In a Western Place

Here's my CYOB contribution, taking off (and finishing) from where Srah of Srah Blah Blah left off! Remember, you have to start here. See you soon?

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Jake-Ryan appeared moments later wearing faded blue jeans and a heavily stained T-shirt adorned with the logo of a local used car dealership. His knobby pale knees were poking through the worn away patches and his feet were completely bare, topped with sticky cherry pie residue. He looks scruffy, she thought. Not that Emma cared too much about appearances; she was in his home after all. However the Jake-Ryan that stood before her no longer held any resemblance to the Jake Ryan that she held in her head, or her heart.

"Hey, it smells like Suppdog in here." He said.

"What's Suppdog?" She asked.

"Not much dawg, what's up with you?”

Amused, Jake-Ryan threw himself down on the living room couch while simultaneously picking up his Playstation 2 controller.

"Want to play?" He asked.

"Uh, no... I'm not really video games.” Emma couldn't help but feel a smidgen of disappointment. “I thought we were going to watch a movie?"

"Nah. I'd have to unplug the Playstation in order to plug in the DVD player. Let me get through this level so I can save. Then we can, like, hang out." He turned toward the TV.

"Um, OK..." Emma said. Irritated, she sat down on the sofa chair next to him and felt immediately drawn to the animated action on the television screen. It was almost hypnotizing to watch, and as Emma concentrated more and more on the screen, she felt her Jake-Ryan woes fade.

Until, tap tap tap...

Jake-Ryan rapped his fingers against the wooden frame of the couch while waiting for the scene in his game to load. Tap tap tap. Emma felt her face burn with annoyance. She let out a small, muffled cough as if to communicate, please stop that. However the rapping continued and Emma shifted heavily in her chair. "I, I need a drink!" She exclaimed, jumping up. “Where’s that wine?”

“Yeah,” Jake Ryan said, barely looking up from the glowing screen. “There’s a box of Franzia in the fridge. It’s my Mom’s, help yourself. A Blush I believe. It’s a mixture of both red and white… good stuff.” He commented.

Mom? She thought. Emma took another look around the room. On the end table to her right, she noticed a framed photograph of a young Jake-Ryan seated next to an older woman baring a striking resemblance. Looking down, Emma observed the latest issue of Good Housekeeping magazine on top of a freshly polished coffee table. She looked toward Jake-Ryan and spotted a newly crocheted afghan gently place on the back of the couch. This was not a guy’s apartment; this was Jake-Ryan’s Mom’s place! Emma sat back down in the chair.

Jake Ryan looked up at her briefly, “Didn’t you want some vino?" Ha, vino, that’s what the French call it.”

“No, actually, I think I should get going. I have to get up early to… “ Emma racked her brain for an excuse.

“Oh hey, I understand,” Jake Ryan interrupted. “I’m almost done here. Give me five minutes and I’ll give you a ride home. I think Mom’s Outback is in the driveway, we can take that.”

Emma sat back down on the sofa chair, feeling her disappointment turn into helplessness. She felt trapped as she sank deeper and deeper into her chair until her focus became fixed on his rapidly moving fingers. As he continuously clicked the Playstation controller, she heard an additional clicking noise from within his mouth. Click click click. She wasn’t sure how he was doing it, perhaps he was tapping his tongue against his palette? Regardless, she became obsessed with the clicks and it became impossible for her to focus on anything else. Click click click, from the controller followed by a Click click click from his mouth. Her hair stood on end out of annoyance. She sat back and stared into the glittered ceiling and felt her mind begin to wander...

Seconds later, Emma was transported back into a moment of time during her childhood. She was 7 or 8, swinging from a tire tied to the big oak tree in the backyard of the home she grew up in. Swaying back and forth, she felt the warmth of the setting sun on her face. It made her feel calm and at peace, until one of the neighborhood girls jumped out from behind the tree.

“Have you ever seen an exploding head?” The girl asked.

Emma shook her head no. The neighborhood girl continued to tell Emma that if she closed her eyes really really really tight, and thought really really really hard, she could make a person’s head explode. “Why would I ever want to do that?” Emma asked.

“Because you can.”

Those words played over and over in Emma’s head as she sat in Jake-Ryan’s apartment, eagerly waiting for him to finish so she could go home and put the night behind her. “Because you can,” her inner voice repeated, as she continued to focus on the flickering television screen.

