Writing Class: Picture Story

Started by Nooblet, January 19, 2011, 01:49:43 PM

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Nooblet

The last of the bunch.
This one was quite interesting to me, although I unfortuanately ran out of time. Although the story isnt complete I still got a decent grade :D.
We were each given a picture and had to write a story based simply on the picture. My picture was a small picture of the American Flag with a black sillouete of someone standing there in the middle of it.
Please let me know what you think.
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                             The Vipers 

   Everyone in the audience was silent. Hundreds of pairs of eyes, many of those belonging to some reporter or another, all stared intently at the man speaking at the podium. The man spoke confidently, and loudly, telling of the heroic deeds of the specialist force, Viper. His voice droned on, but Smokey wasn’t even listening anymore. Idly he glanced at the badge on his arm. The American flag he had worn proudly, and above that was the coiled snake. The Viper patch, the patch that marked him as a member of the Vipers. No, the man's lies didn’t interest him. Smokey's mind was drifting back, back to the events of the last week. The mission that cost him his comrades...no...his family...
  "Let’s go! Move, move move!" Kechi, the squad leader, shouted, rushing forward and onto the chopper.
  The rest of the team moved quickly, each boarding the chopper, unaware of how long they truly had left to live.
  Alan, aka Smokey, was the newest member of the Viper squad, and couldn’t be more proud. The Vipers were an elite specialist squad sent in, usually in secret, to fix things that were going bad. Smokey's golden blonde hair swished about as the chopper took off, his deep blue eyes taking one last look at HQ, not knowing it might be the last time he ever saw it. Smokey stood at 5'11 and had a lean, yet muscular, build. Years spent training and working in the field has given him a bronze-like tan. Dag, Smokey's brother, and Smokey had just joined the Vipers about a year ago. Smokey was nick-named Smokey simply because he was the only one that didn’t smoke. It was odd, but Smokey didn’t mind it.
  Smokey idly gazed around, taking in his comrades. First off was Kechi, the leader. Smokey didn’t know why he was called Kechi, whenever asked Kechi would simply respond with "It’s my name" and grin. Kechi stood at 6'0 with a strong build. His skin was the same bronze tone as the rest of the squad. Kechi's semi-long brown hair whipped about wildly as he sat in the chopper, his piercing green eyes meeting Smokey's gaze. The two nodded to each other before Smokey moved on to the next member.
Pops was the oldest member on the team, though none knew his real age. Pops was the second in command, and had a fatherly feel to him. Everyone called him Pops because the man seemed to be like a father to the whole squad, watching out for everyone and helping where needed. He only stood at 5'5, but he could somehow appear to be the tallest man in the room if he grew angry. Pops' hair used to be a solid black, but was now streaked in grey. He had a somewhat small build, but didn’t lack in muscles. His skin tone was the same as the others, a deep sun bronzed color. His normally deep set brown eyes were currently closed, his head resting back against the wall behind him.
  Smokey’s gaze landed on the next soldier, Koji. Koji was the close quarters fighter, always the first one to breach and highly skilled in melee and the use of a shotgun. Koji had long black hair, tied in a pony-tail, and pale brown eyes that seemed to sparkle in amusement. Smokey had asked Koji about his nick-name, but Koji simply said he didn’t like his true name, and left it at that. Koji was currently checking over his weapons, telling a joke to Smiley.
  Smokey observed Smiley now, wondering what kind of mischief he and Koji were thinking up. Smiley was the squad’s medic, and was notorious for his pranks. Smiley loved to goof around, though he knew to be focused when on a mission. Smiley was almost always smiling, thus his nick-name, and found many things to be funny and amusing. Smiley had light black hair, nearly an odd gray, and brown eyes always filled with amusement. As Smokey was looking at him, Smiley burst into laughter over whatever Koji had been saying to him. Smokey smiled lightly and shook his head, moving on to the next.
   Droud yawned in a bored manner, simply looking off over the edge out of the chopper. Although his name was Lukas, he wanted to be called by Droud. Apparently the name held some kind of special memory for him, though he wouldn’t disclose what the memory was. Droud’s head was shaven clean and his hazel eyes held boredom inside. Smokey silently moved on to Gronch.
  Gronch sat checking the large box of ammo he carries into battle. Being the heavy support, he carried a large box full of extra ammunition for his weapon. Gronch’s nick-name came from the time Gronch had told them all his favorite movie used to be ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ and that he had wanted to be the Grinch’s brother. Naturally, he got the name Gronch, brother to the Grinch. Gronch’s hair was mostly brown with green at the tips, from the time Smiley had dyed his hair while he slept, and his eyes were a chocolate brown color. Gronch glanced up when Smokey looked at him, giving a nod and a smile before going back to what he was doing. Smokey returned the nod, looking at the next soldier.
  Nor, the tech and engineer expert, was working on his laptop, frowning in concentration. Nor’s real name was Ron, but he liked to be called Nor instead. Nor’s dark blonde hair looked as if he’d just woken up, or been up all night. Smokey thought it was probably the latter. Nor’s grey eyes were concentrating hard on whatever he was working on. Nor was oblivious to everything around him, not noticing Smokey’s gaze at all.
  Smokey’s eyes rested upon Lighter next, looking over him. Lighter was idly flicking open a lighter, letting the flame stay a moment before flicking the lighter closed. Lighter was the explosives expert of the team, and was a bit of a pyromaniac. Lighter always carried a lighter with him, and always flicked it as he was now when bored. This, obviously, gave him his nick-name. Lighter had short-cropped black hair and light green eyes that always seemed to have flames reflected in them. Lighter’s eyebrows were non-existent, having been singed off recently when he was messing with a new type of explosive. Lighter noticed Smokey’s look as grinned at him. Smokey smiled and nodded before looking at the last member of the squad.
