Short Stories because why not

Headphone Actor

Hey, I'm back, finished an AP exam I've been stressing over for a while, so that's fun. Anyway, this story i kinda based off this song up here in the top, so its a little disproportionate, but, i enjoyed writing this so enjoy, i guess : )

      It was a day like any other day; there wasn't anything that even tried to get in my way. Not today. That was, until I decided to flick on the TV and listen to parts of a radio show. It was nerve-wracking, to say the least. Their report, seeming to be about the end of the world, according to a so and so leader from a faraway land.

      Predictable.

      I flicked off the TV sitting in the middle of my bedroom floor, my long, dark hair pooling around me, like a moat around a castle. In the silence I heard them. The birds. The crows. They were back. Of course, they were. I hadn't seen them since...... since that one fateful day. A murder of them, too. What an appropriate name, considering what I had once witnessed. Coming back to present time, I had realized I was barely breathing, like I had just run a marathon. That memory was too real to re-live. Not again. Never again.

      "When will it ever stop? the shakes, the shudders; I can't ever seem to escape." My voice, a whisper, as I reached across the floor, grabbing my iPod and headphones, sliding them in place over my ears as I pushed play. The iPod had a cracked screen, so I couldn't read the name of the song. The titles were always unknown to me, anyway.

      Today was the day. The day I would leave. Playing a half-finished game with no save.

      My life.

      There was no saving in the game of life. Leaving a barely read textbook in the drawer, I left, bringing with me only my headphones and my life.

      Just then there was a whisper, slowly becoming louder with each word it spoke.

      "Hey, do you wanna try and survive?" It felt the whole world around me had started shaking and the skyline above seemed to be falling. I had to be wrong about the voice, right? After all, it had sounded very much like my own voice. I caught myself trembling, but for an unknown reason. There was that voice again.

      "If you run about twenty seconds that way, and over past that hill, you'll soon understand. I swear these words are not false, so run up that hill up ahead." I did as was told and came to the town centre, where all the people had crowded. I took off my headphones and the crying and screaming had all mixed in. I stood on my tiptoes in the back of the crowd, trying to get a glimpse of what was going on.

      'Who was screaming? Was it a man or a woman? Perhaps a child.' Questions raced through my head at the speed of light. 'Did it really matter; it was the end wasn't it?'

      Another shriek from the crowd caught my attention, as I was turning to complete my mission; to follow the orders from whoever was on the other side of the headphones. This one was a girl, probably about ten, as she hit the ground, screams lost in the commotion from the rest of the gathered crowd.

      All alone I will follow through orders to go beyond that hill up ahead. Filled with newfound determination, I slowly backed away from the horrid sight of the young girl and ran towards my destination. I put my headphones back on, hoping, praying, to hear the voice once more. Then it answered.

      The voice.

      My friend.

      "Down to twelve, you've got no time to slow down." Its comforting, familiar sound taking hold in my mind. At this rate, everything will be gone in a flash, so I don't really have much of a choice but to listen.

      Listen

      I could still her the cries and shrieks of the town I had left behind. I couldn't take it any longer, as I heard sniffling. I didn't realize it was me until I felt the hot tears streaking my face. I wiped my sleeve across my eyes, trying to dry them. The song of the people would never stop singing, no matter what happened. But now, now their song was ending. The voice caught me off guard as I stood there listening to the cries below.

      "You'd better hurry, now. You've got one minute to make it." My brain was fuzzy; everything was a blur. Why was I here? Who are those people? What am I running from? I had more questions than I did time, so I obeyed the voice once again. It didn't really matter, though. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing but the hill, the voice in my headphones, and my salvation. Suddenly I stumbled, but I was there. I was on the hill overlooking the town, so I allowed myself to fall, as laughter bubbled from my lips. The sound was unfamiliar and sounded faraway, nevertheless, I was here. But why was I here? That was the real question. I released the breath I had been holding in, not realizing I had done so. Turning away from the village, I saw what the voice in the headphones had been leading me to all along.

      Standing there, staring me in the face was a wall coloured the same shade as the sky. A window. But I wasn't afraid of the wall. No, it was what was behind the wall that disturbed me. Behind the wall stood a murder of scientists, reminding me of the crows I had seen earlier this morning. They were all standing, clapping, as I suddenly found it hard to breathe. I turned the other direction, looking down on the town from earlier, as I realized my life was a lie.

      Everything I knew... was a lie......

      "I-I don't understand..." Standing from above looking down on my town, I realized how much it looked to be just like something out of a science test. A test of my life.

       "Guess we don't need this, now." I had heard one of them mutter, barely registering what he had just been said until a door opened in the wall and one of the scientists walked out of the lab and into my world, holding out his hand, trying to understand. I was still overwhelmed by everything happening. Following the man inside the lab, I grabbed the headphones from around my neck, and debated throwing them down into the town below, but decided against it. They were all I had.

-------------

      That's when it happened. The town, the sky, the hill, as soon as I stepped into the lab and looked through the same window they were watching me through, it was all gone. The scientists had explained I have lived my whole life in a small box, but I didn't even hear what they were saying. My life was a lie. Nothing was ever real. I could just stare blankly at the bitter remnants of a life that never taught me much about the world. The real world. The headphones were heavy around my neck, still ringing that same voice. The voice I once called friend.

     "I-I'm so sorry." My words a whisper as I lower my head. 

1189 words not counting the A/N at the beginning. Woot woot! My next short story (or actual story, idk yet) is gonna be a FNAF VR based story on the beginning/origins of Glitchtrap and all that jazz. Dunno, I've been watching a lot of FNAF Game Theories recently, and it's inspired me. So, whaddya think? Short story or Actual story with chapters and such? 

Also, shout out to my friend @OnegirlEpidemik. Check her out if you like. She is a true friend. <3