I'm joe!

So, This is my first post from my first (kinda) blog.  Soon i'll have to post a long, "Inspiring story" about everything I go through (I feel really stupid writing that, but, oh well) but for now i'll just tell you about me.

Ha, brief.  Never have I been, "Brief" in writing.

Well, First things first.  I love to write.  I wrote a book, the idea of which actually came to me in a cliche way.  Brace yourselves to cringe at the cheesiness of this- The idea came in a dream.  I know, Right?  Anyway, I don't want to say too much about it, as I want to do a kinda "First chapter release at 100 pageviews" or whatever, but I can say that my doctor recommended me for a wish from the organization "Starlight" and I asked to get my finished book published.  It's currently in the process of happening.  Yay!

Anyway, as for other hobbies, I'm pretty much  obsessed with gaming.  I'm typing from a top-of-the-range alienware gaming PC, which I have PACKED with games.  seriously.  I used up a terrabyte in two months.

I'm not really sure of the purpose of this blog, so I'm just gonna write what I think i'll write about in the future years.  I'll do a lot about writing, the progress of my book, and share some of my work.  I suppose the rest of this blog will be about myself, my conditions and my perspective on stuff.  That's what you've got to look forward to.

As for now, i'll leave you with an offering of some of my work.  I wrote this last year for history homework, where we had to write a first person experience of a gladiator in roman times.  I creatively and orginally named this, "gladiator."  have a read and, if I don't know you, then I'd love some feedback from someone who doesn't have to be nice about it.

I'm off to watch the big bang theory on E4.  Have fun!

-Joe

Once again, the crowd’s shouting increased dramatically to fierce roaring, meaning that the latest batch of gladiators had fallen prey to their opponents.  The tension was killing me.  I sometimes wished that I could escape from this horrid place, and be back home with my mother.  And sometimes I wished my time would come. I wished I would be called out into the coliseum and be granted a quick death with the minimum of pain.

  I passed the time by casting my mind back to the very beginning of all this.  I thought of the time when the soldiers turned up on my doorstep, sombre looks spread across their face, and remembering the feeling I had when they said my father (a military commander) had died heroically in battle.  I also tried to remember the feeling I had when I left mother, creeping out of our plebeian flat, Tears streaming down my face, vowing to return, with money, so I could provide a better life for both of us.  The main reason I was remembering these times, was not because I wished to pass time, it was to supress the feeling that was overwhelming me at that moment.  Another group of men were called out into the coliseum, but I was not.  I saw Aelius, a prisoner I had befriended during training get up, and my heart instantly filled with sorrow and desperation.  “Aelius, no..” I whispered. 

“My time has come, Septimus.  It was an honour knowing you.”

“There is a chance you may survive-“ I whimpered, sniffing back tears.

“Yes, but the chance is thin.  I will almost certainly perish today.  Good luck, Septimus.” Aelius showed no hint of fear in his voice.  He was a stronger man than me.  He raised his hand and I took it, and then Aelius disappeared into the long line of gladiators going into battle.  I stared into space, thinking nothing, feeling nothing,  The sound of trumpeting beasts, Roaring crowds, and the instructor telling the warriors what to do filling my ears.

“ You will march into the coliseum and face the emperor, salute him, at do not turn your back on him!  Now go and die with honour!”  There was a bang sound as the wooden gate lowered and then the sound of boots hitting the ground.  The crowd’s shouting intensified again, and I went back to my thoughts.

  I thought back to my first day at my training camp in south Italy, when I had been handed a wooden sword, and was ‘assessed’ on my combat skills.  The pain that shot up my arm when the wooden sword struck it still stayed with me today.  Since then, I have always shuddered when thinking about being struck like that with a sword.  I was almost instantly branded as ‘bait’ because of my terrible skill when it came to fighting.  I had been in many mock-up one-on one battles, (that was all we seemed to do, as we were not allowed outside other than to do this)  none of which I had won, and after just a week I was told I would be shipped off to the famous coliseum to fight there.  That was when I realized what I had gotten myself into.  I didn’t know how to fight!  I couldn’t even push my old friends over, let alone thrust a sword into someone’s chest.  And if it did come to that, I didn’t know what I would do.

