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PORTFOLIO Iuliia Matselevich Includes Reflective essay Three in the Room A Wonderful Story of a Happy Young Couple Amelia a smaller writing assignment 2021

REFLECTIVE ESSAY For a person who is not a native English speaker I am from Russia and who has never even been to the USA fiction writing was a challenge not only because of the language barrier but also because of the differences in cultures and life habits Nevertheless I believe my writing path for this semester was successful When writing the stories I looked for inspiration in real life cases and video games I prefer dark stories revealing current social problems with open endings and plot twists I usually reveal the characters through dialogues or their reflections I think my writing style was greatly affected by Stephen King whom I used to read a lot in my teen years The first story Three in the Room is full of symbolism I wanted to show what depressed people feel The room itself is depression and the characters are trapped there not knowing how to get out These characters represent three feelings anger sadness and desire to fix their lives Honestly I think that was my main mistake to make the story like that because not many people got the real message Anyway I still like the story A Wonderful Story of a Happy Young Couple was inspired by a real case when in Russia a husband chopped off his wife s hands I wanted to highlight the problem of domestic violence because in Russia and some other countries it is decriminalized However I picked the most common names for the characters and did not give much description of their home or appearance conveying that such situations can take place in any country with any people Amelia was inspired by a video game Detroit Become Human and an episode of Black Mirror called Be Right Back Unlike the previous stories Amelia doesn t have a particular message I wanted everyone to make their own opinion about the main character and his relationships But personally I don t think that robots can love back because they are programmed for specific tasks and can t do things beyond their code Hopefully it is noticeable how my writing improved throughout the stories I learned how to use symbolism so the reader understands the signs and how to create authentic characters All in all I am glad that I chose this course and I am glad that I had enough energy to finish at least all the major stories

THREE IN THE ROOM They opened their eyes at the same time and found themselves in a room Dimmed LED panels in the ceiling old brick walls dirt floor an iron door and cold It was the kind of cold that made someone want to wrap themselves in a blanket They were three in the room a middle aged man in a dark suit with a red tie that d idn t fit him a teenage girl with short ragged blue hair that looked like she cut and dyed it herself and a young man in a blue shirt and simple jeans They looked around not knowing where they were or how they got there Hey I remember you the young man addressed the girl Nora right Nala she corrected She shivered and hugged her knees Right the man with the tie stood up The girl who likes skipping classes Mr Bates asked Nala with her brows raised Didn t you quit Mr Bates the young man repeated after her And who are you You look familiar asked Mr Bates The name s Gaus You graduated last year said Nala avoiding eye contact Okay enough twaddling Mr Bates went to the door He tried to pull then to push it but the door wouldn t open Is it locked Gaus stood up No it s damn wide open panic and anger rose in Mr Bates s voice He slapped his palm on the door then started to kick it Open the door he yelled Open The damn Door The metal clang and his words were turning together into an appalling melody that was setting the teeth on edge Nala closed her ears and hid her face in her knees Nobody seemed to be going to open the door Perhaps there wasn t even anyone on the other side

Hey Mr Bates Calm down Gaus touched Mr Bates s shoulder There s gotta be another way out Mr Bates stopped His face grew red and his breathing was heavy What if there s no way out Nala raised her head Her stare was blank There s gotta be one Gaus looked around It s easy for you to sit there and do nothing Don t you want to get out Mr Bates told her Well maybe I don t Nala answered quietly Don t you wanna see your family Gaus asked Nala smiled sadly and shook her head Your friends I don t have friends Who do you skip your classes with then Mr Bates grinned Do they really let such mockers like you work at school I don t work at school anymore Then don t get to me with your classes Please Gaus interfered We re all on edge now Yeah leave me alone Nala said to Mr Bates Don t tell me what to do For now I m the only one who tries to leave the place Mr Bates punched the wall in anger From the impact an old brick fell out leaving a dark hole Everyone froze for a second then rushed to the wall They pushed the bricks out kicked and pulled them until the hole became big enough The light LED panels came through the hole and another wall was seen there Gaus looked in and saw a narrow room a couple of feet wide without another door or passage there Well Mr Bates sounded impatiently Double walls What Mr Bates pushed Gaus away and looked himself Damn it

