5/31/2014

A Story A Day. Story 147 of 365: Earth.

Everyone was sleeping to the sound of rain. It had been raining for days and the kids were already tired of indoor activities. The family had rented the log house for a week, expecting to spend time outdoors. No one was awake when a section of the mountain crumbled under the pressure of the gallons of water that had been falling non stop. No one saw the mudslide devouring everything it encountered on his path. And no one was aware they were dying until they were already buried alive. 

5/30/2014

A Story A Day. Story 146 of 365: Water.

Douglas opened his eyes, the cold river water was gentle on them, but it also made it harder to see. The surface was just above him, he could see the water rippling with the wind. The sun made it spark, and he could make out the shadows of the trees on the shore. His hands reached instinctively for the surface, as his lungs begged for air. Yet, he knew it was time to say goodbye.

He felt a pull on his legs, and the light became dimmer. The creature was dragging him to the bottom of the river. He had tried to fight, but he had no strength anymore, and he ended up giving up. It was his time and he had to face it.  Everyone ended up eaten by the creature anyway.

Douglas opened his mouth and let the water in. His lungs had been screaming for air, but they were filled with water. He could feel the water rushing in, replacing any trace of air, he fought against the need to cough. He couldn't see light anymore, but he didn't know if it was because he was already far from the surface or because his eyes were not working. Pain invaded him, as his body was fighting with its last strength against death. But in the end, there was only water. No life.

5/29/2014

A Story A Day. Story 145 of 365: Lost.

If Katy had had to draw a map no one would have ever found any place. She basically had the worse sense of orientation on earth, and she would get lost in the most improbable places. She would even get lost in buildings she used to frequent. She had tried to take profit of the GPS technology, but to no avail, for some reason she would get lost all the same, apparently she was incapable of following directions.

One day, she was supposed to met a friend of hers in her neighborhood. Her friend knew that she used to get lost, but she had expected Katy to be able to met her, it was a familiar place. However, Katy got lost all the same. She took a wrong turn and ended up on a street she had never been before, it was different from the rest of the neighborhood, and even if she was late she decided to stay on it and see where it went. The street ended on a porched stone square, with a fountain in the middle. There were trees and potted flowers everywhere, and it looked straight from a fairy tale. She wondered who lived there, but there was no one outside to ask to. For once, Katy wished she could find places back, she needed to explore that gem, but she was already incredibly late. Her phone started ringing reminding her of her lateness, so she redid her way and tried to find her friend.

Over the course of the following week, Katy would try to find that place again. She took every turn on every street she came with, but she never found it again. She started asking her neighbors, but no one had ever seen such a place. Apparently, there was no way she could find it again, maybe, the only way was to be lost.

5/28/2014

A Story A Day. Story 144 of 365: Blank.

A blank page. Erin hated blank pages. She hated them so much, she would doodle all over its borders so they weren't blank anymore. She got told off thousands off times, at school, for that reason. But there was a force inside her pushing her to doodle. As soon as the page was not blank anymore she could write anything she wanted, beautifully. However, she couldn't do that on a computer. Computers were cold and heartless things, and she had no way to draw on the pages to start to write.

The cursor blinked on the white screen. It seemed to spell "You're a failure". "Shut up" she shouted at the computer, glad there was no one around to hear her. Her editor had convinced her to buy a computer, she told her she would write much faster, and it would be easier to send the manuscripts. She also told her that on the long run she would save lots of money, and she would also be using less paper. Erin wondered if her editor would be so happy if she knew she hadn't written anything since she bought the computer.

It was white, and shiny. And soulless. How was Erin supposed to write anything on it, if that machine didn't have a soul? She sighed and turned it down, the document still untouched. She would try it another day, she decided.

5/27/2014

A Story A Day. Story 143 of 365: Kids.

Motherhood had never been in her plans, she liked kids, but only if she was to have them for a short period of time and return them to their parents straightaway. Moa had other plans, other things in her life, and none of her partners had ever mentioned the topic, they all loved to travel, and loved that she was able to move around the world, freely. That was until she met Áki. He never mentioned the desire to be a father, but he had awoken something inside Moa that made her long for motherhood. He was the right man, and it was the right time.

