Todd Mortenson is quite possibly, currently, the luckiest guy in the world.
He's been to Chicago to see the very tippy top of the tallest building in the whole city.
He's been to Tokyo to see the magnificent Mount. Fuji.
He's been to New Zealand to hike by volcanos and waterfalls! And he did it all in the span of a few months!
And best of all, he's got his best friend, Adia, by his side; traveling the world with him, one great city at a time.Where are the two traveling companions now?
Paris, of course!The two just flew into Paris a couple of hours ago. (Airline food is just as trashy as they say! So, of course, the guy was practically on the verge of starving by the time they landed.) So the first thing Todd wanted to do, of course, was get a croissant (accompanied by the proper accent) and a good, warm coffee.
Adia agreed to it wholeheartedly, having not eaten much on the flight herself. She's been on enough flights in her life to know who had decent snacks and who didn't.
The next thing you know, the two best friends were sitting together at the nearest cafe and enjoying their small meal, taking in the sights of Paris as they ate. Todd, of course, was slightly more absorbed in his third, buttery, flaky croissant than the streets of Paris.
Adia wasn't surprised by this, however; Todd has always been a foodie down to his very core. Todd prefers to use the term 'amateur connoisseur'.Well, after some frankly delicious treats, Adia and Todd decided it was time that they make their way towards the one place in Paris they wanted to see the most: the Eiffel Tower.
Todd was grateful that the place had an elevator. It would have been pure, unbearable agony if he had to walk all the way up!
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Adia and Todd made it to the Eiffel Tower just after dark. The two sashayed into the box contraption, and Adia spun around, pressing the button that would take them up, up and up. As the elevator jolted, springing to life, Todd felt his blood run cold. Darn it! Why did he get on the elevator?
One of his hundreds of fears that held him back from traveling the world for a very long time were tower elevators. Specifically, elevators that went higher than three floors. He would always wonder, "What if the elevator brakes brake and we fall the entire way down?" Or... "What if I get stuck between the elevator doors and my head or body get sliced in two by the elevator doors closed crushing through my saggy flesh!" Todd liked to blame all those horror movies that he watched as a teen for all of these irrational "what if"s. But really, Todd just used them as excuses, cause he was scared of actually dying.
He had no idea what was on the other side of life, he was always scared to even question if there was an afterlife after this one. Although...it would be nice if he knew whether or not his soul would continue on after death, instead of him ceasing to exsist altogether.
Todd forced himself to stop thinking about mortality, he'd send himself into a panic attack if he kept it up. With one hand, he gripped the handlebars attached to the sides of the elevator. The metal box rose higher and higher, oh how Todd wished they could just be at the top already.
He vigorously started scratching this arm with his other hand. If he could just focus on something else - anything else - he could forget about this whole death-thing.
He looked towards Adia, whose gaze was fixated on the elevator buttons, impatiently tapping her feet as they slowly ascended the tower.
Adia didn't notice Todd's nervous scratching - an old, childhood habit of his that never died. And Todd was grateful that she hadn't. He was grateful that she was here with him, traveling was a thrilling experience in itself; but having a friend to travel with makes his fears - both rational and irrational - seem dim and significantly distant.
Getting over his fears wasn't a task accomplished overnight. Heck, he still had certain fears to overcome, like high-rising elevators! It wasn't easy going out to see the world all by himself, but he did it! It was a struggle, and he wouldn't get into too many details if you asked, cause he wouldn't wanna think too much about it, but he did it!
But Adia, who sympathized with him on the topic of fear, helped him get through a lot of that.
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The Ghost and Molly Mcgee: The Ghost Within Me
FanfictionTodd 'Scratch' Mortenson has been living more recently than he has the entire last decade of his life! He's been to Chicago, Tokyo, New Zealand -sure, he hasn't gone everywhere yet, but give the guy time! He'll get there- and the best part is, he's...