Collaborative Creative Writing Exercise

By youth Web Social participants: February 23, 2022

It was a cold night and I decided to step inside a building I'd seen a long time ago as it was cold. Entered the Lazy Tavern (apparently a decent meeting spot in the center of town).

Despite it being a decent meeting place for everyone, it was quite empty on this particular night. Something eerie about the place being empty struck me. It suddenly had the feeling of what you’d call a ghost town. The only person who was there was the bartender, and he seemed to be oblivious to my presence.

As I looked around, this weird feeling came over me. It was expected for the place to be busy...but it was so quiet today.

I frequented this place often, and tonight I had planned to meet a friend, but alas, I got canceled on. But somehow I ended up here, despite that. I looked around, then made eye contact with the bartender. Oh god, it was that...furry...thingy. I dunno. It was common to see this employee, and they were always in a fursuit, and it was always different. This one was neon orange with piercing blue eyes. I quickly looked away, feeling awkward. After all, unexpected eye contact is generally awkward. I quietly sat down and let out a big sigh.

After only being seated for a few minutes, the bartender approached me. Their walk was slow and methodical, and made me uneasy. As they made it to my table, they asked, “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“A cup of tea would be great,” I responded, my voice shaky, and not just from the cold.

Prolonged silence lingered between our exchange until the bartender abruptly turned around and made their way back over to the kitchen, their tail swaying behind them. As they entered the kitchen, a burst of bright light shot through the door and blinded me, causing me to fall out of my chair with a thud.

After the light had cleared I saw what could only be described as a mythical creature. It was beautiful: it had hair the color of fairy dust and a long flowy dress that looked like a flowing waterfall with lily pads scattered across its hair. It looked like the mix of a waterfall and a lotus garden. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. The creature looked at me with beautiful eyes that looked like the ocean: one eye representing the water, the other the sand and the shells. I’d never seen anything like it before, despite studying mythical creatures all my life.

I stared at this creature in awe. I took in it's beauty, dead silent. Truly, what could I say about it? It was stunning. I went through the pages of my mind, going through all of my intense research of mythical creatures in the past. Nothing. I knew I didn't know of this creature, because if I had, how could I have forgotten its immaculate beauty? I waved away my thoughts, now moving my focus back towards the creature. How curious. Many questions ran through my mind about the purpose of this creature. But where to start? I tried to organize my thoughts, and to calm myself down, I took a sip of my tea, making direct eye contact with this gorgeous being.

A thought infiltrated the calm of my mind: what if this creature is not kind? What if its beauty masks its evil? My brain was suddenly reeling. Was I in danger? Finally, my flight or fight response kicked in…and I ran. But, before I could reach the door, the creature was somehow already blocking the exit. I didn’t even see it move. Can it teleport???? Suddenly I was faced with its piercing, ocean-resembling eyes, and I realized, with relief, that it was harmless. As I explored the ocean and sand I could see the pure intentions of the magnificent creature and understood…

This creature was here to tell me something, to warn me of danger or save me. This creature wanted to help me, but with what? It looked at me, suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by a calm voice. "Can you hear me? I've needed to reach you for a long time. I'm glad I found you."

I was in shock, this thing knew telepathy? This didn't feel real, but I listened anyway.

"This will sound odd to you most definitely. But the friend who canceled on you is planning something sinister. You need to stop them."

I was shocked..my friend would never do something like that...right? This felt like some sort of messed-up dream. Not even reality. Like it was some sort of cliche writing. But I listened. It was trying to help. I knew that it was too quiet here. It was never empty at this time of night. I looked around, uneasy. Then all of the sudden, the walls were...melting? What the hell- where am I?! What is this? I frantically looked at the creature, and it looked just as confused at this place melting.

Was this all fake? I pinched myself, hoping to wake up...but I didn't. This wasn't a dream. This was a nightmare, and I couldn't wake up. I went to the wall, and touched it. It was some sort of murky sludge. It honestly smelt disgusting. I wipe my hand off on my shirt, a grossed-out look on my face. The creature looked at me with those stunning eyes. It looked worried. "Are you okay?"

I smiled at it, then said, "Yeah..I'm fine. It's just that-" I stopped myself, frozen. A pair of piercing blue eyes were reflecting off of the creature's radiant aura and I froze. Those eyes seemed... familiar. I went silent, trembling in my boots slightly as I tried to pull myself together.

The eyes took me back to my childhood. To when I first met my friend. We were only 9 years old at the time, but were inseparable. Have been, even know. They know all of my secrets, my doubts, my dreams. I trust them with my life…or, did trust them with my life. Maybe that was a poor decision after hearing they were planning something catastrophic. I have to get in contact with them! Pulling out my phone, I dial their number. After a few seconds, a ringing echoes throughout the pub. I run to the source of the sound and find that my friend’s phone is laying on the table where I had just sat. Are they around? Can they hear me?

“Hello!” I called out. “Are you there?! Please, I just want to talk. That’s it. I’m sure there is some misunderstanding…”.

“There is not,” I hear my friend reply, slowly walking out of the shadows of the kitchen.

I stared at my beloved friend. My best friend. What had I done to upset them? Had I done anything? I cried out, "What did I do?!"

My friend stepped towards me, then grabbed my arm tight. "You know what you did! You stole my Yu-gi-oh collection! You monster!"

I stared at them, then just gave a confused look, "Yu-gi...what? " I had never heard of such a thing. Sounded...weird though.

They huffed, then said, "Don't play dumb! I know it was you!" I just stared at them. Dumbfounded. My creature friend then spoke, "They speak the truth, dear. They don't know what Yu-gi-oh is." My friend let go, then said, "Really...? Then what happened…?"

They then yelped. Part of the ceiling had started melting and it landed right onto their face. The creature saw the opportunity and grabbed my arm and started running for the door. I quickly grabbed my friend's arm and dragged them along.

As the building collapsed, we all sat down on the grassy hills outside. I stared up at the sky, looking at the stars. I looked at my friend and smiled, then asked, "Shall we look for your...yu...thingy?"

My friend stared at me for a moment, then chuckled and said, "Sure, lets go."