#1 Today I died
As the title says. We follow the last day in the life of 'Robert Thompson'. A human nobody on planet Earth.
And the writer said; "Let there be story!"
After reading so many wonderful stories from the creative minds of SoFurry, I finally felt a need to put my underutilized imagination to use and write something myself.
This is a story, which I imagined into being 5 years ago as I write this, that started out shamelessly based on myself and what eventually turned into my Fursona.
Since then I have mulled over, remade, remastered, re-invented and re-structured countless times as I threw out the painfully obvious 'Deus Ex Machina's and fleshed out the whats, the hows, the whys and the 'why not's every time I had nothing better to do. In that time it has evolved from a simple fantasy about being a dragon to an epic tale and an actual long-winded story containing: love, loss, a good dose of off-brand Determination (Pre-Undertale), death, freedom, magic, (mad?)science, and more.
Now a few words of warning before you delve beyond this introductory explanation to my introduction to writing:
I have never written a story for the public before and have no experience in pacing, overarching story development and all those other very important, meaningful words.
I have never attended any school of writing (Not even the public ones no one has ever heard about :/ ) or taken up any heavy factual literature on how to write its prettier, more captivating cousin; fiction.
And that means I certainly have no idea what I am doing other then making a very long piece of text with something that may resemble a story on a furry site.
Hopefully those 5 years have done to the story what they would do to wine grapes: Turned a mash of ingredients into a rich solution of pure wonder.
Well then. Here we go!
(Note 1 of 2: This work touches upon personal ideas on the concepts of life, of death, and of life after death. The concept of 'after-life' in this work does not conform very well, if at all, to any existing concepts set by organised religions on Earth. If you can not handle concepts of life after death outside of your religion or personal belief, I do not recommend you read any further.)
(Note 2 of 2: Later chapters will contain heterosexual inter-species romance and eventual sex. If you are under the age of 18 or not comfortable perusing pornographic material featuring human-on-nonhuman relationships, you should not read this story.(Why are you on SoFurry!?))
(EDIT: I am constantly improving my writing as I work on this story, and as such I keep noticing new errors, mistakes and pieces I need to change. There are bound to be many new edits long after I publish a chapter as I improve further. I have, in fact, already edited the first 3 chapters numerous times as I write this.)
Chapter #1: Today I died:
My phone came to life with the screech of an alarm, the clock was 07:00 and I had work today.
Thoroughly programmed by 17 years of alarms, it woke me up instantly.
Jolted into sudden awareness of the waking world I swing out of bed and up on my feet with speed and precision only habit can grant, moving to silence the infuriating slab of black plastic before anyone else is woken up.
The screen lights up, it displays the alarm screen, I move my thumb over the 'Cancel' button, and I press it.
Rapturous silence fills the room and my brain, as it no longer registers the sonic poker that was jabbed into it repeatedly with each blare of alarm, and throttles down.
I deflate as the tension leaves me, contemplating whether or not to get ready for the day or sleep 15 more minutes trying to catch that dream I can barely remember.
It had dragons in it. Something about magic... I'm already forgetting what the goal was... Great. I lost it.
I sigh: "...Damn it"
If I don't stay up those 15 minutes turn into an hour anyway. Or 3...
Clothes slowly appear on my body as I work my way through the delayed morning haze.
I head to the bathroom, do natures bidding, and remember to wash my hands before brushing my teeth (I'm half-asleep, not a savage).
Then I look into the mirror and study the creature looking back at me:
Pale, Nordic skin; check.
Square face; check.
Flat nose; check.
Brown bed-hair encroaching on the eyes and in need of a cut? Check.
Strong, bushy eyebrows; Check.
Cheeks that are just a little too round; Check.
Long beard stubble that enhances physical maturity and balances out the cheeks; check.
Grey-blue eyes reflecting just how average everything is; Check.
Yup, that is me; one 'Robert Thompson' mirrored with every 20-year-old detail of my manly self.
I wash my face with a hot, wet towel and liberally apply a comb to the bed-hair until it straightens out to its normal shape and volume.
Bathroom routine over, I move out into the hallway; Past my brother's room, which is empty. Mom and dads room is the same.
Figures. I could have left my phone on my desk, it heralding doomsday, and no one would have complained about the noise.
Downstairs, on the first floor, my mother is sitting in the sofa lounge watching morning-TV "Good morning, Robert."
"Good morning" I mirror back at her as I move to the kitchen.
The family still lives under one roof, and we love each other the way only family can, but we just don't have that idyllic nuclear-family bond.
We have our moments, but the lack of common interests in the family make them few.
I open the fridge and look it over before deciding on making an omelette.
