A Cry for Freedom

Introduction

Tiny bubbles silently floated in all directions of land. These bubbles were alive and moving individually with a mysterious consciousness. There were certain forces gently pushing the bubbles along, dictating the obstacles in their individual paths, but resolutely all the bubbles pushed higher and higher until any stagnant observer could no longer see or fathom what they were up to. All bubbles had very different business to tend to, but there was one common goal: to ensure the survival and evolution of their collective. Nature ensured the evolution of these bubbles, their situations were constantly changing and adaptation to new forces quickly ensued. Survival for individual bubbles occurred as chance, foreign objects popped some, and others collided into each other with either one or none remaining. The bubbles as a whole always continued as if they knew that their kind would always have a place.

Human beings are merely physical representations of these mystical bubbles; eternally comprised of infinite possibility with little (if any) difference among the other bubbles at the core. In this present time, however, all of the bubbles were smeared with the happiness, sadness, excitement, shame, pride, anger, and love of their mortal existence. The self-reflection of any human as an individual bubble insured that they would, one day, die. Bubbles shared much of their coloring with other bubbles because of joint experience, and even others, in love, shared their bubbles partially to allow their experience to come as one. Known only to a few of these bubbles, perhaps somewhere known by all, an approaching mutual experience would color these bubbles in different strokes.

[edit on 31-7-2004 by Jamuhn]

Looks good so far. Looking forward for more!

One such bubble, which had a name of Jerry, was relatively colorless. Not because Jerry was young, he was at the prime of his existence at age 20 and had a life full of misfortune and also fortune; he was very fond of alcohol and marijuana at parties, and, as always, he had his eyes on a different woman. Jerry was a simple man; he did not have many emotions and believed in almost nothing. He wasn't altogether incapable of feeling, he just didn't most of the time. As far as beliefs were concerned, he never knew what was right and just went with what seemed right, which was very little.

Jerry found himself driving solemnly along a coast in an old Army Wrangler. 'I must hurry,' he thought to himself, '...they need me.' He could see his turn ahead, a two-lane bridge extending through the water as far as his eyes could see. Throughout the body of water were tiny islands seemingly deserted except for the occasional decrepit shack. All of the shacks he saw had their respective rackety docks and boats that had long since rusted out and sunk to the shallow bed near the waters' edge. The sun was bright, with a few interspersed clouds floating lazily.

Jerry could make out something hanging in the sky, near the horizon. Jerry could see that this unidentified object was moving, not only up in the sky, but the object became bigger too. Just as Jerry turned onto the bridge, he could make out the missile looming close overhead. A sudden shock struck him, and quickly magnified when he saw the source, what he perceived as a destroyer. Suddenly, more similar looking missiles loomed on the horizon, followed quickly by their destroyers. The sound of the missiles and destroyers began booming in his head. Helicopters flew over him making the sound too unbearable for him. All action seemed to be focused behind him, but the buzzing and threat of foreign invasion moved him to crying for all those who would die that fateful day. Becoming so filled with fear and anger, he just wanted to scream up through the heavens.

[edit on 28-7-2004 by Jamuhn]

"Aaaaaggggghhhhh!" Jerry suddenly jerked out of his bed with his now faint cry, heart pumping, and sweat all over his body. He was relieved that it was only a dream, one he wouldn't soon forget, albeit a dream. Jerry realized that his roommate was probably in the room and couldn't help but chuckle when he saw not only his roommate Fred, but also two of his friends and hall mates, James and Anthony. All were bursting out in laughter while huddled around his bottom bunk.

"Jerry needs his mommy," said Fred, "...I hope the poor baby didn't piss his pants." Fred, James, and Anthony laughed at Jerry for a few minutes. Jerry knew that this was a very unusual occurrence, for anyone, to succumb to these emotions at a mature age. His laughter with his three friends quickly became a grin, which then transformed into an insightful wonder at the combination of Fred's words and the laughter of all.

Jerry realized that his friends weren't concerned at all at the nature of fear that the nightmare brought on, nor with the objects that led to emotions in a man who rarely felt any, especially these. The individual oddity in Jerry was clearly overrun by the general implications of a man crying. "So I'm guessing that all of you have never cried in your life, never felt afraid?" snapped Jerry, with a look of contempt in his eyes. All three slowly stopped their laughter at the seriousness of Jerry's red face.

