[01/01] Riddle
Riddle
November 2012
Summary
A little horror story.
A/N
[00.55, 25 November 2012] I am still depressed. But I’m going to write this before I lose the drive to finish it. The events featured here actually happened to me and my roommate. ianne_xxyl also helped complete this! And yes, I am still working on Shiretoko. Enjoy, everyone! ::D
Disclaimer
The mastermind behind this plot derives no material profit from it. While several people, places, and events exist in reality, everything that follows should be digested with a healthy dose of suspicion.
Warning
I cannot write bromance or erotica to save my life.
Words 1,000
Riddle
For Arashi
“Let me tell you a story.
“There were two men walking down a dark, narrow street one night, its gentle slope opening into a row of quiet houses. It wasn’t quite late in the evening yet - in fact, there were still many cars around the area, although they were the only two people in sight. A couple of street lamps lit their way, but the moon was clear enough for seeing.
“Suddenly, a lean black cat slowly walked across their path. The two men stopped walking.
“One of them suddenly chuckled, and noted, ‘It’s funny how these superstitions feel so weird when they happen in reality. I’ve never come across a black cat passing in front of me before.’
“But his sole companion only replied, ‘Never mind the cat, what unsettles me more is the third shadow between us. See that? The way the light plays around us makes a third shadow. But there are only two of us here.’
“The first man looked at the ground before them, and realized it was true. There was indeed another shadow, seeming to look up at him from the ground. He cast a quick look around him. There were only two people on the street.
“He cleared his throat to hide his building panic, and suggested, ‘We should keep walking then.’
“The shadow followed their every move.
“It was then they came to a lamp post, a wooden one between two parked cars. As they walked right past it, barely speaking a word, the light went out, and their spot on the street was bathed in sudden darkness. The first man jumped, before settling into a frozen position as he made to pull at his possessions. Perhaps it was an ambush, or a malicious attack of some sort.
“The lights flickered back on.
“It was then the first man discovered he was alone. The stranger he had been walking next to on the street had disappeared completely, and even as he craned his neck in all possible directions, he could see he was the only one in sight. The other man had disappeared completely.
“Had he been a ghost? Had he been a vengeful human?
“The first man steadied himself, and decided to keep walking. But as he repositioned his belongings, and squared his shoulders, he heard a sudden shuffling behind him.
“The air on the nape of his neck suddenly became very, unnaturally cold. In a loud, almost normal, speaking voice, a familiar cadence called out, ‘Sho.’
“It sounded and felt so amazingly near. And so the man ran for his life, never looking back.”
There was a silence as his companion stared at him impassively, trying to complete a decent reaction to the story. Finally, he said, “How do you know this story then?”
“Oh, everyone knows that story around here. It took place in the street outside my house, if you’re wondering. It happened to one of my friends.”
“You’re just trying to get me to go home early so you can go back to playing your games.”
“That, too, but seriously, it’s an urban legend around here. Nobody knows why that man is looking for someone, or who he’s looking for. I don’t have a neighbor named Sho-”
“All right, fine. I’m leaving. You don’t have to strain yourself to come out with a story that will scare me away.”
“Thanks, then. I won’t be showing you out the door. You can find your way outside - just don’t forget to close the gate.”
His friend lived in the farthest side of the campus, in a modest little lodging house bordered by a basketball court and a quaint fast food store. There were no other people on this Friday evening. He met no one on his way out into the dark, moonlit street.
Pulling the iron gate to a close behind him, he swept the whole street with one gaze. It certainly was just as his friend had described it, from its gentle slope and the row of quiet houses to the wooden lamp posts that peppered it every few meters. With the way the shadows seemed to be wrapping themselves around him, he realized he had overstayed this time, yet again. It was already deep into the evening.
In the distance, a lamp post flickered to a close, and for a moment half the street was bathed in shadow. Staring at it, his hands in his pockets, he concluded the lamps needed repairs, that the story he had heard was merely a combination of consequences and perverse male residents scaring innocent passersby.
He began to walk in the opposite direction, where the lights were functional and the trees were sparse.
As he turned his back, the broken light flickered on. From that spot, a man began to walk on, head low as he gently whispered a name.
“Sho.”
A/N
[01.21, 25 November 2012] I am not joking, this thing really happened to us. We were walking down a dark shortcut at about eleven in the evening, and I was making a joke about how horror stories begin with people deciding to take shortcuts. And then a black cat slowly walked across us. And then one of the lamp posts died as we walked past it. Worse, when I pointed this out to my roommate, she simply told me about the third shadow. And that was really weird.