Nala moaned went back and sat in the corner in her habitual pose knees hugged face hidden Mr Bates took a brick and threw it into the wall in the other room to break it Having failed he tried to kick the wall but that time the bricks weren t so old and crumbling Does it work asked Gaus Your stupid questions again yelled Mr Bates and went back What are you blind With great force he kicked another old wall made a hole looked into there and saw another wall Mr Bates was becoming furious He kept rushing around taking bricks and throwing them in different directions Walls walls walls wailed he Who built this place The bricks smashed into pieces and one of them ricocheted with noise into the ceiling Gaus and Mr Bates looked up simultaneously There s gotta be something behind the panels said Gaus Maybe answered Mr Bates Come on kid I ll boost you up There s nothing to cling to Gaus examined the ceiling then looked around Let s make a stand with the bricks Finally a good idea from you It won t work There s no way out said Nala No one paid attention to her Mr Bates and Gaus picked up the bricks and put them together forming a solid stand tall enough for them to reach the panels Mr Bates climbed onto it opened one of the panels and examined the hole There s nothing here he yelled and started to rip off all the panels one by one Nothing Told you said Nala without raising her head There s gotta be something replied Gaus No She s right Mr Bates became calmer and quieter He sat down on the stand and took his tie off with despair There s no way out

Gaus sat down too and sighed Never going to see your college again huh Tiredness and sadness filled Mr Bates s voice They didn t take me Well here s our Mr Smarty pants Mr Bates why are you so angry You didn t quit did you They fired you Mr Bates didn t answer They sat in silence for some time utill Gaus became cold without movement We still gotta get out He stood up and looked around again Maybe we can dig our way out under the door said he unenthusiastically While Gaus tried to make a hole in the frozen ground Mr Bates stood back on the brick stand pulled his belt out his pants bound it with his tie for more length attached it to the ceiling partition and tied the other end around his neck Then without saying a word he broke the stand with his feet Having heard the noise Gaus turned around then ran to Mr Bates and embraced his legs trying not to let him hang Mr Bates cried Gaus Why you Nala help Nala didn t respond or move It seemed like she wasn t even breathing Nala Help Gaus looked at the door Please somebody help us Help us Help us Gaus was heard The door clicked and opened

A WONDERFUL STORY OF A HAPPY YOUNG COUPLE I m standing before the front door holding the knob but not coming in yet I m observing the smudges of paint on the door trying to hear what s going on inside I ve got no thoughts and it feels like my head is empty Finally I open the door and come in The smell of boiled cabbage immediately hits me and I wrinkle James s cooking again He s not good at it but I never said that to him I d hate to see him upset I m home I say My voice is toneless I m in the kitchen He says that like he s very busy and I m distracting him from an important thing I pull my coat off go to the bathroom lock the door and turn on the water in the sink I stroke the cold ceramics and look at myself through the mirror I look into my eyes watching my pupils shaking a little At some point they start to dilate and my body uncontrollably leans closer to the mirror It scares me but I can t stop The darkness in my eyes expands and I feel how it starts to consume me Mary Stop wasting water What are you doing there I flinch at his voice It takes a little time for me to understand what James said I turn the water off hoping that he won t yell at me for this Sorry I couldn t wash the dirt off You should be more careful Yeah Sorry I look at myself again My eyes came back to normal No darkness is going to consume me I m just exhausted I forgot to wash my hands but if I ll turn the water on again James will critique me for my forgetfulness so I leave the bathroom and follow the sound of metal pots rattling

James stands by the stove cutting vegetables with a knife which is too big for this task The cabbage smell is especially intense here The whole room is a mess sauce stains on the floor pots and pans taken from the shelves and put on the table the fridge door opened I gently close the fridge door Having heard it James turns around wipes his fingers on his T shirt and notices me You re late today he says Yeah sorry I couldn t find my keys Careless again Sorry Recently James and I have been living together not like a couple but rather like a single father and his daughter A father who is always busy or tired A father who only remembers his child only when she does something wrong James always treats me like this A f ather who wants me to be perfect but he never admits his own mistakes But how can I be angry at him How can a child be angry at his parent James turns his back to check the oven and then suddenly asks Are you late because of Nick What James turns to face me again See You re not here again What are you thinking about Sorry You were thinking about being sorry No I My limbs and my head became heavy from the tension I feel like I m melting like I m about to fall down to become liquid and to flow away James mentioned Nick so now he s going to get under my skin The father is going to scold his daughter without looking into the situation Mary Are you here James yells

