by quark quack » Wed Aug 12, 2015 9:47 am
Jason Funderberker. He was but a simple man, really. He was, in many ways, your average guy, albeit a bit awkward. The only thing that could be considered special about him was his voice, which was tinged with the remnants of puberty that made him sound a little hoarse. For this he received a bit of teasing, but that was perfectly fine. What was high school without a little bit of teasing? Teenagers would be teenagers, really. Grit and bear it with humility. Not to insinuate that Jason didn’t enjoy high school. No – he actually enjoyed it, believe it or not. He had a great group of friends who didn’t seem to mind him much, and he enjoyed being around them. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Jason was aware that he was rapidly approaching the last legs of his childhood. After high school, he’d be thrown out to the world, and he knew that he really, honestly wasn’t ready for that. But neither was anyone else. That was fine, at least for the moment, because he still had a few years before graduation. The underlying sense of finality was just that; underlying. It was hardly even there – though it was certain to assert itself with some fearsome strength in the years soon to come – and Jason was rather easily distracted from it by… Well, by normal teenager things. The internet, the internet, Netflix – that’s still the internet – the internet, food, sleep, the internet, the internet, and keeping his head above water in the new academic swimming pool of high school, where he was the smallest fish in the pond. But soon enough he’d be a shark, and he was content with that knowledge. Knowing that he still had some familiar years in front of him; that was really great. So, what was he going to do on an uneventful evening after school? Well, at the moment, he was going to take a rest from the stress of the school day. Sitting in a cramped little desk all the time was irritating, ya’know? Shop class wasn’t much better – they didn’t even get to weld today; they just watched instructional videos from the nineties. Lame. Jason needed to relax, so he quickly connected to his wifi and checked his phone. He scrolled through some of the articles on Reddit, seeing as how that was the best interesting news hub for liberals such as himself. After seeing that Sanders was leading ridiculously in the poles and was set to win the primaries, he grinned and mentally high-fived himself, along with the thousands of other people on the site. It was a small victory, and Jason was keen on seeing if he could find something to compliment it. Unfortunately, the TIL’s all fell flat, along with the TIFU’s. He was about to switch tabs when his attention was caught by a news headline. Halloween Fire at High School in Massachusetts, Suspected Arson. Oh, that’s right. Today was Halloween. In the walk from school to home, Jason had forgotten that – though he can’t fathom how, seeing as how he’d been joining in with the excited chatter with his friends all throughout the day. Of course something bad was bound to happen on Halloween – that was the case in all of the movies, right? But arson? That was kind of extreme. Oh well, it wasn’t of much matter. It didn’t directly affect Jason, so it essentially went in one ear and out the other. Or, through his eyes, since he read it. After a quick check of the feed Jason decided to clean himself up a little bit, since he’d just gotten out of athletics and was still a little sweaty from one of their more intense workouts. God, pumping iron sucked. Especially for Jason. He could do it all day, but his max never got any higher. On the bright side, he wasn’t getting any weaker, and he considered the homeostasis to be a good thing. Surely if he quit he’d get weaker, right? Working out just meant that he was, ya’know, steady. Yeah, he never bulked up, and he wasn’t exactly muscular – but he never got fat, and that was a good thing. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Jason was the kind of guy to have a respect for people – at least some – regardless of what they looked like. It wasn’t like he had the most soothing voice in the world, but he was still cool, and generally well-liked, right? Right. Jason walked to the bathroom and hastily stripped, splashing some of the cold water in his face and dampening a towel to assist in the process of washing off. He decided to listen to music as he did so, and turned on Another One Bites the Dust. It was a little bit mainstream – everyone knew that song, and it wasn’t exactly impressive to his repertoire of classic rock (it wasn’t Dirty Laundry or anything with equal message) – but it was still good, and a guilty pleasure. Jason didn’t care much at the moment, considering that he was home alone, and envisioning his future life as a shark. Whenever he was a senior, he wouldn’t have to take crap from the upperclassmen – not that he did much at present, he actually got along really well with the juniors, but the seniors were just flat out rude – he’d be the one handing it to the underclassmen. Not the nicest thing in the world, but hey, it’s the circle of life. Jason finished