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11:11, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Closed: Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice.

Posted by Shawn's Neighbor - Tiffany WilsonFor group 0
Shawn's Neighbor - Tiffany Wilson
NPC, 83 posts
Tue 3 Apr 2018
at 01:03
  • msg #30

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

"Ughh..fine." Tiffany agreed impatiently. She shut her eyes and then said. "But it better be something I don't already know."

Shawn Cramer
player, 1496 posts
Tue 3 Apr 2018
at 01:03
  • msg #31

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Shawn noticed Delilah's gaze on him, but didn't react. He simply closed his eyes complacently.
Bradford Stork
NPC, 176 posts
Tue 3 Apr 2018
at 01:38
  • msg #32

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Everyone could hear Bradford breathe in deeply and then exhale.

"OK. Today, I'm going to be leading everyone through the four stages of....The Mindfulness of Horror Practice." Bradford said, clearing his throat.

Although everyone's eyes were closed, they could hear Ralph shuffle in his seat at the word 'Horror.' Bradford continued in a soft, relaxing voice.

"...closing your eyes. Now become aware of your environment. The air on your skin....the temperature of the room...any itches or irritations you might feel. Any aches or pains, within or without."

"And acknowledge the sounds around you. Cars honking outside....the neighbor's music playing...the chirping of birds outside...Any smells. Perfumes. Or body odors."

"Just become open to these sensations and experiences. Accept them. Good or bad. And then, you can begin to take your attention, inwards..."

Delilah Gray
player, 453 posts
WP: 1/3
Health: O O O O O O
Tue 3 Apr 2018
at 08:59
  • msg #33

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Delilah let out the breath she'd been holding. The muscles of her face relaxed and the scowl faded away. It felt like the moment before a routine. She was aware of the surrounding distractions, then pushed them away as she counted down to zero in her head.
Shawn Cramer
player, 1497 posts
Tue 3 Apr 2018
at 11:51
  • msg #34

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Shawn played along - this was a lot like Mrs. Worthington's acting exercises, really. But while he acted like he was relaxing and opening himself up to sensations, he was just maybe a little too high strung to really concentrate on this right now. He had a lot to think about.
Bradford Stork
NPC, 177 posts
Wed 4 Apr 2018
at 10:00
  • msg #35

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Bradford continued his voice becoming now more smooth and relaxed like someone well experienced in having an audience for this kind of relaxation technique.

"You can begin to take your attention inwards, into your body."

"...becoming aware of your feet. Feeling the skin, your veins, muscles and sinews. And finally, the skeletal structure of your feet. The dead bones of your future self. Feel them becoming more solid than the transitory flesh-core that covers them..."

"...and the more awareness you can take into your skeletal feet, the more you can let go..."

Delilah Gray
player, 454 posts
WP: 1/3
Health: O O O O O O
Wed 4 Apr 2018
at 11:37
  • msg #36

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Delilah struggled to concentrate. She wondered why her future self would have dead foot bones. Maybe she was supposed to think life into the bones? She scrunched her brow and started the countdown over.
Shawn Cramer
player, 1498 posts
Wed 4 Apr 2018
at 11:49
  • msg #37

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Shawn found himself being distracted by the skill Bradford was showing at this kind of thing. He knew from experience that monologues were a real pain to do in front of audiences, but Bradford sounded like he'd been practising a bunch.
Bradford Stork
NPC, 178 posts
Thu 5 Apr 2018
at 02:42
  • msg #38

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Bradford's voice began to gradually move from the soft monologue of a child to the practiced technique of what sounded like a professional adult. The voice came out smooth and relaxing. Soothing, yet firm.

"...now, let that sensation spread from your skeletal feet up to your calf bones. Thigh bones. Pelvic bones. Straight up to your spine. Poised and balanced. Shoulder blades. Flexing ribs. And collar bones..."

"...the bones growing heavy...heavy down your arms...elbows...straight to the tiniest finger bones...letting the top of your spine grow long...long..."

"Noticing, that your skull is the only part of your skeleton that feels light. As if the rest of your head, hair, skin, eyes, brain --- has disintegrated. Filling only your dome with the gaseous remnants of your non-skeletal self."

"And then, begin to experience your skeleton as a whole....."

Shawn Cramer
player, 1499 posts
Thu 5 Apr 2018
at 02:58
  • msg #39

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Shawn had started paying closer attention to the actual things Bradford was saying, and it all sounded super weird. He cracked his eyes open just a little bit, enough so he could see, but not enough that it was obvious, and looked around to see how the others were reacting to 'experiencing their skeleton'.
Delilah Gray
player, 455 posts
WP: 1/3
Health: O O O O O O
Thu 5 Apr 2018
at 07:53
  • msg #40

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Delilah sat impatiently with her arms crossed. Her heel drummed softly against a chair leg.
Bradford Stork
NPC, 179 posts
Thu 5 Apr 2018
at 09:22
  • msg #41

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

"...scanning through it. Upright. And open..."

"And in the midst of these experiences. Notice a deep, aching. Within your skeleton self. A throbbing hurt. Concentrate on that skeleton ache. Let it expand within its marrow....Become absorbed. Become fascinated by the wellspring of discomfort, you have discovered within yourself."

"This...is the horror of being."

"And...in the midst of these experiences. Notice your breathing. The physical sensations of your breathing..."

"And you can let yourself become absorbed. Become fascinated by these sensations. Letting your consciousness fill your breathing. And letting your breathing fill your consciousness..."

