Post by Morrowlife on Aug 9, 2018 20:11:11 GMT
Free Roam; Eli Thomas; Los Angeles streets
Riding in a bus for a long duration is, was, and always will be an unpleasant experience. The seats are designed for maximum discomfort, the air conditioning unit rarely functions, and noise pollution rivals the roar of the crowd in a southern collegiate football game at end of season. However, it was certainly inexpensive. Eli Thomas had always been frugal with his allowances and pay while tilling the fields at Thomas farm, and not by choice. The Kentucky farm was all he knew, and if pennies weren't pinched supper would not be delivered. Eli rather enjoyed supper, so he learned at an early age to suffer through what most would never even consider in order to save a dollar. This particular punishment was far from the worst he had endured, and as such Eli found himself able to ignore most distractions for a bit of shut eye. Just as he would fall asleep, the fourth time, the bus intercom announced that they had reached their destination: Los Angeles.
One by one, weary travelers poured out of the Mega-bus, exhausted from their extensive travel across the mid-western United States. Tired parents, energetic children, and anxious tourists alike shuffled their way to the front of the vehicle, each and all handing off their boarding ticket to the driver before exiting. Making his way at the end of the line was Eli Thomas, soon to be residential Californian and former Kentuckian hillbilly. His duffel bag slipped slowly from his shoulder, but a tight shrug lifted it back into place as he sleepily trudged across the lane. Total trip time: 40 hours, including stops for additional passengers to board. Sleep was only a small fraction of the journey; the majority of Eli's exodus was spent contemplating the challenges and changes he was to encounter in this strange and unfamiliar land. Eli had hoped to keep the ticket he was grasping so tightly as a souvenir, but when his time came he reluctantly released it. Wiping away the rheum from his tired face, he approached the threshold of the doorway to his new home with hope in his eyes and a healthy amount of fear in his heart.
"Egh... so bright..." His hand instinctively reached up to shield the light from hitting his face as his eyes adjusted to the sun's glare. Moments passed as his vision recovered and the bus trailed off to find new fares. Slowly but surely, Eli's eyesight was restored, finally able to take in the sights set before him.
The first thing that populated Eli's mind was the amount of people that were flooding the streets. All ages, sizes, demographics were represented here, dressed in all sorts of colors and designs. The contrast to rural Kentucky was stammering; Eli had never seen such a tapestry of humanity before! There were shops, restaurants, and vendors cornering every street and space of sidewalk, peddling their wares and wafting smells of every sort into his nostrils. His eyes darted about, finding a new thing to admire with every frame of view. Pigeons of grey fearlessly strutted about the crowds, caring not that they might get trampled underfoot of the masses. As Eli watched the birds congregate and fly about, his sight turned upward. Monstrous buildings towered overhead, standing so tall it would seem the sun would be blotted out by the giants. Contrarily, each window reflected the rays, creating a cascade of shimmering spotlights.
"You wanted somethin' diff'rent..." Eli murmured to himself, recalling the conversation he had with his father and mother prior to departure. "Sure ain't Kentucky, for sure..." Before Eli had a chance to really catch wind of his surroundings, the crowd enveloped him, swarming and circling Eli and distorting his sense of direction. He made a meek attempt at moving past the horde, but found himself being tossed about in the direction of travel. "It's like a salmon upstream," He growled, swallowing his polite sensitivities to force his way to an empty parking lot. "Talk about not havin' manners. Now, where exactly am I?"
Eli fished into his pockets, searching for a map he printed off at a public library. Digging into his back pocket, he smirked and produced the folded handful of papers with anxious excitement. The pit of his stomach began to ache with glee as he searched and scanned the sheets for direction and clarification. As minutes passed, Eli grew frustrated staring at the same street names and his inability to divine his own locations. "Confound it! This place is just so big!" The papers crumpled in his fist in anger, but realizing this was likely his only key to the city, Eli flattened them back out into a neat stack for storage. "Maybe I should see if someone can help me...?" Once again hunting for information, Eli peered into the empty lot he was occupying to notice a group of four kids playing with a makeshift hoop and basketball. "Surely the locals will be kind enough to help."
Eli approached the children with enthusiasm. They appeared to be around ten to twelve years of age by the looks of it, but Eli figured they surely would know where he needed to be and how to get there. "Hey y'all! Sorry to bother your game, but I was hopin' y'all could give me some direction?" A short wave and a smile was all Eli figured he would need to convey his friendly intentions.
The children stopped in their tracks, letting the basketball fall mid-dribble onto the blacktop. One of them, probably the oldest of the group, drew a menacing stare at Eli. "What's up hick? You try'na act up on our territory?" The little gang leader puffed his chest out, his buddies mimicking his actions and backing him up with chants of 'yeah!' and 'you tell him!'
"Huh? No, I'm just a little out'a place an-" was all Eli could get out. The local gang of ruffians had been riled.
"This is our turf you redneck! Get lost before we make you regret it!" The rowdy children began to hurl things at Eli in a vicious attack! Basketballs came out nowhere- wasn't there only one earlier?- pelting Eli like the victim of a bad team of dodge ball. "H-hey! I just wanted some- Okay, okay, I'm leaving!" Eli yelled, throwing his arms up to block the onslaught of orange rubber flying at his face. Fighting wasn't an option, these hooligans had the high ground, or at least a numbers advantage; what kind of hero to be beats up children anyway? Mid flight, Eli noticed one of the kids was using a Quirk to duplicate the basketballs and another was using their arms as a large slingshot. He couldn't help but smile; seeing Quirks being used so openly and creatively got him excited for his own future. Running off into the back-streets of Los Angeles, he could only hope his future wasn't one filled with assault from minors.