Frustration started growing when months passed and she was unable to become pregnant. She thought it was her fault for having waited so long, but she was not too old, either, lots of women her age conceived. They finally gave up and decided to seek professional help. Waiting for the results was probably one of the most unnerving experiences Moa had gone through. And they were heartbreaking, she would never be able to have kids of her own. Something she had never worried about had become an obsession.

5/26/2014

A Story A Day. Story 142 of 365: Magic.

-What are you doing?-asked Taika, seeing her husband staring intently at a glass on the table.

-Shhh, don't disturb me.- Ilmari replied, after a minute of silence he announced cheerfully.- I did it! Did you see?

-What did you do?- replied her, patiently.

-I moved the glass with the power of my mind!

Taika sighed and sat next to him taking his right hand with both of hers. He had warm hands, he had always had, but before it was his hands the ones that calmed her down. She missed those times. She looked into the ice-blue eyes of her husband, the fire was almost all gone, but some part of him was still battling.

-No, you didn't.

Ilmari let out a sight of disappointment. He had become a child again.

-But,...

-It's okay, honey, it's okay.- she hugged him tight, tears piling on her eyes, she broke her embrace, and quickly stood up to avoid having her husband seeing her like that.

-I promise, I'll move the glass one day.- Ilmari said, oblivious of his wife's tears.

It had been a hard month for Taika, she knew Ilmari had taken the right decision, letting his magic go, and erasing any memory of it, but it had destroyed him in the process. Taika regretted having allowed him to do so, she'd rather live a dangerous life, than seeing Ilmari become a shade of himself. But there was no turning back.

5/25/2014

A Story A Day. Story 141 of 365: Heartthrob.

Lea was a teenage girl like all the others, except her family was poor. This was hard on her, specially, because in the bottom of her heart she wanted everything the other girls had. Yet, she was mature enough not to ask for anything. There was a thing she desired with all her will, though. Like all her classmates she was deeply and madly in love with Nat, the current teen heartthrob. He sang and danced, and he had the smile of a god. When Lea heard he would be coming to town she almost fainted. She had to be there! She begged and begged, until her mother gave up and bought her the cheapest ticket she could find. Lea's mother wasn't too eager about having her going alone, but buying one ticket had meant a huge economical effort, buying two would have meant not being able to eat for a month.

The day of the concert arrived, and Lea's mother took her to the venue. She made her daughter promise to wait for her and left her, excited and nervous, queueing. Lea couldn't believe she was about to see Nat. She was almost sure she would faint. The time passed fast and she quickly entered the venue, taking up a stop close to the stage, she fell into an oblivious state in which nothing mattered. Until Nat showed up on stage. At first she was shocked, starstruck, seeing him live for the first time. However, she had idealized him, and now that she saw him for real, she was disappointed. He wasn't as tall as she thought, his smile wasn't as bright, and neither his voice nor his dance moves where as she had expected. Lea wanted to cry, she started working her way out in the middle of the crowd of teenagers, she knew she would have to wait outside for her mother for hours, but she couldn't stand it anymore.

When she was finally able to breath fresh air, she felt dizzy. She sat on some stairs and saw some girls who were trying to get inside by all means.

-Don't do it. It's not worth it.- Lea advised them.

However, the girls didn't take it well. Of course it was worth it, they said, it was Nat. Lea tried to explain how Nat was only an illusion, but the other girls became terribly mad at her and started punching and kicking her. She tried to defend herself, but they outnumbered her and no one tried to help her. She could feel her bones breaking, a rib puncturing her left lung. Lea no longer asked for help, she simply hid her head with her arms and cried silent tears. Her mother found her like that a couple of hours later. She didn't ask what happened, she just rushed her daughter to the hospital. Lea battled for her life for days, just because she had told the truth. A truth no teenage girl wanted to hear.

5/24/2014

A Story A Day. Story 140 of 365: Birth.

Devin was delighted when Laila told him the news. A son or a daughter! So soon! He saw himself teaching his child to walk, to do things, having walks in the forest. Laila did not share his excitement, her body was changing and she didn't even know if it was normal. She was alone in the forests, with no experienced woman to guide her trough, how was she supposed to know what she had to do? While Devin made plans she was the one worrying about anything that could go wrong. Her own mother had died on childbirth, what if it happened to her too? However, there was no way to stop it, her belly kept growing and she felt heavier every day. She knew the moment was close and it only made her more terrified. She had prepared some things she thought she might need, but she wasn't sure about anything.

