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In English, she was to write a short story; she took the opportunity to relate it to her newest story. At the end of class, she had to present it to her fellow classmates and discuss how the conflict is effective in the story. Her pen moved smoothly on the blank piece of paper, her hands moving as swiftly as professional artist. It took most of her time but at last Alice was done. She came up to the teacher, who smiled at her, then got a word of consent to go to the front of class and speak:
‘From the darkness of his room, he stared out at the shadows that creeped up against the wall. Luis, as scared as he was, managed to sit up and stare frightfully into blackness. “Hello?” he whispered as if to himself. There was no answer. “Mom, dad?” he asked, now unsure of his surroundings. He then got out of his bed, moving shakily through the room. To his demise, his bed disappeared right before him. Crying, he ran to the wall where his window was but there was nothing there. Now he was frightened senselessly, begging that there was a way out. To himself, Luis started wimpering, “No, not again, not again…” He ran wall to wall, to wall, not finding a single exit; his surroundings expanded. Finally, against his fear he propped himself up and ran, he kept running and running and running, the shadows followed with maniacal laughter, “Luis, Luis, we’re coming for you…” Their voices were drone like as he raced to find an exit. At last, he could run no more and collapsed. He shrieked, a blood curdling scream, at the top of his lungs and was taken away. In the morning he woke, hair damp and matted against his face as he curled up into a pathetic ball and cried silently, “Why…? Why do you do this to me? Why don’t you leave me alone? I want to be me; someone normal…not…not a freak!”’
The class, as usual, stared in awe; yet again, Alice had created a masterpiece of insanity’s wrath. There was a silence for the longest time until finally the teacher spoke. “What would the conflict be?” she asked with a quivery voice. Alice turned to her, “Man v. Self. True insanity reigns superior and it is an internal conflict; suiting for the story as he lives what he dreams.” The teacher nodded slowly and said, “Well done, Alice, once more you managed to make the conflict revolve around the distortion of reality,” then to the class, “This is what I expect from you; this is what I want. Don’t just give me a little, I want to see, I want to feel; I want to be in your mind, not just reading words.”
Alice sat down, a little embarrassed, staring at her short story. Thinking for a moment she started to write more to it, then more, then more. Soon, she was adding the rest of the story. She had written only the climax, rewinding, she went to the beginning that led up to that point; the dreams that first occurred, down to the mockery of his class because apparently he was mentally disconnected to them. Taking her teacher’s words, Alice added in his feelings, thoughts, and emotions, capturing an image of him that others would see when they tapped into his mind; as if they could be him – in his shoes.
Alice got up to meet one of her best friends smiling brightly at her when the bell rung. “Shape Shifter, you did it again.” He walked next to her, “what do you call it?” Alice thought for a moment, what did she call it? Better yet, what will she call it? “I’m not sure, Adam, it just came to me…” she replied, annoyed at herself for not knowing what to call it. Adam looked up thoughtfully, “Maybe…The story of Luis?”
“He would need a last name if it were to be that.”
“Luis Allison.”
“I’m not looking to make an official full name.”
“Oh, well, then what about, The Dream?”
“That sounds too plain and obvious; I want my readers to think.”
“Nothingness?”
“Once again, not creative enough.”
Adam laughed at his friend, “Well, whatever it is, Allie, it’ll be great.” Smiling, he went off to his class. Alice stood in the hall, now troubled on what she would call it. Her brain could melt if she didn’t figure out, but it didn’t take long to make her realize that she would be late for class if she didn’t hurry! Deciding to leave her thoughts, she went off to History.