literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Dec 10, 2006 15:45:09 GMT -5
Grace had remained in the area all day, save for a few hours when the heat had sent her seeking refuge in her shelter. Now, in the coolness of the evening, she sat near the water's edge drawing abstract designs in the sand with a stick and absently biting a broken fingernail. When she looked around and saw Gwen, Grace smiled and hopped to her feet, going over to her. "Hey, how are you? I see you've been busy," she signed, relieved to be in the company of someone who knew sign language and didn't need pen and paper to communicate.
((just so Gwen doesn't have to go wandering all over camp to find her! = ] ))
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Dec 3, 2006 17:53:12 GMT -5
"You know," he wrote, "You're pretty optimistic for a deaf girl," He said, as he smiled. "Not that deaf girls are pessimistic as a group, I wouldn't know, I don't mean a wide range, what I'm saying is, you certainly have a light within you, and one would not necessarly expect that."
Grace shrugged. "Yeah, well, if I focused on all the bad crap in my life, I'd be the most pessimistic individual alive. Or dead; who knows, I might've killed myself by now if I were a pessimist. It's just easier to make light of things and look for the silver lining. Thank you for the compliment, it was really a sweet thing to say. I'm not even sure I deserve it. It's my aunt who taught me to be this way..." Her aunt who was three days dead. Now there was a pessimistic, depressing thought.
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Dec 1, 2006 21:21:12 GMT -5
"I don't think anyone's about to vote you off," Willo wrote with a smirk, glancing over at Erik and Sarah. "I think there are plenty of people ahead of you in line there. And, if there are people filming me, I want a cut."
"So soon? Wow, they must really have been working hard to get themselves kicked off so early... I wonder if they'd share their secrets. I wouldn't mind getting kicked off the island and going back to civilization." Three days, three torturous days without hot showers, air conditioning, and other such lovely amenities. Yeah, getting kicked off this island would be a freaking gift from God. "Oh, when we get rescued, we can live off the royalties from this for the rest of our lives! Book deals, movies, primetime television interviews... it'll be the high life."
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Nov 30, 2006 19:36:41 GMT -5
"It's not boring, it's just.... well, there's usually much more excitement on the television shows. Plus, where's my coconut radio?"
Oh, pop culture reference; Grace loved those! She laughed. "You have to give the Professor some time. Rome wasn't built in a day, you know. And televison lies, all the time. If this were like television, everyone would be a lot sexier and wearing a hell of a lot less clothing. And probably be well on their way to hooking up by now." She attempted to accompany this reply with one of those smoldering, come-hither looks, but ruined it with a fit of giggles. "I'd probably be the first one voted off the island. Hey, do you think that Survivor dude and his camera crew are all holed up in a resort on the other side of the island, filming all this for the eventual entertainment of the American nation?" Slightly giddy? Perhaps. Maybe she was going insane.
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Nov 29, 2006 21:35:12 GMT -5
"Oh, the book. I, uhm... in all honesty I don't know what it is... I wasn't...really reading I guess."
She may not have understood every word, but Grace gathered enough to realize that he didn't know what he was reading. Now it was the time for pen and paper, because the signs for what she wanted to say were not so universally recognized. "I understand. Life on a tropical island isn't exactly as thrilling as I thought it would be."
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Nov 29, 2006 16:45:09 GMT -5
***Grace enters from... wherever the heck I last put her...***
Walking had always helped Grace to think when she had a lot on her mind, so she had set off on a meandering stroll throughout camp in hopes of settling her thoughts. Well, at the very least, looking at the other survivors distracted her enough that her thoughts were pushed aside. Did that guy have a gun? Good God.
When she finally saw a familiar face, or at least inasmuch as anyone could have become familiar within the past three days, Grace smiled and came up behind Willo. Leaning over just a bit, she touched his shoulder before settling down on the sand next to him. "What book is that?" she signed, not bothering to write. The sign for book was pretty universal: both hands placed palm-to-palm, then opened up like a book.
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Oct 18, 2006 4:39:13 GMT -5
Grace smiled gratefully and signed "thank you," which she was pretty sure he would understand. "You're a pretty cool guy," she wrote next. "Not many people would stay with someone at a time like this." After looking around, she added ruefully "Actually, I don't think there's ever been a time like this before." The grief was closeted away, to be taken out and dealt with when she was alone. It was how she always handled things.
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Oct 17, 2006 19:02:15 GMT -5
They had to burn the fuselage... It took a moment for Grace to put the pieces together. Burning the fuselage... with the bodies of the deceased inside. The deceased, of which Ruth was a part. "I guess they're having some sort of service, or there wouldn't be so many people there," she wrote matter-of-factly to hide the fact that her eyes were bright with unshed tears. "Nobody will mind if I don't go, right? I don't... I can't share her with anyone else. She was mine and the grief is mine, you know?"
