#but yeah those random wake ups are a little rough and i guess i’m sayin good bye to sleeping in work day or not | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jupiterjunebug · 5 years

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@actually-a-taco , here it is! I forgot the “if I can pick you up” part of the prompt, but it’s fine.

Duck was used to being woken up at three in the morning. He’d gotten into the habit back in high school, when Juno used to wake him up for delinquent bullshit by throwing rocks at his window. Then Janey got old enough to try and sneak out of the house, herself, and turned out to be very, very bad at it. Then he’d gotten a cat, and much as he loved Smoky the Bear he didn’t particularly love how she came into his room and sat directly on his face as a signal it was time for her to eat.

That wasn’t even taking into consideration that every once in a while his boss would ring him up at fuck off o’clock to go deal with kids dicking around in the woods. So, when Duck’s landline pulled him out of a very nice, not prophetic dream, he assumed it was work. Which meant that, instead of ignoring the problem until it went away, he stumbled over to his desk and picked up.

It wasn’t work.

“Uh, hey?” Duck was aware he sounded halfway between ‘I have a cold’ and ‘the way I sounded six months after I started T.’ Even if he’d gotten used to waking up in the middle of the night, his voice hadn’t.

“Whose phone is this?” An uneven voice asked from the other end of the line. There was a soft rumbling in the background, and it took Duck’s sleep-heavy brain a moment to identify it as the passing of cars.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

“There were several numbers I might have dialed. I didn’t check which future this was.”

“What the fuck?”

The voice took a deep, shaky breath.

“Ah. I see now. Hello, Duck Newton.”

“What the fuck?”

“Hmm. Well. I skipped over this part of the conversation when I was looking into this particular future. It ended in you expressing sympathy, so I…assumed this would go well.”

“Yeah, well, it’s sorta a courtesy thing to introduce yourself ‘fore you ask someone’s name. Or just uh, fuckin’ pull it outta thin air I guess.”

There is a long moment of silence. Another uneven breath.

“My apologies.” A long silence. Duck wondered if the owner of the voice had fallen left, if this was a prank call all along. “I’m Indrid. Indrid Cold.”

That name felt a quarter of the way to familiar. His first thought was that it must’ve been someone from town, but usually when he sort of recognized names he at least got a sense of place. Like I think I went to school with that guy, or his ma knew my ma. This felt more like a name from a book he’d read years ago and forgotten.

“Well, Indrid. That’s step one, I guess. Now, why’re you calling me at three in the mornin’ on a Tuesday?”

“Ah, that is a good question.”

Duck was tempted to hang up and go back to sleep. It would only take an hour, maybe two, and if he got lucky he wouldn’t have to deal with any bullshit dreams. Which, he didn’t usually get lucky when he had to go to bed twice in one night. Then, the voice spoke again.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been having a bad night.”

God damnit. That broken tone of voice was one of his biggest weaknesses.

“Uh. That’s rough, buddy.”

Unfortunately, he had absolutely no idea how to deal with it.

“In all honesty, I just opened a phone book to a random page and dialed one of the numbers that wouldn’t lead to disaster.” A pause. “Actually, now that this conversation has started there’s only and eighty five percent chance this conversation won’t lead to disaster. Or, I suppose it would be more eloquent to say there is a fifteen percent chance this conversation will. Hm. Twenty percent, now that I’ve kept talking. I’m going to be quiet now.”

“Mm. Well. Okay. So.” Duck wouldn’t be great at this conversation if he were properly awake, and he sure wasn’t properly awake. “Do you want to talk about why you’ve been having a bad night, ‘cuz otherwise I’ve really got nothing to offer here.”

“Hm. A thirty percent chance it will end in disaster, then. That doesn’t usually happen spontaneously. You’re a surprising man, Duck.”

Duck was pretty sure Indrid meant that to be an honor. Technically, that meant he was apparently good at getting out of his shitty fate, which was awesome. But it also implied he got up to more interesting shit than he really did, which was perplexing as hell.

“Yeah, sure. So, are we answerin’ my questions, or just sayin’ bigger numbers? ‘Cuz I gotta be up in, like, two and a half hours, so.”

There was a thud, and the exact pitch of it sounded…familiar. Duck sat on the edge of his desk and shut his eyes. A second later it washed over him, raising the hairs on his arms like cold air. It was one of the dreams he hoped wasn’t from Minerva, but that he remembered too clearly for it not to be. He took a breath to wish he’d figured out how to push those dreams all the way down, because hearing that noise and feeling the echo of his memory kind of hurt his brain.

