Perceptional - Pt 1
#1 of Perceptional
A story that I had in my mind for a little while, and finally decided to put down on pape- er, text document. Not really sure where it's going to go ultimately. I'm just sort of making it as I go. It will most probably end up being just plain silly.
Ok, so this is literally the first time I sit down and actually go 'I'm gonna write a story!' seriously. Thus, nitpicking and flaw-pointing, otherwise known as criticism, is greatly appreciated. Like, for serious. If you find something wrong with it, be it a spelling mistake, something completely nonsensical that a character said, or hell, even something that just doesn't feel right about it, then please tell me. I get to know what needs fixing, and you can be all "I made the world slightly less artistically horrifying". It's a win-win situation. Plus, if it's actually not entirely visually repulsive, also known as "somewhat entertaining", then I'll have more reason to keep writing.
Now it's a win-2xwin situation, imbalanced towards you. You get double hypothetical value while I get one. It's practically a steal!
Anyways, enough idle blabbering. Go read the story! Tell me what sucks!
As the first rays of morning light spilled over the horizon, a blue bird perched itself on a window frame, unremarkable among many. Its song made its way inside the apartment, unfortunately lost to its currently lone sleeping inhabitant. Today was supposed to be a relaxed day for him, with no commitments or obligations, academic or otherwise. Not that there would be any, considering the year had barely started. No. Today Lucas would sleep until he got tired of sleeping itself, and then whatever was left of the day would be spent doing whatever came to mind at the moment. Or at least, that's what the young ferret had planned. He had entirely forgotten that today was the day that a new tenant would arrive to share the room with him.
A quick knock on the door brought Lucas ever closer to wakefulness. He grumbled and fumbled around, tangled in the sheets. He grabbed his cellphone from the small stand beside the bed and looked at the time. 6:30 am.
Oh god it's so early. Why would anybody be here at this time?
Another quick knock, a bit stronger this time.
Ugh if it's not important they'll just leave and come back later. Maybe if I just stay quiet, he thought groggily.
The visitor finally spoke "Lucas Wendrill? It's Mark. Mark Miben?"
Wha? Who? I don't know any Miben.
"I'm to be your new roommate?"
Oh crud. Oh crud oh crud oh crud he thought as he practically jumped out of the bed trying to make as little noise as possible.
I haven't cleaned the room! I have to fix it up a bit before he comes in. Maybe if I don't make any noise I could pass it off as not waking up as fast, and I could at least pick some things up before he notices-
His thoughts were interrupted as he tripped over a bag of luggage and landed on his chest with a loud thud.
"Hello?" asked Mark from the other side of the door.
So much for being discreet. thought Lucas as he stood back up.
"One second!" he finally said.
He looked around the room, looking for something that stood out as the messiest. Oddly enough he didn't find anything out of place. He then looked back at his feet, finally noticing the bag of luggage.
There's nothing overly messy to clean up. You got here a couple of days ago you dummy!
With a sigh, he started walking towards the door to greet his new roommate. Then, out of the blue came a thought that stopped him cold in his tracks. He looked down on himself.
Oh good. Pants there.
He walked the last few steps, took a deep breath, and twisted the doorknob.
Mark
Mark wasn't sure if there would actually be anybody in the room. He had knocked a couple of times, introduced himself in case there was somebody inside, but he didn't hear anything.
That's strange. The landlord seemed pretty sure that Lucas would be in his room. Well. Our room. I wonder what he's like. I wonder if he's even here.
"I'm to be your new roommate?"
Okay. I'll give it a few minutes. It IS six in the morning. He could just be asleep, he thought, just as he heard a fairly loud thud in the room.
What if he fell and snapped his neck? I don't think the year could begin any worse.
"Hello?", he said into the room
Okay. He's definitely awake now. If he doesn't say anything he probably did hurt himself badly
"One second!" said Lucas.
