Something Extraordinay (test)

I was planning to be normal. I was a very, painfully, ridiculously, normal guy who was not explicitly looking to romance somebody. My life was normal, I was normal, and I was content with that. I grew up in a small Traditional town, located in East Russia. My mother and father weren’t very poor or very rich, our house was humble and our meals just as normal as me. I think the best way to live life is to be content with what you have. It may not be extraordinary, which is what most people strive to have. Most people want greatness, to be remembered when they’re gone for their world changing achievements. And then there are people like me. Fine being normal. Normal. What a normal word. I grew up with a Traditional education. Occasionally I would wish that I could be raised like a Gambling kid, but moments later I would be content again. Elementary, middle school, highschool, flashed by like seconds and I was in college by age 18. Normal. And then I met someone who made me feel not normal. Their hair was a soft black color, it went all the way down to their back. Their eyes were an icy sort of color and their smile might’ve been considered ordinary by others, but not me. We found each other in a class one day, we’d been assigned group activities and they and I had been paired up. I didn’t know anyone outside of my regular friend group that I’d known since elementary and I didn’t aspire to meet many new people. But when I saw them, something struck my heart like an arrow and I did not feel normal anymore. The mundane feeling of life gets to people of any age. The repeating sessions of school that never change, the routines you have when you get home, the work you have to complete every day. The mundane life like this is boring to most people, which is why some strive for more and even those who were content like me eventually get an empty feeling as they wish to feel a little something more. When you lack a spark, you don’t feel good anymore, so even content people need something eventually. And they were that spark. We introduced ourselves as taught throughout our strict education, they asked where I wanted to work and in the moment I was so caught up in their eyes I mumbled something embarrassing like “What’s work…?” Before snapping out of it, because that was certainly not up to par with how I was taught. We went to my house, I had to buzz around frantically to clean up the slight mess in my room ( Traditional folk are very judgemental of messiness. ) and we started working on the project. By this time I’ve forgotten the subject we had to work on and by then I’m sure I did too since I was so fixated on them. Their hands were very pretty I remember, unlike mine which are rather blocky and large and clumsy.Over the next few weeks we worked together and grew close. My friends would tease me for falling in love with “Stoney Vera” who was apparently known for rejecting people who asked them out, and I would brush them off in playful annoyance. At the time I didn’t know what love felt like, so frankly I didn’t know I was in love. Vera was the kind of person to be considered just as normal as I was. They were asked out a lot by people in our grade, but never accepted so they didn’t have a lot of friends because they were considered “mean but pretty”. Whenever men got rejected by her their previous thoughts of admiration for her would turn venomous, so Vera didn’t have many nice rumors about them within a few months, but they were still normal. Somehow, I did something just a little unordinary, and I grew close to Vera. I don’t know what I did right, but we grew close and every time we spent time together, I felt my heart go a little faster. I think my friends would laugh about my crush behind my back since they thought they knew I would be rejected, and deep down I knew it too so I kept my attitude strictly platonic so I could stay with them, until I didn’t. It was a very snowy day, we were… somewhere in our last year of college, in the winter. We’d known each other for 4 years and at this point my class thought we were dating, but we weren’t. Neither of us were much talkative either and we didn’t mind, so we didn’t say anything and let them assume. Anyways, where was I. It was a snowy day, we were meeting in the park. However unlike our other cold park meetings, I was bringing Vera a gift. It was an ordinary gift, just like us. An ordinary flower, called “Queens Lace”, but it was pretty and it was my favorite of every flower I’d seen, so I could only hope Vera might share my taste. They were standing there, waiting for me in their black coat. I could see their whispy breath in the winter, their expression was gentle despite the harsh cold winter condition. I started towards them again, my black hair blew into my eyes over my glasses. As I got closer they folded their arms promptly and put on a fake angry face. “You kept me waiting for so long Ilya, what for? You best have a good reason.” I nodded, luckily they couldn’t tell I was blushing since my face was already red from the winter. “I