She woke up one day feeling uneasy, was it all starting already? Devin was still peacefully sleeping by her side, and she shook him.

-It's time.- she told him.

-What do you want me to do?

-I don't know!- terror crept in her voice.

Devin calmed her down and promised her he would go to the nearest town to try to find a midwife. He accommodated her the best he could and set off on their plow horse. Laila was left alone, and when the labor pain started she was petrified. She started crying, cursing, regretting having sent him away. Why wasn't he arriving? She could feel the baby inside her fighting to get out. Instinctively, she looked for a better position, and pushed along. She no longer cared about where her husband was, her only worry was to help that new life start. She was pain, but she was also strength and will. When she finally heard her child crying she couldn't believe it, it was over, she had done it! She took a blanket and wrapped him over. It was a boy. A lovely boy, she could not wait to show it to Devin.

While her wife was in labor Devin was trying to hurry to the closest town. However, it had been raining a lot and the river he was supposed to cross had doubled his size. He lost time trying to find a safe crossing, and when he found it, he knew it wasn't safe enough, yet, he had to try, Laila was counting on him. The horse looked at the rushing water, terrified, and reared. Devin spoke soft words to him, until he convinced him to start crossing the river. The current was strong, though, and the horse lost his feet. Devin soon found himself drowning under a swirl of water, his last thought on his wife and the child he would never know.

5/23/2014

A Story A Day. Story 139 of 365: Doubt.

Laila was only fifteen when they married her off, she was old by the standards the time, but in the end she was just a child. She had lived all her life in a cabin log on the mountains with her widowed father and her older brothers, after her mother died in childbirth along with her unborn sister. Living alone with five men made her determined to the point of stubbornness, and also hard as a rock. But it also made her be completely unprepared for the life she was supposed to live as a wife. Her father had treated her as he had treated all her siblings, and they all learnt to fish, to hunt, and to split logs. She wasn't treated different until the day Devin, the lumberjack, showed interest on her. Luke and Liam, her two older brothers, had already formed families of their own, but Leo and Leighton were still living with their father, and no one had considered that their younger sister might be starting a family before they did. The way they saw her changed, she was no longer a little girl, she was a woman. She was not eager to get married, yet she knew that was what she was supposed to do. So, in the end, she accepted, what other choice did she have?

The day Laila wed was the first time she wore a dress, she was used to dress on hands-me-down clothes from her brothers and she was amazed to see she actually looked girly. Some women from a nearest town helped her comb her hair. Everyone told her she looked gorgeous, but she just felt nervous, she wasn't herself, and she wasn't sure about what was about to happen. She didn't remember almost anything about the wedding, she was confused and there was so many people around. Laila cried for the first time that day as she waved farewell to her family.

Marriage wasn't as bad as she had expected, for sure there were some strange parts in it, but her husband loved her and she started to feel comfortable around him. Yet, she wasn't prepared for some things. When she started feeling unwell she just thought it was a stomach bug or something, however she soon discovered it was something completely different. She was pregnant, and she was terrified.

5/22/2014

A Story A Day. Story 138 of 365: Ghost.

Being a ghost wasn't easy, she knew well, she had been one for the last thirty years. She didn't even remember her own name, it had fade away, but she knew where she was dwelling. For thirty years she had seen her husband, Neil, grief and grow old, until most of his hair was white. She also saw her children, Violet and Hugh, become teenagers and adults after it, and then she saw them become parents. And she looked exactly the same as she did the day she died. Neil had pictures of her all over the house. She wished he had married again after she died, she told him, it was her dying wish, but he couldn't find the strength to replace her.

Some people think that when you are dead you can no longer feel pain. Yet, she knew better. She had been in pain for those last thirty years, regretting having decided to stay. She had seen all the beautiful moments of her loved ones, but she hadn't shared them. She was just an observer, public, it all felt as if she were watching through a TV screen. And the worst thing, and she knew it, she would also see them die, and she wouldn't be on the other side to greet them, because being a ghost was forever.

5/21/2014

A Story A Day. Story 137 of 365: Hate.

