A Different Kind of Adventure
Creative Writing Probe: Write an adventure story about pirates or ninjas. It's interesting how this one came out. It seems to be simultaneosly for a younger and older audience. Constructive criticism is appreciated.
“There’s just no more adventure in the world anymore. I wish pirates still existed.” Tory spoke with a sigh, eyes closed, head hanging from the edge of her bed. “I wish I could live on the sea amongst thieves and outcasts. I wish I could work and sweat in adventure and sea and salt.”
Her twin brother barely looked up from his book. “David’s a pirate. That kind still exists.”
Tory paused for a moment, considering. David was a pirate all right, but not the kind she had in mind. He was a pirate of the machine. He had a brilliant mind, the kind people both feared and admired. He was unstoppable. He was the boy who saw movies before they came out in theaters, the one who owned more music than an average computer could hold. David’s brain was like powerful machine itself, able to analyze and rationalize any situation.
But Tory was in search of adventure, and a computer nerd was not what she had in mind. Or so she thought.
Mason changed everything. Mason was the school bully’s favorite target. He was the small, scrawny, glasses wearing kid no one dared befriend. To befriend Mason was to incur the violence of Connor and no one could win against him in a fair fight. Everyday Mason would walk in with fresh bruises and a split lip, the consequences of refusing to submit willingly to Connor’s wrath. Everyone pitied Mason, but no one dared protest.
Today, Tory observed an interesting divergence from the normal behavior of her peers. As she sat in the lunchroom with a bag of Doritos, she saw the beginning of a strange alliance between the two loners. Mason, sporting two black eyes and scotch taped glasses sat down next to the David, the objective hermit-like genius. Tory watched as David took in the sight of Mason, mentally classifying every mark and distinctive feature. There was a moment of strange tension between the two before David finally nodded and the two began a whispered conversation. Tory took in the events with a thoughtful expression, twirling the chip in her fingers.
The next day Connor found his phone number changed, his computer hacked, and his myspace changed and inaccessible. Connor’s email was also flooded with 273 messages from a mysterious sender. In every email written in block letters was, “LEAVE MASON ALONE.” In every one of Connor’s computer concerns, these words were repeated.
When Connor walked into school fuming mad and raving about hackers, Tory simply grinned. That day at lunch, a new person joined the company of the two loners. Tory placed her tray next to the two boys with the dramatic flourish of a revolutionary. “I want in.” She said. And with that bold statement, Tory’s adventure began, seated next to the proud sufferer and the brilliant pirate.