Jazmee27 
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===
Entitled
It’s beyond comprehension how anyone could believe something so crazy, but… On tape four, after the fiasco with the yard, after Preston’s made the castle “look decent again,” Devlyn, Maria and Preston head inside for an adult beverage. In the kitchen doorway, they freeze and stare open-mouthed at the 12-year-old standing at the counter (at Maria’s first exclamation, he whirls and attempts to hide the evidence of what he was doing).
Maria (flabbergasted): What the hell… is that?
Devlyn (equally stunned): Looks like… Alonso!
Maria (regaining her composure): What are *you doing here?
Alonso (clasping his hands behind his back): Nothing.
Devlyn (narrowing his eyes): What’s that behind your back.
Alonso (too quickly): Nothing.
Maria (rolling her eyes): Uh-huh.
Just then, Alonso’s twin enters, gazing around him with barely-concealed fury.
Ontario (incredulously): No wonder you’re so tired all the time-and no wonder you’re so much more… moody.
Alonso (furiously): All right, all of you-you think I’m doing something wrong? What am I supposed to do?
Maria (softly): Not this.
Alonso (pointing a trembling finger at preston): Well, what about *him?
Maria: We’ll let Preston answer that one.
Preston: Um… I’m older; and I’ve seen more than you ever will. I know you’ve had it rough, kid, but—
Alonso (furiously): I’m not a kid-I’m twelve years old!
Preston (heavy sarcasm): If you’re not a kid, then… I’m sorry, but I forgot what twelve years was like. (Bitterly sarcastic) Oh, that’s right: I wasn’t allowed to be twelve-I had to jump right into being thirty!
Maria (stunned all over again): Wow!
Preston (looking at Alonso without the slightest hint of sympathy): And you can’t feel good, can you?
Alonso (so softly as to be nearly inaudible): No.
Prestonn: At least *I enjoy the taste of it; *you, you’re making faces every time you swallow!
Maria: You’re not going to be a bad influence on the kids, are you, Preston?
Preston: Hell, no, I’m trying to talk him out of it; but if he insists on drinking, it should at least be something he likes…
Maybe he thinks he’s torturing himself or something.
Alonso (whispering and not meeting anyone’s eye): I deserve nothing better.
Preston: You hear this? He “deserves nothing better”. And why is that, Alonso?
Alonso (trembling): I brought this all on myself.
Preston, Maria and Ontario: Huh?
Alonso (staring at his feet, twisting his hands nervously and mumbling to himself): I caused all this.
Ontario (startled): Oh! He blames himself for everything bad that’s ever happened to him.
Preston: That’s the biggest piece of BS I’ve ever heard. Alonso… stop. You didn’t “bring it on yourself”.
Devlyn: Is there any more of that crap in your room?
Alonso (shrugging his shoulders): Perhaps.
Preston: Check his dresser.
Ontario: I’ll be right back.
Alonso (glaring at Preston with unveiled hostility): How do you know so much?
Preston: You don’t want to know.
___
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Reply #1381. Oct 02 11, 4:25 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Entitled, Part 2
When Ontario returns to the group, he’s carrying a large quantity of liquer that’s only manufactured in Scenoria and is known for being quite strong (there were so many in Alonso’s room that still others glide after his brother).
Devlyn (mouth hanging open): Wow!
Preston (rolling his eyes): Told you.
Maria: How much of this stuff do you consume a night?
Preston: More than you’d care to know… (Heavy sarcasm) It’s quite impressive, really: He’s been taking sips of this throughout the day; we should all have smelled it on his breath and yet, we didn’t. Why is that, Alonso?
Alonso (looking away): I don’t know.
Preston (chuckling darkly): Do we need to unblock your mind, Alonso?
Alonso (panicked): You couldn’t; you wouldn’t.
Preston: You can’t block me, kid.
Alonso: Oh, God (faints)
Maria: He’s not—
Ontario: No.
Preston: He needs sleep.
Alonso (stirs feebly, then lies still, glaring up at everyone)
Maria: Are you going to let us pick you up, or do we have to manhandle you?
Ontario (to the others): Stand back; I’ve got it. (to Alonso) I’ve been on the receiving end of that expression so many times it no longer phases me.
Alonso (faintly): You can’t treat me like this.
Ontario: It’s for your own good; one day, you’ll thank us. Now, unstiffen those muscles before wwe force you to, and that will hurt—a lot—and we don’t want to do that to you, but some of us are more willing than others to do so.
Maria: Even Preston?
