A time ago I participated in a community writing competition, I didn't manage to win in my group but it was my first writing competition ever, so I'm just glad that I finished through with my work instead of quitting halfway. The story I sent in was the first draft of this work, I really liked the idea of it and tinkered with the text after the competition and reworked some bits. Not going to spoil anything else, so here you go, let me present to you: Experience.
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Experience
First Chapter
“Hey there,” said the voice to the youngster.
Andrew stopped his weeping and looked up, focusing his tear-stained eyes on the source of the voice. It was another boy around his age, a young teenager with tousled short brown hair, dark eyes of worry and an uncertain smile plastered on the face. The youngster wore a black jacket, a yellow scarf and some weathered jeans ending in a pair of brown boots.
“Hey, you okay?” asked the teen. “What’s wrong?”
The moon shone brightly in the dark, illuminating the swing that Andrew sat previously to calm down. The chains on the swing he sat on gave a screech as he quickly wiped his tears and stood up preparing to leave, not wanting any more trouble tonight.
“No please,” said the boy with the dark eyes. He reached out with both his hands with open palms and slowly took a step back. “Don’t leave. I was just passing by and heard a voice, I just want to help.” The eyes looked straight into Andrews with something behind them. They reminded him of his mother, the same look whenever he came home with bruises and not wanting to talk about it.
As Andrew stood up, he noticed that he was a head taller than the stranger and hesitated. It’s not like the shorter boy was intimidating.
“It’s embarrassing crying in public,” acknowledged the stranger. “I know this, but sometimes, you just have to let it out.” He carefully took a step closer towards Andrew without breaking eye contact, trying to gauge how the teary-eyed felt. Since the previous crying boy continued to stand still, the stranger took another careful step.
“I’m Stuart,” the teen presented himself. “The closest I’ve ever gotten with a girl is a peck on the cheek and the girl slapped me afterwards. This happened maybe two months ago. I like strawberries, I hate broccoli. Like to watch basketball, ain’t that big of a fan of football - either of them. I like games but who really doesn’t in this day and age.”
Andrew listened to the boys rambling and decided that the person wasn’t scary and gave Stuart a nod. The other boy then pointed at the swing next to the taller boy and raised his left eyebrow in a questioning look. Andrew nodded once more and Stuart sat down next to him.
The playground filled with silence as the two boys didn’t speak up. The brown haired Stuart kicked on the sand, drawing simple figures with his legs and occasionally glancing towards Andrew. The other boy didn’t even twitch a muscle, staring at the sand in front of his feet, unblinking.
This continued on for almost a full minute before smaller boy broke the stillness.
“Tough day?”
It was spoken so casually, something a friend would ask after a long day. Not filled with worry, more like wanting to state a fact but that would be too rude so instead layered as a question.
“You can say that again,” answered Andrew still looking down at the sand.
“I see, hang in there,” said Stuart. After a moment of thought, he added “It’s like, you know, when you get stuck in a game and you get frustrated. Put the game down for a minute and next time you try it will get better.”
“Thanks but I don’t think that works for me,” responded the taller boy.
“Had a hard time at work?” continued the brown-haired teen, leaning closer.
“No, it was...something else.”
“Oh, okay.”
Silence filled the air again, and Andrew took a look at Stuart. The brown-haired boy was once again drawing figures with his legs, not prodding for more details. Just trying to be close by, in case Andrew wanted some comfort or wanted to talk about it.
After another moment, the taller boy took a deep breath and finally told someone else what happened.
“I got robbed.”
“What?!” Stuart turned around so quickly that the swing spun him almost a whole circle. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m still in one piece,” said Andrew finally looking at the other boy, maybe not in the eyes but still at that direction.
“Oh good. Uhm, you did great,” said Stuart and punched Andrew's shoulder softly accompanied with a small smile.
It was so contagious that even Andrew smirked, but then he turned crestfallen again.
“The robber attacked me with a knife, we fought and somehow the knife ended in his stomach,” Andrew said with a low voice as his eyes lowered down to the sand once again.
“Oh,” said Stuart slowly. “Is the robber…?” He left the question unfinished.
“Yeah, he’s dead,” Andrew’s voice was cold and short. “Or probably dead, I ran away as soon as I realized what happened.”
“Hey, it was an accident,” said Stuart. “No one is going to blame you, and if you want - no one will know that it was you.” He then stood up from his swing.
“But hey, can I check up on that guy? He might still be alive and I could call an ambulance. I won’t say anything about you, just gonna’ say that I took a stroll and found the guy there. I don’t even know your name, right?”
Andrew’s eyes widened, staring the other boy in fear. His body tensed up like he was preparing to flee and this made Stuart backpedal.
“Nonono, I’m not leaving because I’m scared of what you’ve done. I just said that no one is going to blame you...I mean…”
Stuart sighed, calmed himself down and took out his cell phone.
