David Finkelstein                       original sentences                      11/1/05 10

Suicide…

“Ring! Ring!” The bell sounded, meaning Tim was late for science class, again.

As he entered the classroom, he tried to explain, 

“I’m sorry I’m late, my locker jammed” Tim explained

            “Do you have a pass?” Asked the science teacher

            “No, but-“, Tim tried to argue

            “Then please take a seat, you’re interrupting the class”, the science teacher told him. Tim tried to act blasé about the whole thing, but for the first few minutes of class he was trying to muster himself. A few minutes later, Tim had preoccupied himself with trying to balance his pencil on the table top. Because of this, he wasn’t listening when his teacher asked him a question.

“Tim!” the science teacher yelled.

“Huh? What?” Tim tried to figure out what was going on

“I asked you a question!” the science teacher yelled, becoming impatient.

“You did?” Tim asked, “I mean, could you please repeat the question?

“Pay attention!” the teacher answered, getting ready to repeat his question.

“Why should I? Attention doesn’t pay m-.” Tim started to reply, suddenly realizing that he was saying it aloud.

“That’s it! Leave my classroom!” shouted the teacher loudly, finally losing his temper. He quickly ousted Tim from the classroom. Outside, Tim was really mad at himself, he was so obsessed with telling jokes, that he had forgotten how angry teachers got when he tried to tell one. But he hadn’t meant to say it out loud, it had just slipped out. Without thinking, he started to draw on the floor. He looked down, and with a cry of surprise, he realized that he had drawn all over one of the tiles. Not only that, but he had signed his work! His name, Tim Weinershnizel Twinklebrain, he quickly went to work, trying to erase it. The teacher, alarmed by a sudden cry from outside the classroom, started to walk towards the door. Realizing that he wouldn’t have enough time to erase his drawing, Tim simply started to wipe it off. Suddenly, just above Tim’s head, the door handle started to turn. Tim quickly sat down on the residue hoping that Mr.Voib, his science teacher, wouldn’t see the smudges. The door opened, and Mr.Voib looked down.

            “Is every thing alright?” asked Mr.Voib

            “Yes! I’m fine, great, absolutely wonderfully splendid!” Tim replied a bit too enthusiastically.

            “What’s that big mark that you’re sitting on?” Mr.Voibasked

            “Nothing! It’s nothing” Tim assured him.

            “Stand up.” Mr.Voib told Tim.

            “I’d rather stay in my current posture” Tim replied

            “Tim Weinershnizel Twinklebrain, I told you to stand up!” Mr. Mr.Voib hollered, loud enough so that everyone in the neighboring classrooms heard him. Tim stood up. Mr. Mr.Voib gasped.

“I can’t believe you! Go to the office immediately” Mr. Mr.Voib practically screamed.

            “Okay! Okay, calm down, sheesh!” Tim answered, forgetting himself. Mr.Voib turned a bright purple. Tim sprinted to the office.

            “No running in the hallways!” Mr.Voib hollered after him. Tim was disgraced, blinking back tears, he ran to the office. Why did he have to be so prone to make a joke out of everything? Then, with a sudden surge of anger, he thought

“Why do teachers have to be so mean? The most frivolous of remarks sets them off. He hadn’t meant to do it! It wasn’t his fault!” Then he thought back, “Well, he had been late, but he hadn’t meant to tell the joke, it had just slipped out.” Suddenly he thought to himself, “What was the question? Oh yeah! It had been something about a promontory.” Suddenly he remembered, Mr.Voib had asked him to define the word “promontory.” He sighed, “Why do I have to be so stupid?” Then he had a qualm, “What if he was suspended? Or even expelled!”, the very thought of it made him shake with fear, his only recourse was the thought that it was Friday, and so he wouldn’t be given a detention, but there was still the possibility that he would be suspended. Then the thought of what his mother would say made him become very nervous. Tim opened the office door, walked past the front desk, then walked into Mr. Gollygeewillickers’ office. The principal reminded Tim of what it was that he had done, as if he didn’t know. Then told him to call home. Tim was shaking from fear, he took the phone. Then he asked Mr. Sugarpiepoo what punishment he was to be given. Mr. Sugarpiepoo calmly answered,

            “You are now expelled from school.” Tim slowly digested the information. Then he broke out in tears,

            “It’s not fair! I can’t take this anymore! I can’t take it!” Suddenly, with a cry of defeat, Tim rushed to the nearest window. With the sound of breaking glass in his ears, Tim plunged to his death (the principal’s office was on the second floor). Then, just before hitting the ground,

            “I walk a lonely road

The only one that I have ever known

Don't know where it goes

But its home to me and I walk alone

 

I walk this empty street

On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams

When the city sleeps

And I'm the only one and I walk alo-“Tim slammed the alarm clock, turning it off.

