SWC Writing Competition Entry
Remembrances
458 words
I am eternal. My yellowing pages hold fountains of knowledge. Like a moth to flame, people with a thirst for it come to me. It is almost always too much for them. It almost always changes them. I have lived many lifetimes, been held by an uncountable number of hands. Featherlight they flip through me, drinking in the boundless discoveries I contain or ripping through, desperately searching for the secrets they desire. Many have left their own mark on me, the fresh ink bleeding in to replace the faded ink that paints the beginning of the known world. I know things that many would never dare to dream of comprehending. I have seen more than any other could possibly stomach. I have seen humans take their first steps and take their last breaths.I have seen children, their coughs raspy and their skin pale, pass on. I have watched elders, weathered hands and milky eyes that could no longer see, be violently torn away. I have seen people of all ages be taken before their time. Only some will leave behind an imprint on those they love. Even less will be written on to me and remembered in generations to come. I have seen people slump to the ground, succumb to hopeless despair, and be ignored by the world around us that refuses to acknowledge their pain. I have watched families be torn apart, friends be traded away as if they mean nothing. Some have done unimaginable things and committed atrocities just for the privilege of being etched onto my crumbling pages. In a world where many things are temporary, the most they could hope for was having some pull over the future generations. Many people have lost their minds, putting on an ever weakening front to hide the fractures as they slowly shattered to pieces. I may be the only one who will ever know the truth. And yet, there are many things beyond my understanding. Although many don’t believe this, as they tear through my pages, searching for secrets that are not there. I am not all-knowing, and yet I know more than any of the small-minded creatures that inhabit this universe and many others could even dream of understanding. It is heartbreaking to watch humans be torn apart by their petty disagreements and stubbornness that keeps them from seeing the obvious. It is all pointless in the end. Even if you are not remembered, it is better to take baby steps toward a better future than to rip apart the world just so you will be recalled by those afterward. They blind themselves and as a result there will never be true happiness. At least not until they overcome this. I only wish they knew.

Gap

High off the ground. Too high. I'm getting tense. My breathing is growing faster and faster. I can hear the thuds of my heart. This is tense. My feet are close to the rocky edge. Such a gap between the two pieces of land. My hand has a hold of my only way across. An old, not-so-sturdy, rugged rope. My palms are sweaty as can be. I stare at the grey, foggy sky hoping everything will be just fine. Crumbs fall off the steep cliff as I lean forward. I should go. I have no choice. I need to get to the other side. Now or never. Bravery builds up in me. My confidence is expanding. Fear has less and less partake in my mind. I take a large breath and wrap the braided rope around my waist numerous times. I double knot it and pull on it to test its durability. I heard a snap in the distance which did not comfort me. I shook my head a bit at my fear and pulled backward. Step by step I was gaining some sort of confidence. I closed my eyes and ran for it. I couldn't open my eyes. I was holding on too tight. The strands of the rope were poking my waist. The fear in my head was louder than ever. The wind was screaming in my ears. I closed my eyes so tightly no finger could open them. I bit my lip and prayed I would make it. The moment went by harshly slow. I wanted it to go away. Flee from it. Make it stop. Mid-air, hanging onto an old rope, not knowing if I will reach the other side. I peeked out. The land was an arm's length away. I reached out my feet. Hoping to grasp the ground. I heard a crack. And another one. Then a snap and thud. My heart skipped a beat. I was sweating hard. I landed on my palms. I was so scared I didn't want to open my eyes. I rested for a minute and peaked. I looked around. My knees were bruised and scratched but overall I was fine. I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. I laid down on the hard ground. Too much had happened in such little time which felt like an eternity. I felt my palms, they were hard. I squeezed the rope so tight. I looked at the grey gloomy sky thinking to myself “Im ok” and I was.

Word count - 418

WRITING COMP ENTRY FOR NONFICTION LETS GOOOO!
1992 words

The City of Ektaseis
By ForestPanther


Ektaseis. The most advanced of the Twelve Civilizations. One of the eldest, too, according to the history books.
Kendall was proud to be a citizen of the famous city. Constructed over the Great Pools, the ingenious engineers that first constructed the City of Water, as it was called, had harnessed the power of the spectacular waterfalls that cascaded throughout the land. There were great dams, massive waterwheels, extensive boilers.
And best of all, in Kendall's opinion, was the people.
Funny and kind, and willing to help you with whatever you needed. Everyone was friends, and everyone knew each other. It was the best kind of community, not that she'd known any other. So… peaceful.

She lived in the panoi burrows, like almost everyone else. It was a small home and her whole family shared the few rooms and hallways in their possession. For school she would exit her family's panoi with a wave and a laugh. She'd walk the corridors that riddled the mountain. The burrows were carved into seemingly infinite counts of solid stone, some with a view of the many lush lakes that Ektaseis was famous for. The great city was entirely dependent on the water that had shaped their land, their industrialization, and perhaps most noticeably, their people.

Kendall would walk down the marbled white paths that spanned the main lake. At the peak of the many layers of her staggered city, the main lake powered the largest dams and the most ancient waterwheels. It was the biggest, and the closest to the heavy clouds that often shed their tears over Ektaseis. That was another thing Kendall loved about her people- they were bright no matter weather the sky was blue as the tropical fish that swam in the lake, or dark as the massive cave that gaped beneath the overhang on which rested the sandy lakebeds.
Ah. The cave. That was… an interesting topic for Kendall.
So many times she would be thinking about it, and would be broken from her thoughts by shouts from a friend. They didn't understand her ‘obsession’ with the cavern. They would smile bemusedly and laugh, tugging her along the sliver path to school.

The school. One of Kendall's favourite places- ever. And that was saying a lot, as she loved all of her city the most she possibly could. The school was bright and open to the air, a collection of platforms lit up with shimmering lamp-posts. There were underwater rooms, for studying the aquatic life. There was a small machine that used a waterfall to generate power, to teach about the mechanics that sustained the Ekstaseisians. There were classrooms for numeracy and literature, environmental sciences and architecture, the World's history and the past of Ektaseis. Arts. Minerals. Physical schooling. Living things. Whatever you aspired to be, from a miner to a messenger to an engineer, you could learn it at the school.
And the best bit was, in Kendall's opinion, not the subjects or the games at break or the teachers. It was the freedom. There were no timetables, you went to the classes that you wanted to. You could simply… not show up. But nobody did that. Why? The uneducated, the jobless, were outcasts in the thriving community of the City of Water, and nobody wanted that. They were all proud of their home, and worked hard to fuel it.

They had no tasks to do out of school. The teachers believed that the young teens and toddlers, the children and the almost-adults, should explore the sprawling civilization themselves. They might visit the Great Dam, or Overhang Island, from which you could see the World, the caves, the deserts, the jungles. This is where you would often find Kendall. She was curious about the World. Ektaseis wasn't the only nation out there, she knew from World History. There were eleven Others, totaling the Twelve Civilizations. Kendall was bursting with a longing to see the World. See the things she had only heard of in books. Temples, mineshafts, even this thing called snow. It sounded so cool. Cold, and fluffy. Kendall grinned.

Nobody else understood her. They loved their city and were content. Happy. And so was Kendall. She just longer for… more.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

They- the builders of the city- had a huge task ahead of them. Possibly their biggest. They had been tasked with expansion.
And not just anywhere. Down.
Into that huge cavern of crumbling rock and rushing rapids, never before explored. True, they had no other options. But down? Into the cave?
They were to build an artificial island, hanging from the main lakebeds of the city. Okay, so not really in the cave. Nowhere near the thrashing rivers at the bottom. But still- to be surrounded with ink-stained blackness?
They were nervous, the builders. But not enough to revolt. They knew they had to expand, the population was exploding in their land. It was the only way. Still, they were terrified, to no blame.
A week until the first ladder descended, the first support beam placed. Five days. Three. Two. One.
As the last worker descended the ladder on the first day of construction, he glanced up at the clear blue sky. How long until they would see it again?

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Kendall's life went on.
Of course she knew about the cave project, everyone did. To be honest, she kind of wished to be down there working, if only for a chance to get a closer look at the outside World- and the cavern. But of course she couldn't, she was a schoolgirl! She couldn't think of mentioning it for the responses she would get. No- better to just forget about it.
But Kendall, despite herself, was fascinated with the project. She listened out for the news, from friends and family. She was always leaning on the wooden railing of the lowest natural island, peering down at the construction. And when they found the skeleton, she was simply-
awed.

The workers had been excavating parts of the lakebed above to create foundations, for the supports that would hold up the island. They had encountered a grimy, dirt-stained white stone, which retained a slight pearlescent quality, even through all the grit. And then another. Another. More… and more…
Until someone realized that… these weren't just rocks. These had to be bones.
Human bones.
There was shock, and repulse, and the other such feelings that one might experience, having found a human skeleton. Nobody wanted to go near the body. There were so many resounding questions- Who was this person? What had they been doing?
Where had this body come from?

These questions stimulated Kendall. She spent time after school, studying history and exploration and medical science. She inspected the bones and deduced that they couldn't have come from ancient times… but weren't recent either. Forty years? Twenty?
They couldn't have come from an Ekstaseisian. The people of the City of Water had evolved bigger lungs and rib cages, to hold their breath longer underwater. This frame was too petite.
As for what the person was doing to get in such a position… the only thing Kendall could theorize was that they had been climbing… to the city? From below?

But to Kendall, one thing was clear: other people were out there. And they were close.

She was frenzied. She just HAD to get out there! There was so much evidence, so much incentive!
Like before, Kendall couldn't tell anyone. It was impossible- how would they understand? She was struggling with an urge to just- get out there. Leave behind her life as she knew it? Her perfect, seamless life? The thought was shocking. But to live without ever really knowing? Ever really having gone out and- and- doing something? Kendall was so torn.
The skies were too blue, the clouds too airy, the tides too lazy. Kendall couldn't take it.
But where would she go?
Deep down inside herself, Kendall knew where she had to. Below. Into the cave.
Could she?
Would she?
Finally, after almost months of indecision, Kendall made up her mind.
And started to get her gear ready- for what would be the longest journey of her life.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Water container? Yep.
Food rations? Check.
Extra layers of clothing? Yeah.
Heat-powered torch? Got it.

