Young Writers Society

-Kyle-

The books in Kyle's hands didn't seem all too big or complex or anything. Kyle figured they were simple reads for morons or something. Casually glancing through one, he tried finding something of interest while he waited for the desk clerk to ring him up. The front step guy was still in the book store and was looking over a book. Kyle sniffed lightly and went over to look for a specific book he liked and thought maybe he should get. Despite it being a new book, the story itself was written in the 1940's, so it didn't matter much to Kyle either way. Plus, he needed something to read on the plane ride back to Bangor.

The Book was called Animal Farm, and it was written by George Orwell. Despite how the man's style, he was able to write up a good book. This particular book of his brought up the subject of oppressive government, representing Stalin of the Soviet Union back in the '40's. Except instead of humans rebelling against humans, it was animals who rebelled against the humans. Kyle loved the book and had read it multiple times, yet never bought a copy for his own personal library.

The book was simple enough to read. The shop had to call Bangor and get a hold of Kyle's boss to confirm the purchase, since it was on the library to pay it. Kyle sat in a chair and read through the book, smiling (surprisingly) and waiting more patiently than he had before. The front step guy was all but forgotten. He was enjoying himself for the first time since he left the library.

An abrupt ring emitted from his pocket. Frowning and setting the book down roughly, Kyle pulled out his phone and answered it. It was Mr. Barkly. He wanted to remind Kyle to go to the veterinarian clinic and find K.J. Abate.

"What's the deal with me finding this K.J. Abate guy or whoever for you?" Kyle asked, speaking a little loudly out of annoyance. "Why do I have to do it?" Mr. Barkly said that it was just important to find him at all costs. "Fine. Whatever. Good bye, Mr. Barkly." Kyle sat back and let his phone fall in his lap, rubbing his temples thoughtfully.

Luke~ In Manhattan

"Ellie, don't worry, you're manatees will be fine in your absents." Luke drawled slowly. He was bored, and tired of Ellie's constant worrying about her sea creatures.

"I don't know how your not worried about your birds. The humans are polluting like crazy... I mean, your birds are dying." She kept wringing her hands looking around nervously.

"Ah, Ellie, that doesn't affect the wind does it? Anyway, my birds are very good adapters. Smart creatures they are." He kept looking in shop windows, up at the sky and everywhere, just not meeting Ellie's eyes. "Look, I heard a rumour. You know we're going to have to pass on our powers to someone... and soon. This is what happens every time a new age is coming. I'm surprised this hasn't happened earlier. We get to choose who we give our powers too. If I were you, I'd start looking now. I want someone who's just like me. I want someone who's the son I never had... I want someone with the potential to be great." He glanced around the busy streets again.


"Oh Luke, we don't need another arrogant ass with your powers." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I'm not just an arrogant ass..." He smiled and spotted a pale boy rushing across a street in front of a taxi clutching a few books. He was trying hard to blend into the background. "Hm... Maybe I'll follow him. I have all the time in world of course. He looks like he has potential... I can always tell..." Luke trailed off and started heading towards the boy.

"Aren't you coming to the meeting?" Ellie asked, concerned.

"Of course... I'll be there in no time..." Luke snapped his fingers and everything stopped... except of course, Ellie and the rest of the gods trying to make their way the New York.

Luke went up to the boy... frozen in motion. He snapped his fingers and the boy blinked. "What's your name kid?"

K.J:

My head jerked up as I heard my full name. I glanced over at the guy, who was now talking loudly on his phone, and I walked over, book in hand still.

"So, are you a hit man or from the government?" I ask, eyebrow raised. "Because that's my name, man, and it's kinda creepy you know..."

I jerked back, almost falling over because I'd stepped wrong on my bad foot, to find a guy, another one, suddenly beside me.

Well, that was new...

-Kyle/Jack-

Jack liked the Big Apple as much as the next guy.... That is, if the next guy was a claustrophobic and schizophrenic. In the city that never sleeps, there's never any kindness either. Yet the kindness that you do find, however you may find it, is full of good and heart. Jack saw this early on his trip through New York.