“Look, I will call the emergency line here, and say that I heard a fight occur on the street which the accident happened, I will say that I don’t dare go near, just asking them to check it just in case, okay? I will speak it here where you will hear me. No bullshit.”
The brown-haired boy unlocked his phone and gave it to Andrew, letting him decide.
The scared boy looked at the device for a long time. He then took a deep breath and returned it.
“Please save him,” pleaded Andrew.
Stuart gave a smile and patted the taller boy’s shoulder and called. “By the way, what’s your name?”
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“So, you do this often?” asked Andrew.
The two boys were once again on the swings. After Stuart asked for help and gave the address to the emergency helpline, Andrew felt a bit more comfortable with the smaller boy and decided to get to know more about this kind stranger.
“Do what?” responded Stuart with a distracted look.
“You know, walk during the night and trying to cheer up people?” said Andrew. “Maybe walking back and forth before approaching them?”
“Ehm, you saw me?”
“Yeah, I saw your shadow behind the wall. It flickered so I thought it was a fire or light from a lamp or something but it was you going back and forth wondering if you should approach me - right?”
“Yeah…” said Stuart. “Sorry.” He sighed and leaned back on his swing, his eyes staring at the moon and the darkness, enveloping the scenery in his mind as he gathered his thoughts.
“I’m still not sure when I should approach people - I’ve learned that some prefer the comfort of silence and that they just need a moment to heal. Others want someone near to listen to their worries. But it’s so difficult knowing which one it is, and I’ve gotten hell for it.”
“Oh, like what?” asked Andrew curiously.
“Well...there was this one time I approached a crying elder woman, tried to ask what was wrong and she said ‘nothing’. But I remember my old dad saying that if a woman said that nothing was wrong, then there was something seriously wrong. Apparently, my father was the wrong one.”
A smirk bloomed on Andrew’s face as Stuart told about his previous experiences. It was soothing, and somehow comforting to know that there was a person that could so openly share his stories whether it was embarrassing or not.
“Why do you do this?” asked the bigger teen.
This time Stuart didn’t respond immediately. “Hmm...that’s a bit more personal. Let me think about it,” he said.
“If it’s uncomfortable, you don’t have to,” replied Andrew quickly.
“Naa it’s not that,” said Stuart shaking his head. “It’s just that I haven’t even told my parents about this so I just feel a little bad that they aren’t the first ones to know this.”
The shorter boy took a deep breath and started to explain.
“You see, I always loved those superhero movies and comics. They were inspiring and comforting. Always there for the ones in need. I aspired to be one of them. But of course, I don’t have any superpowers so it would just be dumb to try and save the world and things like that. I tried to help a stranger when a gang assaulted them but it just ended with both of us getting beat up.“
Stuart touched his left cheek as if remembering the feeling of punches and kicks.
“So helping people physically need to happen later when I’ve gained a bit more experience and strength. But I still want to do something so I decided to walk around during the evenings and nights to simply be a friend to those who needed one. Listening to their stories and worries and cheering them up. You don’t need superpowers to help someone, just a moment of your time means a lot.”
Andrew listened with wide eyes and ears not understanding how a small guy like Stuart could have goals so huge.
“How long you’ve been doing this?” he asked.
“Taking my walks? Maybe six months now,” said Stuart.
“And your parents don’t know?”
“I think they know that I go out at night even though I try to sneak out when they’re asleep, but they still haven’t said anything. Either they trust me or they just think it’s the teenage-hormones that need to be let out,” said Stuart with a grin and shrugging his shoulders.
“Your parents seem really nice,” said Andrew with a small smile of his own.
Stuart nodded. “Agreed.” He then stood up brushing off the sand from his pants and boots. “You alright?”
“Yeah, I think so. Thanks for staying with me,” said Andrew. “Hey, anything I could - “
But the taller youth suddenly screamed and fell back on his swing. The shorter one flinched and looked around with an alarmed expression but no one was close by. He then looked back at his friend who was still on the ground. But the tall friend's eyes were locked on something a few feet in front of him.
“What is it?” Stuart asked urgently and helped the bigger teen up.
Andrew’s eyes were still wide and his mouth was gaping. He raised his right hand and pointed in front of him.
“You don’t see this?” asked Andrew.
“See what?”
“This message, it popped up out of nowhere!” Andrew's voice was almost a hysterical shrill.
“Okay…” said Stuart hesitantly. He tried to look at the thing Andrew pointed but there was only thin air. He tried to figure out what to say without scaring the other boy. “What does it say?”
“Y-You don’t see it?” The confusion was rampant in the taller teen’s eyes.
“Honestly, I don’t see it,” answered Stuart shaking his head. “But you can describe it for me. What does it say?”
Andrew swallowed hard before he responded:
“Congratulations, you gained a level.”
