Plotlogs
An Artful Endeavor Sr Sam 250129
On a chilly dusk along the dilapidated Dandelion Parkway, Summer, a character with a willingness to help, found herself approached by a desperate man. His shivering form and pleading eyes sought companionship and aid, claiming a need to share a conversation, a request that Summer initially hesitated but eventually agreed to. Guiding him to the warmth of a nearby longhouse, Summer listened to the man's odd questions about the value of life, igniting a peculiar conversation that ultimately led to a bizarre proposition.
The man, seemingly on the verge of tears and distress, proposed a strange task to Summer, offering her $1,500 for her assistance. Despite the clear presence of deceit or confusion from the man, driven by her curiosity and the promise of a reward, Summer agreed. The man insisted they head towards the hanging tree on White Oak campus to carve a symbol, a task he ambiguously promised would be beneficial for both of them, emphasizing its supposed importance with a manic enthusiasm.
Upon agreeing to the man's request, Summer drove them towards the campus, during which the man's condition visibly worsened. He revealed his name as John Doe, a name clearly chosen to obscure his true identity, and handed Summer a broken sapphire pendant, urging her to accept it as both a payment and a symbolic token. Despite her growing suspicions and concern for John's well-being, Summer's curiosity about the pendant overtook her, and she accepted it. In an instant, John disappeared from the car, leaving Summer alone with the necklace and a lingering sense of foreboding. It was as though by accepting the necklace, Summer unknowingly accepted a burden or a mission far greater than she anticipated.
The story ends with Summer in possession of the mysterious sapphire pendant, left to ponder the true nature of her encounter and whether she will delve deeper into the mystery that has begun to unfold.
(An artful endeavor(SRSam):SRSam)
[Tue Jan 28 2025]
On Dandelion Parkway
Cracked and pothole-ridden asphalt roads make up this part of town,
bordered on either side by poorly maintained cracked sidewalks. The
aluminum streetlights are painted a deep, chipped green and appear regularly
along the side, illuminating the street in spots of warm electric light when
it's dark. Where the street is widest small median islands appear with old
twisted trees planted in them. The buildings that line the street seem old
and poorly taken care of.
It is after dusk, about 7F(-13C) degrees, and the sky is partly covered by dark grey stormclouds. There is a new moon.
"Oh thank god... Hey, uh, I know it's random... but I kinda could use a person to talk to, to help me bounce off of..." He pauses, and looks at Summer, perhaps seeming on the verge of tears. He shifts a little, a little amulet, blue of color, slipping under his shirt.
"I... yeah, I probably should be getting inside..." He pauses, and looks at Summer, maybe the man does not in fact have a place to go.
"Please? I... I just need someone to talk to." He bites his lip, swallowing heard as his teeth continue to clatter.
Summer tilts her head at the young man. "Alright, babes. Guess so! Your lucky day. C'mon, there's like, a mess hall inside the Longhouse." She waves a clawed hand at the young man. "You stayin here, right?"
Giving a sigh of relief, the man pauses.
"Huh? I..."
Then, he quickly nods. "Yes, yes, the longhouse! Of course!" He gratefully seems to be ready to let Summer lead him along, the man's lips slightly blue from the cold. He rubs his arms, and chuckles somewhat uncomfortably. "Hey, sorry if uh.. I I seem out of it, I haven't exactly had much sleep of late."
Summer starts the short march up the path towards the building up ahead. "You could like, seriously be gettin' real sick out here without layers, y'know. Surprised ya even like out here?" She lets out a giggle. "I get it. Kinda sucks in there, and it smells, but it's free. Can't beat that price, huh? I've been dreamin of a proper pillow for awhile now."
Poddling along, the man just chuckles as the pair reach the longhouse. Once there, the man just sort of looks around, shuffling from foot to foot as he nods his head. "I... Yeah! Yeah! It's... it's a whole thing!" He seems to be slightly out of it indeed, something strange in his eyes, though it's unclear if he's just sick, under influence, or something else.
Either way, he stands there, in the warmth of the longhouse, his breath still making small clouds, and his shivering only becoming worse.
"Hey... d-do you think about what your life is worth at all? Like... in the grander scheme of things."
Doe eyes sweep from the longhouse over towards the man next to her. "My life?" Summer's head tilts. It's quite clearly a new idea. "I like, guess? I mean it's like, gotta be worth somethin' right?" There's a little momentary frown as she considers, telling the young man as an afterthought. "I'm sure, like, your life is worth somethin too! Y'not gonna like get bridge jumpy on me, are ya?"
