LET'S [test] DRIVING

[cava]

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN, YOU KNOW THE DRILL. Here's a few options, all stolen shamelessly from previous iterations.

> The Park. Man, what a nice day out. Why not enjoy it? I'm sure -- shit, yep, there's some echo monsters or whatever they're called.
> The Mall. Exactly what it says on the tin! Dodge the hordes of teenage mallrats or take part, whichever suits your tastes.
> Rainy Day. Agh, it's fucking awful out. And is it raining those vermilion things?? Now you've got an Echo to contend with on top of everything else. Find some shelter, quick!
> Arts and Crafts Fair. WILL THE KITSCH OVERWHELM YOU


or make up your own whatever this is basic and just for the purposes of getting a new test drive up.

Comments

[pianistofraielin]

THOSE TWO THINGS ARE DEFINITELY NOT RELATED EVEN A LITTLE BIT

[and then suddenly serious as he realizes she's just backed up right into the potential flow of traffic]

H-hey! Don't just stand there! That's dangerous!

[he darts out and grabs her arm to drag her up onto the sidewalk]

[with his bloody hand]

[because he can't exactly grab her with the hand that's holding his iPod, can he?]

[worlddominationbaby]

[ NO SHE DOESN'T WANT HIS BLOODY DISEASE

throwing her free hand in a punch!!

oddly enough, it is not position like a typical punch, but sideways as if she's accustomed to holding something in her fist that acts as the object of impact rather than her fist itself. ]

Don't touch me! I don't wanna die of tuber locusts or bloody mary or whatever it is you have!

[pianistofraielin]

Gyah! [the punch connects]

[he sways with the momentum of the blow]

[the iPod falls from his fingers]

[time seems to slow. for a fleeting moment, it looks like the headphone cord might save it from an untimely doom, but the jack pops out instead.]

[it hits the ground]

[bounces once]

[stops.]



[the world goes deathly still.]

[worlddominationbaby]

[ (..........
..........
..........
..........)

a car honks and whizzes by. ]

[pianistofraielin]

Claraaaaaa...

[the most mournful of wails. Russel falls to his knees and sniffles as he tenderly retrieves the broken husk of his dearest of possessions]

[a screech of brakes as another driver swerves away from the right lane, flipping them off as he drives past.]

[Russel is too consumed by grief to notice. he flops over in the street, holding the iPod to his chest] How could such tragedy befall one as pure and beautiful as my precious Clara...?

[worlddominationbaby]

[ madeline isn't consumed with grief, though, so she jumps towards the sidewalk when that car swerves. she turns around, peering warily at him. ]

Uh... I dunno who you're talking to, but you should probably get out of the road before you get hit.

[ WHY DO YOU THINK HE'S THERE, MADELINE ]

1/2

[pianistofraielin]

No, leave me. I can't go on like this. My life is meaningless without her.

[he rolls over onto his back and fishes for the headphone cord, plugging it back in. that's...that's how clara would've wanted it...]

[an occasion as tragic as this demands an equally tragic song. he scrolls through the iPod library purely out of habit in search of something fitting]

2/2

[pianistofraielin]

[.................wait a second]

[sits up. holds up the iPod and points to it with a grin] Never mind, it's not broken after all!

[worlddominationbaby]

[ is this idiot for real.

madeline is just about ready to leave him there when a car pulls over. the drivers runs out and kneels by russel, misunderstanding his bloody state.

person: ] Hey, are you alright? Can you stand? Do you want me to call nine-one-one?

[ the person looks up at madeline, who guiltily shrinks back a bit.

person: ] Did you see what happened?

[ madeline: ] Uhhhhhh.......... [ (Oh, crap, I better get out of here!) ]

[pianistofraielin]

[............whoops]

[nervous laugh] No, no, I'm fine--haha, don't worry about me--! [he hops to his feet and dusts himself off]

[and

his hands are still covered in blood

which he realizes, horrified, only after he sees that he's smeared it all over his jeans]

[d-disaster...]

[he gives the kind stranger a very nervous smile, holds his hand over his nose as though that might cover up the evidence (it doesn't), backs up onto the sidewalk, and gives him a wave as if to say 'yes good-bye please move on there is nothing to see here']

[worlddominationbaby]

[ the stranger regards them both with a puzzled look.

stranger: ] It looks like you lost a lot of blood...?

[ meanwhile madeline is slowly inching away. ]

[pianistofraielin]

NOPE I AM TOTALLY FINE HA HA HA THANK YOU GOOD-BYE.

[dead-eyed smile. PLEASE LEAVE THIS IS VERY EMBARRASSING]

[worlddominationbaby]

[ the stranger delivers a hefty frysquint in russel's direction. they do leave, though, wondering to themselves the mysteries of today's youth.

dang, it's real quiet on the Madeline front. why is that? ]