Chapter One

This is the first chapter of a science fiction story that I have had working in my head for a while. The story direction is still pounding itself out in my head, it's definitely an organic thing but that's probably best as I don't deal well with long-term commitments :P


At six, the alarm began buzzing and with a flutter of lashes, Virginia awoke. Groggily she leaned over and shook the still sleeping figure next to her.
“Hun… it’s time to get up,” she whispered.
With a grunt of acknowledgement he slowly sat up, rubbed his eyes, and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. Once his eyes finally adjusted to the light that was now streaming through the open window, he looked about the room. His wife now stood silhouetted against the mountain backdrop, hugging a blanket closely, and gazing absentmindedly out. Suddenly, there was a quick inhale and her whole frame started to shake as tears began pouring out.
Quickly he ran over, put his arms around her, and tried to calm her.
“I’m okay… I’m alright” she said as she wiped tears from her eyes. “it’s just… today’s the day. Today is the last day with my little girl.”
“Don’t say that,” he chided. “We don’t know that. They said that there’s hope for her. She’s young. She has a great chance of getting better. Just trust the doctors. It’ll be okay.”
“They say that to get our hopes up. They say that so we don’t go to another doctor because we didn’t hear what we wanted to.” She turned away, angry. Doctors, the one thing she could not stand. Virginia had never believed strongly in doctors. They were all “crackpots” and “in it only for the money” according to her. “I’m going down to make breakfast. Be quiet in the hall. I want to let her sleep in. She used to love to sleep in…” the sentence trailed off as Virginia left Walter by himself.
Virginia Keys was a small, careful woman, patient in everything she did. She had never broken down despite everything she had been through, never given up, never even lost her cool. She believed herself capable of handling most anything. She believed that for the longest time and then suddenly life changed. Kerina was she and Walter’s only child and had always been a sweet weakness for them both. They loved her dearly but Kerina began to change. Virginia had been pushed to the point of breakdown so many times just within the past few months on account of Kerina and today was promised to be the most trying day of them all.
As she quietly passed Kerina’s bedroom she could hear a voice from within. Peering through the door crack she saw Kerina sitting on her bed with her favorite stuffed bear in hand, seemingly talking to nobody.

Kerina looked at herself in the mirror that hung in her door. Mary had awoken her early, telling her that she must get up and look her best. Her thick, wavy, dark brown hair was tied back in a half-pony with a crimson ribbon; in comparison to her matching dark brown eyes and hair, her skin looked pale white. Her eight-year-old frame was covered by a pure white dress, one of Mr. Davidson’s favorites. She looked her “Sunday best” as her mother called it.
Most people, upon first meeting her, walked away thinking what a beautiful, innocent, shy, sweet little angel she was. Even after several meetings this first impression remained strongly intact; many of the Keys’ neighbors knew nothing about what was going on with Kerina, knew nothing about them.
“What’s the matter, dear?” Mary asked, startling Kerina out of her blank stare.
“It’s nothing. I … was thinking.”
“Admiring your reflection I’ve no doubt. One is never too young to do that.” The woman stepped back and smiled at Kerina. “Doesn’t she look precious, Mr. Davidson?”
The elderly man sitting in the corner at the chess table looked up from the game he now played with himself.
“Hmm? Yes. Yes. Very much so.” He too smiled but then quickly returned to his game.
“Thank you.” Kerina was embarrassed as she always was at such compliments.
Something at the door caught her eye and looking up, she saw her mother standing there, staring sadly at her.
“What is it dear? Oh… her again. Go close the door. There’s a good girl. We mustn’t have eavesdroppers listening in on our conversations. It’s very impolite.” Kerina obeyed Mary’s command and slowly closed the door on her mother. She stayed at the door, though and listened to the sound coming from the other side.
“Mother is crying again. I don’t think she likes me doing that.”
“Oh, it’s her own fault for eavesdropping. She deserves what she gets.” Another voice had joined her now and suddenly the other two were gone.
“Henry, you can’t say things like that. It isn’t nice. I don’t like it.”
“Yeah, whatever. You’re such a girl. Look at you. You look like some ugly, dumb little doll.” A boy of about eleven was standing by her bed in old jeans and an overly large sweatshirt.
“Stop it, Henry. Go. Away. I don’t want to talk to you if you’re going to be like this. Bring Mary and Mr. Davidson back. I don’t want you. You’re the reason I have to leave.”
“I am not! Shut up you stupid girl! You have to leave because they’re all idiots and won’t understand.” He was yelling now. The line had been crossed and his temper now rose as it often did.
Kerina turned her back to him to avoid letting him see the tears in her eyes. He was just a stupid boy that liked to yell a lot.
A quiet knock came from the door and cautiously she opened it. Her father was there and upon seeing her, he gently smiled.
“Hey, Sweetie. Breakfast is almost ready. You want to go down with me?” Kerina looked behind her to make sure Henry wasn’t there. At the sight of the empty room she nodded and slowly opened the door the rest of the way. Walter held his hand out in hopes of her grabbing it as she used to. When she did, he couldn’t help but smile. This had to mean something. He had to tell Virginia about this. There really was hope.