The light passing through the slit between the curtains woke Danika up. She opened her eyes, slowly, and wondered what time it was, and whether she would still have time to go to the gym before meeting her mother. Lazily she turned around, trying not to wake up Isaac, only to remember he was not there anymore. A stab of fury went through her heart, and then sadness, an infinite and unquenchable sadness. With tears blinding her eyes, she managed to see the time on the alarm clock. She had to meet her mother in one hour, and she sure wasn't ready. She jumped out of the bed, from her side, and walked into the shower. His things where still there, she hadn't found the strength to throw them away, foolishly thinking he would come back. She showered fast, trying to avoid looking at anything that reminded her of him, and dressed up even faster.

Danika's mother was waiting for her on her car outside her daughter's apartment. The young woman jumped into the car and kissed her mother on the cheek, her wet hair tickling it. She gave her daughter a concerned look.

-How are you, Danika?

-Good.

-Are you sure?

-Yes, mom.

-Don't you want to talk about it?

-There is nothing to talk about, mom.

Her mother sighted and drove to the restaurant where they were supposed to have breakfast. She had been worried about her daughter, the way she was managing all what happened with Isaac, it was not healthy. Yet, she drove in silence, keeping her thoughts for herself.

The restaurant was a fancy one, with a big garden with tables scattered all over under the trees. The summer sun was warm, but the water fountains kept the garden fresh. The maitre sat them on a table at the end of the garden, next to a jasmine bush and under a magnolia tree. The perfume would have been overwhelming if it weren't for the soft breeze. They sat down one in front of the other, and ordered breakfast. As soon as their order arrived, Danika's mother broke the silence.

-Danika, I think you're not managing this whole thing well.

-Of course I am.- she said, starting to get cross.

-No, you're not.

-Mum, the doctor killed Isaac. And I'll hate him because of it. All my life.

5/20/2014

A Story A Day. Story 136 of 365: Success.

She was a successful woman, young entrepreneurs, both male and female, looked up at her. Yet, she was not happy. And she hadn't been in more than twenty years, back when she was young and she had nothing. She had Brad, though. Foolish young Brad. With his smiling eyes, green as fresh grass, and his mocking smile. And his dreams, he dreamt of seeing the world, of traveling around on a boat, with her. She was in love with him, but she also had big dreams, and, somehow, she thought their love would endure separate paths. She was wrong.

If she closed her eyes she could still smell the sea as if it were the day Brad took sail. She kissed him, hurriedly, with tears in her eyes, and waited on the shore to see his boat disappear behind the cape. "I'll see you soon" she whispered to the wind. Yet, soon weren't soon enough. Her small commerce grew big in no time, and she found herself busier and busier every day. Brad was just a memory, and a faded one. She no longer stared at the sea with longing, hoping to see his sails. And when Brad came back, full of stories, his green eyes greener against his tanned skin, his smile knowing, she couldn't find the love she had before. She had changed, and so had he, and they had changed in opposite directions. She could no longer understand his interests, although she tried to fake. In the end, it was too much, and she broke his heart. Brad left to never return.

Now, twenty years later, she was unhappy, and she finally understood she should have gotten on that boat and sailed away.

5/19/2014

A Story A Day. Story 135 of 365: Failure.

She had tried and she had failed. Alanna had put in everything she had, and she had lost. Now she sat alone, wishing to vanish so no one would be able to see her, to see her failure. She could feel her heart shrinking, her eyes dry, no more tears to cry. There was a black hole inside her mind and it had already feed on all her positive thoughts. The black hole made her think that she should never dare again, because failure was the only outcome she would get.

When she went outside, on the street, she could see her failure in the eyes of strangers, disappointment in the eyes of her friends and family. Her failure described her, and there was nothing she could do about it. The words of support fell into the bottomless pit her mind had become, she only heard critiques, because there was no way anyone would praise her. She had fallen, and she would not rise.

5/18/2014

A Story A Day. Story 134 of 365: Hunting.

Hair flowing in the wind, her feet sure on the floor, her head up, walking on the street owning it. She wore a half-smile, as if she were laughing about something she only knew. She was ready for it, she was wearing her most flattering clothes, her best perfume, and just a hint of make up. She was ready. Some men were already ogling her, but it was not enough. She shook her head making her dark hair fly behind her. A man approached her.

-Hi, it might sound weird, but I wanted to meet you.

She smiled.

-And how's that?

