dark clouds filled the night sky, and loud, rumbling noises could be heard. it was just as i feared; a storm was coming. the rain came in torrents, and strong winds threatened to tear the ship's sails apart. i desperately tried to hold on to the railing, but to no avail. the boat rocked violently, and i fell into the ocean. the waves crashed around me as i struggled to stay on the surface. slowly, my energy was depleting, my will to fight decreasing. the noise around me suddenly grew quiet as i sank into the depths.
 
  there was a bright light, and i heard hushed whispers. i tried to open my eyes, wondering what was going on. was i dead? a splash of cold water on my face confirmed i was not. the voices grew louder and there was another splash of water. then a hard slap across my face instantly woke me up, with a large headache. apparently i had been lying on the beach for quite some time, because it was very difficult for me to sit up. i suddenly became exhausted again, and since there wasn't much i could do, i went into a deep slumber.

  when i awoke, the first thing i heard was incredibly loud music, followed by terrible singing. i was no longer lying on the sand, but instead on a rather comfortable bed. the room i was in was dimly lit, and consisted of various maps and paintings of incredible ships. i crawled out of bed and exited the room, where i was instantly greeted by a tall man.

  "ahoy there!" he yelled above the noise, "you finally woke up! and just in the time for the party i might add!"
  the man gave a loud laugh, which frightened me a bit, and punched my arm, which nearly broke it. i noticed that many people were scattered around the ship eating, drinking, singing, cursing, fighting, and throwing random objects at each other. it seemed like a rather rowdy party to me.
  "now," he continued, "tell me how you ended up on the beach. oh, and have some food. you must be starvin,"
  as i accepted the plate of food he gave me and dodged a chicken flying around, i told him that i was a merchant traveling with some friends, when a large storm blew us off course and casted me away. i took a bite of the meat that was on the plate, and discovered that it was quite delicious. the tall man happily smiled as i continued to eat and handed me some more, which i gladly accepted.
  he then asked where i was headed, and i told him the location i was going to. upon hearing this his face brightened, and told me that he was also going in the same direction.

  "arg, forgive me manners," he suddenly said, "i've been talking to you for so long yet i haven't even introduced myself. ahem, i am hawk! captain of the sea monkey pirates!"
  i stopped eating when i heard this. it did not seem like a good idea to be traveling with pirates these days. a small watermelon flew over my head as i contemplated what he just said. hawk must have sensed my uneasiness, because he quickly continued.
  "oh don't worry. beside the occasional plundering and looting, we do other stuff too,"
  "such as?" i asked, a bit afraid of the answer.
  "hmm...washing dishes, kidnapping the queen, plundering, oh i wait i said that, drawing maps, exploring, killing bunnies, anything really,"
  i gulped when he finished. did he just say "killing bunnies"? i thought about this as a screaming man soared over my head and landed in the ocean with a large splash.
  "hey nothing to worry about!" he exclaimed, "us sea monkey pirates are probably the most friendliest group of pirates! err...except for the man over there. he's called 'hitman' and a dangerous fellow he is. try to avoid him,"
  i looked in the direction he was pointing. a man with dark, red hair stood by himself away from the festivities, quietly gazing out into the sea. his appearance was quite menacing, and i couldn't help but shiver.
  "well enjoy the party!" hawk said, "like i said, don't worry about anything. and have some more rabbit meat. made it myself,"
  i stared in shock as he walked away to join the outrageous singing in the middle of the boat. my appetite vanished when i realized i had been consuming fluffy, little animals. i noticed that hitman was glaring at me, but he quickly looked away and stared at the ocean again.
  the party ended when everyone became incredibly drunk and threw a piano off the boat. as i returned to my room, i found it difficult to sleep. i thought of my friends and wondered what had happened to them.

  i wonder what will happen to me.

  he hung up the phone.

  in the barely lit apartment, hitman quickly got dressed up in his suit. he polished his pistol, screwed on the silencer, and put it in his pocket. he looked at himself in the mirror, and noticed the dark bags under his eyes. he was tired of everything. tired of working for the mafia, tired of being a pushover, and most of all, tired of living. he poured a shot of vodka and quickly drank it, the last bit of alcohol he would ever have. without bothering to lock the door of his apartment, he walked out into the night. it was freezing outside, but hitman's heart was even colder.

