Tony

Tony sat staring at the computer screen, a thousand knots forming in his little stomach.

Somewhere outside a sprinkler hissed in the darkness of the night.

A newspaper sat unnoticed outside a door.

A television grumbled and rumbled away, pulling two faces deep into itself.

Streaming away on the screen was video after video of people attacking Tony’s character, his appearance and the way he spoke.

Some videos were cut together from different occasions, creating a stronger illusion of stupidity than Tony was really comfortable with.

Other videos were simply combined with superimposed footage, making fun of Tony’s looks, or habits, or hobbies.

And even though for some reason, Tony couldn’t stop watching, he felt incredibly sad watching them all.

It was almost as though the world had taken the chance to make a fool of him, just because he finally had a chance of being listened to, of representing the people who were watching.

Tony didn’t quite understand it and felt, quite frankly, confused and upset over this vulgar display.  He didn’t mean to come across as an idiot.  He really was trying to help.

When Tony woke up the next morning, he’d forgotten about the night before.  All the videos, all the online comments concerning his public image, had faded away with a good sleep.

Tony got up, went downstairs and started preparing his breakfast without a worry in the world.

But, when he sat down at the table to eat, there was a low grumbling coming from outside.

The window frame began to shake.

Angry screams started to sound from somewhere outside.

Tony, confused, rose from the kitchen table and went to the window in his kitchen, leaving his vegemite toast to grow cold on the table.

Outside, to poor Tony’s dismay, a huge crowd had gathered.

The signs they held displayed similar sentiments to those he’d seen the night before and all of a sudden everything came rushing back.

My God, Tony thought.  They’re going to kill me.

The crowd drew nearer to Tony’s house.

And nearer.

And Tony, not knowing at all what to do or how to appease the angry crowd, shrank down, clutching his knees down below the kitchen sink.

Across from him the vegemite toast grew colder.

A loud banging sounded from the front door.

And then the sound of wood splitting.

Tony, not knowing what to do, remained crouched below the sink, very, very afraid.

I’ve done something wrong, Tony told himself.

I’ve done something very wrong.

Blip and Bleep

There was once a Blip. A particular type of Blip, this Blip was. One of a kind. For now, its name is simply Blip. Blip the Blip (or Blip the unique type of Blip).

Blip did not know exactly how long it had existed for. It knew it had been quite some time, though. During that time, from what Blip could recall—things were, admittedly, a little hazy for Blip—things had been generally okay. Nothing too bad had happened.

Blip had come to exist, at some point, and had continued to do so right up until now.

And now.

And right now.

But just now, Blip began to feel something different. Something had, as if from absolutely nowhere at all, appeared; and this thing made Blip feel a different way to what Blip would normally feel. This feeling, though of course Blip couldn't put a name to it (Blip didn't really speak, but rather made little noises whenever they decided to arise), was a feeling of being unsettled; eventually, this very same feeling would turn into sadness; and finally, though Blip don't yet know or feel it, to loneliness.

When the change first came, Blip made a new noise. Blip sighed.

(The sigh would be equivalent to the words, Oh no! I feel different and I don't know what to do!)

But Blip couldn't speak. Blip could only sigh.

And sigh and sigh and sigh.

Blip wandered around more than ever now. The world Blip inhabited had been relatively small until the coming of the sigh; only this new feeling, this new expression, had driven Blip to explore the boundaries surrounding what Blip already knew.

Who knows, Blip thought, Maybe there is an answer out there.

And, in a way, there was. But it didn't come from the world Blip was exploring; it came from Bloop.

Bloop was kind of like Blip, but in some ways very different. When Blip first saw Bloop, the world seemed to shift in its entirety. Like the universe had sneezed and in the tumultuous uproar had produced something new.

And though, again, Blip couldn't quite explain it logically, another new feeling arose. This feeling was something like what we would call ‘fascination’.

Bloop was, it seemed, a very beautiful type of Blip. A very, very beautiful one indeed.

From the get go, in fact, Blip experienced a shortness of breath. This took some time to subside. Often, Blip would find that no breath was moving at all; nothing in, nothing out.  It was almost as though Blip was choking on thin air.

For longer and longer moments, things would be quite still for Blip, but a tightness would form inside. This, Blip would figure out one day, had something to do with the sigh. Though for now, he didn't quite know what the link was.

