Welcome to Gaia! ::

Keep in mind that this was written for a class on very short notice. But I was encouraged to post it by a few friends, so here it is. Sorry for the length.



Another day, another twenty-four hours wasted on nothing. He looked down at the ground and let out a sigh. He tried so hard to form a smile at the corner of his lips as he walked into his home and looked at his mother. She frowned as he didn’t find the ability to smile and she walked away. As she turned her back Jon lowered his head and went to his room. Kicking off his shoes he jumped onto his bed. He put his hands behind his back and wondered to himself for a moment. Slowly, and gently, his eyes began to close, and ever so subtly he fell into the world that we all seek, but fear to find.


Jon woke up suddenly at the loud bang of something that sounded like metal. He stood out of his bed to find himself in a wide expanse of land that was covered in green grass and beautiful flowers. The sight was breath-taking and he took a moment to take the view in. As he took a deep breath he looked up and immediately his eyes widened.
Above him, there was nothing but black. And enveloped in that black, there were huge rusty gears rotating among one another with loud clangs. He was taken aback suddenly at the change of scenery, but then he realized that the grassy field was still there. But still, his eyes could not be ripped from the sight above him. There was no blue, no white clouds, no birds flying, and no beauty in this new sight. He stood in awe at the endless sea of massive circular gears twisting and winding and cracking and banging. Suddenly there was a tap on his shoulder and he jumped forward.
Turning around very carefully he saw that his bed that he had just left was no longer there. His room, didn’t exist, there was nothing but the grass field, and something else. There was a figure, a silhouette of a figure actually. It was like, a person, there were blue jeans, a white T-shirt and black shoes, but there was no skin. In place of his skin, there was nothing but a black blanket where the figure’s features should have been. It was like staring at a 2D figure standing in front of him. Slowly, the figure extended a hand forward. Jon, without his knowledge took the hand and there was a scream. He blinked and saw that he was sitting in a very simple chair, in fact, it was just a box. He leaned forward breathing hard and saw that the figure was sitting in a luxurious chair, with soft armrests and a reclining mechanism.
Jon stared at the figure for a moment before saying something.
“H-h-who are you?” Jon asked, his voice broken and frightened.
There was a slight chuckle and the figure leaned forward as well to level with Jon. “Who I am is of no consequence, but I am important, and I am here to talk to you.” There were no lips, making the voice heard sound eerie, even though it was a familiar, even tone.
“Talk about what?” Jon inquired, filled with a sudden surge of curiosity.
“Now where’s the fun in showing your cards at the beginning of a poker game?” The figure let out another chuckle and leaned back into his chair. “Let me ask you a few questions. Are you happy?” The figure made no movements as the words left his form.
“Happy? I…” Jon searched the ground as if the answer might’ve fallen in front of him. “No, I’m not. How can I be? If you saw my life you would know…” he answered, his voice fading as his final words were spoken.
“And what makes you think that I don’t know? Tell me, what would you say your personality is like?” the figure asked quizzically.
“Well, you don’t know because you’re not me, that is one reason. This world will never understand the pains that people suffer inside. And what kind of question is this about my personality? I guess…I guess you could say I’m a good kid. I mean, I do my work, and get decent grades. Even though I think I’m stupid. I don’t think I have any real talents, and I can never seem to do anything right.” Jon closed his eyes for a moment and then looked back at the figure.
“Have you ever tried to make things better?” the figure asked in the same even tone.
“I guess, I mean, what is there to do really? I’ve just looked at the world the way that I always do, not like that’ll change.”
“So you’re a pessimist? You always keep things the same, even when those things are looking at the negatives of life as a whole.”
“I’m not a pessimist, but then…I’m certainly not an optimist. Look, my life’s complicated okay? I can’t be either of those things. You don’t understand.”
“Jon, things aren’t always about one person. Think. You haven’t done anything to change things. When you were 13 and you moved to another town, all you thought about was loosing all your friends.”
“Look! Those were the few friends that I wanted, and I knew I was going to loose them.”
“But you didn’t do anything to keep in touch. You had all their numbers, you never called. You had their e-mails, you never sent one.”
“Look…it just happened okay? It wasn’t my fault.”
“Well at least you are more assertive now.”
“That doesn’t matter anymore anyway, it’s all in the past. What’s the point of dwelling on it? What’s done is done…”
“I think I hear a bit of optimism in there. Look, you’re unhappy because you need to improve your mental health.”
“What, are you saying I’m crazy?”
“No, not per se. What I’m saying is, you need to change your thinking process in order to become something that you wish for. You must strive to achieve it, not just let time happen and hope for the best. This world doesn’t work like that.”
Jon thought about this and then looked back up at the sky for a moment, seeing the gears once more. “Fine, what are you my psychiatrist?”
“This isn’t therapy. Think of me as your personal psychologist, and psychoanalysis. I’ve been studying you Jon. And you are a combination of things that must be changed, or molded, in order for you to be a happy person. You’re not yourself. You’re aggressive when I know that deep down inside, fighting and being mean to people is not you. You’re passive, but you don’t bottle every little thing up. You let too much out and don’t keep anything to yourself. Feelings, any feeling is something that you need as well. Even anger, it’s healthy to feel all of these things, so do it. Don’t let all your feelings out at once. Aggression is like that. It may seem weird, but you’re not different just for feeling some emotions. So let them come.”
“That doesn’t make sense, you’re telling me that, I need to keep everything in, and not let it out?”
