Frame of Mind

by CCpone

Ch - 1

Author's Note:

Welcome readers,

A few things before you start reading. If you feel the need to at anytime dislike the novel, I only ask that you give me some feedback to why you're doing so. How can I fix my work, if no one is telling me what's wrong? And with that I hope you all enjoy the book!

Ch 1:
Luna

I had just begun to accept that my life was ordinary. All those years spent wanting to be something more, something special. This all was nothing more than a faded dream to me now. I knew life for me was a routine; that mundane jobs and tedious commutes were the panicles of my existence. Pop-culture sitcoms and action adventure movies had riddled my mind on what to expect in the world today. Where a papercut may as well be the blade that knocks you down in your battle zone of a cubical. Life, well to me, was just that. Ordinary…

Even now as I biked to work for the umpteenth time this week, I still felt that way. The sky was blue and the grass was green, why fight something when it's proven right? It’s funny, in a very cynical way, that the ones that try to make their life’s a bit more exciting are looked down upon in our society. Ones that try to break the safety rails our fathers and mothers have put up for us.

Answers to the questions I ask were scattered throughout this misty plane we call life. My father and mother had told me about it. The adventures they went on, the tragedies they pulled through. Telling me always when I was little that later on down the line when I’m an ‘adult’ I can do the things they did. Little did I know that the actual ‘fun’ parts had come and gone.

Call me cynical, because I’m used to it. I have a very gloomy way of looking at this world. No “but’s” or “and’s” I know what I am, and I come to accept it. My life, like it will always be, is ordinary. And there’s nothing wrong with that, truly there isn’t. The feeling of contempt is a very nice feeling, but one has to realize a double-edged sword when presented one.

This is where my story starts off. A lone middle-aged man peddling fearlessly uphill towards his work. The storm clouds rolling over, calling out to him with their thunder and lightning. Nothing but a dull day of pencil pushing and paper stacking lay ahead of him.

***

Agony is a word you could use to describe me. Push after shove I heaved and hoed at the petals of my crappy garage-sale bike. Every cycle of the chain let out a small screech, one that had the capabilities to drive me insane. Yet I knew that it was my own fault for not fixing the damned thing up, my money was put to use somewhere else. Somewhere I needed it more, like video games or accessories I would find myself playing with at my desk.

Alright, I fold, I’m an impulse buyer, but in this day and age how could you not be? Advertisements have gotten so good at building up the ‘hype’ that when the product comes out, your body moves on its own and buys it out of instinct. Yeah, you could do some research, yeah you can budget yourself, yeah responsibility this caution that. But if we’re going to pull this ‘honest’ stuff here you know that both of us don’t give a damn about it. Mostly because time is money, or at least that’s my excuse.

Sweat dripped down from my brow as I pulled my magnificent ride up to the bike rack. My dollar store lock was starting to get hard to move with all the rust it had. That didn’t really matter, though, what mattered was that it was a deterrent. If someone really wanted to take my bike they would just bring a bolt cutter. Not like anyone would take my bike to begin with.

Clicking the lock closed my body moved on its own. The path I had to take was all but burned into my mind. Thankfully having it there enabled my mind to wander as it normally does. The thoughts of what I was going to have for dinner rolled on by. Which was probably going to be leftovers from that all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. Normally, if not always these places don’t let you take home leftovers, but that’s nothing a few Tupperware containers couldn’t fix.

The usual sound of sliding doors and happy shoppers graced my ears. You know what I said about the battle zone of a cubical? Yeah, that’s not me, I have it way worse. My work, as much as it pains me to say, is at the local supermarket. ‘Why is that worse?’ you may ask. The answer is quite simple my dear fucking Watson, because I don’t even get a seat that’s why!

All these smiles people give me, and the fake smile I have to return. The basic pre-requisite for this job is putting on a mask of emotion. If you can do that, then guess what? You’re hired! Confetti and streamers fall from the sky, your best friend high-fives you, and the nearest girl plants a wet one on your lips.

But back to reality Casanova. If you think about it, you can’t really blame them, that’s just how business works. Want more people to come to your shop? Then just hire people that can always act happy and helpful. In the end, it works out more for you than it does for them, because now you know what they’re looking for.

Either way by the time my mind freed itself from its stupor I came to see an old lady fumbling through her wallet. Her items already neatly packed in their bags, and the payment process was pending. The moment I looked at what part of the process it was at, I instinctively rolled my eyes. Of course, this would be the part where the person could hand me coupons.