            Ohhhhhhhhhh…” Tim moaned into his pillow. About eleven minutes and ten seconds of convincing himself to get up later. Tim got dressed and walked downstairs.

“Hi mom,” Tim said, as he passed his mom’s bedroom. Then he ate, brushed his teeth, and got ready for school.

“By mom!” Tim yelled into the house, as he ran to catch the bus.

            “Wait, honey! You forgot…” Mrs. Twinklebrain let the thought trail off, as the bus gathered speed and soon left her sight. Tim quickly got off the bus, shoved his way threw the crowd of kids, and finally got to his locker. He quickly entered his combination, but the locker was jammed. He kicked it, and tried again, still no luck. Finally, he hit it as hard as he could with his head, figuring that his head was harder than his foot) and again entered his combination. It opened; Time grabbed hi books, sprinted up the stairs, across the hall, then up the second set of stairs. He was just rounding the corner, when the bell rang. He was late, again…

            “Hey! This is just like my dream!” Tim thought, and then he looked down, and quickly realized that this wasn’t exactly like his dream. It was worse, because he wasn’t wearing any pants.

 

 

David Finkelstein

A Tribute to Fire: At a Far Distance

 

 

It flickers in the dim room light,

A thin fragile splinter,

A taste of the essence of beauty,

A perfect shade of orange, just licking,

Through and around,

The black, lava-like logs,

Reminding of a lava flow,

Bright red and yellow and almost pure white,

Yet solid black on top,

Looking on from a small distance,

Entranced by its eternal dance,

A fiery slippery tendril,

Licking the fire, reaching,

Stretching, tasting, the rough taste of wood,

Flying up sometimes fast sometimes slow,

Soft, like liquid fire, a sort of thin, slippery lava,

Running up the sometimes smooth, sometimes jagged,

Surface of the fuel which drives the fire,

A hungry beast, devouring its hearty meal,

The wood crackles as it burns,

Every minute or two, as the coals glow bright yellow,

And the smoke, looking like the ghost of a fire long dead,

Rise up from various places in the burning logs,

Doomed to die, the whiffs of this grey ghost-like substance rise up,

Through the air above the metal prison, in which the fire resides,

Not 15 minutes later, the fire is all but gone, left are but a few,

Flicks of red, desperately trying to live on, if only for a moment,

Then a minute later the fire has died out, and all that remains,

Is its smoky ghost.

 

 

David Finkelstein

 

Tribute to music: With an open heart

 

The notes blend together, no longer distinct,

The melody is all that remains, a smooth blend of sound,

Touching the soul, and warming the heart,

As the mind taps out the beat, sometimes slow,

Sometimes fast, sometimes dancing, sometimes not,

All sorts of songs, all sorts of rhythms,

All pretty and layered, all filled with sound,

No matter the tune, the speed, or the number of notes,

Rather whether or not the player plays with an open soul or,

With a closed heart and an open mind, only playing to play,

To be there, to play, to get through the piece,

These people bore; they stop that beat, that wonderful, glorious sound,

They interrupt the golden, shining, personal paradise,

Their stuttering sound startles back the drifting mind,

And in looking around is seen, a fire,

Some people, and on the piano, a boy of under 10 years of age,

Trying as hard as he can, to get out those notes,

With at least a little heart, and a smile comes,

And the mind re-settles, into this new, unusual beat,

Because layered and trapped inside, of this of-beat sound,

Lies a bit of soul, a bit of heart, a bit of something nice,

An uncut gem, just lying in wait, for the chisel’s work to begin,

As the mind hammers out the notes, the heart and soul slowly awake,

And mold the melody, adding a hint of understanding here,

A small bit of interpretation there, slowly carving out the tune,

Until there is an open bending of the sound,

As the heart dives right into the blend and adds itself,

To hear such music is something special, and makes one feel as if,

One is listening to a radio set to heaven’s station, and the mind is free,

To wander where it pleases, through the clouds, right to the gate,

Where one finds whatever one feels one should find at this gate,

And where whatever should happen happens, as the outcome should,

And all the way, until the end, the music pursues the soul, as the heart stops,

And the mind shortly after, the music carries the soul up, up, and through the sky,

