Radio Chapter 2

Feferi was never a pretty sight in the morning. Her long hair was a messy sight to look at and her make-up was completely smeared all over her face. The day was still cool and dark because of the daylight savings, but looking at the clock she noticed that it was already 6:00. Her new job started in one hour so she needed to hurry. She quickly got dressed into a long light green skirt that had a pink rim. It flowed down to the ground, and as it got closer, it faded into a light sky blue. She remembered buying it one day in a quaint little shop in Black Diamond, Florida.

            The day was hot as usual and everyone was thirsting for something cold to drink. Feferi was on her way to a job interview when she passed by a small clothing store and saw the skirt. Gasping, she immediately went into the cool shop and bought it. There were no second thoughts and when she saw something she wanted, she would go out and get it.

           

            She raced out the door to get to her work, running in her heels and skirt plus the summer heat, didn’t make it the easiest distance of three blocks. ‘I am lucky that this place isn’t far from home.’ she thought to herself. Just as she reached the second block, she realized something; she didn’t know what she was working as. She walked a bit slower, pacing herself, not wanting to look all messy when she got there. She fixed her long hair a bit and straightened her posture.

            Looking on the piece of paper, she quickly found the address. Before coming inside, she looked at the sign above the shop. In big black letters, the sign read: The Local Mortician. “This can’t be the right place.” she thought to herself, “Let’s see here 2,2,3,3,7,7,8,8,5,5.”. She read the number over and over again. It all stayed the same when five minutes later; she opened the door and walked in.

            The shop smelled strongly of incents and had a small hint of decay, though that wasn’t as strong. The flower-scented incents masked the ghastly odor out very well though it made it hard for her to take a breath. The desk that was in front of her was empty, and she couldn’t sense that anyone was around. On the desk, there were well organized papers and a silver bell that you would usually see at a local diner. Feferi tapped the bell and it rang throughout the shop. Moments later, she heard footsteps coming from down a narrow hallway; it was Aradia. Aradia smiled warmly at Feferi and Feferi returned it to her.

“Hello there Feferi.” Aradia greeted, looking at Feferi’s bright clothing in comparison to the dark walls and furniture of the store. “Very colorful there I see.” She stated.

“I didn’t know what to wear so I just picked this out. Should I wear all black next time?” she asked Aradia.

“Yes please. Bright things throw off the aura of the store.” She replied, “But today will be fine since it is your first day here.”

“Thanks!” Feferi said, happy that she got off the hook this one time.

Aradia led her over to the empty desk and told her what to do and how to answer the phone with the right line and how to transfer a call etc. So she would basically be a secretary for an Undertaker. This of course was not on her list of, “Things to do before I die” list but she knew it would be fun.

The hot summer morning went by slowly, only five people came and twelve called so nothing really interesting happened. Most of the stories sounded the same; heart attack, suicide, and car accidents were the most common out of all the calls and visits she got. Feferi was very, very, surprised that she didn’t cry during any of this. She is usually very emotional and empathetic, yet nothing even broke a clue that she was about to cry.

Soon enough, she was having her lunch break. Aradia had invited her to go to a restaurant called The Big Banquet. Accepting the invitation from her new boss, Feferi started to walk side-by-side next to Aradia. As they walked, Aradia asked Feferi about how she likes her new life in New Jersey, and Feferi replied back with joy and happiness.

“I love it here! Though there are some people that I will say are very nasty, and I hope to not to run into them again.” She giggled a bit then smiled warmly at her new boss/friend.

“I am glad that you are happy here.” Aradia said with little emotion but had a smile none the less.

When they arrived at the restaurant, a waiter sat them down at a table. They both took a look at the menus. Aradia quickly decided on what she was to eat because she has been to The Big Banquet before. Feferi on the other hand, seeing that she has never been there unlike Aradia, took longer to decide. She decided to have a vegetarian salad. Soon a small waitress came to take their orders. She had short black hair and by the looks of her makeup and clothing, she favored the color olive green.

