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Young Writers Society



Redemption [Chapter 1]

by Natural Militia


The city streets around me swirled into chaos. Pedestrians were sprinting in all directions, on the sidewalk, through buildings, even in the middle of the street. They were screaming various things, like “Get the fuck out of my way!”, “What the hell is that?”, and “That son of a bitch is coming!”, everyone trying to either escape the inevitable or to find their loved ones. Cars sped through stop signs, ramming into each other, showing clear disregards for the most basic traffic laws. They were not accepting reality, something I had already done. Or, maybe, they just didn’t know the sheer force of what was about to happen. Looking down at my watch, it read ‘0:57’, counting down by the second.

I looked at Charmaine, my girlfriend, and held her beautifully exquisite hand. She turned her head to face mine, and we locked eyes. We came closer together, and as I touched her back, I leaned my head forward to touch her warm lips with mine. Her beautiful, long brown hair blew in the wind as an enormous gust blew through the streets, coming onto contact with my skin. As we kissed, the chaos continued around us, cars got into wrecks, and men got into fist fights during their final hour.

Pulling away from my kiss with Charmaine, I stared into her beautiful, blue eyes. “I love you, Jake,” she whispered to me. Despite the insanity unfolding around us, I still heard her as if we were in my home. I whispered the amazing words back to her, and glanced quickly at my watch again: ‘0:03’. Was I ready to die? No, I wasn’t ready yet, I had so much of my life ahead of me. I was only 17, a Junior in High School, I had just taken to SAT for college application. And I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Charmaine, I really loved her, she was the most amazing girl I had ever met. I had accepted fate, though, there was nothing left I could do to escape death, so I wanted to accept it while spending my last few moments of life with my girlfriend.

I gave Charmaine one last hug, at the last second either of us could do anything. Then, as if fate had said we were done, I heard the loudest explosion I had ever heard, it was as if someone had set off a nuclear bomb right next to my ear. Only, I felt it this time, unlike any movie I had ever watched, I was the one dying this time. An intense, sharp pain struck every part of my body, and sunk quickly through it to reach everywhere inside my body. The split second agony quickly faded, and before I knew it my sight had gone away, I couldn’t see anything, I couldn’t hear anything, and slowly, I began to not be able to think anything.


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Sat Sep 11, 2021 5:40 pm
KateHardy wrote a review...



Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night(whichever one it is in your part of the world),

Hi! I'm here to leave a quick review!!!

First Impression: SOo..this is a very interesting choice for the start of a story, absolutely functions as a bit of a hook but also strangely final here, it doesn't feel much like a beginning or at least not if this is all..there should be a tiny bit more sense of something that needs to happen or this chapter doesn't feel like it has another one coming after it...this seems more suited to a prologue. Well anyway, more details on all that down below.

Anyway let's get right to it,

The city streets around me swirled into chaos. Pedestrians were sprinting in all directions, on the sidewalk, through buildings, even in the middle of the street. They were screaming various things, like “Get the out of my way!”, “What the is that?”, and “That son of a is coming!”, everyone trying to either escape the inevitable or to find their loved ones. Cars sped through stop signs, ramming into each other, showing clear disregards for the most basic traffic laws. They were not accepting reality, something I had already done. Or, maybe, they just didn’t know the sheer force of what was about to happen. Looking down at my watch, it read ‘0:57’, counting down by the second.


Well, looks like this story is going to start off in the middle of some kind of attack of some sorts here, judging by the way that people all appear to be in some sort of hurry to get away from something. The fact that our main character appears to know more than most and seems to have kind of accepted their fate quietly here certainly creates and interesting contrast that gets your attention.

I looked at Charmaine, my girlfriend, and held her beautifully exquisite hand. She turned her head to face mine, and we locked eyes. We came closer together, and as I touched her back, I leaned my head forward to touch her warm lips with mine. Her beautiful, long brown hair blew in the wind as an enormous gust blew through the streets, coming onto contact with my skin. As we kissed, the chaos continued around us, cars got into wrecks, and men got into fist fights during their final hour.


Okay...severe change in tone, you might want to be careful with making this too jarring by accident, but I do love how you've managed to short of depict a very calm center with these two in the middle of a chaotic storm. Also "beautifully exquisite" reads as a very awkward pair of adjectives here.

Pulling away from my kiss with Charmaine, I stared into her beautiful, blue eyes. “I love you, Jake,” she whispered to me. Despite the insanity unfolding around us, I still heard her as if we were in my home. I whispered the amazing words back to her, and glanced quickly at my watch again: ‘0:03’. Was I ready to die? No, I wasn’t ready yet, I had so much of my life ahead of me. I was only 17, a Junior in High School, I had just taken to SAT for college application. And I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Charmaine, I really loved her, she was the most amazing girl I had ever met. I had accepted fate, though, there was nothing left I could do to escape death, so I wanted to accept it while spending my last few moments of life with my girlfriend.


Hmm, definitely doesn't appear to be someone that would usually have any kind of extra knowledge, so perhaps this is some kind of relatively public that this person has just accepted while the rest of these people have not...it also appears the girlfriend here has done the same here. Its an interesting thing to consider here and a bit sad now cause it looks as if there's only one possible inevitable outcome here that this person's preparing for.