  When we still had our old house, a rat got in, and instead of killing it, I picked it up and released it.  I couldn’t hurt a thing.  He kept thinking about his journey.  Arriving at the coliseum, meeting the manager, and he remembered the feast that was provided for the warriors the night before.  I had the biggest, most appetizing meal sat in front of me, and suddenly I felt the least hungry I had ever felt.

  There was more roaring from the stadium.  My heart was in my mouth.  I was next.  “KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!” the crowd chanted.  After a few minutes the chant erupted into a deafening howl. And then a guard strode up the narrow passage and told the newest group to get up.  This was it.  I jumped up from the floor and my legs almost gave out.  I stumbled through the corridor, to an open iron gate were two guards stood.  As I went through A small, rusted trident and a net was shoved into each of my hands.  My arm gave out for a second because of the weight of the trident.  I fumbled with the long handle, as it kept slipping from my sweaty palm.  I finally gripped it and moved it around in my hand, getting used to the feel of it. I continued through the tunnel until I reached a turn off to the right.  There was a slight incline and at the end of it was a wooden door.  The gladiators formed two lines, one on either side of the corridor.  I shuffled into the rightmost queue, thankful  I  was not in the front.  The noise of the crowd soaked up all other noises around me.  The instructor stood in the middle of both of the lines, wearing a feathered hat and an iron cuirass upon his chest.  He shouted out the ritual, but I did not bother to listen to him.  Instead I thought about what I would do.  How I would fight.  I decided know that If anything, my goal was not to win, but to merely survive.  I knew I would be defeated, and that the crowd would demand my death, but when that time came, I would not plead to the emperor for my life to be spared.  I knew that it would have no effect.  Instead I would plead to my killer, to make it quick.  I couldn’t believe what I was saying.  I never thought this would be happening to me. 

“Go, and die with honour!”

“Here goes…” I thought to myself, before taking a huge breath.

There was a split second when I actually went deaf, before I stumbled into the coliseum and experienced the loudest noise I had ever experienced.  I collapsed to the floor, a mix of the screams of the crowd, the sun piercing into my head, giving me a splitting headache, and the immenseness of the stadium.  50,000, people, all staring at him.  I picked up my trident and pulled myself up, realizing that the floor was littered with bodies.  I followed the group of warriors, walking towards the emperor’s private box.  I stumbled along, making sure I didn’t trip over the bodies.  I realized I had forgotten about Aelius, and instantly scanned everybody I saw, longing that his body was not here.

 

“Please… please….”  And just like that, I saw him. His face pale.  His dark skin covered with sand and blood.  I was certain that I knew I was going to see this, but it felt so strange.  “No!” I screamed, my voice swallowed by the bellowing of the crowd.  Tears coming down my face.  I still walked, Forgetting about my impending doom, the dead bodies around me, and the roaring crowd, until all of the gladiators stopped, facing the emperors box.  I decided I could mourn Aelius later, and if I died then I would be reunited. 

The gladiators all raised saluted, and I reluctantly followed. 

“Those who are about to die salute you!”  They shouted confidently, and I mumbled along with them.  The announcer said something to the crowd but I didn’t hear him.  I raised my trident and my net, keeping my eye on the gates.  My breathing was laboured, my heart was jumping out of my skin, and my head was pounding.  And then the gates opened.  A gladiator next to me wished me good luck, and I wished him the same.   About 10 men came through the giant iron gates, all of them wearing heavy armour.  Most of them wore visored helmets, leg guards, and armour on their arms. 

