Short (Shorts)

The characters and story contained herein are owned by Zachary Davis. Any attempt to copy or sell said story without the permission of the author is prohibited.

Well, with that out of the way. I mentioned a long time ago that I had a few short (short) stories that I was thinking about self-publishing via Amazon Kindle or something similar.
I still haven't decided whether any of these are good enough to do such a thing, but figured I'd at least start revealing a few here.

So, enjoy! Expect some type of 'real' blog post in the next few days.

The Elevator

“Well, shit.” The man said as he slammed his fist on the elevator panel.
“Apparently the power went out. How strange that there are no backup generators.” Another said aloud, to no one in particular.
“Heh, you’re not from ‘round here, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m from Dallas. This is only the second time I’ve been here.”
“Well, ain’t that somethin’! Name’s Brian, and you?”
“Alexander.” Instinctively he put his hand out for a handshake. Brian was quick to give him a strong one. It was almost painful to Alexander.
“How ‘bout you, girl? We may be stuck here for a bit. Might as well get to know each other!” Brian said as he looked at the young woman embracing the corner.
“Uh…name?” She said, apparently grasping at the English language. Brian laughed, and caught on to her problem.
“Lessee. My spanish isn’t great, but…” Brian gave a huge smile as he tried. “Meh…yamo…Brian…uh…too?” The girl smiled at his attempt.
“Yes, yes! Uh…name Arissa!” She said, happy that she figured out he meant names.
“Great, well, that’s out of the way.” Brian said as he stared at the shut elevator. “So, Alexander. Any ideas on how to get this thing opened?”
“Why would you think I would know?” Alexander replied.
“Oh, uh, sorry man. Just assumed you were smart or somethin’.” Brian actually looked a bit annoyed at the other man, though no one could tell in the dim emergency lights.
“Well…” Alexander looked around. Then he pulled out his cell phone. “No signal, of course.” Alexander went to the elevator door, and shuffled around for an alarm button.
“No need, man. This place don’t have those speaker things you see in other places. It’s too old.” Brian said.
“Fine. Well, I have no clue. It’s not like I ever bothered to learn how to open a dead elevator.” Alexander replied, shrugging down to the floor.
“Heh. No worries. I’m sure Sam will get it working soon.” Brian said, sitting next to Arissa.
“Who is Sam?” Alexander asked.
“Oh, just the resident handyman. Although some folks have a harsher name for him.” Brian looked at the other man, seeing if he was interested in the knowledge he had to give.
“Sam es trabaja por ciudad de –Ungerford?” Arissa said, apparently interested in the name.
“Sorry girl, I dunno what…uh…traba-hah means, but I caught the word Hungerford. That’s this town, so yes. Or, uh, si!” Brian said. Arissa looked happy, although none of the other men could guess why. Alexander turned to Brian.
“Harsher name?” He was curious as to what Brian meant.
“Hah. Yeah. Wanna know?” Brian said, glad he got the other man’s ear.
“Sure. I’m curious.” Alexander replied.
“Well, nigger-Sam is his name. Or that’s what some of the others say.” Alexander looked shocked.
“That’s something I don’t want to hear again, Brian. It’s not right.” Alexander replied with anger.
“Sorry, man. Was just sayin’.” Brian said, getting angry with the high-and-mighty Alexander. “Anyway, he’ll come around soon. He always checks the elevators when the power goes out.”