do. Vera, I have something to ask you.” They raised an eyebrow at me. “Yes?” I took a deep breath, I could feel the rose underneath my coat where I hid it. “I’ve known you for a very long time, Vera. Since the beginning of college- and we’ve spent a lot of time together.” They looked confused for a second before realization washed over their face, but before they could say something, I hurried on in a flash. “I know you haven't dated anyone in our class and I know I’m not much different than them. I’m just an ordinary man but- I love you Vera. I don’t even care if I’m rejected but I want you to know it.” Vera’s eyes sparkled, though it might’ve been a snowflake. They closed their mouth and looked down at the snow covered sidewalk. Both of our boots had a light coating of snow on them already. “Ilya you are a very good friend of mine and I,” They paused. Their face was red. “It has been a long time since someone has asked me out.” They restarted their sentence. “I did not know the people who asked me out, for they didn’t take the time to know me. But you, Ilya, you’re different.” They looked up at me, their eyebrows were in a frown but their eyes said otherwise. “I’ll go out with you Ilya.” And in that moment I felt a little more extraordinary. We walked in the park, and we were more silent than normal but it wasn’t an awkward silence, but more a happy one. We spent time together as we always had, and while it was always special to me, these moments were more special. At the end we looked at each other for a long time. They were very close to me and without talking we kissed each other. It was our first time kissing, and we didn’t know how to, but we kissed again and it was better this time and I felt like the most amazing man in the world. We said goodbye to each other and then parted, but they were still in my mind even though they weren’t beside me. They were in my mind frequently now, and whenever I saw them now I felt the happiest I have ever felt. Eventually we were out of school, we were happy. I asked them to marry me. Vera said yes. We were now engaged, living together in a small apartment in a small part of a Traditional Town. A normal life and we were both happy. I wish I could kiss them everyday, hug them forever. I couldn’t but I did when I could. I loved them and they loved me and I was ready to live an ordinary life with them. I wanted to spend my life with them and I wanted to lay on my deathbed with them. But I was not destined for a normal life. It was a dark evening, I was walking home. I had a normal office job and so did Vera, but they got home earlier than me, so they were probably making dinner for the two of us. My mouth watered at the thought of Vera’s cooking, there wasn’t a person in the world who might hate it. The night was dark and the air only a bit warm in the spring weather. Most of the street lamps were off now, but one ahead of me flickered dimly. Something rustled behind me. I looked around but didn’t mind much of the noise. Why would I? The city was always talking. My skin began to prickle, from the cold. I reached the light and as I slid into its shadow, something snapped again. Something big. Something artificial. I snapped my head around, adjusting my glasses. I squinted as I failed to see anything in my path, the dark night concealing all its secrets.And that is when I became unnormal. Something huge hit me from the front, something unseen. The air was knocked out of me as I was thrown to the ground. My glasses fell off my face, breaking on the sidewalk. I struggled to breathe before something brutally grabbed me by the throat like I was a ragdoll. My mouth gurgled as I scratched at the massive hands, like a preys feeble attempt to escape death. A breath was breathed onto my face, the smell of rotting flesh was taken in and I felt like throwing up. 4 big eyes Stared at me. This was not a human. It was a human. It was once a human. It was unnaturally large, a hunched over position. 4 eyes stared at me, no emotion and no empathy lay in them anymore, but the faint trace of humanity could be seen deep somewhere in them. The antenne on the monster twitched. Another one appeared behind it, emerging into the light. The voice it murmured in was barely understandable. “Kadi, loosen your grip. He cannot breathe.” The monster holding me loosened its grip. “W-What a-” My voice was cut off. The one that could speak looked at me with 4 eyes. “Ilya Lipovsky. You are a subject of,” The thing twitched its head. “Zutoshi, now. Please do not struggle. It will only hurt you more.” My mind was wild and my thoughts crazy. Zutoshi? I had nothing to do with Zutoshi. I’d never been there, I’d stayed in Russia my entire life. “W..hy… m..e…” I breathed out, the things claws warm on my fragile throat. “Kadi.” was the last thing I heard before something hit me hard on my head, and my eyes turned black.

I don’t know who I am now. I haven't seen Vera for a long time either. I miss them a lot. I wish I could go back.

I am no longer Ilya. I am not normal. I am one of a kind. I am extraordinary.