-Blocks-

A collection of short stories.

Feel free to critique or comment, they're far from perfect, I'm not a good writer nor do I claim to be. I just enjoy it.

Contents:

-Forgettance-

She looked beautiful.

The high-powered scope on my rifle offered me an excellent view of her bronze skin, chocolate hair, white smile. Her pink lips parted in a laugh, I could hear the faint sound of it echoing through the hills...my hills. It was a nervous laugh, a laugh to forget, to forget about the world falling apart around you. The bottle of whiskey in her left hand probably helped with that too.

Tears streamed out of her moss colored eyes, her chest heaved. She was trying very hard to forget, it must be hard when everything reminds you of the truth. The broken pavement of the parking lot her and her companion sat in was a testimony to the facts, the warped metal of the cars, and the skeleton remainders of their drivers still clutching the wheels did not allow fantasies. The world had ended.

Forgetting is easier with laughter. And alcohol.

I let her finish her laugh. I let her wipe the tears from her eyes, her face flushed with joy of not remembering. Her white smile was a little crooked as I pulled the trigger. Her eyes had been squinted, little crinkles surrounding them, but now they widened, still that lively shade of green. It was almost comical, the way her mouth formed a perfect “o”, and the way she stumbled and fell onto her ass. If not for the hole in her chest, if not for the blood trickling down her mouth, I might have laughed.

Her companion stood dumbfounded for a minute, his smile frozen and not knowing what it should do. I tried finishing him before he could grasp the situation, tried ending him with the joy still on his face. But I missed, my shot was too far left and instead it collided with the twisted metal of a car door. The resulting, ping! was enough to wipe the joy from his face and get him moving behind one of those burned out cars. I think he was crying. I think tears and snot streamed down his face.

He suddenly bolted from his cover, the smile that had been there moments ago had been placed by a sneer, one of determination. He knew if he could get outside of the parking lot, he was free, it would be too great of distance for me to shoot him accurately. And for the whole length of the parking lot their was cover, plenty of cars to hide behind, he would just need to zig-zag across the lot. But as he began his final sprint the memory of her weighed him down, he forgot how to forget and took a glance back to his fallen companion.

The steps faltered and my bullet pierced the middle of his back, he collapsed onto the pavement heavy with sweat, blood, and memories. I stood up, brushed the dust off my leather jacket, and descended into the parking lot. The man had flipped over and was clutching his stomach as blood seeped between his fingers, but his eyes were on me, they looked sad. The woman lay dead where she fell, blood trickling from her pink lips. She was pretty even in death, for now at least, I tried not imagine what she'd look like in three days.

“She was beautiful,” the man croaked.

“No,” I corrected, “She is beautiful. She learned how to forget, unlike you.”

He said nothing, breathed nothing, he was dead. Lines of remembrance still etched on his face, I did not want to die like him, but I couldn't forget. The woman could, that's why I killed her, she could but I couldn't, it wasn't fair.

“Teach me how to forget.”

My voice was soft and pleading, but she did not answer me. The blood continued to trickle from her mouth, pour from her back, and soak the pavement. Already the memories of her laughter started to haunt me, that nervous laughter that I wanted so badly. I couldn't forget, I couldn't laugh.

Only one option left,

I reached for the whiskey.

What's up with the intro?

It's a challenge to myself. And a filler between the title and the contents.

Good ytt. You have the moves like Jenga.

http://i.imgur.com/RsQLj.jpg

-Anarchy-

“There is no law.”

The realization came suddenly, with such force that it had to be spoken aloud. The man smiled as his voice echoed through the halls of a home that wasn't his. The sudden concept of unlimited freedom was overwhelming, he could do anything he wanted, anything! His laughter could not be contained, a loud laugh whose mirth seemed misplaced in a home full of skeletons and charred remains.

“What's the problem?”

He paused to glance at his brother. He always hated his brother, he had the looks; blue eyes, soft blond hair, a perfect smile. Always complaining, people couldn't help but sympathize with him, his boyish charm won them over every time. He smiled, none of it mattered now.

“Problem? Ha. Brother my problem is where sitting in this crappy house when there is a whole world out there.”

His brother gave him a half smile, a look that annoyed the man,

“I'm not sure what you're saying.”

“What I am saying,” he growled, “is that were invincible.”

His brother looked even more puzzled then before and the man was getting frustrated. He got of his chair, picked up a tattered book...

How does he not get it? How stupid is he?

...And threw at his brother, “Ow. What the h-”

“Shut up.”

His brother looked angry, not just angry, but furious. The one time he lost all his charm was when he was mad, the deep wrinkles on his forehead appeared, the smile turned to a sneer, and the eyes became squinted. He did not like being hit and he did not like being shouted at, his hands balled upped into clenched fists and he raised them, ready to strike. The man was not worried,

“Who do you call, when someone takes something from you, what do you do?”

“You're acting weird. I mean even for you, and if you hit me again, I'm going to knock you down.”

The man laughed, his brother was ignorant. He could not see the beauty in this...this anarchy. There was no “law” they had to abide, no people who were going to go after them if they stole, or murdered. No one to stop them from doing and taking what they want, they were truly free now. And to think that just thirteen months ago, he had been huddled up in a shelter, crying with his brother at the end of the world. How wonderful it turned out! He grabbed his brother by the front of his shirt,

“No one is going to the answerer the calls. We are free you [censored] idiot!”

The pain lit up his face like a fire as his brothers fist collided with his jaw. He stumbled onto the dusty carpet, blood dripping from his mouth, his eyes watery with tears. But he was still smiling, even as he spit out shards of his own teeth.

“You're a freak, you know that? I'm done with you, I'm outta of here.”

As his brother turned away and began to walk down the hall, the man stood up, uneasy on his feet. His smile looked maniacal and his eyes were wide with excitement as he lifted his pistol,

“No one is going to answer your call brother!”

His brother tried turning, but got shot twice in the back before he could finish. He collapsed onto the ground, squirming and screaming with pain. The man slowly advanced, his smiled never faltered as he placed the gun against the back of his brother's skull.

“I am unstoppable, Abel.”

The man left the house with blood staining his clothes and splattering his face. His brother couldn't see what he saw, couldn't see the limitless potential this new world had brought. But others would, he would make them see, and they would take what they want, kill those who stood against them. No one was listening, the calls would remain unanswered. The world was his.

Pretty good, YT. Nice to see you again.

The writing was nice.

Story 1 left me empty. Story 2 was more haunting.

These were more 'scenes' than short stories. Flash fiction maybe.

If you keep this going, why not link a few of them of them together? Intersecting shorts are always interesting.

Very glad to see you back Yt. I recently discovered that your name is an element.

I haven't read through the stories yet, as I have been busy, but have plans to later tonight or tomorrow. I'm sure they will be good quality, your writing usually is.