cleaning himself up just as the song ended, and began to change into a different outfit. Let’s see…. He was going to that Halloween party in a couple of hours, so it would probably be a good idea to change into his costume now. Pulling out the green suit, Jason shrugged on the clothes with an upbeat attitude. This was an inside joke. His friends all knew about his crazy, lavish gay uncle who had a plethora of tall tales spun about him. The man was pretty involved in school functions, and thus earned a bunch of students/faculty in attendance to his funeral when he died of a heart attack. The man had always joked about wanting to be a ghost after he died, so that he could haunt all of his friends in life. So, as a little tribute, Jason had decided to purchase a suit nearly identical to his uncle’s. He wasn’t very adept in the art of makeup, so he just used some light-colored powder in want of actual supplies. As he was getting dressed and fixing his hair – his hair took work, it wasn’t just naturally so amazing, mind you – the theme song to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air came on. Naturally, Jason had to rap along. He grabbed some shades he had beside the mirror, and promptly donned them as he spoke rhythmically to his own reflection, using the hair brush as a makeshift microphone. “—In West Philidelphia, born and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my days,” he paused to apply hairspray, then picked up where he left off. Now, in the course of his singly merrymaking, he never once paused to consider that any of the seemingly normal courses of action he had and was about to undertake would be dangerous in any form or fashion. His mouth happened to be open for a split second, and it was enough for him to obtain a wisp of the aforementioned hairspray. Jason paused, looking at the substance with curiosity. A thought came to his mind, and it was a rather unusual one. What…. What did that stuff taste like, anyway? He knew that he’d accidentally inhaled and tasted some, but he didn’t get an accurate sense of it. Do keep in mind that Jason wasn’t totally dense. He’s a solid B student, and was clever enough. But when he got curious – perhaps the low amount of oxygen in his brain from working out contributed to this – well, he didn’t have the best judgement in the world, seeing as how he was a teenager. That wasn’t his fault, though. Teenagers always have poor judgement, it’s scientifically proven. Jason just wasn’t very good at anticipating consequences in a spur-of-the-moment situation, and he never could have conjured up the severity of the events that would take place subsequently. Jason unscrewed the cap of the bottle, promptly taking a large gulp from it. At first his hand tensed around the bottle, but then they laxed as he dropped it. Oh god, it burnt…! He leaned over the sink, trying to wash out his mouth. However, it was leaving a trail of fire down his throat, and nothing really seemed to help. Jason reached down and retrieved the container, checking the back and finding words written in bold. WARNING: Keep out of reach of children. Do not inhale. Do not ingest. If consumed, call poison control immediately. Well, isn’t that just dandy? Jason just broke all of those rules. He staggered out of the bathroom, now struggling to draw breath. In the background, the music kept playing.
“I begged and pleaded with her, day after day, but she packed by suitcase and sent me on my way!”
Jason’s hand wrapped around the landline, and he picked up the phone.
”She gave me a kiss, and then she gave me my ticket,”
Agh, what was the number for poison control, anyway?
”I put my Walkman on and said ‘I might as well kick it!’”
Screw it.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
Jason wanted to speak. He really, really did. But his throat burned so much, he was rendered incapable. He could only produce a pathetic squeak before falling to the ground, hands around his neck in a vain attempt to stop the fire that burned without mercy. It occurred to him that it must be strange for the operator to pick up the phone and hear nothing but a squeak and the theme song to a beloved 80’s tv show, but this case was legitimate and he required serious medical help, as he was beginning to asphyxiate. But, asphyxiation aside, he felt pretty proud of himself, because this would be an awesome prank under literally any other circumstances.
”…I hope they’re prepared, for the Prince of Bel-Air!”
~
Jason walked through the forest, staring at the wilderness through the dark tint of his sunglasses. His suit snagged on some of the undergrowth, and he bit his lip in an exasperated manner as he beat the vegetation away. Then he paused, standing still as he looked around. Where was he going again?
Oh dear.
"He didn't want to believe.
He wanted to know." [Carl Sagan]
Call me Quark.
He/she/they, don't care either way.
Panromantic Asexual.
Science fanatic.
Socially liberal.
Economically left by American standards.
Center-left by international standards.
Atheist, but also pantheist-ish.
Pseudoscience debunker.
🏠 ♪ ♫ ♬ 💓 ⚛️( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)