• Hello, dearest friends. If you are reading this, it must certainly be a terrible day for you.
    Why is it a terrible day, you might ask? Well, I think I shall tell you.

    I am Dead.


    Death in a Nutshell

    The story of a Boy and His Death, by Chimney Chimera


    "Ahhh... Turn down the light, I'm trying to SLEEP!"
    "Oh, calm down, Croath. It's 8'o clock in the morning, and you have to get to school."
    "Sleep time! NOW!"
    "CROATH! YOU WILL GET UP AND GO TO SCHOOL!"
    "Gah..... Just let me sleeeepppp..... Can't I just skip school today?"
    "Absolutely not! Get yourself out of bed THIS INSTANT!"
    "Whhyyyyyy....."
    "GET OUT OF BED!!"
    "Fine, maybe I will!!"
    "You most certainly will!"
    "FINE!"
    "FINE!!"
    Chapter 1.
    Two Sentences


    “GET OUT OF THE HOUSE, YOU MISERABLE WRETCH! ALSO, WHAT KIND OF NAME IS CHROATH? IT SOUNDS LIKE A TYPE OF TOAD SPECIES!”
    “HOW WOULD I KNOW? YOU’RE THE ONE WHO NAMED ME!”
    At this point, I slammed the door and dashed out of my house.
    My name is Chroath Abysmal, and I live in “scenic” South Temple. South Temple is part of the nation of Attero. Attero is, in my opinion, not the best place to live. Everything in sight is made of “Gem”. Gem is a resource discovered in 2040, hidden from the main populace of Attero for many, many years. Apparently, the Earth’s Core is not made of what we thought it was. Gem has the innate ability to change into any shape known to the person who is using it, no matter how much Gem you possess. It can even turn into edible food. When it was released to the public, it solved all of the world’s problems. Hunger disappeared, wars were resolved, and poverty faded away. I make a point never to use Gem; It doesn’t go well with me. Since it has to link to your mind to become something you know, (A process dubbed “Psyche-Sharing” by Attero’s scientists) I don’t use it. For some reason, every time something tries to Psyche-Share with me, it cannot form a proper link. Most things in our world operate by this process now. Banks, games, even schools are completely operated by Psyche-Sharing. I hate it all.

    South Temple is, as its name suggests, in the Southern part of Attero. Attero is divided into four main divisions: South, North, West, and East. Each has a level of importance to the country. North is the most important, and South is the least important. East and West are of midlevel importance. North is where our President lives, and, as such, is heavily fortified against any and all attacks, and has anything you could possibly want. They have the most money, unlike the South. Our borders are next to a massive ocean, formed in the “Rush War” of 2030. No life exists there (anymore), so we are the least important. Children of the South must attend school every day, all year, except for Saturday and Sunday. We go to school until we are 15. The, we venture out into the world on our own. College is non-existent now. Since a Gem can manifest itself as anything the user knows about, professionals aren’t needed any more. Gem-created doctors work tirelessly at Gem-created hospitals, using Gem-created tools.

    “CHROATH! GET YOUR SORRY, USELESS SELF TO SCHOOL!”
    “OKAY, FINE!!! WOULD I EVEN BE WALKING AWAY FROM THE HOUSE IF I WASN’T ON MY WAY?”

    Darn. It was already 10:30, and I had to be at school by 10:40. If I ran, with luck, I could make it.
    I scurried past silver towers, gem-created grass, and a few other kids who were late.

    Adults heckled me as I ran past them. Psyche-Less, No Thought, and Gemless were just a few of the names I was called. They tripped me, hit me, and just generally offended me. I was lucky I made it to school without any damage.

    Finally, I was almost there! I just had to cross this street, and I would arrive on time. I learned to be extremely careful when crossing these streets, from years of being pummeled by drivers who weren’t paying attention to the road. I don’t blame them; It isn’t like they could control where they were going when they were driving. Gem did all that for them.

    Today, however, I threw caution to the wind. I had 5 minutes to get to my class, which was 10 minutes away from my location. Here I go!

    I hurried across the busy street, weaving between furiously speeding cars. Almost there! Several trucks near took my head off. Almost!! An anger driver screamed at me from his window. One step to the sidewalk!! Yes! I’m safe, not a scratch on me. My only friends, Rin and Mentis, were yelling at me from the school, a worried look painted on their faces. “Hi, Rin! Hi, Mentis!”
    Rin screeched a desperate phrase into the air.
    “Chroath, no! Get out of the street, quickly!”
    Those two sentences were the last things I, physically, heard for an extensive period of time.