I place the pan on the oven and turn the heating element on, just hot enough to melt butter without burning it.
I crack 3 eggs, and pour roughly 2 deciliters of milk in a bowl. Add salt, pepper and 2 cloves of minced garlic.
Then I stir it until everything mixes together to become egg-yolk yellow.
By the time I am done stirring, the pan is hot enough. I melt a bit of butter in it and pour the mixture in the butter puddle.
The entire bottom is cooked solid in seconds and I add slices of cheese and ham on the top.
The aroma of cooked egg and garlic fills the kitchen, then I realize I forgot the thyme!
I sprinkle the herb over the nearly finished omelette and fold one half of it over the other.
Before it solidifies completely I find a plate and gently lift it out of the pan.
Golden-brown egg glistens in a slight butter shine and the scent of Mediterranean spice choices completes the sensory assault that only makes me realize just how hungry I am.
I sit down and begin eating at once; "Mmmh!" I exclaim, thinking to myself; *Damn. I outdid myself today. This is a really good omelette!*
After finishing the exquisite plate, I put it in the dishwasher and go back to my room.
I turn on my PC and am greeted by the lovely dragoness I have as my background.
I think back to the dream I had this morning and try to dislodge a memory.
Something.
Anything..
Nothing...
But I am more awake now than I were before and instead I feel a need. I feel like moving. Doing today's effort to stay in shape.
Today I don't have work until later in the afternoon, and I'm bored of all my games, so why not go for a walk.
I turn off the PC and look around my room, trying to find everything I need.
When I come down I have more clothes on and light headphones around my neck "Mom! I'm going for a walk. I'll be back in an hour."
"Okay. Remember to watch for cars before you cross the road!" she answers, then I am out the door.
I put on the headphones and thumb through my library of music in an app, thanks to the *'mighty power of the internet!' * (Cue choir singing praise.)
A fast electronic beat fills my ears and the world feels more alive, more interesting.
I turn it up and I move. Starting with a walk, just moving while immersing myself in the music. Then it turns into a light jog.
Today I have an overwhelming need to walk in nature. And the good thing about living in a Norwegian city with just a 5-digit population; nature isn't far away.
The jog takes me into the valley. Soon the Norwegian suburbs are completely replaced by woods and untamed marshland and I am walking along rarely used forest roads with more pot-holes per road then cars going by in a year.
I go down a snaking road built into the cliff-side. I know it exits on the main road, but I plan on turning back again at the end and retrace the trip.
*This place is always so nice in the summer. Just around the corner here... Aha, there it is!*
It's a beautiful place. Hidden in a small corner between cliffs is a waterfall. The road curves in towards the fall before it continues over to the other side.
The bridge is an old concrete bridge with the waterfall to the right from where I stand.
It looks good because of age, moss and other plants having stared to grow on it.
To the left, a few meters bellow, a birch forest stands tall. A few coniferous trees breaking the ranks at places.
It's a roof of light green leaves and rays of sunshine. The place has a serene aura that can withstand even the heavy electronic beating in the headphones.
and then I hear it: *What's that honking? Wait...* I start to turn around.
Just as I get a look behind me through the corner of my eye, a car hits me from behind.
The entire world simply falls out from under me and stands still for a moment... Then it starts again:
I get thrown onto the hood, smashed against the windshield, bounce off onto the road hitting it with the back of my head and roll a few meters.
Everything is silent. I don't hear music any more. The headphones must have fallen off, and I'm just lying here looking at the road railing.
*I should get up. I don't feel that bad. Must have been a low-speed collision.*
Then I remember the muffled sound of screeching rubber. Like the sound was delayed.
I try to move. Nothing happens...
*I can't feel my legs. Did I damage my spine?*
Then I realize I can't feel my arms either.
*I don't feel much of anything... Am I even breathing?_*
*I know I should be worried, but... I have never felt so ... calm.*_
A middle-aged man now stands besides me, panicked. He's talking to someone on the phone. I still can't hear anything.
Now he is looking at me. He's bending down, and now he's compressing my chest.
*He knows how to do CPR, that's good. That's handy in an emergency ... Heh.*
The world grows darker, it's still silent.
The man has tears in his eyes.
*I feel ... nice. I'm getting sleepy.*
The world looks dark as a rainy day.
He's still doing CPR...
*Feeling ... sleepy...*
It's so dark it's looking like night time now.
He's not giving up, is he.
*Sssleepy ... ugh, internet ... history...*
The world fades. Everything is black. There is nothing.
Thu-thump...
That marks the end of chapter 1. I appreciate any feedback and comments you can give.
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