Still, it was a mystery he could solve without destiny or danger. He might as well try.

He pictured a man in a phone booth, taking the receiver off the hook and pushing coins in with shaking hands. Flipping open the phone book. His hands sliding sharp up a page, a red bead of blood willing up on his pale finger. The man hissed, setting a thermos of something down and staring at the papercut like it was the last step in a marathon of tragedy. He slid down the door as he dialed, staring up at the ceiling of the booth. Past his red glasses, Duck couldn’t read his expression as the phone rang, rang, rang.

Time sailed forward in the way of dreams, and Indrid’s jaw clenched. He took a deep breath, thin shoulders rising and falling, and softly thumped his head against the door. That was where the dream was shattered by his alarm clock.

Duck sighed.

“So, I guess I’ve only got two and a half hours for this talk.”

Indrid let out a soft, breathy laugh. Even though the dream had ended, somehow Duck could picture the hint of a smile.

“I think I’ve made…a bit of a mistake.”

“What, like you put your shirt on inside out, or?”

“A man died,” Indrid’s words rushed out, and it took a second for Duck to figure out what they meant.

“Uh?”

“Only twenty-nine percent, now. If I were having a better day, this would be fascinating.”

Duck tried to impress on Indrid exactly how unimpressed he was by that.

“Sorry, it’s a habit. I’ll try my best to…refrain.” Indrid sounded halfway sorry. Duck got the impression that wasn’t a common thing. “I’m…sorry, I’m looking ahead. In the futures where I tell you I can, well, check the future, you aren’t surprised.”

He actually was, just a little. He’d. Well. He’d known logically there had to be other people that could see the future. But he’d never met them, and somewhere in the thirty years since Minerva appeared at the foot of his bed he’d resigned himself to the fact he never would.

“No, I’m not,” he lied.

“Do you- No, you don’t. See it all the time, I mean.”

“I-“

“Don’t,” Indrid finished with him. Duck very carefully didn’t voice his thought about how much that shit was gonna annoy him if it kept up. “Hm, you’re right. It probably- Yes, there was a future where you said that out loud. I’m probably going to-“ Indrid went silent. Then, a moment later, in a quiet voice, “Please. Don’t hang up. Alright, good.”

“We gonna talk, or are you gonna have the whole conversation for me?” Duck rolled his shoulders, wishing that being the chosen one kept him from getting tension in them.

“It’s a little inefficient for me not to, don’t you think? When it comes to conversations like these, there’s only one response you’ll have to any given question. We’ll get on to the uncertainties sooner if you let me-“

“Yeah, well, we could also get to ‘em sooner if you talked about what was botherin’ you instead of goin’ off about what you think I’m gonna say.” Quiet from the other end of the line. “You called to talk about some problem, so. Let’s talk about it.”

“I see the future, all the time,” Indrid repeated, and Duck was about to say yeah, well that doesn’t give you an excuse to just go off and interrupt a guy’s thoughts, but then he caught the exhaustion in Indrid’s tone and realized that wasn’t what he was saying. “Have you ever had one of your dreams, seen some disaster you could prevent, and realized that preventing it would only cause more suffering?”

Duck sighed.

“Once or twice, yeah.”

“What did you do?”

Duck swallowed down that twist of bitterness that rose in his throat anytime he thought about that kind of question. The answer was always the same, of course. Nothing, he did nothing. He waited for Indrid to comment on that, because there had to be some future where he scraped together the energy it took to say that out loud. But the quiet stretched on, and Duck knew that in the end his inability to answer was an answer in itself.

“He was crossing the street. If I had intervened, then the truck which nearly hit him would have most likely swerved, colliding with two other cars before falling onto its side and killing the drivers of all three. And so I did nothing.”

“Well-“

“You don’t actually understand. You’re going to say you understand, but I can tell you don’t. I’m not sure why. There’s no world where you explain.”

Duck supposed he had to give Indrid that. Despite all intentions not to, he was starting to see his point about that little habit being convenient. It sure got the embarrassment of trying to lie out of the way.

“Alright, no. I don’t.” He had the feeling that the him in those futures didn’t tell Indrid why because he didn’t know himself. This was another one of the reasons he kept out of prophecy shit; if he stuck his nose in things, the consequences were his. Just his. He couldn’t exactly shove tragedy on someone else if he was standing next to it with a sword and fucking super strength.