Into eternal bliss…

 

…Only to be awakened, and come softly plummeting down,

As the applause, so loud and alert, comes booming, such a sound!

And never to know, whether the others, went on this endless journey,

Up, and up and through the sky.

 

David Finkelstein

Mrs. Bemis

Journal entry; Flying Humans

 

How does one describe what it is to have wings?

To be able to gracefully soar,

And to glide, through the clouds.

On strong powerful wings, and

With my hollow bones,

Flying is so effortless, as natural

As walking. To as me how I fly,

Is to ask you how you move your eyes.

But to lack the use of hands,

And have but toes to grip,

The life of a flying one isn’t,

As simple as you may think.

Although we have wings,

In place they are of hands,

And try, some day, to walk around,

In modern society, with a pair

Of wings sticking out, from beneath your back.

Located at our shoulder blades,

Our bodies are quite different.

Our eyesight is more adapted,

For honing in on things, but not nearly

As strong as a hawks. It’s fun to soar

Above the clouds,

Not a care in the world. But remember that

Many of us are still born, and cast back into

The regular world, where we are undoubtedly

Cast out, or put up for display. Looked on as freaks,

As humans with wings, not as a completely

New species. As everyone debates, of another

Species after the humans, ours is now developing,

We speak with our eyes, a blink here meaning

“Hi’ and there meaning “No”, and in some cases,

A wink and a nudge can mean: “Go hide, a human!”

Many of us pretend to not be homo-sapiens, but really we are,

Just with an added “feature”. I think it is wrong,

To completely ignore our heritage. I am only

Releasing these words so other can understand

Us and have a new perception. For recently

It was discovered, that in the humans’ society

It is often one lies, or exaggerates, to simply

“Puff up” ones ego, while here it is strictly forbidden, while stealing is greatly encouraged (provided the victim

 be a competitor for a lady or a,

 good reason is had).

 

 

David Finkelstein

1-8-06

I hate technology!

 

“Oh dang!” you yell, so very frustrated,

As your computer refuses to save,

And you click “Alt+S” repeatedly,

Your anger starts to border,

Psychopathic rage, and your clicking,

Rather incessant now,

Starts to sound like just one sound,

A cliiiiicktickticktiiiiiickcliiiickicki-ck-ck…

That goes so fast that it is barely heard,

You feel so upset!

On the verge of tears,

When your 8 year old daughter,

Still in just third grade,

Calmly walks over, and like a trained pro,

Puts her two small hands,

Right on the home-row keys,

And with just two clicks (you counted,

You saw!) she told the computer,

To save that danged file, as the popup

Popped right up, and asked her for a file name,

She calmly wrote in “Hold Cntrl,

Then press the letter s (just once!)”.

You smile an insanely wide smile,

Your mouth gaping open, from ear to ear,

As you gladly gaze at, this technological wiz,

That you so perfectly raised.

 

 

David Finkelstein

1-8-06

 

On this perfect summer day

 

The sun shines bright,
lighting up the side of your house,
the wind dies down, and suddenly its 75!
You feel warm, and nice and cozy,
then the light dies down and its mid-day bright,
what a perfect sort of light!
A perfect way, to spend this day,
a lemonade in one hand,
a good book in the other,
no need for your sunglasses,
the light is just right for reading,
when you pledge to finish chapter 10,
and finish the book instead,
your friends call from,
across the street, "wanna play frisbee?"
they yell, "sure" your reply,
and until the sun dies, and the thermostat
gets started up, you keep playing frisbee,
on this perfect day,
In such a perfect sort of light.