A chuckle, a little manic, perhaps, escapes the man's lips. "Hey, uh... YEAH! YEAH!" He jumps up and down, and looks over to Summer. He snaps his finger. "Warmth." He looks to Summer, again, and smiles from ear to ear. "Hey, listen... uh..." He pauses again.
Then, he jabs a finger wildly towards Summer. "Our lives are worth a lot. But if you can safe... millions, I.. Well, I for one would gladly GLADLY give it up!"
"If I can save millions?" Summer asks, looking confused. "If ya tryna sell me on somethin, I ain't got millions to like getcha to not jump off a bridge, babes. Sorry. Sure as hell wouldn't be stayin here if I did have that kinda scratch."
Giving a tilt of the head, the man shakes his head. "No, nonono!" He smiles. "No, what I mean, I mean is that!" He jabs his finger towards Summer yet again. "LIFES!" He seems to be letting go of that lucidity he had before, his eyes glinting. "Look, it's coming, you gotta help me..."
"Please say you'll help me?" He offers his hand, and smiles wildly.
Summer turns around, looking around in the dark, even more confused. "What's coming?" she asks, turning back to eye the young man and his pro offered hand. "How much ya payin?" Summer asks, her hands on her hips.
"Uh..." The man pauses, and he blink blink blinks. He bites his lips, then looks right at Summer. "A thousand bucks." He nods firmly, with the certainty of someone who knows what he is doing. That is, the business of lying. At least, if Summer is good enough at reading him. Either way, he happily extends a hand.
"Say you'll help me, and I'll reward you, I promise!"
"Cash money, right? None of that bitcoin bullshit?" Summer eyes the young man. "How much we talkin? Name the price and if it's right, I'll shake."
Jumping up and down, the man looks at Summer. "L-l-l-like I said, a hundred...one thousand... fivehundred... A grand! A kay! One thousand! Yes!" He seems utterly impatient almost, like he is in a hurry. He briefly grabs at his head, then rubs his temples.
"PLEASE!" He looks at Summer pleadingly, holding out a trembling hand as his breath only seems to become more shaky, like he's cooling down instead of heating up.
Summer snaps her fingers in the air. "One thousand five hundred. Ya said it. No take backsies, babes," she says proudly. Her hand reaches out, but she doesn't shake his until: "We gotta deal, right?" The ball is in this young man's court now at the new price.
"YES YES YES!"
He holds out his hand, and whines, almost, his eyes seemingly glazing over just a little, a strange, whitish sheen to them as he holds out his hand again.
"Please! Please say we have a deal! " He looks at Summer desperately as his voice seems to drop and raise in pitch, like he's not entirely the master of his own voice.
"Eugh, you need a cough drop or somethin' babes." The oblivious blonde comments, shaking that pale hand definitively. Summer frowns a little, trying to process, but it doesn't stop that clawed hand of hers from coming to an agreement with his. "Aight. So what the hell we doin?"
Cold as ice, the man's hand shakes. He smiles from ear to ear. "Okay okay okay, let's head to the... to the hanging tree, yeah?" He smiles, and nods to Summer. "On White Oak campus?" He grins from ear to ear, and nods firmly to Summer. "I need you to carve a symbol there, okay? It will help you! Me! Us!" He seems utterly delighted, the man still shivering heavily.
It seems easy enough...
Summer can't help but shiver at the touch of that cold, cold hand. She makes a face, drawing back her hand to the warmth of her coat pocket. "Okay, but like, y'wanna grab a jacket from inside? I can turn the heat on in my car, but like, y'gonna be real cold still once we outta the car."
"We need to move. It is almost too late!" The man looks over at Summer, and he smiles. "I have little time left, I do." He smiles a little to Summer, and his now blue-white eyes just stare at her. "Please, get me to the tree, we'll complete it and.." He smiles broadly. "You'll help the world!"
"Aight, aight, let's go," Summer gives in, waving for the young man to follow. She leads him back towards where they first met, and it's not very far, and clicks on her car keys to unlock the doors. Stepping inside, she pulls on a seat belt and starts to blast the heat. "So like, what do we have to carve into the tree?" she asks the young man. "Feel like I heard of people savin trees by like chainin themselves to it so they don't get cut down, not like carvin stuff into em."
"I'll show you when we get there. It's not hard." He looks over to Summer, tilting his head to the side.
His teeth keep chattering, and the man seems anything but warmer, even if he is in a warm location. If anything, he seems to be shivering more, and slowly shriveling up from it. Little pearls of frost are forming on his eyebrows, and his eyes grow whiter and whiter.