Shawn Cramer
player, 1500 posts
Thu 5 Apr 2018
at 11:53
  • msg #42

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Shawn looked around, eyelids heavy.
Bradford Stork
NPC, 180 posts
Fri 6 Apr 2018
at 04:25
  • msg #43

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Delilah felt a fluttering sensation in her eyelids but was suddenly too overcome with a sense of relaxation and heaviness to be able to lift them. She found that she was too tired to speak or move.

Meanwhile, Bradford continued.

"...And now moving into the second stage of the practice, focus on your breathing..."

"Noticing your breathing. Counting one.... Breathing in... And out... One... In and out... Two... In... And Out... And so on...until you reach ten. And when you reach ten...then starting over."

"..and then suddenly noticing...your awareness...becoming aware...of itself"

"And with it, a growing panic. Traveling through your body and all the way up to your skull as you breath in..."

Delilah Gray
player, 456 posts
WP: 1/3
Health: O O O O O O
Fri 6 Apr 2018
at 08:01
  • msg #44

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Delilah sank into herself. Her body was a heavy, iron cage and her mind was a little bird fluttering within. It was dark now. The little bird should perch for sleep.
Bradford Stork
NPC, 181 posts
Fri 6 Apr 2018
at 09:29
  • msg #45

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

"...so every time that you breath in, your mind is becoming more and more at one with panic.....until every count of number becomes a testament to self-suffocation..."

"this, is the Whole of the Mind."


"and onto the third stage of the practice...you can let go of your counting, and simply follow the flow of your panicked breathing..."

Evil Circus - Ralph
NPC, 186 posts
Fri 6 Apr 2018
at 09:32
  • msg #46

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

"*cough*...*glurghh*..." Delilah and Shawn could hear Ralph, his difficulty breathing, gurgling sounds and gasping.
Shawn Cramer
player, 1501 posts
Fri 6 Apr 2018
at 11:49
  • msg #47

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Shawn tried to move himself experimentally, but mostly tried to remain calm.
Bradford Stork
NPC, 182 posts
Sat 7 Apr 2018
at 15:08
  • msg #48

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice




"As you continue to breathe in and out...beginning to focus, on your panicked thoughts..."


"Notice, how they flail against the growing agony...of the becoming within you...Your panic, helping you to stay in awareness...becoming that awareness..."

"Now...imagine your every inhaled breath drawing black fog in...."




Delilah felt a wet, spongy substance drip out of the left side of her mouth and plop onto her bare wrist. As Bradford spoke, the image of a swirling well came into her mind. An old well, with something dark and evil inside. Something unknown that contained an unspeakable horror. The pace of Delilah's heart began to beat faster. Involuntarily fast as she felt herself being pulled towards that old, dark well.
Shawn Cramer
player, 1502 posts
Sat 7 Apr 2018
at 15:16
  • msg #49

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Shawn sits there placidly, trying to look around.
Delilah Gray
player, 459 posts
WP: 1/3
Health: O O O O O O
Sat 7 Apr 2018
at 15:22
  • msg #50

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Delilah's posture flagged and she sat listening, breathing and letting the words flow around her. Felt like floating.
Bradford Stork
NPC, 183 posts
Sun 8 Apr 2018
at 12:50
  • msg #51

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

"...black fog in, a killing toxin...that exterminates those stray redundant parts of you that writhe and jerk within the emptying hole of your mind..."

"This...is the Horror of Being."

"And now, moving into the last stage of the practice, you can finally stop breathing altogether....and began focusing more and more, on less and less...you may begin thinking that you hear something like static...or even the roar of an airliner...you may feel light-headed, like you are going to pass out..."



Delilah heard someone fall out of the chair next to her, crashing to the floor in a loud thud. Bradford paused before emphasizing the following words:



"..ignore these feelings, they are normal."

"They indicated that your are coming into perfect sync with your empty, skeleton body and your empty skeleton head..."
Bradford said, his voice smooth and silky.

"Giving yourself a few moments to assimilate the effects of the practice, and you can begin to take your awareness again, to the outside world...becoming aware of the space around you, and your experiences, and of that space, as hideous and alien without as within..."
Shawn Cramer
player, 1503 posts
Sun 8 Apr 2018
at 13:11
  • msg #52

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Shawn, not knowing what else he could do, tried to think of the opposite of whatever Bradford was saying, trying the visualisation exercises he'd thought were so silly back at acting class. Skipping merrily through flower-filled meadows. Eating an ice cream sandwich. Dancing to a song on the radio. He imagined as much detail as he could, trying to blot out Bradford's words.
Delilah Gray
player, 460 posts
WP: 1/3
Health: O O O O O O
Sun 8 Apr 2018
at 13:40
  • msg #53

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice

Not floating. Falling.

The familiar sick feeling roiled in Delilah's stomach. The moment after her fingers slipped and clutched empty air. The millisecond where momentum fades and gravity remembers.

Nothing to do now but let it happen. Go limp. Take the fall and roll with it. And when it was over, stand up. That was the most important thing. To get back up and get right back into the fight. Just remember to stand up and walk it off like a champ.

Tears threatened to leak from her closed eyelids.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:50, Sun 08 Apr 2018.
Bradford Stork
NPC, 184 posts
Mon 9 Apr 2018
at 10:47
  • msg #54

Shawn, Delilah: The Mindfulness of Horror Practice


"...Accept, as the days and nights go by, that you are a waking skeleton...an ambulatory miracle of meat."

"New thoughts come...but they emerge from beyond the foam...beyond the foam...beyond the foaming, spongy parts of your brain..."

"NOW.....open your eyes."
Bradford finished, cementing his control and ending the exercise.

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Shawn, Delilah: The End is the Beginning

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