The Black TV Screen Syndrome
"Wake up! It's time to go to school! Are you alright with your stomach?"
"Mom, don't worry… I'm already awake…and maybe… I'm ok…"
Being absent minded, I went to the bathroom. In the mirror, there stood a boy with his bloodshot eyes and his face was melting down like a burning candle. For the first time, I nearly came to know how it feels to be an insomnia sufferer. The only thing I did wrong was that I wasn't honest for my emotion, which resulted in the white night all alone at my room.
August 2002, there was a typhoon called Rusa, the most powerful typhoon ever to strike South Korea. My friends and I were 11-year-old kids living in the city Samcheok and our parents were quite enthusiastic to help the flood victims. They went out for voluntary work almost every day and we used to stay together in one of our houses. One day, like the other days before, five kids were all together and I didn't know I would get into trouble this day.
After dinner, we were finding something to play with.
"I don't want to play computer games, video games and board games any more. I feel sick of them. Anybody knows something else to play with?"
Then one of my friends stood up and took his bag before us and said,
"I've got something to show you guys."
Then he took a video tape out of his bag and the title was written on it; The Ring. This was the exact point where the problem began, and it was so kind of him to prepare that Japanese horror movie for our horrible night.
Nothing enforced us to watch the movie. However, we did dig our own grave.
"Is it really that scary?" "I am not afraid of such a thing."
All of a sudden, we all became participants in a bravery competition. Looking into each other's eyes, no one was even trying to give up the weird competition. Maybe, we were pretending to be "manly" among each other and no one wanted to be a loser or a coward. As a result, we turned the light off and closed curtains. In the complete darkness, we clicked the start button.
I don't remember the story at all, but there's a scene that shocked me, which I cannot forget forever. One of the main characters turns a cursed video on. After a glimpse of buzzing TV screen, it shows a creepy well. Sadako, the Virgin Ghost with long hair covering all over her face, comes out of the well and slowly walks forward. It crawls out from the screen and makes the main character die from heart attack.
Watching the video, no one screamed or ran away. I still wonder what gave us that useless but powerful patience and self-control. The film ended and after a short silence, we said,
"Yes, I knew it won't be that scary." "I enjoyed it. It was really interesting."
Now that I think of it, we were perfect actors.
As parents came back home, we all went back to our own home. That night, I had stomachache. Of course, I was so nervous watching the video that my digestive system refused to work. Looking at me, mom said,
"What's wrong? Your face looks so pale."
"I just have stomachache. Maybe something went bad with my dinner."
I didn't tell even a word about the Ring. My manly bravery was still working hard inside me, so I didn't want to admit that I was totally frightened.
I took pills and tried to go to bed. Unfortunately, stomachache was not the only symptom I got. I didn't know I was that imaginative and creative until I turned the light off in my bedroom. It felt like Sadako would be watching me next to my face or below my feet. The problem was I didn't know how to react if I face with Sadako eyes to eyes. So, I was stiffly lying on my bed like a log. What is worse, when my eyes got accustomed to the darkness, I could see the silhouette of TV in the living room through the door of my room. "That black screen will be turned on with the buzzing sound and Sadako will come out of the well and then out of the TV, and then…" Darkness was amplifying my fear, so I turned the light on. Through the whole night, I worried, worried and worried endlessly. Aftereffect of the black TV screen syndrome remained for about 3 weeks.
Time heals all wounds? Yes, these days I sleep tight without any fear of nightmare; but no, I hate watching horror movies. For readers, try to be honest for yourself when it comes to the emotion and try not to endure every burden before you, or Sadako will bully you through the whole night for some day.
It is indeed an interesting story! As I read this, it almost felt like I was the one who is feeling the fear after watching a horror movie. I liked your opening part, where you vividly described yourself being scared. It certainly drew my attention, and made me wonder the next part of the story.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I liked that your story showed consistency regarding tense, and it was easy to distinguish between the story part and the lesson part.
Moses Choi
201101787 신기태
ReplyDeleteI guess your title is bit ambiguous for reader to know what the story would be.
I think starting the introduction with direct quotation is a good idea to attract reader's attention, which means it was quite nice opener.
Throughout the story your description on situation and your inner emotion is incredibly vivid and lively as well as your direct quotations.
I personally think the topic itself is not that interesting, but how you developed it makes your story fun and interesting enough to read until the end.