“That justification was an excuse, I think.” Indrid was trying to keep his voice flat, unaffected. There was a tightness in his throat. “I have made…a habit of doing nothing. In my experience, it rarely changes anything, in the end.”

Duck tried to imagine it. He couldn’t. Couldn’t imagine standing on the side of the road and watching.

Shit, maybe that was why he didn’t understand. If he couldn’t figure out what the shit in his visions meant, then how could he blame himself for not stopping it? If he knew, if he knew, there was no way he could stand there. It’d eat him. Even thinking about it left him feeling something ugly in the back of his throat.

Duck heard another thud, this time loud enough that he jolts the receiver away from his ear with a wince. Indrid dropping the receiver, probably. Maybe throwing it. Duck held his in his lap, staring at it in some hope of a solution. He wouldn’t find one, of course; the conversation was over. Indrid wouldn’t be able to hear, not with the phone lying on the floor.

Except maybe he could. Duck brought the receiver back to his ear.

“Hey, Indrid. Listen. You said there are a lot of futures out there, right? Well, maybe there’s one where you pick the phone back up, so. I’ll talk to Indrid from that one, I guess. Where are you? Like, what address.”

Nothing. Well, he’d tried. More than he usually did, at least. Duck was considering hanging up, but then he heard shifting, a hand picking up the phone.

“The corner of Eastwood Lane and Campground Road,” Indrid said, quietly. “There are no futures where you explain why you’re asking.”

“You’ll see,” Duck replies, taking stock of everything he’d need for a drive to the opposite side of town.

“Mm, that’s what you say in all of them.”

#Indruck #Duck Newton #Indrid Cold #TAZ Amnesty #The Adventure Zone

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streamofconsciousnesshorror-blog · 5 years

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Bird Box - Steam of Consciousness

Bird Box

I am about to sit and watch this movie. I’ve heard a lot about it and it seems to be the thing to see at the moment. Not sure what I’m going to make of it…

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS (obv)

Oh, Sandra Bullock

She seems nice… not!

“Boy and Girl”??

Aww, they’re cuties.

Oh no, not birds! I don’t want to see animals getting hurt.

So, what if they peek underneath the blindfold? That’s not taking them off…

They can see through them slightly it appears.

Have those kids really got all their belongings in those teeny tiny backpacks?

Oh, where do I know her from? The woman who just came in…

An “Arabian Stud”???

Okay, so Sandra’s character has… issues!

Getting over a break up?

And she’s preggers?

Oh I see, very preggers. lol

Sandra’s had work done, botox!

Euw, see that’s why I never wanted pregnancy — the throwing up!!

OMG, is she doing that to protest the orange velour tracksuit??

Okay, they’re all committing suicide. Here we go.

Damn, Sandra’s face is messed up!! She can’t move it anymore! She’s got no facial expressions!

DAMN, I doubt the unborn baby will survive that crash!

WOAH — actually saw her body getting splattered on that lorry!

This is disturbing.

They see loved ones before they kill themselves it seems.

Impressed so far, it’s really well done. I’m totally using my touch typing skills here, so I don’t have to look away!

You’ve got every stereotype here; murderous, gumpy old man, meathead white dude, hippy white chick, rich old white woman, token black guy, token hispanic looking girl, token Asian guy, got it all covered!

Oh there’s two black guys. lol

Supermarket Charlie. lol

Sandra not looking too good with that pregnancy.

Wondering where these two little kids come into it…

Ffs angry old man, it wasn’t her fault someone went out to try and help her.

Sandra in bed with full make-up on! As you do.

Oh great, is this one of those jumping backwards and forwards in time movies? Hate that.

Okay, her hair’s WAY longer here.

Oh those sweet little birds. Please don’t let them die!!

Oh of course, BIRD BOX!! Duh. I’m slow.

Okay I recognise the angry old man. I just can’t place him. IMDB time!

Nope, I know the name John Malcovic, but I can’t work out what I’ve seen him in.

Oh. Is this one pregnant or just fat?

Oh, pregnant. A friend for Sandra.

She was starving? Really?? K.

Why don’t I know anyone’s names yet?

What the hell are they doing now? Their plan went way over my head. lol

Asian guy is smiley, huh?

What’s Sandra got on her feet??

Just busting some stretches with my ass in the air, seems as good a time as any.

I thought pregnancy made your hair shiny and healthy! Not in this woman’s case.

