z

Young Writers Society


E - Everyone

Find An Anchor

by HalfheartedAmateur


"Find an anchor," the voice urgently whispered - desperate with despair.

It was the gunshot that triggered them to lose their balance.

"Find an anchor," the voice cracked with panic - ringing with fear.

The man with the gun triggered them to forget the present.

"Find an anchor," the voice shook with distress - breathing unevenly.

The solid black floor became a spiral of fractures with splattered blood.

"Find an anchor," the voice trembled with loss - heart pounding like glass breaking.

They collapsed to the ground, hyperventilating, out of control.

Strangers uttered, "Freak."

But they couldn't understand.

Bystanders awkwardly averted their eyes, ignoring them.

Some muttered, "Coward."

Spectators gasped and jumped into action.

They surrounded them - touching, poking, nagging, shaking, looking.

"Find an anchor," the voice whimpered - scared and alone.

Without thinking, they shoved and kicked and screamed with all of their might until they got out of the spectators' reach and ran.

"Find an anchor," the voice cried - vulnerable with fright.

They gasped for air, tears blurring their sight.

Where were they?

Why were they here?

Suddenly a familiar voice cut through the depths of horror.

"What happened?" It asked.

They fell to pieces, yet gentle and sturdy arms caught them.

They stayed like that for a while - them, weak with pain as the person held onto them with knowingness.

"I-I-I need to-to find an-an-anchor," They finally spoke, loathing themselves as they did.

It was stupid.

But the person knowingly took their hands and made a rectangle inches from their face.

They wiped their eyes and gradually focused on the picture captured through the rectangle.

"Thank you," They softly murmured once everything returned to the now.

"You're welcome," The familiar person responded, kissing their cheek.


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45 Reviews


Points: 3210
Reviews: 45

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Thu Jun 29, 2023 4:50 pm
SkyVibes wrote a review...



Heya! Mercedes Blue here to read and review!!

This story is short but by no means was any less interesting and such an incredible piece to read! I really enjoyed reading it the whole way through. I love the ending. Such a unique way to find an anchor to focus on. To find one thing to hold on to when they were struggling.

Even with the characters having no names there is an unspoken story to each one.

There was so much mystery and curiosity for me when I was reading this and I really enjoyed it!

Thank you for sharing this writing piece!
Have a wonderful day/night!

-Mercedes Blue




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Points: 49
Reviews: 1

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Thu Jun 15, 2023 4:04 pm
SerenityBliss wrote a review...



I absolutely loved this story! Every line had me hooked and drawing me in further while wondering if the main character was going to be okay or not. You are amazing at conveying emotion, and I couldn’t help but to feel afraid for the character as a result of that. Though I was slightly confused about the gun, I assume it’s like a metaphorical gun to further describe why the character is falling apart. The vivid imagery really ties the whole story together with a silver bow, and it puts to play the importance of the characters need to “find an anchor.” Overall, this is a beautifully told story!




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229 Reviews


Points: 9163
Reviews: 229

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Fri Jun 09, 2023 11:33 pm
foxmaster wrote a review...



Hey this is Foxmaster here!
Well, this was interesting. Is the voice a ghost of a person, or is it a memory, or something. I thought that, that was a metaphor or something at the beginning. But why was everyone calling the person a coward and a freak when they were trying to shoot someone/something? Did they want someone to die? This story was not very detailed and you couldn't really follow along here. Why did they call the person a coward when they killed someone? I had to read this a few times to understand this better. That's all! This was sad and interesting at the same time. And there, your work is out of the green room! *blows party horn*
-Foxmaster signing off! <:> (my homemade emoji of a fox, ha-ha.)




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4236 Reviews


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Reviews: 4236

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Thu Jun 08, 2023 12:28 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: This was an interesting little tale. Its a bit more abstract than most tales you tend to see but at the same time I think it manages to be just about grounded enough to still tell a little tale if you read it a couple of times carefully and its a good one.

Anyway let's get right to it,

"Find an anchor," the voice urgently whispered - desperate with despair.

It was the gunshot that triggered them to lose their balance.

"Find an anchor," the voice cracked with panic - ringing with fear.

The man with the gun triggered them to forget the present.

"Find an anchor," the voice shook with distress - breathing unevenly.

The solid black floor became a spiral of fractures with splattered blood.

"Find an anchor," the voice trembled with loss - heart pounding like glass breaking.

They collapsed to the ground, hyperventilating, out of control.


Well this is quite the start here. I'm loving the title just getting echoed there. It definitely gives this some rather powerful vibes here for us to be starting off with. Immediately it builds a really nice air of mystery around things too. Let's see where this is going to take us.

Strangers uttered, "Freak."

But they couldn't understand.

Bystanders awkwardly averted their eyes, ignoring them.

Some muttered, "Coward."

Spectators gasped and jumped into action.

They surrounded them - touching, poking, nagging, shaking, looking.

"Find an anchor," the voice whimpered - scared and alone.

Without thinking, they shoved and kicked and screamed with all of their might until they got out of the spectators' reach and ran.


Well that's quite the transition that we're going towards here. The voice going from being a bit insistent and warning to a more sad and vulnerable situation where it seems to almost have given up and just sort of is ready to be consumed by whatever caused it to echo that statement.

"Find an anchor," the voice cried - vulnerable with fright.

They gasped for air, tears blurring their sight.

Where were they?

Why were they here?

Suddenly a familiar voice cut through the depths of horror.

"What happened?" It asked.

They fell to pieces, yet gentle and sturdy arms caught them.

They stayed like that for a while - them, weak with pain as the person held onto them with knowingness.

"I-I-I need to-to find an-an-anchor," They finally spoke, loathing themselves as they did.


Ooooh well that one went in quite the direction there. It seems finally someone had managed to locate the voice there and even now it seems there's only just the one message that's there to be said in this one. I have a feeling this means that anchor is referring to something a bit more than a normal anchor.

It was stupid.

But the person knowingly took their hands and made a rectangle inches from their face.

They wiped their eyes and gradually focused on the picture captured through the rectangle.

"Thank you," They softly murmured once everything returned to the now.

"You're welcome," The familiar person responded, kissing their cheek.


Oooh well we've come to an ending that's as mysterious as this entire piece has been and honestly I think it works quite well. It seems to bring some closure to the kind of progression that we were seeing with things going back to being some sort of positive note there and we end on almost a memory created from the looks of things.

Aaaaand that's it for this one.

Overall: Overall a powerful little piece this one. Its not trying to do too much, but I think it does just enough to leave you thinking without confusing you outright so the mystery isn't too over the top. Its a nice balance and in the end you're left thinking and I think generally quite satisfied.

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

Stay Safe
Kate




AuroraPayn says...


Just. Quick little theory on what I think that could be.

My first reaction to reading this was %u201CIs it a metaphor? Or not?%u201D I%u2019m honestly not sure, but here%u2019s a shaky theory.

The whole short story may be about mental health struggles where you feel like you can%u2019t speak up about your problems, but finally managed to muster th courage to do so. I honestly relate to that a lot, but it could be something else that I%u2019m just not getting. Probably the latter, I never trust my own theories unless they%u2019re extremely backed up.




The first draft is a trip to the amusement park. The next drafts are returning there as a safety inspector.
— SunsetTree