Oh good he didn't die. Although the odds of that happening are very low. It would have been really bad had he gotten himself hurt. What would I have to do if that had happened though? Run to the landlord? No maybe not. Maybe I would have to call an ambulance. But wait. How exactly do you "call an ambulance"? Is that a thing you can just dial 911 for? Hell. I don't even know what the address for this building is. And how would I know for sure if he hurt himself? I don't have the key to the room. Would I have to kick the door down or something? Maybe I WOULD have to actually run to the landlord then. But what would I say? "Hey. Mr. Judain? I think Lucas may have snapped his neck in his room. I don't have the key, or directions to the nearest hospital, so some help would be appreciated." Somehow that sounded incredibly dumb. Oh lord. I hope he didn't snap his neck. No wait. He didn't. He said something, and he didn't sound distressed. What are you thinking? This whole train of thought started BECAUSE he didn't get hurt like in your hypothetical scenario. Now this is going to nag you for a while isn't it? Now you HAVE to know what to do in that case.
He noticed that all that time thinking he was staring at the floor, and Lucas had already opened the door. He looked up at his new roommate. First thing he noticed was that he was tall. Well not tall per se. Taller than him, that's for sure. Not that it was a surprise. Mark WAS fairly small. Other than that, which he realized was not noteworthy itself, Lucas looked like someone that would definitely not stand out in a crowd. The ferret had brownish fur, except for what Mark supposed would be his underbelly, which was a creamy white, as far as he could tell from his jaw and neck. He was wearing some pale blue pajamas, so his theory of having woken him up seemed to hold.
"Hey. You okay?" he heard Lucas say, looking at him with a slightly confused expression on his face.
Lucas
The first thing Lucas did when opening the door was look down.
Oh DAMN he's small!
On the other side of the doorway stood a small black ferret standing beside some luggage.
Geez he's barely a kid. And he's in college?
One thing that caught Lucas's attention, other than the obvious, was that Mark's fur was black. Not just a dark color, but black. Pitch black. Had there been less light he would probably be a silhouette. He noticed that Mark was looking at the wall beside the door frame. He seemed upset.
"Hello. I'm Lucas, as you already know, and this" he said as he turned around and stretched his arms out dramatically in an attempt to cheer him up
"Is your new scroungy apartment!"
He walked up to the window and put his hands through a couple of missing blinds.
"It has everything! Missing blinds"
He tried opening the window and made a great show of effort
"Unopenable windows"
He jumped and sat on his bed and started bouncing on it slightly,
"And slightly-better-than-mediocre beds!"
He looked back at the door, half-expecting Mark to be, in the very least, rolling his eyes at Lucas's faffing about. It wasn't as such. Lucas was standing in the very same spot, except that this time he was staring at the floor.
Lucas you dummy you just made yourself look a fool. You don't know how to cheer up strangers because they're STRANGERS.
He stood up and walked back to the doorway, seeing that Mark at least didn't look distressed anymore.
"Hey. You okay?"
Seemingly for the first time, Mark paid attention to Lucas.
"Oh hey. Yeah, yeah sure. Lucas right?"
What. I just told you
"Yeesss?"
"Just making sure. Wouldn't want to set up in the wrong room or something."
Your memory really can't be THAT bad.
Mark extended his arm in a greeting, and Lucas followed suit.
"Need any help with that?" he motioned towards the three bags of luggage sitting beside Mark's feet.
"It would be much appreciated." Mark grinned up at Lucas as he picked up the two largest bags. Lucas slipped by and grabbed the remaining bag. As he reentered the room he closed the door and flipped on the light switch. When he turned around, what he saw stopped him cold in his tracks. The area all around the unoccupied bed was... flashing. Various objects of different colors were appearing and disappearing, seemingly at random.
"What the hell? What the hell is that?" Lucas was starting to feel a bit dizzy.
Mark spun around, his face with a puzzled expression. "What is what?"
Lucas's vision was starting to fade, and his senses seemed dull. He saw the room turn a full ninety degrees before realizing that he had fallen, and promptly fell unconscious.