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Young Writers Society


12+

Every Christmas - Chapter 1

by ThePhoenix


Every Christmas 

Chapter one

The howls of the wind in the cold winter evening were quite calming to Emily’s ears. It was one of the only things that could help take her mind off family pressure.

“Why do I need to get married anyway? I’m nineteen. I should be allowed to make my own decisions.” She spoke to herself, then slightly louder. “Who needs a man in their life anyway?”

A voice suddenly spoke aloud from the shadows. “Well you’ve spent one year with one and it’s been quite fun so it’d probably be best if you did have a man in your life.”

Without looking around Emily replied. “You know how flawed your logic is right?”

Emily turned to see her twin brother, Sam, approaching her in a very fancy suit. She sighed, immediately figuring out what was happening. “Who did you ask out this time?”

“Hey, I have good reasons for dressing up nicely other than to go out with a girl.”

Emily stared at him, arms crossed, eyebrow raised.

“Ah, but yeah. I am dressed up because I am going out with a girl.” Sam made gestures towards his suit and the door.

“You go on too many dates.” Emily turned around and walked over the window to stare outside at all the snow that was falling. The snow looked around four inches deep. “You’re not going out in that weather are you?”

She heard a vibration behind her, soon followed by an “Ohh, come on!”

“Jade just cancelled our date because of the weather. And I just dressed up for nothing… Damn it. Now I have to change.” Emily heard footsteps leading away from the lounge room.

Finally.

She sat down in a chair and closed her eyes, so she could listen to the calming sounds of the wind. She wished she could stay here all day. All the stress of the real world gone. Just her and the wind.

Then her ears picked up a faint noise. She couldn’t quite describe it but it sounded like an engine wheezing, if an engine could wheeze. Emily was curious and went up to the window to see if she could see the object that was making the noise. She looked around for a while but the snow hindered her vision massively until she saw a tiny flashing light in the corner of the window. The light looked to be spinning.

Is that some kind of plane? No that’s stupid.

She kept observing the light which was growing bigger. She couldn’t tell what the light was attached to, or if it was attached to anything at all. It was really difficult to see but Emily thought she saw a little trail of smoke behind the light.

TSHHHH! BANG!

She looked outside and saw the object which had crashed outside. She couldn’t really see how far it was from her window; the snow was too dense.

Suddenly, Sam burst into the room. “What was that? Did you hear that?” He started panicking. “What’s happening? Did an alien spaceship crash outside? ARE THEY GOING TO INVADE US?”

Emily looked at her brother, dumbfounded. “Really? Aliens? That’s the immediate conclusion you come to?”

“Well what do you suggest? Car crash? In this weather?” Sam went to look outside the window but couldn’t see anything due to his impaired eyesight. “Damn it. I can’t see anything.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “I told you to go to the optometrist.”

Sam groaned. “Fine. I’ll go tomorrow. If it stops snowing. Tell me if you see anything happen outside that window. I’m going to sleep.” He started walking back to his room.

Emily sighed and looked back outside to see a humanoid figure sitting down next to the crash area. The figure resembled that of a child and looked like a boy from where she was standing but she couldn’t be sure. “What’s that child doing?” She whispered to herself.

She kept looking at the child and what she now decided was a box of some sort, possibly a crate.

Should I go outside and ask the kid what he, or she, is doing? But what if it is actually an alien?

Emily slapped herself lightly. Don’t be stupid. Aliens aren’t real.

She kept looking at the child, who was now pacing around in the snow. The child then climbed up onto the crate and seemingly fell into it.

What? How? Well, it's not impossible but...why? And is the crate... Glowing?

She realised that the crate was now emitting a soft golden glow which outlined its shape as well as further confusing Emily.

How can a crate glow?

Emily then became aware of small vibrations that her feet were picking up. She then listened more carefully and then she heard it. Even with the howling wind, she could still hear the soft humming of an engine. And what’s more, she was sure that it was coming from the crate. She couldn't tell for sure but her gut said that it was the crate that was producing the reverberation.

How does that make sense?