This was really half-assed, but thank you so much for reading! ::D
November 2012
Summary
A little horror story.
A/N
[00.55, 25 November 2012] I am still depressed. But I’m going to write this before I lose the drive to finish it. The events featured here actually happened to me and my roommate. ianne_xxyl also helped complete this! And yes, I am still working on Shiretoko. Enjoy, everyone! ::D
Disclaimer
The mastermind behind this plot derives no material profit from it. While several people, places, and events exist in reality, everything that follows should be digested with a healthy dose of suspicion.
Warning
I cannot write bromance or erotica to save my life.
Words 1,000
Riddle
For Arashi
“Let me tell you a story.
“There were two men walking down a dark, narrow street one night, its gentle slope opening into a row of quiet houses. It wasn’t quite late in the evening yet - in fact, there were still many cars around the area, although they were the only two people in sight. A couple of street lamps lit their way, but the moon was clear enough for seeing.
“Suddenly, a lean black cat slowly walked across their path. The two men stopped walking.
“One of them suddenly chuckled, and noted, ‘It’s funny how these superstitions feel so weird when they happen in reality. I’ve never come across a black cat passing in front of me before.’
“But his sole companion only replied, ‘Never mind the cat, what unsettles me more is the third shadow between us. See that? The way the light plays around us makes a third shadow. But there are only two of us here.’
“The first man looked at the ground before them, and realized it was true. There was indeed another shadow, seeming to look up at him from the ground. He cast a quick look around him. There were only two people on the street.
“He cleared his throat to hide his building panic, and suggested, ‘We should keep walking then.’
“The shadow followed their every move.
“It was then they came to a lamp post, a wooden one between two parked cars. As they walked right past it, barely speaking a word, the light went out, and their spot on the street was bathed in sudden darkness. The first man jumped, before settling into a frozen position as he made to pull at his possessions. Perhaps it was an ambush, or a malicious attack of some sort.
“The lights flickered back on.
“It was then the first man discovered he was alone. The stranger he had been walking next to on the street had disappeared completely, and even as he craned his neck in all possible directions, he could see he was the only one in sight. The other man had disappeared completely.
“Had he been a ghost? Had he been a vengeful human?
“The first man steadied himself, and decided to keep walking. But as he repositioned his belongings, and squared his shoulders, he heard a sudden shuffling behind him.
“The air on the nape of his neck suddenly became very, unnaturally cold. In a loud, almost normal, speaking voice, a familiar cadence called out, ‘Sho.’
“It sounded and felt so amazingly near. And so the man ran for his life, never looking back.”
There was a silence as his companion stared at him impassively, trying to complete a decent reaction to the story. Finally, he said, “How do you know this story then?”
“Oh, everyone knows that story around here. It took place in the street outside my house, if you’re wondering. It happened to one of my friends.”
“You’re just trying to get me to go home early so you can go back to playing your games.”
“That, too, but seriously, it’s an urban legend around here. Nobody knows why that man is looking for someone, or who he’s looking for. I don’t have a neighbor named Sho-”
“All right, fine. I’m leaving. You don’t have to strain yourself to come out with a story that will scare me away.”
“Thanks, then. I won’t be showing you out the door. You can find your way outside - just don’t forget to close the gate.”
His friend lived in the farthest side of the campus, in a modest little lodging house bordered by a basketball court and a quaint fast food store. There were no other people on this Friday evening. He met no one on his way out into the dark, moonlit street.
Pulling the iron gate to a close behind him, he swept the whole street with one gaze. It certainly was just as his friend had described it, from its gentle slope and the row of quiet houses to the wooden lamp posts that peppered it every few meters. With the way the shadows seemed to be wrapping themselves around him, he realized he had overstayed this time, yet again. It was already deep into the evening.
In the distance, a lamp post flickered to a close, and for a moment half the street was bathed in shadow. Staring at it, his hands in his pockets, he concluded the lamps needed repairs, that the story he had heard was merely a combination of consequences and perverse male residents scaring innocent passersby.
He began to walk in the opposite direction, where the lights were functional and the trees were sparse.
As he turned his back, the broken light flickered on. From that spot, a man began to walk on, head low as he gently whispered a name.
“Sho.”
A/N
[01.21, 25 November 2012] I am not joking, this thing really happened to us. We were walking down a dark shortcut at about eleven in the evening, and I was making a joke about how horror stories begin with people deciding to take shortcuts. And then a black cat slowly walked across us. And then one of the lamp posts died as we walked past it. Worse, when I pointed this out to my roommate, she simply told me about the third shadow. And that was really weird.
This was really half-assed, but thank you so much for reading! ::D