they all carried huge swords, some had maces or war axes.  I knew that one hit from one of those and I would be dead.  The crowd’s roaring became louder and louder, but I blocked it all away.  This was it.  From now, it was just us and them.  An armoured gladiator ran towards me, and I panicked.  I screamed (In fear, not anger) and feebly threw my net at him.  He quickly cut it to pieces with his sword and kept coming towards me.  I heard screaming and took a quick glance around me, and I saw utter chaos.  Blood flying around, new warriors falling to the floor, forming a fresh pile of bodies.   I glanced back and my heart skipped a beat as I saw a long sword thrusting towards me.  I heaved my trident up and parried the attack, leaving both of us dazed.  I had to make a move while he was dazed.  I raised my trident so that the 3 sharp points were aimed at his weak spot, the completely vulnerable chest area, and charged, bracing myself.  The result was horrific.  The trident plunged into his skin, like a hand plunges through a cobweb, splattering blood over Me, the sand around me, and onto my trident.  I had to twist the trident around to remove it from the man’s chest, and when I did, he lurched over and collapsed in the sand.  I stood over him, shocked. 

“What have I d-“ I started to say quietly to myself, but before I could even finish I was tackled to the ground by another gladiator.  I looked around for my trident and I spotted it a few feet away.  There was no way I could defend myself.  I was pinned down, the weight of the man’s armour squeezing the breath out of me.  The crowd was screaming- “KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!”

I closed my eyes and awaited the horrifying pain as the man raised his sword.  But it didn’t come.  I opened my eyes and saw the thing I least expected to see.  One of my allies was flying towards the man that had me pinned down, and pulled him off with great force.  The first thing I did was scramble across the sand and retrieve my trident, before crawling back to my ally to help him.  I saw him on top of the enemy, punching him repeatedly, until the enemy broke the chain by grabbing a sword and slashing it into his throat, causing blood to spray from his throat, and from his mouth and nostrils.  And then a wave of rage spread through him.  I let my vengeful side take over and strutted to the gladiator, putting my foot firmly on his stomach so he couldn’t get up.  I used my trident to knock the sword out of his hand and just as I was about to bring my trident down on the blood soaked man, I realized what I was doing.  I felt the worst feeling I had ever felt.  I had killed someone, allowed myself to live instead of him.  He probably had a family.  And my saviour.  He had jumped on the man who was trying to kill me, sacrificing his life to save mine.  I stepped off the man and walked away, ignoring the carnage that was taking place around him.  I was aware that the man was already getting up.  I couldn’t live with what I had done.  I turned around and once again saw the gladiator who had killed my ally, gathering his weapons, getting ready to charge.  I wanted to let him attack me, I wanted him to kill me, to end this guilt.

 But I couldn’t bring myself to let my guard down.  I thought it was because I was a coward.  I was afraid of death.  I wanted to live, I didn’t care how many other people died as long as I was alive.  But as he ran towards me, something changed my mind.  I granted this man life, and he still attempted to kill me.  He could have left me and hid, or attacked someone else.  But he didn’t.  He chose to attack me again.  And now he would pay the price, because I am not a coward.  I am a gladiator.  As he raised his sword I slashed his chest with my trident, leaving him to collapse at my feet. I spun round and got a huge surprise, a huge sword piercing into my hip, causing an explosion of blood.  I fell to the floor, unable to move, hardly able to breath.  The huge open wound on my hip stung like a million hornets stinging me.  My ‘wounder’ raised his sword again, and I managed to work up the strength to move by arm in the weapon’s course.  The pain was excruciating, blood was pouring from my right arm.  But I had come this far, and I was not going to die now.  I used my last ounce of strength to grasp my trident in my good arm and raised it to the gladiator, who was glancing at the crowd.  I took a deep breath and the man looked back, and in a second realized what was happening.  I threw the trident as hard as I could, using it as a spear, and it lodged into his heart.

The man collapsed next to me.  I had done it.  I did my best to look around the coliseum.  Other than one other man, who seemed to be on my side, I was the only one left.  The last thing I saw was two soldiers rushing towards me.  And that’s when I realized.  I had survived.  I smiled in glee as the two soldiers kneeled beside me, inspecting my wounds, before slipping into a welcome unconsciousness. 

                      





 I had won.