With a glass full of chill vodka in one hand and a doraemon pen in the other, Wren stares at the ever so puzzling math problems lying in front of her.
I do be regretting my college choices.
She scribbles some anime figures on the surface of her desk, fills in a few random numbers in the blanks on the paper, texts her friends and after awhile, throws her hands into the air as if surrendering to the questions.
“Why don’t you solve your own problems, eh?” And with that, she pushes her chair, the legs producing an annoying screech on the floor, though remaining unaffected by it and stalks to the window with the refreshing vodka in her hand.
Twinkling stars expand in the dimness of the sky, bats flapping and dipping their wings in the luminescence of the silver halo hanging in the lonely airspace. Wren gulps down the spicy, briny water in a go, the spiciness of it running down her throat in and cooling in her stomach.
“Gonna drink away my problems from now on.” She lazily mutters to herself, sets down the glass on the dressing table and plops on her bed.
Gazing at the brown ceiling of her room and listening to her favourite pop music never fails to bring her sleep, the workload lurking behind her back like a dreaded eight-legged freak disappears just as soon as she plugs the earphones into her ears, cutting out the outside world. No, no, you’re wrong, she doesn’t want to let anyone think she’s depressed. She's not. Her mother, if talked about, doesn't want to do much with her; always distant even though they live under the same roof, eat the same food and above all, share the same blood. And the pressure from her college―let’s not talk about it! She worries too much and overthinks to a great depth.
This time, I'm dreamin’ about Thor, she thinks to herself and drifts off to a comfortable sleep.
~
Wren’s eyes flutter open, the sudden discontinuity of sleep exasperating her and vexing her to the point where she jerks up, ready to bark at that one darn soul who disrupted her sweet sleep. However, she closes her mouth like a fish as she takes in her surroundings; she’s dreaming, she’s aware of the atmosphere around her. She stands in a dark tunnel, light bulbs lining overhead and running off into distance and fading away in the tenebrosity. She gets up, scanning the tunnel, pupils dilating and adjusting to the murkiness, eyebrows furrowing in anxiety.
Turning a corner into a lane, Wren walks with slow, hesitant steps, contemplating how she could be lucid dreaming all of a sudden. Well, she had studied about dreams in her psychology class and was rather intrigued by it. She’s perturbed but ecstatic at the same time.
As she’s striding further into the tunnel, she stops when something wet drops on her shoulder. She lifts her hand to her shoulder and touches the substance, sticky and cold. Wren snaps her head towards the roof, eyes squinting to make out the figure attached to the roof. A pair of shiny beads stares back at her and in an instant, plunge on her chest, causing her to shriek and collapse to the ground.
Panic takes over Wren as a spider-like creature as big as a Labrador attacks her with its poisonous, hairy claws. Wren does her best to dodge the attacks, the creature’s drool drenching her torso. The monster manages to rip her sleeves, but fails to dig its claws into the skin.
Wren kicks the creature and it goes flying and drops with a squeal.
“What in the world?!” She exclaims in incredulity as she gets up, dusts off the dirt from her hips and grabs onto a pipe from a nearby metal crap.
The creature gets up and crawls towards Wren with its claws darted at her, followed by three of its cronies, their loud screeches resonating in the thick silence. Wren braces herself, prepared for the strike. Like an advancing army, the creatures charge at her and with the enemy’s effective blows, they scream and soar through the air before dropping dead to the ground.
“Tch, suckers!” Wren sighs, and then almost chokes on her own saliva as the surroundings around her change in front of own eyes. A veil of fog takes over and dissipates with a new view.
She stands in a lavender room, a tiny bed to one side, a study table in front of a window and toys scattered on the carpet—a child’s room. A little girl enters the room and arranges her toys in glee, ignoring or not aware of the presence when two older figures walk in, probably her parents and present her a huge stuffed teddy bear. The girl breaks down into tears and hugs her parents. Wren watches them and finds herself grinning from ear to ear, mentally replacing the girl and thinking of the people as her parents.
All of a sudden, her vision blackens and her head becomes heavy as if made out of a boulder, which due to the pull of gravity, results in disturbing her equilibrium and causes her to fall to the ground.
