71 comments

General

Deep breath in, deep breath out, deep breath in, deep breath out. If I didn't make a sound it wouldn't move. I pulled the string back and let the arrow loose. In case more were going to come, I stood there for a moment. None came, so I went and got the deer I shot. A good hundred pounds of meat.

"What are you going to do with that?" I turned around to see Jackson, my best friend. His little brother, Caleb, was behind him, picking berries.

"Eat it, of course. What else? Hang it even though it's already dead? That's something you would do,"I scoffed. Jackson nodded, knowing it was true.

"Need some help taking it back to your shelter?"Jackson asked. I shook my head, grabbed the deer, and walked off.

"So rude. Thinks I can't do anything for myself." As I walked through the woods as quietly as possible, I continued to talk under my breath about how rotten Jackson was. Even though he was my best friend.

Once I got to my shelter (a simple lean-to) I started to skin the deer and prepare it in a way that I could eat it. When I was about half-way through getting the skin off, I heard a rustle in the bushes to the right of the lean-to. I pulled out my bow and arrow, and slowly made my way towards the noise. I was about to just let my arrow loose, when Caleb popped up.

"What do you want?"I asked. Caleb shrugged, walked around me, and went into my lean-to.

"I don't know. I guess I just wanted to annoy you,"Caleb replied. I rolled my eyes and walked in after him. He was sitting down, looking at all of my weapons.

"Where's your brother?"I asked. Caleb reached out and picked up one of my better knives.

"Walking around the edge of the woods. He said that I could come here if I didn't want to go with him. You can see my choice,"Caleb answered. I rolled my eyes, Jackson just sent Caleb here to annoy me.

"Where is Jackson actually?"I asked.

"Oh, he is walking around the edge of the woods, by the town. But the part about him sending me here was a lie. I just wanted to come here to look at your knives,"Caleb replied. That's when I got angry. The three of us made a pact that we would never go near the village alone. Ever.

"Come on, we're leaving,"I said. I grabbed my bow and two knives and walked out of the lean-to. Caleb pocketed one of my knives and followed me. We walked until we got about ten yards away from the edge of the woods. Jackson was nowhere to be seen.

"CJM! CJM! CJM!"I yelled. That was our code for "Where the heck are you?". We waited a minute, and then started to move around, calling as we went. Finally, we heard Jackson's voice call back.

"Notta! Notta!"Jackson yelled. We were closer to the edge of the woods now, and that meant that he was in town.

The reason why Caleb and I weren't too happy about having to go into town is a story. There used to be a whole bunch of forest people. That is, until the town people killed them all because they thought that the forest people were stealing their food and goods. Luckily, Jackson, Caleb, and I were able to hide and survive.

So, now you can see why Caleb and I were hesitant to go rushing into town to save Jackson from whatever was hurting him. For there was no reason for him to go into town willingly.

Caleb and I went sprinting into town, through the trash littered streets, until we got to the square where Jackson was. I was immediately angry, where I think Caleb was plain upset.

"Let. Him. GO! You've already killed the rest of our people, do you really want to kill more innocent ones?"I asked. There were three men surrounding Jackson with guns pointed at his head.

"Oh, it wouldn't be too hard,"one of the men stated. The three of them turned their heads at me, and Jackson took that time to strike. He took out a knife that he had in his pocket and cut each of the men's ankles. They all dropped their guns, then dropped to their knees in pain. I went in and grabbed their guns, while Caleb helped Jackson up and took him to the woods.

"Huh. One forest girl, three guns, and three men. What should she do?"I asked. I saw fear in the men's eyes and then ran off into the woods after Caleb and Jackson. We ran until we got to Jackson and Caleb's shelter, another simple lean-to, but their's was a little bigger since it had to fit two.

"Jackson! What was that all about?"I asked. Jackson shrugged and pulled out the knife that he cut the men's ankles with.

"You stole that?"Caleb asked. Jackson nodded and started to sharpen a stick with it.

"Yup, I thought no one was around, but those three dumb guys saw me and were about to kill me when I heard your call. Thanks. I owe you one,"Jackson stated. I nodded, he owed me big time.

"What's for dinner? I'm starving!"Caleb yelled. We all laughed and then walked over to my shelter.

"What part of the deer do you want?"I asked. Caleb and Jackson both said that they just wanted some cooked meat and that was all. So, I made a big piece of venison, then covered the rest of the deer up in a way so it wouldn't rot. We had blueberries to go with the meat.

We all camped out outside under the stars that night by a fire. It was comforting in a way. But it was also uncomfortable with me. I used to do the same thing with my older brother before the town people killed him.

"Missy?"Jackson asked. Caleb was already sleeping, so I was surprised that Jackson risked talking. (Caleb was a really light sleeper.)

"Yeah, Jackson?"

"Have you ever thought about what those stars are?"

"My parents always told me that they were all of the people that have passed before us, looking down at us with a smile on their face."