  the bar was packed with the usual crowd. young college kids looking for one night stands, old geezers sneaking looks at the pretty waitresses, bikers chugging down beers and bragging about their bikes, pool sharks in the making, regular guys tired of working in cubicles, bartenders wondering when the first fist fight of the night will occur. and of course, the crime lord himself, hitman's boss.

  hitman calmly walked to where his boss was sitting, where the big man was busy impressing scantily clad girls with vulgar jokes. the boss looked up in surprise as hitman sat down in front of him.
  "nice of you to join us!" exclaimed the boss, "oh yes! i have another job for you! once i'm done with these fine ladies though. hey, you want a drink?"
  hitman just looked around the bar casually, ignoring the girls looking at him. he noticed that the crime lord's bodyguards were in the back near the bathrooms, too far away to do anything. he wondered why he was going to kill him but he realized that when you continually get hurt, your heart slowly freezes up and you don't have any emotions for anyone. no pain, no pleasure, no sadness, no happiness, no remorse, no regrets. hitman was just an empty soul now. he stared at his boss for a second, then quickly whipped out the pistol from his jacket. he pointed the gun straight at the crime lord's head. the girls shrieked loudly, just as hitman pulled the trigger.

  one bullet was enough to kill the man. hitman unloaded the whole cartridge on him.

  as people were screaming and running out of the bar, hitman thought of the phone conversation with her. he wondered if anything could hurt him more than what she said. then again, nothing could hurt him anymore. except for the thugs shooting at him.

  the bodyguards soon realized that their boss was dead. angry at the thought of not being able to get paid anytime soon, they took out submachine guns from their suitcases and began spraying bullets all over the place. more screams. more running. glass shattering. chairs breaking. tables exploding into pieces. despite the chaos occuring around him, hitman reloaded his gun again without flinching. he didn't even flinch when bullets rained down on him.

  he turned and accurately fired back at the bodyguards, killing them instantly. his vision began to get hazy, not from the smoke, but from sudden loss of blood. he thought about her, wondering if he can survive to see her again. probably not.

  he staggered out of the bar, just as the police showed up. sirens blaring. lights flashing. cops running around, surrounding the entrance, all pointing guns at hitman.
  "put your hands up!" yelled some random cop, "slowly! do it now!"

  hitman barely understood what he was saying. he leaned against the door for support, but couldn't stand and slowly slid down to the floor. the cop continued yelling obscene commands at him. hitman didn't care anymore. he decided he didn't want to see her at all. didn't want to see anyone. theres was still some bullets left in his gun. ever so slowly, he raised it pointed right under his chin. the cop began screaming orders at him to stop, but of course hitman didn't hear.

  he closed his eyes, and saw her pretty face smiling at him. he pulled the trigger to quickly end the pain in his heart.

before we begin, just wanted to say a few thanks to the people who helped me out with this story. alice, amanda, joyce, and michellle and probably some other people i forgot. thanks for the grammer check, techincal difficulties, and time and patience to put up with my bad writing. well enjoy kids...no thanks to those punks who wanted a "cowculus" story...


chapter 1
december 23
4:47 a.m.

  new york city, the city that never sleeps. neither did eric. he had been staring out the window of his apartment for quite some time now, staring and trying to figure out why exactly he hadn't been able to sleep well these past few days. maybe it was insomnia, or maybe it was too cold. eric used to love cold weather, but this was just too much. snowflakes started falling down from the sky as eric began wondering why he chose to live in a place like this. oh yes, now he remembered. cold weather. perhaps it was because cold weather was a rare thing from where he grew up and where he went to college. eric took a sip of his coffee and closed his eyes, trying to relax. he tried to picture a summer day back in florida, the hot sun warming his skin, the soft sand beneath his bare feet...

  he sighed, realizing that it was not working. he drank the last bit of his coffee as a large snowflake slid down the window. it seemed to be whispering to him as it slowly descended towards the ground. "go to sleep," it said softly, "you crazy old fool." old? he didn't realize that being thirty-something and having a few grey hairs was considered "old" these days. and crazy? well, maybe he was considering that a snowflake was talking to him. eric looked at the clock and realized that he still had a couple of hours before his office opened. with nothing else better to do, he went outside for a walk. if only his friends can see him now. the great psychologist, dr. eric ericsson, walking around in the middle of the night talking to snowflakes.

chapter 2
december 23
10:30 a.m.

