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sparkknightella · 6 years

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One and Only (pt1)

here’s my beverly fic! finally got it typed n shit!

OK quick run down: Takes place in the 80′s, going off canon, so Pennywise happened but they’re already forgetting. Haven’t decided if Georgie lives or not hAHA.

summary: Ben is in love. His best friends are tired of his pining and give him an idea. Boy does it go well.

word count: 1531

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Ben knew he couldn’t deny that he was absolutely in love. His heart would race, he thought his lungs were collapsing, his stomach was a butterfly garden. He also couldn’t deny the burning in his heart anytime he saw Beverly with any guy he did not know.

Rumor had it that Beverly was talking to a couple guys on the football team and it angered Ben to no end. He knew he had no right to be, he’d never told Bev anything about how he felt.

He walked over to Mike, Bill, and Stan and plopped down on their bench. Beverly was sitting on the steps of the school with the two football players she was rumored to be sleeping with. Ben knew he didn’t shine a light in comparison but deep down he hoped she’d see him and leave them.

“Why not just tell her how you feel? You’ve been best friends forever, I’m sure she won’t really care.” Stan nudged Ben’s shoulder to get his attention.

“Are you crazy? It’d ruin the dynamic of our friendship! Not to mention what it’d do to the group.”

Stan sighed and shook his head. “Whatever you say, haysta-“

“Ben did she ever figure out that you wrote her that postcard, did she?”

“Postcard?”

“Your hair is winter fire…” Mike started.

“January embers…” Stan fake swooned.

“Muh-muh-my heart b-burns there tuh-too.” Bill finished and the three began cracking up. Ben blushed at their dramatic rendition of his poem.

“No, she never found out it was me.”

“What if your sent her cards again? Woo her with your words and she won’t care who you are.” Mike always had the best ideas, though Ben wasn’t sure he was a fan of this one.

“What if she knows it’s me?”

“She won’t.”

Ben knew this was true. Bev was beautiful and funny and clever in a lot of ways, but she didn’t pay attention to details like her friend’s handwriting or who sent her a love note when they were ten.

He hadn’t seen Stan sit up but looked up to find Stan’s face in his own. “Ben, I know you’re going to have some bullshit excuse as to why you can’t send stuff to Bev, but that’s the cutest goddamn thing ever.” Stan leaned backwards, laying himself back into Bill’s arms. “If you don’t do it, I will.”

“She’ll know it’s me, she copies my notes all the time.”

“You don’t have any classes with her.” Bill pointed his sandwich at Ben.

“Shut up!”

The other boys started cracking up and Ben felt his face flushing again. “I’m serious!”

Mike stopped laughing and looked at ben. “She won’t know it’s you, don’t worry.”

“How do you know?”

“Same way I always know, I just know.”

Ben glared and took a sip from his water. “Fine.”

“What’s the plan, haystack?” Stan was leaning on Bill, whose face was buried in Stan’s neck. It was cute but Ben wished they’d stop being so in love and help him out.

“You two are going to buy four post cards. The best ones you can find.” Stan looked he wanted to ask something. “No birds, Stanley. No matter how rare or beautiful they are.”

The question died in Stan’s throat and he looked clearly upset. Bill tugged his hand and kissed Stan’s cheek lightly.

“We’ve got it, Ben.” He got on Silver and waited for Stan to get on. They rode off in the direction of town and Ben heard a faint “Hi-yo silver away!”

Mike and Ben smiled. “Okay, you and I are going to the Barrens.”

“Why?” Mike didn’t sound upset, he was just curious.

“Bev knows every plant that grows down there. And it’s the Losers Club’s unofficial spot. It’s giving her a clue without really giving her a clue.”

Mike nodded, clearly proud of how much thought Ben was putting into this. He got on his bike. “Let’s do this.”

Mike and Ben joked and laughed all the way to the Barrens. Their friendship was easy and soothing. The other “Losers” were actually quite popular. Ben and Mike were often overlooked in favor of Pretty Boys Stan and Bill or Mom Friend Eddie or Class Clown Richie or goddess on Earth Beverly Marsh.

They didn’t mind though. They had each other and that’s all that mattered.

“Okay, we’re looking for any kind of flower.”

Mike pointed. “I’ll search fifty yards this way, you search over there. If we see anything, just yell?”

Ben nodded and they went their separate ways.

He watched the ground, but was nonstop thinking about Beverly. The way her hair shone in the sun, the way she reminded Ben of the sun. Her smile when Richie and Eddie would argue playfully or the way Stan and Bill always had to be touching. How she liked her popcorn slightly burnt to add more flavor and how she never ever had to pay for a pack of cigs. Beverly Marsh truly was the great love of Ben’s life and he hoped one day he’d be hers.

“Ben!” Mike’s voice sounded far away. “Ben! Come here, I think I found something!”

Ben jogged in the direction of Mike’s voice. Mike held open a trapdoor, the smell of smoke wafted up from the hole.

