WOTM # 14 Casual (Voting)

[WOTM]

CASUAL

Theme: Friendship

• Explained: 1. The quality or condition of being friends.

Components:

• A friendship is tested, but ultimately grows stronger.
• Old friends become enemies, old enemies become friends.
• The story is a letter. (First person perspective.)
• One or more of the members of the friendship are not human.
• The friendship is not formed in a war or physical conflict.

Rules for Voting:

• Read ALL Entries.
• Vote on your favorite entry.
• Please post explaining your vote and why.
• Please provide helpful feedback on the entries.
• Do NOT post anything insulting or offensive about the entries.
• Do NOT vote for your own entry.
• Do NOT tell others which entry is your own.

The Entries:

Dear Friend,

I miss you a lot these days. I’ve been wondering how you were doing, so I decided to drop a line. I hope you can get back to me soon, but I don’t know how busy you’re recovery makes you. Speaking of, do you remember the day we met? You had fallen and scraped your knee on that playground, and it just happened that I was people watching, ready to hand you a band-aid when you got up. Your mother thanked me politely and quickly left with you in her arms, but I understood the caution. You never know who you might run into these days. But I was glad to run into someone so cute

Later I saw you again playing in your front yard as I walked by. You walked with me for a long time, but I wish we could have walked longer. You taught me how to be happy again, taught me how to live. However, when your jealous mother learned you had been speaking to me again, she took you inside. You weren’t playing in your front yard the next day. You were cute when you played.

I spent a long time suffering in quiet after you left my life. I searched for solace in my other friends, but none of them wanted to talk to me anymore. They wouldn’t even hug me like you did, you remember how you would wrap my knees in your arms and call me “the bestest friend ever”? I remember, and I especially liked how you were always sweating and breathing really hard from your playing. It was cute.

Do you ever wish we had never been friends? I do sometimes. It would make it easier to deal with these depressing memories. Like the first time you came over. It had been a while since we’d seen each other, you were with some group doing nice things for the elderly I didn’t think you would remember me, but I was very happy when our eyes met and you smiled. You visited often after that day, coming to tell me how school was going, or bring me those suckers I liked. You always collected the sticks to make art. It was cute.

If you want, I could come visit you, since you are unable to see me. I’m sure the hospital would open their doors to me, your dearest friends. I’ve taken so many things from you; I just want to give you some help in your time of need. Please don’t be mad at me if I can’t though. I have made a list of things that you left behind with me. It amounts to the following:

• 1 vial of tears. I don’t remember why you cried, but it was cute.

• A video of you smiling at me and telling me how happy you were to see me. It was incredibly cute.

• The memories of how happy we were together, how cute you were.

• 7 missed calls and messages from your mother, they weren’t very cute.

• 1 missed call from the police, the last day we saw each other. It wasn’t cute either.

• An outfit you left behind in my room. It fits me and I wear it sometimes. I look cute.

Sincerely,
Your friend.

Dear Abigail

I’m sorry. Let me just start with that. I know you probably will most likely be reading this in pure disgust of me right now, but just hear me out, okay?

We’ve always been friends. Ever since we were small, small little girls. I remember that we came to visit one another at the meager age of five. You, me and Megan. We cherished one another, played together and did stupid things to one another. Some plays more recommended than others, but we had fun all the way. I’m pretty sure we gave our parents hell to deal with, and I’m proud of it. That was a friendship which I’d never, ever want to break. I always wished for your best, and for the best of Megan. I support you whatever you want to do with life. And what happened now… it should never have happened, really.

I swear, I wasn’t interested in him. When you came to me and told me about your crush on him I was all for it. Aaron was to be yours. I had decided it myself. You, Abigail, my dear friend, had decided to make him yours, and as I support you I also decided that he was to be yours. All those times when I gave you tips to how to claim him were not to make you believe I was on your side to cheat behind your back. It was just… I’ll just state it as it is. He is a professional seducer. I noticed that I’d been… targeted by him a few weeks ago. Aaron started straight out stalking me. I couldn’t really stop him. At first, I was appalled. But… it wasn’t the bad kind of stalking. He gave me things he mysteriously knew I wanted and offered his help at well-timed places where I needed it. I guess I fell for him too. Then he was allowed to visit me by my parents… and then things just happened.

