The Starkiller

This is a story I had to writing for my creative writing class and I throughly enjoyed writing it. Feel free to comment! :)

Curse the stars!

            Starkiller paced the length of the sky scraper, his dark eyes taking in the breath taking view of New York City. It glittered like a jewel in the night sky, golden light permeating through the buildings. Everything would’ve been perfect, except the stars.

            They glittered too, far above the city where no one could reach them. They were fighting with the beautiful city. New York was the only city that should shine brighter than the stars. Starkiller paused and looked up into the night. Those cursed stars were blinking, twinkling, taunting him with the fact that he cannot reach them. The moon was their ring leader, leading them on in their twinkling parade.

            Starkiller loved the city. He loved it ever since he was a little boy. On his way to elementary school, he would stop and look up, taking in the beauty of the buildings soaking up the early morning sun and reflect the light gloriously. It was the shinning jewel set in the crown of America. Everyone should love the city. When he grew older he remembered hearing about the Statue of Liberty. His parents planned a weekend trip to the Island and he remembered imaging what it would look like. Glass or crystal, it had to be an equally glimmering tribute to the city it was part of. But, when that weekend rolled around, Starkiller was struck with a disappointment so strong his knees buckled. The Statue of Liberty, one of New York’s proudest achievements, was not shiny at all, but a dirty, mucky green color. The color of a dirty penny. That day, as a boy staring up at the lady in awe, vowed that one day, he would make her shiny, as shinning and beautiful as the city she reflected upon.

            Starkiller sigh. The memory always made him sigh. He took in a deep breath and centered his thoughts. “One thing at a time”, he whispered aloud. “One thing at a time”.

            His first goal was to murder the stars. Destroy them in their twinkling beauty. He sneered at them and continued his pacing. He was attempting to formulate a plan to them those blasted dots away. But it was difficult, no one had ever tried to destroy the stars and when he tried to get people to join his cause they laughed at him, and shooed him away. Some people even had the audacity to hand him money and mutter, “Go get yourself a cup of coffee”. He had been mistaken for a common homeless man, despite the expensive suit he wore.

            One day, he would destroy them and he would laugh at the entire city for laughing at him.

            Still, it would be nice for someone to join his cause. Muttering furiously to himself, Starkiller started to think.

            “Stupid stars, never a moment when you couldn’t accept being second. Second to the greatest city in the world. I hate you! How will I destroy you? A laser? Oh, no that’s far too merciful. Far too kind, it would be over too quickly. No, I have to choose something more painful, more drawn out…I’ll rent a rocket! Fly into space and blast you into oblivion! No, that’s too expensive. I could never get enough money for that…Damn!”

            Without another word, Starkiller pulled the .99mm pistol from his side and fired to the sky. The sound ricocheted and reverberated across the surrounding buildings. His heart beat to the sound. He starred into inky darkness, hoping that one star, at least one, would stop twinkling. But they all dancing merrily around the sky.

            Crying out in frustration, he emptied his clip at the stars. “Die, die, die!”

            From on the street a woman screamed. Exasperated, Starkiller leaned over the edge of the building and called out. “Shut your mouth! This is New York! Gunshots fire all the time!”

            But that woman was still screaming. Couldn’t she see that he wasn’t aiming for her?

            Clutching the gun in his hand he resumed pacing, drowning the woman’s cries with his busy thoughts.

            “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, you will be the first of many”. He laughed, quietly to himself. A simple children nursery rhythm turned into a song of death. “Star light, star bright…”

            He burst out laughing. It was all too funny. Chortling and clutching his sides he laughed until tears came to his eyes. “Star light, star bright”. A sound had shaken him from his laughter. Footsteps in the stair well leading back down into the office building. He frowned and turned, all traces of humor gone. Who was disturbing him?        

            A second later the metal door burst open and out poured several police, guns in their hands. “Freeze!” One of them yelled, training the gun at them. Starkiller scowled.

            “It’s not me you want, idiots! It’s those stars!” He waved his gun to the sky and began gesturing wildly. These men could help him. Of course! A plan bloomed in his mind. He took a step forward, still waving a gun and…

            ….a shot was fired.

            Pain exploding in his chest as the bullet tore through the tender material of his jacket. Starkiller screamed and fell backwards. He landed on the hard rockets of the rooftop looking down at his chest. Blood was sprouting quickly through a pulpy mess of flesh at his chest. He drew in a shaky breath and looked at the cops. One of them, the one whose gun was smoking slightly, looked stricken, his young face contorted in fear.

            “Hold fire!” One of them yelled.

            Starkiller looked back up to the sky. Blood was forcing its way to the surface making his throat thick and breathing difficult. He gurgled and spluttered. Darkness was closing in on his vision. He could think…

            He focused on the stars. They were still twinkling merrily at him, dancing and bright as ever through the black haze that had crept into his vision. Starkiller raised his gun to the sky.

            “Star light….S-star…bright”.

            He fired. An empty click and Starkiller knew no more.

Reviews

[Zeitgeist Manifesto]

My favorite thing about this poem is the way you managed to create this feeling of neutrality. I didnt seem that any character was right or wrong. This was a great suspense/thriller. I had NO IDEA where the story was going and I LOVED it. It was original and kept me on my toes the entire time. This is also a workshop on how to get the most out of a flat character. You also did an excellent job on that. She stole the show for a moment.