If Walls Could Talk

Hello again!  So earlier this week I had a huge brain fart and put up my three things instead of doing some flash fiction for y'all.  So today, instead of some groovy Internet links, I'm gonna do a quick short story.

This one came to me when I heard the phrase "If these walls could talk."  It got me thinking, how creepy would that actually be if walls could talk about what has happened?  Yeah, it'd be cool to know some of the history of your home, but let's be honest, I wouldn't want a play-by-play of events probably better left as private.  So here it goes, and I'm giving it apt (and cheesy) title of...


When Walls Talk

Jane wiped her forehead with one dusty hand, taking a deep breath as she surveyed her living room.  After four years of storage while Jane was away for college, her belongings had collected a lot of dust and more rat feces than she cared to admit.

Jane never had much from her parents' house.  An old recliner with faded lime green upholstery sat in the corner with her plywood bookcase full of her old textbooks.  A hand-me-down couch she found at a local yard sale sat directly in front of her twenty inch monster of a television, perfectly placed on plastic storage bins until she could find a suitable entertainment center.

In the kitchen sat a folding card table and two rusty fold-out chairs, her current dining set complete with the stereotypical water rings and stains.  All along the walls were tacked up posters she had accumulated since childhood, as well as a few framed mementos.  Her favorite, prominently displayed above the television, was her bachelor's of arts degree for English.

Jane stacked the plastic bins in the corner, hunger rising in her stomach with a fierce growl.  As she made her way to the Formica-covered kitchen (that she defensively called "retro") she heard a soft rustling and what sounded like a whisper from her bedroom.

Immediately her adrenaline spiked, the world becoming slightly brighter and sharper while the booming of her heart in her ears played like a soundtrack.  Grabbing a knife from her still packed utensils, Jane tiptoed her way towards the bedroom.  Flicking on the light, she saw only her twin bed and plywood dresser.  Clothes had exploded all over the room, a habit Jane had never quite fixed from her youth.

Checking the closet and bathroom, Jane found nothing.  As the adrenaline rush faded she chuckled to herself as she shook her head, retreating to the kitchen for her forgotten snack.

-----

Hours later when Jane slept, she was jerked from her dreams by another voice.  This one was louder, more gruff, and was coming from her bathroom.  Having no window to the outside, Jane idly assumed it was thin walls.  Getting up to check to be sure, she entered the bathroom, but didn't turn on the light this time.

When he stepped in, a low masculine voice was talking in a steady stream.

"She said yes.  We're going to be married next year, after she finishes nursing school.  No, we don't have the money, but we figure a courthouse wedding with family and a small barbecue would be adequate..."

The voice continued for several minutes before it faded.  Jane was thoroughly confused and half convinced she was still asleep.  The voice had sounded close, not muffled by plaster and insulation, so it couldn't have been the neighbors.  As if on cue, a nasally voice issued from her living room.  She went that way, stepping carefully as another adrenaline rush hit her system.

Was it a trap?  Were burglars distracting her to get in so they could tie her up?  Did they want to kill her, or worse, rape her?  She had not thought to get a weapon and cursed herself silently for it.  Thoughts raced like clouds on a stormy day, trying to think of a way out of her apartment.

Cracking open the door, Jane peered out in the inky blackness, the half moon giving little light through the drawn blinds.  The voice sounded young, like hers, but after a night of drinking and dancing and too many cigarettes.

"Thank you for the ride home.  Can't risk a DUI these days, and cabs are just creepy.  Want to come in for a bit, have a night cap with me?  Oh don't worry, Todd's away on business.  Come on, we can have a bit of fun and no one needs to be any wiser..."

Jane promptly closed the door, her face red.  Were people breaking in mistakenly?  Did they think this was their home?   The sounds in the other room quickly turned to grunts and moans until they too faded.

Jane, beet red, opened the door and went into her living room, turning on every light.  No one had been there.  The door was triple locked and the only sound now was the low howling of the wind.

A chill ran down her spine as a familiar voice then echoed from her bedroom.  It was Jane, earlier that day on the phone to her mother.

"No Mom, everything is fine.  The place is actually in decent condition, if a little outdated.  The neighbors seem nice enough and the area is known as family friendly.  I promise I'll be fine!  It may not be the country like back home, but it is nice.  Yes, I start Monday.  No, I'm teaching tenth graders..."

Rushing into her room and turning on the light, Jane's own voice cut abruptly with the light, like a phone hanging up.  She looked around, now wild-eyed and fearful.  Turning on all of the lights, she examined every nook and cranny of the apartment.  Jane didn't find any electronic equipment or holes in the walls.  Nothing to indicate eavesdroppers or burglars or prank-playing neighbors.

Jane then heard a single voice, from no room in particular but loud none the less.  It was an older man, a sickly rattle present in his speech.

"If these walls could talk, they would have some interesting stories to tell."

And Jane knew, at that moment, that she was not being pranked, or burgled, or even haunted.  Her walls were telling the tale of everyone that had ever lived there.

As Jane promptly began changing her clothes as more voices began talking, overlapping in a cacophony of memories.  She ignored the tales of car accidents, sex games and children's bedtime stories as she packed a small suitcase and rushed to unlock her door.

