DDO Olympics Storytelling: Round 1

I grabbed Maria by the waist and twisted myself around her, falling to the ground with her on top of me. We both laughed like young children in a schoolyard. Never was there a time in my life that felt more right than this moment. The only way I could describe what I was feeling is bliss. Pure, innocent bliss. Maria and I rolled in the sand, with the waves crashing against our feet. A brutal pain swiftly settled in my head, causing a very visual reaction. Through the squint of my eyes I could see that Maria hadn't noticed a thing, despite looking straight at me. She continued to laugh and laugh and laugh as her voice became less clear and my surroundings became enveloped in a deathly blur.A familiar voice echoed in the background, "Ah, you are finally awake." After a few moments I regained my focus and was able to make out the figure in front of me. "Cardin, is that you?" I questioned rhetorically as I looked around the room. I appeared to be in some sort of cross between a hospital and a laboratory. I was laying on a medical bed, clothed with a standard hospital gown. An IV was attached to my arm. On the table to my side were several vials of fluids that Cardin was mixing together. For reasons I cannot explain, none of this was as strange as the aching sensation I felt above my ankles. All I could think about was how awkward of a place for an ache.Cardin looked up again from his work, "Yes, Nathair. How are you feeling? You were shot when you tried to run away from Brother Jones. If you see him again, however, do call him Jim, Jim Jones. He much prefers that to his official title. I patched up your wound and have loaded morphine into your veins. You shouldn't be feeling a thing."I felt a shiver shoot down my spine and through my toes, causing them to fidget. Oddly enough, I didn't feel the blanket touching my toes at all, they felt like they were moving in a vacuum."Don't look too surprised," Cardin continued, "I took you for a much wiser man. It should not come as a shock that I a member of the Virgin Church. Do not fear, the rumors that Gren brainwashed into your mind are false. All of them, actually. First, we don't actually kill people. Quite the opposite, we allow them to live. Second, we also did not find women. Not precisely. Well, that's not exactly true. I'll explain more later. I need to run a test.""Wait. Tell me now. Does any of this have to do with Maria? Will I be able to see her again?" My body continued to tingle and I felt a wave of goose bumps form instantly. I had an eerie feeling that I ought to be concerned, but the morphine dulled my suspicions and made me feel, euphoric.Cardin chuckled, "Let me be clear, I was monitoring you while you were unconscious. When you are passing between the planes of life and death your mind eases the transition by either immersing itself in your happiest memories or, if you lack any happy memories, creating new ones, the way you wish your life had played out. When we prolong this stage of dying it allows us to study what you most desire. We use that here at the Church to allow you to live the rest of your life happily." He walked around the foot of my bed and switched what fluids were being fed into my IV, "Oh, and your memory? It wasn't real." He grinned in a seemingly sinister way, but I felt as if he was sympathizing with me. As much as I wanted to believe that something was wrong, I knew that everything was going to be alright.That feeling only lasted a moment as my blood pressure rapidly started to rise. I moved my mouth in an attempt to find our what was happening to me but I couldn't vocalize more than a grunt. Cardin looked at me reassuringly, "Don't worry Nathair. This is simply a test. I injected you with a chemical that will make you cycle through your emotions, feeling each of them to their most extreme extent: Anger, sorrow, happiness, guilt, suffering. I'll be monitoring you the whole way. You will be okay." As he spoke his voice got fainter and fainter, I could feel my face heating up.Suddenly I was in Arthur's car. It was a Jeep, and older model. It only had two doors and was a violent red. My other half-brother, Ethan, was passed out drunk in the passenger seat. He never did know how to hold his alcohol or restrain himself from drinking too much. The combination caused a lot of blackouts. Looking in the rear-view mirror I spot Arthur making out with a beautiful red-headed girl in the back seat. My head is clouded with confusion as I attempt to figure out what I'm doing here. A blinding light shines through the Jeep's front window, providing a stark contrast with the darkness that was surrounding me moments before. I couldn't see anything in front of me, the light forced me to close my eyes. I could feel tears roll down my cheeks, but I wasn't crying. I heard a voice calling out in the distance, it was my voice, "It wasn't my fault! I wasn't drunk, they never let me join them. The other driver was the one who was drunk. It wasn't my fault." I became panicked and instinctively twisted the wheel, turning the car to the left, when suddenly the passenger side door caved in and everything began spinning around me as I remained perfectly still.A newspaper article appeared in front of me. Three young men and a girl killed in horrible accident, one survivor. I saw a picture of Arthur's jeep, crumbled against the seawall that was built downtown to prevent hurricanes from flooding the richer communities. Next to it was an Audi, or at least what is left of an Audi after it explodes and the flames settle. My arms formed fists, I felt my veins pushing through my skin. As I tried to raise my arms I felt straps around my wrists. When I looked down at my arms they were perfectly free, but I still failed to move them. Without regard to how relaxed they appeared, I simply knew that blood was coursing through my veins, the pressure made them feel as if they were about to split.Somebody grabbed the newspaper and crumpled it up. He then proceeded to throw it into the fireplace. He was a tall and strong man. One look at him let you knew that he was to be respected, that he was a good man. What was not obvious at first glance was that his fury knew no end. This man was my father. The burning sensation on my face intensified. I could see the man yelling at me. No, not at me. At somebody standing precisely where I was. Although I could not hear him, I knew what he was saying. I was here before. This is my memory, but I am merely a spectator watching it unfold. Soon my fever overtook me and everything became a blur. One after another, memories played through my head. I could no longer understand their contents, but I could feel different emotions. I was joyful, scared, embarrassed. I felt every emotion that I had ever experienced throughout my life over the next few minutes. I had relived my entire life as I laid there.I slowly began to regain my focus again. Cardin was back at the table, concocting new formulas. I looked at my arms for the first time since arriving and realized that my wrists were bound to the bed by leather straps. The pulsating pain above my ankles also continued. I knew that the euphoria I felt earlier prevented me from thinking clearly. It became clear that something indeed was wrong. Still looking at his vials, Cardin explained, "The test I just performed revealed to us how you respond to all known emotions, based on your life experiences. What we are going to do must be accompanied by great caution. If the formula is not balanced perfectly, you will die.""What are you going to do to me? Am I a guinea pig?""We realize that Maria had never loved you, not the way you wanted her to. She was never the person that you made her out to be. We know everything that has ever happened in your life. Your love for her was true though. We are going to medicate you and it will allow you to live your life through memories that you create. You will sleep until the day you die, but you will feel nothing but euphoria. We will take care of your physical body so that all you have to focus on is your beloved Maria. And as for the pain you are experiencing in your legs, well, all of our patients feel it. In order to prevent patients from running away we amputate their feet. It is just procedure, you won't be needing it anyway. I do apologize if you feel phantom movements in your ankle and toes." Cardin laughed manically.