Then she heard the grinding sound again. This time the light illuminated the crate which allowed her to see more detail.

A blue crate with smoke coming out of it? So is there an engine inside the box? Or was it just in a fire? So what was the crashing? Wait. It has some words. Argh, I can’t see it clearly, and it’s sideways. And why does it keep… disappearing.

She realised that the blue crate was disappearing then appearing again. Soon the light stopped flashing and the blue crate was gone.

A female voice suddenly spoke up. “You’re confused aren’t you? It’s pretty amazing.”

Emily span around to see a young female that appeared to be in her twenties with dark brown hair. Her hair had snow all over it. Her face was pale, probably from being outside and her clothes had rips throughout. “Wha- how did- who are—”

The female raised her hand up signalling a handshake. “Clara. Clara Oswald.” She paused and took a couple of breaths before speaking again. “I’ve got a lot of explaining to do haven’t I?”


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125 Reviews


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Wed Dec 30, 2015 5:13 pm
Songmorning wrote a review...



“Why do I need to get married anyway? I’m nineteen. I should be allowed to make my own decisions.” She spoke to herself, then slightly louder. “Who needs a man in their life anyway?”

This made me immediately curious as to what time period, country (or planet), and culture she's in. She's talking like a modern gal, but what she's saying implies that she's being pressured to marry someone who she maybe hasn't even been dating. I don't know. With Doctor Who, you never know where you might end up in time and space. And pardon me if I'm wrong, but to begin with, I'm assuming Emily is your own character. (To tell the truth, I've only watched a few episodes of Doctor Who here and there.)

All right, then. Dates and vibrating cell phones. This is modern times, then. And my first guess would be England.

She sat down in a chair and closed her eyes, so she could listen to the calming sounds of the wind. She wished she could stay here all day. All the stress of the real world gone. Just her and the wind.

Your characters are already starting to feel like real people, so good job with that...

She kept observing the light which was growing bigger. She couldn’t tell what the light was attached to, or if it was attached to anything at all.

You can change the second "the light" to just "it", to avoid repeating that phrase. We'll know what you mean. Also, in the first sentence, add a comma between "the light" and "which was..." (the light, which was growing bigger.)

At the mention of Sam's "impaired eyesight", I became immediately curious as to what that impairment must be, and whether we'll find out more about it later, and why he's putting off seeing an optometrist. Maybe he's just a nearsighted procrastinator, though...

The figure resembled that of a child

A child? That's funny, I'd assumed that the TARDIS just showed up outside their house, but now I'm not sure whether or not that's what happened. The appearance of a child seems to contradict that assumption. We'll see, I suppose.

Ah, a blue crate. It is the TARDIS, then. I'm not so sure about the use of the word "crate", which implied to my mind something more squat and cubical rather than, well, police-box-shaped. However, I wouldn't say absolutely change it. Just be aware that the word produced a different mental image in my mind. Also, when you said the child climbed "onto" the crate, I thought he had entered it through the top, though obviously you enter the Tardis through the front. Is there a better way you could phrase that?

Ahahaha, well I'm hooked! This is quite well-written, and it already feels like the beginning of a "Doctor Who" episode, so I get the feeling that it's going to be a good fanfiction.




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Fri Sep 04, 2015 12:11 pm
Snoops wrote a review...



Heya ThePheonix!

If you want some name suggestions, go to baby name sites. Some sugestions for right now are, Owen, Aaron, Peter, Oscar, Bennett, Anthony, Rafael, Alex, there are a lot of boy names, so I'm just going to keep going wit the review or I will be here all day.

I didn't see a nearly anything wrong with this, but I'm a terrible reviewr, so, I'm just going to say sorry now, if this doesn't help you at all. Sorry.

One thing I thought was odd was the fact that Sam screams asking if that crash was an alien and then he just looses interest and goes to bed. Change that. Have him be reminded about aliens or something, and let him decide he's going to watch an alien movie. Get where I'm going? No one looses interest that quickly.

Also, I have two brothers...not one would go to my room and creep in the shadows unless he was really planning to park/scare me or film me talking to myself.