Kendall did her mental checklist. It was almost one o' clock and she was sneaking out of her panoi burrow, almost second guessing herself about the adventure. But no- she wouldn't change her mind. Not now.

The lights of Ektaseis were dim, on their night functions. It was just enough to see by as Kendall sprinted down the marbled white lake-paths, illuminated by warm amber light. She grabbed the wooden raft that she had made for her craftsmanship lessons in school. She was planning to sail into the cavern over the flooded floors. Were they puddles or oceans? Nobody knew. Kendall had little to no information about the World. Nothing outside of lessons had been taught to her. Here, now, it didn't matter.

Kendall took a final breath and looked around at her city- the only place she had known.
An Ancient Civilization.
Child of the Great Pools.
The City of Water.
Ektaseis.

Closing her eyes, she planted herself firmly in the boat and launched herself down the biggest waterfall of the Great Pools. All the way down to the rivers and lakes far, far below.


Kendall didn't see anything at all.
She didn't hear a thing.
She felt.

The wind bombarding her as she flew down the great stream. The rush of water drenching her, through two raincoats and three thick woolen layers of clothing. The fear, adrenaline, the pounding of blood, her mouth letting out a silent scream. Her hair being whipped around her face. Her legs quaking as she lost hold of her boat's railing and free-fell through the air.

She cracked open an eyelid. The surface of the water was rushing up towards her alarmingly fast. Her instincts, built by a lifetime of living on a lake, formed her body into a streamlined shape, just as she cut through the water.
Instantly, Kendall knew something was wrong. She was far too deep. Kendall needed air- now. But she couldn't move. She was in shock- from the icy cold, from the harsh impact. She was freezing, literally. Kendall's face contorted gruesomely into an expression of pure desperation. She was running out of air, fast, deprived of her usual inhuman breath-holding abilities by the force of such an impact from such a height. No, she had to surface. She just had to! Otherwise-
Otherwise-
This was all for nothing.
Her life, free and joyous, ended because of a fatal, idiotic passion. Her friends were right, there was no way to get to the outside world. And Kendall had tried, and failed- at the cost of her life.
All these thoughts ran through her head simultaneously. And suddenly, fueled by pure fear and panic and anger- anger? Where did that come from? -she could move.
Kendall pumped her arms and thrashed her legs. Miles away from an efficient way to swim, wasting her energy. Kendall couldn't care, or change even if she tried. There was no time left. Her vision was going black. She pushed one more time, into a fierce current that tossed her and threw her around like the water cascading through the Great Dam. She couldn't fight it. She was spat out by the water into free air, already unconscious. Kendall's mouth gaped, taking in air, precious air-
And Kendall fell back down.
She landed on her back. Oww. The pain- too much. Kendall lay there on her back, gasping in air.
Wait- air?
Lying down?
Kendall jolted upright, woozy. But even in her state, she knew what the eternal darkness around her meant.
She had made it.
She was in the cavern.
The next part of her journey had begun-
And Kendall had no idea what lay in wait.

1992 words!!! Doneee!!!!
Thank you so much for reading this, awesome person you made me happy.
Good luck to everyone! Go non-fi!

Little bit of trivia lol: Inspired by Minecraft Caves and Cliffs, I turned experimental features on and found the great waterfalls of the place in my story And am actually almost done building Ektaseis in the world/World! Hehe the story of my inspiration lol


Again tysm for reading!

-CD

Daily for the 23rd:
(For clarification, this is an AU for one of the stories I'm planning)

The day had been extremely boring, nothing to do at all. So when the grumpy, but efficient, policeman Hank Rogers saw a speeding car going past him on a small street. He pulled it over, scowling. “Excuse me, what were you thinking? The speed limit is fifty kilometres an hour, you're pushing eighty!” he exclaimed as a young woman rolled down her window.
“Oh, I am so sorry!” she exclaimed.
“Can I see your license?”
“Sure, just let me look…” she said, reaching for her bag. As she rooted around in her bag, he started growing impatient.
“Do you have a license?” he asked, his annoyance seeping into his voice.
“Yes, yes, of course I do,” she waved him away, pulling out random things from her bag. What was she doing with a packet of nails?
“Well you better, because I'm having a pretty bad day,” Hank said, scowling deeper, his face wrinkling so much it looked as if it were going to collapse in on itself.
“Of course,” she chirped, unfazed. It was driving him insane.
“I'm waiting.”
“Very nice of you.”
Hank sighed in frustration. “Hurry up!” he burst, not caring that it was a bad example for a policeman.
“I am,” she said, her voice steady, unbothered.
Finally, finally, she pulled out a wallet, “Aha!” she exclaimed, smiling politely.
She opened it to reveal… receipts. Tons and tons of them. The wallet was so full, to the point of bursting, he wasn't sure how the receipts managed to fit in there without overflowing. “This may take a while,” the woman apologized.
He grit his teeth. “I got the memo,” he grumbled. Looking around, Hank found that only a stray pedestrian was around to witness this excruciating wait.
The person bumped against him. “Sorry,” he apologized, a faint smile on his lips.
Hank grumbled under his breath, but said nothing. It wasn't this man's fault he was having a bad day.
Just then, the woman let out an overly enthusiastic whoop. “Got it! she exclaimed, smiling and holding up a drivers license reading Joanna Reid.
”Well then Joanna, I'll have to give you a fine for speeding,“ he said, handing over a fine.
She grabbed it. ”Alrighty, have a great day sir!" She drove away.
He sighed. Finally. After going through that trouble, he decided to go for lunch. The policeman grabbed for his wallet.
It wasn't there.

Daily that was like due like way back but I like just finished (725 words):

“See, that's one of my biggest problems.”

“Sorry, what?” I looked up from the game flashing its attractive lights at me.

My brother draped himself unceremoniously on the nearest armchair, grinning at me from underneath the arm he had placed so it looked unplanned.

“Paying taxes, is what I mean. Or perhaps, getting others to do it.”

“We were literally just talking about your college life. How did that turn into this?” I waved my hand around.

“My, my,” he tutted at me, “someone wasn’t paying attention. We were discussing the terribly dramatic and exciting manner of my campus life when it turned to the topic of my ex-roommate.”

“And what about your ex-roommate?” My hands worried at the sides of the game console, ready to get back to clicking and tapping.

“Jean-Baptiste was such a spoiled little person,” my brother mused, his own hands running idly along the seams in the seat cover. “Always wanted to have the newest fashions, the newest car, and if he couldn’t get it, he would throw a tantrum.”

“So, like you,” I teased, with no real bite behind it.

“Oh, please. You know you love me.”

I snorted, turning off my console and setting it aside. “Do you want to tell me the story now?”

He sat up, tossing his hair impatiently. “I was telling you, but you rudely interrupted me.” He pouted, unbecoming on someone who was due to be twenty-two in three days. I told him as such, earning me a scoff and a half-hearted retort, only for him to wave it off and barrel on with his tale.

“I told you he was very spoiled, and as spoiled children are wont to do, he was an insufferable… person to be around. Get this -” he broke his tone to stumble over his next words - “Jean didn’t even know how to use a broom.”

“Appalling,” I agreed. “At least we know how to. Tiyo didn’t raise no brats.” The sturdy feeling of a cheap broom in my hand was one I knew all too well.

My brother nodded his head with vigor, coiffed curls bobbing in a dark halo.

“Yeah, yeah. Jean was pretty useless when it came to cleaning of any kind. And that included financial cleaning.

“When Tax Day rolled around, Jean had no idea about what to do. Because it was my first year with him, your awesome, generous brother took pity on the poor soul and helped with the necessary arrangements. Did I mention that this kid was rich? And I mean, like, filthy rich. I took one look at his credit bill and saw a few items that were worth more than a year’s salary.

“But Jean, for some reason, expected me to do his arrangements every year. He would bombard me with incessant phone calls and texts, most of them from different websites. It was unpleasant, to say the least.” His lip curled.

“After a while, I couldn’t take it anymore. I blocked him on every site I could, made my accounts private - but not before telling him where he could put his unpaid taxes.

“He was furious. Whenever we saw each other, he’d go out of his way to make things difficult for me. However, they were all minor offenses that couldn’t be complained about; “accidental” pushing, “forgetting” my paper, or even scrunching it up. It was a new kind of passive-aggressiveness.”

“Well, what happened to him?”

My brother smiled ever so slightly. “It turned out that he had spent all his time making my life difficult, so that he forgot to pay his taxes. Red-stamped letters started flooding our apartment. I would often get calls from the tax people asking if I was him, and if so, if I was aware that I was late in my taxes.

“Eventually, the IRS caught Jean at the apartment, and took him away. It was great fun seeing him escorted out. He was so red, and loud too. I didn’t see him again after that.”

I giggled, and stretched my hands behind my head. “Riveting. Now, my dear brother - what’s the point of this tale?”

He smiled at me, a devilish sort of smile that lifted part of his cheeks. “The moral of this story, dear sibling, is if you don't pay your taxes, the police show up and force you to.”