Summer zooms off towards the local campus, that little heater getting the area good and toasty. "Mmmmkay," she says. Focused on driving, she doesn't bother with more chit-chat. It's a simple job after all, but at hearing his chattering teeth, Summer gives the young man some side-eye. "What's your name, babes? Ya got your ID on ya? Cuz at the rate you goin, I might have to take ya to the clinic. There's like one on campus right?" They pull in towards the parking lot closest to the campus grounds.
"Uh..." He pauses, his teeth rattling as he looks over to Summer. "John." He speaks, after more of a pause than should be. "John Doe."
Then, they reach the parking lot. He nods his head, eagerly, and looks to Summer. He pulls that blue pendant out of his shirt. It's a broken, tear-shaped sapphire. "C-could you please carve that in the tree? A-aand write under it..." He pauses, wincing a lot as he grabs at his head. "Hn.. carve... " Another pause as he writhes. "Write your name under it."
Summer frowns properly now. "Okay like, you are not okay." Perhaps it's an understatement. But it finally seems to sink in more for the blond. Those doe eyes hold a greedy gleam as it beholds the broke, tear-shaped sapphire, though. "Look. John. Babes. I ain't know what ya issue is, but like, how about we take ya to the clinic. It's like, right over there? I can hold onto that thing for ya, keep it safe, if ya worried bout losin it?"
"I... sure..." He pulls the pendant from his neck, and holds it out towards Summer. He pauses, and smiles wide at Summer. "Do..." He sounds weak, almost. "Do you accept it?" He grins eagerly, almost, his body gaining some life to it.
Summer's doe eyes fix upon the pendant in the young man's hand, offered so easily and freely. "You don't want it?" She holds a clawed hand towards her chest for a moment with a false modesty. "I mean like, if ya really don't, then yeah, totes! Sure!" She takes the pendant from him and clicks on the inside car lights, holding up that broken sapphire closer to her eyes to examine. "This is like really interestin y'know. Where'd ya get it?"
The pendant, surely, is made of actual sapphire. There are strange, jagged fractures along the gemstone, and the chain is pure silver. It's rather intricate of design.
In response to Summer's inquiry, the man just smiles. "It was a burden..." He grins wide. "Now I am free. Thank you." He smiles, genuinely, and he closes his eyes. Then, like he was never there, Summer is left alone in the car. A sense of foreboding comes over her, like she just accepted a greater purpose.
Perhaps she will answer the call, perhaps not. Either way, she has a very beautiful necklace...
The man, seemingly on the verge of tears and distress, proposed a strange task to Summer, offering her $1,500 for her assistance. Despite the clear presence of deceit or confusion from the man, driven by her curiosity and the promise of a reward, Summer agreed. The man insisted they head towards the hanging tree on White Oak campus to carve a symbol, a task he ambiguously promised would be beneficial for both of them, emphasizing its supposed importance with a manic enthusiasm.
Upon agreeing to the man's request, Summer drove them towards the campus, during which the man's condition visibly worsened. He revealed his name as John Doe, a name clearly chosen to obscure his true identity, and handed Summer a broken sapphire pendant, urging her to accept it as both a payment and a symbolic token. Despite her growing suspicions and concern for John's well-being, Summer's curiosity about the pendant overtook her, and she accepted it. In an instant, John disappeared from the car, leaving Summer alone with the necklace and a lingering sense of foreboding. It was as though by accepting the necklace, Summer unknowingly accepted a burden or a mission far greater than she anticipated.
The story ends with Summer in possession of the mysterious sapphire pendant, left to ponder the true nature of her encounter and whether she will delve deeper into the mystery that has begun to unfold.
(An artful endeavor(SRSam):SRSam)
[Tue Jan 28 2025]
On Dandelion Parkway
Cracked and pothole-ridden asphalt roads make up this part of town,
bordered on either side by poorly maintained cracked sidewalks. The
aluminum streetlights are painted a deep, chipped green and appear regularly
along the side, illuminating the street in spots of warm electric light when
it's dark. Where the street is widest small median islands appear with old
twisted trees planted in them. The buildings that line the street seem old
and poorly taken care of.
It is after dusk, about 7F(-13C) degrees, and the sky is partly covered by dark grey stormclouds. There is a new moon.
"Oh thank god... Hey, uh, I know it's random... but I kinda could use a person to talk to, to help me bounce off of..." He pauses, and looks at Summer, perhaps seeming on the verge of tears. He shifts a little, a little amulet, blue of color, slipping under his shirt.