Wren jolts up, all sweaty and out of breath, her heart pounding and banging in her chest, threatening to break free from the rib cage. Everything is normal around her, her vodka glass staring back at her in silence.
The hassling kraas of the crows outside her window pulls her out of trance. She glances at her alarm clock which reads 9:30 a.m. and Saturday below it. She was lucid dreaming and fighting some wackadoodles and saw someone else’s dream? None of it sounds legit, but it bothers Wren so she jumps out of her bed and dashes downstairs.
“You have to listen to me. For once atleast, dang it!” Wren protests and clears her throat when her voice raises, her mother shooting her a questioning look.
“Ma, I was literally kicking some huge spiders’ butts!” She states and stops, wondering if she should have framed it better, to a more believable fact and not something a kid with a heightened imagination would blabber about.
Wren’s mother gives off a no-nonsense cackle and sets her bowl of pancake batter down on the table.
“You’re almost a big two and oh, right? I hope you’re aware of it, Wrennie. So, stop acting like a kid going insane over a normal dream.”
“I’m well aware of it, Ma,” Wren says and walks around the table to her mother. “And stop calling me by that name.”
Slamming the door hard behind her, Wren walks off with no place in mind. She scrolls through the contacts on her cellphone and calls her friend, Zaina.
“Ahem! I know this is…weird, but you gotta help me.” Wren says to Zaina sitting in front of her, sipping her dearest café milkshake.
“I wish I could help you and I do want to. But, this dream and some freaks you’re talking about is out of my hand,” Zaina says and gets up, slinging her purse around her shoulder. “Hate to break it to you, but you’re being delusional. Stop it.” And with that said, Zaina leaves her ‘delusional’ friend alone.
Not ready to let her friend think of her as a dipstick, Wren runs after Zaina, almost bumping her head on the glass window.
“Wait, please hear me out. Don’t be like my mother,” she shouts after her friend who doesn’t pay heed to her. “I swear the dream was real. O-one of them even scratched–“
What a bummer!
Zaina was done listening to the madcap stories of her friend.
Wren stands in front of the café, staring ahead of her and thinking how bizarre her dream actually is, that no one believes her.
“Oi, redhead!” A voice calls out, concerning Wren because she is certain she has red hair and no one visible outside the café has that colour.
She follows the source of the voice and finds a group of five guys hoarding around a ramshackle car in a garage, which she hadn’t taken note of when she reached the café.
A tall guy appears from behind the car and strides toward her, his tousled hair of a beautiful dark brown hue and a band of tattoo encircling his lower arm.
“Um..hi,” he says in an awkward tone as Wren stands fixed to her spot, guessing what he could be possibly wanting to talk about. “I kinda overheard you talking about a dream and…scratch.”
I’m confusion, Wren thinks to herself. So what if you heard me?
“Damn, I don’t know how to do this!” The guy looks back over his shoulder, hoping for a rescue.
“When’re you going to learn to speak properly, mate?” Another guy says and comes to stand next to his friend.
“Hello, this is Levi and I’m Ace and we heard you talk about a real dream?” He shrugs and crosses his arms over his chest. “And apparently, it is of importance to us, so we might like to have a talk and clarify some things with you.”
“Miss, you have to believe us. We know your lucid dreams aren’t just something normal,” a boy, with a forehead scar steps in beside the other two. “I had, just about, kicked a bucket. You see this? Crazy dude had fun knocking us over.”
The boy gestures to his forehead, a thin, yet visible scar marring his skin.
Realization dawns on Wren when the evidence eases everything.
All of them head towards the garage where Levi introduces Wren to the other boys in his group and begins his explanation for what Wren has her mind circulating around ever since the fight.
“What?! You mean I have a special ability? Like Spiderman?” Wren squeals at the over-enthusiastic boys’ outbursts.
“But why me? Why not that old lady sitting over there?” She points at the lady sitting on a bench outside the café.
“Dunno! All we can say is that more of us are becoming the holders of this ability. Reason is unknown.” Yuka says.
“Then, what about those creatures appearing and me becoming visible to other’s dreams?”
