Write The Story

A Hermit Is Forced to Go to a Crowded Place

A Hermit Is Forced to Go to a Crowded Place

Include the following in your story:

~Typewriter~Water-Bottle~Lenient~Clerk~Render~Runner~Soil~Sewn~Chauffeur~Waterway~

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Mark curled into a ball. He was freezing. This was one of the problems with living alone and off the grid. He loved not being around other people, but he also depended upon himself to be warmed. And it was very cold outside right now, meaning that his house was just as cold. And he knew that, unless he was able to get warmer, the cold would, in the end, render him unable to do anything but shiver under the blankets.

He sighed. Where's my runner? His friend, Mason, usually ran things to him, so he didn't have to go to the store. Mason was the only friend he had, and the only friend he needed. He didn't need to be with other people.

Mark finally groaned and got up, wrapping his blankets around himself. California didn't generally get this cold. He didn't have the things he needed, but the blankets helped a bit.

Mark put his jacket on, and walked toward the city. L.A. was beautiful, and he would love to live there, but people were annoying. He was fine living where he did, just a little ways from the city, far enough that he wasn't bothered, and close enough that he could go there for things occasionally.

Mark walked into the city from the area of woodland where he lived. He headed to downtown, and found a store that he decided would have some good and thick blankets. He opened the door, and froze.

The store was full. He took a step back, and looked at the store windows. "Oh," he whispered. "A sale."

Well, he could see the blankets at the back of the store, and they looked amazingly soft and warm. Despite that, though, he was about to go away and find somewhere else. But then, a cold wind ruffled his hair and clothes, and sent some soil on the ground moving across the sidewalk like leaves in the small waterway near his house.

Mark sighed, shivering, and went into the store. He moved uncomfortably through the crowd, to the back of the store. He had never been good with crowds, and that had only been worsened by all the years of living outside of civilization. 

He finally reached the back of the store, and he sighed. There was a thicker crowd of people blocking his way. Mark stared at the crowd, then whimpered a bit.

He looked for a way around, and saw it. He could get around them, by going through a different aisle. He headed that way, and smiled at himself. He was glad to have found a way to avoid the crowd. He hated nothing more than having to be in crowds.

He paused, looking at a sign over a display. He tilted his head, amused at a typewriter in the background of the picture on the sign. He hadn't seen one of those in a few years. Clearly this hadn't been updated in a while.

"Are you looking at the typewriter in the background?" a voice asked from nearby.

Mark spun around, and saw a blond man standing a few feet away.

The man chuckled. "I'm talking to you," he said, moving a bit closer.

"T-that is what I-I'm looking at," Mark stammered out nervously.

The man nodded. "You okay?" his expression was serious and concerned.

"Y-yeah," Mark said. He raised his eyes, trying to look the man in the eyes. "I'm fine," he said. "But, um, well, I don't normally, uh, end up in crowds...or really anywhere where there are other people."