Chapter 1 - The End

"Hard to believe it's over, isn't it?"

I looked over the faces of my friends as Caitlin spoke. This was the last time their persons would walk these halls as local students. It was sad, really--two years had passed far too quickly.

"Yeah. Just sort of kept us busy the whole year and said 'Alright, you're done, have a nice summer and go on to the highschool after that. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.'"

"Oh, come on, it's not that sudden", I rebutted. "I mean, it could be worse--we could have ended in February."

Everyone shuddered. February had been the most dramatic month of our middle school lives... friendship terminations, severe depression among peers, breakups... It was a total mess. To have left then would have been to start high school, the supposed most important years of our lives, on a terrible note.

The bell rang, and we all just looked at eachother. None of us wanted to leave--we had the whole summer ahead of us to have fun, sure, but... for many of us, this was bye. Maybe not permanently, but with regards to how things were...

"Well... bye," I said. Everyone nodded, and left for their buses. I looked out my window. Caitlin, Ron, Amy, Liz, Will, Joseph... This year's end had been the least dramatic one yet; but somehow there was a greater sense of sadness now than there had been ever before. I don't quite know what it was.


The bus ride home was long--Caitlin, who lived across the street from me, got a ride home from her parents instead, so I had no one to talk to. By the time I'd reached my stop, my mind was drowning in nostalgia.

There was no car in the driveway--I would be free for about half an hour to do whatever I wanted. But instead of playing music extremely loud or setting up the controllers for Rock Band, I took a trip upstairs and booted up the computer. Minutes passed by and I was greeted by my desktop. I opened Firefox.

As the browser program loaded I had a revelation. It was a weird time for an epiphany, but appropriate. This was a new beginning. Aspects of life that I loved were to disappear, but so would I have a chance to restart. High school was my gateway to a new life.

But there was an entire summer I needed to get through to achieve it--no. I could not wait that long. Feelings are temporary and I was ripe with creativity. But how to unleash it?

"W..W..W.. dot... kays... splace... dot... com". Up popped the fansite, and I eagerly went to download one of my favorite maps for one of my favorite games.

After the download was complete, I opened the trainer--a magical device that basically ruined the game by letting you control it in every aspect imaginable. On this particular map, though, I had the feeling I'd be needing it.

The button read "Play Black & White 2". I clicked it, and began a new game...

Welcome to the Torture Pit.

(Part 2 of Chapter 1 will come in the next post. Special thanks for the entire storyline goes to Kays for creating the website at which I found the Torture Pit, and to the creator of the Torture Pit, the most fun BnW2 map I have had the pleasure to play on.)