“Are you ready to order?” she asked. Her voice was sweet and it sounded like she had a purr to it. Aradia smiled at the girl and spoke,

“Hello Nepeta, how are you today?” The two have been friends since kindergarden so they knew eachother well. Aradia would come here often to see her friend and it was decided that everytime she came, Nepeta would be her server.

“I am doing just purrfect. How are you Aradia?” Nepeta said in reply.

“I am doing well. I decided to bring my new employee here to meet you and to have a small deli sandwich and a side of mango slices.” She said with a laugh. Aradia looked at Feferi then back at her childhood friend.

“Nepeta, this is Feferi Peixes. Feferi, this is my friend Nepeta Leijon.” Feferi smiled and held out her hand.

“It is very nice to meet you!” she said excitedly. Nepeta shook Feferi’s hand and smiled back at the girl.

“And you too!” she purred, “And for you?”

Feferi’s mind had scattered thoughts so it took her a couple seconds to realize that she hadn’t ordered yet.

“Uh,” she spoke, looking at her menu, “I would like the Vegetarian Salad with a side of peaches.”

Nepeta wrote down the order and then nodded her head. After that, she bid the two a, ‘I’ll be back soon with your orders’ and left to the kitchen. After Nepeta left, Aradia took a deep breath then took a sip of her diet coke. Feferi didn’t know what to say; she had just met one of Aradia’s friends and now everything seems calmer. She thought that it was a bit peaceful actually; besides the mummers of the people having lunch around them, it was nice. Soon, Nepeta was back with a tray of food. The olive skinned friend handed the two their food.

“Hey Aradia, I’m on break so can I sit and eat with you two?” she said.

“Of course you can Nepeta.” Aradia said in reply. With that, Nepeta left to grab some food and came back about two minutes later. She set her boxed lunch on the table then pulled over a chair from another table. Opening the box, Feferi smelled something…tuna. Nepeta had brought a tuna sandwich for her lunch. She tried to breathe in through her mouth but the smell was still lingering in her nose. Feferi took a deep breath and held it in when Nepeta took a bite. Exhaling heavily, Feferi looked at her salad and took a bite; eradicating the thought and smell of the tuna.

The three talked for a while about clothes and then went on to “Our Favorites”. Aradia’s answers were a bit strange and Nepeta’s were cute. Feferi’s were as follows:

Favorite color: Dark Pink

Favorite song: Dream Bubble Lullaby  

Favorite number: N/A

Favorite singer/band: Amy Lee

ETC.

At least that was all they covered.

“Hey Aradia, I’m having a party this weekend, Friday. You want to come?” Nepeta asked.

“Of course I will come.” Aradia replied. Nepeta looked at Feferi.

“What about you? Do you want to come?” Nepeta asked.

“I would love too! As long as it isn’t too much trouble!” she exclaimed.

“Oh no! It won’t be a purroblem at all!” Nepeta gave her a big smile and by then, her shift had ended. She left and gave us the bill. Feferi did not like the fact that Aradia paid and insisted on paying her back. Though Aradia replied with a, ‘No.’ Feferi still felt icky inside. She forgot it soon after they arrived back at the apartments.

A few hours later, Aradia had stopped by Feferi’s apartment to give her more details on the party. It was to be held this Friday at 5:00 to whenever people wanted to leave. It was a casual party and there was no need to bring refreshments.

Seeing that the party was tomorrow, Feferi was restless. She tossed and turned on her couch and soon just decided to read a book and watch some T.V. Soon she fell into a deep sleep and she dreamt of the party but didn’t expect to see Eridan there waiting for her; making her jolt up from the dream. ‘What if he is there?’ she thought to herself.

^~^**

Marriages for All

By: Alex Caraulia

(Authors Note: This is an original argument that is based off of the standing question of Pro or Con movements and laws of the right to wed the same sex as oneself. I stand on the side of the Pro-gay community.)

          We all have the right to marry whom we choose, but many citizens of America are unmarried because the state that they continue to live in has not considered(or refused to allow) gay and lesbian marriages to occur in their state. This is a standing issue that needs to be at the very least considered in our country. Many things stand in the way of these beautiful arrangements. Including, religions/beliefs, the way we were raised, and laws.