The Observatory
Beyond the thin glass window, millions of stars sparkled, glittering in their own patterns. I pressed my palms face down onto it, my breath fogging the glass. I wanted to be as close to eternity as I could get. I shuddered as I noticed a hand on my shoulder, turning, I found myself looking into the milky white eyes of Lex. Xe pulled me away from the glass pane and towards a crackling fire.
“You must warm yourself,” xer voice was ancient, holding knowledge and wisdom beyond measure.
“Yes…I suppose,” I responded, giving one last longing glance to the infinite stars and galaxies behind me.
The room we inhabited had cold stone floors with a glass ceiling that could open and close and walls of glass as well. It was simply known as “The Observatory” by all outside. We being Lex, Erin, and I. Of course, I had only joined them a few days previous as a replacement for Carol. Carol had been a short woman with long white hair pulled up into a soft bun. She was the seer of the three and by far the most approachable. It was truly horrible that she had been dead for three days now. And I was her replacement. They expected me to step in and be the new seer. Lex was under the impression that I had some sort of talent. I didn’t. Erin knew as well, but no one disagreed with Lex. When I had taken my first steps into my new permanent home in the Observatory, Erin had wanted to make them my last. If he had had his way, I would no longer be alive. He had held his blade at my throat and had already made a shallow cut when Lex stepped in. Since then, all he’s been doing is glaring at me from the corner of the room. It’s literally been three days. Lex is the only one really talking and he’s not that big of a talker so that’s saying something. I think xe secretly hopes that Erin and I will become friends. There is no way that’s happening. I will probably die of boredom if Erin doesn’t murder me first. But each day it’s become increasingly clear that the latter is more likely. Last night I woke up in cold sweat to find his face inches from mine and his dagger digging into the tender flesh of my neck. I raised my chin without saying a word and he silently slipped away. The day before that, he offered me a glass of some unknown liquid but, before I took a sip, Lex grabbed the cup away from me and threw it to the ground. The clay cup shattered and everywhere the liquid within touched, the stone corroded away. Lex gave Erin xer most venomous glare. Erin simply glanced away. Erin’s murder attempts are the only sign that he is not a robot. Other than the hatred in his eyes, I would think that he is not even human.

November 25, 2021
- SWC Daily-

~~~~~
Julia paced quickly around the waiting room, anxiously wringing her hands together. The room was nice, with soft velvet chairs and a simple bedside table. The area was decorated with many ornate paintings and delicate pillars, and the walls were painted a fair sunray color. Victor sat beside Julia in one of the many comfortable chairs, enjoying a few grapes from the table next to him.

“Why are you so uptight?” Victor questioned, adjusting the shoulder pads underneath his armor. “The queens are nice and understanding. After all, they went through a lot to get to where they are now. I’m sure they’ll see the stress and hardship we are in and sympathize with us.”

“It’s not the queens I’m worried about,” Julia replied, finally sitting back down on her chair. “It’s their advisors. You know Sir Hugh is very strict and pretentious. And he has a high say in the court. I don’t think he’ll let us out too easy.”

“So, it’s just one advisor,” Victor retorted. “There are more than 15 other advisors in the court, and they’re not as strict as Sir Hugh.”

“True, but Sir Hugh has a lot of supporters,” Julia sighed discontentedly. “I’m sure he could easily convince the others in the court that we are bad news. And we need this job! Desperately! You know all the bad things that will happen if we don’t earn money fast. Plus, the queens pay heavily. If we manage a stable and important job here, our money woes could be solved.”

“I know, I know,” Victor calmed. “You’ve been over this with me about a hundred times. I know the stakes, and I know how I should act. Just stop being so jittery and we might pull through.”

“Miss Puckett and Mister Salem! The queens will now hear what you have to say!” A servant in a humble beige robe stepped into the room. He bowed, before holding the door open for Julia and Victor to walk through gingerly.

The next room was much grander than the room which they had waited in. The walls were painted the same sunray color, with liver chestnut designs. Light gray pillars lined the large area, decorated with light pink. At the back, center stage of the room were two tall thrones. Both were identical and stood on a small platform with steps leading up to it. Behind the thrones was a large purple curtain made of silk.

A long red carpet led from the double doors to the thrones. Julia felt the soft cushion of the carpet as she and Victor walked silently towards the thrones. She could feel her heart leaping in and out of her chest, the echoes of her footsteps hammering through her ears. Victor, despite his easygoingness, seemed just as nervous as Julia. Probably because the thrones at the back of the room were filled.

Standing up from the thrones were two magnificent women. They wore silk robes of only the grandest material, their dresses draping over their features so perfectly. Julia knew they probably had the best seamstresses in the country. One queen wore a shiny purple robe, while the other wore a sophisticated red robe. Both had a certain aura that towered over Julia and Victor menacingly.

Julia felt her knees buckling slightly as she kneeled, her head down and eyes staring at the soft red carpet. Victor was doing the same beside her. Julia tried to breathe consistently, but she just felt adrenaline and fear coursing through her. The servant that had led the two to the queens bowed and left quickly.

“Thank you for coming here,” one of the queens said invitingly, her voice clear and calm. “We will be discussing this ordeal in the courtroom with the other advisors. Guards will escort us to the courtroom momentarily.”

Julia’s eyes darted around as she saw many of the stationed knights march forward. Julis came to the sudden realization that Victor used to be one of them. She felt her legs shaking as she stood up, glad her long robe, which looked like a dusty rag compared to the queens, covered her shivering body. As she followed the guards and queens out of the room, she couldn’t help feeling a slow defeat sinking in her stomach. How was she going to convince the court to employ her?
(725 words)

~~~~~
AHHH I thought I wasn't going to make it. I'm at a friend's house right now and I'm not used to their keyboard. Anyway, I gotta post this quickly bye!!!

Weekly #4

Part One: A Little Inspiration - 550 words
I rapidly clicked things on my computer, trying to see where I ended up. I saw this trend on the internet that you go to a random site on wikipedia, click the blue links in the text, and see where you end up. So yeah, I was doing that.
I started with ‘Ant’ and somehow got to, ‘How to throw tables off a roof.’ I have no idea how, but it’s pretty weird. I was quite interested in the topic of how to throw tables off a roof, and read the passage. Nodding while I read it, I closed my laptop when I finished reading the whole thing. I don’t know why, but I was going to try out the new technique I learned from wikipedia. I honestly don’t know why I did this. It was really stupid of me, and I guess I was just too caught up in learning and trying new things. I do that a lot. Whenever I learn something new, I have a need to show off that I know it. I walked out of my apartment, to the stairs, and walked up to the roof. There was a nice table already there for an event taking place tomorrow. I forget what the event was, but about ten tables were lined up in a neat row. I grabbed one, following the instructions I learned on Wikipedia, and yeeted it off the side of the roof. Down, down, down it went.
“Hey! What was that for?” screamed an old man from behind me.
I whipped my head around, and saw a chubby old man in a black, collared shirt. He had black pants and lots of white streaks in his dark brown hair.
“Um…” I mutter, wanting desperately to go back in time. Why did I do that? Why was I being so stupid! Did I seriously just do that? My parents are going to kill me! I look off the side of the building, and don’t see the table that I just threw. I wonder where it is, and if it hurt anyone. I’m hoping it didn’t, because if it did, I could lose the house for me and my family! We could get sued and get kicked out of the apartment!
Soon, another person showed up. This guy was big, buff, and tall. I knew instantly that he was security, from the sunglasses and the obvious silver plate on his suit that said security. He walked up to me, and without saying anything, grabbed me by the hand and brought me towards the covered area of the roof.
I find it funny how the apartment complex I live at can pay for security, but can’t pay for working sinks in the apartments!
The security guard sits me down in a white, plastic folding chair that was also for the event going on. I shudder as he speaks, his loud voice booming throughout the sky.
“You’re paying for that table. $240.”
Soon, my parents arrive, and I panic. My family and I are quite poor, if I’m honest. We can’t afford a $240 table! I knew that they would never forgive me for this. And I kind of already expected them to make me get a job at McDonalds or something to pay for it.

Part Two: Setting the Scene! - 309 words
I walked into my office, and looked around. There is a case that has been puzzling me for the last couple of weeks. Not to brag but I’m one of the best detectives in the country, I have gotten seven total awards for best detective in the corporation, and one from the government thanking me. So yes, I am a big deal. I usually solve cases in a few weeks, but this one is probably going to take me another month. Why? It’s just so confusing! Mrs. Orgai was working at a high school cafeteria, and got murdered by someone. Then, one of the students got murdered as well. Both in the same exact cafeteria, and nobody claims to have seen anything or anyone suspicious. In the security camera footage, the murderer wasn’t in the camera, and both Mrs. Orgai and the student made zero noise while being murdered. I look at the red yarn on my brown bulletin board, held there by red and yellow thumb tacks. Under the yarn and thumbtacks are pictures of suspects, the scene, witnesses, and victims. There are also post-it notes with some evidence and clues for myself to solve the case. The corporation chose to give this job to me, since they trust me with this. And I trust myself with it. But I don’t know if I’ll be able to solve it. I’m too high rank to ask someone else to help me. I’ve never, ever have needed help from anyone before, so I am going to solve this case by myself only. While looking at the bulletin board with lots of clues and pictures, I realize that this information is pointless. No matter what happens, I won’t be able to find the real murderer. Maybe a fraud, but that’s fine. Because I killed Mrs. Orgai and the high school student.


Part Three: Your cabin - 314 words
“Oh, hi,” I say softly.
I found it weird how people would greet me in the cafeteria of all places. I mean, it’s only my first day. This school must be really nice, or have really good manners. With my lunch tray in my hands, I sit next to the three who just introduced themselves. I don’t really know them well. In fact, I don’t know them at all, but if they’re nice enough to say hello, it can’t be that bad, right? I look around the cafeteria. I hear everyone chatting with their friends, while I can’t help but eavesdrop on their conversations.
“Did you do your science homework?”
“Today’s Math assignment is so fun!”
“I finally finished my homework, everyone come give me a high five!”
“I upped my grade from an F to a D, everyone! Isn’t that amazing?”
“Give me your cookies!”
“I will steal your cookies!”
“I can always get my own cookies, you know.”
“Take my gift of cookies, or else…”
I smile a bit at the conversations I hear around me. About the cookies, funny people, fun homework, and people so competitive to be better than the other person. I love it. I think I’m going to like this new school. I can’t be absolutely certain though, since I don’t want to get my hopes up and this school is just terrible.
I stab my fork into the spaghetti, and twirl my fork around like it’s dancing in the noodles.
I dab my face with the napkin, as some people walk in. They’re carrying big duffel bags, and wearing sunglasses. They’re strutting like they are the boss of the school. I shudder, as everything goes quiet. I shudder, as I realize these kids must be hated at this school, since people are giving them glares.
Breaking the silence, one kid yells, “It’s the Neville Chamberlain High Mangos!”

