Safe and Secure -or- The Remora Part 1 (416 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1 on 2 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by erosion_rules (View user info) at 2006-05-01 22:51:54 EDT
More fiction.
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Have you ever thumbed a ride? Neither have I. After a lifetime of conditioning, I think we fear the unbridled freedom of having no concrete obligations. Just a need to eat, drink, survive. What we ultimately fear is the unknown, that old cliche. They say curiosity killed the cat, selectively leaving out that satisfaction brought him back. This outlandish form of control and conditioning, beating into our heads that we should always be settled in one place. So few people travel any more, and those that do generally do enough to make up for everyone that doesn't. These people know how to live...which is why I'm even saying this at all.
Over the past few years, I have been on a steady downward spiral.
Hold on. I need to back up. My name is Connor Mulligan. My name itself is slang for a do-over. Thanks to this, I spent much of my life with the unfortunate nickname of "Rerun." This was given to me by someone who noticed my love of movies. I tried time and time again to correct them, to make them realize how stupid that connection is. Movies do not have reruns, TV shows have reruns. I rarely watch TV, and barely talk about it. Sadly, my life has ensured that no one will listen to anything I have to say.
Being ignored so often, so invisible, is a double edged sword. As a child, it doesn't seem like a big deal. People know you, but they don't KNOW you. You're never picked last for teams, but by no means are you ever picked first.
When you get older, you begin to see the advantages of this invisibility. Actually, I prefer the way Stephen King put it: Dim. No matter what you do, you're difficult to be seen. The advantages, of course, are what you can get away with, should you choose to do anything worth getting away with. I did. I realized that I could do almost anything, my world was limitless. I could wantonly throw an elbow into the assistant principal's ribs and he would simply glance at me and apologize for running into me. I could have pulls off the most amazing high school prankery and never be found out.
Suddenly, I was an adult. I merged back into good behavior, into working. I did a much better job than anyone around me, but I remained unseen. When you're dim, unnoticed, even the most wonderful achievements get passed off as pedestrian.
This is why I decided to leave it all behind, and fully drop off the radar. I gathered some basic necessities, and walked out of work. As I left the building, I told everyone I came in contact with to fuck off. No one knew who I was, and looked at me like it was the funniest thing they had ever seen. They stared at me like they expected me to pull off a mask and reveal that I was actually Jamie Kennedy, doing some lame ass prank for his lame ass show. They started looking everywhere for a hidden camera.
I just kept walking, with nothing but a few hundred dollars cash I had put aside, a backpack with my notebook, and some basic hygenic items. I was going to be free, for the first time in my life. I wanted to make a comparison, be TRULY unnoticed, and find out which was better.
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My last wad of fiction, titled "Six Degrees to her Heart," posted in its 9000+ word entirety here: http://www.ubersite.com/m/86701 is in no way related to this story, obviously. Unless, of course, you count the fact that it was written by the same person, also known as me.
User Reviews
Submitted by Beano312003 (user info) at 2006-05-15 08:18:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I like it, I think each section should be longer, but then what do I know.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-05-02 00:59:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
It's alright. I'll read more of it.