I would also add some more description when it comes to the box part.

"She realised that the blue crate was disappearing then appearing again. Soon the light stopped flashing and the blue crate was gone."

This makes NO sense! How can she only realize that after. Put this in the beggining. Not the beggining of the story, just when she goes outside.

What I did like was the conversation between the twins and how Cara just appeared. I liked the snow and how she obvioulsy doesn't want to get married, the mystery of the glowing box is a plus too.

Hope I wasn't too harsh and can't wait to read more.

-Lau.




ThePhoenix says...


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Thu Sep 03, 2015 3:10 am
ThePhoenix says...



EVERYONE!

Sam is just a substitute.
The name. Not the character...

I just couldn't think of a better name at the time.

So if any of you have any suggestions.

I'm all ears.
Then I'll take you to a planet WHERE EVERYONE IS ALL EARS!

#totallynotobviousreference




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Wed Sep 02, 2015 9:57 pm
TNCowgirl wrote a review...



All I could think about was doctor who. :D Made me smile. Anyway, I really liked it. I'm pretty sure it's a fanfic seeing as Clara is in it. There weren't anything really grammatical that I could see, though I'm not the best at spotting them most of the time.

I really liked the flow of it and her brother made me laugh out loud because he reminds me of my cousin. The descriptions were really good too. Honestly, I don't really have anything bad to say about it. So good job!!!




ThePhoenix says...


:D
Always happy to see a Doctor Who fan.

Because one day when we hear the TARDIS outside our windows. All Whovians are going to say to everyone "HA! I TOLD YOU SO! BOOYAH!"
Ok maybe just me but still.

I'm still waiting Doctor...
I've prepared fish fingers and custard.
:D



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Wed Sep 02, 2015 11:47 am
Lightsong wrote a review...



Hey, I'm here to review. I bet you love all the attentions you have now. ;)

Spoiler! :
It was one of the only things that could help take her mind off family pressure.


A "the" after "off" reads better.

Then her ears picked up a faint noise.


I always got criticized for starting a paragraph with a "Then". I think you can put it at the end of the sentence.

No that’s stupid.


What does a that looks like for you to say there's no that? Put a comma after "No."

TSHHHH! BANG!


No need to bolden them. Italic is enough.

"ARE THEY GOING TO INVADE US?”


You want to stress these words, so italicize them rather than capitalize them since it's more proper that way.

"Tell me if you see anything happen outside that window."


"Happens" with a non-human "s".

And is the crate... Glowing?


Decapitalize "Glowing".

Emily then became aware of small vibrations that her feet were picking up. She then listened more carefully and then she heard it.


Erase the second "then" to avoid redundancy. You got it right for the first one! :D

“You’re confused aren’t you?"


I'm not confused about aren't you. I'm confused why there's no comma after "confused", which makes the sentence confusing. :D

“I’ve got a lot of explaining to do haven’t I?”


Er, how does one do haven't I? Again, a comma after "do".


Now, to talk about plot, characters, and settings;

The plot isn't clear yet but that's to be expected in the first chapter. There are things - interesting ones! - that lead to it; glowing crate, humanoid child, and mysterious woman. These are all intriguing and the fact that I can't think of what would happen next makes me want to read more to know just that! I like it! :D

The characters, Emily and Sam have a natural relationship that you've pulled off well. The dialogues aren't forced - they're simple and flow well. I can see the dynamic between them and some moments make them really look like siblings. Emily's character is shown well - she is curious and out spoken. Sam seems to be the playful brother. I hope we'll see more of Clara and the mysterious child.

The settings are good too, I like the descriptions you used to convey them, and I can imagine the place Emily's in, the sound of the wind and engine and all. I don't have complains here, I'm not really fond of descriptions, actually.

Overall, this story has potential and some questions in need of answer so good job and keep it up! :D




ThePhoenix says...


:D:D:D

HAPPINESS LEVELS BURSTING!

Seriously. 3 reviews in 3 hours. Just. WOW!

