\r\nThis was written December 29th, 2025<\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\nPain<\/i>ting<\/h2>\r\n
– The Attack –<\/h3>\r\n
\r\n*Huff, Huff, Huff*<\/b> “Did we lose it?”
\r\n*Roar* *Craaaack*<\/b>
\r\n“Fuck, how’s it still tracking us?”
\r\n“I don’t know, but with this monster so close to us, how the fuck are we going to manage\r\nto put our canvas down, let alone get through the process?”
\r\n“Only one way too, find a good spot and get to it!”
\r\n“Ugh, not again? I hate when you do this, it adds so much fucking pressure.”
\r\n“Yet, you’re the best at it, so get to work! Split!”
\r\nWith this, they both ran into opposite directions. While Raven headed back towards the\r\nmonster, DandeLion headed for a more secluded alley where she could get started.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nWithout hesitation, Raven screamed, trying to get the monster’s attention. What used to\r\nbe amorphous blobs had gradually grown into details. The recent monsters had clearer\r\nappendages, although a still rather wispy. Yet, the carnage had not slowed down, if anything,\r\nthe changes had rendered them more effective.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nRaven’s attempt at drawing attention upon herself was successful…at bit too successful.\r\nImmediately, a tentacle headed in her direction, and she barely managed to avoid it before\r\nsprinting away. Yet, this was by no means sufficient, with the creature rampaging. It was\r\ngaining on her, and destroying more and more buildings on its way. Alas, this also implied\r\ndebris falling all over the place, being hurled in every direction, including along\r\nRaven’s path. And the unthinkable did happen, she tripped and fell down. There was no way\r\nout for her, and the monster crept ever closer, its tentacles reaching for her.\r\n<\/p>
\r\n*Caaawwww*<\/b> Suddenly, a giant red, translucent bird swooped up in the air and swooped for\r\nthe monster. Following it was DandeLion, left arm bandaged and somewhat bloodied.\r\n<\/p>
\r\n“Raven!!! Raven!!! Are you ok?”\r\n<\/p>
\r\n“Yeah, I’m ok Dande, thanks for the assist! I thought I might actually be a goner this\r\none time. You managed to do it in record time! And it seems to have materialized better\r\nthan usual!”\r\n<\/p>
\r\n“Yeah, I’m proud of this one. And thankfully, finished it on time. What were you thinking,\r\nrunning away like that?”\r\n<\/p>
\r\n*Thunk!*<\/b> “Hey, what was that for?”
\r\n“For making me worry and have to save your sorry butt, that’s why!”
\r\n“I had to, only you can materialize them this quickly. And while it was on our trail,\r\nneither of us could get start the process.”\r\n<\/p>
\r\nMeanwhile, the bird could be seen swallowing whatever was left of the monster whole, before\r\nexploding into a red rain and vanishing.
\r\n“Welp, we’ve managed to do it again, though not without any damage. Look at the street,\r\nit’s awful!”
\r\n“Yeah, but I don’t think anyone was killed this time either. Which is lucky! Whoever or\r\nwhatever is creating those monsters, they’re getting more and more competent, more and\r\nmore proficient. Who know what the next one will look like, or if we’ll even be able to\r\nstop it!”
\r\n“True. Got any ideas how to find them?”
\r\n“Nope! And we have more pressing matter here. Come on, let me see it.”, Raven said, taking\r\nout her first aid kit. “Come on, please take the bandage off and let me have a look….\r\nYikes! You sure didn’t miss yourself! How did you manage this?”
\r\n“Well, as you said, we were in such a fucking hurry! I got the container ready and just\r\nhad to extract a bunch of it in time! But I messed up a bit and didn’t cut correctly. I\r\nbandaged right away before getting started.”
\r\n“Welp, please bite on this while I get the sutures ready. You’ll have to be more careful\r\nnext time! You hear me? You might worry about me…but this is just as worrisome, missy!”