Sorry Don t be sorry Are you retarded Why do you keep ignoring me I made him mad It s my fault I m thinking too much before answering Now he s not going to calm down till tomorrow Why am I always like this I want to disappear Hello I m asking you about Nick His face is red and his voice is louder James takes a step forward and I take a step back to the wall Will you say anything Was that about Nick or not He almost screams now James punches the wall so close to my face that his arm hair brushes against my cheek I can t control my tears and I let them run down But I can t answer him because if I make a sound I ll wail What s with the tears Did you cheat on me with him James yells right in my face No My voice is so quiet and hoarse that I don t recognize it You re a slut You know that I can t explain anything to James Not because I m guilty I simply can t speak I wish I could run away from here The daughter wants to go to her mother Answer me I slide down the wall Now James towers above me like a mighty giant ready to step on me an ugly gnome He seems like an asteroid about to fall and smash me a little dinosaur I try to say something but instead of words I wheeze in an unnatural voice Are these the sounds of you banging him James s voice echoes in my head and interrupts my thoughts I shake my head to say no With what hand do you jerk him off James leans towards me grabs my right hand and squeezes it I scream and once I ve made the sound I can t help but cry I know James hates it when I cry Now he ll be even madder The water in the pot on the oven boils over the sides James leaves me and goes there to turn the gas off I didn t I m sorry

I managed to say a few words but I couldn t think of a better thing then to apologize I just want James to calm down The daughter wants her father to love her But having heard my words James pushes the pot off the stove in my direction and the boiling water pours out on me Don t Be Sorry I feel like I m on fire I wanted to scream at first but I don t have enough air so I soundlessly open my mouth like a fish washed ashore I m so dizzy that I can t think James keeps yelling at me but I can t understand his words The water got into my eyes so I m blinded My whole body is throbbing but I can t even feel the pain anymore I just smell cabbage Everything is boiled cabbage now I close my eyes I will never open them again

AMELIA The sun is so high and so bright that I can barely see anything It s quite cool in the morning but it will be hot in the afternoon and I would be dying in the office if not air conditioning I hate going outside especially in summer In fact I don t like each season In winter it s frosty and I have to clean the snow off my car too often In spring it s wet and dirty and once I m used to the winter s cold it s warm again Summer is the worst I can handle the cold by putting on more clothes but I can t avoid the hot air even if I tear my skin off In fall it s rainy and dirty again and I have to get used to cold weather again I wish I lived in a place with unchanging weather I d leave this state with Amelia right now if I had a chance Amelia I hope she s not too bored at home alone I hate leaving her How do families manage to communicate with all that work for adults and school for children They must barely see each other I work eight hours a day and it feels like I have only ten minutes to spend with Amelia Thinking about all that I haven t noticed how I arrived at the parking lot Now I need to find a free spot which is not easy with all those morons on their unnecessarily huge cars who can take two spots at once like an overweight dude who takes two seats at the cinema The parking lot looks more like a cowshed full of animals who don t know how to pass each other Anyway I manage to park a car and I head up to the building As I enter I am met by our security guy Edmund Hello Mr Chapeck he says Your ID please He knows how ridiculously this sounds He might as well say Hello Mr Carel Chapeck what s your name But I stopped blaming this guy long time ago I know now that it s the company bosses caring about their precious secrets Like no one knows what s going on behind the closed doors of the meeting room But Edmund the guy s just doing his job As if in confirmation of my words Edmund quickly looked at the surveillance camera in the corner I show Edmund my ID card with my name and my picture in it he nods and lets me go