“Holy shit, it’s-“

“The smokehole.” Mike finished. They looked down at the now-rotting wood of what was supposed to be their clubhouse. “I didn’t call you over for a trip down memory lane, look.” Mike pointed to the ground inside.

Ben peeked over, his heart racing as if he were afraid, but he had no reason to be afraid. He opened his eyes slowly as if expecting something

(someone)

to be looking back up at him.

A single poppy had bloomed in what was once their fire pit.

They slowly climbed in, wary of something though neither could remember what. Ben picked the flower with delicate fingers.

Mike was shaking his head. “It’s like it was-“

“Meant for us.” Ben agreed.

Mike smiled as they climbed out. “Mission accomplished.”

Ben picked up the now-pressed flower and taped it to the postcard Stan and Bill bought.

“Pen.” He stuck his hand out like a surgeon.

“Pen.” Mike turned to Bill.

“Pen.” Bill turned to Stan.

“Pen.” Stan placed the pen in Bill’s hand and it made its way back down the line until it was in Ben’s palm.

He put the pen to paper, paused, sighed, panicked, and felt a heavy hand land on his shoulder.

“You’ve got this.” Mike sounded so sure that Ben’s anxieties melted away.

He nodded and put the pen back to paper. He felt his friends lean over to see what Ben wrote.

Girl, I want to be your one and only.

-Secret Admirer

The other boys started clapping. Stan neatly placed the stamp in the corner and hugged Ben.

“She’s guh-going to love it.”

Ben smiled. “I know.”

“Mike explained the whole situation and I am demanding to see this postcard.”

Eddie stood in front of Ben in their homeroom, arms crossed. Ben shushed him and made sure Richie wasn’t around. “Does Richie know? Richie will ruin everything I’m planning.”

Eddie shook his head. “No, we know Richie can’t keep a secret.”

“Exactly. I’m mailing it today, we can go to my house together after school and you can see it.” Ben smiled, trying to cover up how nervous he truly was.

“I’m sure she’s going to love it and fall for you, stop freaking out.”

Ben smiled. “Thanks, Eddie, that’s real helpful.”

They laughed. “Seriously, it’s going to go just as planned.”

The final bell rang and Ben waited for Eddie at the school’s front door. Eddie ran out and got on his bike.

“Ben, we have to go now, Richie’s been chasing me since the bell rang ‘cause he “knows I’m keeping something from him”. I lost him in the bathroom, but we need to go now.”

Ben got on his bike and they rode off.

“So, four postcards to win the girl over?”

“Four postcards until I’m the love of her life.” Ben paused. “Hopefully.”

Eddie laughed and started walking up the steps to Ben’s house. “So, what are the cards going to say?”

“You’ll see as they get written. Can’t spoil anything considering the fact that the second Richie finds you, he’s going to force you to ‘fess up.”

Eddie pouted but he didn’t push it because he knew it was true.

Ben walked into his room and pulled out the postcard, handing it to Eddie he started walking towards the kitchen.

“Want anything to drink? I’m going to cut up some apples and dip them in peanut butter.”

“A water would be great!” Eddie called. “Also, this is the cutest thing in the world! If she doesn’t snatch you up I will.”

Ben stood in front of the post office, heart racing, face sweating, hands shaking. He was reconsidering sending this stupid letter. Even as he thought about all the consequences and how horribly wrong it could go, his arm reached forwards and slipped it into the outgoing mail slot.

He sighed. “Here goes nothing.”

——

!!! what’d ya think? please give me some feedback and lmk if you want more!

#benverly #ben hanscom #bev #ben #beverly #beverly marsh #it #it 2017 #fanfic #reddie #stenbrough #mike hanlon #richie #eddie #my writing

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touristguidebuzz · 7 years

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Transportation in India: What the Tuk-tuk?!

**We originally published this post back in 2010, after our first trip to India. We spent 5 weeks backpacking across Northern India. I actually wrote most of this post on a moleskine notepad while traveling on the train from Udaipur to Mumbai. Yes, an actual pen and paper!

I was cleaning up some old posts during our recent website re-design, and I stumbled on this one. I thought it would be fun to re-publish, as most of you likely have not read this one.

If you’ve traveled to India, this one should bring back some memories!

Transportation in India — What the Tuk-Tuk?

Travel and transportation through India can be challenging. At times, it can be a frightening ordeal that leaves you speechless, questioning why you would subject yourself to such unnecessary distress.

Let me walk you through a typical tuk-tuk experience in India

First, the majority of tuk tuks (aka auto-rickshaws) are falling apart and should not be allowed on the road. They’re basically a lawn mower with a rusty metal bubble on top, hardly the type of vehicle you’d want to get into an accident with.

Second, we’re not convinced that the majority of drivers even have driver’s licenses; and if they do, the government should seriously consider beefing up the testing and qualifications process.

Finally, drivers must learn to decipher which way the flow of traffic is going… and stick to that direction. That means do not cross into oncoming traffic dummy!

The Tuk Tuk experience

After firmly negotiating the fare you climb into the dirty, rusty auto-rickshaw careful not to cut yourself on loose metal. You then reach into your pocket, take out your hand towel and cover your mouth to protect yourself from the never ending clouds of foul black emissions.

