#maywritingchallenge

Create a detailed new character profile for the fun of it.

I can hear the rain falling and it’s a welcome white noise, it’s giving me something to focus on, something else to focus on. I pull the umbrella down to cover my eyes, I don’t want to see anyone else. I hate that everyone is here. What could they possibly miss about you? What could they possibly know? I was the only one who really understood you. You sacrifice yourself for the greater good. Will they ever know just what that means?

My grip tightens on the handle of my umbrella, it screams as it begins to bend. It’s a small sound but it echoes my heart. I can’t bare anymore. What has the greater good ever done for us? Why us? Why you? I feel my jaw tighten as the anger builds. I will find a way to undo this. I would rather die at your side along with the rest of this filthy planet than live without you.

Name: Durand Ramírez 

Pronouns: He/Him

Age: 37

Nationality: Mexican American

Orientation: Straight Ally

Lives in: Las Vegas, Nevada

Currently in: Queens, New York

Small business owner that comes from old money. (a garden coffee shop he’d gifted to his wife because it was her dream)

Widower

6’2”

Stalky and large upper body but not too big. He exercises regularly in his at home gym.

Deep grey eyes, cloudy with loss

Black hair, short/spikey

Square face, no scars, a little stubble, nose bent from being broken as a result of school yard fights

He prefers to wear jeans and a plane t-shirt, his wife tried to get him to wear fashionable items, but he prefers comfort.

He likes to wear a hat and prefers contacts to classes

He has no accessories except for his wedding ring, which he refuses to remove

He’s put together and hardly ever disheveled.

His only illness is a broken heart

He gestures with his arms when he is angry and his face turns red, a vein appears over his temple when he’s really angry

He’s never shy about making eye contact and when other’s look away, he moves to regain their gaze.

His mantra or catchphrase is “Keep your head” something he says when he’s really upset, his wife helped him come up with it.

He curses occasionally, never at work or at his employees.

He has a deep baritone voice, and it intimidates people

He hasn’t really laughed in a while, but he does chuckle at joke or when he’s about to chew someone out.

When he genuinely smiles his face lights up and softens a bit. It’s beautiful but rare

Unless he is really angry or upset, he is hard to read and is often unapproachable because people can never tell when he’s about to lose it until it’s too late.

His default expression is flat, a small smirk rests at the corner of his mouth, this doesn’t necessarily mean he is in a good mood.

Other than his wedding ring, he carries a small coin his father gave to him as a child, this coin was the first penny his father ever earned when he moving to America.

His only anxious tick is that he’ll run his thumb over his wedding ring, twisting it around his finger, it reminds him of his wife, when he needs to be grounded, he’ll do this. However, He doesn’t notice that he does this.

He grew up in Nevada, just outside the city of Las Vegas, he would spend most nights looking out at the bright lights of the city and dream of winning the jackpot in order to help his family earn enough money to be comfortable.

His parents spent their time working to give him a better life, forgetting that a child needs their parents attention as well. He doesn’t blame them now that he’s older but was very lonely growing up. He went to the best schools in the area. He met his future wife in middle school, but they never officially began talking until high school. He always thinks about how much more time they could have had together if he’d spoken to her back in seventh grade.

He was very involved in sports at school, he tried out for a bunch of teams but likes basketball the most. He was also interested in the arts. He took a semester of band after hearing them play at one of his games. He was mediocre at sports, but he still had fun.

His earliest memory is his mother hanging laundry in the yard while he ran around chasing lizards. He can still smell the detergent sometimes.

His saddest memory before losing his wife is how his parents weren’t at his college graduation because they were both busy that day.

His happiest memory is when his parents took him to Circus Circus, they spend the entire day together.

His favorite food is pasta, doesn’t matter what kind.

He hates carrots, he keeps trying them but doesn’t like how sweet they are.

He loves classical music but doesn’t listen to it exclusively, He’ll listen to the latest hits and classic rock.

He tries to follow basketball but doesn’t have as much time as he used to so he catches the highlights in his free time.

He loves to read but there is not much time. His bookshelf is filled with books about business and law, but if you look carefully, you can find comic books among his collection.

Money is no object, but he doesn’t really care about cars, He’d prefer not to drive but when he does he wants an inconspicuous vehicle.  He owns a Toyota Camry

He used to be an extrovert but since losing his wife, he doesn’t want to be around people who knew them together.

He’s afraid of falling in love again, thinking it will erase what his wife meant to him.

His idea of happiness is spending the rest of his days in the middle of nowhere in a house with his family.

His favorite place in the world is Mexico, where he has extended family.

His strengths are communication and he’s very charming when he wants to be.

