Creative Writing (epic fail)

This piece of creative writing is epic fail and is what I wrote for one of my projects. There were originally some footnotes for the noob teachers to tell them what stuff like otaku, cosplay and other terms meant.

Not a single wall in the heritage-listed house I rent for triple the price in Footscray exhibits a single letter, word or sentence. There is nothing to read at my place. NO ‘welcome’ mat, ‘bless this house’ atrocity, or environmental poster blu-tacked on the back of the toilet door.

Setting her luggage bags down, Erika sat herself on the damp concrete floor in front of what would be her apartment. Why on earth was I to come to such a horrible place?! Erika thought to herself. Being an exchange student and having to rent an apartment at such an unaffordable price, life was hard for Erika. Very hard in fact. Erika Hayakawa, aged 17 and a half, who was just your typical high school girl living a once spoilt life in the bustling city of Tokyo was sent on what was supposed to be an ultimate experience of being an exchange student in Melbourne. That meant no more endless hours of Japanese study, other school work and being almost antisocial. But expect the unexpected. As the plane touched down on Australian soil, things changed. Erika was ushered onboard a stuffy bus in which she figured would take her to her destiny – a lovely, old fashioned apartment in the inner suburban areas of Melbourne, perhaps around the CBD. But no. She was transported to the so called City of Maribyrnong which was established on the 15th of December 1994 when the City of Footscray merged with a part of the City of Sunshine. This city, which could definitely not be compared with the über modernized capital of Japan, has an area of 31.2km² and a population of over 69,825 (of June 30th, 2008). Footscray was the smallest and most densely populated municipality in the metropolitan area. The City of Maribyrnong borders Melbourne, which is Australia’s second largest city and the capital of Victoria. For some positive information about the place is that this central location provides easy access to all the benefits of Melbourne such as the best road network in Australia and an extensive public transport system. To her surprise, what stood in front of her, instead of what her dream Australian apartment would be, was an eerie, old apartment building with what seemed to be some drug-dealers lurking in the dark alleys nearby. The apartment had a somewhat unearthly scent. Sighing in despair, Erika dragged her fatigued feet and her luggage up the creaking staircase of the building. As she was inserting her key into the keyhole on the apartment door, a shocking image confronted her. Thinking quickly, Erika ducked down as a cat was thrown past her eyes, a sound of an army of cockroaches shuffling along the ground and an angry woman’s indecent language echoed though the building. Erika’s hair stood on end as she shakily turned the key and opened the door, fearing of what might be in front of her as she opened the door. With a loud creak, the door opened. The image before Erika’s eyes was an empty apartment with a cracked light bulb sagging by a piece of wire from the roof. Reluctantly, Erika opened her suitcase and unpacked all her things from her English books to her Otaku goods and family photos. Erika looked around for a bed; perhaps a foldable one that could be kept in a cupboard. Nothing. Lucky she’d brought one with her. Pulling out the foldable bed, Erika opened it and threw a mattress, blanket and pillow on top of it in a messy stack. Re-arranging all her items in the apartment, Erika flopped onto her bed and fell asleep immediately.

***

Knock. Knock. Knock.
No answer.
“Hello? Anyone there? You alive? I know a lot of people commit suicide around here but I don’t think a newbie would do that sorta thing.”
Still no answer.
“HELLO?! CAN’T YOU HEAR ME? OR ARE YOU REALLY DEAD?!” a high-pitched, feminine voice piped up.
Erika awoke with a start and rushed to the door. Ugh. It’s only seven in the morning dammit. Pulling the door open, Erika looked around at the places around her height of vision. Seeing nothing, she closed the door.
“Hey! Why did you just ignore me like that?!” the voice shouted.
Erika pushed the door open, causing it to smash into the wall behind. Looking down, staring at Erika was a petite young girl with a rather anime-ish appearance. Scratching her forehead, Erika knelt down to face the girl.
“Were you the one shouting out there like a psychotic maniac about some suicide thing and knocking on my door?” Erika whispered to the girl with a deadly voice.
Backing away, the girl looked away from Erika and remarked, “Yes, that was me. You’re new here aren’t you? What’s your name and how old are you?”
Erika sighed and smiled. “Well, I’m a Japanese exchange student and I’m called Hayakawa Erika (Note: in the Japanese language, last name is said first) and I’m 17 going on 18. You?”
“Ah…Hayakawa? I’m sure I’ve heard of that name somewhere before. My name is Ichinose Yukari and I’m 12 at the moment.” Replied Yukari, happily.
So some Japanese kid comes and wakes me in the morning with some crap about suicide. Now that’s just weird…talk about people; actually children these days…perhaps she’s on happy pills or something? Not that kids would turn for drugs though. Crazy thoughts shuffled around in Erika’s head.
"Well, I’m going back in now, Yuu-chan. Oh, and don’t come barging in here whenever you want, thanks.” Erika said happily and shut the door.
Yukari stared down at the ground. Yuu-chan? Whaaaaat? Why the heck is she calling me that? Fuming, Yukari shouted back at Erika through closed doors, “Don’t call me what my mum and dad call me! Understand?”
Leaning on the door (with a bad case of bed-hair) Erika slid down onto the floor and mumbled sarcastically, “What a wonderful welcome.”
Turning to a clock on the wall, Erika stood up with a start.
“Argh, dammit! I’m gonna be late for my first day of school!”

