The first Projection On Paper story, by Zachary Storch

Crash! Another tree hit the ground.

“So, how much do we get for a tree anyway?” said Jeff, newcomer to the logging business.

“Not much,” said logging supervisor Matt. “The big thing is just to clear them; we are paid for getting the job done so that buildings can be built. We have a guy coming here today that said he would be able to help us with that a great deal.”

Later that day, the visitor arrived. He drove up at a frantic pace and stopped just short of Jeff. Immediately after he leapt out of the door of the charcoal colored van, slamming it as he did so. He shouted out in a gruff voice to the other loggers: “I’m here! Everyone gather round! I’ve something amazing to show you, guaranteed to change your jobs and lives forever!” He then quickly ran around to the back of the van and swiftly opened the trunk. He shut it as quickly as it opened. He jogged back around to the front carrying a large case.

Logging supervisor Matt approached him promptly. “Is what you have really so important?” Matt said, not wasting any time.

“It is,” the visitor said, nearly interrupting Matt. “And there is one for all of you shortly. let me just give you a quick demo.” The visitor flipped open the case and whipped out some kind of a machine. He got right to the demonstration, hitting the switch on it with haste. It shot out a blase of flame, vanishing almost as soon as it came forth. “Use this,” the visitor said, “And you’ll never have to cut down another tree again!”

Jeff did not like the sound of this. The rest of the loggers did. They all rushed over to the trunk of the charcoal colored van and each hastily grabbed a case. They marched back to the trees, burning them down as they stampeded by. Jeff tried to protest, but the roar of the flames covered his voice. Logging supervisor Matt ran over to Jeff with two cases, pushing one of them into Jeff’s hands.

“Get to work,” Matt said. Jeff stood there, staring off into the forest, now fully engulfed by fire. “Matt tried again. “Get to work! You’re wasting time, hurry up!” Jeff started to move, then fell to the ground cowering form the flames, now burning the grassy field on which the charcoal colored van sat. “Hurry up!” Matt said, kicking Jeff as he did so. Jeff started to cry. Heat intense, the tears evaporated as soon as they were shed. Jeff stood up, and quickly afterwards was hit by the wall of fire. He could still hear Matt talking, now joined by the visitor, “Hurry up! You’re wasting time! Quit slacking off! Make haste! Go!”

Jeff no longer heard them, his world was now black.

He slowly got up. He stretched lazily and yawned hard. He shifted his body around, only now remember his nightmare. Not all of it was untrue. He was going to start his life as a logger that afternoon. “That one… was a big one,” Jeff said. He slowly took a breath and let it out at a relaxed pace. Well,” he said yawning again, “Maybe I should look for a job elsewhere.” He arose calmly from bed and walked over to the door of his room. He sighed, opened it, and let it shut behind him on its own, slow pace.

Author’s Note: This is the original version of Faster than I wrote in high-school. I had written other scraps of stories before, but this was basically my first story I was every proud of that I had written. Before this one I had never considered myself any sort of a writer. This is the story that started everything for me. I wanted to post it here. It was very, very tempting to make changes with the skill I have now, but I did not. Am I as proud of this now? No, but I am proud of what I have done and how much I have grown as an author.