          Most people in the Christian community have a strong belief that God is the one to punish those who act upon loving someone the same gender and send them to Hell. Others say that, “We were taught that God created all of us. If God wanted us all to be straight, why would he create gays in the first place?” The people who say such, are as you can tell, Christian; but they have the belief that people who act on their gay characteristics is okay and normal. There is also a counter argument. “If God wanted us to be gay, then he would have only put men on Earth.” This conversation would go back and forth but we do nothing to act upon our reasons. Many churches do not support these options not because the state they are located in, do not allow pro-gay marriages to occur in the state.

          Many states such as Texas are not pro-gay and are illegal to conduct. Though you may support these relationships, the state you live in may not want pro-gay marriages to occur. There are some states however that support these happy lovers; Washington, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, Washington D.C., and Iowa are the ones most recognized. People will change their residence, and even change their entire lives to live in these states, just to get married to the same sex. So, 8/50 states allow gay marriages; that isn’t a lot, that is 16% of the United States of America. How do we expect to let people believe that we are a free country, if we do not even allow the same sex become wed to each other?

Most are tired of the separation of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals everywhere. How are we expected to accomplish such great heights if we can’t even fix one little difference in this world? We can’t. These people deserve to be able to have a spouse, we all do; but the church and our entire country in general are injuring the very fact that we all have that ‘special someone’ in our lives weather we found it or not. We need to stand up for these people and let them have their well needed freedom. We need to allow same sex marriages because we can’t be the United States of America, if we cannot marry whom we choose.

         

Update

Hey people who take the time our of your precious lives to read my pathetic stories and stuff!

This is just a little update about what I will be posting and about the new Blogger.

I plan to continue my story, Radio, and if you have any requests, I will be happy to oblige. I can write almost anything so just e-mail me at agracefulgurl@gmail.com and I will take your request into consideration.

The new Blogger is dumb but resourceful. There.

BYE BYE~! <3

Radio

Radio

By: A. Grace C.

Feferi Peixes walked down the busy New Jersey sidewalk. People rushed past her in hurry and some even pushed her down; making her fall and drop her groceries. The bag she was carrying fell to the ground and everything came out. A can of pineapple rolled away from her and into a dark ally. She scrambled up on her feet to get the run-away can. Once the can was retrieved, she put it back in the bag and left to go home.

Once the sun had set, everything got much calmer. The streets were much more open than before and the people had more room to walk now that there were less people. Now she decided to stroll since there was no quick walking needed. Even though she looked and felt relaxed on the outside, she was nervous and anxious on the inside. She felt as if someone was following her, but she was too scared to turn around to check.

A couple minutes pasted and she couldn’t shake the feeling. Gathering up what courage she had, she turned her head ever the slightest. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a group of people dressed in all black. They were laughing when they saw that she caught a visual of them. One smiled and his teeth flashed and gleamed. Feferi jerked her head back to its place in front. Her gut told her to run for it, but her mind told her to just ignore it because they will just go away once they knew she didn’t care. Or they thought that she didn’t care.

Looking again, to see if they were still there, she was filled with disappointment and angst. They were still there following her. The worst part is that they noticed she was looking back. They laughed again, and started talking with each other. Her heart was racing now, she didn’t know anyone here and these people were scaring her to death. All types of thoughts entered her mind all at once. All were questions in ‘what if’ form. ‘What if they are planning to do something unmentionable to me?’ ‘What if they are drunks and they smoke pot and they are going to force you to smoke and drink under age?’ ‘What if they are going to try to make you jump in a nearby stream and drown yourself?’ it all drove her insane abut she remained calm on the outside. She heard quick footsteps come towards her and only moments later she stopped because one of the guys following her was blocking her way.

He flashed a smile and said, “Hey cutie.” His smile was dark and menacing; it made her want to cry because it was so unwelcoming.

“Excuse me.” Feferi said as she tried to step out of his way. He stopped her with a firm grip on her arm.

