THE RED BOOK

The following story was submitted anonymously by an AIS High School student. The story is an example of a “Chinese Story box” writing technique in which the narrator changes two-three times. The student employs this technique to demonstrate how the same story can be told from three different perspectives.

The Red Book

I may tell you a story, the decision is on you, do you want to listen? Then keep reading till you get to the end, but you are already reading this, so, now you have to read to the end, promise? Remember that you can’t break a promise; you’ll read to the end. You will, right? Now let’s get to the point, you wanted a story, didn’t you? I’ll tell you a story, but, it’s better if you hear it from the main character. If I tell you then it is gossip, and I don’t like gossip, Chase, why don’t you go ahead? Tell them your story.

Chase’s story

There I was, locked, trapped. I just had a chance, I ran to the table, I took a paper and a pen  – To whoever that finds this, do not read “the red book”, I repeat DO NOT READ “THE RED BOOK” – that was what I wrote on the white page – It’s not “the red book”, it’s “Red’s book” –

Then, all of a sudden, Red appeared next to me, she hit me, I fell, then she touched my left hand and my hand faded away, transforming into words, and going straight to a blank page in “The Red Book”. With my hand the title was written “Chase’s story”, and slowly my body started writing a story, it hurt, every piece of me, every piece taken away, the book was almost blank, the only thing written was my story, and the story of someone else.

I lost my left arm when the story besides mine started shaking, and a boy got out of there, but he looked like a ghost, “Red!” he screamed, “you promised!, It was just me!, no one else” then my eyes got foggy, as my memory, the last thing I saw was Red with her long black hair, her brown-redded eyes and her mad smile…

“Girl” I heard “Girl, are you ok?”, “I guess” I said, laying on the floor, without truly knowing what I was saying

- Where are we? Who are you?

- Well girl, that’s a long, long story, who are YOU?

- Chase, Chase Lambert, and you?

Alex’s story

- My name is Alex – I said to the confused girl

- Well, ALEX, what are you doing here? I just read your story, what did you say about Red?

- Well, she was mad when she was alive, she wrote wonderful stories, there was a sparkle inside her eyes…

- Wait, did you know her?

- She was a classmate, but that’s not the point, she was offended

- How?

- She used to have a book with red covers, and one day our classmates took her book and they started burning the book in front of her eyes

- Why?!

- They were bored, I know it’s not an excuse, but that was their way, they enjoyed pain, sorrow and destruction, when they burned the book they burned a part of Red, they found her body in the girls bathroom a week later

- How awful!

- She had no friends, and our classmates were giving away something that she was holding in her hands when she passed away, “The Red Book”, I took it because I thought that it would be better in my hands, how wrong I was, she was so hurt that she couldn’t see the differences between friends or foes. When I took the book the only thing I saw was an introduction in the one I had to promise that I would read the whole book, that was enough to call Red, and she put me inside the book, but I made her promise that I was the first and the last… but as you see, she didn’t keep her promise.

- And… where are we Alex?

- Nowhere, and everywhere, we are inside the book, now WE are her stories, we will live endlessly in these pages

- How long have you been here?

- I don’t know, I was trapped in… August, August 21st, 1984

- That’s almost 20 years ago!

- 20 years… 20 years I have been trapped

- So… I guess we have no choice, now we are Red stories

…

I hope you liked my stories, a lot of people are part of them, do you want to be part of my stories? Of course you want! So, don’t worry, you’ll be part of my stories soon.

“Rebecca Elizabeth Davies”

R.E.D.