Because you can because you can because you can...

Emma shut her eyes.

Because you can.

She continued to squeeze her eyelids tighter, and tighter.

Because you can.

She could feel her cheekbones touch her eyebrows.

Because you can.

The pressure of her squeeze had Emma seeing light from within.

Because you can.

The light felt warm, much like the light she felt from the setting sun on the tire swing.

Because you can.

She pictured Jake-Ryan’s head.

Because you can.

His head started to rumble and shake.

Because you can.

She could see the pressure sending steam through his ear drums and out the side of his head.

Because you can.

She witnessed the color of his face move through various shades of red.

Because you can.

His eyes rolled to the back of his head as his cranium continued to vibrate.

Because you can.

The voice continued to taunt until Emma replaced the image of Jake-Ryan's head with that of a grenade. A grenade about to detonate far off in the desert. Far, but close enough to feel the potent energy separating all matter, and all that matters. In an instant, matter splattered on the beige shag carpeting and the taupe colored walls like a spilled jug of crimson paint. There was no sound.

Emma opened her eyes just as an amazing sense of calm rushed over her. Much better, she thought. Slowly rising from the chair, she walked toward the door, stepping over his lifeless body in the process. After turning the television off, she quietly let herself out.

Here's my CYOB contribution, taking off from where patandfran.com Remember, you have to start here. See you soon?


The alien was out fetching Xinni's water for what seemed like an eternity. Feeling restless, Xinni quickly stood up and out of her seat only to succumb to the weight of the new life that was growing quickly inside of her. She fell face-forward, and belly flopped onto the floor in front of the Captain's chair. The fall forced the air out from her lungs.

"You need to be more careful."

"Huh… who… was… that…?" She asked, while gasping for air.

"It's only me." Xinni cranked her head around and saw the alien walking in from behind, holding a leather bladder. "Here, let me help you up. I have your water." The alien helped Xinni into the chair, and poured the murky brown contents of the bladder into a steel mug and handed it to her. "Here, drink this."

Xinni looked down at the mug shook her head "no." She was still trying to catch her breath.

The alien shrugged his shoulders and turned around to set the mug down on the main control panel. With his back toward Xinni, he folded his human-like hands and looked toward the night sky. Minutes had passed as the alien continued to stare into the dark abyss, almost as if it had reached a meditative state. Xinni contemplated an escape through the main gate.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." the voice said.

Xinni's heat beat faster. She tilted her head up and noticed that the alien was still standing and staring out the window, motionless. Where was this voice coming from?

"You're not going anywhere." said the voice, as her belly shook. Xinni placed both of her hands on the outer edge of her womb, just as several volts of electricity coursed through her hands and up her arms.

"Gah!" she yelled as she flung her hands in the air. Smoke was emitting from her fingertips as the alien jumped awake and turned toward her.

"You're not going anywhere." The alien repeated.

With a sense of panic, Xinni realized that the spawn was merely a thought box, a device cleverly implemented into her bowels by the alien to imprison her. While the thought box certainly could threaten, and even weigh her down by its increasing mass, it couldn't stop Xinni from escaping. Jax did tell her and the rest of the Melmacian crew that the ship had a Proton Phaser, a weapon that could destroy any and all life forms in an emergency situation. It was located in a small steel box, under the Captain's chair. But that was on her ship, and this ship was merely a replica. Xinni kept her eyes forward, toward the alien as he turned back toward the control panel. She slowly reached her hand down and below the Captain's seat for a feel. She felt a box! Using her pinkie nail, she lifted the thin lid and slide the rest of her hand in. She was surprised to feel the cool, titanium handle of Proton Phaser.

The alien spun around.

Just then, a loud blast outside jolted the alien away from the control panel, and Xinni felt the Phaser move away from her fingers. She now only had a second to react...

Should Xinni attempt to vaporize the alien and leave the ship with the thought box to try and locate the rest of her crew on her own? Click here

OR, should Xinni hold the alien hostage until he removes the thought box and helps her find the rest of her crew? Click here

Please direct some good vibes thisaway. Many thanks!

All the good vibes paid off and I'm (read: very) happy to announce that our application was accepted. Last night we signed the lease and handed over a big check so that starting November 1st, this place will be ours: