I really wonder how you feel on these nights so alone

“if only you could see”

I see your face and smile. - edit.

Jan 11, 2009 || 12:52 AM || comment?

I don't really have a solid idea for a story I want written right now. I just know that I want to write something. All of this is going to be random. I'll be pulling inspiration from a number of things I have seen/done/felt/whatever. Anyways, I don't care if you like it or not, or rather, if you like it, yay (:, but if not, I don't care. It's also kind of an exercise to get myself into the mood of writing again.

note: i had no idea how long this was going to be.

another note: i'll finish this another day.

Would you like to know what the weirdest thing to experience is? It's not like smoking some drug or drinking until you forget who you are. It is waking up one day to find that you are suddenly in the body of a child. I guess that after all, I cannot write this off as a mere "freak accident." Making the wrong person angry is all it takes. And if that person has magical abilities, you might wake up as a kid again. I'm sure you can guess what I was told. "I'll teach you not to act like a child again." I hate irony.

Anyways, when I woke up, I not only had to climb out of my sheets, but my night gown was like a blanket itself. I experience so many emotions at once that morning. Unfortunately for me, "that morning" was only two days ago. I'm still running around as a kid. What makes it even better is that I'm not allowed to tell anyone my true age, or the circumstances of my situation. I suppose it is part of the punishment. I wonder what would happen...but I imagine it would be something really horrible. I am not that curious. My thoughts are, for the most part, still of a 22-year-old. I'm having a hard time writing this, however. My hand writing is atrocious and I'll be lucky if I can even read this when I'm finished. You know, it is amazing some of the things you can get away with when you're a kid.

The sound of water dripping and steam hissing echoed down a dimly lit hall. Pipework ran along a wall, branching throughout the basement, and if followed long enough, would lead back up and into the homes of everyone that lived in the Underground City. Going back down the hall, the muffled sound of footsteps could be heard. Around the corner, the sound grew more audible until a young man's silhouette was in view. In the scarce amount of light, his face was barely visible. A light beard lined his jaw, and plenty of hair was on top of his head to keep him warm. Goggles shielded his hazel eyes, face leaning in close to a particular pipe, the source of the hissing. He would fix the incessant drip next. A wrong turn of the wrench in his hand released a violent burst of steam that threatened to give him a new face.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, jumping back and dropping the wrench as well. The metal clanged loudly, adding percusson to his vocal outburst. He felt his cheek stinging slightly, but he was unharmed for the most part. He sighed and picked up the wrench in order to continue his work. The hiss faded, and the pipe was fixed- for now.

"One down," he said a bit apathetically. This young man was an engineer that kept the Underground City in working order. He had several innovative plans that would be sure to improve everyone's lives. Yet, age prevented him from being recognized as a knowledgeable voice in the community. Elders unanimously voted that things would be kept the same way, as they had been for the past couple of centuries. Dreams crushed, the Engineer was resigned to fixing leaky pipes or circuitry that needed replacing. He frowned at the inefficiency of everything, but did his best to mask his true feelings. He loved spending time in the basement, that wasn't his problem. Close-mindedness was. Better make the best of it, he thought. A cheerful whistling now echoed throughout the halls.

"One...more...step." A young girl that appeared to be about six years old was lowering herself on a metal ladder into a basement. She dropped herself down, feet smacking lightly on a wet concrete surface. She looked around and saw no one, but a light tune filled her ears. The little girl gave no more than a second's thought on the trouble she could be in if she were found. Curiosity took a deep grip onto her mind, and her feet began to take her towards the source of the sound. The dark halls made her feel a bit wary, but then she puffed her chest out.

"I'm not scared," she proudly stated to no one in particular. Reaching the end of the hall gave her two choices: left or right? She took a moment to listen carefully. The sound seemed a bit louder, but she wasn't too sure in which direction it was coming from. She shrugged, then chose the right side. She could now hear the sound of water dropping in a rhythmic beat. She decided to find the source of the drip instead, and continued down the hall. At the end of the hall there was only one option: go left. It was a good thing too, the source of the drip came from this hall. She walked up to wet spot on the ground, then looked up. A water drop was coming down at the same time, and landed on her forehead.

"Hey..." she said, rubbing it away with the back of her hand, "that wasn't very nice." From the corner of her eye, she noticed a shadow making its way to the hall she was in, along with the whistling she was following earlier.

"Uh oh," she muttered, then she started to run. Not one of her better decisions (such as coming down to the basement in the first place), she slipped and scraped her knee and hand. Her eyes welled with tears, but she picked herself up, and hid behind the corner.

"Hey there!" the Engineer called out, "No one's supposed to be down here without a card! Show yourself, along with your card!" The girl shut her eyes tight, tears falling down her cheeks. Then she slowly walked into the view of the Engineer. "Oh..." he said with a hint of sympathy in his voice.

"Hey, little girl, what are you doing down here? It can be very dangerous you know.." He glanced at the girl, then barely noticed in the dim light that her knee was bleeding, and her clothes were wet.

"Hey..." he spoke softly, "did you fall? Come closer so I can take a better look." She took a step forward, slowly, gingerly. "Okay, you can stay right there, I'll come to you." The Engineer set down his red box of tools, and walked over to the girl. From his back pocket he pulled out a clean handkerchief. "I'm gonna tie this around your knee, okay? To stop the bleeding." She nodded, then he bent down and wrapped the cloth carefully around her knee. "Did you get hurt anywhere else?" She showed him her left hand, the palm was scraped and also bleeding. "Well..I only had one handkerchief. Hm...what were you doing down here anyways? Right now that doesn't matter I suppose, we need to get you cleaned up. I'm gonna carry you, okay?" Again the girl nodded. She climbed onto his back, and he stood up slowly. "Hang on tight okay...we have to go up that ladder, and I don't need you to hurt yourself again, okay?" She stayed silent the entire time. "I guess I'll just leave my tools here," he said under his breath, then walked to the ladder, and set one foot on.

"Whatever you do, don't let go of me."

He climbed up slowly, one careful step at a time, until they made it to the higher ground. He had to squint his eyes as they adjusted to a normal amount of light, or what was considered normal for the city. He set the girl down, then took a good look at her. She kept her gaze to the ground the entire time, embarrassed and feeling guilty. "Look, I'm gonna take you to my place, and there I hope you give me some answers, okay? Also I'm going to clean your knee and hand for you. So climb back on."

From the living room, she could hear a kettle whistling. The young man returned with a small white box in his hand. A small table was next to the couch the little girl sat on, her feet dangling off the edge, barely skimming the ground. He turns on the lamp sitting on the table, and the girl looks up at him. In the light she can see his face clearly, and she recognizes him as a boy she knew as a friend...in her former 22-year-old life. She had no idea he worked as an engineer in the basement, and likewise, he had no idea of her true identity.

A heated feeling in her chest built up, she was nervous, now more than before, and she felt her cheeks getting flushed.

"Hey, don't worry," he said, noticing her face getting red, "I'm not going to hurt you. But you need to let me clean this so it won't get infected." He bent down and propped her leg on his knee, and untied the handkerchief. Opening the box he pulled out a small brown bottle. He twisted off the cap and took a cotton ball from the box. He wet the cotton ball with the peroxide, and began cleaning her knee off. It began to bubble with contact of her skin, and she winced at the pain. He then took her hand and cleaned it off as well. He then wrapped her knee and hand in more appropriate bandages. "All better now, huh? You don't have to be so quiet...anyways, what were you doing down in the basement?"

Embarrassment creeped up again, and she looked away. "I...got lost.." He raised a brow, hardly believing she got lost, but he didn't have the heart to be harsh to her. "Well look, I'm sure you can find your way home now, yeah? You shouldn't go places you don't know...anyways, what's your name?" She told him her name without thinking much about it. "You know, I know a girl with the same name...I wonder what she's doing.." he thought aloud. She suddenly realized what she had done, and was startled by his reaction- did he mean /her/? "Anyways...do you want something to eat?" After a moment, she nodded, and he led her into the kitchen.

"Sorry it's nothing special...but I love eating potatoes. And it's really easy to make.." She looked down at the bowl of soup, steam rising in wisps. Personally she could care less for potato. It was the most abundant food to eat down here, and she had grown tired of it. "But you know, I am a really good cook. Give it a try." It was a thick soup, and she dipped her spoon in. She blew at it to cool it some, then slid the spoon into her mouth. The soup had a cheesy taste, with nicely sized chunks of potato. "How is it?" he asked, and she nodded with a smile. "Good...glad you like it...hey, you're a kid, right? And I'm sure you've got a lot of nice ideas. Creativity. But no one ever listens to you. You know what? I have the same problem." He stood from his seat, and began pacing around the table, not even having touched his soup. "I'm working all the time in that wet basement, fixing leaks, replacing old parts. But I've got a lot of really great ideas to improve how everything works down there..but no one wants to listen to me. Because I'm not "old enough" and therefore I must not know what I'm talking about. But they're all old and afraid of change! We can't live like this forever...but they won't listen to me." He sighed and leaned against the wall. The girl place her spoon on the table, then looked at him. "Then show them," she said.

"Huh?"

"Uhm...they don't believe you, right? Show them what you're talking about. Draw it or something..."

"It's not that easy, though! They're old and stubborn..."

"Did you even try?"

"No.."

"Then give it a shot. Give them a demonstration or something...so they can really see it.." She watched his face, his expression one of deep thought, of fear, and a hint of hope. "You're right, kid. They can't deny physical proof!" He ran out of the kitchen, then returned with a scroll of paper (and a look of wild excitement), and spread it over the table, knocking over his bowl of soup. She flinched at the sound of the bowl shattering, but he didn't seem to notice. A complicated looking set of blueprints lay before them. Thick lines twisting and turning, and at one corner was a legend. "All I need to do is clean this up a bit, put it in a more..legible form. This is gonna be brilliant!" He smiled at the little girl, and she gave him a silly smile. "I'm sorry, going off like that...you're a little kid, I doubt you care about any of this stuff. But thanks, yeah? Anyways I need to get to work...can you make it home on your own?" She nodded, then stood from her chair.

"Uhm...what about that bowl?"

"Huh? Oh geez..." he looked at the floor, then back at the table. "I'll pick that up later."

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