Part Four: The Last Hurrah - 1176 words
I walk out of the contemporary cafeteria, with some of my classmates with me. We were going to the main cabin, where all of the groups and teams from different schools meet. It could be great, and everyone gets along. Or, it could be terrible, and everyone starts fighting about whether pineapples belong on pizza. It could go either way, and that’s what makes it fun. I look at my fellow Sir Winston Churchill High Schoolers. We nod at each other, ready to go to the main cabin.

When we arrive there, I see everyone talking and having a good time. I see some of the SWC High Arsonists. I know them! I grin from ear to ear, realizing I’ve seen some of these people before, and even played word gumbo or hot pen-tato with them! Poetry, Fan-fi, Adventure, Hi-fi, and Fairy Tales, are the Arsonists, and our friends. They’re all allies with my high school.

Then, I see some Neville Chamberlain High Mangos. Ew, they’re our enemies. They consist of Sci-Fi, Real-fi, Thriller, Mythology, and Horror. They’re all chatting and having a good time, but I can’t help but get a gut feeling that they’re up to no good.

Someone catches my eye, as a girl runs in while waving a paper in her hand. She slams it on the table, and catches my gaze. She smiles at me, and I realize that she’s from Sir Winston Churchill High. She’s my classmate! I smile back, as she calls out, “I did the daily! 700 points for contemporary!”

I check my watch, and see that the daily changes in one minute. The girl was just in time to get points up for the amazing contemporary.

I rush over to the bulletin board, where all of the dailies, weeklies, leaderboard, and announcements are posted. Almost everyone else in the main cabin does the same, eager to see what the next daily will be, and how they can get points for their cabin. I look down at my watch.

“Three! Two! One!” everyone shouts, awaiting the moment when they can see the new daily, and how many points they can earn.

From the sea of excited campers, someone, and I believe their name is Birdi, pushes through the crowd to get to the bulletin board. Everyone watches as they take down the old daily, and put up the new one. The crowd leans in, to read what it says. It’s worth… 800 points!

Only a minute after it’s posted, people rush over to the counter and grab a pencil, a paper, and begin rapidly writing out the daily. I do that too, and try my best to be the first one to finish. Me and the rest of the students from SWC High share an unspoken agreement to finish the daily, and be the first one to do it. Letters quickly form into words, and into sentences. Soon, I have a paragraph. Then another. Then another. I quickly check my word count. 499 words. I can do this! I close up my story, writing the last word.

I did it! I finished the daily! I drop my pencil onto the desk, and shout, “I finished the daily! 800 points for contemporary! I’m the first one!” I turn in my paper, and everyone is looking at me. The SWC High Arsonists are smiling, and happy. While the Neville Chamberlain High Mangos are disappointed. After me, I’d say fifty campers start turning in their dailies. I sit there with the other contemporary students, watching the leaderboard. We go up, then down, then up again, then down. Wait, up again! It changes rapidly as more and more people turn in their dailies.

When things settle down again in the main cabin, I just sit there at a desk, looking around. There are great conversations here, and it’s amazing. Everyone comes together and writes, for fun. I love it, it’s peaceful and harmonious. Scratch Writing Camp makes writing fun and interesting. It also makes me want to write, for my cabin, and more myself. I want to win, and that’s what makes SWC so amazing. Before Scratch Writing Camp, writing in school seemed like a chore. Now I’m happy everytime we write something, because I get to make my word count higher, and reach my goal. I sigh happily, smiling.

“Mythology for the win!” shouts someone, most likely a mythology camper. Who else would shout mythology for the win? I shake my head, and someone else shouts, “Mystery for the win!”
“Non-fi!”
“Fantasy!”
“Adventure!”
“Sci-Fi!”
Then, I shout over the noise of everybody else, “Contemporary!”

More and more people storm in, turning in their weekly, daily, or even winning word wars. Wait, word wars? I haven’t done one of those in a hot second. I should go do one right now!

I make my way to a little room in the main cabin, where everyone asks who wants to war them. I put a serious and competitive face on, ready to beat whoever I’m warring. I am going to try my absolute hardest to write more words than the other person, and I am going to win! I’ll try and try again until I win!

“Anyone want to do a word war with me?” asks someone who is looking around. They also include all the tiny little details, like prompt or not, their cabin, words per minute, time period, and stuff like that. Lucky for me, this person has the same exact words per minute as me! So, this will be a fair and square war.

“Me!” I say to them, walking over.

“Okay. Go!” they say, as I begin writing words on a paper.

I decide to write about how my day was so far today, and my amazing accomplishment of being the first one to turn in the daily. Words fluently flew onto my paper, and I didn’t really need to think about what happened in order to write. The words just came to me, and I didn’t even pause to think about what to write even once.
Ring! Ring! Ring!

It was the timer. This was it. It was time for me to see if I won, or if I had to war another person after this. I honestly was fine with either one, but I would like it more if I won this war, and not have to risk losing another one and possibly giving points to an enemy.

“How many words did you get? I got 400,” I ask the other person after counting how many words I wrote.

They sigh, and I smile. I try to hide it though, and be humble. “350. Good game,” they say.

“Good game.”

After that, I run into the main cabin and say, “I won a word war for contemporary!”

Hopefully this will bring our ranks up. It’s only 100 points, but who knows what that could do? It could be the difference between first and second place!

I walk back to SWC High, satisfied with what I did today.


2349 words in total

weekly 4
1.
Katty woke up today and logged into scratch. She got many messages. She went into non-fi cabin's studio. The studio had a very good blue thumbnail.
It was Katty's second SWC session. But on the first one Katty only did a few dailies and no weeklies. Katty also wanted to win the writing contest, because last time she posted a super cool entry and didn't win. She also made some new friends last session, so she wanted to meet with them again.
Today were cabin wars! One message surprised her. “Sci-fi is spying on you!” - someone wrote, but he was from other cabin. Katty didn't believe it. “How can a camper see other cabin spying?” - she thought. Non-fi cabin received two wars that were kinda difficult. Katty didn't write at all because she was too tired. She had many after-school activities like programming, singing, maths.
Katty went on scratch again in the evening. Non-fi cabin won one war and lost another. Fortunately, it didn't move lower on the leaderboard. “The situation isn't that bad.” - Katty thought.
Next day, Katty accidently sent the daily to non-fi cabin instead of main cabin. But Fenn, who was counting words, didn't get angry at all. Katty was very sorry, but she was too shy to explain.
Next day, the daily was to go to other cabin. One of sci-fi's co-leaders went to non-fi cabin. He said some angry words. “Sci-fi cabin is suspicious.” - Katty thought.
Katty started writing an entry to the competition. Katty wanted to ask her SWC friend, Emma, for critique. But Emma was banned! Katty started to suspect something. Katty posted her entry in the main cabin, asking for critique. “Your entry is very good, but you should add an ending.” - someone commented. Katty was scared by this critique, so she didn't add anything and just posted her entry on the writing competition project.
Next day, Katty logged in scratch - but her account was banned! She looked closer at the message. A person from sci-fi reported her! Katty created a new account. She commented to non-fi's leader: “It's Katty's new account. I was banned.” But the cabin leader didn't believe her. Katty went into sci-fi cabin. “Why did you report me?” - she asked. “Who are you? You're not from sci-fi.” - the leader answered. “Of course I'm not from sci-fi! Noone wants to be in this cabin!” - Katty thought.
Katty stopped to think. It was unfair to accuse sci-fi. “Sci-fi campers aren't spying. Another cabin said bad things about sci-fi just to make people not war them.” - she thought.
Kate wrote a message to Birdy and explained carefully what happened. “I'll try to deal with it.” - he offered.
Next day Katty was unbanned. “Sci-fi cabin really wasn't spying. Well noticed.” - Birdy wrote a message. Katty did the daily and looked in the main cabin. Writing contest results were posted. Katty was very excited. She looked who took the third and second place. It wasn't her. “I'm never going to win.” - Katty thought. But then Katty looked in the description - she was first! (507 words)

2. I used contemporary authentic.
Katty really waited for lunch at school because she didn't have any breakfast.
Katty went into the school cafeteria. She took her lunch - today were potatoes with fish balls and beef soup- and sat on one of the tables. Katty saw Caleb also taking food. She wanted him not to sit with her - Katty wanted to think alone. But Caleb sat nearby Katty, smiling.
- Hi, Katty! Why are you sad? - Caleb asked.
- It's nothing. Have you passed that maths test? - Katty answered. Katty was very sad, but Caleb didn't notice that.
- Yes. Other people were cheating, but not me. I saw one question that was incorrect.
- I also saw an incorrect question. Maybe we could ask the teacher?
- Yes. This soup isn't very tasty, is it? - Caleb changed topic.
- I don't like the soup, but I'm hungry. And potatoes are my favourite food here.
- Katty, I see you're very sad. Tell me what happened.
- There is trouble in Nini's city. - Katty told.
She looked at her phone screen anxiously.
- Two minutes till the lesson! We must go. - Katty said.
They went out of the canteen and ran to their classrooms.
Katty had a big english test, which was the most difficult. She stopped thinking about Nini that lesson. On break Katty played a video game with Caleb.
- So what about Nini? - Caleb asked.
- She told me to go to blue city as fast as I can. Nini was very scared when she talked to me! - Katty explained.
- One more lesson and we're free! Do you need me to go too?
- No. By the way, this game is too difficult. It's almost impossible to pass a “difficult” level.
- I gotta go! My friend is calling me. - Caleb said and ran away.
Katty should've been scared, but she wasn't. What could happen with blue city? And why was Nini so scared? (302 words)
3.
You type www.nonfiction.com into your search bar and begin logging in. As you hit enter, a robotic voice intones - “Welcome to Nonfiction.com, a place where you can connect through writing. We are excited to welcome you to this platform. Please begin by posting. If you don't know what to chat about, the pinned posts are a good place to start. As you scroll down, you’re captivated by the thousands of comments and discussions users post. In your inbox, you soon receive a new message from the admins. “Welcome to Nonfiction.com,” it reads, “signed Zura, Pi, and Fenn!”
You start exploring the site, but it looks too messy for you. Suddenly a forum topic called “introduce yourself” distracts you. You click on it and start writing a message. “Hi! My name is Liza. I am very shy. I like drawing and writing books.” - you write.
When you look through other comments, you look up and suddenly realise you have a new message. “Hi! I'm Sini. Nice to meet you.” - it says. “She is suspicious. Others call her a honorary member, but she isn't an admin.”
You are very tired, so you go to bed.
Next day you open nonfiction.com again. You see that you got a message from Fenn. “We have a writing contest on our website. It starts tomorrow. Would you like to join?” - he says. “Yes.” - you answer.
Fenn invites you to a private studio called “writing contest participants”. “I'm new here. What do we have to write about?” - you ask. “Anything you want. You just have to follow our site rules.” - Zura answers.
You start writing your entry. First you want to write a thriller story, but then you think it would be too scary. Finally, you decide to write a book about wild cats.
You look where to write a story avoiding accidently deleting your writing. You look around the site and see a button called “make your story”. You click on it and see a text maker with beautiful interface.
You start writing your story. But then you get tired and stop. You click a button called “save” that you spotted sometime ago.
You have a snack and then think that you should continue writing.
You look through nonfiction.com for a long time. Finally, you find a part called “drafts”. You open it and see writing that you made half an hour ago.
You finish writing and post it in a forum. (307 words)