-Well, you are stunning, gorgeous. And I just had this impulse. Would you... like to have coffee?

She looked at him. He was young enough, blond and sporting a scrub of a beard. His eyes looked dark blue.

-Why not?

She could see he wasn't believing the luck he had, but he didn't really know. They shared coffee and dinner after that. Without a doubt they ended up at her house, she served him a glass of wine and lead him into her room. He was completely subdued and didn't even question it when she tied him to the bed. She left him there and went back to the room carrying a large tray. When he saw it were knives and other surgical instrumental, he wanted to leave, but he was paralyzed. It was too late.

-I'm sorry honey, but a girl needs supplies for her potions.

5/17/2014

A Story A Day. Story 133 of 365: Explode.

He was a busy man, he worked ten, twelve, or even more hours a day, six days a week. He would have worked seven days a week, but then his wife became all cranky and asking for attention. His head worked seven days a week, however, he was always thinking about work, on how to make more profits, on how to become a bigger firm. Because of this, he was no stranger to headaches.

After a particularly bad day, in which he had worked fourteen hours straight, not even stopping for lunch, he arrived home feeling an enormous pressure inside his head. His wife was waiting for him, with the dinner on the table, but he wasn't feeling like eating. He told her he was going straight to sleep, ignoring her worried stare. He slept soundly, as he hadn't done in years, but was awaken by a far worse headache. Getting out of bed, failing to find his slippers, he walked barefoot to the bathroom in search of something that would placate the pain. He didn't even turn on the light, until he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His head had doubled in size, and kept growing as he stared. He was horrified, but he could not scream, he could not move, he was hypnotized by the sight of his enormous head. His eyelids became so swollen he could no longer see, he could only feel his head inflating like a ballon.

A loud explosion woke his wife up, she saw he wasn't sleeping by her side, so he went in his search. She didn't need to look long, though. As she turned on the bathroom light the vision of the beheaded body of her husband greeted her. She fainted almost immediately, yet, she had time enough to see his brains splattered all over the bathroom walls.

5/16/2014

A Story A Day. Story 132 of 365: Apologies.

He could feel it in her attitude, she was not mad at him, she just didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore. He knew he had messed up, and he knew he should have reached out much sooner, but his pride didn't allow him. At first, he thought he hadn't done anything wrong, but in the end he realized he could have hurt her feelings, that it was him who broke the confidence that had slowly built up. And now, he felt he needed to apologize. It wouldn't be easy, he had never been good at it, and she was just so distant it was hard to find a moment alone with her. He tried all the strategies he had, all that had worked when she still talked to him, yet she managed to avoid him. He blamed himself for screwing everything up, but kept trying to find a breach to get into her heart.

She was mad, did he seriously think she would forget about everything? Did he really think that from one day to the other everything would be as it was before? Did he ever stop considering what she felt like? Did he ever see her attitude towards him? It was not like one could change that in a couple of hours. She hated that attitude, as if she were something in storage he could play with whenever he wanted. It infuriated her, she was no second option. If he though he could win her back, he was wrong. And she was about to prove him how wrong he was.

5/15/2014

A Story A Day. Story 131 of 365: Wish.

The old jar was dusty, and Michelle couldn't see what was inside it. She had found it in her grandmother's basement where it had been stowed away a long time ago. Michelle had been clearing up her grandmother's house to put it up for sale, and she wanted to keep something as a token. She had never seen that jar, however. She took it upstairs to the kitchen and examined it in the sunlight. There was something glittery inside it, twirling every time she moved it. She brushed out the dust to see if there was any label, but it was unmarked. Giving in to curiosity, she opened it. A cloud of golden dust rushed out of it.

-Who are you, who woke me from my dream?- a deep voice asked.

-Uh? What happened?- Michelle complained coughing.

An old man with a long white beard appeared in front of her. He was wearing an old robe and leather sandals, he looked very thin.

-Who are you?

-Kids these days, they know nothing. I'm a genius, dimwit. And I'm here to grant you a wish.- he replied condescendingly.

-One? I always thought it was three. Anyway, there's nothing I want, I have everything.

-Everybody needs something.

-I don't.- she left leaving the genius where he stood.