All the while, Bloop would prance and dance around as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Meeting Blip hadn't really affected Bloop too much; if anything, Bloop danced and sang more. Because that's what Bloop had always done: danced and sang.

One day, some time after Blip met Bloop, Bloop stopped dancing and singing and went over to Blip, who was still choking on air trying to breathe.

Blip, Bloop said, Are you alright?

Blip, at this point, was choking harder than ever.

In fact, the only point at which Blip stopped choking was when Blip needed to release a sigh.  So, really, all Blip could do at this point was choke, and sigh.

Poor Bloop simply couldn’t understand what was wrong with Blip.  All Bloop could think to do was to take Blip’s little hands, sway them back and forth, and try to get Blip to dance with her.

When she did this, Blip began to change.  The choking redness of his face changed to a colour much like the blueness of the sky.

Anf for some reason, which Bloop could not at all explain, she became very pink in the face.

As if on cue, Blip now stopped choking.

And stopped sighing.

And Blip and Bloop started dancing and breathing together.

And the way they danced was so beautiful, that neither of them really took notice of the world anymore.

Blip could breathe and had stopped sighing, while Bloop finally had someone to dance with.

It was almost as if Blip and Bleep were meant to find one another.

Al-most.

My Mummy's Daddy

One day, when I got home from school, my Mummy decided to tell me about crazy people.

Her Daddy, she said was a crazy man.  And she told me lots of stories about how crazy he was, and what he would do when his craziness came out of him.

Sometimes, she told me, her Daddy would think he was in the war again.

He would board up the windows and in terror await the coming of his enemies.

Other times, he would think the government was coming after him because he’d done something wrong.

He would hide away, trying to avoid being caught.

He would pull up the floorboards, thinking that the government was listening to his every move.

He would even, my Mummy told me, accuse his wife of being with other men besides himself.

This, Mummy told me, made him angriest of all.

One day, my Mummy’s Mummy got really sick.

And her Daddy was so crazy, that when she grew sicker and had to go to hospital, he thought she was making the whole thing up, and was really just going to the hospital to visit a doctor she’d fallen in love with.

When she told me this, I couldn’t believe it.

My Mummy’s Daddy was so in love with her Mummy that he thought she was in love with a doctor in the hospital.  When really, she was just sick.

When Mummy finished telling me about craziness, I went to my room and drew a picture of my grandparents, holding hands.

I thought to myself, Wow.  Falling in love must be the craziest thing in the world.

But it sounds wonderful.

Willy

There was once a man named Willy.

Willy, among other things, loved music.

I mean, Willy really, really loved it.  So much, that he’d listen to music every day.

He’d listen to music in the morning, while making breakfast.

He’d listen to music at work, with his earphones.

Willy would even listen to music late at night, as he drifted off to sleep.

One day, after years and years of enjoying music every day, Willy started to feel strange.  By strange, I mean Willy began to feel a little lighter.  Almost as though a whole lot of weight had been taken off his back.

This sensation, which at first Willy loved, eventually began to grow.  When this first started, Willy felt even greater.  He felt as if he could float out into space with his earphones in, away from the world, with nothing able to hurt him.  He was, at that time, as free as a bird flying through space.

But then, after a little while, Willy felt something new.  This new feeling was slightly uncomfortable.  It made Willy (even though he was still very, very light) feel a little bit uneasy.  So uneasy, that he began to listen to a little less music than before.

After a short while, Willy found a way to describe this new feeling.  It was a feeling of floating too far away from the world.  Before, he’d always felt as though a magical tether had kept him connected to the earth’s surface.  Now, he couldn’t feel the tether at all.

In fact, after some time, he didn’t feel attached to anything at all.  Willy now felt as though he were floating through empty space, the Earth completely out of view.  And furthermore, Willy now felt he had to listen to his music; if he didn’t, he was sure he would float faster and further away, and never be able to find his way home.

Now, far, far out in space, Willy floated, his eyes closed and his earphones in.  The music blared and vibrated into Willy’s head.

Now, all alone but for the endless music playing in his ears, Willy floated away, deep into space, eyes closed and in a state almost like sleep.

And he floated.

And floated.

And floated.

Until finally, after a long, long period of time, Willy’s music player ran out of battery.

And then Willy woke up.