“Ah, that! If you’re still not aware of your ability, let me tell you, you fight people’s nightmares and it’s like a game; when the game is a victory, you see your client’s dream and you wake up, all fine and when it’s a defeat, you, like Markus, kick the bucket, although the pain is not like experiencing real pain and you’re dead in the dream.” Levi says and goes out of breath, huffing and tapping on his chest.
Pieces of the puzzle start to stick together for Wren. She had been successful in getting rid of the creatures as a result of which, she was able to witness her client’s dream.
“I know you have lots of questions, but let’s stop here and call it a day.” Levi says and with that, all of them go on their separate ways.
Wren reaches home to no sight of her mother, possibly in a kitty party with her friends. You see, she does care about her mother; yet, her mother wants to stay ignorant to the person who wishes to stay by her side like any other happy family.
Spending the entire day in the living room, watching her favourite shows and replaying the conversation they had earlier in her mind like a broken tape recorder, the sun heads low, letting the moon take its place and Wren goes to sleep, transfixed by what more could happen in her dream, which is if she ever has one.
~
Eerie noises invade Wren’s hush as she awakes, howls and screeches growing louder and louder and then, coming to a halt as if forcefully been put to sleep. Thick and murky trees surrounding her make it impossible for her to make out the presences advancing toward her, dense mist blocks her vision and the deadness of the night, chills her to the bones.
A terrified gasp escapes her mouth as three sinister, wolf-like beings step out from the woods, eyes glittering in the dark with black smoke rising from their heads as if sculpted out of smoke itself, extended razor sharp claws and prominent ribs jutting out of their bodies.
Wren’s senses are almost knocked out when someone pulls her behind a rock. Levi.
“You seeing this?” He utters in amusement, although his shivering, blood splattered body contradicts his expressions. He rests his long axe against the rock and turns back to Wren. ”They are horrendous, but I can’t wait to send the rest of ‘em home.”
Wren stares at him with eyes bulged out, her brain frozen, lips quivering and her hands trembling. “Am I really dreaming?”
“Did you notice the tattoo on my arm?” Levi asks to which Wren nods her head multiple times, like a lunatic. “It’s different now, look.”
“You know, people don’t always have nightmares, but when they do, we are there to get rid of them,” he says and gazes at Wren. “And multiple people can fight one nightmare, so I’m here with you.” Levi’s wink causes Wren to avert her direction, heat rising up her cheeks.
They bury themselves further into the dark as the monsters lurch past them, beaming eyes scrutinizing the masked woods and claws clashing against each other.
Within seconds, howls increase and too close to Wren.
No!
I didn’t even do anything. I don’t want to die doing nothing.
A giant snarls behind Wren causing Levi and her to yell and stagger back. Wren’s ankle twists as Levi slashes at the monster with his weapon. He rushes toward her and grabs onto Wren’s legs as the monster circles its claws around her waist, lifting her mid air and….
a/n: Am I cruel for kicking Wren's bucket? Welp, the story has two endings, it's upto your imagination. So, either prince charming saves Wren or prince wackadoodle devours her;)
If you were thrilled by even a 0.00123%, you've made my day!!! I've always loved the idea of lucid dreams, so if you've had any episodes of it, I'm all ears👂
And...'kick the bucket' is now my favourite word💅
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161 comments
Ah, I didn’t know you had a new story out but this was so so so good and I want a novel of it or at least something more because I love the idea of the plot and the characters and with your style of writing... amazing. I love it. :)
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Thank you soooo much, Rhonda😘😘 I've always been interested in learning about sleep paralysis or lucid dreams and i had missed on the superpower prompts a few weeks ago, and then this idea suddenly crossed my mind. Your comment made me so happy, you know🥰🤗
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As someone who is a big fan of all things sleep and dream related, I was just so curious to see what happened at the end! Pulled me right along. And yay, I’m glad it made you happy because good stories never fail to make me smile! 💖💖💖 it is dangerous how close my eye rolling emoji is to those heart emojis because that would completely change the tune of my comment. 💀
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Lmaooo....and i totally admire your works..they're so cooollll haha and also, i didn't finish the end on purpose because i couldn't think of a proper ending and you know, since it's supernatural, a happy ending wouldn't suit much and i wanted to leave the ending upto the readers' imagination. I feel so sorry for my character lol
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... what if it was all a Dream?