“Good. It’s starting to get hot in here.” Alexander said as he slouched down to the floor. An hour passed with no activity other than a few simple gestures between the three. Alexander was starting to get annoyed with the situation. To prevent sweating he took off his suit-jacket. Brian and Arissa looked hot, but hadn’t bothered to change. In anger, Alexander began to bang on the elevator door.
“Hello!” He yelled. “We’re trapped in here!”
“Now calm down, man. You scarin’ the girl!” Brian said, looking at Alexander who was starting to get nervous.
“Problem?” Arissa said, and Brian shook his head.
“Nah, no problemo girl.” Brian replied, smiling. He could tell she was starting to get bored. He was too.
“So, Alexander, what makes you come all the way down here?”
“Well, that’s complicated. And, frankly, it’s no concern to you so I don’t want to bore you with the details.” Alexander shuffled around with his phone. “Jesus, we’ve been stuck in here over an hour. Where is this Sam-guy?” Alexander shouted.
“Maybe he’s stuck somewhere, too. Heh, I dunno. Strange that no one has checked these things yet.”
A loud sound came from the front of the elevator. All three stared, wondering what was happening now. Shortly after the first noise, they spotted a crowbar sticking at the top of the seam. Slowly, the door was pried open.
“Well sorry bout that guy’s. De entire town is dead. Nobody knows what happened, but it ain’t comin’ back anytime soon.” They all stared at the top of the elevator door, where Sam stuck his head through.
“How the hell are we supposed to get up there? I didn’t realized this damned shaft was enclosed in concrete!” Alexander yelled.
“Yeah it’s old. Place been ‘round since before I was born. Anyway, if you three can help lift each other, I can pull de third one up!” Sam said as he wedged the elevator door open.
“Well then, I think it would be gentlemanly of us to help Arissa first, don’t you think…Alex?” Brian said, his face gave a wide smile and his teeth were in full display. Alexander noticed he was missing a few of them. Perturbed that this man called him Alex, he went over to Arissa and motioned her to the door. She smiled as they both offered to lift her up.
“Alright Brian. On the count of three. One! Two! Three!” Alexander said as they lifted her up. Brian noticed something metallic on Alexander’s side and prepared to move himself if needed. Sam grunted as he began to pull her through the small opening. Without paying attention, he accidentally kicked the crowbar, causing the elevator to shut.
“Dammit.” Brian said. Before anything else could be spoken, Alexander pulled out a gun and pointed it to his head.
“Finally got the girl out. Now we can finish this.” Alexander said, but as he pulled the trigger, Brian ducked and the bullet missed his head. Instead it slammed into the side of the elevator wall and the ricochet smacked Alexander in the shoulder. “Argh!” Alexander yelled as Brian knocked him to the floor.
“I knew who you were the moment you came in here, Alex boy!” Brian said, smiling wickedly. They could hear Sam trying to get the elevator opened, but the movements of the two men caused the elevator to shift. They heard Arissa scream as the elevator creaked.
“Looks like we’re trapped in here. Oh well. I smelled you the second you came in here. You gave yourself away when you said this was your second visit here. Last time you came my brother was killed. Shame your technology wasn’t working. Guess that’s cuz my boys wrecked the cell phone towers.” Brian slammed his fist hard into Alexander’s head. The man fell to the floor, unconscious. Brian opened his mouth, and the teeth that were originally missing popped out. He bit Alexander hard on the neck. After he was finished, he propped his body and climbed up to the top. He broke the ceiling hatch and jumped out. All Sam and Arissa heard was a sinister laugh as Brian crawled through the shaft to make his escape.