Ontario: He was the one I spoke of when I said, ‘some are more willing than others.’ (lets out an exasperated sigh, then releases some of his magical energies. Before it touches him, Alonso’s muscles relax and the 12-year-old lies limp, gasping fearfully) See: he doesn’t want to suffer; he just feels entitled or something.
___
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Reply #1382. Oct 02 11, 4:26 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
In the refrigerator
Just when I thought I’d laughed harder in days-at the audio drama, Mom practically had me rolling on the floor. The topic was Zweier’s, who are coming tomorrow, and whether I have soup or pot pie left over from last week. I replied that I have one container of soup, at which time Mom enquired whether I’d be able to tell the difference between the new stuff and the old, as the older needs to be eaten first. She assumed, based on past actions, that I just sat there while the delivery person put the food away. “I open the refrigerator and put my hands on the shelf where I want it,” I explained. ‘So, y9ou’re in the refrigerator?’ Mom asked. “Yes, I am,” I answered. ‘I didn’t know you could sit in there!’ “Maybe you should try it sometime.” ‘I just might. I think I’ll be able to lay down in there as mine’s bigger than yours.’
___
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Reply #1383. Oct 02 11, 4:27 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Impatient
Some of the more funny parts of the audio drama involve how imupatient Preston is. To understand the hilarity, one must understand my friend Tiffany. She’s one of those people who’s naturally sarcastic, and who loses her temper at the slightest sign of immaturity or idioacy. A great deal of that stems from her job as a “Loan Officer,” or whatever the title’s called. She spends all day on the phone with borrowers, and I know for a fact many of the lines she has her characters say are ones she’d love to say to said borrowers, but of course she can’t because it would mean her job.
As the Potions class grows longer and longer, Preston’s patience is becoming thinner and thinner. A bunch of the students—all but Isabelle—end up having some sort of difficulty brewing a Simple Healing potion. For example, one of the instructions is tgo add a “pinch” of something; Anja, Anaastasia’s twin sister, adds more than that, and winds up with something she doesn’t want. “Help!”
Preston (barely concealed exasperation): Read this. It calls for a pinch; Any more and you won’t get what you want.
Anja (panic-stricken): Uh… what’s that?
Preston (exasperated): You take your thumb and your forefinger, and go like this; voila, a pinch.
Anja (gratefully): Oh… thanks.
Nearby, Ontario isn’t faring much better. He seems lost in thought, and at Anastasia’s exclamation, looks up questioningly. “What?”
Preston (gently): Uh, Ontario, it looks like you missed an ingredient.
Ontario (horrified): Oh!
Preston (snapping his fingers-makes the failed potion vanish): Start over.
Ontario (relieved): Thank you.
Brendyn, “the quiet one,” also finishes with no problems, and iis allowed to leave. “Thank you kindly.”
When another student “acts out” because he’s not getting it, Preston loses his temper:
Preston (exasperated): Oh, come on-it’s not that hard! It should be fourth- or fifth-grade math!
Student (beginning to panic): But I totally messed up-look!
Preston (regaining some semblance of calm): All you did wrong is you mixed it too fast. If you notice, it says to stir slowly.
Student (awed): So it does… But what if it had told me to stir fast or medium? What then?
Preston (making stirring motions in the air): This is ‘slow,’ this would be ‘medium,’ and this is ‘fast.’
___
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Reply #1384. Oct 02 11, 4:28 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
It draws them together
As I contemplate my drama, I cannot help but think that all my characters—well, the good ones—have one thing in common: intense suffering. “We’ve endured far more hardship in our lives than any one person of similar age in the human world.” It’s what draws them together, holds them close, binds them. Yet, at least in the second series, the Dark is able to break those ties (some), destroying the connectors between certain characters. One way they can do this is through deep, dark secrets-it’s so much easier to manipulate someone if he/she is unaware of the bigger picture.
___
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Reply #1385. Oct 02 11, 4:36 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
It's hee!
As the day progressed, I felt a certain lightness of spirit at the realization that the date was finally here. The day I’d been told-well, the day *Mom was told-that Charlaine and Robert were leaving. Mom wants me to be nice, but I reall y can’t bring myself to be judicious in my memories of thenm—well, her, as I didn’t know him. The only time I encounterecd Robert was when he came up to apologize about taking Mom’s head off when she shook out the bird’s towel over the balcony. “Hey! You’re not supposed to do that!”As for his wife, there’s nothing in this world that can excuse her behavior.Clearly, she has mental issues—but that’s an explanation, and nothing more.
