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Writing Machine
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Middle Earth
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,612
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The Experiment (Second Part)
“Charlotte, wake up, you’re going to be late!” I stirred from slumber and looked around me. I was in a strange bed, in a strange room. I didn’t feel right, and my mind was spinning. Slowly, events from the previous night aligned themselves in my brain. I recalled everything up until I sank to the floor. Someone must have found me and moved me to the bed. So that was it. I was in Charlotte’s house, and apparently I still looked like Charlotte. What really confused me though was the fact that Charlotte had denied doing anything. In fact, she insisted I was Charlotte, and claimed I must be confused, as though there was something wrong with my memory. Could something have happened to her, to make her forget? Or was there something really wrong with me? Then I remembered the way she had spoken to me before she left, and the looks she had given me. Then I realized: she knew that she was Charlotte and I was Abigail. But she wanted to confuse me. But why would she do that?
I argued within myself, trying to make sense of everything. One thing was for sure: something was definitely wrong, and I needed to talk to Charlotte as soon as possible. I quickly dressed for school and headed out the door. I wanted to keep as little contact between myself and Charlotte’s parents as possible, so as to not arouse suspicion or concern. When I got to school, Charlotte was already there. She sat in my car, talking to Sebastian, who sat in the passenger side. I quickly parked and killed the engine, then I bolted across the parking lot to the car. I opened the passenger door and peered inside. Both Charlotte and Sebastian stared up at me.
“Excuse me,” I apologized. “But…….Abby, could I please have a word with you?” Sebastian looked at Charlotte and then back at me.
“I’m a little busy, Char,” she replied.
“It’s no big deal,” Sebastian said. “Go ahead.” He got out and motioned for me to sit down. Then he closed the door and wandered into the school.
“What is wrong with you?” Charlotte asked. “What is so important that you had to come bother me right now?” I stared at her in disbelief. This wasn’t the Charlotte I knew.
“If you’re implying that the fact that we have each other’s bodies isn’t important, then I guess I have nothing to say,” I said.
“Oh, hell,” she said. “Are you still going on about that? Look, I’m tired of reminding you…”
“Just shut up!” I shouted. “I’m sick of this! I know that you know the truth, and I want it now, dang it!” I hit the dashboard in my anger. She glared at me in silent resentment.
“Are you better now?” she asked. I gave her an evil look. “Good,” she continued. “Now listen carefully, because I’m only going to say this once. All I did was examine each of our DNA and then copy it onto the computer. Then I dematerialized us, and put us back together using each other’s DNA. In other words, I was put back together using your DNA, and you were put together using mine.”
“What was that white place?” I asked. She shrugged.
“I suppose our consciences had to go somewhere.”
“Alright, whatever,” I said. “How do we get our own DNA back?” A strange look clouded her eyes.
“We don’t,” she said icily. I instantly became suspicious.
“Why not?” I asked.
“I don’t know how,” she said. She averted her eyes and then glanced back at me.
“I don’t believe you,” I told her. “I don’t know what the heck is wrong with you, but I want my own DNA back,”
“Oh, you would, wouldn’t you?” she retorted. “It sucks that bad to be me.”
“But I’m not you!” I shouted. “It doesn’t matter what we look like, I’m still Abigail, and you’re still Charlotte.”
“Then it shouldn’t matter who has whose DNA,” she said. I sighed and put my hand to my head.
“Bloody hell, Charlotte, would you listen to what you’re saying?”
“Even you don’t want to be me, and you’re my best friend,” she said. “You have good looks, a lot of friends, a handsome guy who’s interested in you….”
“And you are the smartest person in the entire school,” I replied. “You have parents who would buy you anything, friends who love you, and a skill with science that will make you famous one day.”
“Well, it looks like you have nothing to complain of then,” she replied angrily. I stared at her in disbelief. “May I go now?” she asked through clenched teeth. Without waiting for an answer, she got out of the car and slammed the door behind her. I watched her in silence as she entered the building. Everything was much clearer to me now: my friendship with Charlotte was over. But my relationship with her was only beginning.
Every time I saw Charlotte throughout the rest of the week, I was as nice to her as I could be. At first she gave me indifferent remarks and barely spoke to me, but as the week went on she began to open up to me again. I began to see the old Charlotte peering through. When Charlotte wasn’t around, I spent my time in her lab. Apparently she had spent most of her time there anyway, so her parents didn’t think it strange or unusual that I did so. To them, nothing had changed.
When in Charlotte’s lab, I examined her machines and equipment as thoroughly as I could. I found several science books, and poured over the chapters dealing with DNA. What I needed most, though, was information about Charlotte’s newest machine. After searching high and low, I found an instruction manual hidden in a storage closet. It wouldn’t be much longer.
“Hey, Abigail!” I called across the schoolyard. Charlotte turned, searching for the caller, and then saw me. She began walking toward me, alternately looking at the ground and around her, but never straight at me.
“Hey,” I said when she got closer.
“Hi,” she replied.
“Listen, do you want to come over some time this week? We could watch some movies, eat junk food, talk. We have so much to catch up on.”
“I don’t know,” she said, running her hands through her hair. “I’ll have to see if Sebastian wants to do anything.”
“Oh, take one night away from him and hang out with me,” I pleaded. She gave me a wary look.
“Maybe,” she finally said. “I’ll call you.”
