Magnum's Creative Writing Class

[Magnum]

No seriously, I have Creative Writing this year. And it involves a LOT of short stories (Which I'm not a fan of, but hey...). So I figured I post any that I turned in just to see how you guys liked them.

The Rack
Not one I'm proud of. My computer died so I wasn't able to edit it and change it. This is it's final and raw product.

[spoiler=The Rack]I was drifting... farther and farther away. I didn't know where I was. My eyes were closed and yet... all I saw was white. No... my eyes were open. Where had I been? What was I doing? Never once, do I think of death. I know it's not true. But could it be? No. No! NOOOOOOOOOO!
Nolan sat on the table, strapped down to it with multiple belts. A makeshift hospital table. In his side was a huge gash, blood pouring out. "Just hang on there for a few moments bro! I'm pretty sure I can get this!" a frantic voice called out. Metal clashing could be heard through the shed. Tools littered the walls and supplies were covering the earth. A young man popped out from the back with a stick and some yarn.
"You sound reassuring. Are you sure you don't want to wait for a while, pep yourself up?" Nolan sarcastically told him. Nolan was a stocky man who couldn't grow a beard past stubble. His once white shirt laid bloody red on the ground, and plain jeans was all that was left for his clothing.
"Enough man! This is serious! I'm still in training! This is the worst I've ever seen! The Rack got you good this time! What if..." the young man began. He wore a brown doctor's coat, once white, and huge goggles that covered his eyes.
"Wake me when it's done, will you Rufus?" Nolan asked. Holding a joker's smile, Nolan felt himself subduing from the pain running through his body. His eyes felt heavy, his breath started to feel transparent, and his legs went numb.
Rufus shook him quickly. "NO! Stay awake! I know it hurts, but you must stay awake! NOLAN!" Rufus yelled. Nolan, however, had already drifted into blissful sleep.
The white void still surrounded my view. No reason to blink. I knew it would still be here when I opened them again. I had run the questions over into my head to the point where I tattooed them to thought. Finally, I grew the courage, and felt my surroundings. Cool snow greeted my fingers, and my bones froze in an instant. Not even the shadow gave me hope. Wait... shadow. A shadow... here?!
"Keep your head down, Nolan!" Bane ordered. The two men stood hunched behind a scorched rock. Bane was a towering man however, standing nearly seven feet tall. Nolan barely hit the six foot mark, and always saw Bane as a giant teddy bear. However, a new side had risen with the situation.
"Sorry! It's so hard to hear!" Nolan screamed. He wore a dark jacket over his white shirt, rips on all sides of them.
"You'll get used to it. Switch me." Bane assured him, as he pulled his jacket off and tossed it to Nolan. Nolan wanted to argue back, but he saw the fierce look in Bane's eyes. He undid the straps and tossed his over to Bane.
Both men through their new equipment on. Nolan looked over to Bane and saw a tear fall down his eye. "Bane?"
"You're too nice of a kid to get caught up on this. Why you? Listen, this is going to be a long war. You must do everything you can. I believe in you kid," Bane told Nolan. A flash beside Nolan blinded him for a second. Soon, he felt himself pushed into the light, and as he looked back, he saw his friend, Bane, disappear from the world.
I tried calling out to the shadow. But every time I moved my mouth, no noise escaped. I continued to try desperately, running from rationality. 'What a terrible fate. Too cruel, to one so young.' Do you know what happened to me? The shadow stared, as if straight through me. Once again, I made no noise. 'You drowned.'
Nolan felt as if a wave hit against his face. He opened his eyes in shock and found Hutch with a huge grin in front of him. "No sleeping on the job, Nolan," Hutch explained to him. Nolan felt reassured just being around Hutch.
Both Hutch and Nolan were skinny as a twig, but Hutch had more muscle mass. Both boys didn't even seem in their twenties. Nolan shook himself awake to the sound of cars passing by. He looked around at the metropolis they were in. It was his first time in a big city. Excitement brimmed at the tips of his smile.
"Come on country boy, this can't be that good," Hutch told him in a half questioning voice. The limo they were in came to a halt. Hutch put his hand to his ear, a small earpiece in it. He put his hand down and shook his head for Nolan to get out.
Both men stepped out and looked up to the small building in front of them. Hutch motioned for Nolan to follow him, but Nolan was transfixed on the woman walking towards him.
He soon disregarded Hutch and ran up to her. "MOM!" he yelled, butterflies in his stomach. She looked at him in a questioning gaze.
Nolan's smile faded. Tears swelled up as he said, "Sorry ma'am, wrong person."
Drowned. Dead. It was true. I was gone into the afterlife, and in front of me stood the Grim Reaper, ready to take me wherever. It didn't matter to me. 'It was not meant to be. You were to be saved. They stopped you from rising back.' They? Who are they? 'The Rack.'
"Nolan, sir! It's them! The Rack are here!" Ros informed him. Nolan had already been putting his jacket on, memories swirling inside of him as he did. He attacked a sword and pulled a pistol from his dresser, memories again filling his senses.
"Where did they breach?" Nolan asked him. Ros was young, as young as Nolan was when he first came in. But he held a strong heart. Nolan always felt a certain warmth and strength when he saw the boy.
"Top floor! They people and..." Ros began, words jumbled into a frenzied heap.
"Hey!" Nolan shouted, catching Ros' attention. He placed a hand on Ros' shoulder. "Take a deep breath. Don't worry, just tell me," Nolan comforted him.
Ros breathed deep, "Top floor. Hutch has confronted them as the civilians evacuate."
A shiver flew down Nolan's back. He tapped Ros on the shoulder than hurried out the room. In a flash, they were at the top floor. But a door was busted in front of them.
"Get it open, Ros. I'm not good with this stuff," Nolan ordered him.
"It was an honor, sir. Please, when it happens, don't cry. Just smile, and remember the good times with me," Ross asked him, determination riding his breath. Next moment, Nolan was flying out the window. As he looked up, he saw a fiery death engulf the top floors.