4. Lyn went out of the bus. She was riding for two hours in uncomfortable pose. She saw a huge space with 15 houses. Lyn carried her bag to the metal gate. A girl in black and white dress stood near the gate. “Hello! My name is Kat. You came to Scratch Writing Camp, right? I'm the camp sorter. What is your name?” - the girl said. “I'm Lyn. I like writing sci-fi and thriller genre.” “You don't choose cabin by genre. Let me look… You're sorted into non-fi! Welcome!” - Kat searched something in a lot of papers.
Kat led Lyn to a blue house with a neon sign that said: “www.nonfiction.com”. Kat knocked the door.
- Who is it? - a girl behind the door said.
- It's non-fi camper.
- Come in.
Kat opened the door and pushed Lyn inside. Lyn went in and saw a girl in blue jeans and short green T-shirt with cherries.
- Hello! My name is Zura. I am your cabin leader. And these are Fenn and Pi.
And Zura pointed at a boy in black T-shirt and jeans and a girl in blue dress.
- Hi! - Fenn said. - You're the first. Sorry for not letting you in, we thought it was spies. Others are going to come soon.
Suddenly the door opened and a boy in a green T-shirt came in.
- Hi! I'm the third time here. Do you play among us? - the boy asked.
- No. What is it? - Lyn asked.
The boy didn't answer. He stated to carry his bag upstairs. Lyn did that too.
The door opened again and many people went in.
Upstairs there were many rooms, each had four beds. Lyn went in one which had pink curtains and walls. Lyn was sitting on her bed when three girls went in. They were chatting and laughing.
Lyn already made her bed when a call sounded from downstairs.
- Everyone, come down! - Zura called.
Lyn ran down the steps.
- Does anyone have any food with you. Bring it, please. Scratch Writing Camp starts tomorrow, and we're going to selebrate it.
Lyn brought a pack of crisps. Other children brought chocolate, marshmallow, sweets…
There were about twenty children in non-fi cabin. They were all eating and chatting, and it felt so calm.
After some time, Zura asked:
- Has everyone eaten well?
- Yes!!
- Then do everything you need and go to bed. We'll wake up early tomorrow.
When Lyn was laying on her bed, she sent a message to her mum: “I got to camp peacefully. Now sleeping.”
Somebody shook Lyn's shoulder. Lyn looked in the window - it was morning. Lyn got dressed and went down the steps. Zura was cooking some porridge. Lyn sat on a chair, wiping her eyes. A boy, then everyone else came to the kitchen.
While everyone was eating porridge, Zura said: “Today's daily isn't serious, but you can start writing.”
After breakfast, Pi led Lyn to a small room near the kitchen. “Sit down near the computer. Turn it on and write anything you want.” - Pi said.
Lyn was writing for half an hour. She got tired and looked in a window. Lyn saw Kat running toward the cabin, her dress flailing. Lyn ran toward the door and opened it.
- What happened? - Lyn asked.
- All people have to introduce themselves in the main cabin. It's that big green house behind all the cabins.
- Okay, I'll go there right now.
Lyn ran to the main cabin, not stopping to close the door. She was overwhelmed by how many people were there. “These are from ALL the cabins.” - Lyn thought.
Lyn went closer to one girl and said: “Hi! What's your name?” But nobody wanted to talk with her.
Lyn returned to non-fi cabin. After she spent some time writing, she hear Zura shout: “Everyone, come to the kitchen! Lunch is ready.”
For lunch, Lyn ate some soup.
After lunch, Zura gathered everyone in the kitchen.
- Does anyone of you have any ideas for Scratch Writing Camp? What should we improve? - she asked.
- Maybe we could draw profile pics for each other, like in previous session. - Lyn suggested.
- But it was online! - a boy exclaimed.
- Then everyone can draw something and then we share. - Zura said.
Next day was ordinary and boring, Lyn just did a daily about writing prompts and started a weekly.
Next day, when Pi woke Lyn up, everyone was running. “Everyone, get writing! We have no time for breakfast.”
Lyn sat near her computer. Fenn stood near. “Today are cabin wars. If we lose one, our cabin crashes. You have to write 250 words as soon as possible.”
A lot of time of fast and nervous writing passed. Non-fi won one war and Lyn started writing for another.
Suddenly, someone shouted. “My computer shut up! I was only 100 words away!” - Fenn yelled. Cabin's roof started crashing. Pi grabbed Lyn's hand. “Let's run away fast.” - Pi said. “Everyone, out!!” - Zura shouted.
Lyn ran out of cabin without even a scratch. Suddenly, she saw a part of cabin falling on Fenn. “Fenn, watch out!” - Lyn shouted. But it was too late. Fenn fell and a bid piece fell on top of him. “Fenn!!!” - shouted Lyn and went closer to him. Fenn layed motionless.
Lyn sat closer to Fenn and cried. Pi put her hand on Lyn's shoulder. “Don't worry. He will be okay. But now we have to go. Shield is going to be over soon.”
Lyn was sitting on a bench near the crashed cabin and writing. Fenn was now in a hospital. Non-fi cabin didn't lose any more wars.
Many days passed. It was now the last day of Scratch Writing Camp. Many children were sitting in main cabin's hall. Fenn, with a broken leg, was sitting beside Lyn. Birdy, the camp host, and Kat went on a stage. “Scratch Writing Camp finished! I'll tell the results now. On the third place there is… Nonfiction cabin! Although they had an accident, they all did very well. On the second place, there is…Mystery cabin! It's Sini's last session, we will miss you. On the first place there is…Adventure cabin with amazing leader Ayelle!”
Everyone clapped, Lyn was very happy. 1022

If I could be free (word war my cabin’s prob gonna lose bc we don’t have a bunch of campers active rn :( )
If I could be free
I would jump up and scream
My true name through the trees
And no one would ask me what it means

If I could be free
I would wear what I want
With no emotional fees
A bright shirt wouldn’t be so daunting

If I could be free
I would be able to say
What I need
Everyone to be okay

If I could be free
I would walk around the world
Where I go is up to my feet
And if I wanted, they could just stay curled

If I could be free
I would stay with you
You are where I want to be
And my days wouldn’t be so blue

Word war:
Hello again.
Nice to see you.
But what are you doing here?
I thought you were done with stuff like this.
You got caught?
Oh, what a shame.
But htat doesn’t answer my question.
You got bored?
I should have guessed.
But let’s not focus on that.
You’re back!
That’s what matters, anyway.
We could really use your help with some tings.
But of course, it’s up to you.
As always.
Though I warn you, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime, so it’s best to not waste it.
What do you say?
Good, good.
It’s a job up in Elea.
Yup, that’s a long way, it’ll take a few days to get there.
Good, I knew I could count on you.
So what’s new?
Nothing?
Are you sure?
It doesn’t seem like nothing to me.
But it’s your choice.
Oh, that’s sad, will she survive?
Unlikely?
That’s very sad.
I wish her the best, I do.
Oh, you don’t think I do?
You always did know me well.
Such a shame, really.

Flaming Feathers

It’s time.

The room is lit up and a light shines down on my. I only get this one chance.

“Hello,” I say with mock politeness towards my captor. “You wanted to see me?”

“Ha,” he laughs, a hideous smile on his face. “You wish. No, it is you who wanted to see me.”

“Why are you holding me here,” I demand witihout trying to hide my irritation.

He tuts “I think you know Pheobe.”

The thing is I don’t. I have no clue why I am kept here, bound and left in a barren room with only a view of desolation. With nothing to think about but escape.

I’m dragged out of the room. After a moment I willing comply, knowing it will be harder to struggle, knowing that they want me to struggle. I’m thrown into a room nonetheless and the door is slammed behind me. I’m in darkness once again, well sort of.

A light shines of my skin. One that I am not able to control.

It’s happened since I was little. My skin lights up everytime I am put into darkness. Not a beautiful light, like you’ld imagine. It’s a blaring red light, the same shade as my hair. The light warns of danger, something terrible to come. That is why I fear the dark. That is why I have to escape.

Maybe that’s the reason why I’m here. But how would he know. I’ve never told anyone in my whole life. I’ve never known anyone in my whole life. It was always me against the cruel world. I’ve heard whispers while stalking the streets. Something about needing to return to the catacombs. Everytime they talked about a monster, stalking the streets. And then when they saw me, they went silent, and either walked away slowly or sprinted in the opposite direction.

My one way to escape was not possible, right behind my back. My captor seems to tease me, by leaving a window right in front of me. It’s all desolate hills, but it promises freah air and freedom. The only place I want to be is in those hills. And now I have the means to escape.

Using my mouth, I pull the bounds off my feet. Then, in a swift movement, I work my feet in a way that will free my arms. Then I take off through the window into the sky.

This is the trickiest part. I here shouts as people see me zip by. But, no one can catch me. I’m too fast and before long I’m in the desolate hills, safe from the world.

