me, I think that a lot of people do this from time to time. Most people though don't have someone in their life that is so much like them, yet so different. I on the other hand have a twin sister, and she is, in many ways my reflection.

It is an interesting experience to grow up with someone the same age as you, who was born with the same blood in their veins, and raised by the same parents. You could easily argue that this is true of all siblings, but I think it is even more true for twins, even fraternal ones. Growing up we were referred to as "the twins" and rarely was one of us mentioned, and not the other. Even being opposite genders, we were treated more or less the same.

As much as we were treated alike we were (and still are) very different people. I was always the "quiet one" while she was much more outgoing. Growing up I was the one sitting along in my room, reading a book or playing a game. She was the one on the phone for hours or off at a friends house (this phenomenon  however, is standard for teenage girls). She was always the one who was much more socially active. I had only a few friends when I was young though that changed considerably by the time I hit high school.

It was in the 7th grade that I was first exposed to role-playing games. A friend discovered his older brothers stash of Dungeons and Dragons rule books, and we thought we'd try them out. After a bit of trial and error we got the hang of it and were soon running our own adventures for each other. Initially we'd play at the town library (even got out picture in the local newspaper) and then shifted to playing at our homes on weekends. We had a lot of fun and some of my fondest childhood memories still are playing D&D in a tent in my mom's backyard.

High school is when everything began to change. Some changes for good, others..not so much. Between the changes of high school and much of my first gaming group moving away, out games ground to a halt. Luckily a good friend had introduced me to a group of people a grade above me. They played D&D (among other things) and would become my new gaming circle. We would have a lot of great adventures and it was with them that I would get my first exposure to LARPing in the form of NERO.

Meanwhile my  sister was falling into the wrong crowd, smoking, and began to experiment with drugs. At one point she was even caught smoking marijuana inside of the school. She would eventually leave our school, and go to live with our older sister, although her life didn't improve with the change in scenery.

You're probably starting to wonder how I could consider my sister's life to be reflective of my own. Well in the years before I started gaming my circle of friends was much different. The people I hung out with got into fights, lied, cheated, and even stole things. They were probably not the people my mom would have liked me to be spending my free time with. By the time we hit high school one of these early friends would show up to the bus stop stoned, or even worse get stoned at the bus stop.

If I hadn't discovered role-playing games I probably would've kept my original circle of friends and gotten myself into activities that were not nearly as wholesome as gutting orcs with longswords. Perhaps I spend too much time pondering things like this, but I can't help but want to thank D&D for keeping me out of trouble, and introducing me to a hobby that has positively impacted for almost 20 years.

So here's to another 20 years! My life will keep on moving forward, and I'll keep on rolling dice and imagining things.

Whatever happened to the flowers?

One of my friends was venting to me about her relationship troubles and suggested I write about dating. Lord  knows I could vent on for pages about the frustrations a single 30 something has out in the dating world, a world fraught with danger, and intrigue. I've done so in the past on other blogs, and in a journal I keep. I wasn't sure though that dating was the experience I really wanted to put down on paper. One I wasn't entirely sure resonated with my particular mood. The more I thought about it however, the more I realized that dating is very much something that is on my mind. I think about it quite a bit actually, and it seems inevitable that I  talk about it now.

I'm not seeing anyone at the moment, though I have a couple of prospects I'm currently feeling out (I said out not up...perv), and who knows in the near future I could very well have someone in my life..or I could just have what I have now, friends who care about me, and a mother who keeps nagging me for grandchildren.

Dating has changed significantly in the last decade. It seems that traditional dating has gone by the wayside and our impatient, instant gratification society seem dead set on killing the whole concept of romantic encounters outside of the realm of sex.

What even happened to the days when a man would show up at a woman's doorstep with flowers, and take her out to a nice dinner, and a show? How did this get replaced by sexting and booty calls? (please tell me this is not rhetorical) Maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic but I used to always bring flowers for a woman on a first date. I didn't stop until just a couple years ago. You see for a long time (some 7ish years) I was in a relationship, and when that crashed and burned, I was scarred and tossed back into the single life. For my first few "real" dates I brought flowers. Just like I did when I was a foolish young teen. Instead of being sweet and romantic, I somehow had transitioned into being creepy. I'm not sure how this happened, but by the second first date reacting negatively to flowers, I stopped bringing them altogether. This made me sad.

Single life, it seemed, had changed..