___
27
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If I'd only known :((
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Reply #1386. Oct 02 11, 4:38 PM
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Jazmee27
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Mom's home
She's tired, so she's going to stay home for tonight and plan on visiting tomorrow
She wants me to call in about an hour, when she'll look at the Comcast site on her laptop and order the Digital Starter
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Reply #1387. Oct 02 11, 4:41 PM
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Jazmee27
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Stories from August
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Another Change
Yesterday I recorded over something I did last week, and now tape five contains a lead-in to tape seven. Of course, it’s come with a price: more of the stuff I did with Tiffany two years ago is gone—but if the story flows better now, that’s good. And, I might add, I got rid of the second conversation between the Gonzales twins; instead, Ontario doesn’t leave his brother’s room after the first. And Alonso’s demeanor doesn’t change until side two of the tape.
___
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Reply #1388. Oct 02 11, 4:53 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Revivd
They were present in the first tape series, though not the second—although I’ve sometimes written in a part for one of them. Their names are Katreena “Empress” Kharvinosa and Aleksandr “Surgeon” Ardeko.
In the third drama, they make a comeback—and are more powerful than they were in the first.
___
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Reply #1389. Oct 02 11, 4:54 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Things You Just Don't Do
“Deep inside, my heart is broking./Broken bones from separation./Don’t you know it’s violation?” – Daughtry, All These Lives
“I’ve felt this emptiness before/But all the times that I’ve been broken/I still run right back for more” – Daughtry, “Learned My Lesson”
Of all the music I own, few fit as well as these two songs. Whenever I used the song in the drama, no reading material was behind it; it’s all based on personal experience… and a bit of imagination.
One of my friends from “School to Work was named Natasha Trout. Not many people understood her; that’s hardly changed. I don’t know what mental illness she’s been diagnosed with, but whatever she has it makes social interactions awkward at best. Her speech is halting, and she often stands with her head down—but when she laughed, it sounded like a tinkling bell that lit up the whole room. And I hate to say it, but she always reminded me of a small child; so does Georgette—somehow, though, Georgette manages to be positive and upbeat despite her health problems and the loss of her father.
But what about those who just “can’t take it anymore”? What if they can’t bare to discuss their grief, even with their closest loved ones, because the mere thought brings more mental anguish? These are the questions I contemplate, as I listen to tape five, adding sections here and there to make the story better.
The storyline was mainly mine, though with some input from Tiffany. First of all, the character of Anja Godunov, only in this series, was modeled off of Tasha –I even managed to do the voice. It helped that I was in between transitions, getting ready to move from Mom’s to my own place. I was terrified and needed something to distract myself—and so, as in the past when I was really stressed, I turned to the drama.
I also incorporated my cousin’s overdose into the story—though that’s on a different tape—six, I believe.
The School for Gifted Pupils hosts another of their dances, but this one’s filled with anything but celebration: Brendyn, Anja’s boyfriend, has just broken up with her—and has the audacity to dedicate Chris Brown’s “Say Goodbye”. As Anastasia says, “that’s one of those songs you just don’t dedicate to someone. Everyone, with the exception of Connkor—who doesn’t care, understandably upset by the news.
When the dance is interrupted by a fierce storm and the power goes out, everyone gets sidetracked—Connor hides under a table, Isabelle clings to Preston, and Anastasia likewise grips Alonso. Meanwhile, Anja cowers in a corner—and Brendyn another.
Actually, one idea *is from literature—the part where the Gonzales twins and Devlyn are close to losing control of their Firestarting Gift. Devlyn’s upset by the storm, which is perpetuated by one of the Dark, but the other two are furious with their older brother—even if neither has figured that out specifically yet.
After Preston uses his magic to zap in some light—candles—they notice Anja trembling against the far wall.
Ontario (eyes narrowing): Brendyn, you didn’t do anything else to Anja, did you?
Brendyn (innocently): Whatever do you mean?
Ontario (icily): You forced yourself on her, didn’t you?
Brendyn (shocked): Now, why would I do that?
Ontario (stepping forward and pinning his sibling against the wall): You tell me.
Devlyn: What I don’t get is, why would he do something like that, then claim he didn’t?
Anja (between sobs): To protect himself, that’s why!
Ontario (eyes blazing murderously): Protect yourself from what?
Brendyn (shrinking back slightly, but still majnaging to sound defiant): From you.
Ontario (to Harmony) Excuse me. (To Alonso) I think we need to have a brotherly *chat with Brendyn here.
Brendyn: I’ve never seen you so mad!