  "game over"
  eric angrily shook his fist at the computer screen as he watched his spaceship blow up into a thousand pixelated pieces. he started to curse profusely when his secretary walked in and threw a notebook at him.
  "quiet you," she said, "aren't you too old to be playing computer games dr. ericsson?"
  "so what if i am," he responded, "and please, just call me eric,"
  "then what did you get a PhD for? boredom?"
  "something to that extent."
  she rolled her eyes and muttered, "gosh what a loser. you need a girlfriend or something."
  eric smirked and replied, "not everyone is good-looking like you lady."
  she rolled her eyes again, left the room, and quietly closed the door behind her. seconds later she came in again and said she needed her notebook back.
  "what is it?" asked eric.
  "its a story i'm writing," she replied, "i think i want to call it 'winter sonata',"
  "winter what? sounds like a bad soap opera or something,"
  she just glared at him and this time slammed the door on her way out.

  women. eric never really did understand them. not to mention he never had the best luck with them either. he sighed and looked outside, where a blistering snowstorm threatened to freeze the streets. it was then dr. ericsson realized that he never had a girlfriend his whole life, and very rarely went on dates. he frowned, trying to remember if he ever considered a serious relationship with a girl before. well, there was this one girl in college but she...

  a rather loud knock on his door interrupted his thoughts and brought him back to reality. eric quickly checked to see if he had any appointments he didn't know about. none. he looked outside and wondered who was crazy enough to come and see a psychologist in this kind of weather. then again, being a psychologist, he dealt with crazy people all the time.

  "come in," eric said.

chapter 3
december 23
10:57 a.m.

  the young man who came in appeared to be in his early twenties, but eric reasoned that only a wild teenager would attempt to dress like this person did. the man wore, strangely enough, a tuxedo, but had old-looking sneakers as his footwear and his loosened tie was bizarre and brightly colored. the sleepy, droopy eyes and the silly grin he wore on his face gave an impression that the man was slightly drunk. or maybe he really was drunk. what fascinated eric the most was the man's hair. it was short and spikey, and dyed grey. why anyone would want to have dyed grey hair at such a young age was beyond eric.

  with a casual handshake, the person introduced himself as "hitman." for his part, eric tried not to laugh, so he smiled and suggested hitman to make himself comfortable on the large couch in the room. the doctor quickly gathered his materials: a pen, a notepad, and a small jar of jelly beans; and dragged his office chair next to the couch. he glanced out the window again, still wondering why anyone in their right mind would go walking around in the middle of a raging snowstorm. he shrugged and turned his attention to hitman.

  "before we begin," eric said, "understand that everything discussed here will be extremely confidential. all notes, recordings, or files will be kept in this office at all times,"
  "great..."replied hitman.
  the sarcastic tone in his tone didn't suit the doctor too well, and he needed a vacation away from this freezing city. then again, eric didn't really have anything else better to do since all his patients were gone for christmas.
  "well then," dr. ericsson said, "let's get started."

chapter 4
december 23
12:01 p.m.

  after an hour of listening to hitman ramble non-stop about random nonsense such as being lonely, being a loser, and being chased by the mafia, eric was surprised that hitman abruptly fell asleep. he was also surprised that his stomach was growling rather loudly.

  seizing hitman sleeping as an opportunity for a break, eric dragged the chair back to his desk and began typing all the notes on the computer. near the end of the conversation, when he was getting tired of waiting, he recalled how hitman was talking about running away to different states and countries in an effort to escape the mafia. before eric forgot the information, he quickly typed up all the locations hitman "ran away" to. when he was finished, he reviewed all the information on the computer screen and gave a huge sigh of relief.
  "quite an interesting character," dr. ericsson said to himself, "if any of what he says is true at all."

