Behind His Wall

All he wanted was a place to live – all he got was…child abuse.

He sits up, drawing shaky breaths. His pajamas disarrayed, showing stitch scars and discolored skin. Breathing hard, he tugs at his clothes to cover up as best as he can. It is near dawn from the smell of wind. He hates this time the most because it brings back memories - memories that haunt his dreams every time he closes his eyes.

He hugs his tear-soaked pillow and squeezes. Tears start to roll; he bites on his fist, desperate, trying to muffle his cries, lest they attract unwanted attention. Even as a ten year old, he could understand the horror in their eyes, some fades to disgust, some to pity, others plain uncomfortable. He is shunned by the others in the orphanage because of his appearance and gloomy distrust of others.

The memories of the cruel grip of his cousins holding him down, the torrent of hot oil splashing on him, a numbing sensation, and then a sea of white-hot pain courses through his body. He bites down harder, teeth starting to scrape skin off his knuckles. He breaks into cold sweat as he starts to rock front and back, trying to choke the shrieks of anguish and bloodlust. He is drowning in darkness.

His single mother was imprisoned and as the legal guardian, his aunt had to take him in. Her constant complains of having to feed another mouth never ceased. He dreaded living with his new family who seemed to despise his intrusion into the cramped three-room flat.

Ann was the only one in the family of four who did not ignore him. She would secretly pass him some meat and beans when he was given half a bowl of rice, smuggle some cookies for him, share some of her pocket money so he could get a packet of milk during recess in school.

One night, Ann snuck to the kitchen to boil an egg to ease her hunger. She quickly peeled and disposed the eggshells down the chute before hurrying back to her shared room to eat. He woke up to the smell of gas and stumbled to the kitchen, fiddling with the stove knobs. His aunt came out to investigate the smell and saw him. Yelling murder, she grabbed a ladle and hit him with it. The din woke the other two sisters and their neighbors.

They quickly opened the windows to disperse the smell and surrounded him, ready to vent their frustrations at having woken up at such an hour. Aunt told them to hold him down while she started to heat some old oil up.

“How does a fried boy taste like?”

His eyes widened with panic, struggles intensified. His vision turned black. He remembered hearing laughter, someone crying, the door banging, the ambulance siren shrieks, and hushed voices…

“Are you all right, Xing?”

Xing looks up and slowly his vision starts to clear. Ann holds his hand and smiles sadly.

“We’ll be okay. They are not coming out from jail anymore.”

(498 words)

[Story 04v2] The House Cat and Miss Birdbrain

Theme: A character that is preferably not human, suitable for children

A House Cat trying to have a peaceful afternoon nap only to be constantly disturbed by the other pet Bird.

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Set up - a House Cat enjoying a peaceful nap under the warm sun

Confrontation - The bored Bird seeking entertainment from disturbing the House Cat's peace.  

Resolution - After enduring much harassment, the House Cat managed to trap the noisy Bird in a safe place and thus, able to enjoy his nap in peace again.

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A pat on the head, and a “Be good, Thomas!” the front door slammed shut.

Thomas’s ears perked up, glad to have the inferior beings out of the house. Without the dread of being constantly molested by dirty hands and earache from shrilly voices, this peaceful afternoon under the warm sunrays was his paradise.

“Tweeeeeeeeeeeet!”

Thomas’s ears twitched at the sudden banshee screech. It was the other pet, the two-faced bird, Pea. She acted all coy and innocent when the Humans were around, but in reality was an irritating attention-seeker.

“I’m bored!” she exclaimed while fluttering around her cage, “Hey Tommy boy! Entertain me!”

Thomas just curled up tighter as an attempt to block out the noise. Seeing the lack of response, Pea huffed herself up into a fluffy ball of green feathers, sulking.

“Ponk.”

A seed bounced off the sleeping Thomas.

“Ponk!”

He opened an eye lazily, half wondering what hit him.

“Ponk!”

Thomas blearily opened his eyes, tired of this attention-seeking nonsense. He turned; ready to silence Pea with his evil glare… only to meet with a shower of seeds.