\r\n“I know”, DandeLion finally said, looking down.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nOnce the sutures were completed, they went around to check the extent of the damage,\r\nbefore reporting back.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
\r\nThe he was, in his room, fresh wound on his arm, canvas in front of himself, covered in\r\nblood and crying.\r\n<\/p>
\r\n*Huff, huff, huff*<\/b> “AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE! Why? Why? Why? Why do I have\r\nto keep fucking so much all the fucking time? Nope, I thought this would be enough to\r\nget me through this, but it’s not. I deserve to suffer more, I can’t deal with this anymore.\r\nAfter all the pain I’ve caused, I need to repent, I need to suffer for what I’ve done!”\r\n<\/p>
\r\nThereby did he grab a knife, and stab his own left. “Ha! Hahaha! There we go! At least\r\nI can still feel something, can’t I? HAHAHA! That’s exactly what I deserve. Are you happy\r\neveryone? Just dessert, I’m paying back for all I’ve done, even if I didn’t mean to! I\r\nknow you’ll never forgive me, I won’t forgive myself either, but at least I’ll try to\r\ncompensate a bit. HAHAHA! AAAHHHHHHH!”. Tears gradually mixed with the blood on his face.\r\n<\/p>
\r\nThen, he prepared another canvas in front of himself, took a brush, and dipped it in his\r\nown blood, and got to painting in a manic frenzy.\r\n<\/p>
\r\n“I may not be able to end it all like I truly deserve to. But there, let’s channel this\r\npain into something more constructive. If I can at least create something worthwhile,\r\nmaybe it won’t have been in vain! Let’s try to express how I feel inside, the hurt that\r\nI feel, the pain that I’ve caused, the end I deserve!”\r\n<\/p>
\r\nAnd gradually, a picture formed. Initially, it was just a messy swirl of gore, but with\r\nevery pass, details were added, until it coalesced into a bloody cloud. Yet, this wasn’t\r\nwhere it stopped.\r\n<\/p>
\r\n“Haha, yes, that’s exactly it. The red cloud of misery I feel, raining down pain over\r\neveryone that gets close to me! Perfect! HAHA!” *Sniff*<\/b>\r\n<\/p>
\r\nLong streak were added below this cloud, gradually becoming clearer until they appeared\r\na visible torrent. Yet, that’s not where it ended. Gradually, with each manic stroke,\r\nsome of what had first appeared to be raindrops was gradually revealed to be birds of despair.\r\n<\/p>
\r\n“Ha! There we go, this captures it, I dare say. Yet, I still feel empty inside. No matter\r\nwhat I do, I can’t atone. If I can’t improve anyway…what’s the point? WHAT. EVEN. IS.\r\nTHE. POINT?”\r\n<\/p>
\r\nIt was at this point that, through a mix of exhaustion and blood loss, the man at last\r\nfainted.\r\n<\/p>\r\n
\r\nAs Raven and DandeLion were headed for HQ, it suddenly got a bit darker. They both looked\r\nup to see what was happening.
\r\n“What the…?”\r\n<\/p>
\r\nSuddenly, dark, scarlet clouds were coalescing out of nowhere. Gradually covering more\r\nand more of the sky. A loud rumbling accompanied them.
\r\n“Well, this is new.”, exclaimed Raven.
\r\n“Definitely doesn’t look good. Any clues?”
\r\n“Nothing but speculation. Yet, clearly not natural, so…”\r\n<\/p>
\r\n*Craaack!**Psshhhh*<\/b> Suddenly, a flurry poured from the sky.
\r\n“Yup, also red, of course. This isn’t good. Not good at all!”
\r\nAnd in the sky, drops combined into larger globules, until they gradually took on the\r\ngeneral shape of birds, although still misty, not quite fully materialized.
\r\n*CAWWW!*<\/b>\r\n<\/p>
\r\n“Well, this is definitely something new. You said you wanted a new challenge, didn’t you,\r\nRaven? This definitely looks like it. First and foremost, how are we going to get to\r\npainting without ruining our canvas with this shower?”
\r\n“Great question…and one that I’ll have to answer. No way we’re letting you drain yourself\r\nsome more after the number you just did on yourself.”
\r\n“Hey! It was an emergency!”
\r\n“I know, I know, and you did save my butt. Still, I’d like for both of us to get out of\r\nthis one safe and sound.”
\r\n“Well, let’s get to it then!”\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\nTo be continued… (maybe, no promises)<\/b><\/i>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This was written December 29th, 2025 Painting – The Attack – *Huff, Huff, Huff* “Did we lose it?” *Roar* *Craaaack* “Fuck, how’s it still tracking us?” “I don’t know, but with this monster so close to us, how the fuck are we going to manage to put our canvas down, let alone get through the … Continue reading Writing Challenge 2025 \u2013 32 – PAINting<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2635"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2674,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2635\/revisions\/2674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shawnmeanders.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}