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06:13, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Closed: Shawn: Middle of the Night, Murmurs in the Office...

Posted by StorytellerFor group 0
Storyteller
GM, 363 posts
Fri 23 Jun 2017
at 02:09
  • msg #1

Shawn: Middle of the Night, Murmurs in the Office...

Shawn woke with a startle. His neck was sweaty, his cheeks flush with heat. He could feel a certain dampness around the waistband of his underwear. At first there was a fear that this might be pee. Did he pee the bed? What would Mom or Ralph think. These thoughts came on like a flood, filling up the cavernous spaces of his mind with anxiety, until he realized that they were just the mere reflection of the dream that he had. Like the ebbing of a tide, the anxiety slowed, diminishing as Shawn gained his bearings, realizing where he was, and that it was the middle of the night.

He hadn't peed the bed, that was for sure. It was just sweat. But something else was happening. A noise. It was coming from downstairs. Coming from the office. Was that what woke him up? There was a murmuring, muffled sound.
Shawn Cramer
player, 772 posts
Fri 23 Jun 2017
at 02:21
  • msg #2

Shawn: Middle of the Night, Murmurs in the Office...

Shawn took deep, quiet breaths until he reached a vague state of calm, leaving his dream behind for the moment. He heard strange noises, and that piqued his curiousity, so he rolled out of bed and padded across the carpet to his bedroom door. Then he slouched over a little and adopted the hunched and bleary-eyed pose of the middle of the night bathroom run. On the way to the toilet, at the top of the stairs, he paused and listened. Hopefully getting a little closer would make the noises a little clearer.
Storyteller
GM, 364 posts
Fri 23 Jun 2017
at 12:48
  • msg #3

Shawn: Middle of the Night, Murmurs in the Office...

A floorboard creaked underfoot. The air conditioner on the upstairs turned on and he could hear air pushing through the vents above.

Should could hear something. It sounded like a muffled voice. A conversation. It was definitely from the office.

"...who art.....come......on....as....those...."


He could only make out several words. To hear more, he'd have to get closer. Then again, he could always just go back to bed.
Shawn Cramer
player, 775 posts
Fri 23 Jun 2017
at 13:13
  • msg #4

Shawn: Middle of the Night, Murmurs in the Office...

Shawn's curiousity was piqued by the sound, though it'd be weird if he got caught him eavesdropping. He started to creep down the stairs, listening carefully. If someone saw him, he was just going to get a glass of water. Nothing suspicious about that...
Shawn's Dad - Robert Cramer
NPC, 33 posts
Fri 23 Jun 2017
at 23:01
  • msg #5

Shawn: Middle of the Night, Murmurs in the Office...

There was a figure in the office, all hunched over and rocking back and forth while sitting on the ground. It took a few seconds for Shawn to realize that it was his Dad. His face was covered with a three or four day five-o'clock shadow, gray bits of hair peppering and otherwise black beard that was growing. He was wearing a suit. The same suit that he had worn for the last two days. It was dirty at the the edges of the sleeves were frayed.

His eyes were closed as he rocked back and forth with his knees against his chest, murmuring.

"Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth,
As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever.
Amen."

Shawn Cramer
player, 776 posts
Fri 23 Jun 2017
at 23:09
  • msg #6

Shawn: Middle of the Night, Murmurs in the Office...

Shawn was shocked and confused at what Dad was doing, and he just watched for a moment as his father wound through his prayer. Then he shook it off and walked to the kitchen. He needed a moment to think, and to maintain his cover story. He grabbed a glass from the kitchen, filled it with water from the sink, and trudged back towards the stairs. He paused in front of the office door as if seeing him for the first time. "Dad, are you okay?" Shawn kept his voice heavy with sleep, and his eye squinty, putting forth a slightly exaggerated appearance of tiredness.
Storyteller
GM, 365 posts
Sat 24 Jun 2017
at 02:20
  • msg #7

Shawn: Middle of the Night, Murmurs in the Office...

Silence.

There was no answer to Shawn's question. Peering inside from his vantage point, Shawn could see that Dad had stopped praying. His knees were drawn up to his chest and his head was back against the side of the desk. His eyelids appeared to be fluttering, the whites of his eyes showing, rolled back into his head. His chest rose and fell in soft breaths.

Whatever was going on, it didn't seem like Dad was dead. Then again, he wasn't answering either. It was like he was frozen in some kind of strange, catatonic state.
Shawn Cramer
player, 779 posts
Sat 24 Jun 2017
at 02:30
  • msg #8

Shawn: Middle of the Night, Murmurs in the Office...

Shawn stood there for a minute or two, waiting for Dad to snap out of it or say anything. When he didn't respond, he slowly, deliberately crossed the room, watching carefully for any reaction from his Dad. When he stood in front of him, he gingerly reached out to touch his Dad on the shoulder. "Dad?"
Storyteller
GM, 369 posts
Sun 25 Jun 2017
at 10:35
  • msg #9

Shawn: Middle of the Night, Murmurs in the Office...

Dad sort of fell over when Shawn touched in him, in a slow, rolling-over collapse. He fell to one side, grabbed for a blanket that wasn't there, and huddled his head against the side of the desk, making it creak slightly.

Then he snorted and began to snore.
Shawn Cramer
player, 780 posts
Sun 25 Jun 2017
at 12:12
  • msg #10

Shawn: Middle of the Night, Murmurs in the Office...

Shawn let out a breath he hadn't even been aware he was holding. He looked at his Dad, unsure and afraid of what was happening to him. But at least he was asleep now. Shawn left the office and went into the living room, where there was a blanket folded up on the couch. He grabbed the blanket and returned to the office, where he carefully spread it over his father.

Then he grabbed his glass of water and returned to his room.
Storyteller
GM, 370 posts
Mon 26 Jun 2017
at 03:50
  • msg #11

Shawn: Middle of the Night, Murmurs in the Office...

Dad seemed to accept the blanket, folding himself into it comfortably, the way a sleeping person always seems to do.

OOC: Shawn Joins Thread

Shawn: What Lesson?

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