A man had seen Jack walking along, smiling happily and looking for all like Father Time, and had stopped him. The man was a banker and seemed disturbed somehow. Practically shaking in his two-piece suit, the banker handed a handful of bills to Jack, telling him to take the money and use it on whatever he liked. Jack stopped the man and smiled broadly and started telling him a story of a boy who found friendship in someone small and meek whom nobody seemed to care about. Turned out that the boy had saved that person's life; the other was going to kill himself that night because he had no friends. The banker listened in slight awe at what Jack said, and remained in that stunned way even as Jack handed the money back to him and started walking away, chuckling in his old man's way and patting him on the back.

The next day Jack heard that a local bank had been robbed by one of its own tellers. The man in question left a note saying that he was going to kill himself after he gave the money away. It turned out the teller went back and confessed and was put in jail, but was still alive, and it was predicted that because he turned himself in that the judge would go easy on him and only give him a little hard time.

Jack sighed and walked along his way. No one really understood the wonders of living for centuries as Jack did. Nostalgia hit often, and as the years progressed, they hit even harder. Sometimes Jack could be reading a newspaper and glance over an article about farming or agriculture and he'd suddenly be taken back to his childhood back in his village where he toiled in the fields and helped his family. Jack loved growing things, whether it be a plant or someone's own mind. He always figured that was because of his old times and his true age.

Eventually Jack found the other gods and goddesses. He never fully approached them, but rather he waited. Sometimes in order to understand something, one must lay in wait and ponder on his own time. One god he saw stand alone. He looked familiar, and Jack placed him as Luke, God of Time. Jack wondered what he was up to, skulking around as if he had a purpose. Then everything froze...

Kyle had just walked out of the store after his phone call without much thought. The two books, plus his own, were under his arms, and he intended on catching a taxi and finishing what he came here for. Of course, the sooner he finished, the sooner he could go back to the hotel and write. Kyle was still deep in thought over his next poem.

An odd flash in time seemed to bring Kyle to an abrupt halt. The person in front of him had suddenly stopped walking, causing Kyle to bump into him and drop his books. "Hey, buddy, why don't you walk a little bit, okay?" Kyle shouted at the man, but got no response. Frustrated, Kyle walked in front of the man and looked up at his face... only to see it frozen in an odd expression that couldn't even be described as other than just of-the-moment. For the first time in a long time, Kyle was genuinely freaked out. He turned and saw that everyone else was frozen, too. People seemed to be mannequins like in a department store, modeling off clothes in their eerie, odd expression filled faces. Even the birds in the sky were stopped, caught in some net in time.

Kyle turned around and met face to face with a grown man that was at least a foot taller than himself, or at least seemed to be. The man asked Kyle of his name, and shakily, Kyle said, "I-I'm Kyle. Wh-what in the world is happening?"

{Okay, I posted this after the guy above me posted, so it kind of confuses things, so I will redo the part with Kyle. I just don't want to delete it just in case it can stay.]

Kyle looked up at the front steps guy and cocked his head. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "I am not a hit man or anything of the... Wait, your name is K.J. Abate?" Kyle stood up and sighed in relief. "Thank God I found you now instead of later. You just saved me almost two hours of finding your work. I'm Kyle, and Mr. Barkly told me to come here to find you. Name ring any bells? He didn't tell me anything about why he needed to talk with you."

The head desk called for Kyle and he walked up to it, motioning for him to follow. After he paid for his own book, Kyle asked K.J. to follow him out and asked K.J. to take him to the clinic so then they could call his boss.

As they started crossing the street, something seemed off to Kyle. He glanced over and looked through the crowds, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Well, actually, for all Kyle knew this could be weird for Manhattan, because this was his first time in the area. Suddenly, everything just... stopped. For a second Kyle thought someone had killed him, and this was what it was like to be dead, not up and into an endless beauty of heaven or a bottomless pit of torture, but just a stop of time.

As soon as everything stopped, a man was standing in front of Kyle, seeming to tower above him, or at least that's what it seemed in Kyle's panicked moment. Kyle looked up carefully and replied, "My name is Kyle. Kyle Watersprit. Am I dead, sir? Are you the reaper?" Without realizing it, Kyle had sounded surprisingly childish, despite the fact that he was legally an adult now and had even lived on his own for almost two years now.

Luke:

"I am not the reaper.... I'm someone even better." He smiled slowly. Come, walk with me. Kyle looked around again, nervously. The taxicab was about to hit them.... but then it wasn't moving... nothing was.