“Oh no. Hold on one second; where do you think you are going?” By that time, the others had surrounded her in a circle; with no chance of getting out. Yet she tried anyway, she pushed one guy and shoved another trying to get out. Every time she did, the guy she pushed would push her into another guy. They passed her around like a hacky sack. She got tired of being pushed around and it happened a lot in the past that she thought this would be a new start.

She guessed that the thugs were getting board because the next guy to get her, held her firmly by the shoulders and with a great amount of force, pushed her to the cold, wet, ground. A rush of pain bolted on her hand and she picked it up to see that her hand was cut right open from her pointer finger to her wrist. She thought that a rock had scraped her until she saw a knife in one of their hands that dripped with red blood.

“Don’t you want to hang with us? C’mon, it would be fun!” one said, his speech slightly slurred and she felt like she could smell the alcohol from where she lay on the ground. ‘I need to be tougher. Being weak is the reason….’ Her mind went somewhere else but quickly recovered to reality shaking off the utterly disturbing thought.

“No. Leave me alone.” Feferi said. Her voice was a bit shaken so it showed them what they most likely wanted, fear. It was true too. She was fearful of what was happening right now. They kept at it; they picked on her and tried to get some alcohol in her ad well as some weed. She discarded it all and got hurt for it. They kicked and punched her sometimes she even punched back.

By the end of the night, she finally got around the potential delinquents and went home as quickly as she could. She put her well needed groceries down and got an ice pack for her head though she probably needed more than that, but she couldn’t afford it. Her mother paid for the house and Feferi pays for the rent. After everything was put in its rightful place, she took a quick shower and got into her white nightgown.  It was a spaghetti sleeve and had black lace riming the edges. She let her long black-brown hair flow down to her knees and had her glasses propped on top of her head since she didn’t need them when she was in the apartment.

She took everything very coolly so what happened earlier that night hardly had effect on her; though she was still very nervous about the whole thing. Deciding that being alone wasn’t the best idea ever, she turned on the television and started to watch family feud. One thing that pained her though, was the actual feud that is going on in her family now. Feferi and her mother got into a huge fight and that is why she is here in New Jersey, she used to live in warm, sunny, Florida; yet seeing as she couldn’t stand to live with her over-ruling mother any longer, she moved. She thought that this would be a great place to restart her life and erase all that has happened in the past. Aside from of course her childhood friend, Eridan Ampora. There was no possible way she could forget him.

An hour of two later, her stomach twisted and cramped with hunger. Without even thinking of anything else, Feferi rushed to her pantry and refrigerator to grab some cereal and milk. She removed the seal that kept the cereal fresh and poured it into a bowl. While she ate, her mind raced through past memories, the good and bad ones. The fight she had with her mother wasn’t long ago; it has on estimate been three weeks. So, she remembered the fight clearly; though she really didn’t want to.

Her mother came in late that night, drowsy from the rough day at work. Feferi was sitting on the couch staring at a wall, completely un-aware that her mother had just got home.

“Why are you staring at nothing my little demon from hell?” Her mother asked baiting her for a fight, “You can’t become heiress to my company if you keep staring off into space. You know you really are stupid.”

“What if I don’t want to become your heiress?” Feferi whispered in her comfort that her mother could not have heard.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you dear, what did you say? Or were you just mumbling something about you missing that Eridan boy again?” Her mother grinned evilly wanting a fight; and sure enough, Feferi would give it to her, just not yet.

“I said; What if I don’t want to become your heiress?” Feferi looked at her with bored eyes, not showing her true emotion towards the matter.

“Well then that is too bad because you have no choice. Whether you like it or not, you have to walk in my footsteps.” Of course Feferi knew this, she had been told multiple times before. Yet now was the time where she would take a stand.

“I do have a choice mother. One that I will make right now; I refuse under any circumstances that I will follow your footsteps.”

“You don’t understand. You will be like me, exactly me.” She was getting angry with her daughter at this moment. Though she was trying her best not to yell; she didn’t want to disturb the neighbors again. Last time the distorted ‘family’ had a fight, they got a copious amount of complaints. The manager gave them a stern warning to not let this happen again.