“Hahahaha, dumb Tommy! This is for ignoring me!” Pea sang out as she flew into her little house on the top perch.

Thomas spat out a mouthful of those disgusting seeds and hurried to his water dish, rinsing his mouth out of the foul taste.

A few minutes later, Pea, tired with preening, peeked out of her house, and saw Thomas asleep again. She tittered and hopped down to her water bowl, another mischievous plan forming in her mind.

“Gah!”

Thomas glanced up at the furiously splashing bird and smirked.

“Birdbrain.”

“Why isn’t the water reaching you!”

“I’ve moved further away. Now, leave me alone.”

Thomas, pleased with his aerial safe spot, settled down once more. Little did he know that Pea was escaping her cage sneakily.

“Ouch!”

Thomas jumped up in pain and fright at the red-hot throbbing sensation. He brought his tail around, half expecting to see blood. To his relief, it was just swollen. Thomas swiveled, seeking for the cause, only to see Pea fluttering above.

“You dare pecked my tail?” Thomas hissed.

He gathered all his strength to his hind legs and leapt towards the culprit.

Without the safety of the bars, coupled with the looming sight of an open mouth full of sharp teeth and outstretched claws, Pea flew higher in a panic. Thomas, unable to change the speed or direction, ended hitting the wall with a thud.

He slid down, landing on the ground in a slump, seeing asteroids. Pea, witnessed the process of Thomas crash and disheveled state, laughed so much till she had no strength to fly.

Quick as lightning, Thomas pounced onto the vacuum cleaner he had prepared earlier; hit the switch button and effectively sucked Pea in. Before she fully realized what happened, Pea found herself in the dark.

It was a peaceful afternoon under the warm sunrays, occasionally interrupted with a muffled chirp from the vacuum cleaner.

  

[500 words]

[Story 05] The Hare versus the Tortoise

Create a visual/audio story that's simple and suitable for animation. Write a story that has 2 key characters who share one motivation. Use present tense.

Possibilities:

Both key characters can't get along/ hate each other

both must "journey" together to attain their goal

Keep it simple!

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The Flighty Hare and the Calm Tortoise have a competition to see who will reach the end first, end up acknowledging each other’s speed.

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Set up
The Hare boasting about her speed and escape from the Hawk, leering at the Tortoise about his speed.

Confrontation
It is night when the Hare wakes up, and see that there is a fire. She needs to warn their friends but the route is blocked by the fire. Just then the Tortoise arrives, and tells her that the shortcut is across the stream.
The Tortoise is slow in leading the way and the Hare cannot swim.

Resolution
They helped each other and manage to reach the ending point. The wise crow investigates the scene and tells them what the fire really is.

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“The Humans are here.”

“Pah, who cares about them, I can outrun them anytime.” The Hare exclaims proudly, “Why, the other day, I just escaped from the awful hawk!”

The other little animals express their admiration at that, for every successful escape means a longer life.

“It was merely luck. You only escaped because there was a hole nearby.” The Tortoise scoffs.

“So says the latecomer! Could it be that you are jealous of my speed?”

“Who is? You can barely last from here to the next clearing!”

The Hare and Tortoise continue bickering until the wise Crow stops them with a challenge to see who can reach the next clearing, get the marked flower and come back first. The Hare and Tortoise agree amidst the cheering of the other animals.

“Go!”

It is night when the Hare opens her eyes after her rest. To her horror, the Hare sees a bright reddish-orange light flickering a short distance away that could only means …

“Fire!” the Hare leaps to her feet, panicking.

“What?” The Tortoise asks calmly as he prods nearer to where the Hare is hopping up and down.

“Hah, you just reached? Anyway, there is a fire!”

The Tortoise squints in the direction where the Hare is pointing, “I guess we need to warn the others.”

“But the way back is blocked by the fire!”

“There is a shortcut. We just need to cross the stream a couple of steps away from here.”

“Lead the way!”

The Hare bounces off quickly; anxious to be the bearer of big news, turns her head, only to see the Tortoise prodding slowly along.