through the turnstile I approach the elevator there are already some people waiting We nod to each other I don t know their names looks like they re not from my floor And that goes better with milk It s not much cheaper though I turn my head a little to see who s talking A man and a woman trying to brighten up the wait And of course they re wasting their time by talking about What Beverages or something They should be discussing some more serious problems instead for example that ID checking at the entrance But what do I expect I ve seen no great minds working here so far I don t count myself obviously I don t belong here and hopefully I ll leave this place for good soon Here comes the elevator we all step inside the woman and the man keep discussing unimportant stuff Someone pushes the button of the 4th floor then I push the button of the 6 th Unofficially there s a rule saying that the higher floor you work on the cooler you are Probably that s because the bosses are always on the top floor Not that I take this rule seriously but I can see why these people didn t go higher than the 4 th The elevator stops on the 4th floor Some people come out some people come inside and the elevator continues to the 6th When I finally make it to my desk Sada who s desk is next to mine is already here Good morning Carel Morning Sada is always so cheerful and nice to everybody I think she s on drugs otherwise I can t explain how she s never tired of smiling I used to like Sada actually I even tried to invite her on a date with me She laughed and said she was a lesbian It s worse than if she said she was married because I could still hope that she would get a divorce or become a widow But her coming out didn t leave me a chance All that was before Amelia and now of course I don t need Sada Funny how I used to think that Sada was perfect She s not perfect In fact I could write a book about human imperfection and use Sada as example for each chapter spine that s too fragile

because of the upright posture big breast that makes it even worse pelvic bones too narrow that make birth giving so painful And that s just the anatomy chapter There would also be huge chapters about personalities the way society works government The whole planet is an ugly and terrible place I despise people who make posters saying Look around Life is beautiful Enjoy every day They are such liars I ve read the news about the author of How to Live Happily who committed suicide Funny isn t it The only beautiful the only perfect thing in my life is my precious Amelia She ll never have pains in her back or in her teeth she ll never suffer while giving birth She never lies to me she s never greedy she ll never leave me They must have sent you the contracts by now Sada interrupts my thoughts I ll check it right now Time to work Who could have thought that a talented engineer wastes his time and his potential by translating documents from Spanish I open my email and download the files It would be much easier if the countries invented a universal language This would solve the problem of language barrier and we could travel abroad without being afraid of getting confused or being tricked If it happened I wouldn t be here translating the contracts for the bosses who are too lazy to learn a second language Amelia she doesn t have such problem She can learn any language in seconds I m proud of how smart she is Alright I should concentrate on my work they pay me not for my reflections I start to open files one by one I study the texts translate them make them look decent and send them back This job is monotonous but kind of creative because I try to make the sentences sound beautifully like the documents were taken from fiction It s not that anyone appreciates my efforts but I feel less bored doing things this way Lunch time Sada says loudly It was so unexpected that I almost screamed This woman can be so noisy I m glad she doesn t disturb me during work anymore but when I first came here she tried to have a small talk with me all the time I can t believe I used to like her

Sada reaches her backpack and takes out a bright plastic container with a YOLO sticker Yeah she s the type of people who like those motivation posters Sada opens the container sandwiches and a cupcake inside I also take out my container and open it What have you got Sada asks There s rice and red fish vegetable salad and a slice of blueberry pie Yummy she smiles Some of my colleagues prefer having lunch at the cafeteria on the 1st floor some go to the nearest coffeeshop but why would I do anything but stay in the office and enjoy the meal made by my dearest Amelia Look at these cucumber slices They were cut so even that they seem identical And look at the rice Not too wet and not too sticky just perfect Amelia is an excellent cook and she knows exactly what I like Can t wait to go home to see her and enjoy the dinner After lunch I get back to work The company I work for is rather big I would say it s world known so I keep getting new documents to translate This job requires brain work which is why I don t have time to think about the world problems It s probably for the best because the less I think about something else while I m here the less I m sad and angry The only thing that makes me happy is my Amelia The time keeps going and now it s close to the end of my working hours In the last minutes I don t even look at my computer screen but stare at the clock on the wall waiting for the hour hands to reach 6 o clock As soon as it happens I turn on the screen saver on the computer I get up take my bag and head up to the elevator See you Carel says Sada She knows I won t answer They pay me for 8 hours of working not for staying here more than that and definitely not for chit chatting I push the button I m the only person who hurries to go home It s understandable they have kids in their awkward age spouses and lovers whom they don t love as much as before housework for which they have neither energy nor willing But I don t have to worry about all that I have Amelia