"You're God...." Kyle said slowly. Starting to actually freak out. "Did I do something wrong... I didn't think that all that stuff..."

Luke cut him off. "Yes I'm one of the Gods. I'm the God of air..." He made a sweeping gesture and a breeze made it's way down a silent Manhattan street. "the God of change..." He went up to a lady who was tragically overweight. In a second she looked fit and ready to run a marathon. "the God of emotion...." He glanced up at Kyle who suddenly felt an intense wave of happiness come over him. Then he started laughing hysterically. Then he just stopped. "And of course... the God of Time." He snapped his fingers and the world resumed it's planned path. The woman screamed as she looked at herself.

"I hate screaming." Luke muttered. A second later the woman was quiet.

"What do you want...." Kyle said, backing up quickly and turning to run.

"It takes a lot of time to explain my friend..." Luke buffed his fingernails across his suit," Here's my business card, you can call me the same time tomorrow... or not. You'll be tested of course, to see if you're ready for what I propose. If you can't handle what's coming for you, then don't call me of course. I'm on a tight schedule so I must get going."

Luke made a flourish with his arms and a current of wind washed over him. He disappeared, leaving Kyle almost shell-shocked, holding a huge eagle feather with a number on it, words, and a date and time. It was todays date and the time was one minute away from the time now. The words said, "Fix it."

As the minute changed, everything froze but him.

-Kyle/Jack-

"Well, dagnabbit," Jack muttered under his breath. Of course Luke has got to make a big show of everything. God of air, change, emotion, time my hind end, Jack thought. More like the Goddess of showing off. Jack chuckled at his small joke and remained frozen like everyone else, trying to fit in and not look out of place.

Shell-shocked was a weak word to Kyle: it was certainly not the first word that came to mind when he thought about it later. Horrified. Stupefied. Cracked upside the head with a whiffle ball bat of crazed intentions and far-out psychedelic head rushes that only the biggest of all hippies would ever really experience right before they died of an overdose (John Lennon? Kyle first thought. No, he was shot). All these seemed to fit better.

The feather only succeeded in confusing Kyle, and with that confusion a deep, pulsing agitation. "Well, screw you, too, sanity...." A car honked at him to get out the way, breaking him free of his stunned thoughts. He ran off the to the side just as everything froze once again. "Ahh, really? Really? Of course, and I got to fix that of which I don't know."

Still agitated, Kyle just walked, not even bothering to look up at any of the frozen statues that were previously humans. K.J. was forgotten. So was his boss. The only thing he thought of was whether or not to call. The only way to really fix anything would be to call, he thought. But what if it's a trick? What if somehow this is only a trick by someone who had a grudge against Kyle?

But what if it's real? The thought made Kyle stop and stare. It wasn't his own thought; it seemed to just penetrate his skull out of nowhere. What if he's really a god? What if he isn't tricking you? What if? Without thinking, Kyle pulled out his phone, which surprisingly still had bars, and dialed the number on the feather. There was a droning ringing sound that followed, and then silence.

"Umm, hello?" Kyle said as evenly as he could manage. "I don't know what exactly I'm supposed to do...."

Jack was holding back laughter. The boy was confused as anything and this just amused him. Nothing was better than to mess with mortals sometimes. But, of course, there were times when it wasn't necessary. Or right. Jack didn't mess with mortals unless they deserved it. But, for now, Jack was going to stay out of the other gods' business for as long as possible. Sometimes gods interacting in other gods' work ended up badly.

Luke:

"Jacques... my dear friend." Luke came up behind Jack. He spoke in a heavy French accent just to tick him off.

"I knew you were there." Jack said smiling to himself.

"How are you... where have your hobo travellings taken you? Would you like to get some coffee? On me of course." Luke said, adjusting his smart black suit and slicking his hair back more.

"What do you want." Jack replied nonchalantly, "I know you want something, you're never this amiable unless you're trying to squeeze information out of someone."

"Hold on a second. I have to take this." Luke's blackberry was ringing up a flock of migrating birds. "Hello?"

"I don't know what to do..." A meek voice said through the phone.

