Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:40:00 -0500 (EST) From: Karla Schulz Subject: New Carrots and Celery story - Damage Deposit (prologue) If you are familiar with me and my writing - welcome back! If you are new - Welcome to the madness! Damage Deposit is the third story in a series that began with the mini-epic Carrots and Celery. There is also a spinoff of sorts which covers roughly the same time period as the final installments of Carrots and Celery but features the perspective of a different character. Damage Deposit picks up right where quasi-gay and Carrots and Celery part three left off. You can find Carrots and Celery at: /nifty/gay/highschool/carrots-and-celery/ And quasi-gay at: http://www.voy.com/194029/ You can also read the "pretty" version of this story (content is exactly the same) at: http://karlaschulz.livejournal.com/ These stories have evolved over time as I have. I began the first installment of Carrots and Celery when I was 16, and I am now 22. Thus, much of the quality and themes of the stories have shifted, but at core, they are all still an integral part of this universe I have created, and the characters' love and dedication to each other remains the essential force driving the plot. Nothing may make sense anyway, but it certainly won't without starting from the beginning, so if you're interested in the story (and I hope you are!) but haven't read the other pieces, I strongly urge you start there. The greatest differences between this story and the ones that came before it are that it features a variety of revolving perspectives and has chapter titles. These are all carefully and obsessively selected song lyrics, and basically make up the soundtrack for the story. They reflect not only the mood of the story but also the time period it was written in. A majority of the lyrics are from a few core albums I was obsessed with this summer while writing, while others are just old favourites so ingrained they're in my blood, and the story's too. Others still, although this is quite rare, are somewhat random, selected because of the meaning of the lyric alone. One is from the Sound of Music! So if indie music and intense family bonds and big gay love stories are you're thing - this may very well be the place for you! If not, maybe give it a try anyway. I welcome all comments with baited breath, and hope you feel like sticking around and enjoying the show. Karla (e-mail me at: lanky_lanka@lycos.com) --- Prologue; the lifeline we've refined for years and years dismantled to component gears (all) Kyle walked into the room shakily, and stayed standing in front of them for a moment, his hand extended in the air, a look of utter confusion on his face. Carrots and Celery looked up from the screen they were pretending to watch while they really watched each other to stare at him expectantly. Kara was under the dinning room table, living room and dinning room connected by open sliding oak doors, and she looked up from her drawing to watch. Silence answered their quizzical looks. They waited. Blinked. And waited. "The hell, man?" At the sound of his brothers' voice, Kyle snapped back into focus. He looked at one of them, and then the other. He swallowed and inhaled, as if to steady himself. He exhaled the same way. He raised his other hand, held up now with the other, and said, "It's gonna be okay." He dragged the `oh' in okay and straightened his fingers out reassuringly while he did so. Carrots and Celery raised their eyebrows, first to each other, and then at Kyle. Kara chewed on the end of her pencil. "Good to hear. Whatcha talking about?" Carrots prodded bemusedly, scratching his throat. Kyle flicked his eyes across the room and settled somewhere a quarter inch or two to the side of Carrots' head, "Uh," and again he dragged the `h', "everything. Everything IS going to be okay." He seemed to be trying to infuse some more sincerity and confidence to it, and this was when Carrots and Celery started to get worried. Kara got up off her stomach and tucked up into herself, knees drawn to chest. Carrots and Celery exchanged looks again. They paused until they had decided who would speak. "Kyle," Celery began eventually, breaking the silence. "Why don't you sit down, man?" Kyle stared at him for a minute, and again visibly jerking himself back from someplace else, nodded and sat down on the air chair beside them. He made one last vacant glance around the room, flinched when he finally spied Kara under the table, and finally settled his eyes on them. "Mom and," he stopped and smiled in a stopped short way. "Dad and mom were ^Ö they were driving," he stopped again. He ran a hand quickly across his head. He closed his eyes, shook his head a little, and opened them. "Guys, something happened," before he could continue, he was stopped by the sound of someone coming into the house. They all waited as the twins dropped their bags in the hall and walked into the room. All four Vasskez children looked at them expectantly. They looked at each other and then back at their siblings. They spoke bluntly. "Mom and dad are dead."