Oh SHIT, it can be transmitted through a SCREEN!!

Oh dear, Asian guy’s a gonna!

But he didn’t see a relative beforehand, he just saw a black shadow.

“Thought it might be good for us to be close”… no luv, bugger off! lol

Shut UP! This big woman doesn’t stop talking.

WOW, that is some kitchen! #kitchenenvy

Ooookay then! Sex! lol

Sandra and this black guy are hitting it off!

I’m only calling him “black guy” because I literally don’t know any of their names!! Not sure if we’re supposed to or not, but…

Oh, back to the future again.

The length of her hair is making it look like this is YEARS in the future!

Who’s this tubby ginger git!?

Get him girl!!!

What was that about then? He wasn’t trying to kill himself, he was trying to get her blindfold off.

Back to the past — where are these two kids??

“why don’t i go on the first run, and you go on the second run”, she really doesn’t want that chatty pregnant woman around her. lol

Okay, but driving with blacked out windows just using a GPS is committing suicide anyway… may as well just walk out there as you are!

GPS picks up dead bodies apparently! lol

“Its just a speed bump”. Nah, it’s not mate!

All it needs is that thing to smash their windows!

GPS also picks up supernatural beings. Where did they get it from?

THEY ARE NOT SPEED BUMPS!

Okay, they’re there. So now what?

They DO look funny, gotta be honest!

“Jack-fucking-pot” lol

I would grab ALLLL the chocolate!

Hot black dude wants to bang Sandra.

Sandra is trying to smile at you, my dude, she just can’t move her botoxed face very much! Just FYI.

Aww, the birdies.

So get them some damn food and water then. Ugh!

Angry old man is gonna croak it first.

Someone’s knocking — is this the kids? But going by Sandra’s hair they can’t even have been born yet! Or barely.

Nope, it’s some guy.

He’s coming in no matter what.

Oh no, Supermarket Charlie just sacrificed himself!

Well they got back relatively easily.

Sandra’s REALLY got daddy issues!

“The hair is different… he had some” Ooh savage!

Okay, what are the two hippies doing? Ah we have names, Lucy and Felix. Shame they’re just about to die!

Oops, back to the future!

Here are these two cute kids who came from nowhere. They don’t look like twins, so they can’t be both hers or both the big woman’s!

Oh, one of the teeny tiny backpacks is gone!

Just keep worrying about the birds.

Oh it’s windchimes, I thought… never mind.

Did she REALLY think that string would last forever?

Oh shit, kids, get back down!!!

PUT THE BLINDFOLD BACK ON, WOMAN!!!!

So this thing will try to get to them, even if they’re blindfolded.

Nooo, little girl. You’re too adorable to get killed.

Blimey, she’s really rough with those kids. She’s like a drill sergeant!

“Its the end of the world”, may as well stop all the small talk and get on each other then!

Just sayin…

Erm, does he want to feel your baby bump luv? I think he’s more interested in just above or evenjust below that.

Back to the future!

Sandra with the Long Hair.

And back to short hair Sandra again.

Why are they so scared of a new guy coming in, this thing makes people commit suicide, not attack others?

This guy’s British! He must be protected.

British accent with an American twang. lol

Oh okay, so there’s another stage to it, where they’re happy and want everyone to see.

Angry old man has lost it!

OMG, THE OLD WOMAN HAD HER MOMENT!!! lmao

This big woman is SO fucking annoying

Her parents and her husband bought her all the FOOD.

“If something happens to me, I want you to take care of my baby”… perhaps one of the two kids is hers then. Must be both their kids.

Oh, the girl is hers then. The boy is Sandra’s I guess. But why call them Girl and Boy at the beginning?

She’s not very maternal is she? She talks to these kids like they’re annoying adults. lol

Hmm, so who looks? Your kid, or her kid?

What is this shite music?

Big Woman’s about to drop!

Sandra won’t be far behind by the looks of it.

Why does the British guy keep eyeing those sweet birds?

Yep, her waters have broken.

May have to look away if we’re seeing a birth.

WTF? Two screaming women giving birth at the same time?

Yeah, drown them out with music! lol

This British guy is fucking weird. And he can leave those birds alone.

Nice drawings… yeah he’s fucking crazy.

Boy is now born.

WHAT IS BRITISH GUY DOING WITH THOSE BIRDS??

NO, FUCK YOU! PUT THOSE BIRDS DOWN!!!!