"I... yeah, I probably should be getting inside..." He pauses, and looks at Summer, maybe the man does not in fact have a place to go.
"Please? I... I just need someone to talk to." He bites his lip, swallowing heard as his teeth continue to clatter.
Summer tilts her head at the young man. "Alright, babes. Guess so! Your lucky day. C'mon, there's like, a mess hall inside the Longhouse." She waves a clawed hand at the young man. "You stayin here, right?"
Giving a sigh of relief, the man pauses.
"Huh? I..."
Then, he quickly nods. "Yes, yes, the longhouse! Of course!" He gratefully seems to be ready to let Summer lead him along, the man's lips slightly blue from the cold. He rubs his arms, and chuckles somewhat uncomfortably. "Hey, sorry if uh.. I I seem out of it, I haven't exactly had much sleep of late."
Summer starts the short march up the path towards the building up ahead. "You could like, seriously be gettin' real sick out here without layers, y'know. Surprised ya even like out here?" She lets out a giggle. "I get it. Kinda sucks in there, and it smells, but it's free. Can't beat that price, huh? I've been dreamin of a proper pillow for awhile now."
Poddling along, the man just chuckles as the pair reach the longhouse. Once there, the man just sort of looks around, shuffling from foot to foot as he nods his head. "I... Yeah! Yeah! It's... it's a whole thing!" He seems to be slightly out of it indeed, something strange in his eyes, though it's unclear if he's just sick, under influence, or something else.
Either way, he stands there, in the warmth of the longhouse, his breath still making small clouds, and his shivering only becoming worse.
"Hey... d-do you think about what your life is worth at all? Like... in the grander scheme of things."
Doe eyes sweep from the longhouse over towards the man next to her. "My life?" Summer's head tilts. It's quite clearly a new idea. "I like, guess? I mean it's like, gotta be worth somethin' right?" There's a little momentary frown as she considers, telling the young man as an afterthought. "I'm sure, like, your life is worth somethin too! Y'not gonna like get bridge jumpy on me, are ya?"
A chuckle, a little manic, perhaps, escapes the man's lips. "Hey, uh... YEAH! YEAH!" He jumps up and down, and looks over to Summer. He snaps his finger. "Warmth." He looks to Summer, again, and smiles from ear to ear. "Hey, listen... uh..." He pauses again.
Then, he jabs a finger wildly towards Summer. "Our lives are worth a lot. But if you can safe... millions, I.. Well, I for one would gladly GLADLY give it up!"
"If I can save millions?" Summer asks, looking confused. "If ya tryna sell me on somethin, I ain't got millions to like getcha to not jump off a bridge, babes. Sorry. Sure as hell wouldn't be stayin here if I did have that kinda scratch."
Giving a tilt of the head, the man shakes his head. "No, nonono!" He smiles. "No, what I mean, I mean is that!" He jabs his finger towards Summer yet again. "LIFES!" He seems to be letting go of that lucidity he had before, his eyes glinting. "Look, it's coming, you gotta help me..."
"Please say you'll help me?" He offers his hand, and smiles wildly.
Summer turns around, looking around in the dark, even more confused. "What's coming?" she asks, turning back to eye the young man and his pro offered hand. "How much ya payin?" Summer asks, her hands on her hips.
"Uh..." The man pauses, and he blink blink blinks. He bites his lips, then looks right at Summer. "A thousand bucks." He nods firmly, with the certainty of someone who knows what he is doing. That is, the business of lying. At least, if Summer is good enough at reading him. Either way, he happily extends a hand.
"Say you'll help me, and I'll reward you, I promise!"
"Cash money, right? None of that bitcoin bullshit?" Summer eyes the young man. "How much we talkin? Name the price and if it's right, I'll shake."
Jumping up and down, the man looks at Summer. "L-l-l-like I said, a hundred...one thousand... fivehundred... A grand! A kay! One thousand! Yes!" He seems utterly impatient almost, like he is in a hurry. He briefly grabs at his head, then rubs his temples.
"PLEASE!" He looks at Summer pleadingly, holding out a trembling hand as his breath only seems to become more shaky, like he's cooling down instead of heating up.
Summer snaps her fingers in the air. "One thousand five hundred. Ya said it. No take backsies, babes," she says proudly. Her hand reaches out, but she doesn't shake his until: "We gotta deal, right?" The ball is in this young man's court now at the new price.
"YES YES YES!"
He holds out his hand, and whines, almost, his eyes seemingly glazing over just a little, a strange, whitish sheen to them as he holds out his hand again.