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Well, you could think of that. But, if it's happening in real life, it would sound more thrilling to know these things can actually happen.
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Amazing story! You had me hooked from the beginning! Please keep writing!
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Awww thanks so much!!! It means a lot and yesss of course, I'll keep writing:)))
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That’s amazing to hear and it was my pleasure!
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I read the first few paragraphs, thinking that it will be an emotional or a heart-warming tale. I'm totally surprised by how it turns out! :o
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Oohhh....I'm glad it turned out that way, a little twist. Thanks for enjoying it:D
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Oh wow I loved this! Lucid dreaming is very fascinating, I agree, and I love how you portrayed that in this story! The pictures added a very nice touch as well, I really liked that! Overall, amazing job with this story, it had me hooked and interested the entire time! Please keep writinggg!
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aww yayy thankss.
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yayyy you guys are becoming friendsss this makes me so happy
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ha yess. It's been a while since we last talked, so I'll check up on her real soon.
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help me upvote her? she doesn't really care ab points but i think it would be a fun surpriseee
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ye of course! Buuuut the surprise's been ruined cuz she fooking saw your message lmaoo
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You guyssss! You're both too sweet, I can't! ♥ Upvote for upvote so be prepared for some new points! (both of youuuu!)
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yayy you guys are becoming friendssss my hearttt
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Great story! Your writing style is really good. :)
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Thenks thonksss
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No problemoooooo
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Great story! The end is good. Keep writing!
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Thank you so much!!
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Great plot. Superb story. It was very thrilling and I loved reading it. Would you mind reading my "The secret of power?"
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Thank you so much and sure.
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Hi, I looked at your art on Instagram and it's very beautiful! So pretty! And flowers! Yay! I can now say you are one of the rare people who manages to excel at not one but TWO arts. Fantastic. I'd follow you for sure but sadly I'm not on Instagram...
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Thank you so much Rhonda! ILY💙💙 sketching has always been my fav and now comes writing too I hope you come on instagram, we could chat there...many writers from here have insta like Batool and Abigail💛
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See, that would be pretty cool. I'll consider it for you guys. :) And I have a lot of art too, it's just really sporadic when I do a project. Also I made a magazine collage and my rabbit chewed it to literal pieces and that threw me off collage work for a long time. I know some people on Reedsy don't want others to know their true identities and that's cool, cause in that way we're kind of like superheroes, but it's hard to keep chatting here when it's not a chatting kind of place, I guess.
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I feel sorry for your collage, but rabbits are rabbits..cuties, you cant blame them. And yayay, come to insta i'll chat with you everyday:n and post your artworks there too....I can't waittttttt
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Okay! We'll see what happens! Hopefully I'll add an insta account link to my bio right beside my Spotify playlists.
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yayayayayayaya
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You had me at doraemon :P Jokes aside, this is a great plot! You had me hooked from the beginning to the end (where I met a cliff hanger. I hate cliffhangers lol) but your few options were great! They really drew me into Wren's world (lucid or not). I look forward to reading more from you in future :) Keep up the good work!
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I wanted to do something quirky like add doraemon out of nowhere lmao and I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I apologize for the cliffhanger, i'm not a huge fan of it myself but I couldn't think of a proper ending and this ending seemed to be perfect. Thank you so much!!
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Hah don't worry, the cliffhanger worked well with this story :)
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Thank you! I appreciate it a lot :n
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Enjoyed it immensely due to the fact that many of my past stories were based off my dreams so they were similar to The Twilight Zone, Black Mirror, Outer Limits. Keeps you on edge then abruptly ends. Imagination is a great thing that I use in many stories when it comes to keeping them vague so readers can make up their own endings or ponder on a situation.
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Thank you so much, Corey. I appreciate it a lot🧡
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Nicely done👍
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Thanks a lot!!!
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The first line takes away the crown. I totally love the way it gives a cool-ish vibe you know! Overall, a great story!