That was what happened. I apologize greatly for this. It was never my meaning to betray you. I know that last time we met, you were really angry at me. It pains my heart to recall your grief and rage-struck expression directed at me. We almost scared Megan out of her mind. My chest still hurts from the place you shoved me, more out what the shove meant than out of the physical pain. You are usually so bright and expressive, so energetic and willful. I’d never want to tarnish that personality. So please, Abigail. Can you forgive me? You are worth far more to me than any boy will ever be. I’ll kick Aaron out of my house next time we meet, and I can set him up so he somehow runs into you. I can do anything. I want our friendship to last forever. Megan does so too. I’ll do anything you want me to. So please… can you forgive me?

Rachel

________________________________

Dear Rachel

Let’s kick jealousy in the gut for trying to separate us, k’?

Meet me at the station. Saturday. 12:00.

Bring Aaron with you.

From Abigail

________________________________

Hey, Jay.

I know you said “Rachel is a real catch” when I told you that I had a crush on her. However, I really wish you would have told me what you had meant with “catch”. I mean, I not sure about this. It appears that they are serious about this. I am the only one that is confused. Somehow, I understand why no-one has tried to claim her before, if they knew this would be the result. I mean, I can’t really complain about the attention. Who could possibly? But, you know, it really isn’t normal. And while my desire for girls is as healthy as that of any man my age…

I’m not sure if I can handle two girls at once.

I mean, they appear seriously dedicated to sharing me. I had no say in it. I only planned for Rachel, but her best friend Abigail went in and… um. What should I do? You, my best friend and otherwise worthy adviser of my cause. What should I do with these two stubborn girls..? It is not that I don’t like both of them… it is just that… the two of them at the same time is a little…

Sincerely, Aaron.

________________________________

Aaron

Could you not have left one for me?

From Jay

;D

Untitled

Often I’ve pondered how I would put it into words,
Who we are, and what that means.
When I am forced into the night,
They follow me willingly, if reluctantly.
Or when the burdens of life weigh me down,
And they offer to take that extra worry off my hands.
Despite the fact that they juggle their own doubts and mistakes,
They bear the weight which should have been my own.
Then life turns. I escape the pressures of life. I forget this simple act of loyalty,
And they look away from me in disgust, and struggle under the weight alone.
Even then, they do not show me their contempt for my actions,
Perhaps that is the true quality of a friend.
Someone who remembers what it meant to be comrades,
Even when I have forgot.

But then it is my turn to change direction,
For no matter how far I fell, that hand reached out to grasp my own.
Which is when I realise my mistake, and I rush to their side,
But I stop myself, when I see they have moved on.
I look back at my folly, and realise how I can make amends,
So I wait, until that moment I thought would never come.
When they stumble, and the weight forces them down,
I outstretch my hand, and they clasp it.
With what strength of spirit I have,
I repay the debt, and show them I remember.

To my dear friends whom'll I'll miss dearly
I know this is going to be the last time I write anything, truthfully I am sure all of you have noticed my strange habits by now. Leaving your houses early, not staying around for the rest of you to arrive. "Usually you're the life of the party" is what you always used to tell me. Ironic choice of expression to use now it seems.


None of you are idiots, so thus I am not going to write this as if it was to one, and you know something is seriously wrong by this point in reading. I don't have long left, but knowing I have the chance to write my last thoughts is perhaps one of my wishes, it's nice to have it granted. When I heard I was going to die, my initially reaction was to feel bad for myself, to die so young. But then I got to thinking I had such a great life, among my friends, who I consider my family. All my possessions will be given to you all, though I know it's not much. Or even really worth having. I don't care what you do with it truthfully. My greatest possession was our times and history together. Remember that time we all stayed up drinking watching classic horror movies when we were younger?


See. Those smiles. No possession could outweigh that, or those moments we shared together. So do what you want with the simple things, such as games. My only regret is I looked back on all the times I had spent wasting time watching TV, playing video games. When I could be making memories. Thinking about it, that truly isn't much wasted time. That is why I feel so lucky I suppose, because I feel like I have done so much.


