Another Obssesion

[Freakshow59]

THIS IS ONLY FOR YOUR ASPIRING AUTHOR TO POST IN, FREAKSHOW59

Disclaimer: This is a non-fiction story due to that its based off me and my experiences in the world of anime and manga. This doesn't promote outside companies, games, or any advertising. All brand names, games titles and other copyrighted titles are not property of me and are only in the story for a realistic setting. Also does not promote myself and the anime and manga industry.

Content to vary every time I post, current content: Mild language.

Rating: Everyone 10 and Up

Introduction by Freakshow: Well, seeing as how the Gamershood Chronicles went belly up in my mind (sad, I know ), I was working on this about midway between typing that and school, pretty hard if you ask me . Anyway, back on topic, this is the story about Chris Dregan, your typical 15 year old in New Jersey. However, his mind is divided into so many topics, ranging from mainly video games to getting a girlfriend. What he doesn't know is that a new area is about to be built withing the housing of his mind. As he dives deeper into the world of anime and manga, he finds himself answers to all his problems. Over time, he realizes that he has grown distant from the things he once did, such as his old friends and his old pasttime, being video games. Does he maintain his habits while dealing with just Another Obsession?

Now, without futher ado, I present the (would-be) novel of Another Obsession

The beginning of fall rolls on, the sky is clear, no clouds, and the sun shines brightly. Trees sway gently in a flavorful breeze, perfect kite weather one might say. Suburban homes line the sidewalk on both sides as a group of kids walk down the road. Their destination not important but not clear. The three look at each other talking back and forth, conversing quietly but with force.

“Now, cmon, you can’t be serious. . .” one remarks.

“I’m serious, Grandale is coming out this June and I” with a strong voice “have the first copy coming to my house, a DAY before its release.” Another said proudly.

“Frank, everyone knows Microsoft never makes private reservations to individuals, especially your age” one said with a blunt tone.

“Pfft, whatever, I’m telling you guys, I called them personally and made a reservation with them.” Frank said, trying to convince the two.

“Alright then”, Greg said “How much’d the reservation cost then? 70, 80 bucks?” Greg knew he was lying, but he was unsure, he’s only heard rumors about people getting pre-released copies of games, all by calling in a number to reserve it.

“Chris, you believe me right?” Frank said, desperately trying to get someone to be on his side.

But, Chris didn’t say anything, he just shrugged, his mind was too busy thinking of other matters; school, home life, grades, meeting new friends, and trying to land a girlfriend. He looked up at Frank and Greg but just shrugged.

“Hah! I knew you are lying! You just want Chris on your side because he’ll go with anything!” Greg exclaimed with a proud face and ego.

“Hey, that’s not true. I never said anything, I just don’t choose. . sides. . .” as Chris’ voice just trailed off. He merely looked up to the sky. He had dreams but was unsure of himself. He was being pulled in different
directions for a summer career, his resume needed work and he’s already been fired from two jobs. Most of his money went to games, only some of it, saved from the clutches of EB Games by his parents, made it to his account.

[Miss Miff]

2nd Mars

I wouldn't say that I myself am a budding author but my friend is. He wrote this totally cool story called (what else than the title of this?) 2nd Mars. Printed out the story is a little more than ten pages. I don't have it to where I could put it on here without typing it up. I thought your 'little tale' was nice. My friend is very good at writing little stories that are absolutely fun down to the roots. He wrote a series of short stories (some spoofs on books or movies) and did a home-video. His older sister is a really good friend of on of my sisters. I don't really know him all that well. But his stories are funny. I'm homeschooled so I can get out of some assignments easily or it's impossible just depends on what I want at the moment. I love to read and if I ever did do something that I might want published would probably be a book of a wide variety ranging from a few simple poems to a story from a book I like. (I'd have to get the authors permission of course but since I'm mostly interested in Stephen Bly I think I can handle that. And I know he has lots of author friends that I like so...) If my friend would let me I'd add some of his. I don't think I'll ever want to publish anything. Plus I doubt anybody would really be interested in that. Plus my grammar isn't anywhere near where it should be. I'm homeschooled and sometimes it seems like people are to busy to teach me so I kind of stopped doing school a while ago. Not really I'll still do it but nobody ever checks it for mistakes and I've kind of... Yeah, whatever.

[Freakshow59]

*tilts head to side* Okay.... Anyway, back to the story...

?Hey guys, I gotta go, see ya late.? Greg said as they walked up to his house.

The guys said their byes and split off. Chris had the longest walk, 2 miles. He was oblivious while walking to his distance away from home.