Ontario (through gritted teeth): Why *wouldn’t I be mad?
___
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Reply #1390. Oct 02 11, 4:55 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Not today
Grandma was going to stop at Radio Shack on her way up, but I talked her out of it.
Me: I was thinking,why don’t you not go to Radio Shack today?
Grandma: But don’t you want the microphone?
Me: Not this week, no.
I had to repeat myself, substituting “today” for “this week,” but eventually I dissuadexd her from making a separate trip. After all, as Mom commented last night, she’s still recovering from Friday’s surgery and, as such, shouldn’t be making extra trips. Why, just yesterday I acknowledged how she’s not a fan of napping, but I told her to just listen to her body and she’ll be better in no time.
___
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Reply #1391. Oct 02 11, 4:56 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Round 2
“It’s been two weeks, and…” I don’t know what noise she’s accusing me of making, but I’m not guiolty of any—and I told her that. “You want me to get a tape recorder?” Go ahead, I hissed at her, feeling something inside me snap. Had she been yelling, I honestly don’t know what I’d have done…
After repeating about four or five times that I *wasn’t making any noise, I shut the door—and began berating myself for having oopened it in the first place. Maybe I was just so shocked that she was still here that I forgot all the safety concerns which prompted me to vow *never to open the door to her ever again.
___
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Reply #1392. Oct 02 11, 4:57 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Amanda
I don’t know her well—in fact, not at all—but I decided to give Amanda the message to pass on to Sue. I explained how Charlaine came up at 12:15, how I opened the door in spite of my promise not to, what she said, etc. But before I called Admin, I called Julia to make sure I wasn’t dreaming all this:
Me: Did the occupants of 403 leave when they were supposed to?
Julia: No, they’re still here.
Apparently, the “news” that they were leaving last Wednesday was just rumor—or wishful thinking.
Julia: Regardless of whether you were making noise or not, she shouldn’t be knocking on your door; instead, she should be reporting to Sue.
At least she didn’t slam anything this time—in fact, she seemed afraid of being seen!
___
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Reply #1393. Oct 02 11, 4:57 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Night Scare
I know she’s just concerned, but… whether she intended to frighten me or not, she succeeded. Add to that the noises I heard—some from outside, others which sounded suspiciously like they came from the door of my apartment—and you have the recipe for a sleepless night. Add to that certain nightmarish aspects of my stories, and you have an even greater disaster.
I’ve been beating myself about the head since I opened the door yesterday to that woman. “The only reason to open that door would be an emergency,” Mom scolded tonight. Then she added, “what if she’d attacked you?” And what if the person on the other side of the door had been someone other than a neighborsomeone who wanted to harm me? And it could have been the late hour, or the guilt, or any mixture of things, but I immediately thought of Mike—and my heart began to pound.
___
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Reply #1394. Oct 02 11, 4:58 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Oops!
Looks like I need anot her back-up walker. The right wheel’s not moving for whatever reason; Officer Smith didn’t see anything caught in it, and yet…
When I talked to Mom, I said I thought it needed to go to Med”Care to be looked at:
Me: Either that, or I need another walker.
She suggested switching legs with my old walker, which is in her garage—it’s been there for months, as it has loose screws. “The legs are interchangeable.” So, when Grandma goes up to Mom’s on Monday to water the garden, she’ll take off the legs. Until then, I’ll just go extra slow.
___
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Reply #1395. Oct 02 11, 4:59 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Twenty-four hours
Charmaine’s been up here twice in the past 24 hours, and the people in the office told me there’s nothing they can do. And, since I’m terrified and have reached the breaking point, I’ve called the police.
The first visit was last night at 8:30, right after Mom had left my apartment. Ironically, as she was coming up in the elevator, she met up with Charmaine and her husband, Robert, and both were quite cordial. But when ??Charmaine spoke to me, not so much: “I realize you’re blind, but you can hear, and you’re being an inconsiderate neighbor, and my husband doesn’t feel well, and I’m not coming up here again, but if this noise continues I’ll be dealing directly with Sue.” And this afternoon, around 12:30: “if this continues, I’m calling the police.”
I didn’t have the number for the local police, but called 911 and told the dispatcher it wasn’t an emergency but I wanted a trooper to come out. So Officer Smith came, and he was a state trooper. He told me if Charmaine comes up here again, she could get a citation; and the reverse is true for me—but as I never went down there in the first place, it’s kind of irrelevant.