***

Phew! I survived my first school day in Melbourne! School here is so different from Tokyo Academy where I attended for the last few years of my high school life.
Approaching her apartment door, an odd melody seemed to be drifting out of the room into the ambiance. Suspiciously, Erika opened the door and gasped in shock. In the middle of her apartment were a group of young men and women, specifically otakus in their cosplay costumes, seemed to be having some sort of meeting there. Surpassed with shock and anger, Erika pointed a furious finger at the group of adolescents and shouted, “If you don’t get out of here at once, I’m gonna call the cops and tell them some crazy otakus have broken into my house and have decided to have some stupid cosplay party here! If you’re looking for some where to express your otaku-ism, go to Akihabara! Sheesh!”
Shocked, the otakus fled from Erika’s apartment. First some little Japanese girl. Now an otaku gang. What’s next? A video game obsessed cosplayer comes and abducts me to some fantasy land? Erika wheeled around and to her absolute horror, was exactly what she thought – a video game cosplayer standing in front of her. The figure in front of Erika had knee-length dark blue hair and was wearing a cloak of metallic white. Turning around, the woman eyed Erika carefully from head to toe. She was dressed in a tight, black shirt and a short black skirt with black and white striped stockings. In her left hand was a long metal staff and in her right was a battered, old book. Erika tried to look away from the figure, but somehow, a strong force was keeping her gaze focused to the woman’s eyes.
“Erika Hayakawa. I have found you at last.” The figure said with a rather warm voice.
“Um…not to be rude or anything but what are you doing in my house? More importantly, who are you?” Erika questioned.
“I am here to tell you some news and I’m called Melody. The news is that the fact that you have been sent here is not for the sake of having an exchange student experience. It is in fact that you are to behold a magical power otherwise known as –”
“Hey I’m not interested in any of this ‘you are to behold a whatchamacallit’ nonsense. If that’s what you want to tell me then you might as well leave.” Erika replied, frustrated.
Glaring at Erika, Melody muttered something (which sounded like gibberish to Erika) and disappeared. Erika gazed blankly at the window before her without realizing it. Feeling rather sad and abandoned after being parted from her family in Japan, Erika told herself optimistically, I’ll just go and get a good rest. When I wake up next morning, the world will be sure to be brighter that how it was today. Following her thoughts, Erika slumped on her bed and stared at the mark in the ceiling that seemed like a distorted dragonfly.

* * *

Fifteen months on and Erika’s life began to go downhill even more. Her grades had dropped and the amount of pressure put on her by her surroundings and other incidents were astounding. She no longer had contact with her family in Japan. Falling into a melancholic state, the once optimistic and lively 17 year old girl became a disappointment to her family on both her mother and father’s side. Failing to pass her VCE exams, mentioning her in the prestigious Hayakawa family was an utter shame. She would not go to school and spend almost the whole day cooped up in her apartment, hardly leaving the house at all. Erika had become literally antisocial and having no contact with and hating people around her. Returning to Japan after all that time was a shock to her family. After her parents received a phone call from the hospital stating that they found a girl who had become unconscious from a drug overdose, possibly a suicide attempt, Erika’s parents made their final decision to take her into their care back in Tokyo. As Erika returned to Japan, the faces that welcomed her at the airport weren’t the same as the ones that sent her off on the exchange student trip. Scolded seriously by her parents back at their house, Erika couldn’t take it anymore. Descending into an antisocial state once more, she finally had enough. Telling the biggest lie ever that she was going on a vacation with her high school friends to her parents, they had no idea that the vacation which was meant to conclude with a content state ended in the worst fear of their life. That so called vacation was a suicide meeting in which the people who attended would take their life. Not regretting a thing, Erika made her decision to end her life at a mere 18 years of age. Unable to turn back and face her family once more, the battle within her raged on. At precisely 12:00 AM, Erika smiled to herself and peered down from the cliff. Ah, what’s that? There’s something on the water’s surface. Oh, now I see…It’s just me. But I’m a small reflection upon the ripples. Clutching a family photo, Erika plunged into the darkness with the simple but moving quote etched in her head.

"Time is like a river. You cannot touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again. Enjoy every moment of life…"

Note: Some places that appear in the text either in Australia or elsewhere are fictional and any case of a similarity is entirely coincidental.