"Please! Please say we have a deal! " He looks at Summer desperately as his voice seems to drop and raise in pitch, like he's not entirely the master of his own voice.
"Eugh, you need a cough drop or somethin' babes." The oblivious blonde comments, shaking that pale hand definitively. Summer frowns a little, trying to process, but it doesn't stop that clawed hand of hers from coming to an agreement with his. "Aight. So what the hell we doin?"
Cold as ice, the man's hand shakes. He smiles from ear to ear. "Okay okay okay, let's head to the... to the hanging tree, yeah?" He smiles, and nods to Summer. "On White Oak campus?" He grins from ear to ear, and nods firmly to Summer. "I need you to carve a symbol there, okay? It will help you! Me! Us!" He seems utterly delighted, the man still shivering heavily.
It seems easy enough...
Summer can't help but shiver at the touch of that cold, cold hand. She makes a face, drawing back her hand to the warmth of her coat pocket. "Okay, but like, y'wanna grab a jacket from inside? I can turn the heat on in my car, but like, y'gonna be real cold still once we outta the car."
"We need to move. It is almost too late!" The man looks over at Summer, and he smiles. "I have little time left, I do." He smiles a little to Summer, and his now blue-white eyes just stare at her. "Please, get me to the tree, we'll complete it and.." He smiles broadly. "You'll help the world!"
"Aight, aight, let's go," Summer gives in, waving for the young man to follow. She leads him back towards where they first met, and it's not very far, and clicks on her car keys to unlock the doors. Stepping inside, she pulls on a seat belt and starts to blast the heat. "So like, what do we have to carve into the tree?" she asks the young man. "Feel like I heard of people savin trees by like chainin themselves to it so they don't get cut down, not like carvin stuff into em."
"I'll show you when we get there. It's not hard." He looks over to Summer, tilting his head to the side.
His teeth keep chattering, and the man seems anything but warmer, even if he is in a warm location. If anything, he seems to be shivering more, and slowly shriveling up from it. Little pearls of frost are forming on his eyebrows, and his eyes grow whiter and whiter.
Summer zooms off towards the local campus, that little heater getting the area good and toasty. "Mmmmkay," she says. Focused on driving, she doesn't bother with more chit-chat. It's a simple job after all, but at hearing his chattering teeth, Summer gives the young man some side-eye. "What's your name, babes? Ya got your ID on ya? Cuz at the rate you goin, I might have to take ya to the clinic. There's like one on campus right?" They pull in towards the parking lot closest to the campus grounds.
"Uh..." He pauses, his teeth rattling as he looks over to Summer. "John." He speaks, after more of a pause than should be. "John Doe."
Then, they reach the parking lot. He nods his head, eagerly, and looks to Summer. He pulls that blue pendant out of his shirt. It's a broken, tear-shaped sapphire. "C-could you please carve that in the tree? A-aand write under it..." He pauses, wincing a lot as he grabs at his head. "Hn.. carve... " Another pause as he writhes. "Write your name under it."
Summer frowns properly now. "Okay like, you are not okay." Perhaps it's an understatement. But it finally seems to sink in more for the blond. Those doe eyes hold a greedy gleam as it beholds the broke, tear-shaped sapphire, though. "Look. John. Babes. I ain't know what ya issue is, but like, how about we take ya to the clinic. It's like, right over there? I can hold onto that thing for ya, keep it safe, if ya worried bout losin it?"
"I... sure..." He pulls the pendant from his neck, and holds it out towards Summer. He pauses, and smiles wide at Summer. "Do..." He sounds weak, almost. "Do you accept it?" He grins eagerly, almost, his body gaining some life to it.
Summer's doe eyes fix upon the pendant in the young man's hand, offered so easily and freely. "You don't want it?" She holds a clawed hand towards her chest for a moment with a false modesty. "I mean like, if ya really don't, then yeah, totes! Sure!" She takes the pendant from him and clicks on the inside car lights, holding up that broken sapphire closer to her eyes to examine. "This is like really interestin y'know. Where'd ya get it?"
The pendant, surely, is made of actual sapphire. There are strange, jagged fractures along the gemstone, and the chain is pure silver. It's rather intricate of design.
In response to Summer's inquiry, the man just smiles. "It was a burden..." He grins wide. "Now I am free. Thank you." He smiles, genuinely, and he closes his eyes. Then, like he was never there, Summer is left alone in the car. A sense of foreboding comes over her, like she just accepted a greater purpose.
Perhaps she will answer the call, perhaps not. Either way, she has a very beautiful necklace...