My last wish is for all of you to be happy, don't feel bad for me, now I get all the time off work I want. Please tell Anne (no snide comments you guys this is serious remember) to keep her chin up. She'll need you guys now. More so than ever, in fact, you'll need each other to get over this. It is a great pain knowing I am the cause of this grief, but in time the wound will heal. Part of the reason for me not letting you see me like this is because I wanted you to remember me as I was. Not knowing me now, it would only pain you greatly, even if in my heart I all want you here.


So I guess it is game over for me now. I know one of you guys is going to shout "snaaaaaake!" You were always jokers like that.


I don't need any of you to sort of any arrangements or anything like that. I've sorted everything out. You'll find all the details enclosed in this letter. (Not that any of you could sort this out anyway :P)





Yours truly
The gamer enthusiast :P
P.S Don't play any lame music at my funeral, nothing too depressing either. You know what music I love.

Theme & Components Provided By:
Brovo, Dudel, Sinrus, & Contra Fates

General Guidelines For All:

Writer Of The Month: Guidelines & Rules
WOTM's 2012 New Years Resolution

All participants or those interested in the contest must go to the provided links above and read over the guidelines. Users must adhere to the rules in order to participate in any of the RPG competitions.

The 'Components' are in use, so be sure to include them, and list them in your submission. Please make sure that your submission is properly proofread, formatted, and you've previewed your PM before submitting.

Please post any questions regarding this week's theme in this thread, or post to show general interest. If you have any questions that may hinder your entry's anonymity, then feel free to privately contact one of your WOTM mangers directly.

_________________
Banner Thanks To: Rubberball

[PlatinumSkink]

Wow. Friendship. That sounds like a really happy theme.

Excuse me, I can't vote right now, I need to go cry somewhere.

... *sniff*

[Dudel]

#3 was kinda happy.

[Kagamine]

#4 was really sweet. A bit depressing in the middle, but turned around and got really sweet towards the end, and I liked that. Plus overall I just liked the idea and the direction you took it in, so my vote went to #4.

#3 was nice, too. Just... not as nice. It was really sweet, though, it just didn't have as much to it. So the other entries won it out because of that, in my opinion.

#2 was my second favorite. It started off with a real melancholy tone but it made me chuckle at the end. The whole piece had a nice flow of emotion to it. So, good job with that.

#1 was... interesting, to say the least. Though honestly I'm not sure what to think of it. :/ I read through the majority of it not quite sure what I was supposed to be thinking, so, I really have nothing else to say on the subject other than that. The speaker of the story is certainly an... interesting perspective, I just don't find it totally clear what that perspective is. Sorry.

[kizubu]

#1 Intrigued me, I assume the person is in jail hinted at the start "miss you a lot these days" and near the end with "1 missed call from the police". So it just interests me to know what he/she did and what he was in for. If it was life or what? Could his crime be forgiven? I like how it raises questions as I like something that makes you think. So it got my vote on that basis.

Though I might just be over analysing in which case...Woops xD

[Dudel]

*cough*#1isaboutpedophilia*cough*

As disturbing and creepy as #1 is, it's my favorite of the four. I like how the author took the subject matter and handled it from a perspective not usually seen. There's a sort of dark humor to it, as well, which is quite nice. The acts in question are left ambiguous (but not really) to allow for RPGuild's PG-13 barrier, and I think this is best as it apparently allows for some reader interpretation as well. The entire piece reminds me of Freaky Fred from Courage the Cowardly Dog except the story is about taking a child's innocence in the worst of ways rather than shaving people and animals naked.

[SgtKlum]

#1. I don't know quite what to make of it. Perhaps it speaks to my nature that, unlike Dudel and others, my mind didn't automatically jump to something nefarious. To me the whole thing felt very innocent, but with the telltale signs here and there that told us there was something much larger going on that the narrator either didn't understand or wasn't willing to admit. Either way, I thought it was written very well, as evident by the way it gripped me and, by the looks of it, everyone else who read it as well. You gave us enough keep us engaged, but concealed enough to leave us wanting. You earned my vote, very well done.

#2. I'm not quite sure what the aim was here. I finished the story and paused for a moment and said to myself, "Is that it?". It told a nice little story, I suppose, and it certainly wasn't a miss on the theme, but... it just seemed to me like a story that didn't really need telling. And if you did need to tell it, you should probably have told it either in more depth or in a different way. You clearly have a good imagination and I can sort-of see what you were trying to do, but I just don't think you accomplished it. I would be interested to read some of your other writings simply because, as I said, you clearly have some skill, it's just a shame that this particular story was a good idea poorly executed.