:D

THIS IS%u2014 Wait what mysterious woman? I ADDED A MYSTERIOUS WOMAN?

...OH! No wait... I get it now. :D

I see. I think. Nope, I don't get it. And I don't you get that I don't get what I think I get about you not getting what I'm getting at.
... I don't think that even made sense.

Also now that you've made my first chapter sound so good, I feel like my next chapter is just going to let you down...

BUT I SHALL TRY!



ThePhoenix says...


...
Wait...
I think YWS messed up my reply...
D:



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Wed Sep 02, 2015 10:57 am
Desdemona wrote a review...



Hello~ Blackie ish here to review you~!

I'm quite impressed with your story, given your age and all. I especially liked the little twist in the end, I do love Doctor Who.

Your writing shows promise, I wasn't bored at all as I read it, although I found a bunch of tiny errors with my incredible eagle's eyes. Worry not, it's nothing too serious.

Most of my complaints are based on one flaw; your choice of words.

"A voice suddenly spoke aloud from the shadows. “Well you’ve spent one year with one and it’s been quite fun so it’d probably be best if you did have a man in your life.”'

So, since voices are already aloud, (externally sounded) there was no need to say aloud.
Another thing I can tell you is not to use so many conjunctions in one sentence. I know it's difficult to do (it's one of my own flaws too hehe) but it greatly enhances the flow of your story

"...which outlined its shape as well as further confusing Emily." Tense confusion. You could say "...which outlined its odd shape and added to the already befuddled Emily's confusion"

Another thing you can do to make your story better is to add more adjectives.

"...closed her eyes, so she could listen to the calming sounds of the wind." You don't need to close your eyes to listen to any sound, or the wind.

"“Well what do you suggest? Car crash? In this weather?”' This is actually very likely.

“You go on too many dates.” Emily turned around and walked over the window to stare outside at all the snow that was falling. The snow looked around four inches deep. “You’re not going out in that weather are you?”

She heard a vibration behind her, soon followed by an “Ohh, come on!'

This looks too deliberate, as if your character is a superhero who just makes things happen. You could make the girl cancel the plans later, for example after he left.

"Emily stared at him, arms crossed, eyebrow raised." You could insert "with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised.."

And finally: It's not span, it's spun.

TLDR; I believe you did an excellent job with this work and with focusing on the types of errors I mentioned above, you could be even greater <3

I'm going to keep reading your work.
So better keep writing!~~
Love;
Blackie




ThePhoenix says...


...
Damn you eagle eyes...
Damn you...
ONE DAY I WILL MAKE ERRORS SO TINY THAT EVEN YOU CAN'T SEE THEM!

Well I really shouldn't make errors anyway but still.

ONE DAY!



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Wed Sep 02, 2015 10:39 am
Tuesday wrote a review...



Hello Tuesday here for a review!

Okay, when I reading this I didn't expect some Doctor Who vibe, but as I continued to read I had context clues from the summary of the story. Also the end was a big spoiler, nonetheless. Now to reviewing!

I like what you have here. The feelings in here (like imagery, in the beginning) gives the reader a pure image of where they are at. The beginning of this chapter is quite great, as it gives the setting and such for the reader. I also like how the character is having problems with family so I could relate to most people.

“Why do I need to get married anyway? I’m nineteen. I should be allowed to make my own decisions.” She spoke to herself, then slightly louder. “Who needs a man in their life anyway?”

For some reason, I think Emily is thinking this instead of talking. In the beginning that is or maybe she is muttering to herself. However, that could just be me reading it.

Overall, I think this is a great beginning. I like how Sam freaks out about the aliens coming to invade them while Emily is deciding whether to go outside and help the blue box. I like the description tone you used in this chapter and hope to read more of your chapters, soon to follow.

Farewell,
Tuesday




ThePhoenix says...


:D

I spent a long time editing this.

I also sent it to friends for them to criticise.
Sadly I am still not used to criticism and always take it as offensive.

:D

Also you're one day late...
:D

I love puns. Maybe not bad ones though.
:D




The man who never makes a mistake always takes orders from one who does.
— Anonymous