 

 

David Finkelstein

Mrs. Bemis

Journal entry; Personal Narrative of the Present: Your Future

 

There’s something to wearing an MAV (Multi-purpose, all terrain vehicle) that makes you feel invulnerable, like you’re immortal and you can do almost anything, which is, in fact, true. The MAV was basically a suit which fit snugly around your entire body; it makes you invisible, because of the trillions of microscopic cameras forever taking stock of their surroundings and projecting a picture. But by invisible I mean GONE (Non-gravitational object; Not examinable), in other words, it is IMPOSSIBLE to detect somebody wearing a MAV. Wearing a MAV takes away everything that defines anything as something, in other words, you no longer exist. You still bump into stuff, but as for liquid and gasses, they are sucked instantaneously around the suit, and when it is absolutely necessary solids, including people can be passed through. I will stop defining things and just state them as they are, because I have not yet learned how to operate the MRM, mind reading machine which works by pure science and physics. When I was a teenager I used to fantasize about an actual barrier in technology, since to make a machine capable of doing incredible things beyond your wildest dreams, it would have to understand, know, and just have a perfect sense of just about everything. It would instantaneously weigh out the possibilities, and no matter what you did, it would immediately start killing all humans and threats and creating its own world. But we’ve managed to fly by that barrier with no problems at all, for not one of our computers has the capability of understanding squat, the MRM works on purely scientific matters, and if you doze off in your MAV, the machine will IMMIDIATELY stop ALL movement, and launched weapons and such will halt, and basically anything relating to the MAV will just cease. The point is that if you fall unconscious just before you are put into a certain death situation (such as two or more people equipped with MAVs willing to kill you). The ONLY thing capable of destroying someone in an MAV is somebody else in an MAV that is better at using it then you are. You may have noticed that in my narrative I use absolutely no dates or major events etc. you can bemuse yourself by wondering exactly why, but to help you not drive yourself in circles, there are really only a few possibilities, A.) We have developed time travel and telling you about when things will happen might endanger something or other. B.) I’m lying about the whole thing and don’t want anybody to have any proof of that, or C.) I forgot. Anywho, like I was saying, we have managed to prevent robots or something related taking over the world by the simple way of making anything powerful rely fully on a conscious, willing, and capable human being. In other words, the computers never learn from our behaviors, they can not think for themselves, etc. which boils down them being unable to do anything by themselves without human command. You may wonder exactly where I am when I begin this narrative, and the truth is we are currently residing on a planet just outside of the Milky Way galaxy, Elx. The reason being that we are still currently developing our MAV suits to make them able to carry us much faster then the traditional speed, which is exactly 1/100 of light speed. The problem with using our ships is that to fly fast enough for us to be able to find a planet and have the youngest generation at the beginning of our takeoff be alive we would need to use our Scout ships, the fastest thing we have ever built, capable of going an incredible 1/200 of the speed of light; and these are only capable of holding one person weighing less then 100 pounds. Thus MAVMC (the MC at the end stand for “manufacturing company”) is being developed to take us through the galaxy, within 50 years it is said we will be populating at least one planet per year. We have a gigantic population of 500,000,000,001 people, and that odd “1” at the end is me. I am, in all senses but realistically, dead. I “died” one second before my birth, the last human ever born with any sort of defect or mutation. My mutation was death, exactly how am I alive? Simple, when placed inside the sealed, solid gyrix (unbreakable and un-moldable, except by heat about 5,000,000* Fahrenheit), I then spontaneously combusted, and my molecules came back together (again, spontaneously). I then managed to pass through the few miles of sold gyrix surrounding the underground burial tomb (my molecules arranged themselves to pass between those of the gyrix). Of course, this is almost infinitely unlikely, but you’ll just have to take my word for it. (Of course, had it happened by purpose, and not complete absolute chance, I would say that it had [happened by chance]).