"You need to fix it son." Luke said smoothly. "I suggest heading to Central Park. You should know what to do when you see it. Call me tomorrow. Good Day." He rapidly hung up.

"What are you doing messing with that poor boy?" Jack asked shaking his head.

"I need an heir of course. I'm just testing him, is that so wrong?" Luke took a sip of chai that he had taken off a table.

Jack just sighed.

"Anyhow, where are we supposed to meet? I've already lost track of Ellie... I feel as if she knows where we're supposed to go."

-Kyle/Jack-

Kyle almost flinched when he heard a voice on the other end of the line. Again he frowned at the response given and wondered whose idea this was.

But, of course, what else was there for him to do? Carefully and wary of his frozen surroundings, Kyle started walking towards where he thought was central park. This was still his first time in Manhattan, so he didn't quite have his bearings. He remembered passing what he thought to be central park on the taxi cab ride and decided to just start walking that way.

Jack sighed and just stared at Luke. Of all the gods, it had to be the god of emotion that was the most dramatic, huh? Not even his unusually sunny disposition could pull Luke of his high horse. Though for once, even Jack had to agree that Luke was probably one of the more adapted gods. The blackberry made that quite obvious.

Luke seemed to almost as if read Jack's thoughts. "I am handling this whole situation with a very business-like stature, and you would do well to do likewise."

"Psh, ya, n'waste m'time frettin' over the lil' things in the world?" Jack shook his head and Luke folded his arms. Jack went on, "Jus' tell Ell t'fin' meh. I'ma gonna go and see the news..." Jack started walking off, leaving Luke by himself, without as much as a single care as to finding an heir. In Jack's case, he would find an heir just as the god before him found himself: pure luck.

Still as one of those frozen in time, Luke just stared at Jack. Making a mental note, he made sure he'd figure out how to deal with Jack and his heir--whomever he or she may be--in such a way that would be beneficial to his own heir's interests.

Everything was confusing frozen. Kyle swore that he had passed a single person almost ten times. People looked a lot alike when they were frozen and colorless. It'll take forever to find Central Park, he thought, still bewildered. But if I am to fix this, I'd better...

It was almost an hour until he had finally found a rode map and discovered that he had been walking around it in a complete circle. After swearing loudly, he started off in the right direction and kept on walking until he was sure he was in Central Park.

"Okay, Mister Reaper, hit me with your best shot," he muttered under his breath as he kept walking through the park.

Judith

"You never change do you jack" I said stood behind the age man. he turned to see me, suprise spread across his face.
"Oh Jack, how you've aged" I said trying to hide to comedy of the situation in my voice

*Thought i'd jump in:D*

Luke:

Luke wandered around the City in all it's silence. Other gods had arrived, he could feel the tension growing in the city. High concentration of power like this was rarely a good thing... too much clashing of powers. Today though, Luke would try to be as suave as possible. That's what it took to win people over these days. He looked at his personal clock... it was 11:10... one more minute until he would start the test. Kyle was in the park... he could feel it. The clocks in the world were frozen at 10:10 and the times would line up precisely.....

The minute turned and central park burst into flame. The scene in central park was like a model train-yard burst into flames. The plastic trees and buildings and people melting into nothing.

"let's see if he's smart enough to figure this one out..." Luke smiled to himself. He straightened his tie and kept walking down the boulevard. Thinking about how absolutely clever this kid would have to be. Water was like gasoline to this flame. This fire was no normal fire... you'd need to fight fire with fire to extinguish it. Who would ever let themselves think of that?

Luke turned away from the shop window where he was pondering this. He figured he'd go find at least another god. The meeting hadn't started yet, the gods were still arriving. A loud voice screamed behind him. He turned around to see a curly brunette. "Oh my god!! Central Park is on fire!!!" She started running towards the park.

"Cecilia..." Luke called out to her. She whipped around.

"You! It was you... how dare you do such a thing...." Cecilia started using a long string of expletives.

"Cecilia my dear... you just fell for the oldest trick in my book... it's superficial. It's a mirage. It follows my rules." Luke buffed his nails on his suit... a habit he did whenever he was growing bored.