As he trudged past the road, his mind was filled with thoughts. ?School is a drag, too much homework?, ?I wonder if Jackie would go out with me, I just haven?t worked up the courage. But does she have feelings for me?? ?I swear, if I can?t get a break from my parents, I might flip one day and go ballistic?. These thoughts raced through his head faster than the Daytona 500. He hasn?t ever had this many problems in his high school life.

Chris was going into sophomore year at Brick High School. His Freshman average was a high B/low A student. His parents thought he could do better this year. Chris tries his best just to stay on top of his life. He thanked god for the summer. Sure, it was only 3 months, but last year was fast and the summer slow.

He pulled out his iPod and put on his calming list of songs. He looked up to the sky and sighed.

?Oh, how I wish I could escape this world. Escape to another of my own where people would understand my predicaments?? he silently mumbled in his mind. He knew there was no such way he could ever find one. His parents were a bit too strict, his friends could only talk about games and he couldn?t even share it with a girl, for fear he?d only be scoffed at and given the cold shoulder. He arrived at his house, a cozy little 2-story with a furnished basement. He turned off the iPod before he entered, only because he knew he was going to answer questions by his mom.

?CHRIS!!!!? screamed a familiar voice. ?Here comes hell?? he muttered as Chris approached the kitchen.

He asked for riot armor for his 15th birthday last month. He wished he really didn?t blow money on video games now that he thought about it. He said a prayer in his mind and hoped his mom wasn?t in ?What the hell happened with my perfect 12 year-old-son?? mode or he might not see his room again.

?CHRIS!!!!!!! Where have you been?!?! Its effin 5? and you were supposed to be home at 4:30!!!? screamed the words of an over-protective mother.

All he could do was groan and answer the question. ?I went for a walk..?

?A walk? Where?? she said right on cue.

?To the effin casino? he said with so much sarcasm that Ron White and House would be shocked.

The next words would just make Chris want to slap her.

?Chris, the casino is way too far, what the hell were you doing down in Atlantic City?? she said in a way that it seemed she actually thought it happened. Chris was calm on the inside, but his inside had a video of him going over and slapping her silly. He hated stupidity, exactly why he just says nothing after a stupid question, almost like Engvall?s ?Here?s Your Sign? jokes.

?I?m going downstairs? he said as he was already halfway down. His mom looked at the basement opening, spaced out for a moment, looked out the window real quick and went back to washing dishes.

The basement was painted a dull brown, with a bit of white mixed in with the original paint. The end result was a light brown with a hint of white. The rug was a comfortable white, soft and plushy, relaxing for the feet to stand and rest on. Chris even remembers falling asleep on it once when he got tired one night. He walked down a little corridor and into a pitch-black room.

He hit the lights and the room filled with a dim light. Since he had no windows, it meant he could sleep in without the hassle of seeing the light of day. His bed was unmade with pillows and blankets messed up. He laid down on the bed, and picked a remote from his nightstand. He aimed it towards his stereo and clicked it on. The iPod, already in the dock, turned on and started playing some Linkin Park. He aimed the same remote for his TV and channel surfed. He got up to walk to a mini fridge, one he begged
to have in his room since he was 13 and finally got it for his 15th birthday, picked up a Barq?s and opened it. He loved the smell of a freshly-opened can of root beer and sighed as the smell delighted his nostrils. He took a short sip and walked over to a door by his TV.

[Freakshow59]

After a long-awaited return, I'm back Here's another segment of the story.



The closet was filled with games. PS2 and Xbox 360 games filled the 4 shelves, 2 for each system. Although the Xbox shelves were a bit bare, only 2 games, around 50 titles, of varying ratings, lined the other shelves in alphabetical order. His friends thought he was obsessive compulsive, but his room quickly disproved that statement. He used it just to find games quicker and easier, his laid-back attitude and life forced him to do this. Beneath the games were the two consoles, as well as strategy guides and other magazines.

His friends always wondered how Chris afforded all this stuff on minimum wage. Chris didn?t work minimum wage, nor was his paycheck close to it. His past two jobs involved tallying hours and paychecks for the company?s workers. He earned a pretty good salary because he controlled who earned how much. However, all this got to Chris? head and he started raising his own a little every week.

Once it got to a point where his paycheck increased by $10, the companies found out and fired him. He was too young to charge embezzlement on him and the companies' profits covered the losses. In total, Chris made near $10,000 from working 2 summer jobs, only $2,000 made it to see the bank. The rest went to the games, the TV, the computer, the electronics and the bills he ran up.