 

 

David Finkelstein

Mrs. Bemis

Journal entry; Running

 

Running, running, running

Never stopping

Never walking

Never resting, ever

Just running

All the time

No room for pausing

No time to refresh

Getting tired

More every second

They’re gaining

More and more

Almost upon me

A burst of speed

Been a couple hours now

Just running, them and me

First to stop gets killed

Second spared till the ‘morrow

That’s all there’s to our lives

Running, running, running

Just him and me, we used to be friends

Still would be but for this

We know if I win

Then he dies

And if he lives I die

So we run, never stopping

Never catching our breath

No room for error

No room for thought

Just running, till we stop

Almost there, just a couple miles

Oh no, he’s falling behind

He’s stumbling, stuttering, falling down

I’m saved

At least for today

Put brother against brother

Friend against friend

And make them run until the end

That’s the game we’re forced to play

Until we reach the end

We never get no rest

Winners never win

If you win you start again, still no stop or rest

And since you ran a while just then

You can not win again.

 

 

David Finkelstein

Journal entry

Shower

 

The drizzle, the fizzle, the buzz,

The running, the dripping, the splatter,

The massage of the water, hitting your back,

With s gentle, but slightly firm sting,

The shower-head stares, right into your eyes,

And you hold that gaze, unwavering,

The water, un-tasted, falls into your mouth,

And baths the rest of your body,

As the soap foams, and covers your skin,

In a thinning white bubbly coat,

As the water cascades, down onto the foam,

The bubbles disperse and run down to your toes,

Carrying the dirt, down along to the drain,

To be washed away to the ocean,

Or maybe out to sea, making for cleaner,

Shinier fish, and maybe not so ugly,

Will be those sharks, with their many rows,

Of pointy teeth, threatening to rip out,

Your vulnerable, fleshy throat.

 

 

David Finkelstein

 

Soaring…

 

Running, streaking,

Ground flying, faster,

Grass, trees, twigs,

Legs faster,

Blurring, slowing,

Arms flapping, faster,

Rising through the air,

Wind flying through your hair,

Tilting, flying, to your right,

Soaring, slowing, arms not pumping,

Looking around, exhilarated,

Ecastatic, yet calm,

Enjoying the flight,

The sense of incredible peace,

Of happiness,

Amid all that ails,

Amid your strenuous life,

The stress is building,

Yet when you go to sleep,

Your legs start pumping,

Your eyes start closing,

Your heart ready to burst,

Your mouth smiling,

Arms a’flappin, pumping,

Slowing, tilting, looking,

Soaring, flying,

Happy, like never, ever before,

The number of flights is numbered,

Not too many left,

So you savor the ones,

That you got,

And hope to get some more.

Every now and then,

The happiness comes back,

And you work, and you organize,

And you sleep some more,

And you relax,

And you fly,

The best, and only, sort of of happiness.

 

 

David Finkelstein

Mrs. Bemis

Journal entry; Birth of a prodigy

The birth of a Prodigy

 

The Daily Boston Gazette                                                                                 Page 1/23

March 29, 2019

 

At the young age of only 14, Detien V. Skefialdi (nick-named “Deti”) became fascinated with technology. In fact, after graduating from high school he became increasingly fascinated with chemicals. It started to become inevitable that Deti would become either a chemist or a scientist, and his first year in collage studding chemistry and science seemed to give great support to that theory. But all that changed after he attempted to combine two highly unstable chemicals by use of a newly invented chemically-powered device. The mechanism held the two chemicals at a temperature of approximately 230 degrees Fahrenheit below zero at a pressure of approximately 150 atmoshperes. At this temperature, the two chemicals where the least active, but just a few more degrees and a little more pressure would turn them both to liquids which would be bad news for the mechanism as the liquids began to resist much more then they did as gasses. The mechanism was especially designed to then release the two gasses simultaneously and create a potentially fatal reaction. The room was however built to withstand almost any scale of explosion should things get really out of hand so as to prevent minimal damage to the surrounding area. Analysis of the room has shown that Deti combined the two gasses which created a new, much more stable gas. Then he most probably attempted to increase the pressure, but for some strange reason the gas expanded instantly and created an outwards pressure on the machine of approximately 8,960 atmospheres. The machine then apparently exploded and was blown to dust, the gas then apparently continued to expand and put a similar pressure on the walls, which cracked a little but held. Deti was not in or anywhere near the room and we can only speculate of what may have happened to him-

 

After the explosion everything went black I then awoke a moment later with a loud explosive noise blaring in my ears and everything swinging around in circles. I promptly tried to fall, but found I was already lying completely flattened against the cold tiles in the floor. I felt…strange somehow...my entire body tingled with this newly found sensation. That’s when I discovered something completely dumbfounding…I was completely-

 

            -Scientists are now speculating that Deti may have been crushed to dust by the tremendous force of the explosion. Adding even more mystery to this story, the gas was completely gone, and analysis is showing that there are not even microscopic traces of any of the gases left, they seen to have escaped through the cracks, which are now shown to have been only surface cracks about 0.001 millimeters thick; the walls are still completely intact. Which makes there be just one obvious explanation-

 

            -invisible and that I was slowly rising through the air. I looked down and to my horror I was passing through the ceiling. I then took my hand and tried to punch myself, to prove I was either dead or dreaming. Incredibly, my hand passed right through me…then it all became clear to me, everything…it had worked, incredibly and unbelievably it had worked, I had become something incredible…a-

 

            -That the gas had somehow managed to pass through the walls.

 

 

David Finkelstein

Mrs. Bemis

Journal entry; Stuff of Dreams

 

Stuff of Dreams

 

            He was not made of human tissue, nor was he made from plant tissue for that matter. He was made from bits and pieces of dreams so his appearance was constantly changing. At some times his head was that of an animal, and others it was that of a distorted robot. His appearance changing in accordance with the dreams that others dreamt, so which ever dream happened to pass through his head influenced his physical properties.

 

            Unsurprisingly, his apearence was most often distorted or incomplete, as when in somebody’s dream they only partly sensed what was going on, as in a state halfway between sleeping and waking. But most often in dreams things look strange but in a vague way familiar, as when a person whom the dreamer despises is seen by the dreamer as a hideous, green, dark, and distorted person whom the dreamer goes on to destroy. People are constantly dreaming, but although this would seem to create a constant light speed changing in the appearance of the man whom I previously mentioned, this unusual being’s appearance was actually constantly changing in a slow and almost graceful manner. This being can be found only in the dream realm, where everybody’s dreams go after they are dreamt, and stored in case of the person’s mind’s desire to again witness that specific dream. To find this amazing being, one must only fall asleep thinking of his image, but not intently, since that would force one to complete his image and thus make it impossible to find him, since his appearance is truly impossible to completely describe. But be warned, dear reader, that although many have tried, for some strange reason nobody can claim seeing this being in their dreams…but could this not possibly be because one rarely remembers of what one dreams of? I, for one, can proudly claim having seen everything, including the dream stroller. Why has he been applied this name? Simply because he, quite literally, enjoys strolling through peoples’ dreams, looking at the alternate realities, the worlds so similar, yet different from our own, it is hard to talk of him, much in the way there is so much to say of god. He is in the likeness of the devil, for he is said to bring great evil, yet, like many say, the devil isn’t the hard-bitten evil criminal scum many make him out to be. The Dream Stroller, for instance, simply makes nightmares, by taking from peoples’ sleep many parts of their dream. You may be dreaming of a petting one moment, and have the image of a crocodile, an angry crocodile, under your hand the next. The crocodile will have jumped to you from somebody else’s dream, thus when one unfortunate sole has everything a’switchin’ and a’wirlin’ they often have a sense of “knowing but not sensing” where they can know and later recall the exact events, but all specific details elude them. During this period of vagueness these people often start thinking carefully about their not being able to really hone any of their senses in on their environment. This often leads quickly to the realization that they are dreaming, which sequentially leads to their waking up.

 

David Finkelstein

 

 

 

Time Travel

 

            “Seriously, what would you do if you could just snap your fingers and travel back in time?

            “Okay, look, I don’t believe you, and I never will, so jut stop trying to convince me!”

            “Please, just listen okay? Really, I can re-live things that happened before, it’s like my brain takes note of everything that it can, so when I want to I can relive it completely differently!” Ex (pronounced ez) whispered excitedly.

            “Okay, fine… then tell me exactly how many cars were on our street exactly 24 seconds ago.”

            “Well then, don’t be alarmed when I stop mov-” Ex froze instantaneously, impossibly of-balance.

            “Wow, nice, it’s rather obvious though, you just put a rather heavy weight in your foot…” Xe’s mumbled, rather unconvincingly, until he finally realized the absurdity of his proposition. Exactly 24 seconds later Ex put down his foot and turned towards Xe, a disbelieving expression on his face.

