Chatterbox: Down to Earth

CB Gift

Hey guys, I changed from a poem to a short story because I feel it is much more... detailed and important for you all. I usually do poems on a monthly/every other month basis, so this time short story it was! Inspired by CL's Part 3 of her story on DtE. So here is my gift to you all, from my 7th CBversary:

The girl threw her autumn-colored hair back and barked a laugh, celebrating life. All around her, music flew like golden drums in the sky. Unique souls wandered, each so different in their ways. The girl analyzed the brilliant masquerade party with large blue eyes ringed with gray, the color of shallow ocean water in winter. Her soft features were hidden behind a midnight blue mask ringed with silver, engraved with dark black like roots of a tree spreading over the earth.

Another girl with a white leopard tail and long, wavy blond hair stepped forward, green eyes staring like a cat's through the snowy white mask. Her green gown brushed against the floor gently as she walked toward the first.

"Quite a party, is it not?" The girl with autumn-leaf hair said, squirming.

She was never used to so much attention - hence the reason she chose a masquerade party.

"It is fantastic!" The leopard girl said, smiling. "Say, I know that voice anywhere. Ash-"

"Cake time!" A boy with short blonde hair said, adjusting his silver mask.

Of course, the first girl knew everyone here. They were often described as a second family, living in a small yet beautiful community within the universe. They were excluded from the others, therefore news of the outside world rarely got in. In a sense, that made the group even closer, for they made up their own news and lives. The anxious girl, whose name was Ashlee, smiled at the room behind her mask. She had seen so much.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," another boy, dark in hair and eyes, said, waving to the crowd. "Shall we take off our masks?"

Ashlee stepped forward, long, flowing midnight blue gown trailing at her feet.

"Let us wait, friends," Ashlee said, turning to the feast. "We will do an SI after we eat."

The others nodded in agreement, suits and gowns swirling and waving like the world's flags jumbled together in a beautiful array. Or fireworks on the Fourth of July, pops of color here and there, metallic masks like stars.

"Who do you think is Ashlee?" A shorter girl with brown hair pulled in a nice ponytail asked. to a confident girl gathering note cards.

"I have my ideas," the note card girl said, pulling her dark hair over one shoulder.

The feast was fabulous, all the girl's friends gathered and chatting together. There were at least fifty of them - some as young as nine, the oldest nineteen. It was the most stunning, spectacular sight Ashlee had seen. She rested her hands on the gown, closed her eyes, and breathed in the smell of pie and the ocean.

"Don't you love the sea?" The shorter girl said, now sitting beside Ashlee in edge of the room. "I do, it is where I learned to sail."

Ashlee nodded, blue-gray eyes swirling with memories. She lived and breathed the ocean, it was in her soul. At last, she stood promptly up, dusting off the dress, and went to the two boys chatting.

"Are you ready for the SI?" she asked calmly.

"Of course!" The blonde one exclaimed, shaking the shoulder of the other. "There aren't many boys here: you have to be Gared, right?"

The dark haired boy nodded, silent, as he glanced around the room, removing his forest green mask with a single hand.

"Wonderful!" Ashlee exclaimed, shaking Gared's hand. "Any guess whom I may be?"

"Ahh... No," he said, rubbing his jaw in thought.

As the blonde haired boy, Gared, and Ashlee exchanged clues, a darker toned boy with pure black in his suit and mask, a cheery girl in red; and a exuberant girl in white chatted. The boy began to bite his lip, clearly nervous. He whispered a single word, and the girls cheered as he pulled off his mask, revealing no other than the young Nico.

"Wait, you enjoy reading, have two AEs, and have been here for longer than two years," Gared said, breaking down the possibilities.

"And she clearly likes the color blue- Wait, I got it!" The tall boy said, shaking his head, light bouncing off of his blonde features. "You are Ashlee!"

"Yes, yes I am!" The girl said in response, pulling off her earth-like mask, smiling. "And you are General Waffleson, no?"

Gared and Ashlee stood silent as the boy grinned broadly, teeth shining like the sun. "Well..."

"Clouded Leopard, of course," Nico said quietly to the tailed-girl.

She nodded, removing the white mask. "I wonder if Ashlee has been found yet?"

"That's her, right? Blue dress?"

"Yes, it is!" Clouded exclaimed, nodding, and rushing to her friend.

"And the answer is..." The blonde boy teased. "Yes!"

With a flash, he pulled off the mask, revealing their trusted friend, General Waffleson. He threw back his head, laughing as if sharing an inside joke with classmates and siblings.

“September, Mei, Micearenice!” Ashlee exclaimed, embracing her friends. “CL!”