The tuk-tuk rolls forward, you hold on tight and keep your eyes focused straight ahead.

The tuk-tuk forces its way down a narrow beat-up street, cautious of the large potholes and never ending stream of pedestrians. It randomly bounces from one lane to another with no regard for what’s going on behind.

A car in front is driving in the center lane… oncoming motorcycles are forced to use the dusty shoulder instead. There isn’t really a need for road lines, nobody uses them anyways.

The tuk tuk speeds up as it approaches the looming intersection.

You hang on tighter, knowing there is nothing you can do at this point… you’re committed to this journey. At the last minute, the calm driver slams on the brakes and makes a jerky right turn, squeezing between a bus and a pack of masked motorcyclists.

The decrepit bus spits up a cloud of black smoke that fills the cab of the auto-rickshaw. You cough and sweep the cloud away with your hand but it’s no use, you’ve already swallowed the burning diesel fumes.

Most intersections do not have traffic lights, so the flow of traffic never fully stops. Some are roundabouts, but mostly it’s the standard crossroads.

The driver inches his way into the chaotic intersection, continually beeping his horn and cutting off motorcyclists and overstuffed jeeps with passengers hanging out the rear window.

There is no protocol.

It’s first come first serve and the bigger vehicles win. Every time.

Glancing over your shoulder, you see another tuk-tuk rapidly approaching at full speed.

You close your eyes and brace for impact.

He hits the brakes and comes to within an inch of your vehicle; the oncoming driver gives you a big smile, thinking “you must not be from around here”.

He chuckles and moves on, his local passengers stare at you with strange curiousity.

The driver honks at a dilapidated truck three times. Why three times, you ask? It doesn’t matter. It’s like the Wild West and drivers have itchy trigger fingers.

There is a commotion twenty meters ahead. Vehicles are swerving to avoid something.

You stretch your neck up to see what’s going on. What’s blocking the road?

Of course, it’s a pair of large brown cows sitting in the middle of the busy intersection!

They gaze at the tuk-tuk as it passes by, oblivious to their dangerous choice of resting place. You do double take… are they really chewing on a dirty plastic bag? Oops… the tuk-tuk just ran over a cow patty.

The driver smiles, then spits red slime out of his mouth, watching it blow in the wind until it splats on the road. Gross.

Traffic picks up again, so does the speedometer… just kidding, there are no speedometers!

You see a bus picking up passengers ahead. The tuk-tuk’s speed recklessly increases. Without any warning, the bus makes a sharp turn into traffic with very little speed. The bus driver doesn’t care; he assumes that every one behind him will figure it out.

The tuk-tuk slams on the horn (before the brakes) and swings to the right, it feels like the tuk-tuk is going to flip. It doesn’t. In fact, you’re almost impressed by how well it handles jerk reactions.

A motorcyclist is coming at you head on… what is he doing?

He gives a long, loud beep, signaling that he is not moving out of the way. Your head starts to hurt. You smacked it on the metal roof earlier when the tuk tuk violently hit a string of deep potholes.

Are we there yet?

You turn the corner and are instantly stuck in a traffic jam.

You’re trapped and not moving. Vehicles are jammed into seven lanes. The road only has three.

The air smells like something is burning. Could there be a fire nearby? Nope, it’s only a pile of garbage burning on the side of the road.

There’s a uniformed traffic officer blowing a whistle and waving a bamboo stick. He smacks a cyclist on the hand; the cyclist was trying to jump the queue. Not on his watch.

You look to your left; a big brown cow is staring at you.

Out of nowhere, a small homeless child reaches into the vehicle and grabs your arm. She points to her mouth and says “One rupee”. The tuk tuk driver swats at her and curses something foul. He’s seen this all too often.

You can’t breathe.

The air is hot, it stinks.

The horns won’t stop beeping.

Traffic isn’t moving.

Then it opens up. Stop… start. Stop…start.

The tuk tuk inches his way to the side of the road. YAY! You’ve finally arrived!

The driver asks for 80 rupees… you agreed on 50 rupees.

Again? Seriously!

When driving through the countryside the rules change.

The bigger the vehicle, the more damage it can cause… thus giving it the ‘right of way’ status. We typically traveled by bus on highways but were strongly encouraged by several locals to take the train instead, for safety reasons.

Like a vehicle graveyard, many trucks and buses are scattered along the roads, one had even slammed into a brick wall and was abandoned.

Trucks and buses travel in the middle of the two-lane highways at top speeds

As they approach slower vehicles, drivers wail on the horn and pass them, regardless of the oncoming traffic. Approaching vehicles pull onto the shoulder for fear of death. Bicyclists and pedestrians are within inches of being clipped, seemingly oblivious to the danger.

They don’t flinch… it’s just business as usual.

Have you had an interesting Tuk Tuk experience?

Share your story in the comments section below!

Transportation in India: What the Tuk-tuk?! is a post from: Traveling Canucks

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