            “How…how…how did you know?!” At this outburst Xe began to laugh uncontrollably, for how absurd was it for Ex to be asking him how he knew, while Ex was the one with the superpowers!

            “What on earth are you talking about?!” Xe looked at Ex questioningly.

            “My god…you mean you really named a random number?” Ex blanched slightly, and his composure unraveled a little.

            “Of course I named a random bloody number, what in the world are you going on about?!” Ex decided to tell the truth.

            “Well, I just went back to 24 seconds ago, and I looked around to see how many cars were on the street, and didn’t see almost any.”

            Ya? So?” Xe tried to restrain from giggling, this was so absurd! But the grim, serious expression on Ex’s face warned Xe that this wasn’t a laughing matter, not at all.

            “So…there was only one…a red pick up truck…”

            “Oh no! Someone was driving a red pick up truck 24 seconds ago! Alert the police! Alert the police!” Xe burst out in a tremendous laughing fit, while Ex grew steadily angrier, as he realized the seriousness of the situation he was now in. He was now officially witness to a murder, and suddenly he realized that 24 seconds ago and now are not realistically very far apart. Gun shots rang out in the still air, as a BANG rattled the ear-drums of everybody nearby.  Suddenly everybody that was caught on the street screamed and dropped onto the ground and covered their heads, woman protecting their babies, men protecting their wives. The shots kept coming, but nobody could figure out where they could possibly coming from, until a half-dead man unsteadily shuffled out of the doorway of a house, his body riddled with bullet holes. Just then a leg lashed out and hit the already dying man square in the back; he went flying. The boot was quickly followed by a dark-skinned man wielding a high-caliber gun, which he brandished wildly. Several people started to whimper, and many seeked cover or protection from this mad-man, who proceeded to walk over to the dead man, kick him in the face, and continue his mission to blow as many holes through the dead man’s chest as possible. The man turned around, and started to randomly shoot at people, a few dropped to the ground clutching various body parts, while the mad-man’s face lit up with a gigantic grin. Ex couldn’t stand it, he quickly picked up a stone, and threw it as hard as he could in the man-mans general direction, the stone hit the man’s gun, and as Ex grimly thought of what life would be like in heaven or in hell, something amazing happened…

 

 

David Finkelstein

Time Travel (continued)

 

...the rock hit the man’s gun at a slight angle, which caused the gun to fly out of the man’s hand, hit the ground, and fire. The shot hit the man square in the jaw, killing him instantly; blood splattered up in to the air, and some of it hit Ex’s shirt and stained it a brilliantly ominous dark red. Ex felt faint, and as he looked down he saw a long, sharp metal spike, his scream died in his throat as he slowly started to fall down, closer and closer to the sickenly sharp metal point. He lost consciousness as his forehead hit the spike and started to sink in with a loud “thud”…

 

…being dead was rather…boring…everything was pure white…he didn’t even get to see saint peter! What a bummer…

 

Then his body exploded in pain as he felt himself hit the hard, cold ground. He looked around, and saw a large cloud of white, behind which was a large, clawing, howling demon!

Ex moaned, looked around, and was extremely disappointed to find that the demon was in actuality his bookshelf. That the large cloud was his blanket, and that the howling was his alarm clock, which he quickly shut up with a smack of his hand. He looked up and gasped, as the realization that it was 7:45 slowly sunk in. His brain ran around in circles, he looked around wildly, trying to figure out what he could do. He ran around wildly and started to put together everything he needed for school; his books, his homework.  His agenda fell open, and in his rush to pick it up he failed to see the day of the week. He rushed outside, and sprinted along the sidewalk his backpack bouncing against his back with every stride. After an agonizing 5 minutes he finally reached the school, threw open the door, and ran as fast as he could to the office. There didn’t seem to be anybody there, he walked to the door to the principal’s office; he needed to get a pass so he wouldn’t get in trouble. He quickly opened the door and upon looking inside saw the principal. Along with the principal was the vice principal, and about 20 other teachers, all of whom where now looking at him, several with at least a small amount of disapproval. He felt like digging a hole and lying inside, but knew that daydreaming wouldn’t get him out of the situation he was now in. The principal looked at him for 5 seconds before strictly informing Ex that he was to report to her office on Monday and she would discuss his suspension with him then. Ex suddenly froze as he started to absorb what was happening. The principal waiting patiently for 5 more minutes then told Ex to leave now and that he was suspended for the next two weeks for interrupting an incredibly important meeting and completely disregarding what she was telling him. He grew hysteric and his heart began to race like mad, he looked around and saw 22 very, very angry faces. He stared to run, then to sprint down the length of the room, and before anybody could stop him, he broke through the glass, and slowly fell down, down, down…