Thankfully, whatever divine being is out there had mercy on my soul. The elderly woman was just getting her card. With a simple tap on the debit machine, she was off. Have I told you I love technology? Because I do. It’s the one thing that restores my faith in humanity. No matter how dull or boring my life may be at the moment, I can always go home and have my own little virtual adventure.

‘With great power, comes great responsibility’ as the phrase goes. While I could escape the harshness of reality by just looking at a simple LED screen, the amount I spend on it increases my workload later on. Nothing comes without a cost, and I of all people know that well. We live in a world where magic doesn’t exist. So, you can’t expect your problems to just disappear.

No matter how hard it might be, we just have to follow the people before us. Their paths etched into the misty plane of life for people to follow. The only problem with this is that there are so many paths to follow, and we grew up being taught that we have to pick one of them.

It’s Ironic really, because the people that make their own paths are usually the ones with the most money. Mind you doing so is the equivalent of walking through hell, in nothing more than flip flops. The only people nowadays that are able to do it, are the people that have money to begin with.

One after another the customers come and go. The endless tide of people swarming every register available. It was a Friday after all, and everyone working here knows that Friday is the busiest day.

I personally never really got why it was that way. Sure, it’s the last day before the weekend, but you would think that these people would walk around the hustle and bustle and just do their shopping another day of the week. There are only two logical answers to this mystery. One they are all last-minute shoppers, lazy fucks like me that pushed all their responsibilities till the last minute. Or two, they are so busy that there is no other time to do their shopping up until now.

In the end, no matter how you look at it. Fridays are the days where the two opposite ends of the social spectrum come together in the combined effort to make my life -and everyone else working here- a living hell. It’s times like these that you wish you worked off commission rather than the hour.

At least it paid the bills, and that’s really all I needed it to do. If I had a roof over my head, food in my belly, then I was alright. Electricity and Internet were just the icing on the cake that allowed me to remove some stress. Which now that I think of it are almost as essential as food and water.

Like clockwork, the day eventually came to an end. The store was closing for the day and the only thing left to do was pack up, or so I thought.

“Hey Ari, you mind taking out the trash bins?” Questioned one of my co-workers.

Is it bad that I can’t remember his name? Or is it worse that this is the first time today that I’m actually having a conversation with someone? Either way, I had nothing better to do, so I graciously accepted it. He probably had something important to attend to or was it my fault for assuming so.

“You just need the bins at the booths? Or are we talking about every bin in the store?” I question avoiding the use of his name.

The co-worker shook his head horizontally before replying, “Naw, just the ones in the booths need to be taken out. I’ll do the ones around the shop on Monday. I just need to meet up with my sis at the airport. She’s coming back from her trip to Europe.”

Scratch my back, I scratch yours, seems to be the appropriate phrase for this situation. Nonetheless, it was a warm welcome to see people pull their own weight around here. If the guilt for not remembering his name wasn’t hitting me now, then I would be pretty sure I lost all emotions.

Picking my own bag first I headed towards his, “I’m jealous, a trip to Europe is exactly what I need right now.”

By the time, I arrived at his booth; he was already done packing up. Not like us cashiers have much anyways. The only thing that I carry is a book just in case it’s a slow day. Even so, he seemed to have packed quite a bit, a full backpack to be precise.

“I know what you mean. I could do with a little vacation myself. Anyways I’m gonna hit the road, see you on Monday Ari,” claimed the nameless co-worker as he walked out of the supermarket. It looks like his name will remain a mystery for another two days.

It’s funny how much one person can change your mood. Just that little conversation and I was already starting to feel like I could actually make it back home. Which thankfully, was all downhill. This is where the bike really shined.

Swiftly moving from one bin to the other I piled all the little bags into one big one. Time as it usually does continued moving, and I eventually had all the trash in one large bag. Since I was the last one in the shop I had to make sure that I got out before the automated lockup time. Now that would really suck, being stuck in a supermarket for an entire day.

Dragging the large bag outside, I heaved it up and over my shoulder into the dumpster. The force alone of the dropped garbage was enough to send the two plastic covers down. Which for me was actually quite convenient. Since it was raining I would have done it anyways.

Not wanting to stay the rain for long, I turned back around towards the back of the supermarket. This was when I noticed the wall lit up with a brilliant white light. Thinking it was some cars headlights I turned back around to investigate. What greeted me, however, was a little white orb floating in the air.

“What the fuck?” I said to myself as I walked closer.