His biggest flaw is his anger, he’s had to patch a few holes in his walls. He doesn’t really hit the walls so much anymore after finding a stud once. His hand still hurts when he moves it sometimes or when it gets too cold.

What he wants most out of life is just a general comfort, he wants to feel whole again.

His ideas of love were always positive, he wanted a relationship like the one his parents had. His ideas of love are still strong even if he will not allow himself to love again.

He’s not a fan of change but he will deal with things as they come, sometimes he needs to repeat his mantra. “keep your head”

he desires power so that he can have as much control over his own life as possible.

He’s a leader, he’s always been a leader, even in his friend groups, they would all look to him to make decisions.

He gets excited when things go his way.

“Write a story where a computer starts talking back to a very old lady trying to use it to shop for groceries online”

You had walked past this room many times; your grandson was always… how did he put it? Pwning noobs on his computer game. Whatever that meant. He seemed to have a lot of fun with that contraption. Still, you were always wary of new things. Darn troublesome computers.

You glanced out the window at the snow-covered panes and let out a sigh. You had planned to go to the store that morning, but the blasted weather had other plans. A few years ago, you might have been brave enough to venture outside despite the blizzard. You looked down at your Shakey hands and wondered just how age had caught up with you. The sneaky bitch!

You carefully crept into the computer room and glared at the machine before you. It was a bit intimidating to say the least. A curvy screen showed a picture of an… interesting character with cat ears and large eyes, wearing a maid outfit. The tower next to the monitor was black with bright red lights dancing throughout. A hose with red liquid could be seen through the glass wall of the tower.

You pulled the chair away from the desk and took a seat, the chair was more comfortable than it looked, and you felt sort of powerful. You sat up glanced up at the screen once more, wondering where to begin. You glanced down at the glowing keyboard, then over at the mouse. You poked at the mouse and the screen changed to the store website. At least you thought so, the logo looked right.

You read the screen and it led you to the online shopping tab, you clicked on it and a small chat box appeared in the corner. You didn’t know what to do with that, so you clicked on the X in the corner. It disappeared and you began to gain confidence. This computer thing was easy.

You reached for the mouse again and the chat box opened once more. Good morning. How may I assist you today?

“I said don’t need your help.” You said out loud. “Go away.”

You don’t want me to do that. Came the reply in chat. Huh? Was that a coincidence or was the chat box voice activated?

You need apples right, and Macaroni and Cheese for your grandson? I can help you with that.

Where computers really that smart? You smiled softly and decided that the help would be appreciated, and you spent the next hour filling your cart.

Suddenly, your phone rang. You flipped open the phone and noticed your grandson’s name in large bold letters. You answered quickly. “Hello.”

“Hey, I just wanted to make sure you are okay, it occurred to me that I should have left you instructions on how to shop online.”

“No need to worry. It was easy. Some man in the chat helped me.” You said,

”You were the needle in the haystack”

There were a million reasons why this wouldn’t work. You took a few shaky steps toward the edge of the building. There were no hands waiting to catch you on the other side, only a swift end at the bottom of a dank alley should you miss.

“There they are!” shouted a man with a thick Eastern European accent. I glanced over your shoulder; you could see the beams of their flashlights cutting through the polluted air. You looked back across the alley at your destination. The adjacent roof was a bit lower than the roof on which you were standing. You’d have to roll as soon as you cleared the alley.

You huffed in a few breaths and took three steps back before running toward the edge. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. You chanted.

When you reached the end of the building, you pushed off the ground making the greatest leap you’d ever made. You quickly ducked low and balled your body up. It met with the ground, and you rolled forward a few feet. The rocky surface of the roof dug into your skin; it was painful but better than what those henchmen had in store for you.

You rolled to your feet and began running once again. Your pursuers began shouting at each other and suddenly bullets began to fly. You ran so fast you could no longer feel your legs beneath you. You made your way to the edge of roof and hoped to find some way to escape. You’d seen, when you began this chase, that this building would be the last. For beyond it was the frigid unwelcoming arms of the ocean.

Bullets continued to fly past you and you knew it would be a matter of time before those asshats caught up to you. At that point you would live out the rest of you days wishing one of those bullets had hit you. Determined not to be tortured for the rest of your life (short as it would be) you took your chances with the water below.

“Here goes.” You said as you took another mighty leap, diving into the icy water below.

You shivered, and you knew it would only be a matter of time before the sea would claim you. Above you could see the men waving their arms in irritation and you could hear them shouting at you in their native language. You ignored them and swam back toward the dock. Something burned in your pocket. The item you had gone to so much trouble to retrieve. You pulled it free of its confines and held it up to the rising sun.  

The sun peered through the murky sky, hitting the stone just right, it began to glow “You’re a hard one to find, you little pain in the ass.” You said.