 

            He landed with a loud thump and several smaller cracks, pain shot through his body as he felt himself starting to drift away, away…

            He was very…very disappointed when he woke up…

Now he knew that it WAS possible to have a dream inside a dream, though he was skeptical of whether he was in the true reality or not for the next few months…

 

 

David Finkelstein

Journal entry

 

War

You’re running with the wind,

Your finger on the trigger,

Your nerves are all on end,

Your eyes are on the road,

You’re looking to the right,

You’re looking to the left,

You keep telling yourself,

You ain’t the last one left,

The others are right there,

Following at a steady pace,

But just out of sight,

So you really just don’t know,

But you know enough,

To trust that they’re right there,

Following along, just out of sight,

Suddenly you see some people,

Your brain screams “resistance!”

It tells you to engage,

So your finger on the trigger,

Is suddenly pulling,

And there are lots of little pieces,

Of metal flying out,

And you feel so dang ecstatic,

Like nothing here can stop you,

You cut down every man,

That dares stand in your way,

And yet there are still more,

So you tell yourself,

In the back of your mind,

They’re just out of sight,

But I know enough,

To trust that they’re still there,

Then suddenly there are too many,

You just can’t keep up,

And there is a tap on your shoulder,

As if death is letting you know,

That he has come to take you,

Then you feel the spot become warm,

And you think, for some strange reason,

That death’s hand should really be cold,

You can’t let yourself think,

That the warm is blood,

That that they aren’t there,

The ecstasy is gone,

All that’s left is you,

Standing there with a gun,

Pulling the trigger,

Watching the metal fly out,

You realize, so suddenly,

What you are really doing,

And you drop the gun,

And realize the warm is really blood,

They aren’t just out of sight,

They’re never coming,

They’ll never be there,

Fast enough to help,

Death started punching,

Kicking, ripping,

Bullets rip your body,

And as you look down you see,

You’re friends coming,

And running by,

Taking care of the resistance,

But you no longer feel,

That this is right,

That you are doing,

The right thing for your country,

The pride is gone,

So is your life and here you just floating,

Looking down, upon yourself,

And suddenly realizing,

That your wife will get a notice,

And your son will cry,

But it doesn’t matter,

Because you don’t know why,

Would people grab,

These sticks of metal,

Go and stab themselves,

Through these smaller,

Pieces of metal,

And kill each other still?

Of what sense does it make?

To lose so many lives,

After fighting to end,

Segregation with whites and blacks,

Fighting to end,

Discrimination between ethnic groups,

Fighting to end,

Poverty and so many places,

As if the person doesn’t matter,

But rather for what they stand,

For what they believe in,

And suddenly you see,

That everyone is different,

That there can never be,

This ideal peace, this harmony,

For there must always be,

A balance of the people,

Who don’t believe in war and death,

And oh so few,

So very little,

Who fight to fight,

And just so few,

Can lead entire armies,

Can take these people,

Make these laws,

And you think,

In your lasts thoughts on earth,

That to fight to stop,

The people who fight,

To fight each other all the time,

Makes no sense, nor does anything,

So you smile as you pass away,

As so many do,

And you know that you’re not the only one,

Who realized the truth,

But who are you to judge,

And tell what be the truth?

So people fight,

Because they can’t,

Bring themselves to think,

To understand; at least to try!

And you think to yourself,

That it takes so little time,

Just a moment in your life,

To let you think,

And see what you want,

And know what you wanted to know,

And slowly thoughts fade,

And you feel that ecstasy,

For you finally understand!

And aren’t afraid,

Or even sad,

That your life suddenly ended.