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Who doesn't like vodka?(not me tho i'm underage) lmaoo...thank you so much and check the pics too..i was going through it after editing a line and noticed the pics are missing...you might be able to understand the creatures even more:D
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Yesss!!!! I kept on wondering why your comment didn't make sense for a while! The pictures make the story much more alive!
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Yeah, doesn't it? :D
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I like saying kick the bucket too, LOL. The pictures were a little weird, coming from different sources, but I liked them. You are allowed to put in pictures? Wow! I'm going to try that sometime, maybe not on my first story though.
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Yeah we definitely can, but judges don't consider them while judging your writing.
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Ok, thanks!
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Wow!,Good story. Would you mind to read my story “The dragon warrior part 2?”
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Yee thenks and I will surely check it out once I get time:)))
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Welcome.
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:)) Bruh, someone downvoted rn
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Oh !ok I will upvote you.You can upvote me.
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Aaah, you dont have to really, but thanks! I'll upvote you soon:)
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I don't really know what to do to anymore or what to say, stuff just keeps happening, and then I feel things. I still feel like I should say this however, and I'm sorry. This probably won't even do anything though.
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What happened now?
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I just sorta started feeling alot of stuff again, i guess i sort of said it better in my Bio, so i guess look and read it then come back to this and say something.
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Oh okay. Let me see.
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Alrighty then
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Well, I don't know what to say. But it's nice of you to apologize, not that you've done something but it'll help steer away any misunderstandings. If I speak honestly and inoffensively, you ask a lot of questions in order to keep an already over convo going that might ya know, annoy somebody at times. But it's a habit and you can't change it. I guess because of that people find you annoying. But you don't apologize to people for something you can't change.
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Also, how long do you think your going to keep the Halloween name for? Until it actually becomes Halloween or maybe sooner?
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i'll let it stay for whole of October.
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Wait, how did you actually come up with your Halloween name?
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remember i told you i had jason at first, but i don't know how, i just randomly came up with this?It's cool, ain't it?
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My memory and brain sucks, i can't remember easy things honestly. Though yes, this name is a really great one ^^
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yeah, my brain is like rotten cheese (this is kinda like a transferred epithet, but whateva) yeeee, thanksss.
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Hey, what if besides my demi-god novel i've been telling you about, i could add you into my other novels as well? You'd be a character in all of them ^^ who knows, maybe even the main character? So that means my novels like Harlow and Willow, the guardian, etc. What do ya say?
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MAIN CHARACTER??!! dude, i'm so flattered, why not?? It's so niceee to have a character dedicated to someone. Thanks, B! uwuuuu
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Yep :) So WOULD you want to be the main character in one of them?
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YESSSSSSSSSSS yeeeeee
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Which seems more interesting to you? out of the stories i mentioned?
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emm, i don't remember much. Care giving a line on what each of the novels are about?
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I've never seen or heard of those horror movies that you put into your bio, could you tell me about them?
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oh ye my pleasure! be prepared for the long comment HOWL i watched this on TV and it was my first time watching it and i creeped out by gory and gross the movie was. So, the entire movie takes place on a train where there are few passengers who are going somewhere and the train comes to a sudden and abrupt halt. Upon checking the tracks (or whatever it is called), the driver finds a deformed deer under the wheels and it's pretty late, so you can understand the vibe there. All the passengers (just a handful tho) get down and just loiter ...
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Oh wow, that seems really interesting. well of course the main characters would survive the thing- their the main characters. I'll maybe decide and try to watch the thing later or something ^^ what about the other movies ya mentioned?
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pleaseee watch it, you'll find them on yt. Which movie do you want me to summarize? All?
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Yeah, all of them please ^^
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oh my God, I'm laughing right now. Okay! TRUTH OR DARE this movie is a bit crappy, but i like it anyway hahaha a group of friends go camping and they meet a mysterious man there who asks the main character, TRUTH OR DARE. And she's confused, but also creeped out by the vibe around him, so she answers him. And the thing is that if you answer truth or death, you have to say or do whatever either of them asks you to and if you decline. you die creatively (lol) and if you've answered truth or dare once (or twice, idr) you can't choose it agai...
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