Makes Me Think

I know a lot of people around here browse the sites FMyLife and My Life is Average quite frequently. I wanted to share my preferred alternative to pass the time.
http://makesmethink.com

On another note, we have a High Dynamic Range assignment for Materials and Processes of Photography due by the end of the quarter. I'll make sure to post it when I have it done. =P

The Darkness (for current lack of a better title) - Chapter 5

They had spent nearly three hours in that dark storage room, chatting quietly about whatever came to mind. Mostly, they just sat in silence, both anxiously trying to think of what to do next.
“I only have two bars left on my cell phone.” Jake proclaimed after a few moments of silence.
Emma looked up from the edge of her shirt, which she had been nervously playing with for the last twenty minutes, and looked Jake in the eyes. “Well, mine is still off so we can use that once yours dies out.”
He stared at her, trying to think of how to phrase it. He watched her look back down at her shirt. “Emma?”
She looked up. “Yeah?”
“We can’t stay like this forever. We have to find out what’s going on.”
She looked back down. After several minutes she whispered, “I know.” Thoughts were constantly racing through her head. I hope my parents don’t try to leave the house and look for me. Maybe I should’ve stayed with them. What was that black figure that ran past? How long can we stay like this? What should we do?
“I’m going to go peek outside.” Jake proposed as he got up. He walked out of the room and towards the store window. Looking outside, he saw that the sun was going down and that the streets were completely vacant. He was searching for something, anything that would give him a clue as to what was going on. As his gaze moved backed towards the store across the street, a dark figure raced right in front of the window he was looking through. He was so startled he let out a yelp. Emma heard this and came rushing in.
“Jake! Jake! Are you okay?!”
He just stood there, his skin so white it almost glowed.
She started shaking him, “Jake! Jake!”
“It just went by this window,” he whispered. “What?”
“It just went by this window,” he repeated, slightly louder.
“No, no. I heard you. What did? What went by the window?”
He slowly turned to face her. “The figure.”
All she could do was stare out the window. She couldn’t think, she couldn’t speak, she couldn’t move. Only stare.
After a substantial amount of time had passed, Emma managed to say, “It’s not safe out there.”




I have some ideas as to where it's going to go from here but I'm not sure when I'll get time to continue writing.
“It just went by this window,” he whispered.

New post

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a long time. Between winter quarter dying down, vacation, and getting back into the swing of things for spring I've been pretty busy. I just posted the next two chapters of my story The Darkness. It'll be interesting when I run out of stuff I have already written and have to write more. Maybe I'll work towards getting a new chapter every week. We shall see.

The Darkness (for current lack of a better title) - Chapter 4

She arrived at Mick’s Music in under ten minutes. The place looked eerie with no lights on. She walked up to the door and peered in. Was Jake still here? She saw a shadow move off to the right. She moved closer to the door, pressing her nose to the glass. All of a sudden, something jumped in front of the door. She jumped backwards, nearly falling down. It was Jake. He swung open the door and made a motion for her to come inside. She did.
When they were inside, Jake locked the door. She tilted her head to the side. “I don’t think anyone will be shopping for music right now.” She had never heard this tone come from him before. He seemed so sure of himself, so in control. It was strange, but in a good way.
She nodded. “Have you learned anything?”
“No. Have you?”
“My parents told me everyone left their cars. They gave up driving without the traffic lights on. They wanted to board up the house.”
“How’d you leave?”
“Snuck out,” she said simply.
He grinned; Emma usually followed the rules.
“What should we do?” She asked, hoping he’d have an answer.
“I don’t know,” he caught her sigh, then added, “I suppose we could stay here for a bit. It’s safe enough.”
“Do you feel like we need to be safely locked up? I mean… it’s just a power outage.”
“Honestly, yes. My instinct is telling me to hide.”
They sat there in silence for awhile. Then they heard the yelling outside.
“It’s safe! You can come out of your houses! The people at the power plant say they should have the power back on soon!”
Jake and Emma traded glances.
Jake was the first to talk, “It still doesn’t feel right.”
“I know what you mean.”
They both turned to look out the window. The sun would be going down soon. The person who was yelling came into view. He was an older gentleman, wearing a suit. Emma guessed that he was an executive or lawyer or something of the sort. As they were staring at him, there was a flash of light. Then a shadow raced across their view. The man was gone. Emma instinctively moved closer to Jake. She looked over to him, hoping to see his reaction. He was still staring in the same place, mouth ajar, bewildered. After a few moments he collected himself enough to say, “I really think hiding is a good idea,” and then turned to face her.
She nodded slowly, and then they moved back into the darkness. They headed towards the storage room door, opened it, and entered. Jake pulled out his cell phone for lighting. Eventually the battery will die… what then? She didn’t like the thought as it passed through her head.
“What do you think that was?” Jake was asking her.
“I couldn’t tell, it moved too quickly.”
He nodded in agreement.
“That poor man…” she trailed off.
He nodded again.
If there was reception, she was sure her pocket would start buzzing. Her parents would be terrified. Guilt washed over her for a few minutes, and then dispersed. She wouldn’t have done things any differently.

The Darkness (for current lack of a better title) - Chapter 3

After the near pointless conversation with her dad, she decided it was best to lock herself in her room for an hour or two. She was laying on her bed and staring mindlessly up at the ceiling. Then it came to her. If her parents wouldn’t let her leave, she’d sneak out! She couldn’t believe it hadn’t come to her sooner. She would sneak out her bedroom window. Her room was still on the first floor, so it’d be easy.
She practically jumped off her bed, and then moved over to the window. Wait! Shouldn’t I bring my bag or something? She turned to grab her bag when someone knocked on her door.
“Emma? Sweetheart?” It was her mother.
She had to make a decision. Should she bolt now? Or risk it and hope for another opportunity later? She thought of Jake and how she had left him there at the music store. She needed to get back to him as soon as possible. So, she grabbed her bag, and opened the window. She was leaving as her mother knocked again, this time slightly harder. She had locked her door, so she had just enough time to get away before they realized she was actually gone. Just in case, she made sure to run.