I land, on my own as always. A song come to my head. One I remember vividly, but not the person who sang it. It is my only hope that somebody once loved me. With a shaky voice, I start singing the song.


Far away, beyond the dawn
There is a place where you belong
And when you find your way along
Your life will make you strong

There is a place that’s safe and sound
A place where you will be found
But first you must find it
Through trial and error
And face a world of terror

Flames of fire guide you home
To a place with no more garden gnome
Flames of fire soar away
To a place where you are loved


It seemed like a dream, all to good to be true. She was never safe. There was always something wrong in her life. She was never loved.

She used to watch families when she was little, and wished for one of her own. But everytime the families saw her they scream.

The thing is, I’ve never looked like everyone else. But I’ve never saw that as a big thing. Clearly I was the only one. I wonder if the place beyond the dawn is a place where they don’t judge you for what you look like.

I live in the barren hills for a couple days, until I have to leave to get food. Food has been harder to come by than it used to be. Ever since I started hearing mention of the catacombs less and less people were out. No one sold bread anymore.

But to my surprise there are people buzzing around the city, like there used to be. I tentatively walk through the city, and like always people do their best to avoid me. I see a stand selling bread. There’s no owner there, so I leave a token and grab a loaf of bread.

Just as I’m leaving, my captor approaches me. “Halt monster yells.”

“Huh?” I say lamely. Monster. Sure I look different, like really different, but monsters are people who terrorize cities, and are evil and stuff.
My captor looks me over and starts laughing, “Wait, you don’t know, do you?” Then everyone around starts laughing, but as soon as I look around, the laughter dies down.

“What are you talking about?” I say, filled with confussion.

“Well you’re clearly a monster,” he laughs. “A phoenix.”

“A phoenix?” I had never heard of that term before.

“It’s basically a type of monster,” He replies flatly.

“But… I’m not a monster,” I stutter. As soon as I say it, I know it sounded lame.

“Now, come back with me, away from civilization,” he coos.

But I can’t respond. Everything is coming together. Everyone running away from me. The catacombs, whatever those are, were probably made because people were terrified of me. That is why they captured me.

People start surrounding me, preparing to attack. “Just come back with me,” my captor soothes, “and then you will be safe.”

But I can’t calm down. There are people out there in the world who are exactly like me. Maybe I have a family who loves me, and is waiting for me to return home. I have to find them, even if it kills me. The song plays in my head.

“No!” I shriek, and then lift by wings, and fly toward the sunrise.

Daily for the 28th:
“Hello, and welcome to my mind! Shall I give you a tour?” I ask you.
You nod, looking around at the messy room.
“Alright! So, here is the writing part,” I say, gesturing to a huge corner full of notes, unfinished documents, floating bubbles labeled as ideas, and notebooks.
“Wow.”
“Yeah, I know, anyway, this is the school part,” I point toward another, smaller corner full of notes, worksheet and homework that radiated negativity. But there are also flickering holograms of people laughing and having fun. Friends, you guess.
“This is the scratch part,” I nod to a section of the centre of the room, jam-packed with art, studios, comments, profiles, projects, and more. “The gay part,” I show you another, small, section in the centre full of different pride flags. “Home life part,” I gesture to another huge corner full of positive and negative holograms and items.
You watch wordlessly as I point to the climbing part, full of chalk bags, crash pads and indoor holds, and as I show you a jiu jitsu part with holograms and a gi. Next, I show you a holiday corner, which is full of decorations for a bunch of different holidays and holograms, mainly positive.
There's a part dedicated to seasons which has seasonal clothes, food and so much more, and a part for dreams, which makes no sense at all (you don't know how to describe it any other way, it's too weird). There's a book part, full of fandoms and SO MANY BOOKS.
Really, there's tons of parts. From family to YouTube to a very uncomfortable dysphoria spot, this room has it all. Many things overlap, like writing and books, or tech and scratch, or seasons and holidays, but it's all one big, somehow organized, chaotic mess.
You loved it.

Ava's weekly! :3

Part One- 508 words
The comment thread was a conversation that happened in Real-Fi involving Birdi, Fenn and Hop. (@Bellevue91, @suburban-darkness, @hoppingidiota ) Pretty much all the dialougue is exactly the same.

It’s chaos in Real-Fi’s kitchen on the first day of SWC. Campers are running about wildly and spilling cookie crumbs on their costumes, Robin’s trying to vain to calm everyone down and swinging her heaving filming camera everywhere, Starla and Hop are throwing everything they can find into a huge puddle of gloop that they’re calling cookie dough, Claude is sliding and stumbling all over the place (Alpaca feet are not suited to kitchen tiles) and there’s a horrible smoky burning smell that’s either the co-leaders cupcakes or something very toxic on fire. Possibly arson. You never know with Real-Fi.
“Hey Robin!” Hop calls out over the chaos. “I’m just going to take another batch of your poisoned cookies to our dear friend Birdi and-”
At that very moment, the door bangs open. Standing in the doorway is Birdi.
“Oops…” Hop says under her breath.
“REAL-FIII DEAR FRENEMIESSS!” Birdi strides into the cabin, sending a suspicious look at the scorched floor. “I’M BIRDI FROM FAIRY TALES AND I’VE COME TO ASK WHAT HAS YOUR CABIN LEADER BEEN DOING, GOING AROUND AND POISONING COOKIES!” She glares disapprovingly. Robin looks up guiltily. “Wasn’t me?”
“WWHAT?!” Hop stands in front of the shelves full of bottles of poison, trying unsuccessfully to hide them from Birdi’s view. “ROBIN HASN’T POISONED ANY COOKIES……” She started sweating.
Birdi opens her mouth to reply, but the door suddenly swings open again, and Fenn marches in.
“Hi this is Fenn from Non-Fi, and on another note, Robin, could I please have some poisoned cookies to give to my enemies?? Thank you!” He reaches out and grabs a tray of cookies from a passing camper’s hands.
Hop grabs the tray back. “Starla and I just made a batch of poisoned cupcakes, want those instead?”
“Excuse me?” Birdi interrupts. “Is this some sort of poisoned cookie black market or something?”
Hop starts sweating more. “No- of course not-”
“Well, see ya,” Fenn shoves a cupcake in his pocket and leaves, leaving the door swinging slowly behind him.
Birdi closes the door firmly. “If you’re selling poison, I want some.”
“No, no, we’re all sold out,” Starla shepherds Birdi towards the door. “You’ll have to come back tomorrow.”
“You know what, we’re sold out tomorrow too. You’ll have to come back next week.” Robin calls from where she’s trying to pull a mango out of Claude the Alpaca’s mouth. “Bad, bad Claude, that's for the campers-”
Birdi gives up and slips back through the door. Calling over her shoulder, she yells something back at the film set. The breeze makes it hard to hear her words but what she’s saying seems clear enough.
“Poison Poetry for me!”
“We will!” Robin yells back, but her words are lost on the wind.
Starla tugs her back inside. “Who’s next on the cookie rounds?”
“Sci-Fi,” Robin smirks. “They’ll just love our cookies. Especially the ones with…. Special ingredients.”
There’s a sudden CRASH and an alpaca screech. “CLAUDE!” Robin rushed back inside.
Starla followed her. This was going to be one chaotic month.

Part Two- 521 words
I used dystopian.. I just love the concept and the opening passage aaaa-

The lights were dim and flickering. The bare stone room was far underground and technology was always shaky at this level. They couldn’t afford to mine new passages, install them with power and electricity. All the money was being spent on rebuilding aboveground. There was nothing left for the few that remained in the rebellion’s former stronghold. Nothing left for the Unmarkeds.
The hooded figure pacing up and down the room was muttering things under their breath. The Soldier’s eyes followed them.
Up and down. Up and down.
Neither of them spoke.
Up and down. Up and down.
The Soldier finally broke the silence. “Commander? How are things at the border?”
The hooded figure, the Commander, continued pacing. Up and down. Up and down.
She finally spoke.
“Fine. Things are fine. At the border, I mean.”
Up and down. Up and down.
The Soldier hesitated. “Commander?”
There was a pause.
The Soldier continued. Slowly. Nervously. “And how are the Marked Ones?”
The Commander stopped. Turned. Penetrated the Soldier with her piercing ice-cold eyes.
“They are trying to rid themselves of their Marks.”
“Is it working?”
A pause.
“I don’t think so.”
The Commander began pacing again. Up. Down. Up. Down.
The Soldier spoke. “It’s good fortune that we were not Marked, then. That we escaped the Government’s net.”
The Commander stopped again. Her voice was a whisper.
“No-one has escaped the Government's net.”
A feeling of dread crept over the Soldier. “What do you mean?” She tried to keep her voice level. Steady.
The Commander didn’t respond.
“Commander?”
“They have been lying to you.”
The Soldier’s feeling of dread grew. “Who? Who’s been lying to us?”
“The Metal Prince.”
The Metal Prince. It was the rebel’s nickname for their powerful Underground Ruler. The Rebellion’s Leader. The Revolution President. The One of Many Names.
It wasn’t exactly a surprise to the Soldier that the mysterious, dangerous Metal Prince had a secret. It hadn't been a surprise to the Commander either when she had been told over whispered words in the dead of night. No-one trusted the Prince. He had released them from a reign of terror, a controlling dictorship. He was their saviour.
Yet they didn’t trust them.
“The truth?” The Soldier asked.
The Commander took a deep breath. “They told us we were immune to the Government’s Mark. We are not. We have it too.”
The Soldier stifled a gasp. The Commander continued.
“The other’s Marks are like trackers, chips. Embedded under their skin. Removable. But ours…. are different.”
“Is that the real reason we’re kept separate from the others?” The Soldier asked. “That we can’t join the New Empire? That we can’t go Aboveground?”
The Commander nodded. “Our Marks can never be removed. So we’re dangerous. We can be Controlled through them much easier than the others. We can’t even Disable them.”
“So where are our Marks?” The Soldier bit her lip. She was afraid. Very afraid.
“You haven’t worked it out yet?” The Commander asked. “Soldier Four Hundred And Four, our Marks are not inside us. Our Marks are us. We were manufactured by the Government.”
“We are Marks.”