“Come on, I’ll try to carry you!” With some difficulty, the Tortoise climbed onto the Hare’s back and then they are off! Bursting with eagerness, the Hare manages to reach the stream-bank under the Tortoise’s directions in a relatively short time despite the extra weight.

“What now? I can’t swim!” The Hare wails in dismay.

“Climb onto my back now.” The Tortoise says, preparing to enter the stream.

“You can swim?”

“I’m a semi-aquatic Tortoise, and this is quite a calm shallow stream.”

With that assurance, the Hare climbs onto the top of the shell.

The Tortoise swims swiftly across the stream, much to the Hare’s surprise, and they reach the other side of the stream-bank where the little animals are waiting for their arrival.

“Hey, I see no flower!” Squirrel proclaims.

“There is a Fire!” Announces the Hare.

The little animals look in the direction of the Tortoise for confirmation, when he gives a small nod, panic starts to set in.

“Silence! I shall investigate this matter.” The Crow says before flying off.

In a few minutes, she is back on her usual branch, trying not to laugh, “It is a Campfire by the Humans.”

The animals heave sighs of relief, forgetting all about the competition. The Hare and Tortoise, embarrassed and remembering how swiftly the other party was hopping or swimming, decide to forget it too.

[Story 04] The House Cat and Miss Birdbrain

Theme: A character that is preferably not human, suitable for children

A House Cat trying to free itself and the other pet bird, only to get pecked for its efforts.

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Set up - a House Cat trying its daily attempts to get free, and set the new pet bird free too.

Confrontation - The bird is frightened when the House Cat managed to get up to its cage. Out of desperate fear, the bird pecked the cat's paw.

Resolution - The bird got free in the end, but the House Cat received nothing for the troubles other than an injured paw. 

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The House Cat opened his eyes lazily as he heard the main door slammed shut, indicating the inferior beings had left the house for the day.

He would be free to roam around, trying to find a way out of this place. He longed for the great outside, with the warm sun gently bathing him with its rays, the breeze ruffling his fur, and the sweet smell of the soil. But he was trapped in here, with the inferior beings refusing to leave him alone in peace, molesting him with their dirty hands, feeding him with disgustingly tasteless dry bits while they enjoyed their feast.

Today, he would be free.

He leapt down from his hiding place, on top of a tall cupboard behind some rolls of paper. It was a little dusty, but it was better than being harassed. He set about his daily routine of checking all possible exits, first padding towards the biggest room where the main door was.

Movement!

The House Cat cowered a little behind the door, ready to escape or surprise. Sensing no other movement and hearing no sounds, he peered around the corner, looking curiously at where he had sensed a living creature.

It was a new object, made of columns of iron bars, hanging from a hook near one of the tiny open windows. It was what the inferior beings called a ‘cage’.

“Who’s there?” a voice from the cage chirped fearfully.

The House Cat jumped onto the TV console, and peered up. “You’re worse off than me,” he purred sadly, “You’re trapped inside such a small cell where you have hardly any room to flap your wings. Your kind belongs to the sky, not here.”

“…Yes. But I was trapped due to a moment of carelessness.”

“I will set you free.” With that, the House Cat gathered all his strength to his hind legs and leapt towards the cage.

With the looming sight of an open mouth full of sharp teeth and outstretched claws, the bird flapped about and squeaked in panic. A paw managed to catch hold of the bottom of the cage.

“A cat! A cat! You’re going to eat me!” The bird wailed in despair.

“Such foolishness. As expected from a birdbrain.”

“Save me!” With that, the bird gathered her courage and fluttered down to the bottom of the cage and started pecking the paw.

“Stop that! You birdbrain! I’m setting you free!” the House Cat hissed.

The bird, never saying a word, continuing pecking for her dear life.

With a hiss of pain, the House Cat reached up desperately with another paw, blindly swiping the lock that is holding the cage closed, before dropping to the ground – elegantly of course.

“I’m free!” the bird sang as she flew out of the window.

“Good riddance.” The House Cat muttered, licking his injured paw. He went off to hide before the inferior beings come back and make a fuss.

He would definitely escape tomorrow when he is feeling better.