~Cecilia~

Luke...Curse him! I hate mirages. He started buffing his nails. He was bored. Bored annoying me? How dare he.
"Bored?" I ask him, leveling out my voice.
He looks up at me.
"Of corse. Why bother with you?"
I start playing with a nearby weed.
"Why bother with the Earth godess?"
The weed starts wrapping around his ankles. Luke gets a wild look in his eyes.
"Because Earth is everywhere," I give him a tiny smile," So is revenge."
I let the weed drop, just before he kicks it off.
"Ha. I'm not scared of you. Your one of the weakest."
I felt anger growing in me and I shoved it down. It was true.
"Just get rid of the mirage."
He gives me a half smile and snaps his fingers. The fire goes out.
"Where are the others?"
He nodds his head in the left direction. After I had gotten off the plane I hadn't seen a soul.
"Not like you want to be here."
I narrow my eyes.
"And you do?"

Ellie

It was like the good old days. All the gods were getting together, and Luke was already picking a fight with Cecilia. Luke's mirage really freaked her out. She started yelling at him, but he stayed calm throughout the whole thing. I watched as Cecilia made a vine circle up Luke's leg. This was starting to get more interesting. Maybe it would actually turn into something. Unfortunatly, the vine never did wrap all the way around Luke, it simply stopped and drooped down.

Why are we here? I wondered. Here all the gods were being called together in New York, and no one has a clue why. Whoever wants us gathered her probably has a death wish for all of us. When we're all together, we are the complete opposite of a happy family. We bicker, argue, show off our powers, and the amount of power by itself is enough to start a hurricaine. And believe me, it takes a lot of power to do that. Whatever was going on, we needed to know, and soon.

Luke:

"Oh Cecilia... you could never scare me... the air and the earth are as separate as fire and water." Luke reflected to himself. He couldn't let Cecilia mess up his test... as soon as she turned around the fire was blazing in all it's glory. That must have been weird for Kyle. Luke hoped that Kyle would call him the next day, victorious.

"Cecilia..." I called out to her again, "Sorry for my... rash behaviour...." He paused thinking it ironic that he was really apologising for hers, "But you must give me a chance to speak for myself. You see, we're all getting weak. It's time for us to step down an introduce a younger generation of gods. Ones with fresher minds and ones who are ready for the drastic change that's coming. You of all gods have felt it... you're the one who was hit the hardest..." He looked up at her, noticing a small shift, a more tender look in her defiant eyes. "Something is happening... and it's up to us to make sure the world isn't destroyed when it begins."

"Wow, impressive Luke, you should consider making inspirational speeches more often," Cecilia said, laying sarcasm on heavy. Luke could tell it was just to cover her concern. "So what do you want anyway?" She snapped.

Luke rolled his eyes, "Why do you always assume that whenever I'm nice to people I'm always trying to get something from them? Assume makes an ass out of you and me." He paused to see if she got the joke. " Anyway, I just wanted to know if you've been looking for an heir yet?" He hoped she had. It would be easier to prepare Kyle if he knew who else might have to work with him.

-Kyle/Jack-

"Well, screw me..."

The whole of Central Park was engulfed in flames. And not just normal flames. These flames seemed more animate and controlled for some reason. Kyle felt he could almost just tell these flames to go down if he wanted....

Trees melted instead of blackened; people turned to puddles instead of ash; the grass almost seemed to be replaced by the fire instead of just turning black and crunchy. Nothing seemed right about it. A thought crossed Kyle about it: time is still. Frozen. So if it is, how in the name of Holy Christ can everything be on fire? Only one answer: it can't. Thus, Central Park wasn't on fire.

Kyle felt very clever for his deduction and simply watched the fire with arms crossed in front of his chest. Everything seemed to fit. Surely the fire would just put it self out and as soon as time went back, this... this whatever it is will just disappear. Eventually. Hopefully...

Watching the fire and shaking his head was Jack. He almost felt sorry for the boy, but inside he could still tell that the boy deserved it. The boy's heart was in the wrong place and held nothing but hatred and contempt. No matter how clever he may be, or how independent, if you pulled away all the layers, that's all he amounted to.

Jack turned away and started looking for other gods. Surely they'd be meeting up somewhere soon, eh? Jack only hoped that maybe they'd meet somewhere with food. Good New York City cuisine. Despite being a god and not needing nutrition, Jack still felt that eating and food was the heart of good conversation, hearty laughs, and good intentions. Maybe that's one way to get all the gods to get along for at least an hour, he thought. I'll have to bring it up with them and toss it around as an idea.