Feferi’s mother baited her like a fish to a worm. And while Feferi tried her best not to take it, she couldn’t stand it anymore and reached out to grab it.

“No! I refuse to become anything like you!” Feferi shouted, “You are mean and nasty with a bad temper. You make me feel so small and helpless so that you can feel more powerful!”

By this point, Feferi had saltwater dripping from her swollen eyes. She didn’t want to have her mother’s life; she wanted her own. “And that is the way it should be.” she thought.

“I-I can’t take this anymore! I’m leaving this dreadful apartment!”

With anger and frustration in her heart, in twenty-four hours, she was out of her mother’s apartment. The next two days were difficult; she flew from Florida to New Jersey and found an apartment big enough for one.

A knocking brought her back to reality. Feferi was glad that she was able to get out of her memories. Though, she didn’t know why someone would come to her apartment at ten o’clock at night though. With a light step, she glided over her floor to the mahogany door. She looked through the small peek-hole and quietly asked,   

“Who is it?” Through the door she saw a girl with long black hair that went down to her lower back and Feferi could see that she was fond of the color red; judging by her deep red lipstick and her bright red mascara. She looked as though she hadn’t seen the sun in years because of her marble white, pale as snow skin.

“I am a neighbor from across the hall. I came to greet you.” The girl outside said; her beautiful voice hummed through Feferi’s ears. It was soft and gentle that would make for a good singer. Feferi unlocked the warn out brass hinge that kept the door closed. Turning the knob, Feferi put on a big smile. Of course the girl standing in front of Feferi was a bit taller than her; she hadn’t met anyone who was shorter than she was aside from small children.

“Hello. My name is Aradia Megido. I live in apartment A043. It is very nice to meet you.” Aradia held out her hand to greet the new member to the residence, and Feferi took her hand lightly and smiled wide. 

“I am Feferi Peixes. It is very nice to meet you Aradia!” Smiling wider, she let go of Aradia’s hand.

“Would you like to come in Aradia?” Feferi asked her neighbor; still smiling welcomes her into her new ‘home’. Aradia said a quick thank you and sat down on the pink and white polka dotted couch. Feferi rushed around her kitchen and grabbed a coffee mug and put some instant coffee in it along with some water. She put the pink mug in the microwave and set it for two minutes. Feferi then took a seat next to Aradia on the couch.

“So where do you work?”Aradia asked.

“Well I don’t reely have a job you sea. I’m still looking and I don’t have the BEST resume in the world...” Feferi trailed off. As a matter of fact, she had never had a job before. It was always working to become the new CEO of Betty Crocker for her mother, and Feferi was never allowed a job somewhere else.

“That is perfect actually!” Aradia said, “I have been looking for a co-worker to work beside me. It is a simple job that doesn’t require much. As long as you finished High school—you did finish High school right?”

“Of course I did!” Feferi said very excited.

“That is good, so would you like to work with me? I know we just met and all, but you seem like a good person to work with. I am also in desperate need for some help.”

“Okay I will work with you. I accept!” Feferi was filled with joy and she couldn’t wait to go to her new job.

Ten minutes later, Aradia left to go back to her apartment. She gave Feferi the address to her new job as she did.

“Stop by any time okay?” she said as she left.

“Same here!” Feferi replied.

When the door was closed and the room was quiet, it had gotten to be 10:54 at night. The hot summer night was finally starting to cool and the crickets chirped their nightly song. Feferi would often listen to them every night, she sometimes as a child, she would close her eyes and imagine a jazz band playing at her neighborhood night time Coffee Shoppe. And the crickets’ played while she was blanketed over darkness, with closed eyes; she found herself calmed and collected in a sense that she might drift into a deep sleep on her couch as she listened to the song of the night.