I gave Charmaine one last hug, at the last second either of us could do anything. Then, as if fate had said we were done, I heard the loudest explosion I had ever heard, it was as if someone had set off a nuclear bomb right next to my ear. Only, I felt it this time, unlike any movie I had ever watched, I was the one dying this time. An intense, sharp pain struck every part of my body, and sunk quickly through it to reach everywhere inside my body. The split second agony quickly faded, and before I knew it my sight had gone away, I couldn’t see anything, I couldn’t hear anything, and slowly, I began to not be able to think anything.


Welll...hmm, interesting choice of start for a first chapter...unless these two miraculously survive somehow this seems like its more fitting for a prologue, but hmm, so even though its not directly stated, it does seem to apply that we've got a bit of a nuclear bomb here...and in tha case...this is relatively accurate, if this person is close enough to the bomb to fully hear its explosion and be instantly killed, its certainly not a pretty sight and most likely something that you wouldn't feel at all, but the split seconds described are close enough...and certainly get the point across.

Aaaaand that's it for this one.

Overall: Overall, this is a really interesting piece you have here. For the most part its an effective first chapter, but it is missing a couple of things that I feel like are kind of important first chapter like I mentioned above, as a prologue on the contrary this would be awesome.

As always remember to take what you think was helpful and forget the rest.

Stay Safe
Harry




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Mon Mar 05, 2012 9:06 pm
Shearwater wrote a review...



Hi! I'm here to review this lovely piece for you. ^^

I'm going to begin by saying that this was nice, I like the chaos that was blended in with the serene scene that was unfolding between two lovers. It was cute and fluffy. Also you were wondering whether or not this was prologue material or a chapter. I would say this would make an interesting prologue - however, this opinion can change based on what you plan to write for you next chapter.

Even though I did enjoy reading this, there are a few things that I think will make this even better. Firstly, I noticed that you used words like 'girlfriend' and 'amazing' to describe the woman he loves. However, when the world is going to end or when someone is about to breathe their last breath, I always find it exhausting to locate the perfect words. When narrating the passage, I think it would be best to call this girl, no matter her age, the woman that he loves, or something much deeper - something that will reach out beyond the boarders of labels. What kind of love is the end of the world kind of love? You have to ask yourself that and make us all fall in love with this couple as much as they love each other. Difficult task? If you're like me, it is difficult but I have faith that you can do this. =)

The second to last paragraph has a contradiction in it. First he says he's not ready to die because he's young but then you state that he has accepted the doom that has been laid out for him. Pick one, stick with it! You can say that although he was young and had so much more to live for, he was ready to accept his fate because of whatever or etc.

Another thing I want to mention is the descriptions that you used, don't get me wrong they were good but they can also be great. "Loudest explosion I have ever heard" can be switched to: "The blast of the explosion could only be heard for a millisecond before my eardrums burst and everything became silent."
In addition to this, your final sentence could be spread apart into little sentences that pair with what the explosion does and it's affect on his body. First, because light travels fastest, he would be blinded by the blast then the sound waves would knock out his hearing and finally, the ripples of the explosion would effect his body, that would make him numb to any 'feeling' and finally, the brain would die and that would end his thinking. When looking at it through this perspective, I think you can tweak the ending to be something rather dramatic and since you like the mix of chaos and serenity (Two things, I myself, love to play with.) you can add that in there as well.

Overall, I do think this is very interesting and it has nice range of emotions and it plays with opposites. Keep writing and let me know if you have any more questions.

-Pink




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Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:01 am
Blues wrote a review...



Hey Natural Militia! I'm here as requested!

I apologise for not coming to review this earlier. Things happened, but I have no real excuse. Anyway! Let's get started.

First impressions:HOLY. WHAT. ASDFGHJKL;

Sorry. xD I read this on Yahoo Answers! I remember it well. I can't remember if I commented, but I absolutely loved it. (this was before I joined YWS). (thinking more, I *do* think I commented. But I can't remember). My first impression is that ... well. Wow! I really liked how we jump straight into the action where everyone is in a state of panic with an explosion about to happen. It made me really wonder what was going on as it was clear that it was complete mayhem on the streets.

As for grammar, there were a few comma splices here and there, but no big issues.

I've got 2 small nitpicks here:

I whispered the amazing words back to her, and glanced quickly at my watch again: ‘0:03’.



I personally think that there would've been too ... well, little time to have another hug and whisper something in 3 seconds. I'd make it something like seven? Seeing as you mention 'at the last second' as well... It makes the pacing - for me - feel a bit weird.

at the last second either of us could do anything.


Do you mean 'neither'?

Seeing as it's short, I can't really comment on too much. However, I suggest that you add a bit more to the list about them not really beginning their lives... xD I did write a scene once where 1.5K was about him waiting to die. Of course, that is a little excessive, but I did make him dwell on things - simple things - like what colour the ground was etc. You've done it well here, but I do think it'd help a lot.

(well, I do confess that I did go and write loads on that scene because I already had an experience where I was convinced that I would die if I didn't get out of the way. It's those little things that I thought about, like my face in the mirror, my whole life, what did I do to deserve it all. Perhaps describing the emotions they felt. I never really understood the stuff about your Heart in your neck etc until that experience. Perhaps describing how they felt physically?)

So, that's it from me! I really loved this piece - I had so many questions and it intrigued me a lot. I'm hooked and I'd really love to read more! Could you PM me or post a message on my wall for the next chapter? I'd be glad to keep reviewing.

Keep writing!

~Blues





You know how hard it is to feel like an extreme falcon-headed combat machine when somebody calls you "chicken man"?
— Rick Riordan, The Red Pyramid