[Story 03] Connecting Technologies, Disconnecting Humanity

Theme: An Item

With his precious earpieces on, and the player blasting music, he was lured subconsciously to the place where he would be loved.

It wasn’t easy being a child. Ask any kid on the streets, and they would tell you how much they have to study, and were told to stop asking questions and “go do your homework!” Sometimes, they don’t even have the time to play anymore. Even their future was planned out for them.

They were no longer children but little adults.

Terry was a child. He agreed that while it was difficult being one, please imagine his life as a child to two widely renowned engineers.

Normal parents were busy working during the day, but during the night, they spent time with their family. Although there were some cases that the routine was the opposite, or some oddball parents liked to bring their work home and continue the suffering at home.

Terry’s parents, Alfred and May, however, were busy working during the day and night and the hours beyond. Their schedule was full of designing new plans for new machines, setting up new databases, executing new programming, to even have any spare time to care about their own family. Terry wondered how they got together in the first place.

Alfred and May made poor parents, even though they were famous engineers. They thought that by giving what Terry wanted was the way to show love. They did not realize that Terry was a growing child that needed care, attention and some guidance.

Despite Terry receiving what he wanted, he was not the usual spoilt child. He appreciated his gifts, but they were merely things that he saw what his classmates received from their parents. He thought that by receiving similar presents from Alfred and May would give him that happiness that he witnessed on his classmates’ faces when they received theirs.

But no. Something was missing. The thought.

One day, Terry saw a nicely wrapped packet in the post bearing his name. Curious, since he did not requested for anything, he opened it up eagerly. It was an electric blue earpiece set with a music player. The player seemed to radiate a light of its own, promising to contain hours of entertainment and fun.

Terry put it on at once, admiring the stark contrast of the bright blue against his black hair, and how it brought out the colors of his pale blue eyes. He started the music and was instantly drowned in it.

“Alfred, have you seen Terry recently?” asked the concerned May.

“No.” Alfred replied shortly as he ruffled through the pile of letters on his desk.

“I’ll try contacting his classmates…”

“What’s this?!”

May turned to see Alfred scanning through a letter, face turning pale. Suppressing a feeling of dread, she hurried to her husband’s side and read

“To all Engineers,

Beware of suspicious articles that do not indicate who the sender is. Neighboring enemy countries have been coming up with control spells. Remember to seal your letter or parcels with your personal password.

– Xavier, Government’s Secret Services”

“Do you think…?” Alfred asked May hesitantly.

At that moment, Terry was wandering around on an unfamiliar street, eyes half-lidded, and fingers lovingly grasped the music player. He knew something was wrong, but he could not resist the lure of the music in his ears. The beats, they were bringing him to somewhere better. A place where he would be loved and with the very first real present that his parents gave him – the music player…

The music player with its electric blue earpieces…

“Terry, Stop! Come back!”

[Story 02] Human and Misassumption

Theme: Location

When the Walls have ears and jumping into conclusions result in awkwardness.

Eyes staring intently at the movement of the minute hand, following its slow progress across the clock face, the noise level subsided and increased as the minute hand approached the much-anticipated place.

It was time.

The chair scraped in protest as Emily stood up abruptly. Shouldering her red backpack, she gulped down the remaining amount of water, and nudging the chair back underneath the table with her knee, she headed for the door of freedom.

Emily threw the empty bottle into the dustbin carelessly as she swept through the door without a backward glance.

“Beep” and a loud click indicated the door was, once again, locked.

It was unusual for Emily to be in a hurry, but it was an undeniable fact that she was feeling uncomfortably tense for some reason. She adjusted the weight of her bag and proceeded down the long corridor in moderate haste, turning into the first corner without a second thought instead of going the usual route. 

She pushed open the grey door bearing the correct symbol carefully, only to find the room beyond empty. There was a slight odor of cheap perfume that tickled Emily’s nose as she fought hard not to breathe too deeply. At least, the place was relatively dry and there were no signs of litter on the ground.

She chose the cleanest stall and went in, enclosing herself within 4 walls again.

A distant platter of footsteps could be heard coming nearer at an alarming rate, within a few seconds, Emily heard the grey door being pushed open again, and a click indicating someone had followed her example.