As she did though something cold slid down her arm to her wrist. She opened her eye lids to see what it was. An array of purple and pink fresh-water pearls on a silver chain. She admired the bracelet that she never took off, for minutes she stared at the accessory. Though, she would never call it that; this bracelet was a part of her, she never took it off, and it never parted with her. Not only that, but it held memories of someone she hasn’t seen in six long dreadful years, Eridan Ampora. Feferi used to play with him at the beach all the time when they were little. But one year, he didn’t come and she hasn’t seen him since. The subject made her depressed to think about.

Even so, she could never take it off. She missed Eridan and nothing could change that fact. No matter, she couldn’t clog up her mind with him right now. She had to get ready for a new day at her new work. ‘Maybe moving here was a better idea than I thought.’ she thought to herself as she drifted into a deep sleep.

Smiles

Will you?
I can,
I will,
because I have the power.

If you can;
fake it.
I can,
can you?

Fake a smile;
save those who love you the trouble.
Fake,
fake.

Smiles are to make others happy,
that doesn't mean that you are.
Or me.
Or anyone really.

So smiles.
They get plastered on,
just to show,
happiness.

But I am not happy.
What about you?
Are you,
happy?

If you are then smile,
smile,
smile,
smile.

I hurt, with a deep intensity of 1000 Alternian suns. What was love? I knew it once and experienced it twice, I don't know how much more my all in all being, can take for the fear of heartbreak still haunts me; so deeply have I fallen for him and I am still falling, getting deeper and deeper every second. How much longer will I have to wait for his return? I nearly have an ounce of hope left. He showed me what love is, and I love the feeling. I don't want that feeling to go away.




Please......





I love you.

Diary Entry 1

I have feelings too you know. I have a heart, a mind, a soul. I just tend to keep it all bottled up, like it is a spider's prey being wrapped in a white silk cocoon. No I shouldn't use that analogy, it will only make you think less of me. Like say um.....you understand right? If you don't then please either leave or fake it. I don't understand why you are still listening to my crap, because chances are that you don't care. Sure I did bad things, and I guess if I did those things to you, then you have every right to be mad at me, but still. The truth is...I like him....a lot. But it is hard for me to express anything but hatred or disgust or something like that.

But whatever, why should I care what the others think of me hm? I shouldn't and I won't, never has someone told me that they like me. Well accept for her, but she likes pretty much everyone. Does it still count? How should I know? I could always ask...but....I don't know...no one really likes me so....yeah. Why do I have to even write in this thing anyways?!?!?! Ugh! I hate this, plus I have nothing else to say.

See ya,

Vriska Serket

Society, Greed, and Death

I stood there, waiting, watching; but for what? The glee that once flowed freely throughout my being is no longer there. Looking around I only see people with gay faces and lovely treasures of silver and gold. Silver and gold; just one of things standing between the life of a commoner, and aristocrats. But who could hold such divine power that fills our souls with greed? It is not I, for I will humbly stand by those who find no worth in money, power, and all other objects of which fills the once peaceful and love worthy man.

Society does not only judge on looks, but also on who has the most to give onto them. Those who choose to do community service are not satisfying enough to please the aristocrats’ desires of social worth. Yet those who throw a single solitary wrapper that was thrown on the ground by one of their own, as long as that person is a man of wealthy born or gains, is appraised for a great doing of good. How often will one be condemned for their filth of poverty? A better question would be, when will it end?


People have multiple ways to exclude people from the rest. It could involve terrible things from instigating to even death itself. Though poverty helps these cases, not even that can be compared to death. Suicide is often a case where one would feel that they no longer need to live or to be alive. Society can do that to people. Then you must think of what many will say if one noble is to be taken by Lord Death himself. “Oh that poor man! He was great! He had much money to be given! Who will it go to now?” Then you think of the reactions of the death of a commoner who hardly has the money to feed his wife and children? I’d rather not say, for it could become spiteful and have a drastic amount of feelings pounded by myself.


There is no life worth giving if one doesn’t see the worth. And what worth is there if there is no life? Making wishes on stars and waiting will not get you the fundamentals needed for survival; nor will it ever. Do what you must to keep yourself and your loved ones going. Then maybe you will get your wish. Society will stay the same, and it will never change. But those who choose to stand strong and make a difference will be the change that needs to happen.