  he turned off the computer, and quietly left the room so he wouldn't disturb hitman sleeping. after all, eric couldn't possibly send him back out into the freezing weather again. before he left, he reminded his secretary to get some contact information from hitman when he woke up.
  she stopped writing in her notebook and looked up at him. "who? what are you talking about? whos hitman?" she asked.
  "um...the person who came into my office," replied the doctor, "didn't you sign him in?"
  "what? no one has come in here for today. and you have no appointments for the next week. besides, its freaking cold out. no one is walking around now."
  "are you sure no one came in here?"
  "yea definitely dr. ericsson."
  
  he didn't bother to correct her that time. there was a moment of awkward silence as eric and the secretary looked at each other, both incredibly confused. finally dr. ericsson just shook his head and mumbled about needing more sleep. the secretary just watched him go out the door, shrugged, and continued writing her story.

  her boss was crazy anyways

so yea...the story was an idea from cindy. shes making herself famous right about now in taiwan...you know chilling with famous people and all that good stuff...

so she started this part..."once upon a time... there was a girl who was very unhappy with her body and her image... she was too fat... and flat.. and all she wanted... was to look like a supermodel..."

and thus...i stole that idea and wrote my own version...enjoy kids

  only a week of summer vacation had gone by, and already she began to wish it would soon end. some of her relatives came to visit, and all they would talk about was how fat she got in college.
  "my goodnes," her aunt would say, "just look at those thighs. they're bulging!"
  "and that stomach is starting to stick out," commented her mom.
  "and your butt is too big!" her little cousin shouted, "fatty watty!"
  every night it was like this, and every night the girl would storm out of the house. she would then walk around aimlessly at the park, and cry until she was exhausted.

  one night, as she was walking around and crying her heart out, a young man asked her what was wrong. she quickly wiped away her tears, and looked at who was talking to her. the young man was sitting on a bench, and his pet dog was lying on the ground at his feet. she curiously looked at him, for he wore dark sunglasses, even though it was getting close to midnight.
  "um...nothing's wrong," the girl replied, "just out for a walk."
  "well then," said the young man as he stood up, "stop crying and i hope you feel better."
  he smiled at her, then slowly walked away with his dog trotting a little big ahead of him. the girl, no longer crying and a bit confused, returned home.

  the next night she ran out again to get away from her relatives. she walked around in the park, and saw the same young man with his pet dog from last night. he was still wearing those sunglasses. and he was also looking up at a streetlight. curiously, the girl approached him but the man did not seem to notice.
  "excuse me," asked the girl, "but what are you doing?"
  "oh nothing," he replied, "just enjoying the moonlight."
  "but sir, that's...that's a street lamp,"
  "...indeed,"

  there was an awkward silence, when finally the man asked her if she was the same girl from last night.
  "well...yes i am," she replied.
  "oh...i hope you're feeling better," he said.
  "no, actually i'm not," she said as she sat down next to him, "all of my relatives think i'm overweight. i'm so fat and ugly...i wish i was a supermodel so i can be thin and beautiful."
  the young man listened to her intently, but all he could say was, "indeed."
  "sigh, i wish i had a great body," continued the girl, "then i could be popular and all the boys would like me....and...and..."
  the girl began shaking and could feel that she would start crying again, so she stopped and tried to control herself.
  "a lot of people," the young man said, "always wish for something...especially if it is something they can't have,"
  he adjusted his sunglasses and turned to face her before continuing.
  "some people just take things for granted and don't appreciate what they have now. and some people don't realize what they have now is in fact, not that bad at all,"

  the girl never thought of it that way before. she looked at herself and realized that in fact, she had a decent body and was actually kind of pretty. immediately, she began to feel much better.
  "it must be getting pretty dark," the young man said, "i think you should go home before your family starts to worry,"
  he stood up and started to walk...right into a fire hydrant. the girl quickly caught him before he fell down.
  "heh...thanks," he said, "i didn't see that..."
  the girl picked his sunglasses from the floor and handed it to him.
  "here," she said, "you dropped this,"
  "oh thanks...um..."
  it was then the girl realized that the young man was blind, so he put on the glasses for him. then she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and ran off giggling. the young man started blushing, then looking up he said, "wow the moon sure is bright tonight." humming softly to himself, he walked away with his pet dog leading him out of the park.

  it was actually a street lamp, but it doesn't matter

the end