“What are your plans?” An unfamiliar voice belonging to the shadow that stood in front of her door.

‘She’s not talking to me right,’ Emily thought as she went about her business.

The uncomfortable bloated feeling drained away slowly, and the tension too, seemed to slip away.

“Home. Lots of assignments, “ Someone spoke from Emily’s right, “Project mates ain’t doing their…”

“Shh!”

‘Smart move,’ Emily grinned wryly. One would never know who is listening, that is why they say walls have ears. Never gossip in an unsecured place such as this.

The two unknown persons resumed their idle chat as Emily finished up. She shivered a little due to the sudden loss of heat (in liquid form), as her left hand automatically reached for the roll of paper.

There was none!

She reached for the outside pocket of her bag, intending to take out her packet of tissue paper.

“Bzzztup!”

“Hey, hey, do you need to change it* so loudly?”

“It wasn’t me.”

“Oh,…”

*What? Oh, this is a female thing.

Emily adjusted her clothing and flushed, stepping out of her cubicle and into the awkward silence. She looked unabashedly at the mirror, and noticed from the corner of her eyes that the girl was looking at her.

First years.

Emily ignored her, and started washing her hands, being careful not to splash too much water outside the basin.

“Mil, do you have tissue? There’s no toilet paper in here!”

“Eh? I don’t have any…” The girl standing beside Emily said as she rumbled about in her bag.

Without a word, Emily opened the front pocket again, the velcro unstuck with a loud “Bzzztup”. She took out a new pack of tissue paper and handed it over to the girl with a slight smile.

Mil gave a quick bow of her head and a sheepish grin, apologizing silently about the rudeness earlier. Emily acknowledged it with a nod, adjusted her bag and left the stuffy toilet.

[Story 01] Human the Chameleon

We are all liars, someway or another. This is how I lie...

It was quiet, other than the gentle whirring of the electric fan and the occasional sound of a car passing by. She timed her breathing to her alarm clock’s ticking just for the fun of it.

'Vvrrrrr vvrrrrr vvrrrrr vrrrrrr vvrrrr vvrrrr vvrrrr vvrrrr...'

The peace was broken by the vibration of her cellphone and it went on for a couple of seconds before stopping.

“Idiot.”

Doesn’t one know that if the call wasn’t answered within 5 rings, it means that it would most likely be left unanswered?

'Vvrrrr!'

A single sharp vibration that could only indicate a text message.

“Tsk. Such persistence.” She grumbled and rolled over in her bed, unwilling to get up. It was Saturday, the perfect excuse to lie in bed and doze the afternoon away. Another short vibration made her reached for her cell in exasperation.

She blinked at the brightly lit screen as she squinted at the text invitation from one of her classmates to hang out at the beach and have a barbeque. She wrinkled her nose at the thought of the sun, seawater and the smoke from the charcoal; she wasn’t exactly an outdoor person.

‘Oops, was in the toilet. Sorry but I can’t today. Celebrating a friend’s birthday :) Invite me next time k? Have fun! Don’t miss me ;)'

Such a lie.

There wasn’t any friend’s birthday celebration and she did not give a hoot about them missing her or not.  Humans and their insecurities – they rely on each other to survive; yet they would not hesitate to backstab one another should an opportunity present itself.

She grunted as she sat up on her bed, trying to scratch an itch on her left leg using the pad of her fingers. Her long painted nails might leave a scratch on her fair leg, and that would be hard to cover up.

She could have trimmed her nails or wear jeans, but according to the latest fashion magazines, long painted nails with decorations and shorts were all the rage.

Gossip and fashion magazines cluttered up her bedside table, clothes splitting off the bed and onto the floor, empty bottles of health and diet drinks littered the floor. She stood up and sauntered over to her vanity mirror, kicking dresses and bottles away with her pretty painted toes.

The room was a mess.

The exact opposite of the smiling reflection shown in the mirror.

But mirrors sometimes lie; they could only reflect what is on the surface, but not what is truly deep inside.

“You’re such a sinner, Sue, lying to fit in.”