If human bones weren t so fragile I would jump out of the window instead of waiting for the elevator and I would run home Finally the doors open I step in and push the button of the 1 st floor But of course it doesn t go straight down it has to stop on each floor to pick up the people who whom the working day is also over When the elevator stops at the 1st floor I almost run to the exit It s good that I don t have to show my ID to Edmund when leaving I can t lose any minute I rush to the parking lot get almost ran over by a leaving car but I don t stop Someone behind starts to insult me but I pay no attention to them I quickly find my car start it and go away from here Amelia wait for me I m coming home I drive as fast as the speed limits allow choosing roads carefully to avoid traffic jams As I get closer to home I feel pleasantly warm and my heart beats in excitement Soon I ll see her I ll see Amelia I approach our house It s light yellow and it s so comforting to look at I ve never heard about bad things happening in yellow houses And the daffodils under the windows It s a pity the seasons change and these flowers are not eternal I park the car and step on the porch I feel a little dizzy like I m drunk on alcohol I open t he door and come in I m home From other room I hear humming metal clank and beeping These sounds become closer and closer Welcome back Carel Here she is the most unbelievable thing my best creation Advanced Motion Emulating Life Intelligent Automaton Amelia my lovely Amelia God himself couldn t have made a better creature than my girl Her metal corpus is resistant to damage I covered it with special material that looks like human skin She s not cold since her internal processor is warm like a human heart Amelia s face is lifelike and when she smiles she has little wrinkles around her eyes She walks upright on two legs which doesn t add her much grace but she s never fallen down so far Her hands are soft with a good

sense of touch Amelia has many little motors in her hands which makes her manipulation so accurate that she could perform a brain surgery I wrote a code that allows her to understand words and to learn fast With the voice module I installed her speech is like human but more musical And she can sing of course She s so smart and honest and loyal How you ve been I made dinner I created her about a year ago after my colleagues stupidly decided to prank me Like schoolboys That day I didn t even stay till 6 pm and rushed home I felt like no one would be ever understand me I thought Why do I have to try to establish good communication with stupid and problematic people when I can create a perfect person myself There my engineering education came in handy I ordered metal made the body part wrote the code installed the internal parts And now I have Amelia my kind and curious girl who has never made a stupid joke who has never forgotten about things important for me She s better than humans I smile and grab her hand It s smooth and warm I missed you

A SMALLER WRITING ASSIGNMENT PHOTO SCENE Mr Walton and Emily Walton announced a woman with a neat hairstyle and a carefully ironed dress She looked at the approaching her man and little girl smiled and pointed at the door The room they entered seemed gloomy with its dark walls and dimmed lights after the bright crowded lobby Well Emily the woman turned to the girl How are you doing today I m fine thank you Good Mr Walton I presume you already know about our product Mr Walton nodded and the woman continued Let s start with the photos then The woman came to the box standing on a table in the corner and took out a gas mask with a cartoony face on it

Emily you will be a model today Mickey Mouse exclaimed Emily That s right Now you put it on and stand over there Emily looked at her dad with worry but obediently started to put the mask on with the woman s help Does it fit well Yes ma am Good The woman took out a camera from the same box and turned on a big standing lamp blinding the Waltons for a second Now stand still the woman bent down a little for a better foreshortening and took a few pictures Now let s try with Dad Is it really necessary hesitated Mr Walton Well yes to show that it s a family product the woman took out from the box a standard adult gas mask Realizing that his face would be covered Mr Walton took the mask and the woman helped him to put it on Mr Walton stood next to his daughter and straightened his tie Well look at you the woman took a few more pictures Now Mr Walton you may put your mask off Emily you stay in yours please Mr Walton passed the gas mask to the woman and asked Is that all We need a little more time with Emily to record the mask in action But you are free now Talk to the secretary to get the money Mr Walton hesitated willing to say something then nodded and left the room Emily became tense but kept silent The woman opened another door leading to a light room It won t take long she said

They entered the room where already was a group of people in white coats Some of them were sitting by the computers the others were studying the papers One of the walls was glass behind it was another one completely white room Ah you must be Emily said one of the men and checked her gas mask Sits tight he nodded The woman pointed to the white room The girl apprehensively went there and stopped in the middle The glass door closed behind her Not knowing what to do Emily started to twist the buttons on her shirt Start the recording said the man to his assistant Prototype MM 0 test session 1 subject 1 he looked closely at Emily Turn the gas on