One step was as far as I made it before the ball of white light grew in size. As if that wasn’t enough to scare the living hell out of me. It started to shoot out arcs of lightning that melted parts of the metal dumpster it touched. As it continued to grow I tripped walking backwards, which caused me to shuffle away. The feeling of rain upon my skin and water soaking my pants were forgotten in this haze.

My mind was buzzing with activity as it desperately tried to figure out what was going on here. The only thing that seemed to match the situation was in that one terminator movie I watched. But instead of having it last for a couple of milliseconds this thing was in it for the long haul. It wasn’t till two minutes later that it once again changed.

The ball shape started to shrink like plastic in a vacuum-form machine. Taking on the shape of a small quadruped. Oh, who am I kidding, this thing was a fucking horse with wings and a horn. Stuff right out of a children’s storybook or equally similar to some horror films. Funny how that works.

Throwing away those useless thoughts to the wind, I continued to watch as the features started to pop into existence. Like the color blue, black and the texture of fur upon its body. At this point, I was in a perpetual state of shock. My mind was telling me to run, but my body wanted to hide here. The conflict between the two caused me to stay put. Not a single muscle in my body wanted to move, for the fear that this new creature with this immense power would do if it tagged me as a threat.

Even if my mind wanted to intervene, it wouldn’t be able to. As the white orb finishes manifesting into the horse, the being immediately sprung to action.

The moment its eyes formed they darted around the alleyway we were in. Its ears swiveled all around picking up every single sound. When the hooves made contact with the asphalt floor, it walked up to the dumpster. This being, whatever it was, seemed quite different than your run-of-the-mill horse. Other than the physical ‘additions’ obviously.

Having observed the creature long enough. My mind finally gave my muscles some orders. Which, at this moment made my situation worse. The scrapping from my foot against the asphalt caused the blue mare's ears to swivel towards my direction. Like yin and yang, the eyes followed the ears and soon enough we were staring right at each other.

Seconds passed while my mind spooled up once again. I had heard that using your height to seem intimidating usually works when coming across animals. Within moments of realizing this, my mind hit the primer and fired the order; causing me to get up off the ground.

Seeing my full height, the creature’s ears pinned down against its head, in what I would only assume to be fear. With the ball now in my court, I made the next move and started walking towards it. If all goes well then the creature should get the message and run away. It was a risky plan getting closer, but one that I was confident would work.

Each step I took, the blue horse stepped back. It wasn’t long till the equine was backed up against the alley wall. Just one more step and we would see if my plan would work out.

“S-stay back! I-I’m warning you!” the blue animal cried out.

It was now my turn to back away, not from the warning mind you. This ‘horse’ had just spoken words, not only that but it was in English! The first thing to run through my mind was if I was insane, or maybe dreaming. A quick pinch to the arm removed the latter, leaving only the insane part left. Had I finally snapped? Were all those people right in saying that my attitude would catch up with me?

Yet now was not the time to think about such things. I had a clear problem right in front of me that I had to deal with, insane or not.

As I snapped myself out of my thoughts. I looked down upon the horse. Its face was streaming with both tears and water from the rain. Each breath it took was choppy and deep. Its eyes dilating and constricting at incredible speeds. Lastly, yet the most notable, was her wings twitching.

In this state, whether the creature scared me or not, did not matter. In fact, it pulled at me to do something. Why I feel this way, I have no idea. No matter how much my logical side tried to warn me about the mysterious creature that just appeared out of thin air. My body rebelled. Before I knew it, I was taking off my coat and placing it on the horse. Which comically flopped over its face.

Having the coat placed on top of it, the creature jostled around until its face poked out. I stood there watching over the being, still at a loss for words. I had gotten so used to my ordinary life that I forgot things like this could even happen. Obviously this was taking it way out of proportion, but nevertheless still reminded me.

“S-so you’re not goi-” was all the equine said before toppling over.

At this point, I wasn’t even surprised that it just keeled over like that. I had no knowledge of how it came here, but it must have taken a lot of energy on ‘its’ part. This was the best I could come up with from my observations. Yet, in all honesty, here I was still stuck on the fact that it was even able to talk.

It was just so surreal to think about, a horse talking. So, it came to no surprise that I instantly denied the fact that what I was seeing was real. Filing the whole event under the category of hallucinations, I began to think of what could have caused it. I hadn’t eaten much this morning, and my lunch was pretty small. If anything, this was probably the cause.

