Painkiller
05-09-09, 02:26 PM
My friend wrote this when he was high, and he asked me for feedback. Since I'm a shitty writer, I'm posting this here to get everyone else's feedback. Hoorah!
Nothing Happened
It was here, in this small capsule, locked in space and time, in a tiny world looking out on another world in which there was no motion, that I spent my hours and days, like nickels and dimes in a casino, dropping into the coin slot for all infinity.
It had only been 7 years, although I had yet to age a day or sleep a second. 7 years goes by a lot slower without the escape that is slumber. Within my egg shaped capsule was an egg shaped chair, and it was here that I spent my hours and my days, like drops of rain falling rapidly and violently splashing against the cement, dispersing into tiny meaningless puddles that fade in all but memory.
In front of my chair stood a desk, and upon the desk stood a computer tower alongside a monitor. The computer's information never changed, there were no uploads or downloads, there were no instant messages or emails, and every second that I felt pass didn't update on the tiny clock in the bottom right corner of my screen. 7:58 and 12 seconds PM, April 18th, 20009, would be the second in which I was born and lived my entire life.
“Why did they give me a clock on my computer if there isn't any time to keep?”, I thought to myself.
“They..?”, the sane part of me retorted. Who was they? Who was I? Was there a they? Was there an I?
In my capsule there was no mirror, there was no surface on which my reflection could rest, there was simply a capsule, a desk, and a chair. In my egg, there was no way to see my face.
I could see my hands. I could see my body. They looked alien to me. My mind told these appendages to reach out and stroke the keys of my keyboard, to touch my mouse, as I endlessly explored the world within the computer.
My only outreach to the frozen environment outside of me was through this computer. Although the websites never changed, there were websites. Infinite amounts of information for my mind to feast. All I did was read.
The capsule was kept at a slightly uncomfortable heat, I thought. I believed it to be because of the fact time wasn't moving, so I couldn't feel the breeze blowing against my face as I moved forward towards my destination. Either that, or the fact my computer had been running and blowing at heat for seven years.
To you, the outside world where time is frozen, I write to no one. I write my tale. Unless there was someone else in a capsule out there. I am here. I wish to speak with you. Is there another capsule? Why are we frozen in time? Why can't I sleep? Why can't I eat? Why can't I feel my face?
So many questions, although if there were another person in another capsule, they probably were asking the same questions.
The world outside me seemed larger then me. Outside my globe I could see a green, grassy field, a tree with big, beautiful leaves, and a family of three enjoying what I imagined was a summer breeze. The woman's hair was blowing back, or somehow suspended by some force, and she was very pretty. I imagined myself as the man, but not because I lusted for the woman, or even the experience, but I simply wanted to experience time moving.
I was lonely, though. I was desperate for interaction. The only thing that reacted was the computer, humming happily as I browsed the internet.
The world of the internet was still alive and buzzing as well, I had determined, otherwise I couldn't access all these websites. Time had died, effectively killing the family outside my bubble, but the computers lived on.
I went to google to find a website to read. You know you've spent too much time online when you find difficulty learning something new. The “I'm feeling lucky” button on google, which brought up a random website, was truly a godsend for me. I hit 4 random letters, “wuru”, and brought up a page about some mystic land named Wuru, in the country of Ghana. It had maps, showing where this location was, somewhere in what appeared to be green hills. I smiled to myself, having learned a new place in the world, another place I would visit should I ever get out of this state of suspended animation.
On the random forum I found, on which I typed my tail, a new reader appeared on the bottom of the list! There had always been 9 readers, stuck there, not truly reading my tail, but just someone on the forum before time had stopped. But now, a 10th person loomed. “Anna929” was the user name. It looked alien among my other 9 “friends”. Something new. My heart was pounding. Anna was a female's name. Someone's name. Someone else.
“This story sounds exactly like what I'm going through. Is there someone here?” the worlds sprawled across my screen.
My heart began to pound harder. My whole body became excited. I couldn't even move. I was paralyzed in the excitement, the anticipation. My fingers couldn't type. I thought I must've been mistaken, surely I was hallucinating, the odds that someone else would stumble across this page, let alone when I was on it!
“I'm here! Who are you? I don't know what to say! PLEASE RESPOND”, I typed back furiously. I sat there, waiting.
Nothing happened. I was afraid. What if she doesn't respond? What if she left the website in that small fragment of time that I didn't type? I went to type another message, but nothing would respond. I shook my mouse. The cursor wouldn't move. Something was wrong with the computer. I wouldn't have even seen a response if there was one! I shook the mouse harder. My chest hurt. I slammed the computer on the desk, pleading with it, begging it to process what I was telling it to do.
Nothing happened.
I had read a lot about computers, I even knew what kind of computer I had. I knew to reboot my computer should it freeze. I had never done it before. I had never needed to turn it off, I had never wanted to chance it. My heart was throbbing. I could hardly breathe. My eyes began to water.
Anxiety flooded through my body, making my heart feel like it was going to explode, making my stomach tighten and cramp. My muscles tensed.
I clicked the off button and waited a few seconds. I clicked the on button and felt like my body was being shattered when nothing happened. Thoughts began to race through my head, tearing my brain into pieces. Emotion overwhelmed me. I pushed the button over and over and over while I screamed. Nothing happened. Nothing.