However, he didn't give up, and he chased here everywhere she went, invisible to everyone, whispering into her ear things she might wish, things she could have. Michelle couldn't sleep properly anymore, until the day she finally gave up and told the genius she wished for something.

-Ha! I knew!- he announced self-sufficiently.-What is it?

-I wish for you to leave me alone!- she said, thinking it would all be over.

-Wish granted!- he said disappearing in a puff of smoke.

It was too late, though, the damage had already been done, and Michelle spent the rest of her days wondering if she would have asked for something else, looking for what was missing in her life, even if she had everything.

5/14/2014

A Story A Day. Story 130 of 365: Unexpected.

Melissa was never a popular kid at school, she didn't have many friends, and she thought almost everybody hated her. She would sit on a corner during lunch time, and no one ever approached her. When she looked into the mirror, she dreaded what she saw, an ugly girl, with way too many freckles and straw-like hair, she understood that no one approached her ever, who would get close to such an ugly creature?

Her mother wouldn't stop telling her that she was beautiful and that it would get better, that she needed to be a bit more self-confident. Yet, Melissa wouldn't listen, she only saw how all the girls in her class dated guys, and she didn't. She was sadder and sadder, every day, until she didn't even energy to wake up. She realized no one would miss her if she died, so she decided to do so.

As soon as the news of Melissa's death broke in the school, every one was traumatized. She was a lonely girl, it was true, but people thought her loneliness was because she was an independent people, rather than because no one liked her. In fact, lots of people had wanted to talk to her, but they didn't because she was so distant, so cold. And a regret rose in a single voice "I wish I had talked to her when she was still alive".

5/13/2014

A Story A Day. Story 129 of 365: Stalker.

Jane had been his obsession for longer than he dared to admit. Anthony dreamt of the day he would brave up, stop following her and tell her how much he loved her. He wasn't expecting her to feel the same, she was gorgeous, she had legs for days and long dark blond hair. He was just a ball of fat, a stupid ball of fat. His confidence levels were alarmingly low, so, when Jane talked to him in the coffee shop, he thought he was dreaming.

-Sorry?- he replied absentmindedly.

-I'm Jane.- she smiled.- I would like to talk to you.

-Oh,... sure.

Having her in front of him, it was hard to believe. Anthony was lost for words and left her do most of the talking, which was basically questions about him. It ended in uncomfortable silence, though. He was disappointed, he never imagined his first talk with her would end up so terribly. And he didn't feel the way he felt before, the magic of the stalking was gone and she was just a normal person. And he didn't like her anymore.

5/12/2014

A Story A Day. Story 128 of 365: Stalkee.

Again, that feeling of having someone looking at her. Jane would look around every time she felt like that, but no one ever seemed suspicious. She had started to think she was becoming paranoid when one of her friends pointed out a young overweight man amongst the people. For the following days she would look for him whenever she felt uneasy, and there he was, every time. Jane considered confronting him, but she saw he was a sad guy and started feeling pity for him. She wondered what was his story, why was he always alone and following her. Why did he like her?

Soon enough, Jane would find herself thinking about him whenever her mind wandered. Was it love? Would she be brave enough to talk to him? A random day she had gone for coffee, she saw him queueing, she waited until he had his cup and as he walked by her table, trying not to look at her, she stopped him.

-Hi, I'm Jane. Sit down, I'd like to talk with you.

5/11/2014

A Story A Day. Story 127 of 365: Unknown.

At 25, Egill had never set a foot outside his parents house. At the age when most of the people are looking for their first real job, he was trapped, without knowing, inside a cage. Egill's parents were extremely rich and extremely influential, but they were also part of a cult. And a pretty extreme one, in that aspect.

What made Egill parents' cult special was that they believed every individual had a mission from the day they were born, this mission could only be foretold by a chaman who had to be present at the moment of birth. Some were born to be doctors, some were born to be artists. It didn't matter they didn't have the talent needed for what they were supposed to do, they would need to work their way towards their destiny. When Egill was born, the chaman was there, as in all the births, however, he declined to tell his parents what he was supposed to do. He only told them not to let him outside of their home, to keep him close, for his own good, he told them the outside world would break him. And that was how, Egill had never seen anything outside the walls from his parents manor. When he would ask what was outside his parents would only tell him it was too dangerous, and there was nothing worth seeing anyway. Soon his curiosity fade away, as he felt comfortable with the life he had.

