In My Life
Okay, so it's short. I'm off to Miami soon for Spring Break, and I wanted to upload a little something before I left. It's a weird chapter, I know, I know. Okay, I'll stop now so you can get to reading and (oooh…) reviewing! Please? Shout-outs afterwards.
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For some reason, the sun was shining too brightly, like acid to the retinas as Makoto tried bringing a hand to shield the pain out. He struggled, his hand refusing somehow to budge. Around him, spiky bits of springtime grass poked around on his bare arms and torso. Trying to pull his head up to look around was to no avail, something tied him around the neck, and his arms, and his legs, and around his slim stomach.
Not a nice way to wake up on a wonderfully cheery morning. A few words slipped onto his lips, barely audible until he forced it out.
"What…" And with a quick breath. "The fuck??"
And from underneath his warm skin came a quick twitch. And another. And then another. Rapidly switching his view to his right side, he noticed a little red clad gnome-thingy crawl out from under him. With the crosshair of his glare focused clear on the gnome-thingy, he watched it run out a bit, turn, and stick its fingers into his mouth to let out a sharp whistle. Every one of Makoto's muscles tensed up as he felt more gnome-thingies brush out past him, and he turned to watch them, dressed in every color of the spectrum, file together.
They stood there and Makoto continued to watch them, his eyes wide as they just stood there nonchalantly, beaming with innocently cute smiles. Makoto waited there, not amused.
"What the hell are you things?" he asked, slowly and steadily.
And with the proudest air, the red clad one piped up in a small-sounding high pitched voice:
"We're the Harvest Sprites, budum!"
"The what?"
"The Harvest Sprites!"
For a moment, Makoto turned and muttered things to himself.
"Now I know I've never done any acid..."
The red clad one grinned.
"I'm Chef!" he declared, putting a tiny hand to his chest. "And these are my brothers!" He took a moment to turn and acknowledge each one of them with the extension of his hand, passing them their particular order of colors. "That's Nappy, Hoggy, Timid, Staid, Aqua, and Bold!"
"Hey hey HEY!! What's up, budum?" Nappy grinned with an accompanying victory sign.
"Got any food, budum?" Hoggy asked, a proud smile on his face.
Timid stood there trembling, his eyes wide.
"H-hello…"
"Good morrow, budum," Staid said in a composed manner, complete with a little bow.
"Hi there, budum!" Aqua gave a wave of his hand.
"A pleasure, a pleasure, budum!" Bold said politely.
Makoto laid there, only his eyes able to convey his frustration, which they did quite proficiently.
"So, did you little 'Harvest Sprites' tie me down here?" he asked coldly.
And with the same proud expression and movement, they all nodded twice in reply.
"If I wasn't bound down I'd strangle every one of you…"
Nappy stepped up with a cocky face.
"Well you are, so you can't, budum!" he exclaimed, followed by a giddy giggle.
After a struggle in an attempt to bring his head up, Makoto decided to just glare at them. Something about being half naked and tied onto the ground thanks to a bunch of pipsqueaks shook one's dignity quite harshly.
"At least tell me where I am…" he muttered, head sinking back into the grass. He turned to the Sprites, awaiting his answer.
"That we'll do, budum!" Chef announced. "You're in a little field on Mother's Hill that the old man used to call his own 'Strawberry Fields'."
"Uh-huh…" Makoto droned, trying to get a view around. "I don't see strawberries."
Bold then piped up, a defensive little finger cocked forward.
"Look here, budum, don't make this hard for us!"
"Why the hell am I here, anyway?" Makoto quickly retorted, turning to him. He looked around to the ropes on his body, and idea in his head and the plan in his eyes. With a quick motion, he sat up with a snap of the rope around his torso. The Sprites jumped back, grabbing each other in fear.
Makoto turned to them, a menacing look in his cold gray eyes bolting their tiny bodies in place. He then turned to get to his feet, ropes snapping in his wake as the Sprites huddled closer and closer together. The giant now turned to look down at them, staying there.
"Wait, budum!" Chef called from below. But Makoto went on with on large step, cueing the other Sprites to charge and dog pile on his foot. A mere nuisance, Makoto looked down.