Nevertheless, I’m no asshole as far-fetched as that might sound. Like I stated before, I just have a different view on the world than most people. Yet, I couldn’t just leave this animal here laying on the rain-soaked streets. Come morning the thing would probably be dead or on the way to the local animal shelter. And seeing that it could in fact speak, made me consider taking it home with me.

Right about now was when my brain was letting me have it. Such a thought of bringing home an animal I knew nothing about without restraints was idiotic. Which brought up another good point, why not just restrain it? I had it already in my jacket, all I would have to do is tie the arms up and Wala! Not only would this put my mind at ease, but it would also save this horse the risk of getting sick and mistreated.

Acting upon my thoughts I leaned over and carefully took the empty sleeves. The moment my hands came into contact with the horse it started to shuffle. Out of instincts, my hands retracted and I backed away several steps. Thankfully, the horse was still out cold, its body just getting into a somewhat more comfortable position on the slick asphalt.

Moving in, I once again took the empty sleeves in my hands. Now I may not know how to tie the specific knot for this type of thing, but that didn’t matter. Instead, I just used the same knot one would use to tie their shoes. The catch here was that I tied the knot over five times, it would take anyone time to undo this. Which is all I really needed the knot for, as long as I had a little warning I could get myself to safety.

With finishing up the knots came the hard part. How the hell am I supposed to bring this thing home? Sure, it was much smaller than me, -coming in at about hip height when on all fours- but even that could be incredibly heavy. I’m well aware that horses, or in this case ‘ponies’ are not light creatures. The average weight is like what something like 600lbs which is 300kg. Yeah, there was no way I would be able to lift this thing.

That, however, did not mean that I was going to give up. I’m quite stubborn and today was no exception. I had come up with a plan and I was hellbent on seeing it through. Which may sound nice on a résumé, but let me tell you that sometimes it comes back to bite you on the ass.

Either way, I wasn’t going to go anywhere just standing here now was I. So, following the next logical thing other than carrying it. Which of course was to drag the fucker to my bike and see if I could somehow rig it up. I, of course, would come across that bridge when I got there. One step at a time, as the phrase goes.

Still, near the equine, I leaned over and grabbed the hood of my coat. Gently, I gave the thing a test shove, which to my complete and utter amazement came flying towards me. Equine and coat together.

You all could probably guess what happened next. The pony rolled in the coat and hit me smack dab in the chest. Sending both of us back to the ground. The force of the impact was enough to inflict a small grown from my lips. Sometimes it would be nice to be right every so often, but no the divines just had to alter this beings weight just enough to fuck me up. That is saying that they didn’t force this entire event on me to begin with.

Half expecting the pony to get up after all that commotion I wiggled free and distanced myself. Yet, once again to my surprise the pony stayed dormant. Either it was a heavy sleeper, or it was truly knocked out unconscious from what had brought it here. Hopefully, it was the latter seeing as I still have to lug its sorry ass back to my apartment.

Having experienced its true weight, I felt a little more confident in my ability to carry the mare. My confidence was rewarded as I learned that it was a fraction of a normal pony’s weight. Which now that I think about it, is pretty obvious. The wings on its back were no doubt used for flight, so this creature would have to be light to utilize them.

That being said, it was still no feather to carry. I, however, didn’t mind that much seeing as carrying it made this operation ten times easier to complete.

Entering the supermarket once again, I made my way to the front of the shop. My duties cleaning up were not really met, but I could always take the flack Monday and pull some overtime as repayment. If I was lucky nobody would notice, and I would be let off the hook. Sadly, even I knew that was a long shot. With my luck, something bad will happen because of the mess, and I’ll be the one blamed for it.

Letting out a huge sigh, I walked out the front of the supermarket and towards the bike rack. The storm was still going and without my coat, I started to feel the cold. As per usual, my trusted bike stood there ever vigilant. Placing the mare down next to the bike I kneeled down and placed my key into the lock. With a little bit of encouragement, the lock clicked open, and I rolled the bike away from the rack.

Out of habit I immediately swung one leg over and sat on the bike. This of course was halted when I realized the blue pony still snoozing against the bike rack. Rolling my eyes at my antics, I got off the bike and picked up the sleeping pony.

At this moment, I really wished I had one of those bikes with a rear rack on the back. That would make this whole process ten times easier. Sadly, I did not and I was going to have to carry the mare on my lap. It was the only option I could think of that didn’t involve either dragging her along the pavement or requiring duct tape.

Once again getting on the bike I place the mare between me and the handlebars. Thankfully, with the equine all bundled up in my coat, it didn’t really cause me all that much trouble. It was like going grouser shopping and bought one too many bags.