She was going home, and to hell with this place and all her belongings.  She would get another job and live with her parents until she could find a place that didn't talk.  Jane didn't care much at that point about all the details.  She would work them out later.  All she knew is that no amount of freedom, job security or financial independence could keep her living in a talking apartment.

As she started her car and drove towards the interstate, Jane laughed as she remembered her mom's advice.

"Be careful in the city.  It's old and full of ghosts and tales better left alone.  Keep your head down, your nose clean, and come home if it gets to be too much."

Jane scoffed at the time, but now she knew her mom was right, and she was going home.

-------

Well there we have it!  Let me know what you think in the comments, and I hope you all have a great weekend!!!

Friday Rundown

Hello again everyone, and welcome back!  Today is a BIG day for geeks everywhere.  Not only do we have the release of the long awaited Avengers movie, but it's also Star Wars Day!  May the Fourth Be With You!  The link above is to movietickets.com so you can snatch up your tickets before they run out.


Now, on to the three things I wanted to recommend to you all so you don't have to spend the whole weekend on Facebook.

First on my list is a blog I have recently discovered.  For all of you who don't know, I graduated with a Bachelors degree in Psychology, so anything to do with that field gets my attention.  Psyblog is a professionally moderated and posted blog with all the cool new discoveries psychologists in every field are finding.  They post about studies involving the development of babies to ergonomics to tips on how to be a great leader.  I will warn you, at the time of this posting their main page was having difficulties, so the link above leads to their latest article and you can find your way around the blog that way.  A great blog full of information about your noggin and development, I highly recommend visiting and showing your support!

Second, I'd like to recommend one of my all-time favorite quintets by one of my favorite authors.  If you've never heard of Greg Keyes (he also goes by J. Gregory Keyes), you are seriously missing out.  He studied anthropology, so in all of his novels his world-building is top notch, and the story flows perfectly.  Check out The Briar King, the first in the Kingdom of Thorn and Bone series.  It's high fantasy set in a world that seems eerily similar to Earth, and the end of the world is coming.  I don't want to get to far into it and ruin anything, but it's got mythical creatures, moral dilemma's, great character development, zombie rulers, music that can kill and maim, and so much more!  Please check him out, see what else he has, because all of his works are excellent.  The link above will take you to the Amazon site, and its also available on e-book.

Lastly, this one is gonna be purely fun.  Check out the main Star Wars website for some good nerdy fun.  They have fun e-cards you can send to friends and family, previews of new Star Wars merchandise to be released, and discounts on official merchandise for you to snag!  The rest of the website is a great repository of information on all aspects of the movies and books, as well as articles on behind-the-scenes stuff with the movies and shows.  I'm sure if you're a fan, you've visited here before, but they are constantly updating with new and cool stuff.

Well, that will do it for me today.  I hope you all have a great weekend, and check in over the next few days for another writing exercise and some more helpful links!  As always, leave a comment or e-mail me and let me know what you'd like to see on here or if you have any suggestions for a writing exercise.  Until next time, godspeed and have a great day!

Three Things For The Weekend

Hello again guys and gals!  Every Friday I'm gonna bring you three things to check out for the weekend.  It'll be books, movies, videos, music, etc.  Whatever strikes my fancy and I think you'll enjoy as well.

First, I want to thank Alison for showing me this awesome YouTube video.  Lovey-Dovey is a video by t-ara (or T-ARA on some websites), a South Korean music group.  It's a bit long, being a little over 20 minutes, but regardless of if you know the language or not, it's a beautiful video telling a compelling tale.  I felt daunted the first time I watched it, feeling that 20 minutes was far too long, but before I knew it, it was over.  The music is constantly shifting genres and it's just interesting and I highly recommend at least one viewing!

Second, whether your interests lie in writing, mythology, psychology or sociology, I highly recommend this book called "45 Master Characters" by Victoria Schmidt.  The link goes to the Amazon.com website where they have it for FAR cheaper than I paid for it.  It goes over the common archetypes of characters found throughout mythology and older tales that survive in modern literature and entertainment.  It definitely goes along with Joseph Campbell's study of mythology and how all characters and people are some sort of archetype. (I'll get on that subject on another post, but he was an amazing and insightful scholar you all should check out).  This was a book I scoured when I first purchased and through the years found it a solid reference when I wanted to get an idea on how a character should flesh out and feel more real.

Finally, I wanted to share some of my favorite music with all of you.  I'm sure most of you have heard of Death Cab for Cutie, and if you haven't you are truly missing out!  Their latest album "Codes and Keys" is another excellent album, their seventh studio album delivers just like all of the previous ones.  The link leads to Amazon.com to purchase the actual CD (because to me they are worth the extra bucks to support), but you can also check out your iTunes for not only this album but everything else they've done as well.  The lyrics are very poetic and fit the music expertly.  This album seems more piano heavy than the ones previous, or maybe their lacking other instruments that seemed to stand out previously (I do not pretend to know music, nor do I have the fancy lingo down to make it sound like I know what I'm talking about).  Either way, I've found that no matter where I was driving, whether to work, going home, going to get groceries, whatever, the songs seemed to go with whatever I was doing and the music felt "right," for lack of a more musically inclined response.

So those are my three for you all.  As I stated previously, I will be doing this every Friday.  Definitely check them out and let me know what you think in the comments section!  Godspeed and have a great weekend!!