Post by penne on Dec 14, 2013 21:42:10 GMT -5
On a quiet winter night, the citizens of the small, isolated town of 667 Darkville carried on with their lives as usual. One of their members, however, was upset, he was the thinker of the town and was desperatly trying to come up with a way to illustrate his latest idea. Terry looked for real-life situations where his thoughts could be applied and his point proven, he called them "illustrations". He had been telling his father, Dante, about his new theory: he thought the people of 667 Darkville had a problem accepting new members joining them. Dante, like all of the other people he talked to, thought Terry was being ridiculous- they were a very accepting community. Terry had a huge crush on a girl who lived next door: Elizabeth. He visited her that night, like every night, under the excuse of a chess match with her brother, Willis. She knew his feelings for her but wasn't interested in him. Though she was flattered and did enjoy his company, she found all his thinking a bit pretentious. So it was no surprise when she showed her clear disdain for his theory. Terry Craig left her house disappointed and hurt, heading to the bench at the entrance of the town for some alone time.
That's when he heard the yelling. The town was usually stuck in the same routine and it was rare that anything different happened, so he was very excited and waited by the bench. Waited for something to happen. For someone to show up. And a few minutes later, someone did show up. It was a young, frightened asian-looking girl. Terry approached her and introduced himself. He asked for her name. At first she was scared of him and didn't know how to respond, but she finally told him her name was Tryina. After a little bit of talking, he discovered that she was a sweet and smart young girl and decided to protect her from whatever was threatening her. And of course, she was the perfect way to prove his thoughts. After a while, a car's engine could be heard. Tryina ran and hid and a black car pulled up in front of Terry. The backseat window rolled down and a middle-aged man's face could be seen. He said he was looking for a young girl, Tumbleweed knew he meant Tryina and told him no one new showed up at 667 Darkville in years, which was true. The man gave him his business card and told him to call him if he found her. Then he left. "Hermes" read the card, which also included the man's phone number but not his job description.
Tryina came out of her hiding once Terry told her it was safe and he gathered the other citizens in the church for an assembly. He introduced them to the new girl and told them she was staying with them for a while because she was in danger. The people didn't take the news very well, which made Terry Craig happy. He said "This will be a great opportunity to test the ideas I've been telling you all about *wink wink*". The 667ers, sick of hearing about T.C.'s "illustrations", decided to sabotage his plan and prove to him that they could be friendly towards new members. Smiling, they accepted the girls' stay, only to badmouth her and Terry behind their backs later. Tryina was very grateful towards all of them, especially Terry, the two of them quickly became friends. He warned her that her stay in 667 Darkville might not be as easy as she may think. But she didn't listen because everyone was apparently really kind and welcoming.
In fact, in the first couple of weeks following her arrival, she was told "Welcome to 667 Darkville" and "We hope you enjoy your stay" or "Look foward to seeing you around" quite often. She loved the community and really wanted to blend in and make friends. She was quick to notice some of the local trends and started using them and making them her own. The use of expressions such as "oh, you!" were popular. Tryina also always sensed the most common opinion before saying anything, which resulted on her simply repeating something said already. This caused the opposite of the intended reaction and bothered everyone a lot. Still, at first no one mentioned it and Tryina felt that this is where she belonged.
But soon things started to change. The days went by and people started to look at her differently. She started to hear some mean comments about her, that became more common with time. People called her a copycat. They said she didn't even know how to speak English. That she talked just for the sake of talking. Tryina seeked confort in her friendship with Terry and he encouraged her to look past these aggressions so she could stay and not get caught by Hermes. And so she did. She tried to adapt. She thought they were all right, everything they said was true! That's what she told herself. "I like to hear the criticism so I can change and make myself better" was her philosophy. Tryina told everybody that.
Yet the bullying continued. It seemed that the harder she tried to fit in, the worse it got. Everyone was doing it now- like it was the new trend. Elizabeth, who was jealous of her relationship with T.C. and missed the attention he gave her, started manipulating him, teasing him with the idea that they could be together and destroying the loyalty he had with Tryina. Now even he made fun of her. Tryina even tried to escape 667 Darkville a few times but they kept her there against her will just to laugh at her. Eventually Terry became so upset with her and had his mind so twisted by Liz's words that he got Hermes' business card, which he secretly kept all along, and called him, telling him where she was.