Folks Are Still Doing This Now?

I do understand that violent movies, games, and etc. can and will affect children, but when does the parent step in and actually, I don't know...parent the child? Mature rated games, rated R movies, even Parental Guidance music requires someone 17 or older to purchase. And yes, some employees at some stores don't enforce this, but the majority does. People need to stop blaming entertainment, and blame the parent that allowed the underage child to have that violent game, movie, or music in the first place.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/oklahama-state-rep-wants-violent-game-tax-6349668

There are two problems with Fourkiller’s statement about games.

1) 1) The man that apparently stole a cop car, and shot people, was actually mentally deranged. In fact, the game Grand Theft Auto had nothing to do with his actions. The man just came unhinged, and since people ignored the warning signs, he went on a slight rampage.

2) 2) The Rockstar game, Bully, is a bit of a misnomer. For starters, it is true you could sort of wreck havoc in the game as a quasi-bully, in truth you were an anti-hero facing off against “snobby rich kids that look down on anyone that has no money.” On top of that, you went against the actual bullies of the school, and even the terrorizing problems the faculty represent.

Now, it is true that Rockstar set themselves up with the title. They gave this game that title on purpose. Rockstar has always done that, though, they try and get a rise out of people.

So, Mr. Fourkiller is a bit worse, though, because he was once a teacher. He should know, BY EXPERIENCE, how hard it is to deal with children (especially those that parents don’t really involve themselves with the situations at hand). So, it seems inexcusable that he blames violent games instead of lack of parenting. Where is the blame against the music you hear on the radio? How about the television shows that depict violence and death (along with sexuality) on a regular basis?

Now, again, there is a LOT of parents that have to work all day. That leaves precious time for their children. The easy argument is to state, “Well, those people shouldn’t have children, obviously!” That isn’t something that is easy to come by. So, it is really easy to provide children with entertainment so that the parent can have some kind of respite from the day. It is so easy to cave in to a child’s demands so that you can just breathe!

And no, I don’t have children; I don’t know what it is like. So I do feel slightly wrong for making statements such as “Parents need to PARENT their children.” It is easy to dismiss any of my statements because I just don’t know. But I was a child in this situation. Thankfully, I had a mother (and grandparents) that explained the violence, and actually went out of their way to insure I knew right from wrong and that I understood the violence and sexuality shown were revealed as fantastical elements and things I should never do in real life.

Also, I had the advantage of being in an age where video games were not that, well, realistic. I had the NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis during my youth. Sure, Mortal Kombat and Doom were pretty violent, but I knew from the get-go it was a fantasy and it never brought about violent rages in me.

The people that are affected by these things are actually affected by a lot more than just games. More than movies and music. The ones that commit horribly violent crimes are more than likely not right in the head, or missed out on the right life lessons usually provided by parents or proper role models.

So I should amend my argument, it’s not just that parents need to PARENT their children, but that society as a whole needs to actually become a true society. We should support each other; provide each other with that role model that inspires us to be our absolute best. On top of that, people need to be a bit more observant. We get those PSA’s all the time about speaking up against bullying, against domestic abuse, against drug abuse. Well, we actually need to do those things. Many times, the extreme violence people commit is avoidable if people would actually speak up when they see danger signs. Unfortunately, people hate being snitches. People hate being confrontational, people don’t like it when others act weird. Instead, we’ll just ignore them or comment about it being their backs in harmful ways.

I’m not saying we are horrible people; it’s just natural for people to back away from things that freak them out. It is so much easier to do that then actually try and see what’s going on. I’ve done it myself a few times, so I know how it is.

Well, I’ve gone off on a tangent. Anyways. Now it is time for the epic conclusion of this blog.

People need to stop blaming entertainment for all of our faults and the ills of the world! Seriously! Or better yet, if you are going to gang up on video games, gang up on all of it. You do realize that at prime time on BROADCAST television we get shows like Criminal Minds, Cold Case, Bones, Law & Order SVU, shows that depict violence, often in a fairly graphic manner. Seeing as all you need is a modern TV, you can see all of this for free.

In contrast, video games are a lot more expensive. Not only do you need to buy the box to play them on, along with said modern TV, but you spend at least $60 for new games. On top of that, there is a rating system in place for games, and most major retailers check ID’s if you look underage for Mature rated games. So there is a proper system in place to prevent kids from playing these games. So on average, who buys these games?

Welllll, remember that whole parents and parenting thing? In most cases, the parent actually comes by the register, buys the game, and hands it to their kid. Now, the latest excuse is “Oh I didn’t know about how the games are rated!”

Really? The box cover art clearly states Grand Theft Auto, or in the case of Gears of War you have the characters with huge chainsaw guns with blood everywhere. Yeah, you sure didn’t know. PAY ATTENTION! Most retailers are awesome enough to post somewhere near the games the ratings explanation. Even better, the registers will beep and show off the words (in capital letters) CUSTOMER OVER AGE 17? Same goes for rated R movies and Parental Guidance music.

So, come on folks. We need to stop blaming entertainment, and focus on ourselves when it comes to searching for the problems we have in society.