I had been 19 when my 7 year relationship had begun and by the time it ended I was in my mid 20s and completely confused about how things worked. I had skipped the whole bar scene, and had a fairly small social circle. To sum it up, meeting people was scary. I did the best I could, but had no long term success in my endeavors. 

Eventually I would stop putting effort into meeting someone in real life, and try my hand at online dating. I had a little success, a few miserable failures, and one gigantic mistake. Online dating can be a harsh and brutal landscape. You see a lot of people, just don't act like people. I think it has something to do with the relative level of anonymity that people online have. Despite having most of your personal information on public display (and photos) people still feel they have the right to treat you online worse than they would if you'd had met in person. This isn't exclusive to dating sites, and in my opinion is part of an internet epidemic of rudeness.

You see it's very easy to ignore someones message and simply delete it, thus flushing any and all  unwanted attention down the drain with it. You see online daters can be more selective. Individuals get literally a few seconds to make enough of an impression to get someone to reply or send you a message. It is swift, brutal, and generally speaking, it sucks.

Still they say romance is a marathon, not a sprint (I don't know who says that, if nobody does I'll take the credit) and I know that somewhere there is someone for me. I don't know who she is yet, but I think that I'll know her when I meet her, or at least I hope I do. In the meantime I'll keep looking for her and hope that she is looking for me.

Who knows when I find her, maybe I'll even bring her flowers.

Words On A Page

There is nothing more exhilarating or more terrifying than looking at a blank page. Whether on a computer screen or a piece of paper, a blank page is full of possibilities. Sometimes these endless possibilities are overwhelming and filling it with words and sentences seems like a hopeless task as you struggle with each and every word. They fight and evade you with each word coming out of your head as stubbornly as an old goat.

Other times the words come easily, and you find yourself filling page after page with beautiful prose that comes so easily that you wonder if you're being given a handjob by inspiration herself. So loving she is with her touch that the..ahem words explode onto the page with unbridled ferocity.

This is what I love about writing, that excitement of not knowing what the page will say when you are finished your composition, what new adventures will dance across your page for the bewilderment of your audience. Sure I write for me. There is that moment though when someone is reading one of your works for the first time. You sit and wait, and all the while wondering what the reading is thinking and feeling. Will they laugh at the funny parts? Will they cry at the sad ones? Will they throw their arms up in disgust and toss it aside like a piece of garbage.

These reasons and more are why I love writing, I love the thrill, I love the satisfaction, and I even love the frustration. Sometimes it is a struggle to find the right words, but oh boy when you do! So I think I will keep writing, sit back, and enjoy the ride.

A Year in Review / Resolutions

A Year in Review

Last night another year ended. A years worth of challenges, excitements, and even disappointment's have come and gone. Some of the bad thing I have survived and some of the good things I have embraced and in doing so I have become a stronger (and I hope a happier) person.

I've met a few new friend's, and let some older ones slip away. Life is like that sometimes, like the tide people come into, and out of your life. Some return again when the stars are right, others are lost to memory, never to be seen again.

My year began with something of a rough start. If fact, it was probably the lowest point of my life. Like the winter solstice, I began this year in a long night, and it took some time for me to be able to see that the sun was indeed rising and that life wasn't as bad as it seemed. 

Some of the things were out of my control, others involved the difficulty I had in pushing past the hardships I had been forced to endure. Someone that I loved abandoned me, but those that I trust, remained by my side. They never gave up on me, and even though they couldn't do much, I love them all the more for it.

As the wheel kept turning life continue presenting me with new challenges. I am sad to say that I was not up to facing all of them, but I did the best I could, and even though it was a struggle, I survived. Now there is a word I use all to often when describing my life "survival." So much of my life has been spent trying to get by that at times I think that I forgot to just LIVE.

Still there was more to my life than survival this year. I continue to take classes, and work toward my degree. Last semester I did very well despite my frustrations with my one online class.

The holidays this year went much better than last. I got to see most of my family, and had a nice relaxing time.

Resolutions

I have made a few resolutions this year, one that I can hopefully keep.

1. Start a Blog: I've done blogs in the past but I feel I have more legitimate reasons for writing one now, so to help improve my writing skills I plan to post on here at least once a week.
2. Finish my Novel: I've recently started writing a novel I am calling The Unkindness of Ravens. I decided to write this after a story I wrote for class was given extremely favorable reviews and I was told that it needed to be a novel. 
3. Take Better Care of Myself: Exercise, eat better, yada yada yada... 

So this is my Blog, Hopefully it will be more interesting in the future!