He picked out Dead Rising, booted the system up and starting playing a saved file. His TV, a 40? LCD flat-screen was hooked up in front of his bed so he could have comfort while playing. He sat back up on the bed, putting the can of soda on the nightstand besides him. As he plowed through zombies, hours passed by without his knowing.

___


About 7:30, when he realized the time, he saved, shut down the system, and turned off everything. He casually walked up the stairs and into the kitchen, where dinner was
just being served. His mom was a good cook, she knew desserts, entrees, and other things all because, well, she did work as a cook, for some three and a half star restaurant. Her salary was good for a sous cook and her reputation was okay. Chris' father, an accountant and partner of a firm, had a reputation as well. He worked 2 college budgets and as well as a couple school districts. However, because of this, it caused him not to be home often and not come back until late. At tax season, he practically lived at the firm.

His mom was making pork chops, seasoned with pepper, cayenne for a spicy kick and some oregano for a pleasant aftertaste. Along with it were some simple mashed potatoes with a bit of pepper mixed in and some homemade bread. As they sat down, Chris knew the drill. First was the usual questions, "How was your day?","Did you learn anything in school?", the same usual stuff Chris answered. Then, the eating dinner part, when he was done, he cleaned his plate and had some down time before dessert. He turned on the TV, in the family room, a big 60 inch widescreen with HD, and surfed again. He always thought nothing original was on anymore, it was the same old crap everyday. He settled on some Jeopardy and guessed along.

His dad and him always had a pleasant time versus each other. Chris had a record of 15-32 while his dad had the opposite. Today, the game ended with his dad beating him by just six dollars, increasing the record to 33 and 15. Chris got up to get dessert, a bowl of popcorn with some Dr. Pepper. As he went back to his room, he channel surfed when something caught his eye. A glimpse of orange with yellow flashed the screen. As he went back to it, it marked the day Chris entered the world he desperately needed, unaware that he was only opening himself up to a brand new life.

[Freakshow59]

He landed himself on channel 27, Cartoon Network, and saw the orange glimpse yet again. Two kids, probably no older than him, were using these techniques, like karate moves or something. But then again, Chris did know karate, so he couldn?t say he didn?t know what they were. Of course he knew it was animated, but they surprised him, they looked so real.

?Naruto! Watch out!? exclaimed a girl wearing a red dress with pink hair. She was wearing some kind of headband and a strange symbol was on it. He?d never seen this kind
of cartoon, but then again, he barely turned to Cartoon Network, he only watched Adult Swim.

However, Chris just couldn?t shake this feeling he got. He starting getting goosebumps and quickly changed the channel.

?What was that? It seemed so weird, but? strangely? entertaining. Like, something I might get into? but hell no? its just way too weird, just the whole thing, its just, weird?? He couldn?t help but think about over and over again in his mind.

A couple weeks later, just before the end of the summer, he found a job at Suncoast as a cashier. They barely looked over his resume and instantly put him to work. His paycheck was pretty good, at $9.75 an hour for 50 hours a week, he was comfortable with that. He could even buy games and DVDs he wanted so badly at half price. He loved the job. But, yet again, it only opened him more and more into a new life.

As the weeks went on, and right into the school year, Chris always remembered that image, that glimpse on the TV, the dialogue, the whole concept of the cartoon. He couldn?t help but shiver at the thought of it. He kept reminding
himself it was just a dumb cartoon with crazy-ass characters talking about and doing who knew what.

It was nearing the end of September, and fall was just getting into the New-Jersian shape. The leaves starting falling off the trees, the pine needles littered him yard and he was forced to do the grunt work while his parents were nowhere to be found during the week. In school, he found old friends and made new ones along the way. One particular kid, Kyle, always carried around a weird book and whenever he read it, he read it backwards. Kyle read it at lunch all the time and he always enjoyed it. All Chris could do was stare at the title cover which stared back at him. The title read Naruto and it featured the same kids that were in that cartoon he saw.

Now remembering the cartoon, his whole body was thrown out of whack. He got the feeling again which he got the time he saw the cartoon in the first place. His stomach was a bit nervous, so having eaten a big breakfast and a big test coming up next period, it only made it worse. But his stomach couldn?t take it anymore, as bits and parts of today?s breakfast came up in a cafeteria chef?s special kind of way. He became very sleepy after that, he stayed up until 3 just studying and the 4 cups of coffee was the only thing holding him through, as he fell asleep for the time being.