He chuckled. Gods? Tossing around ideas not their own or for their own selves? Like they actually liked each other? The thought made Jack almost keel over with humorous laughter. Tears were nearly pouring out of his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure in order to properly approach other gods.

He spotted Luke again and Cecilia with him. Hm, Jack thought. Goddess of earth and god of wind. Wind may erode earth, but earth is still around longer than wind. Wind can vanish in a wisp, or make a loud, roaring entrance that tears down even great establishments, like tornadoes for instance. Yet even through that, earth is still there, scared, maybe, but still in a whole, yes. Earth and wind were two opposing forces of nature, like fire and water. Jack nearly thought twice about approaching them. An argument between the two wouldn't be that difficult to start. Oh boy.

"Well, hey, you two," Jack called, approaching the two at an old man's pace, slightly humped over, but still smiling brightly as usual. "How's immortal life doing y'all? Good? Bad? Getting bad cramps at night? I know I am, heheh." The two turned sharply at him and Jack held up his hands in defense.

Cecilia sighed and gave Luke a sharp look. "Hello, John. Luke and I were just... catching up."

"Catching up like a crack addict does after a relapse, I presume?" Jack replied, earning a continually annoyed stare from Luke and another razor-edged look from Cecilia. "Oh, calm down you two. Surely bickering amongst ourselves isn't god-like conduct, is it?"

Luke sneered and have a sarcastic chuckle. "Ahh, this coming from the only god that looks his age and looks and appears as one of the lower forms in the mortal's social ladder."

"John's right, you know," Cecilia said, and Jack thought about why she always called him by his real name. "We need to act as gods would, not like mortals. As for the matter of finding heirs," she turned to where she could face both Jack and Luke, "it is obvious that all of us gods are starting to show our age. Our response to the world has been slowing, and that's mostly because of the change in the world. So, as the world does so often, we must change out as well."

Luke gave a small clap. "Yes, very good speech there on all our problems, but I think you mean that mostly you are slowing down. The condition of the earth has been deteriorating, you know, and many plants are dieing out." Cecilia looked ready to bite Luke's head off at that point. Jack stepped between them both to stop any violence, being that he knew once gods got at it, nothing could stop them short of miracle.

"Now, now, let us not fight. Let's finish the job we've been given here and let it rest, okay? I suggest we pull all the gods together as soon as possible and figure out someplace where we can have a formal get-together and figure out the main reason we've all been called here."

Luke:

"Yes Cecilia... don't fight, it's not becoming of a young lady." Luke said with mock concern.

"Do you think I give a CRAP about being a young lady, I think that..." Cecilia said, taking the bait with ease.

Luke cut her off, "Yes I can definitely tell that you don't." He smirked a little.

"Fuck you Luke," Cecilia said, her face turning red a little.

"Oh... I didn't know you wanted to, what are you doing Friday night?" Luke answered smiling sweetly at her.

"Shut up both of you." Jack said swiftly before Cecilia could slap Luke square in the face. "Luke, I believe you have... unfinished business in Central Park to take care of. When you're done, time shall resume and we should all start looking for the meeting place."

"Leave it up to her not to give us the most vital information." Cecilia muttered.

"Of course... just a second. This should be fun. I'll just isolate the blaze there and make is so Kyle is the only one who sees it... that should solve that problem... then maybe I should just cause some stir in the city... Perfect." Luke was making gestures to himself wildly, like drawing a rode map in the air.

"What exactly is the key to putting out the fire?" Cecilia asked in a very tired manner. She was absolutely done with seeing Central Park burning down.

"Oh it's simple, it's just a test of aptitude and brilliance that's all. He must think outside the box... the fire will go out if he does the exact opposite of what he thinks he should do. Very simple, very easy." Luke grinned up at Cecilia.

"Whatever." She turned away and started walking.

"TIme my friend?" Jack asked.

"Of course." Luke snapped his fingers and everything continued as scheduled.

"Oh my gosh!" Cecilia gasped suddenly. "Ellie!! There you are!!!" Cecilia ran up to meet her.

"Almost everyone." Jack said nonchalantly.