Even through the countless attempts of both parents, breakfast was almost completely silent. Kerina would only answer questions with a word, a nod, or a shake of her head.
“You look very cute this morning, Princess.”
“Mary did my hair. Mr. Davidson picked out my dress. It’s one of his favorites,” she said quietly.
“Oh!” Virginia glanced at her husband who gave her a reassuring look back. “I thought that maybe you and I could go shopping before… before this afternoon. Would that be okay, babe?”
Kerina looked to her left as though there were something or someone there, then looked back to her mother and nodded. Virginia could only smile. She knew that Kerina saw someone at her side. She was never sure which one her daughter saw at any given point in time but one was almost always there.

Tightly grasping her old, one eyed teddy bear, Kerina made her way out the front door at her mother’s side. Mary followed close behind. Mr. Davidson did not care for shopping; he greatly preferred a game of chess.
They went in countless stores and for once, her mother seemed happy. She held Kerina’s hand tightly as if she did not want to let go for fear that Kerina would disappear.
Kerina soon became tired of shopping but she didn’t want to tell her mother. She looked too happy, happier than she had been for a long time.
Within one of the department stores, Virginia stopped in front of a camel apple shop.
“Oh Kerina, do you want one? Oh my word they look delicious!” she said as she leaned over to look at the different kinds.
“Good heavens no! Apple, my foot. They can find a way to make everything unhealthy nowadays. So help me I will throw it on the ground if she buys you one,” Mary replied snidely.
“Um, Mary says I shouldn’t have one. They’re unhealthy.”
“Oh, alright. We’ll get you something else then, something that Mary says is suitable.”
Lunch was spent at an old café drinking hot chocolate and eating a sandwich. Mary had allowed the hot chocolate only because of the cold weather. She had grumbled something about hauling a child out in the freezing cold and something else about needing mothering lessons.
When the clock struck one, the three hopped into a cab and raced toward home to rendezvous with Walter. They found him pacing in the front room, apparently nervous about how things went and what was to come.

The cab containing the Keys family stopped in front of the old building. It had taken them almost an hour to get there but it was worth it, at least it was suppose to be. This was said to be one of the premier medical institutes of Maine.
A man in a white lab coat ran out to greet them. Introducing himself as Craig Calhoun, he invited them to follow him up into his office.
The crisp, clean, sterile office was on the second floor. Dr. Calhoun informed them that the elevators were not working and maintenance was currently attempting to fix the problem. In the mean time, he apologized for having to use the stairs. Mr. Davidson did not appreciate this at all. It took a great deal of effort on his part to get up the stairs. Kerina went up slowly as to not leave him behind nor draw attention to his inability to get up the stairs quickly.
Once in the office, everyone sat on the thinly cushioned chairs. Kerina did not listen to what was being said. She simply sat there, staring at the floor, occasionally looking at Mary when she made comments.
“Mr. Keys, what have you noticed about Kerina’s behavior?” the doctor asked as he sat, ready to take notes on what was said.
“Well… she says she sees people. She talks to them as though they were as real as you or I.”
“Do they have names? What are they like?”
“There are three of them. The ones she sees the most are Mr. Davidson and Mary. He, Mr. Davidson I mean, is apparently an elderly gentleman and plays chess a lot. Kerina never played chess before and then one day just … began. Mary, on the other hand, is in her thirties I’d say. She’s very picky about what Kerina eats and how she looks.” Virgina Keys interjected for her husband.
“You mentioned three?”
“Yes. The other… well, he doesn’t come around as often as the others but when he does…” she trailed off.
“When he does, bad things just seem to happen. He’s very destructive. We think he’s about ten or so. He tells Kerina to break rules, go against us, and break things. He’s…this is going to sound stupid but… I guess look where we are. Once he took over her. She was completely changed. She yelled and screamed and threw things. We didn’t know who she was.” Walter finished for his wife.
“Hmm. I’ve heard of cases like this. We’re going to keep her under close observation and see how she progresses after the first few weeks. It’s getting late and I’m sure you have a long drive ahead of you still. Mr. and Mrs. Keys, I know this is going to be hard to hear but I wouldn’t suggest coming back to visit for about a week or two. Give her time to settle here and then it should be easier on her and you to see each other. I know this whole situation is hard, but remember, have hope.” With that, he stood.
Virginia and Walter looked over to Kerina.
“Honey, we have to go now. We’re not going to be able to see you for a while. Dr. Calhoun is going to look after you, ok?” Tears were welling up in Virginia’s eyes but she was determined not to let Kerina see her cry. “Everything is going to be okay, Princess. Can you give us a hug? Thanks. Remember, sweetie, we love you.”

Stream of Thought

This was written in my creative writing class that was taught by Brandon Sanderson.


She felt lost, sitting in a mass of esoteric writer-nonsense. There stood the demigod of science fiction and fantasy, spouting recipes for writing the perfect novel and there she sat, completely unaware of what she had to offer. It had been years since she’d written anything and all aspects of life seemed to sneer at the very idea of such rubbish. She lived in a world of spreadsheets, meetings, and, frankly, reality.

An Introduction

I'm not doing this blog for other's to read. It's more of a thing for me to keep myself writing. I know I'm not that great and I don't have as much motivation as is really necessary for writing well but still. I want to give it a try.

Don't judge :P