Part Three- 383 words
Real-Fi's cabin description- (Written by Robin, not me)
You finally reach the end of the path, and knock on a glass door. There's a yell, crash, and a girl with headphones around her neck runs toward you, kicking it open with a grin.
“I'm Robin, the director. Starla and Hop will greet you soon. Hurry, hurry! There's only a month.”
She ushers you down a hallway, and you enter a spacious room with random furniture scattered everywhere and walls painted all different colors.
“This is our main filming room! You'll be spending a lot of time here. Bunks are outside to the left, team rooms on the right. Welcome to the Realistic Fiction studio; I can't wait to work with you!” And with that, she heads out the door, frantically checking her watch.
Continuation, by me-
You laugh nervously. “Wait…where do I go now?” It’s too late. She’s gone. You sigh. This was going to be an… interesting month.
The door opens again and you gasp in shock as you see an alpaca stumble into the room. An alpaca! A real alpaca!
“Hello!” It says, and you jump back, terrified. “I’m Claude. You alright?”
“I-i didn’t k-know alpaca’s could t-talk,” You stutter shakily. You feel dizzy. Maybe you should lie down.
“Anything can happen in SWC,” The alpaca responds cheerfully. “We’ve got a mango eating contest happening over in Production, you want to join?”
You nod, biting your lip. “Alpacas eat mangos?”
“Of course they do!” Claude laughs. “And cookies- oh, we have the best cookies! Wait till you try one!”
“Uh, no thanks,” You say. You remember how Robin’s notorious for poisoning cookies. “I’ll pass.”
“Oh, don’t be shy!” Claude pulls you through another long, winding corridor and into a huge room where people are laughing, screaming, and mangoes are flying everywhere. One whizzes over your head and you only just manage to duck in time.
“Looks like it's turned into a food fight!” Claude grins. “Even better!”
He launches himself into the chaotic mess of the production room, dragging you with him.
The world is suddenly a whirling, spinning, cacophony of noise. Mangoes are everywhere, flying over your head, smashed on the floor, crashing into camper’s heads, colliding with other mangoes in mid-air, and people are running, falling, swerving, ducking, dodging every which way, slamming into each other and skidding across the floor, hurling mangoes in random directions, trying to eat the falling mango pulp that’s raining from above.
You suddenly realise that you can’t see Claude anymore. As you turn around to try to look for him, a flying mango hits you right in the back of your head. You yell, and throw it back into the crowd as hard as you can. There’s a satisfying thump and someone bursts into laughter.
You grin. Who cares if all these people are crazy? It’s good to be a little crazy!
You grab another mango and throw it in another direction. And soon, you’re right in the middle of the mango fight, throwing, dodging, running, laughing, yelling.
This month is going to be the best session ever.

Part Four- 1122 words
This story is a fanfic of the story Real-Fi's collabrating on, our film about Claude the Alpaca. The concept was throught up by Robin and Starla and Hop, but the writing is mine.

The wind is howling and the sky is a dark, dismal gray. Rain is falling in a constant pitter-patter on the cobblestone path, drenching the trees that surround the road. It’s day but the moon is already in the sky, peeking through the only tiny gap in the cloud clover. A muddy mess of half-melted snow from weeks ago coats the ground, crisscrossed by a single trail of footprints. Footprints leading there, but no footprints leading back.
The maker of these footprints is a solitary creature, stumbling slowly onwards. Onwards. And onwards. Who knows how many hours he has been walking for. Who knows how many hours he will go on. Before he finds his destination…or he gives up his journey and turns around back home.
The figure struggles on through the rain and snow, mud and fog. Eyes half-closed against the diagonal rain that’s soaking his face, slicking back his curly fur into wet spikes. He continues on.
He is Claude the Alpaca, and he is trying to find the Sacred Mangoes.
But he still cannot see the very first main cabin. He may still be miles away.
But he must keep going.
His companion had turned back. His companion had been defeated. By the long, long road. The wind and the rain and the fog. But Claude could not turn back.
Claude had to do this. They would harvest his kneecaps if he didn’t.
He took a deep breath and continued. One foot in front of the oher. Just one foot in front of the other.
Suddenly a shadow fell over him from above. He looked up. And there, amidst the fog, was a huge wooden building. It was unmistakable. It had to be the first Main Cabin.
With renewed energy, he continued on. The massive gates loomed into view. And they were locked.
He had forgotten that they were locked. He had forgotten they had no key.
How was he going to do it again? Arson. But how could he light a fire in this weather?
What if all this was for nothing?
He tried to calm himself. Of course it wouldn’t be for nothing. He would find a way. He would- he would climb over the fence?
It was worth a try. He pushed his way through the overgrown bushes to the side of the cabin. The fence that ringed the huge wooden building was old and falling apart. If he put any weight on it at all, it would crack and the decaying timber would plunge into the massive puddle of melted snow that had dripped off the Main Cabin’s roof over the last week and never be seen again. The puddle was very, very deep. More like a lake. And Claude couldn’t swim.
There had to be another option. He could climb a tree and jump from the tree onto the Main Cabin’s roof and then climb down the side and break in through a window? Surely there was something less complicated than that…. He could throw something at the fence and then it would collapse into the puddle and he could use it as a bridge? No, he was too heavy. But maybe he could knock over a tree and use that as a bridge….
Claude sighed. He couldn’t climb onto the roof. He was too heavy to use the fence as a bridge. And he definitely was not strong enough to knock down a tree.
So what could he do? He had come so far. He couldn’t turn back now. There had to be a way. There had to be!
He reached into the pocket of the tweed jacket he had borrowed from his dear companion Eugene. He fingered the packet of matches. He could burn down a tree.
He was right back to where he started, he realised. He couldn’t light a fire in this weather.
Then what could he do in this weather? All his ideas were preposterous, impossible.
He felt…
He felt like giving up.
No. He couldn’t think like that.
He desperately tried to think of more ways to get in. He could eat the fence and jump over the puddle. He could make a path over the puddle with leaves. He could use his tweed jacket as shoes and then he might float - did jackets float? He could build a raft out of… Out of what? Out of leaves? Twigs? Matches? Stones from the path?
Wait.
Stones from the path!
He rushed back to the path, gathering up as many stones as he could in the pockets of his jacket. In his mouth. Behind his ears. Balanced precariously on the top of his head.
He carefully, carefully, edged back to the fence and dumped the stones on the ground, ecstatic. He finally had an idea that could work!
He took a deep breath and ran at the fence, ramming it with his side. The fence crumpled and fell with a splash! into the puddle. Then he picked up one of the biggest stones and carefully placed it in the puddle.
It didn’t float. It didn’t wash away. It had worked!
Claude grabbed another, and another, and another, stacking them all onto the first one so the pile finally reached the surface.
He reached over them and placed another on the ground below the puddle. He stacked others on top of that one too, until it also reached the surface.
And then he did it again. And again. And again.
Until he was finally left with a set of wobbling, stacked, perfect stepping stones.
He had done it. He had done it! He took a careful, careful step onto the first stack.
It didn’t fall. Didn’t teeter. Not that much, anyway.
He stepped onto the next one. And he slowly began his dangerous journey over the stacked stepping stones, with the deep, dark Lake of Melted Snow Puddle beneath him, and the Main Cabin and the Sacred Mango Grove only a few steps away.
It was a long few steps. His heartbeat was thundering, wanting to burst out of his chest. He was trembling with fear, yet he still managed to put one foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other.
And he had made it! He was on the other side.
He had done it. Now all he needed to do was get a mango from the grove and go back through the torrential rain to the Main Cabin - this session’s one, with absolutely no termites.
He would be able to keep his kneecaps. And, even better, he would be able to participate in SWC this November.
He felt like the happiest alpaca in the world.

Thank yous to the Mystery people:

(Co)leaders:

Gigi: Thank you! You've been an incredible leader, and I'm so thankful that you chose me to be one of your cos. You gave me a chance to be a co for the first time, and that can be a dangerous step to take, but it worked out(even with all of the chaos), and I'm incredibly grateful for the chance you gave me <3

Fi: You did so well as the co leader! I'm so grateful to have a great co like you, it would've been terrible without you xD You worked so hard and I'm glad I've gotten to know you throughout this time.

Campers:

Jade: I know I haven't talked to you a WhOlE bunch but I did want to be sure to shout you out particularly because I've seen you work so hard throughout this session. You've been there encouraging people, cheering them on and working hard throughout the whole time. I'm glad I've gotten to talk to you a bit and get to know you better. I hope to see you again next session!

Brissy: BRISSY OMW I'M SO GLAD YOU GOT SORTED INTO THIS CABIN BECAUSE I'M SO GLAD I GET TO KNOW YOU *cough* what I mean to say isssss xD Ignore my chaos, my brain is dead rn xD Anyways. You've been working so incredibly hard this session, encouraging people, doing dailies/weeklies, helping people out, and bringing laughter and joy to the cabin. I've had some amazing experiences with you(and some chaotic conversations I must say-), and I'm so glad SWC has introduced me to you. Keep writing and keep being amazing <3 I hope we continue to chat and have awesome amazing convos because it's so stinking much fun xDD

Phoenix: AHAHAHAH I STILL HAVE NO CLUE HOW I KNEW YOU BEFORE but anyways I'm glad we get to know each other now even though we have no clue what's going on with how we knew each other before- anyways xD you've been incredible this session and I'm so glad we got to be in the same cabin so we can actually get to really know each other without it being like one of us randomly being like “hi I think I know you but idk from where” cause yeah lol. THE POINT IS GOODNESS I CAN'T GET TO MY POINT- you've been incredible this session and I'm glad we get to actually get to know each other

Butter: Ik I haven't really gotten to talk to you a crazy amount, but I still have liked getting to know you. You've worked so hard this session and it has been amazing getting to know you! Keep up the writing, you're doing super well <3

Potato and Kewpie: Y'all are my siblings so I kinda hAd to put you guys on here but yeah. Anyways you guys have worked really hard (at least a bit… Jk lol). I'm honestly very glad I had both of you in my cabin, it was an experience to remember! <3 Keep up the good work y'all

Sweety: I know I haven't really gotten to know you a whole bunch, but I still wanted to thank you I had seen you around a bit before, and I knew from when I saw you were in this cabin that you'd be an awesome addition to the team. Thank you for working so hard and bringing such a joy to Mystery! Keep it up <3

Every Mystery camper: You all did so well! We've maintained an incredible spot on the leaderboard this whole session, which is SUPER impressive. I think y'all are some of the most hardworking, motivated, kind, compassionate, and really truly nice people I've met. Thank you guys for working so hard and being a incredible part of this session. I love you guys, and I'm hoping to see each and every one of you next session! <3

Pika's Daily For November 29th - 632 words

“AGAH CAMP STARTS TOMORROW AND WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH DAILIES!!! GUYS WE NEED HELP!” Bakie yelled at the table as she flipped through her list.