The Black TV Screen Syndrome
ReplyDelete“Wake up! It’s time to go to school! Are you alright with your stomach?”
“Mom, don’t worry… I’m already awake…and maybe… I’m ok…”
Being a half absent minded, I staggered to the bathroom. In the mirror, there stood a boy with his bloodshot eyes and his face was melting down like a burning candle. For the first time, I nearly came to know how it feels to be an insomnia sufferer. The only thing I did wrong was that I wasn’t honest for my emotion, which resulted in the white night all alone at my room.
August 2002, there was a typhoon called Rusa, the most powerful typhoon ever to strike South Korea. My friends and I were 11-year-old kids living in the city Samcheok and our parents were quite enthusiastic to help the flood victims. They went out for the voluntary work almost every day and we used to stay together in one of our houses. One day, it was raining hard with thunder and lightning. Parents went out and five kids were all together. I didn’t know I would get into trouble this day.
After dinner, we were finding something to play with.
“I don’t want to play computer games, video games and board games any more. I feel sick of them. Anybody knows something else to play with?”
Then one of my friends stood up and took his bag before us and said,
“I’ve got something to show you guys.”
Then he took a video tape out of his bag and the title was written on it; The Ring. This was the exact point where the problem began, and it was so kind of him to prepare that Japanese horror movie for our horrible night.
Nothing enforced us to watch the movie. However, we did dig our own grave.
“Is it really that scary?” “I am not afraid of such a thing.”
All of a sudden, we all became participants in a bravery competition. Looking into each other’s eyes, no one was even trying to give up the weird competition. Maybe, we were pretending to be “manly” among each other and no one wanted to be a loser or a coward. As a result, we turned the light off and closed curtains. In the complete darkness with thunderstorm outside, we clicked the start button.
I don’t remember the story at all, but there’s a scene that shocked me, which I cannot forget forever. One of the main characters turns a cursed video on. After a glimpse of buzzing TV screen, it shows a creepy well. Sadako, the Virgin Ghost with long hair covering all over her face, comes out of the well and slowly walks forward. It crawls out from the screen and makes the main character die from heart attack.
In the perfect harmony of the movie and the typhoon Rusa, five pairs of eyes were looking at the TV screen giving sidelong glances to each other. However, no one screamed or ran away. I still wonder what gave us that useless but powerful patience and self-control. The film ended and after a short silence, we said,
“Yes, I knew it won’t be that scary.” “I enjoyed it. It was really interesting.”
Now that I think of it, we were perfect actors.
As parents came back, we all went back to our own home. That night, I had stomachache. Of course, I was so nervous watching the video that my entire digestive system refused to work. Looking at me, mom said,
ReplyDelete“What’s wrong? Your face looks so pale.”
“I just have stomachache. Maybe something went bad with my dinner.”
I didn’t say even a word about the Ring. My manly bravery was still working hard inside me, so I didn’t want to admit that I was totally frightened.
I took pills and tried to go to bed. Unfortunately, stomachache was not the only symptom I got. I didn’t know I was that imaginative and creative until I turned the light off in my bedroom. It felt like Sadako would be watching me right next to my face or below my feet. The problem was I didn’t know how to react when I face Sadako from eyes to eyes. So, I was stiffly lying on my bed like a log. What is worse, when my eyes got accustomed to the darkness, I could see the silhouette of TV in the living room through the door. “That black screen will be turned on with the buzzing sound and Sadako will come out of the well and then out of the TV, and then…” Darkness was amplifying my fear, so I turned the light on. Through the whole night, I worried, worried and worried endlessly.
Aftereffect of the black TV screen syndrome remained for about 3 weeks. That day in the horrible darkness, if I had given up winning the competition and tried to be honest with my emotion, I wouldn’t have been caught by the severe syndrome.
Time heals all wounds? Yes, these days I sleep tight without any fear of nightmare; but no, I hate watching horror movies. And for readers, try to be honest for yourself when it comes to the emotion and try not to endure every burden before you, or Sadako will bully you through the whole night for some day.
Choi, Won-joon (201203589)
About the comment regarding the ambiguous title:
ReplyDeleteI agree with the perspective that the title makes readers hard to guess about the content. So, I agonized with the problem. However, I decided to persist on "The Black TV Screen Syndrome", for one of the title's roles is working as a hook. I was afraid what if showing everything in my title makes the whole story boring.
Choi, Won-joon (201203589)