  Lee, aka Dag, was Smokey’s brother. The two had joined training together and were both selected to join the Viper squad. Dag and Smokey were close, and worked very well together. Dag got his nick-name when he had killed three men with nothing but a dagger. His sniper had jammed and his only means of defense was a dagger in his boot. Somehow, Dag overpowered the three and killed them. He bore his nick-name proudly, always ready to explain how he got it to any who asked. Dag had semi-long brown hair that went to his shoulders and a brownish-hazel mix made up his sharp eyes.
  As the chopper flew steadily on, Kechi explained the mission.
  “Seems some terrorist organization has taken over a building in New York City. They possibly have hostages. We’re being sent in to either root them out, or to destroy any chemical weapons if we find them, and to rescue the hostages should we find any” Kechi looked over the men, meeting each mans eyes.
  “Lighter, you’re going to be the one keeping hold of the bomb. If we find the chemical weapons, you’re to set it and detonate it once everyone is out of the area. Dag, you’re going to stay in the chopper, I want you and your sniper to be picking off any tangos you can. We’re going in loud and hard, so no need to be sneaky. Everyone else is to do their normal roles, and keep with the group,” Kechi finished, receiving nods from everyone.
  The entire squad was silently mulling over the mission as the building in question drew closer. It wasn’t long until it was time to move. The drop cables were thrown over and all except Dag and the pilot hooked themselves to the cables, sliding down onto the roof.
  Smokey was the first one down and quickly unhooked himself. A quick sweep of the immediate area showed no hostiles on the roof. Moving quickly, Smokey rushed towards the door down into the building. Once at the door he readied his rifle and quickly kicked in the door, aiming down his barrel at an empty stairway.
  Koji came up beside him, his shotgun held at the ready. With a nod the two moved quickly down the stairs, crouching at the bottom and checking for any hostiles. Koji rushed forward, stopping to peak around a corner. As Smokey watched, he noticed a door slowly creeping upon behind Koji. Without hesitation Smokey brought his rifle up, aiming down the barrel, and pulled the trigger, firing a short burst through the thin wood of the door. A shout of pain and surprise was quickly cut off, followed by a thud as a body hit the floor. Koji looked back quickly, staring at the man Smokey had killed. He grinned ruefully and waved thanks.
  “Looks like first kill goes to Smokey this time,” Kechi patted Smokey’s shoulder as he walked past, inspecting the corpse and the room it had been hiding in.
  And so the mission went on, the team moving swiftly and orderly through the top floors. Very little resistance was met, a few scattered hostiles at most. The mission was beginning to look overly easy. Dag, still in the chopper flying by the windows, was able to pick off a number of unwary terrorists before they even realized a chopper was outside.
  “Were the Vipers really needed for this? These guys are jokes,” Koji griped, peeking around a hallway corner.
  “We were called in, so it’s our mission to clean up. Be thankful the mission is looking easy,” Kechi scolded, moving past Koji and peering into some of the rooms.
  Koji opened his mouth, no doubt to make a smart-ass remark, but never got the chance as bullets suddenly began to fly. A large group of the enemy appeared at the other end of the hall, taking cover in open doorways and around corridor corners. They immediately opened fire, forcing the Vipers to scatter and take cover. Smokey found himself trapped in a room with Droud.
  “God damn! Where the hell did they come from!?” Droud shouted, taking cover from a barrage of bullets.
  “Did you expect them to let us walk through here forever?” Smokey retorted, a grim frown on his face.
  Droud didn’t answer; instead he merely grunted and turned the corner, opening fire, before coming back into hiding just in time to dodge another barrage. Both men could hear as their comrades opened fire in retaliation against the hostiles, though neither knew the exact position of the other Vipers.
  Smokey was snapped out of his memories at that instant as the man at the podium called his name, motioning for him to come to the podium. This was the only reason Smokey was here, to tell the public a sweetened version of the truth, a sweetened truth that was a bitter lie to Smokey. Smokey stood, slowly making his way to the podium. He gazed out at the mass of onlookers, seeing their curious eyes as they took in the ‘Last Viper’. The words he had been ordered to say echoed in his mind, though he was loathe to say them.
  “My fellow Vipers fought with true honor. With true courage. We all went in, with only the safety of our beloved country in mind. My comrades fought, and died, to protect the freedoms of the people all across the States. All of them died a hero, and I know all of them would gladly do it again,” Smokey finished, knowing it seemed like his comrades had saved all of the U.S, when really it had just been a few dozen people.
  Making them seem more than they were might be viewed as good to most people, but to Smokey it was a stain upon their names. It showed fake heroes, not the true men who had fought and died. Of course none of that mattered. The people didn’t want normal people. They wanted heroes, they wanted people to seem like legends.
  Finished with his part, Smokey turned and began to walk off the stage. However, he stopped halfway. Smokey stood silently, silhouetted by the lighting against a large American flag hanging on the back wall. As he stood, a black figure against the flag, a camera flashed, capturing the image. Smokey moved on, quickly making his exit. The Vipers were all but gone, but Smokey wouldn’t simply lie down and mourn over their deaths. No, he would live on in honor of them, and make them proud.
  “I think I’ll go and visit Lee in the hospital. I’m long overdue for a visit,” Alan thought to himself, walking into the bright sunlight of the afternoon day and moving on with his life.
You can never be to young to die, but you can be to old to live. Might as well enjoy life while you can.
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My O/Os