That night Hermes' car entered the town once more. Tryina tried to run but he grabbed her and pulled her in the car for a talk. Hermes was her dad. She was running away from him because he had a terrible habit of lecturing people until they saw how wrong their behaviour was, making them feel horrible. But that night she was really upset about what had been going on in 667 Darkville and decided to tell her dad everything. Hermes stepped out of the car and looked at the town's population- they all came out to watch what would happen. Then he told the longest speech he had ever told, explaning why what everyone what doing was wrong and horrible. By the end of it everyone felt like salsa and Hermes drove away with his daughter.
That's when he heard the yelling. The town was usually stuck in the same routine and it was rare that anything different happened, so he was very excited and waited by the bench. Waited for something to happen. For someone to show up. And a few minutes later, someone did show up. It was a young, frightened asian-looking girl. Terry approached her and introduced himself. He asked for her name. At first she was scared of him and didn't know how to respond, but she finally told him her name was Tryina. After a little bit of talking, he discovered that she was a sweet and smart young girl and decided to protect her from whatever was threatening her. And of course, she was the perfect way to prove his thoughts. After a while, a car's engine could be heard. Tryina ran and hid and a black car pulled up in front of Terry. The backseat window rolled down and a middle-aged man's face could be seen. He said he was looking for a young girl, Tumbleweed knew he meant Tryina and told him no one new showed up at 667 Darkville in years, which was true. The man gave him his business card and told him to call him if he found her. Then he left. "Hermes" read the card, which also included the man's phone number but not his job description.
Tryina came out of her hiding once Terry told her it was safe and he gathered the other citizens in the church for an assembly. He introduced them to the new girl and told them she was staying with them for a while because she was in danger. The people didn't take the news very well, which made Terry Craig happy. He said "This will be a great opportunity to test the ideas I've been telling you all about *wink wink*". The 667ers, sick of hearing about T.C.'s "illustrations", decided to sabotage his plan and prove to him that they could be friendly towards new members. Smiling, they accepted the girls' stay, only to badmouth her and Terry behind their backs later. Tryina was very grateful towards all of them, especially Terry, the two of them quickly became friends. He warned her that her stay in 667 Darkville might not be as easy as she may think. But she didn't listen because everyone was apparently really kind and welcoming.
In fact, in the first couple of weeks following her arrival, she was told "Welcome to 667 Darkville" and "We hope you enjoy your stay" or "Look foward to seeing you around" quite often. She loved the community and really wanted to blend in and make friends. She was quick to notice some of the local trends and started using them and making them her own. The use of expressions such as "oh, you!" were popular. Tryina also always sensed the most common opinion before saying anything, which resulted on her simply repeating something said already. This caused the opposite of the intended reaction and bothered everyone a lot. Still, at first no one mentioned it and Tryina felt that this is where she belonged.
But soon things started to change. The days went by and people started to look at her differently. She started to hear some mean comments about her, that became more common with time. People called her a copycat. They said she didn't even know how to speak English. That she talked just for the sake of talking. Tryina seeked confort in her friendship with Terry and he encouraged her to look past these aggressions so she could stay and not get caught by Hermes. And so she did. She tried to adapt. She thought they were all right, everything they said was true! That's what she told herself. "I like to hear the criticism so I can change and make myself better" was her philosophy. Tryina told everybody that.
Yet the bullying continued. It seemed that the harder she tried to fit in, the worse it got. Everyone was doing it now- like it was the new trend. Elizabeth, who was jealous of her relationship with T.C. and missed the attention he gave her, started manipulating him, teasing him with the idea that they could be together and destroying the loyalty he had with Tryina. Now even he made fun of her. Tryina even tried to escape 667 Darkville a few times but they kept her there against her will just to laugh at her. Eventually Terry became so upset with her and had his mind so twisted by Liz's words that he got Hermes' business card, which he secretly kept all along, and called him, telling him where she was.
That night Hermes' car entered the town once more. Tryina tried to run but he grabbed her and pulled her in the car for a talk. Hermes was her dad. She was running away from him because he had a terrible habit of lecturing people until they saw how wrong their behaviour was, making them feel horrible. But that night she was really upset about what had been going on in 667 Darkville and decided to tell her dad everything. Hermes stepped out of the car and looked at the town's population- they all came out to watch what would happen. Then he told the longest speech he had ever told, explaning why what everyone what doing was wrong and horrible. By the end of it everyone felt like salsa and Hermes drove away with his daughter.
the end