The festivities were near an end as the sun met the ocean and slipped into it’s never ending waves. Everyone beside seven people, standing side by side. They seemed older, calmer than the others - different. No one could guess them, not the near sixty people at the party. That is, almost no one. Ashlee and BHR stepped forward, glanced at each other, and addressed the remaining masked friends.

One was tall, dark brown hair framing his face, green eyes piercing through a golden mask. His suit was flawless, from the red tie, white button up shirt, and black jacket and slacks. Ashlee called the design the “Boss” from its pristine set.

“TNO!” BHR and Ashlee exclaimed at once, rushing forward.

The young man pulled off his golden mask, smiling with a set of sparkling teeth. “Of course!”

As BHR and TNO discussed life, Ashlee moved to the second person in line - again, another young man, around eighteen or nineteen. His suit was quite odd from the rest, consisting of bright, cherry red slacks, gumball blue button up shirt, and a candy cane striped jacket. His caramel brown hair was scattered back and forth in different ways, and thick, round black glasses were seen behind a red and white mask.

Ashlee mocked the old friend for a minute, humming to herself with a hand on her chin. “Ahh… who can this oddity be? Of course, no other than Joe Dosie Doe! Or, might I say, Joe the Stickfiddler. How’s life?”

“Fabulous, with this visiting party! Long time no see, you all,” Joe laughed, turning to the other five masked friends. “Blue, Red - love the names, by the way! - Theo, Ruby. And-”

“And Gollum!” BHR said as all five people pulled off their masks, grinning broadly.

The other CBers shouted with joy, running to introduce themselves to the older ones. It was quite fabulous ending to a party floating in the middle of the sea. Of course, why would it not be on the sea? The masquerade was on a large houseboat with a extensive deck opening to the beckoning ocean. Dolphins and whales roamed nearby, calling to one another playfully. Ashlee sat down, feet dangling in the water, as all the many CBers came by her side.

“Happy CBversery to you! Happy CBversery to you! Happy CBversery, dear Ashleeeee, happy CBversery to you!” They all sang in tune, laughing and cheering along the way.

Ashlee smiled softly, letting out a small laugh. Then she turned away from the sea and to her many countless, amazing friends.

“You all have come here tonight - not to celebrate my 6th - wait, I mean, 7th - CBversery, but to celebrate you all. I wanted this to be a masquerade party for a few reasons. One, to bring your attention to everyone, all our fabulous friends here tonight. Second, to give ourselves a quite bit time of entertainment. And third, because a masquerade party just sounded quite suitable for the occasion on the ocean! Now, let me explain what I brought you all here for.

Each one of you has posed beautiful abilities. You all are talented in art, writing, photography, dance, theatre, friendship, and compassion. Each one of you are unique and brilliant. In times of darkness, we work together to lift each other up. You have given me laughter and joy for seven years straight! Seven years! I have never stayed anywhere that long. No forum board or chat or website is like this. Other places are rude, filled with hatred and destruction toward one’s well being and confidence. Then I found this place, just like you all found it. I have grown here since before I could read. I look back and see my life - it has changed so much because of you all fabulous people. When you all were here, TNO, Joe, Blue, and the rest, I was so very young. The youngest, in fact, on the CB. Now I see I am one of the oldest. Regardless of my age or your age, or yours, or yours, or any of yours, we all still treat each other the same. You all are so amazing, don’t you see? Yeah, we fight sometimes. But that’s what family does! You know how many times my sister crawled under the desk to slam the power button on my computer while I was gaming? Then she’d tackle me and start pulling my hair. Why? Because we are family! You know when we all fought about something as petty as… oh… well, never has anything been petty here. But when we argued over Hamilton? Or debated furiously? It was in a great way, because we were learning to forgive and grew closer in the process. Yes, some of you are older now. TNO, you are I believe 28, for goodness sake! But I invited you all here in remembrance and thanks. I invited you current people because I am in awe for who you are. Thank you ever so much for being here, every single one of you.”

With that, Ashlee turned and jumped into the ocean as the CBers applauded and began to give one another hugs and high fives. They turned to the girl with the hair of autumn, laughing as she swam in the water with her gown.

“Come in, my friends!” Ashlee said, splashing water onto the dock.

Every single person jumped into the water at that moment, and Ashlee raised her waterproof camera, getting the perfect shot of all the CBers in mid air. Past and present, laughing, playful, happy, feet above the water, arms and legs splayed, ready to splash into the water. Ashlee smiled at the image, promising to frame it in the CB Museum. It was her promise, her gift, to the family that had taken her in on the secluded place of the universe. A family she would forever love and cherish. For, as they say, when a star hits the darkness, it creates a whole blast of beauty, and that is what each and everyone of them were - Beautiful.