Making sure that we both were in position, I pushed forwards with my legs and started towards my apartment. The rain and wind doing little in aiding my efforts. Every now and then the wind would push me a little too much making me losing my balance. An important note to realize is that this all happened while going downhill.

After nearly dying from a heart attack every time the wind would pick up. I found myself arriving in front of my apartment. My mind constantly repeating the phrase ‘how the hell did I get myself into this mess?’. Every possible problem of taking in this pony ran through my mind on the way here, from police involvement to animal rights activists.

No matter how much I just wanted to drop this pony in the nearest ditch I couldn’t. For the first time in a long time, I actually felt that I was needed, that I actually had a purpose in life. This pony would probably be still in that alleyway; if I hadn’t accepted my friends request and come out to dump the trash.

As I thought of my situation I rolled the bike into the bike rack. The storm seemed to be getting worse which thankfully didn’t matter anymore to me. I was done playing around in the rain for today. Now all I had to do was somehow get it up into my apartment without anyone knowing or arising any suspicion.

Locking the bike up once again I carefully entered the main lobby of my apartment complex. As soon as I did I regretted it. The same steward was there looking right at me with one of his eyebrows raised.

“Hey,” said the steward.

“Hey,” I replied as I walked past him.

And that was it, no interrogation, no yelling, no phone calls to the police. Maybe I was overlooking something, or maybe I was just overthinking everything. Either way, I was home free. My apartment was only a small elevator trip away, which couldn’t be better timed. This mare was starting to smell like a wet dog.

After going in said elevator it wasn’t long till the both of us arrived in my apartment. The place looking exactly how I left it, a complete mess. To tell the truth, I never really cared much for cleaning up after myself, but now with this mare here I feel obliged to do it. She was a guest, and for a guest to see this would just be wrong.

First, however, I had to get this equine into a place where it can rest peacefully. Which, with this pigsty of a place left only one option available. Avoiding the mess, I walked to the end of the room and entered my bedroom. While small, it still fulfilled its purpose, and I’m sure this pony wouldn’t mind. Hell, it better not mind. I dragged it’s sorry ass all the way here.

Placing the horse down on the bed I went back out into the main room and visibly cringed. The kitchen was a disaster as dishes piled up in the sink. Half-filled bowls of cereal laid on the counter. The T.V area was equally messy, along with the rest of the apartment for that matter. Funny how you never truly see how bad something is until you’re about to show it to someone new.

“Well, might as well get to it,” I commented to no one in particular.

The first area I wanted to clean up was the kitchen. Any longer and the whole place would be like Chernobyl. Plus, getting the hardest part done first always motivates me to do the rest. Walking up to the counter I locked onto the dishes. It was going to be a long day, but one that I’m sure would pay off.

Turning on the water, I picked up the first dish. Parts of last night’s meal still stuck to it, but not for long. With a bit of discounted soap and a few good swipes with a sponge, the thing was already looking a hundred times better. Once I ran it under the water to get the soap off, it looked just like the day I bought it.

Continuing this routine, I found myself finishing all the dishes close to record time. The half-filed bowls took the trophy away from me sadly. Who knew milk a couple days old could stick that well and smell that bad.

Placing the last of the dishes into the cupboard, I moved onto cleaning the actual kitchen. Putting utensils where they actually belong and organizing the fridge. Which was actually quite easy seeing as I didn’t have much in the fridge to begin with, other than the beer and milk.

Like water, once I finished the kitchen I followed the flow and cleaned the T.V area than the entrance. Within a couple of hours, the apartment was looking good as new. The fruits of my labor were reaped when I took a cold one from the fridge and sat down on the couch. As I took a long swig from the glass I admired my work.

Too tired to watch some T.V, I placed the now emptied bottle on the stand next to the couch and laid down. Sleep came as easy as shutting my eyes and before I knew it I was out like a lamp.

Comments

[Eyes]

Very nice start, you have my interest. I'm curious to see where this goes. It's hard, for me at least, to find a decent PoE with Best Princess.

My only input would be to put spaces between the paragraphs, that way people won't be intimidated by the massive wall of text. It also makes it look neater and it's easier to find your place again, if you get distracted. That's just my opinion though.

[Skijarama]

8044898 I agree. Spacing out paragraphs seems to be pretty common and standard writing etiquette in fanfiction land.

[first hand account]

Very vivid
I'm gonna love reading this.

[unknowncape7377]

8050310
I like to put at least 1 line between each line

Like this...