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Oct 17, 2006 15:13:52 GMT -5
"What do you know, maybe chivalry isn't dead after all," Grace replied, a teasing look in her eye. "Oh, do you know what's going on with that fire over there? It's kind of big. Is it a signal fire?"
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Oct 17, 2006 4:38:34 GMT -5
Willo slowed from a run to a jog, and eventually a walk as he walked up to Grace, taking a seat nearby and smiling at her, before looking down at the ground for a moment. It was weird, smiling at a time like this. Perhaps he was trying to take his mind off things. He searched through his bag, before producing his notepad and pen. He smiled as he looked at her, and began to write, making excessive looping and scribling gestures. He paused for a second, bit the top of his pen, then quickly scribbled down some more. He turned around the notepad and smiled. It read "Hi." Grace looked up, giving a tiny wave of her hand and a brief upturning of the corners of her mouth that might have passed for a smile. She fished her own small spiral and pen from the pocket of her sweater and wrote her own response. "Hey. What brings you out here?"
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Oct 16, 2006 20:33:06 GMT -5
*Grace enters from... wherever I last put her...*
Something was going on down the beach, near the plane wreckage. Grace saw the flames leaping high, so high against the velvety blackness of the sky, but she made no move to investigate. These past two days, she hadn't been one to seek out the company of others. Being alone was just fine with her; being alone meant having to deal with less of the curious, pitying looks and the inevitable questions. She plunked herself down on the sand a few yards away from the waves, hugging her knees to her chest and nestling into her green sweater.
Whatever they were doing at the wreckage, they could do without her. She might stop by later on, when the crowd had thinned, but not now when there were so many strangers there.
((ooc: suppose I should specify just in case: reserved for Willo))
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Sept 23, 2006 16:24:37 GMT -5
"I think I'm going to stay here a little while longer, then go into the camp and see how things are going. You're, of course welcome to stay.""Think I'll go back, too. I want to see if there's anything to eat; I'm starving. It was nice to meet you." Smiling, Grace rose and turned to head back to where the others had congregated. ***FLASHBACK*** abclost.proboards40.com/index.cgi?board=rpgbios&action=display&thread=1156300598*Grace leaves for F3--Area of Survivor's Camp*
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Sept 22, 2006 19:36:05 GMT -5
She nodded in understanding. "Well, you're not alone." Maybe after they were rescued, some kind of support group would be formed. Plane Crash Survivors Anonymous, perhaps?
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Sept 22, 2006 15:14:13 GMT -5
"I hope so."
Grace smiled sadly. "It does. It hurts like hell for a while, and the What-If game comes into play frequently. Time goes by, and it hurts less and less. Eventually you begin feeling like you can start living again." She paused, wondering if her next question would be offensive before deciding to throw caution to the winds and write it anyway. "If you don't mind me asking, who did you lose? Sometimes... it helps to talk about it. Sounds cheesy, but it works."
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Sept 21, 2006 20:21:42 GMT -5
"I know it does," Grace replied in a looping scrawl. "Lost my parents ten years ago. But I was a little kid... I guess it's harder when you're an adult because your memory is so much better."
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Sept 21, 2006 19:35:35 GMT -5
Accepting the offered seat, Grace sat down and drew her knees up. "Hard to believe they're gone, isn't it." She purposely ended her sentence with a period rather than a question mark, turning it into a definitive statement.
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Sept 21, 2006 17:31:59 GMT -5
"Yeah. You?" was her only reply. The pain of losing her aunt was still fresh, like a wound that wouldn't heal. Grace was still in shock about it, to be quite honest. She kept expecting Ruth to just walk out of the jungle, ready with a hug and a shoulder to cry on, just like always.
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Sept 21, 2006 15:54:31 GMT -5
"How are you holding up?"
Grace nibbled thoughtfully on the end of her pen before writing her reply. "As well as can be expected, I suppose, given that I survived a plane crash and can't freaking communicate with anyone unless they're willing to write." Bitter, much? Perhaps, but most of that was the grief talking.
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Sept 20, 2006 21:15:02 GMT -5
God, did everyone on the freaking plane know I'm deaf? Grace thought, more irritated at people in general than at this one particular person. "Cool name, and smart idea. I've decided I'll be the kid that sits off to the side and keeps score because she's too sickly to play. Someone's gotta keep things organized around here."
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literaryfaery
Just Shot a Polar Bear
plg%%Grace Schaeffer%%
Posts: 263
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Post by literaryfaery on Sept 20, 2006 17:06:35 GMT -5
Much to her surprise, Grace was able to speechread him pretty well. Pulling out her own small notepad and pen, she turned to a fresh page and wrote out her reply. "I just thought you might want some company. Everyone seems to be breaking off into groups, and if you're not careful you'll be left group-less, like that kid that always got picked last for kickball." A ghost of a smile flitted across her face, and she added one more thing at the bottom of the page. "My name's Grace, by the way."
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