So this is as far as I’ve gotten in one of my projects. It just sets up the character of the main character, so there’s not much happening.
————————-
Tyler Reese woke to complete darkness and the incessant beeping of an alarm clock. He sighed and rose from his bed. Shivering, Reese reached for a threadbare jacket. He looked at the alarm clock. 10 PM. That left one hour until work. Sighing, he turned off the alarm and shuffled out of his bedroom and into the connected bathroom.
The bathroom was small, yellow, and smelled vaguely of mildew. Reese slid the dirty frosted glass shower screen and stepped into the shower. He turned on the water, wincing at the initial cold blast. The water didn’t turn hot for a couple seconds longer than would be normal, evidence of the cold weather outside. Tyler eased as the hot water washed over him. He picked up a light bottle of shampoo, tried to squeeze out the last bits of liquid, and only managed to eke out two small drops. Reese sighed and palmed it into his hair. He finished washing and turned the water off. He stepped out of the shower, shivering slightly in the cold air. Once dressed, Tyler looked at himself in the mirror. He fingered his longish dark-brown/almost-black hair. It needed a cut. His brown eyes looked back pensively at himself. His hand then moved to his jaw, feeling several day’s worth of stubble. He frowned and began to shave and brush his teeth. Once finished, Reese grabbed a black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans from a basket of clothes and pulled them on. They were a bit wrinkled, but they still smelled all right, so Reese decided it was alright to wear.
Reese’s apartment was small, neat, and contained, if only because there wasn’t much in it. There was an old, boxy TV set on top of two blocks of cement. An assortment of
Old magazines and library books were stacked haphazardly on and around the coffee table. There was a small kitchen. He walked across his apartment and pulled a box of instant mac and cheese and a clean bowl from the kitchen cabinet. He poured some milk into the bowl and added a packet of dehydrated pasta and whatever the cheese powder was made of before putting the entire thing into the microwave and started cooking.
Reese heard his cell phone ring. He walked into his living room and picked up his phone from the coffee table. The caller ID read “unknown”. Reese sighed and placed the phone to his ear.
“Hello?”
“Do you have the package?”
Reese frowned. “Who is this?”
There was sharp intake of breath. Then the phone went dead. Reese shrugged and put the phone into his pocket. “Wrong number, I guess,” he muttered.
He heard the microwave ding, and went back to the kitchen to eat his mac and cheese.
Reese pulled on a dark gray sweatshirt with the word “CHICAGO” printed across the chest and then added a heavy black coat. It was old and worn, but it was comfortable and familiar. Reese checked to make sure that he had his phone and his keys before leaving his apartment and started to look the door behind him. He stopped. Reese felt an odd feeling of unease and looked up and down the hallway. There wasn’t anyone there. Reese shook his head a couple times, locked his door, and moved down the hallway to the stairwell. He passed by several doors. This late at night, most people would’ve expected silence. Instead, Reese could hear the shouting of domestic disputes, things shattering against walls, and muffled sex moans and grunts. People who wanted silence should’ve paid more for better soundproofed walls. Used to it, Reese ignored the noise and made his way down the stairs and out through the security doors of his apartment building.
The South Side of Chicago wasn’t exactly the best part of Chicago. Aside from a more affluent bubble around the University of Chicago, the South Side was dirty, smelly, and although there wasn’t as much crime as there once was, it didn’t stop Reese from being worried about being mugged. Certainly not the best place to live, but that’s what made it cheap, and Reese liked cheap. Or rather, he could afford cheap.
Reese didn’t always live in Chicago. Originally, he had lived in the New England area, so he was used to cold, but there was difference between cold and Chicago cold. It was the wind, really. Reese grimaced as the wind whipped between the buildings, biting through his coat and sweatshirt. Reese didn’t have a car, so he had to take the bus or L train to work every night. Luckily, he could usually time it so that he didn’t have to wait long. A white bus rounded the corner and stopped right in front of Reese. The door opened. Reese pulled his transit card from his wallet and swiped it across the checker before sitting down.
The people who lived in the South Side weren’t much better. For the most part, they kept to themselves and didn’t bother each other, but there was always a sort of quiet desperation on their face. It got worse at night. Reese saw two women resting against each other, obviously in a drunk stupor. Both of them looked pale and sickly. Across the aisle from them, Reese saw a ragged old man dressed in mismatching clothes who was watching them intently. The old man looked up at Reese and Reese turned away to look forward again. Aside from them and the driver, there wasn’t anyone else there.
—————————–
Anyway, so that’s it. A bit boring, I know. There’s not much happening in it just yet, but there will be soon, I think.
Over break, I downloaded a bunch of new music and the entire “Honey & Clover” and “Cowboy Bebop” anime series. I’m currently watching episode 4 of “Honey & Clover”, a series about a group of art college students in Japan and their interactions with each other. It also has a really cool opening live-action sequence that manipulates food to act like human parts or people. I’ve read that the story progresses really slowly, but for someone who doesn’t have anything in particular to do (like me), it’s the perfect series revolving around real, human interactions. I quite like it. “Cowboy Bebop” is more well known, but I’ve never actually seen it, so I thought that since I’m still on break, it’d be nice to watch. Both series are only about 25-26 episodes long, and each episode is less than a half hour, so I can watch 2 or 3 episodes a day, and I’d probably be able to finish both by the end of break.
Incidentally, break ends for me on January 10th, which is the day I go back. I don’t know if I’m looking forward to going back. It’s quite nice to not have to do anything. It’s a feeling of… relaxation. I haven’t felt it for quite some time.
Anyway, I’m hoping to get a job during spring break. When I do, the first vaguely expensive thing I want to buy is either a black peacoat OR a pocket watch. Neither of those two are particularly practical, but I really want a pocket watch for some reason. Here are some of the ones I want.
http://www.steampunkattire.com/Steampunk-Jewelry-Watches/Steampunk-Watches
It seems like a decent pocket watch will run me about $40 to $60, plus shipment. I’ve seen some that are cheaper at around $20 to $30, but I couldn’t find anything that I like in that price range.
I also have a rather strange wish to have a regular flip phone like this:
I have an iPhone and I like how it can do a bunch of stuff, but for some reason I think I’d rather have a flip phone. I’m not really sure of the source of this wish, but oh well.
Anyway, that’s about it. There’s not much I have to say at the moment… haha… this post is a bit long.
No comments:
Post a Comment