Thing 6: Creating & Editing Docs

I have been using Google Docs on a computer for the past few years. I have a few qualms about it, but I find it very useful, particularly because multiple users can access it concurrently and I can access it from any device with Internet access. As a student, this was very helpful with group papers.

But I hadn't ever used the Google Docs app before. The app is fine, but I have a harder time editing text, and it doesn't seem to have as many formatting options as the browser version. I began to write my short story on the app, but I've never cared much for writing extensively on my phone. I decided to switch to the browser version on my computer and the typing went much faster! (and I found quite a few mistakes from my phone version, whether it was my poor typing or an incorrect autocorrect).

Overall, I would take the computer browser version over the app version any day (mainly because I prefer typing on a keypad compared to a phone), but I would definitely use the app version if I needed to write something or check on a document and didn't have access to a computer.

So onto the story. The requirement to create a short story around "The self-assured fingerprint expert watered the lawn close to a broken refrigerator during the party for the deadly frog," was quite a challenge. To amuse myself, I decided to give my characters the names of Korean celebrities. Just so you know.

And here we go:

Suho’s life was on a predictable track. At least it had been until a severe storm hit the previous night. He had never seen such destruction. The wind howled, thunder drummed, and rain pelted the ground. The only thing Suho could possibly compare to the fear and chaos produced by the stormy night was his past experience as a K-pop idol.

Suho as an idol

Suho had become an idol because he loved to sing and perform on stage with his 11 other ridiculously good-looking group members. But nothing had ever quite prepared him for the crazy fans. But with fame came fear. Being followed by people obsessed with him made him terrified for his life and was the sole reason he had left his group and created this boring, yet safe, life of a fingerprint expert. He had been on the police force for two years now, investigating crimes anywhere from co-workers stealing each other's coffee mugs to crimes of passion. The coffee mug cases were the real tough ones because the criminals always washed the mugs after using them, thereby removing all fingerprints and rendering Suho’s expertise unnecessary.

Suho as a fingerprint expert

His pursuit of justice had been the most important focus of his life. That, and his deep love for singing. But as he was no longer a K-pop star, he no longer had his audience. So one year ago, he turned to the next best thing; he got a pet frog who would have to give him undivided attention. Kwangsoo, the frog he bought to fill the hole in his life, wasn't quite living up to his expectations. In fact, he was anything but attentive, but he was all Suho had.

This all changed last night during the storm. Suho hadn't been expecting the power to go out, and he certainly hadn't been expecting the house to be hit by lightning. As he was preparing his playlist to croon his frog to sleep, all of a sudden the house began to shake and a bolt of lightning hit. The current of electricity found its way to Kwangsoo’s cage and electrocuted the amphibian. In a Hulk-like experience, Kwangsoo started to grow at a massive speed, so quickly that he easily broke through his cage and the house was soon destroyed. At the shock of it all, Suho lost consciousness.

Suho witnessing his frog getting electrocuted

Kwangsoo before

Kwangsoo after

He awoke the next morning to find himself as a prisoner of Kwangsoo, now a giant and terrifying frog. Although he was feeling quite unwell, he was forced to do the frog's bidding. The storm had caused a lot of damage, and Kwangsoo destruction in the wake of his new size and power hadn’t helped. As he was led outside to begin the cleanup, he saw debris scattered everywhere. There were beds, pots and pans, unicycles, carpet samples, and much more, spread out as far as the eye could see.

After a long day of moving debris and cleaning, Kwangsoo the Great held a party in his own honor to establish his rule over the city. All survivors of the previous night’s storm who were not injured were required to attend in order to pay homage to the lord frog. The main course at dinner, a plateful of flies, did nothing to help the ease the common people. Suho, greatly distressed by the responsibility he felt toward the current condition of the city and its people, felt overwhelmed and needed a breath of fresh air. Once outside the celebration hall, he sat down on a broken refrigerator turned over on its side, debris that had yet to be removed, and was able to calm down to the point where he could think. He noticed a garden hose dribbling water on the nearby lawn and took a drink. While taking a large gulp of somewhat rusty water, an idea hit him, and he wondered if he might possibly have come up with an idea to rid the city of the frightening Kwangsoo the Great. The more he thought about his plan, the more confident and self-assured he became.

Suho ran inside, located the nearest fire alarm and pulled down on it.  Although Suho had always abided by the law that one should never pull the fire alarm unless there is a real fire, he felt that this emergency called for such action. Immediately alarms sounded and the overhead sprinklers began spewing water and drenching everyone. People started screaming in fear and running out the doors. Except for Kwangsoo the Great. At the moment the first drops of water hit him, he began to croak in pain. His whole body lit up with bright lights, and his croaks were soon drowned out by the sound of electric currents. As quickly as he had grown in size the night before, he now diminished back to his former self. Suho, knowing he was no longer in danger of his frog, picked him up and put in him a box (with breathing holes, of course Suho wasn’t cruel).

The next morning, Suho took Kwangsoo to the local zoo and donated him to the amphibian exhibit. The zookeeper had no idea that the new frog had been the people’s despot the day before. Of course, no one knew what had happened. No one but Suho. While drinking from the garden hose the night before, Suho had realized that Kwangsoo’s ferocity and deadliness had been created by a bolt of lightning. And two things that don’t go together are water and electricity. If electricity was what brought Kwangsoo to power, could water be his downfall? Suho had been right, but no one would ever know it was him, the former idol, who was to be credited with their rescue. But since he felt somewhat responsible for the incident in the first place, he didn’t want his police buddies looking into the story anyway.

So happy singing with his friends

As the city returned to normal life and finished cleaning up the mess the storm and Kwangsoo had made, Suho thought back on his love of singing. He had no desire to return to the life of a superstar, and he enjoyed his work as a fingerprint expert on the police force. But his life could not be without music. He gathered together many of his co-workers, and, once a week, they had a karaoke night. Suho was, by far, the best, and was able to continue his music and perform for an adoring crowd without having to fear for his safety from crazy fans who thought he was each of their true loves.  

The End

What story did I just read? K-pop.....?