Not under control von VideoGameCrack (Mein NaNoWriMo-Projekt für 2010 - mit täglichen Updates!) ================================================================================ Kapitel 3: Day Three -------------------- The next day, Gerald decided to inspect the city at daytime, as he has only seen it at night. Coincidently, Frank was already waiting for him, standing in the middle of the street. „Hello, Frank. How are you?“ „I'm okay. I just thought you would show up again.“ „Well“, Gerald replied, „today I was just going to take a look again. I currently don't really know how to continue the story again...“ „That'll come again. I'm sure of that.“ „As sure as the sun rising?“ Frank turned to him with a questioning look. „What is the sun?“ „Uhm, is this supposed to be a metaphorical question or are you serious?“ „Dead serious.“ From that point on, Gerald felt like he had to patronise. „...so, you have day and night?“ „Indeed.“ „Moon and stars?“ „Of course.“ „But no sun?“ „Absolutely not.“ „...what time do we have?“ „About 5 PM. Why do you ask?“ „Perfect“, Gerald thought. „That way, I can see with my own eyes how the daytimes would change without having a sun.“ He could already feel that it was getting darker around here. „Frank, do you maybe know in which direction is West?“ The detective pointed down the street. „This way, I guess. Not really sure, though.“ Gerald looked in that direction, waiting for the sunset without the sun. So, it basically was just a set. The brightblue sky slowly changed its colour from yellow over orange to red, while the two of them still stared with anticipation for something more significant to happen. In the end, however, it just turned night without more weird occurences. Just as it turned dark, the streetlights started to shine and the streets were crowded with people again. „That was lackluster“, Gerald said to himself. „It's just the shift between day and night. What did you expect?“ „I honestly don't know. Maybe I should correct that...“ Without further ado, he said the words to return to his world again, took the script from the table and wrote the following sentence at the current end: „Frank stood still on the street all night long, thinking about the current situation of the city, as the sun rose in front of his eyes.“ All he had left to do was waiting for dawn to come, before he entered the story again. As he was just about to make himself some dinner, he heard the doorbell from his computer again. It was Sebastian sending him another message. „Take a look at this. Either it's a very well-planned joke, or that person is going crazy!“ The rest was just another link. Getting curious, Gerald decided to click it. It was a thread in what appeared to be a writer's forum. The title was „I was in my own story!“. Gerald was a bit surprised by it, but the ritual was posted on the internet after all. It couldn't take too long for other people to find it as well. The thread starter, somebody called „Black Rose“, wrote: „I know that it sounds crazy but it's true! I entered my own fiction and interacted with my own characters!“ What followed was the link to the ritual. What followed was a bunch of replies that went like this: „Suuure... you better cut off these drugs.“ „I've heard of overactive imagination, but DAMN.“ „Better see a doctor. It's not too late... or is it?“ „Don't they call this Otherkin?“ „Guys, don't you get it? It's just a troll! How else could you come up with this?“ „My God, this ritual surely sounds weird. Maybe I have to read between the lines to discover that it's just some weird metaphor for „pot smoking“.“ It was definite that this Black Rose knew how to use the ritual. Good for him. Now he had somebody to exchange his experiences with. So he registered on the forum so he could chat with her or him. As she appeared to be online, he sent her a message saying: „I've seen your topic about the ritual. Time to discuss?“ It only took a few minutes before the answer followed: „Hey, don't molest me about that via PMs, okay? I know that what I've posted there sounds ridicilous, but I swear to God that I didn't lie!“ He replied with: „I never said that I didn't believe that. I also used the ritual and know that it works.“ A few minutes later: „Really? ...prove to me you did or it didn't happen.“ He or she was maybe thinking that somebody was trying to troll her. After thinking for a while how to explain it, he eventually answered with: „I had to write a sentence including the word „sun“ so that the day times don't just shift like that.“ „Yep, sounds like the rules. Sorry, but I wanted to prevent them to play a prank because of that on me.“ Just as he thought. „Not that I wasn't guessing that. Though, maybe you shouldn't have told them that you entered the story.