Word Count: 1,160
Objective: N/A
Riding in a bus for a long duration is, was, and always will be an unpleasant experience. The seats are designed for maximum discomfort, the air conditioning unit rarely functions, and noise pollution rivals the roar of the crowd in a southern collegiate football game at end of season. However, it was certainly inexpensive. Eli Thomas had always been frugal with his allowances and pay while tilling the fields at Thomas farm, and not by choice. The Kentucky farm was all he knew, and if pennies weren't pinched supper would not be delivered. Eli rather enjoyed supper, so he learned at an early age to suffer through what most would never even consider in order to save a dollar. This particular punishment was far from the worst he had endured, and as such Eli found himself able to ignore most distractions for a bit of shut eye. Just as he would fall asleep, the fourth time, the bus intercom announced that they had reached their destination: Los Angeles.
One by one, weary travelers poured out of the Mega-bus, exhausted from their extensive travel across the mid-western United States. Tired parents, energetic children, and anxious tourists alike shuffled their way to the front of the vehicle, each and all handing off their boarding ticket to the driver before exiting. Making his way at the end of the line was Eli Thomas, soon to be residential Californian and former Kentuckian hillbilly. His duffel bag slipped slowly from his shoulder, but a tight shrug lifted it back into place as he sleepily trudged across the lane. Total trip time: 40 hours, including stops for additional passengers to board. Sleep was only a small fraction of the journey; the majority of Eli's exodus was spent contemplating the challenges and changes he was to encounter in this strange and unfamiliar land. Eli had hoped to keep the ticket he was grasping so tightly as a souvenir, but when his time came he reluctantly released it. Wiping away the rheum from his tired face, he approached the threshold of the doorway to his new home with hope in his eyes and a healthy amount of fear in his heart.
"Egh... so bright..." His hand instinctively reached up to shield the light from hitting his face as his eyes adjusted to the sun's glare. Moments passed as his vision recovered and the bus trailed off to find new fares. Slowly but surely, Eli's eyesight was restored, finally able to take in the sights set before him.
The first thing that populated Eli's mind was the amount of people that were flooding the streets. All ages, sizes, demographics were represented here, dressed in all sorts of colors and designs. The contrast to rural Kentucky was stammering; Eli had never seen such a tapestry of humanity before! There were shops, restaurants, and vendors cornering every street and space of sidewalk, peddling their wares and wafting smells of every sort into his nostrils. His eyes darted about, finding a new thing to admire with every frame of view. Pigeons of grey fearlessly strutted about the crowds, caring not that they might get trampled underfoot of the masses. As Eli watched the birds congregate and fly about, his sight turned upward. Monstrous buildings towered overhead, standing so tall it would seem the sun would be blotted out by the giants. Contrarily, each window reflected the rays, creating a cascade of shimmering spotlights.
"You wanted somethin' diff'rent..." Eli murmured to himself, recalling the conversation he had with his father and mother prior to departure. "Sure ain't Kentucky, for sure..." Before Eli had a chance to really catch wind of his surroundings, the crowd enveloped him, swarming and circling Eli and distorting his sense of direction. He made a meek attempt at moving past the horde, but found himself being tossed about in the direction of travel. "It's like a salmon upstream," He growled, swallowing his polite sensitivities to force his way to an empty parking lot. "Talk about not havin' manners. Now, where exactly am I?"
Eli fished into his pockets, searching for a map he printed off at a public library. Digging into his back pocket, he smirked and produced the folded handful of papers with anxious excitement. The pit of his stomach began to ache with glee as he searched and scanned the sheets for direction and clarification. As minutes passed, Eli grew frustrated staring at the same street names and his inability to divine his own locations. "Confound it! This place is just so big!" The papers crumpled in his fist in anger, but realizing this was likely his only key to the city, Eli flattened them back out into a neat stack for storage. "Maybe I should see if someone can help me...?" Once again hunting for information, Eli peered into the empty lot he was occupying to notice a group of four kids playing with a makeshift hoop and basketball. "Surely the locals will be kind enough to help."
Eli approached the children with enthusiasm. They appeared to be around ten to twelve years of age by the looks of it, but Eli figured they surely would know where he needed to be and how to get there. "Hey y'all! Sorry to bother your game, but I was hopin' y'all could give me some direction?" A short wave and a smile was all Eli figured he would need to convey his friendly intentions.
The children stopped in their tracks, letting the basketball fall mid-dribble onto the blacktop. One of them, probably the oldest of the group, drew a menacing stare at Eli. "What's up hick? You try'na act up on our territory?" The little gang leader puffed his chest out, his buddies mimicking his actions and backing him up with chants of 'yeah!' and 'you tell him!'
"Huh? No, I'm just a little out'a place an-" was all Eli could get out. The local gang of ruffians had been riled.
"This is our turf you redneck! Get lost before we make you regret it!" The rowdy children began to hurl things at Eli in a vicious attack! Basketballs came out nowhere- wasn't there only one earlier?- pelting Eli like the victim of a bad team of dodge ball. "H-hey! I just wanted some- Okay, okay, I'm leaving!" Eli yelled, throwing his arms up to block the onslaught of orange rubber flying at his face. Fighting wasn't an option, these hooligans had the high ground, or at least a numbers advantage; what kind of hero to be beats up children anyway? Mid flight, Eli noticed one of the kids was using a Quirk to duplicate the basketballs and another was using their arms as a large slingshot. He couldn't help but smile; seeing Quirks being used so openly and creatively got him excited for his own future. Running off into the back-streets of Los Angeles, he could only hope his future wasn't one filled with assault from minors.
Word Count: 1,160
Objective: N/A