“Perfect,” I said. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
Charlotte was an only child, but she had several older cousins. Lucky for me, everyone in the family loved Charlotte. Enough that, like her parents, if she asked, more than likely they would give her whatever she wanted. I decided to call her cousin Mike, who, although in college, still lived in town. I chose him because of his major: medicine. He knew all about drugs and depressants, and was more than happy to give me the information I needed. Since I was his favorite cousin and all, he also proposed to get me some valium for my own projects, and made me promise I’d call if there was ever anything else I needed. He was a med student at a local hospital, so he was more than capable of getting me what I needed.
Within a few days, I had my valium. I invited Charlotte over on Friday night. She grudgingly took a night away from Sebastian and came over. I had everything set up when she arrived: Junk food, cokes, popcorn, pizza. And, of course, a little extra mixed in with the drinks. After a couple hours of movies, junk food, and a lot of coke, Charlotte was gone. She talked on and on about anything that came to her mind, and stumbled around the room on wobbly legs.
“Abigail!” she said. “I want you to know that I always liked you more than anyone else.” She took another sip of her coke and continued. “There were times that I would get so jealous of you. I wanted to be you so bad, I would stay up for hours at night, trying to think of a way to change places with you.” She took another drink. I smiled.
“I’m flattered, Char,” I said. I gently grabbed her arm and began leading her to the passageway. “Why don’t we talk more in here?” I asked her. She looked around, unsure of where she was.
“Oh, okay,” she said after a moment. I led her into the lab and gently sat her in a chair. Then I went to the main machine, pushed a few buttons, and sat next to her.
“What are we doing?” she asked me.
“Playing a game,” I responded. “Just sit still, this won’t take long. Why don’t you whistle, or something?” She began whistling some unfamiliar tune. I sat there listening to her, waiting for the sound that would alert me to move on. Finally a beeping sound came from the machine.
“What’s that?” Charlotte asked.
“Nothing,” I told her. “Just sit still.” I went to the computer and typed my instructions. Then I went to Charlotte’s chair, reached beneath it and pushed a button, then went to my chair and did the same. Then I sat again. Twenty seconds later, a buzzing noise came from the machine. A device attached to the ceiling above our heads began spinning, increasing in speed and volume. A bright light began to shine out of the same device and I shut my eyes.
“Abigail!” Charlotte shouted. I didn’t answer. The buzzing got louder, and then the pillar of fire shot through my body. Charlotte screamed, and then the feeling of being dissolved came. I gripped the chair, clenched my teeth, and fought to hold myself still as my body began to shake. Then I was fine. I opened my eyes and found myself once more in the white place. I saw Charlotte standing a ways away from me. Then I gasped because she didn’t look like me. She had short hair, and stood only five feet off the ground. I looked down at myself. I felt my hair, which was once more long and curly. I ran my hands over my face and nearly shouted for joy at the familiar feeling. Then I saw the door. Charlotte looked over at me.
“So this was why you invited me over,” she said. “You just wanted your precious DNA back. Well you can have it! I don’t care anymore! I hate you!” Tears poured from her face. “I will destroy you, one way or another,” she said. “I will find a way to make your life miserable. You’ll wish you had kept my DNA!” I looked away from Charlotte and began to walk toward the door.
“Abby, don’t you walk away from me!” she yelled. “This isn’t over, do you hear me!” I reached the door and pulled it open. Charlotte still stood where she was. Her eyes were wild and her face was twisted into a horrible frown.
“Goodbye, Charlotte,” I said. I turned back to the door and walked through.
“Abby!” I heard a desperate voice cry as I made my way through the opening. For a moment I thought I heard running feet behind me. Then all was silence.
I jerked awake and found myself on the floor of the lab. I searched the room and saw another body lying across the floor. I crawled over to her and felt her pulse. There was no heartbeat. I picked myself up off the floor and made my way through the bedroom to the main part of the house. I opened the door wide.
“Help!” I yelled as loud as I could. “Hurry please, there’s something wrong with Charlotte!”
The funeral was held on Monday. Hundreds of people came: relatives, people from school, neighbors. Sebastian stood next to me and put his arm around me. After they buried her, he walked me slowly back to his car. Once I was comfortably seated, he went around and got in on the driver’s side. He looked over at me.
“I’m so sorry, Abby,” he said. “I know how close you two were.” I nodded and allowed a few tears to fall.
“Yeah, we used to be really close,” I said. He leaned across the car and kissed me. Then he pulled back and started the engine. He gave me a sad look.
“Are you going to be okay?” he asked. I nodded and wiped the tears away.
“Yes, I’m going to be fine,” I said. He started the engine, then pulled out of the cemetery and drove me home.
Later that night I snuck quietly into the lab. My thick leather-bound journal sat on a shelf beneath a stack of papers, which were filled with notes of previous scientific experiments. I pulled the journal free of the papers and opened it to the page after my last entry. Quietly I scribbled the date and beneath it wrote only a few words; “DNA Experiment: success.”
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it's a long long road, it's a big big world
we are wise wise women, we are giggling girls
we both carry a smile to show when we're pleased
both carry a switchblade in our sleeves
- Ani DiFranco, from "If He Tries Anything"
also in "Somplace To Be Flying" by Charles de Lint
Last edited by VinrAlfakyn : 06-08-2007 at 12:57 PM.
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) then it could have been a really cool piece of writing with a deep meaning. But you took a method of story telling for fables that is used to very shallow obvious meanings and made it into something that has substance. Something that's pretty damned hard.