"Oh. Does that mean that our families are looking down at us right this second?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Oh. Okay. Good night, Missy."

"Good night, Jackson."


May 03, 2020 19:26

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71 comments

Maya -
17:06 Jan 02, 2021

Hi! Would you like to start planning here? :D

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19:23 Jan 02, 2021

Hey! Sure! So, to start off, do you want to do the POV of the character who goes out on the town to change their view, or the one who stays at home and researches people?

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Maya -
19:36 Jan 02, 2021

I'm fine with either, you pick! So, why do the characters want to change how they see people. Is it a New Years resolution, or maybe they're new to the city/town and don't really know anyone, or they just feel like they have been really judgmental in the past?

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20:21 Jan 02, 2021

I'm fine with either as well, but I guess I'll go with the character who stays at home and researches people. I was thinking it would be a New Year's resolution, but they both just moved to a small town where everyone knows everyone else (except for them, obviously). I was also wondering, maybe, would the two live together? So, then, maybe they would get into a fight over it? I'm just throwing ideas out there. What do you think, though?

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Maya -
20:28 Jan 02, 2021

I think that's great. I'll do the person that goes out and gets to know people better. I agree, it would make sense if they knew each other. What do you think their relationship should be? Should they be friends/ roommates, or dating/married, or siblings/family?

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20:34 Jan 02, 2021

Alright, we're getting somewhere. :) Hm... I don't know. I feel like it should be a boy and girl, the girl going out on the town and meeting people, the boy researching. (I just feel like that's something a boy would do. 🤷🤷) What do you think their relationship should be?

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Maya -
20:08 Jan 02, 2021

Also, where do you think they should live. In a big city surrounded by people, or in a small town where everyone knows everyone else, or something else?

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ℂ𝕁 𝕄.
23:39 Nov 08, 2020

CJM? Wow those are my initials what a coincidence and I didn’t even know you them, I think

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01:50 Nov 09, 2020

Oh, wow! I wrote this a long time before I knew you. That is such a coincidence!

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B. W.
14:36 Sep 19, 2020

I haven't checked this one out either so here i am, and i also wanted to check the first story of some reedsy friends to see how far that they have come from this one to the most recent story they have done. I really liked everything about it though and i don't think anything was wrong with it. i never saw anything wrong with this story or really any of the other stories that i've read from you, which is good but i hope that if anyone told you about any small errors or anything like that, that you have edited it and fixed it ^^ did you ever ...

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22:23 Sep 19, 2020

Thank you so much, B.! Yes, I have been writing stories since 2018, but just joined Reedsy in April because I found it, thought it was awesome and was bored because of quarantine. In 2018, my stories were awful! Brookie is okaaayyyy, but I do prefer to be called just plain Brooke.

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B. W.
22:27 Sep 19, 2020

alright i'll still call ya brooke then and no prob

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22:28 Sep 19, 2020

Thanks!

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B. W.
22:30 Sep 19, 2020

no prob ^^ and i think i need some help again

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22:31 Sep 19, 2020

With what?

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Ray Van Horn
20:49 May 14, 2020

My best compliment to give you is you gave a sense of curiosity where the story was heading. Let fly, indeed. Nice job.

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20:50 May 14, 2020

Thank you, Ray! Keep writing and stay safe! -Brooke

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Ray Van Horn
12:46 May 15, 2020

You bet! Do the same on all. Stay inspired!

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Aw, this was great! "One forest girl, three guns, and three men. What should she do?" I loved that phrase! Keep it up!

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23:41 May 11, 2020

Thank you, Peachy!

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Cynthia Prokarym
23:45 May 10, 2020

I enjoyed your story! Great job.

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23:38 May 11, 2020

Thank you!

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Ari Berri
15:38 Jan 14, 2021

🍕

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01:35 Jan 15, 2021

Yay! Thanks!

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Ari Berri
01:38 Jan 15, 2021

No problem.

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Maya -
20:27 Jan 05, 2021

New thread because the other one is so long it's getting kind of confusing. :)))

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20:28 Jan 05, 2021

Yeah... *swipes chip crumbs off of her pants because they're so annoying* I know that's unrelated but thought I should add it lol

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Maya -
20:29 Jan 05, 2021

Haha

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20:52 Jan 05, 2021

Can the twins be 21 so they can have wine or whatever after the ball drops?

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Maya -
21:02 Jan 05, 2021

Yeah, good idea. :)

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21:06 Jan 05, 2021

Okay! :)

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The Cold Ice
06:44 Aug 23, 2020

Nice story. Well written.

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13:28 Aug 23, 2020

Thank you.

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Batool Hussain
11:54 Jul 12, 2020

This is so intriguing, Brooke. Don't mind me giving feedback on an old one, okay? ;) Do you mind checking out my new story and giving your views on it? Thanks.

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22:43 Jul 12, 2020

Thank you so much, Batool! Of course; I'll check out both! :)

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