OMG!!! He’s pulling the papers off the windows. He’s put the birds in the freezer.

GET THEM TF OUT!

Aww, well done black dude! Sorry he knocked you out.

OH SHIT — HE WANTS THEM ALL TO SEE!

Girl is now born.

Don’t let him near the baby!

“Can I see?” No, fuck off.

Oh no, Big Woman looked. Ugh.

You BASTARD, you made the old lady look!

Well this is a lovely start to life for those newborns. Welcome to the world, little ones.

Angry old man is going to save the day. Come on man, he’s getting closer, shoot him!!!

“Oi!” lol

There ya go, Angry Old Man is dead.

So the “infected” do kill others. At first all they did was commit suicide.

Who just shot who??

Oh phew! British guy is dead.

And now I know where the two kids come from…

Back to the future. And we now know it’s five years ahead.

So both these kids are the same age, but the girl looks younger.

Sandra looks better with long hair.

Oh, did she get it on with the black guy? Why don’t I know his name yet?

More sex! Bet the kids wake up.

Oh no… but we didn’t see anything. Damnit. lol

Damn that guy has an impressive upper body!

So wait, she’s going on the river on the word of some random man on a walkie talkie who said he has a “community”??

And why isn’t he with her? Does he die?

That little girl is sooo sweet. And I don’t even like kids usually.

I still don’t get why Sandra calls these kids “boy” and “girl”!

Oh chill out Sandra - allow your man to let the kids dream.

EXACTLY, give the poor kids NAMES!!

I don’t like Sandra.

Sandra looks blotchy.

I might start calling her “Woman”!

Yeah, Boy, Girl and Woman.

Wait are we back in the future again? So they did all go together?

Mmmm, Pop Tarts.

UNCOOKED Pop Tarts??

Oh shit, someone’s turned up.

Ah okay, they split up. I think the black guy’s about to get killed.

SHIT, this guy is a good aim with a blindfold on!

Ah no... he took it off. That’s it.

Aww, the sacrificed himself.

That’s it for him then...

WTF, HE SHOT HIMSELF!!!! NOOOOO.

Boy, Girl and Woman are really alone now.

Nice over-acting there Woman.

Very well done considering you can’t move your face.

She’s really shitty to those kids. I don’t like kids and I’d be nicer than that to them, besides they’re cute af.

Right we’re all up to date now with them on the river.

Boy, Girl and the birds to survive. Don’t care about Woman.

That’s a nice fashion statement - cut a hole in your cuff and stick your thumb through it.

Bitch should be the one to take her blindfold off - THEY ARE LITTLE CHILDREN!!

And they’re out of the boat...

“GIRL, GIRL, GIRL” Ffs, names for them! It’s not that hard.

Aww, just want to take that little dumpling home with me - Girl that is.

Ooh, the entity is trying to get her to take the blindfold off.

Natalie... Emily... Madeline? Still can’t get her name.

Valerie?

Oh well, she’s still Woman to me.

NO, don’t do it Boy!

NO GIRL!!!

“My children”?? Is Sandra having a change of heart?

Girl is scared of Sandra - I don’t blame you sweet thing.

Awww, there she is. I may be tearing up a little...

Someone’s cutting onions in here, that’s all.

Why the hell can’t I make out Woman’s name.

Okay, it’s definitely Valerie.

So what they see is probably dead loved ones, like that woman at the beginning saw her late mother.

You’d think a powerful entity would’ve worked out how to remove blindfolds off potential victims, wouldn’t you.

For God’s sake, stop tripping up, Valerie.

“Just take the children”... follows them straight in!

Why the weird shots, why aren’t we seeing Rick?

Is it Rick Grimes? That’d be weird, huh? lol

OH, THEY’RE BLIND!!!

They’d be the only ones left I guess. And those who didn’t remove their blindfolds.

They’re letting the birds free. Bless.

They survived!!!

Someone’s cutting those onions again...

Boy has the most gorgeous eyes!

Oh bless, Olivia and Tom.

This is all bit too perfect - when does it go wrong?

No horror movie can end like this...

Tell me there’s more after the credits!!!

Oh my God, what an anticlimax. That was the shittiest ending ever!

Overall I’d give this movie a 6/10. I wasn’t bored stiff, but I was waiting for more to happen and it never did. The end was ridiculously stupid and I now know what people meant when they complained about it. What do you think. Please weigh in with your comments.

#bird box #birdbox #movie review #horror movie #horror #streamofconsciousness

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