“ „But I posted a link! They could have tried it themselves!“ „Believe me, the only reason I tried it was because I promised it to a friend.“ „Coming to think of it, it does sound rather silly...“ „*laughs* Don't worry, I talk most of the time before I think, too.“ „Well, I did think before I posted, but in retrospect, it was in the wrong direction.“ „Do you know of anybody else using the ritual?“ „*shakes head* Sorry, but you're the first one.“ „Huh, too bad. Though my friend told me it took him some time to find it... How have you learned about it in the first place?“ „One of my friends was looking for supernatural stuff and happened to find it. And because I happened to write a novel, he wanted me to test it out.“ „Did he tell you if you vanished when you used the words to enter the story?“ „Nope, not that I remember. Why do you ask?“ „I was just wondering where the stories actually take place while you're visiting them. Maybe it does take place in our heads.“ „...so we are crazy after all?“ „I guess if this entire thing wasn't, more people would be aware of the ritual and actually try it out.“ „True again. Say, what are you writing for a story, then?“ „It's a criminal story. It's nothing too original, but I feel alright about how it turned out until now.“ „It's a fantasy story in my case. Same with me here. How weird got it when you first entered your story?“ „Black cubes instead of buildings and the road stopped in the middle of nothing. You?“ „Everybody looked so deformed and creepy. It's like if the way people look like in anime got real. It really looked scary.“ „Has it gotten any better?“ „A lot. Though it did take me two days before I was satisfied.“ „I guess good writing has to take its time...“ „Yeah, but if you always correct what you've already done and never get to the story, it's just wasted time in my opinion. That reminds me, I now got an idea how to continue.“ „I gotta check my story now, too.“ „Oh, and before I forget it... I'm Catherine.“ „Why are you telling me this?“ „Because you seem like a trustworthy person. We ritual users need to stick together, don't we? :)“ „Well, it would only be fair if I give you my name too... Gerald here. See you then.“ „Bye.“ He then proceeded to close the browser and got back to his script. While taking a look, he wondered about what Catherine said to him. Since he started using the ritual, he concentrated more on make his story immersive rather than telling a proper story. Maybe he should continue to write first and then correct the mistakes. „This is going to be a very long night again...“, he thought to himself as he went to the kitchen to make himself a cup of black tea, taking the script along with him. „Phew, that was a night“, Gerald said to himself as he let himself fall onto his bed, leaving the script on his night table. Writing twenty pages in one night wasn't something for the weak-willed, especially when you haven't properly slept in two days. But for some weird reason, he found it to be a lot of fun. Acting creative surely has its benefits, he thought with a smile on his face. When he saw the clock right beside to his bed as it was showing that it was 5 AM 26, he remembered that he wanted to watch the dawn in the story, because who knows if the sun is now going to appear all the time or just this morning. Promptly getting out the candles and the paper with the sentence to transport him, he entered the city again with Frank standing at the exact same spot he stood on the evening before. „Why did you want me to stand here all night?“ Frank asked. „I wanted to make sure that I find you again to witness the upcoming dawn“ was the answer he got. They already could sense the brighening colours in the sky as some sort of intro for the incoming spectacle. The sky turned dark red, with a giant glowing circle slowly breaking onto the surface. While following this unique event – that is, for the story at least - Gerald heard screams of agony from behind, as the people ran away to the other end of the city. Glancing at Frank, he asked: „And why aren't you running away?“ „Because you forced me to stand here.“ Now raising an eyebrow, Gerald followed with: „And why aren't you at least screaming?“ „Because I think it's beautiful. In a very weird and fascinating way, but still.“ „Yes, indeed.“ So they continued to watch the sun rising into the sky, giving the sky its natural, calming blue appearance back. And just as it did that, it suddenly dissappeared, leaving the two with rather misunderstanding looks on their faces. „This world never fails to surprise“, Gerald thought out loud. „You're not alone there“, added Frank. „Certainly not.“ Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)