[Freakshow59]

He awoke with his parents and the school nurse above him. His vision was blurry and he felt a ice pack on his head. “Just what I need, a frozen brain after I passed out” he thought to himself. He asked the obvious question, “What happened?” and the nurse explained. His parents looked at him with worried eyes, but they had that hint of “Why did you have to pass out now? Especially when we in the middle of something very important?”.

He got up with a stagger and walked out of the school. The fresh air hit him like a punch to the face. It was cold, stingy on the eyes and tingled the nose. As he was driven home, all he could think about was the cover and the
cartoon. However, he also knew he didn’t want a repeat of what happened. He laid in his bed, warm under the covers and laid there, staring at the white, empty ceiling.

“What was that? And why does it affect me so much?” He closed his eyes knowing he needed the extra sleep. As he dreamt, he kept seeing the cartoon over and over again. Since the severity of the pass out was high, Chris was to stay home the rest of the week. Now, there were two sides to this. He got to stay home, but all his dreams involved the Naruto kid. One night, as he was struggling through yet another “episode”, he thought he was hearing voices from them. Eventually, it became clearer and clearer as the dream went on.

“Hey Chris! Join us man, you gotta believe it!” said the “glimpse”, as Chris liked to call the kid, proudly with his hand coming for Chris, as if to grab him. At this moment, Chris jolted into an upright position. He broke out in a cold sweat; he turned on the lights and looked around. He looked everywhere, the ceiling, under the bed and in the closet.

“C’mon now… why the hell am I acting like the boogieman, or well, what I seem to be seeing the equivalent of, scared the crap out of me?” as Chris turned off the lights and climbed back into his bed. It was just, he couldn’t sleep. That image did scare the crap out of him and he couldn’t fall asleep. He started playing Grand Theft Auto as the sun started to rise in Brick.

__

Kris, Chris’ mom, just woke up. As she stumbled out of bed, she looked over at the clock.

“10 in the morning… Dammit, gonna be late for work…” She headed toward the walk-in closet, got her uniform and went downstairs. The uniform was a maroonish-red with a gold borderline running down the jacket and the pants. As she walked downstairs, she heard the noise of Chris’ games and decided not to bug with it. She ironed and steam pressed the items carefully, making sure she didn’t leave a
wrinkle untouched and no burn marks anywhere. She also wanted a smooth look to it.

As she walked back upstairs, she’d been thinking about Chris and how he could use another hobby other than video games. She took a steaming shower, something to wake her up since she didn’t have time for coffee. As she exited for the car, she wished Chris would stop playing the video games so long and for so many days. She could only wish for an alternative solution to her problem and hadn’t noticed Chris already stumbled upon it.

[Freakshow59]

Back downstairs, Chris had fallen asleep. He didn’t realize it but, he didn’t have those dreams anymore, they seemed to have disappeared. He slept soundly before waken up by his sister. She was in 6th grade and not used to waking up super-early. She was more of a late-sleeper, like their dad. She already had sleep bags under her eyes but always maintained a perky smile, one that annoyed Chris.

His sister yelled “GOOD MORNING, CHRIS!!!!!!” just to be a smart-ass. Chris bolted and spazzed in the bed as the scream echoed his ears. He saw his sister already dressed as he struggled getting out of bed. He was annoyed as hell, but didn’t have the energy, yet. “What the… What time is it?” as he looked over at the clock.

“Oh sh… 12:30?!??! I gotta meet Greg and Frank at the expo!” He rushed getting clothes on and grabbed a bagel from this morning, in which his dad actually had time to. As he hopped on his bike, bagel in hand, he froze.

“Dammit, where’s my money?” when he frantically searched his pockets, “I remember putting it on my nightstan…” he stopped in mid-thought and flashed-back to when he realized the time. His sister took the money!

“That bit… Erggggggggg!!!” he growled as he ran back in to confront his sister.

“Where’s my damn money?! You know I need it!” he scowled in front of Jessica, as she only laughed.

“Well, I need it too, I need to buy lunch today, I’m going out to lunch with Alison, her mom’s bringing us.” She stuck her tongue out at him. Oh, how he could wish he could slap that brat so hard. He was getting sick of his spoiled-ass sister. He always got grounded while she was told “Don’t do it again or you’re gonna get grounded” even after the 5th time she did it and they told her. He yanked the money from her as she screamed “Hey!”, pouted and went off to call their mom.

He quickly jumped onto his bike and starting peddling. He had to make it to the library in half an hour to catch the start. He quickly devoured the bagel and looked at his cell. “12:45, crap!” he thought as he made his way down Route 88.