Nothing Happened
It was here, in this small capsule, locked in space and time, in a tiny world looking out on another world in which there was no motion, that I spent my hours and days, like nickels and dimes in a casino, dropping into the coin slot for all infinity.
It had only been 7 years, although I had yet to age a day or sleep a second. 7 years goes by a lot slower without the escape that is slumber. Within my egg shaped capsule was an egg shaped chair, and it was here that I spent my hours and my days, like drops of rain falling rapidly and violently splashing against the cement, dispersing into tiny meaningless puddles that fade in all but memory.
In front of my chair stood a desk, and upon the desk stood a computer tower alongside a monitor. The computer's information never changed, there were no uploads or downloads, there were no instant messages or emails, and every second that I felt pass didn't update on the tiny clock in the bottom right corner of my screen. 7:58 and 12 seconds PM, April 18th, 20009, would be the second in which I was born and lived my entire life.
“Why did they give me a clock on my computer if there isn't any time to keep?”, I thought to myself.
“They..?”, the sane part of me retorted. Who was they? Who was I? Was there a they? Was there an I?
In my capsule there was no mirror, there was no surface on which my reflection could rest, there was simply a capsule, a desk, and a chair. In my egg, there was no way to see my face.
I could see my hands. I could see my body. They looked alien to me. My mind told these appendages to reach out and stroke the keys of my keyboard, to touch my mouse, as I endlessly explored the world within the computer.
My only outreach to the frozen environment outside of me was through this computer. Although the websites never changed, there were websites. Infinite amounts of information for my mind to feast. All I did was read.
The capsule was kept at a slightly uncomfortable heat, I thought. I believed it to be because of the fact time wasn't moving, so I couldn't feel the breeze blowing against my face as I moved forward towards my destination. Either that, or the fact my computer had been running and blowing at heat for seven years.
To you, the outside world where time is frozen, I write to no one. I write my tale. Unless there was someone else in a capsule out there. I am here. I wish to speak with you. Is there another capsule? Why are we frozen in time? Why can't I sleep? Why can't I eat? Why can't I feel my face?
So many questions, although if there were another person in another capsule, they probably were asking the same questions.
The world outside me seemed larger then me. Outside my globe I could see a green, grassy field, a tree with big, beautiful leaves, and a family of three enjoying what I imagined was a summer breeze. The woman's hair was blowing back, or somehow suspended by some force, and she was very pretty. I imagined myself as the man, but not because I lusted for the woman, or even the experience, but I simply wanted to experience time moving.
I was lonely, though. I was desperate for interaction. The only thing that reacted was the computer, humming happily as I browsed the internet.
The world of the internet was still alive and buzzing as well, I had determined, otherwise I couldn't access all these websites. Time had died, effectively killing the family outside my bubble, but the computers lived on.
I went to google to find a website to read. You know you've spent too much time online when you find difficulty learning something new. The “I'm feeling lucky” button on google, which brought up a random website, was truly a godsend for me. I hit 4 random letters, “wuru”, and brought up a page about some mystic land named Wuru, in the country of Ghana. It had maps, showing where this location was, somewhere in what appeared to be green hills. I smiled to myself, having learned a new place in the world, another place I would visit should I ever get out of this state of suspended animation.
On the random forum I found, on which I typed my tail, a new reader appeared on the bottom of the list! There had always been 9 readers, stuck there, not truly reading my tail, but just someone on the forum before time had stopped. But now, a 10th person loomed. “Anna929” was the user name. It looked alien among my other 9 “friends”. Something new. My heart was pounding. Anna was a female's name. Someone's name. Someone else.
“This story sounds exactly like what I'm going through. Is there someone here?” the worlds sprawled across my screen.
My heart began to pound harder. My whole body became excited. I couldn't even move. I was paralyzed in the excitement, the anticipation. My fingers couldn't type. I thought I must've been mistaken, surely I was hallucinating, the odds that someone else would stumble across this page, let alone when I was on it!
“I'm here! Who are you? I don't know what to say! PLEASE RESPOND”, I typed back furiously. I sat there, waiting.
Nothing happened. I was afraid. What if she doesn't respond? What if she left the website in that small fragment of time that I didn't type? I went to type another message, but nothing would respond. I shook my mouse. The cursor wouldn't move. Something was wrong with the computer. I wouldn't have even seen a response if there was one! I shook the mouse harder. My chest hurt. I slammed the computer on the desk, pleading with it, begging it to process what I was telling it to do.
Nothing happened.
I had read a lot about computers, I even knew what kind of computer I had. I knew to reboot my computer should it freeze. I had never done it before. I had never needed to turn it off, I had never wanted to chance it. My heart was throbbing. I could hardly breathe. My eyes began to water.
Anxiety flooded through my body, making my heart feel like it was going to explode, making my stomach tighten and cramp. My muscles tensed.
I clicked the off button and waited a few seconds. I clicked the on button and felt like my body was being shattered when nothing happened. Thoughts began to race through my head, tearing my brain into pieces. Emotion overwhelmed me. I pushed the button over and over and over while I screamed. Nothing happened. Nothing.