"Only when I was a little kid, my parents didn't raise me to a pussy when I grew up," said Anthony with a smart grin on his face.

"Don't take it so seriously, Jerry," said James, "...just go back to sleep, we'll leave you alone." James had class in a few minutes, and both Fred and Anthony would have to get ready for the class they had in an hour. James silently left the room, while Anthony, right behind, let out a silent chuckle before leaving. Jerry knew he wouldn't be able to sleep though, he never felt so terrified in his dreams, certainly not in his waking life. Although he knew it a dream, he still had a slight tremble.

Jerry did not want to soon return to that frightful place, and decided that he would have better chances reaching a more blissful state of mind by keeping awake. He was fully awake at this moment anyway and would not be tormented in the way he usually was when raising from his bed.

Strolling over to his fourth-story window, he scanned the view that made him so thankful of his room, despite the fact that his room was further from his classes than most dorms. Through Jerry's dorm window, he could see a large bulk of the campus; some of the campus was partially obstructed by a dorm diagonal to the window. The day was much like any other in that time of year; the cool air provided a crisp blue sky with thin wisps of cloud and the students down below looked as drones mechanically walking to indifferent buildings. Jerry knew that morning class for any student was seen merely as a chore and rarely as an eventful occasion.

Jerry could make out the main pathways laid out through the main halls of his campus and watched as the crowd of students marched down these paths. Students silently filed off from these large lines to make their way to class. Jerry liked to pretend the students en masse were in actuality ants that filed along according to the rules of logic, such as trucks following the shortest route to reach a destination.

Strangely though, students were no longer mechanically walking, many were speeding their pace, and many others running. A life suddenly came over this drab crowd and driving it to an incredible tumult. Students who were walking into buildings started coming right back out again, and the entire process of the early morning classes seemed to reverse. The dorms were becoming filled again, while a large mass formed in front of the student center to make their way inside. Jerry hoped for the best, but feared the worst, in large part to his dream earlier.

"Jerry! Come to the lounge, there's something on TV you ought to see!" cried Fred. Jerry's head suddenly sunk very low, but his legs towards the lounge quickened. One part of him felt as if he were walking to the executioner, and another felt a vague reminiscence to the situation.

In the lounge, everyone was fixed on the television set, sitting motionless and silent. The anchor for the Central News and Research station, or CNR, was exasperated, shocked, and horrified by the vivid images displaying on the TV. "What was once the pinnacle of our economic roots has been laid to waste...If you have just joined us, the New World Trading Organization's (NWTO) skyscraper in New Rock collapsed after it apparently exploded at the bottom floors. Witnesses report large explosions shortly after 8 a.m. this morning. News teams arrived and captured the collapse about five minutes ago at 8:27 a.m..."

Against the anchor's voice was a video feed of the destruction. All that was left was mangled steel and concrete, with papers and fires in between. The debris of the collapse was packed onto the street with a large mountain remaining on the skyscraper's original site. The bulk of the emergency crews were confined to the area in front of the second NWTO skyscraper where the debris was more thinned out. The debris of the first skyscraper was so thick that reaching the original site was taking time. A haze of thick dust blanketed the area for many blocks.

Firefighters and police were picking at the remains looking for survivors. Most of the emergency crews stayed at the more thinned out areas of the collapse, but many were making their way across the rugged debris towards the original site. Other members were putting down the remaining fires. Ambulances were coming to and from the remains, taking away the injured and the lifeless from the immediate area to the makeshift hospital. The field hospital was two blocks away from the original position of the first skyscraper, one block away from the second NWTO skyscraper. A giant crowd had gathered around the area, but stayed clear enough to let the emergency crews do their jobs, no crowd control was needed. The crowd was silent.

Jerry was speechless, his eyes fixed as the others' were. All Jerry could do was stare at the destruction and wonder. Who? Why? He felt very vulnerable and thought that whoever it turned out to be, he would join the hunt to kill these people. Jerry had primal urges bubbling up inside of him, and he was hungry for revenge.

[edit on 31-7-2004 by Jamuhn]

Pretty good, keep it coming.

great story you got there keep it coming. id love to read the next addition.