3# I'll start off by saying that I don't like poetry. Never have, never will. However, putting aside the format, I think the story you told is one which definitely hits the theme on the head. Friendship isn't just about sunshine and lollipops and happiness and rainbows. Sometimes your friends come to you broken, lying in a heap on the floor and you have to pick them up, dust them off and set them back on their way, content in the knowledge that they would have done the same for you. So while I don't really like the format (I especially dislike poems which don't ryhme), I can't fault the message, which is why this one actually came a very close second and would have been the first time I had -ever- voted for a poem in this competition if not for #1. You have him/her to blame!

4# I liked it. It was simple, and in it's simplicity it was actually quite beautiful. It wasn't written as if by some grand Shakespearian character dictating his final letter, it was just some guy who wanted to say his final goodbye to his friends. It's not quite as gripping as some of the other entries.. in fact, it's a little -too- simple for me to be able to justify granting it a vote over the one I picked, but it was still a good entry and I certainly hope to see you in the competition again.

[Cerianis]

1. This is the most intriguing of the four works. I read it, and unlike srgtklum, my mind instantly went to something nefarious. The idea of art is to gain a response from the onlooker, whether it be a positive or negative result, a bad response being no or a "meh" type response. Fortunately, this piece definitely had a response from me; as I read it in wide eyed silence, shock and thinking why would someone write that?? I realized that it appealed to peoples more sensitive sides and that in itself is an excellent path to gaining a response from your audience. Not only this, but your writing style was excellent in that you were able to get across what your entire story was about and still appealed to the guilds pg13 rules. Unfortunately however, another of the pieces gained my vote but you were a close second.

2. While amusing at the end, your work was very lipstick surface. More depth and more to the actual story. It ended rather abruptly, also, you could have gone into the girls plan more, as it left the reader in the deep end. Sorry, no vote from me, although your writing style was nice if a bit simple for my tastes.

3. I'm not a huge fan of other people's poetry, but your piece definitely caught my eye. It was somewhat hard for me to keep up with, but that may be due to the sheer lateness that I read it. It speaks clearly of the hardships of friendships and was fairly well written, in my opinion. I enjoyed how you had the protagonist steer away and then come back. I don't know if you noticed as you were writing it, it reminded me heavily of jesus carrying the cross, and of the lost sheep re-finding the path. This, to me, seemed important to mention because of the fact that jesus was metaphorically helping us carry our own burden, being sin. (maybe that's just my english literature course getting to my head??)

4. I enjoyed reading your's the most, hence why you got my vote. In the simple style you've written your piece, you managed to captivate me and enjoy reading through to the end. Well written in easy to read language and yet still enjoyment to be gained from reading it. Also captivated was a sort of sadness, and a sort of joy. These too emotions don't usually mix, yet you managed to make me sad that this person was to die, and yet joyous that he lived life making memories that he/she was proud of. so good job

[Kagamine]

1. This is the most intriguing of the four works. I read it, and unlike srgtklum, my mind instantly went to something nefarious. The idea of art is to gain a response from the onlooker, whether it be a positive or negative result, a bad response being no or a "meh" type response. Fortunately, this piece definitely had a response from me; as I read it in wide eyed silence, shock and thinking why would someone write that?? I realized that it appealed to peoples more sensitive sides and that in itself is an excellent path to gaining a response from your audience. Not only this, but your writing style was excellent in that you were able to get across what your entire story was about and still appealed to the guilds pg13 rules. Unfortunately however, another of the pieces gained my vote but you were a close second.

Ohhhh.... That explains why it didn't catch my attention the way it did with everyone else.

Sorry #1, I have to give you a bit more credit; you probably would've gotten my vote if I wasn't someone with such a corrupted person whose grown so numb to this type of thing, to the point of not even having an entertaining reaction to it.

[SebasChan]

4. This piece was able to keep my attention, and also keep me from predicting what was about to happen next. I wasn't confused, as it flowed smoothly, and it certainly seemed to adhere to the majority of the components. It was emotional, but not emotional in the sense that I found my creep-o-meter being peaked. I actually want to know the backstory to this story. I'll have to admit, though, this was an incredibly close tie between this entry and the second.