"Get off."
And the little replies came.
"No way! You've gotta stay here!"
"No way, I'm leaving!"
"But, budum!" Chef pleaded. "You gotta stay here! Don't you feel any memories about this place??"
It hit him, and with a slow nod, Makoto replied.
"Yeah, I spent a lot of time up here that summer…" he muttered, looking around the field. He looked down to Chef and his friends. "You're about to ask me if I recall a little girl, right?"
"Yes, how'd you know, budum?" Chef asked, his eyes up.
"The word," Makoto replied flatly. "And it's no. I remember a silhouette of a person. Very hazy." He nodded. "Could've been a damn guy for all I know…" He thought about it, but shuddered. "Well, no… it WAS a girl."
"But do you know who, budum?"
Makoto's eyes narrowed, and he turned on his feet to leave, the Sprites loosing grip of the hem of his pants. He turned back to them just to say.
"For Chrissake, NO!"
Wow, do the Sprites know something I don't? What the hell is this?? Making me think about that girl now. I think no one's in my tree.
-From Makoto's Journal
The day had come to a close on the farm, Makoto under the apple tree with his journal by the pond as he waited for Zack to come by. Not much else to do at the end of the Spring, past the bountiful harvest and waiting for the summer to come.
"Eggs today, Makoto??" Zack called out as he peered into the shipping box. He turned to see Makoto, who replied with an indifferent nod. Turning back to his work with a groan, Zack began taking a tally of everything Makoto had shipped. Finally, he thought of something, turning back to the boy.
"Makoto!!" he yelled again, practically on the verge of screaming.
Makoto raised his head again, arching an eyebrow.
"Yes?"
"C'mon over here!!"
Makoto groaned as he got up, striding over to Zack with one hand in his pocket. Zack waited for the boy, ready to look down at him when he came over, which he did and did well.
"Makoto, you realize something?"
"Something?"
Zack groaned.
"You never named the farm, Makoto. Isn't it about time I stop making names up on the forms and you give this damn place a name?"
Makoto looked over the fields the old man loved so much as a song drove in circles around in his mind. A note hung on the edge of his earlobe, climbing in and marching through his brain, hitting louder and louder as it split the center of his face, tapering its way to the other side and eventually fading.
"Strawberry Fields."
Zack looked up at Makoto, pencil in hand and an arched eyebrow. For a moment he stared at him, Makoto standing around with his glum face. Finally Zack sighed, writing it down.
"Okay…" he began, looking up at him. "John."
Makoto didn't reply, but just nodded as he passed Zack and walked into town.
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Past the buildings, the town square, the people, and her. Makoto found himself at the pinnacle of his seclusion, down by the beach in the late evening. The clambering anxiety on his head tore around at him as the serene, ambivalent flowing of the waves tried to calm him. He sighed, stepping ankle-deep into the salt water and he looking up nowhere at the sky.
"Old man, old man…" he murmured, free to talk to no one. "What the hell is the deal?"
He stepped a little further in, turning around a bit and splashing. The water had soaked his jeans up till the calf, but he didn't mind.
"I don't know what brought me here," he muttered. "Well… I wanted to see why you stopped writing, and I found out." He let out a long, painful sigh. "I don't know why all this pain's surfacing now."
So he looked up at the sky again, wincing.
"HELP!!" he cried, his eyes pushing out everything that was bringing him down.
Not a good idea to be yelling "HELP!" at the top of one's lungs near the water in a tiny town. No one came, Makoto standing in the water and staring up at nothing.
I might have gone mad.
-From Makoto's Journal
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Shout-outs!
Jay-Bird- Thanks thanks! ^_^ I hope you like the rest of it.
Anime26Angel- Ain't it cute? Makoto's so adorable.
KuRiSuKun- Yeah, I've changed my writing conditions.
Kirjava Deamon- Thanks. I think Makoto's a nice name. I've read your new story. Very nice.
Zomaelgustar the Wanker- Thanks for the shout-out on your story. Will do! I can't wait for more of your story.