“No, I’m saying that you need to keep some things for your own experience. You need to find different ways to express yourself.”
“Fine, but how?”
“Be an extrovert. Let things out and be more outgoing. Make friends, be friendly. Do what ever you have to do. Don’t be too much of an introvert holding everything in. But just know, that it’s not good to be purely one thing. There is always a line and a certain amount of something to have. Too much of one thing can be bad. So mix it up a little.”
“Fine…so, I don’t know, be more kind to people yeah?”
“That’s right, get with your peer group and get to know some of them a little better. You’ll find models that you’ll benefit from, and who knows, maybe someone will find you as a model as well and look up to you.”
“I doubt that, I’m nothing special.”
“See, you need to improve your self-esteem as well. Everyone is worth something. It’s up to other people whether or not they want to see someone’s greatness. See,” the figure pointed to Jon’s chest. “greatness is locked inside of the heart. It’s up to you whether to let it out. And it’s up to others to see it. If people don’t want to see it, then do you think their worth the investment of time to become friends with them? They will be the people that roam through life asking questions that will never be answered. They’ll be locked away in adolescence and never know the meaning of life.”
“Oh yeah? And what’s the meaning of life?”
“Live it. Simple as that. Life was given to you. And only once. So what’s the point of dwelling on the past mistakes, when you can always just look forward in life and see that there are always things to look forward to.”
Jon’s brow furrowed in thought as he thought about it.
“Depression is something that people live with. But it’s up to them if they cause it. You can always find ways to make your life better. You’re suffering from it right now. Look at where your eyes are looking at.” Jon looked away from his hands. “You feel useless, worthless, hopeless. Don’t. You’re something, and no one can change that. Now, it’s up to you if you want to listen to me or not.”
The gears began to quiet down, but Jon didn’t notice. Slowly, at the horizon the grass began to expand some blue beauty into the air. Jon thought, his eyes looking around and searching for something to say.
“Grief is something that we all face. But don’t let that expand into something like Depression. See, when you loose someone, like the woman that you loved for a long time. I know who she is Jon. You lost her, and you felt like doing something that even you knew you’d regret. That’s Grief, don’t let it be confused. It’s only temporary if the person realizes this. If they don’t then it expands into something more and can often lead to some very terrible results.
“But…I think I understand. So, basically, don’t let things in life affect me to the extreme degree.”
“Basically. Now stand up.” The figure said while getting to its feet. As it did, Jon began to recognize its voice.
Slowly, Jon steps up and stood straight, feeling something inside stir.
“Jon, look. Life is what you make of it. You need to realize that. So, if you want a sad life, it’s as easy as snapping your fingers. But if you want a happy life, well, it’s just as easy. You decide whether or not you want to keep happiness in your heart, or malice and despair. It’s all up to you. But just remember what I said today.” As the words left the figure, slowly, the black gears began to disappear and the black began to dissipate. “Jon, remember, you are great. Everyone is. But this isn’t like the real world. A person’s value doesn’t diminish just because there are a lot of great people. Like I said, it’s up to people around you. But that doesn’t mean that you aren’t great. People will see it one day, that you have something that they long for. Soon, you’ll see that there will be a day that you will find true bliss in this world. All you need to do is think. Think about something happy, think about the good things in life. And cast away the bad. As for your love Jon, don’t cry because it ended, smile because it happened. And that holds true for all things in life. All in all, things will fade. So why dwell on something that was lost. Think about the time you had it in this world. You may miss your love Jon, but just know that she misses you too. She’s gone now, but she gave you the happiest time of your life. So why cry that you won’t feel it anymore, be happy and smile that you felt it period. Jon, I know I’m repeating myself. Just remember it all.”
“I will.” Jon said, and listening to all of this, he realized that the figure was right. He smiled genuinely, the first smile in a long time. His bright white teeth glowed slightly.
A tear rolled down the side of where the figure’s head should have been as if it just fell from an eye. Another tear down the other side. The figure’s head slowly tilted towards the ground.
Jon looked at it curiously. “Are you okay?”
“Time for me to go.” It said as it looked back up to Jon.
Suddenly, the figure moved forward and disappeared into Jon’s chest. It faded away and was gone completely. “I never thought, I would ever get to talk to myself.” Jon said and smiled. He looked at his surroundings and smiled wide as he did a three-sixty turn and saw that the black and the gears were slowly beginning to fade away and the blue and white of the sky began to filter through it and reach the top of this world.
Jon’s eyes began to water. As a tear fell from his cheek, it soared through the air and struck the ground with a louder then usual bang.

Jon’s eyes opened and he looked around his room. He saw it dark, it usually was, he had removed the bulb from his light to make sure it kept a certain mood. He walked towards his closet and found a bulb. He smiled as he held it in his hand for a moment. He began to screw it into the socket and tightened it. Slowly, he glided over towards the light switch and turned it on. The light showered the room in bright light and Jon looked at all his possessions and laughed. He turned it off and went out his door to his mother.
He couldn’t be happier.

No, not timed. But we had to use a ton of vocabulary words in a story. Which is why it probably sounded weird at times haha. But yeah, I did it in like 15 minutes, so it's not that great I think.

And what lose? Did I misspell something somewhere? O.o

Oh darn...I didn't even realize it. When I read through this, I'ma have to find that mistake.

Thanks for pointing it out ^^