___
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Reply #1396. Oct 02 11, 5:00 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Irritation
I should have known the ladies would know about the state trooper at Charlaine’s. What I can’t get over is that they assume *she called him! And, to top it off, Julia’s told the other women she thinks I’m making at least some noise, or Charlaine wouldn’t be coming up here! “I don’t believe she’s making it all up.” And no matter how many times I tell her my walker’s not making noise—that I pick up even the slightest sound after quiet time and cut down on any I make—she doesn’t budge: “You must be making some noise, otherwise she wouldn’t be coming up to your place.” Really?
Then again, I need to remind myself Julia doesn’t know the woman. “I quit talking to her that day she came up to me for money.” And this is also a woman who doesn’t believe anyone in the building has a mental disorder, just because “it’s not designed for that.”
But both Mom and Grandma agree Charlaine has mental issues. I just hope Officer Smith had the desired effect on her. As Grandma said earlier, “people tend to be more intimidated by state cops. I don’t know why, but…”
___
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Reply #1397. Oct 02 11, 5:01 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Forget That
On tape six, just before the morning meal, Connor tries to lob a magical blast at his mother. And what does she do wrong? Why, only try to wake the kid!
Maria: Connor, you’re going to be late for breakfast.
Connor: Who needs that?
Maria calls to Devlyn, who calls Preston.
Preston: Tell Maria to meet me with Connor at the pool.
Since the nine-year-old is more defiant than usual, Devlyn helps to restrain him:
Connor: Let go of me, you dufus!
At the pool, Preston determines that Connor is indeed possessed, his eyes having changed to a sickly yellow color.
Preston: Dufus? What the hell kind of demon do we have in here? … I sure hope this demon is afraid of water, or this won’t work.
Unfortunately, after a few seconds it becomes apparent an “old-fashioned” exorcism, the type that has resulted in more children dying than the other kind, Is needed.
___
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Reply #1398. Oct 02 11, 5:02 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Breach
A similar scene will most likely be in the third tape series: After the dance and fierce power outage on tape five, Maria goes to her room to sleep—as Preston suggests: “I suggest you go to bed since the storm doesn’t appear to be abating anytime soon.” Shortly after the Assistant Headmistress closes the door, however, her son comes to beg him entry. (When the storm started, and Connor was hiding under the desk, he kept calling her “Mommy.”)
Maria: Since when does he call me that?
Lucian: You want us to get your bottle?
Maria: Or would you prefer your binkie and your whoopee?
Devlyn: Oh My God, Connor! How old are you? Nine?
Connor: Mom—I can’t believe you just brought that up!
Maria: I fail to see what’s so embarrassing about any binkie or whoopee—that you still have—when you pee yourself every day.
At first, Maria adamantly refuses to let her son in—then gives in when he persists:
Maria: You’re way past the age when you should be sleeping with me… You’re also way past the age when you should be using your binkie and whoopee, but I can’t help that—if I *try to take them from you, you just snatch them back! But sleeping in here is—
Connor: But, Mommy!
Maria: Fine—there’s the floor!
Connor: But Mommy!
Maria: Don’t call me Mommy… You have your binkie—that’ll be your blanket—and you have your whoopee. What else could you possibly want?
Then Connor’s voice changes to that of a two-year-old:
Connor: Don’t be mad, Mommmy, me scawed, me fwightened.
Maria (exasperated): Connor! Go to sleep—so *I can go to sleep!
Connor: I can’t do dat!
Yet, somehow, he does sleep—and although his mother falls asleep at some point herself, in the morning she feels completely unrested. Then, Preston notices a weak spot in the wall directly across from her chamber :
Preston: Viktorio got through… not all the way, but enough to allow him to play with the boy’s mind.
___
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Reply #1399. Oct 02 11, 5:03 PM
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Jazmee27
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===
Too Forgiving
I was in the bathroom when the thought occurred to me: If Charlaine hadn’t already pushed me so far away with her repellent behavior, she’d be someone I’d feel sorry for, and would try mightily to befriend. But there’s no way on Earth, not after all she’s put me through… I’m not the same woman who’s “too forgiving”. Yes, getting another in trouble is against my nature; and yes, I let her nonsense go for far longer than I should have. But enough is enough
Part of the problem, I suppose, stems back to my school days—when I’d get in trouble because I retaliated to a bully’s teasing. Now, I hardly know *what to do when similar situations present themselves. I guess, in just a few words, I’ve gone to the opposite extreme. ‘Which means I’ve never truly learned my lesson when it comes to bullies.’
___
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Reply #1400. Oct 02 11, 5:03 PM
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