Daniel Briskman, Period 1, 4/8/22

Daniel Briskman, Period 1, 4/8/22

Creativity & Fiction

Craft a piece of fiction that addresses one or more of the following:

Literary elements (i.e. structure, tone, diction, mood, irony, and figurative language) to craft a narrative and/or poetry.

Structural features of drama (stage directions, character attributions/tags, dialogue, monologues, and/or soliloquies) to craft a script.

Multidimensional characters to develop themes and create socio-political metaphors.


It was just another day of school. We were in computer science. Mr. Whalen was giving an impassioned speech on the other side of the classroom. I don’t know what it was about; I zone out for most of his speeches. I was jolted back to consciousness, however, when I felt something on my wrist. It was my classmate and best friend, Charley, biting me. Her teeth sank into my skin and she looked at me with a blank stare, as if she were dead inside. I heard the sound of a large drum. Then I heard the sound of another drum. They were thumping in rhythm, faster and faster. I knew these drums were our heartbeats. Then the trumpets started playing, which prompted the realization that we were just close to the band room. Eventually, I gasped and pulled my hand away. There was no wound left behind, but I was sure she sucked my blood. All of it. Faster than she slurps up a medium Dunkin’ Donuts iced caramel macchiato. I welled up with fear and rage. “Charley, what have you done!?”


I should’ve known. How did I miss the signs? After all, such actions are not uncharacteristic of Charley. She often spontaneously bursts into unintelligible noise and weird gesticulations out of boredom. I thought nothing of it before—they seemed nothing but idiosyncrasies—but it all made sense now: I’d befriended a vampire. Why me??


I haven’t seen Charley since the incident; I’m a creature of the night now. I spend each day alone in my basement, sleeping by the day, watching anime by the night. My parents keep trying to call me (I would assume to ask me what’s wrong, why haven’t I emerged from the basement for a week, and why my grades on pupilpath are plummeting), but I don’t have the heart to tell them. No offense to my brother (actually, maybe slight offense), but I’m sure that I’m my parents’ favorite, and I wouldn’t want to disappoint them. They have a nice, conventional life as a human planned out for me. What am I supposed to do now, marry a nice, Jewish vampire?


By now, you may be asking, “Daniel, why do you think you’re a vampire?” My response is, everything. Everything points to my being a vampire. I feel empty, I hate too much garlic in food, I’m scared of sharp stakes, and I become active during the night. There’s just one last thing to prove: the desire to eat humans. You would think it would be easy to tell if you want to eat humans, but you’d be surprised. After all, if you see a tasty-looking human, how do you know if you want to eat that human or be that human?


It’s too hard for me to figure that out at the moment, so for now I’m stuck all by myself. And you know what? Being a vampire is not so bad! I’m immortal, which means I can linger here on Earth, watching anime, forever. I’ll see every sequel and reboot. I’ll see how One Piece ends, and I’ll be there for when Hunter x Hunter isn’t on hiatus. Wait, scratch that, Hunter x Hunter is always on hiatus. Damn it. OH! Aside from watching anime, I can wear cool and edgy clothes!! I’ll never fit the aesthetic as well as Charley does, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try! Right? OH I CAN WEAR A CAPE OH MY GOD THIS IS GOING TO BE AMAZING!!!


But I can’t keep living like this. I’m so lonely. I need to find other vampire friends and eat humans together and wear capes together and watch anime together. I have to go back to school to see Charley and get her to introduce me to the rest of her terrible vampire friends. Tomorrow’s a dress up day so no one will suspect a thing.


As I walk into Staten Island Technical High School, I am hit by a wave, no, a tsunami, of scent. It’s the scent of human sweat accented by the building’s natural humidity. I take a deep breath in, allowing the aroma to fill my nostrils. I used to think the building smelled bad, but now that I’m a vampire maybe I’ll like it? I’m also starting to gain an appreciation of the building’s natural life. It’s mainly just roaches, but they will provide an easy source of nourishment for when I’m ready to commit to the whole vampire thing. At the moment roaches and rats seem gross. Maybe humans will taste better. My joyful pondering will have to wait, though, because I just spotted her, Charley Aideen Rose Boris Baluja, in the flesh, in a dashing black cape (holy crap I have never wanted a cape so much in my life). It is time for me to approach her. Wish me luck.