'I ask two questions to you. Answer them, and no matter what, everything will change. Question one, do you want to live?" OF COURSE! OF COURSE I DO! But... at what cost? I want to live, but I want to assure that those I love, my family, are not hurt in the process. 'Then you have already answered question two.'
Training had truly just begun for Nolan. He was the only one there though, and his leader was a woman.
"My name is Symphony. You are Nolan. We are now on terms of names. So relax," she told him with a comforting smile. Over the years, he would look at that smile and always feel calm, collected, and cheerful.
Even when he was sent to the front lines years early, it was her training and leadership that brought him through.
Too many years passed. Too many years without her. Whenever he got the chance, he met with her again, and the spark in his heart and soul was sparked anew.
Too many years passed. Word of mouth reached him of her demise. Grief struck him. The war had too much of a toll on his heart and soul. Too many years passed.
Then the year came. Nolan sat comfortable in his room, ready at a moment's notice when a knocking reached his sanctum. Nolan answered the door to meet a messenger. No words passed between the two as a letter was passed between the two. The writing was all too familiar to Nolan. On it, a kiss with red lipstick. He opened to find the handgun his former teacher had always carried. The torch has been passed, and his spark would never leave again.
'Listen closely. The truth is yours for the taking. These next few moments of your life could be you're most important. It is not even guaranteed we can save you. But with these steps you take, the future opens up to you. But restrictions will be there. This is a choice between the ultimate freedom of death, and the bindings of life. Please, think well on this choice. It may be the last in your life, no matter which one you choose.'
My final choice in life. But what choice is there? Death or life? Restriction or freedom? To me, I only see one choice. Pain or misery. And at that, only sorrow from others. To me, I seem to be in the short end of the pool. Heh, I make jokes like that lying on my death bed, with the pool being the cause of it all. It's funny. I'm not a perfect human, but all my instincts are telling me that I should try to live. But there is darkness in me, telling me it is my time. I just can't be sure. You chose life. What do you take of your decision?
'I'm in no place to talk. But... I felt the same as you. So confused. It is in that moment that all the questions leave, and only thoughts remain. Truly, this is what nirvana was supposed to feel like. I tell by looking at you who you are. You are a young country boy who planned to work his entire life, live a plan existence, and die out with nothing but those who knew you. However, it is those people who are the true heroes. The ones who are open and ready. I'm beyond normal for sure, and that just makes me normal. You have so much potential, it pains me to be the one sent to you. I talk too much. Please, make your decision.'
Decision is a matter of a question. There are no decisions here, only truth. And truth is I'm not ready to be a hero.
It begins to disappear. "Shadow! Not a hero! Maybe something else," I scream to it.
Nolan wakes up, a cloth covered over his body. He leans up, a pain still emanating from his wound. He looks at the brown doctor's coat. A note slides off of it. Nolan reads it to himself.
I'm glad youre awake. After all, if you're reading this, it means youre up, huh? Well, they are starting to get good. I hear them coming this way. The Rack. I stitched you up the best I could. Im sure theyll be pleased if they get just me. I doubt theyll search that hard just for you. It was always my goal to save everyone I could. Please sir, do the best to continue my goal for me, please. I just
The note ends, blood covers most of the bottom. A sigh escapes Nolan. "Should've waited. Your nerves got to ya. Ha ha, you were the best field surgeon. It was an honor to have you save my life. Your will blends with mine, and your sacrifice will never be forgotten, my friend," Nolan assures the note. A single tear falls down his eye onto the paper, which he shoves in the coat's pocket.
Nolan stands up in full glory now. He is a staggering six foot six. He reaches over and throws his bloody shirt back on. He looks down next to it and sees a dark jacket on the floor, a hole straight through the side where blood has dried. He straps it on and remembers his first battle.
His muscles have doubled in size. It is always a hard fit to put these on, but he does without a question or annoyance of it. His whole life has been hard work, just as he imagined it. He was always the first to admit it.
The pain flared up for a moment again. Memories of all the sorrow in his life came crashing into his mind. Instead of subduing, Nolan simply smiled. Sorrow soon blossomed into happiness. At himself, and everyone who he had ever known.
He moved a little to his side and reached out to his prized possession. In his hands he soon found a pistol. In history, a high ranking officer would usually be seen with such a simply and majestic weapon. Something he had never meant to continue, nor did he think of it that way. To him, it was just another reason to smile.
Finally, he looked down to the coat. He knew that it would never fit. So he made his choice. He took part of it and ripped it off. Wrapping it around his forehead, he made a bandana.
Nolan looked towards the door. Through this door held a choice. "No. Just like then, it's just a truth. Something I haven't wanted to face. I think, I'll hold off just a little bit longer on it," Nolan assured himself as he opened it and walked towards the future he had chosen.
[/spoiler]

[Macawmoses]

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I really need to fix spoilers

[Magnum]

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I really need to fix spoilers

Yeah, maybe  :D

[Custom]

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I really need to fix spoilers

this is a good contribution to the thread it really reflects magnum's writing style and i completely agree
5/5 good review