If Egill had been in the outside world, people would have considered him spoiled, stupid and childish. And above all irrational and temperamental. He was not a good person, but he had never know better. His parents were successful about keeping him away from the outside world, but it was almost impossible to prevent the outside world from getting in. One day they needed to leave for a week, and Egill had to stay alone at the house, however, it was impossible for him to stay completely alone, and their servant, whom they trusted, had been bedridden at the hospital for a week, and would be for a couple more. To their despair they needed to hire a new one, someone who would not mind being a babysitter of a 25-year-old. They ended up hiring a woman in her thirties who had worked in geriatric hospitals, she seemed nice and someone who could handle Egill's personality. However, what they didn't take into account was how Egill would see her. It was his first contact with the outside world, with a young woman, and all his impulses went crazy. He chased her down for the whole week, trying to court her, not knowing how, making unwanted advances just to get refused. It arrived to the point when she would hide away as much as she could, yet Egill always got what he wanted as she found out the day he snuck into her room. The night no one heard her screaming.

5/10/2014

A Story A Day. Story 126 of 365: Secret.

The cool kids were the kids everyone wanted to hang out with, they were rebellious, they broke rules, they owned the school. Peter wasn't a cool kid, he was a nerd, and he wanted to be part of the cool kids badly. The cool kids were the opposite that Peter was, they were popular, and he wanted to be popular. There was no way he could walk up to one of them and ask him to join his group, that was madness. So, when one of them asked him for help with his Science homework, Peter saw an open door.

-I want to be part of your group. 

-I don't know, man... you're just... not us, y'know? I mean... y'wear glasses and y'say weird stuff all t'time. 

-I helped you with your homework!

-Let me talk t'the guys...

When they told him he would need to go through some trials to get in, he accepted reluctantly, more so after they told him what they were. Peter had never broken a rule in his short life, and that was what they were expecting him to do. However, he knew his social status would change, his life would change, they were the cool kids, after all. He passed each and every test, including one about pulling the fire alarm. Peter got reprimanded for it, but he thought it was worth it. 

Until he started hanging out with his new friends. To his despair, the cool kids were just a bunch of boring bored kids. 

5/09/2014

A Story A Day. Story 125 of 365: Luck.

Aurelia had been unlucky for most of her life. When she was a child she would complain about how she never won anything, about how all her classmates were picked for things before she was, about a thousand of things. She was a good student, but she was not brilliant, and she attributed everything to her lack of luck. It was an easy choice, she wouldn't give all she had and, yet, it wouldn't feel as if it were her fault.

With time she mostly forgot about it, but she would still blame bad things happening to her on her bad luck. She didn't complain out loud, though, because she knew people would run away from her. Eventually, she realized she wasn't unlucky anymore. She was a lucky girl, actually. Who would have said it, her, Aurelia, a lucky girl? Looking back she realized something, she had started being lucky as soon as she started working for it. It turned out that luck is not something you find, it is something you have to work for.

5/01/2014

A Story A Day. Story 117 of 365: Mountain.

It was a small hamlet at the foot of a mountain, so small that everyone knew each other and they were all related within them. People there never cared about the mountain, they used its forests for tinder, and they were wary of snow-slides, but no one ever dared to go all the way to the cloudy top.

Olaf was different. Since he was a kid he had been attracted to the mountain, dreaming of the day he would make it all the way to the top. His parents told him that it wasn't worth the effort, that it was only miles and miles of mountain, that there was no reward on the top. Yet, he needed to see it by himself.

He grew up and became a lumberjack, so he could be closer to his beloved mountain. Everyday he would wander through the forests until the line where no more trees could grow, and he stared towards the peak longingly. Years passed like that, and he never dared to fulfill his dream. One night, he dreamt about the mountain, it was calling him, singing to him. He woke up knowing he had to go, so, that day, he packed his thickest clothes and all the blankets he could find and headed towards his love. He climbed all the day and when the sun set he still couldn't see the peak. He had to climb for three days to reach it. The view from there was breathtaking, he could see all the other towns in a fifty mile ratio. But he saw other things, too. Olaf saw higher mountains, sitting there, waiting for someone to climb them, for someone to enjoy the view. He never returned to his town, moving from mountain to mountain, from country to country, fueled by his desire to climb.