The other hosts and co-hosts were just as frantic. Everyone had a pounding heart and hopeful mindset. If things were just even a tiny bit messed up- well that would be the end!

“I have an idea!” Birdi exclaimed, wishing with all her mind that it would work. “What if we-”

“BURN DOWN THE WHOLE CAMP!”

Birdi turned her head, trying to figure out who said that. Honestly, at this point in SWC existing it could be anyone. Literally anyone could say that and it would be a perfectly normal thing because at some point or another arson became a major thing - along with mangoes? That was always interesting… But Birdi had made it painfully clear that the hosts couldn't promote arson anymore! So who said it? By the looks of everyone's facial expressions, no one knew who the arsonist was.

“Nope, next idea,” Honey said as she gestured for Birdi to continue.

“WAIT A MINUTE!” Kat screamed. “That was awfully quick of you to change the subject, wasn't it, Honey!? MAYBE YOU'RE THE ARSONIST!”

Honey looked appalled as she took a step back. “Me!? Wha- KAT! WE ARE CO-HOSTS. I AM YOUR FRIEND. I'm not some arsonist like Sini over there!”

Sini just glared. How dare Honey make such a wild accusation. “Honey, please. Those days of burning things and screaming about arson are long behind me. I'd never do such a thing anymore.”

“Then who did!?” Bakie asked, completely ignoring the need to find some more dailies. There was totally enough time - no need to finish that list now.

Birdi thought for a few seconds. “Y'know, Kat did make the first accusation - it was probably her.”

THUMP!

Alba stood up and dropped the heavy books onto the table. It was a very successful method to reach everyone's attention. “THAT'S IT! BIRDI!! IT'S YOU! Only someone who watches a lot of crime shows would know that, and crimes shows have arson, and watching arsonists would motivate you to be an arsonist! IT'S YOU!”

“ME!?” Birdi's eyes grew so wide they almost fell off her face. How could she have done it!?

“C'mon, Alba, we know it's not Birdi!” Honey defended, being the amazing person she is.

“YEAH CAUSE IT'S YOU!” Kat screamed again.

“Did someone try to give the Kat a bath or something? You know water makes her cranky!” Bakie joked. She was grinning furiously at her own brilliant joke.

Kat hissed. “Not funny, Bakie.”

“AHHAH THAT'S IT!” Birdi shouted, proud of her sharp mind. “IT WAS BAKIE! BAKIE DID IT! IT WAS HER! SHE WAS JUST TRYING TO DISTRACT US WITH IDEAS FOR DAILIES THIS WHOLE TIME! HOW COULD WE HAVE BEEN SO FOOLISH!?”

Alba and Sini both turned their heads in sync to face Bakie. The two of them growled. Kat, Honey, and Birdi all stood up and began to march toward Bakie. “BURN HER AT THE STAKE!!!!!” Eventually, everyone chased everyone out of the building.

There were screams and shouts, and maybe a bit of crying. But what matters is that there was no one in the room. Correction - no human in the room. Monty turned on his intercom, signaling for his master to come in the room.

“Aww, Monty! Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy!” Pika rubbed her goat behind his ears. “I knew that goat-to-English filter would be worth the price! Now, did you find the extra, hidden points?”

The goat led Pika to a set of drawers. The leader opened one of them and grinned at all the shiny points laying there. “Thank you, Monty. This should serve Adventure rather well this session. THE SURVIVALISTS SHALL DOMINATE!!!”

November 28, 2021
- SWC Daily -

~~~~~
“Okay guys,” Birdi announced, standing up from her chair at the head of the table. “I’m sure all of you know that the November session of SWC is approaching quickly, and we have a lot of work to do. Firstly, I have created a forum for us to share all of the important information and ideas we have. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to share them there. Additionally, I have started construction on the main cabin, and you can all check it out. I will be adding some more details here and there, so expect that. I have also invited all of you to curate the cabin, and I’ll be promoting you soon after you join.”

A whole group of eager faces listened intently, typing on computers or taking notes. Faer sat next to Birdi, and looked up to talk to the group.

“Thank you Birdi,” she smiled. “Anyway, the Memory Book Committee has a lot of work ahead of us. All leaders, please discuss with your cos about what themes you want for the memory book. The overarching theme this session is elements. So please think about that. Additionally, if you could share your ideas for your cabin’s most likely to's in the Memory Book Committee forum, that would be great!”

“Okay!” Birdi exclaimed, clapping her hands. “Now, who’s going to make the Mega Writing Thead and Suggestions Forum?”

“I’m doing the Suggestions Forum and Kat is doing the Mega Writing Thread!” Honey added, raising her hand.

“Okay great!” Birdi sighed in relief. “Have you guys started thinking about dailies and weeklies?”

“Yep! Me, Alba, Honey, and Kat are drafting a few to start, but we probably won’t plan too far ahead. Kat has been working hard on the sorting after all,” Bakie replied to the host. “I’ve been doing some research and there are some cool international holidays in the month of November! It’s really giving us inspiration. As for the weeklies, we’ve chosen a theme for the first weekly. But we need some writing workshops for the campers to learn from.”

“If you could send me maybe the first 3 days of dailies in the next week or so that would be superb! Like Bakie said, we also need people to write writing workshops for the weeklies. Alba, could you post a list of the workshops needed? Those who volunteer to write workshops are expected to turn them in three to five days after they are assigned the workshop. That way we can have the first weekly by the third day.”

“Also,” Alba interjected, “I have already posted the New Word Updating Systems project for all to see, so leaders and cos, please choose amongst yourselves what system you feel would be the most efficient. Honey, what about the Word Wars and Writing Competition?”

“Ah, yes!” Honey remembered. “I haven’t started on the writing competition yet. However, one of our campers, ophellio, suggested the idea of having prompts for Word Wars. I think that would be a cool idea! What about you guys?”

“Oooo! That’s a good idea!” Zura agreed. “I think we could change the prompts each week to spice things up. Do any of you guys have good ideas for prompts?”

“I think we could think of many prompt ideas,” Poem offered, “we could all come up with a list to add and change every week.”

“Great! I’m glad we are heading on the right track,” Birdi said, getting everyone’s attention. “I’m sure with enough hard work, we can have this session all ready for the campers in November. It’s good that we’re all making good and steady progress. It seems everyone has respective tasks to do and are working diligently everyday. Does anyone have any questions about what they should do or concerns?”

The room was silent as many people shook their heads. Everyone seemed ready and set to get to work.

“Well, without further ado, I think that settles this meeting!” Alba said excitedly. “See you guys next meeting everyone! Good luck and have fun!”
(676 words)

~~~~~
Okay I have 2 main things to say. 1, I CAN'T BELIEVE SWC IS ALMOST OVER!!!! This has been my best session yet and I can't way to participate more! I had such a blast this session and made so many new friends! I will be truely sad when this session ends, and Poetry cabin might score a first place!!! (Unfortunately, Adventure has overtaken us for now, but I'm sure Poetry will rise above them.) Now, 2, Thanksgiving Break ends today, so I have to go to school tomorrow, which is unfortunate. But also I have a Social Studies Fair presentation on Tuesday and I only just finished the project today so I'm nervous. Anyway, that was my rather long and irrelevant vent. Gotta go, bye!!! ^^

Dragon Hatching
-
(519 words)
-
(For this one, I ended up tweaking a few of the details, but I made it accurate the best I could.)
-
“SAI!!”
“GAHH!!”
Sai had been multitasking with writing prompts and the uniforms until Emerald had barged in with a shopping cart, filled with large eggs. The encounter had been so sudden that Sai nearly dropped the pincushion she had been carrying.
“What are you doing??” Sai asked, still startled by the loud call of her name. “And why do you have that with you?”
At this point, Emerald was jumping with excitement. “I’ll tell you in a bit. I have to get this to the meeting room- I’m gathering everyone there. See you there!” And with that, Emerald gripped onto the cart and left in a flash.
It took Sai a full minute to gain her bearings, then she started to put away her belongings. Whatever was about to happen, she had no doubt it would be interesting.
-
“So… why are we here?”
Ani, Erie, Emerald, Luna, and Sai were the only people in the meeting room- Sai safely assumed that Soki and the others were preoccupied with their own tasks.
Emerald was as energetic as ever as she took a sage green egg with bright purple spots out of the shopping cart. “Last SWC, on this specific day, I gave our cabin a DRAGON!” She placed the egg inside a straw nest that was on the table. “We’ll do the same here!”
“Wait- those eggs are DRAGON eggs??” Sai asked, completely bewildered. “Is that even permitted??”
Erie scoffed. “Who cares whether it’s permitted or not? I’ll keep it.” Glancing at Emerald for approval, Erie picked up the egg and headed for the greenhouse outside.
Sai glanced at Luna hesitantly. “Should we follow her?”
Luna nodded. “Yeah.”
-
Sai had never explored the greenhouse herself before but she began to realize why some campers liked to visit it. Assorted herbs and plants, mixed in with the small of rain, basil, and thyme, made the whole place rather peaceful.
It didn’t take long for the two girls to find Erie. She’d placed the egg in an incubator normally used for some of the baby goats Pika sometimes sent.
“Oh, hello, guys!” Erie turned to face the two cos, Ani, and Emerald. “This dragon will be a lime speckled dragon.”
“Really?” Sai asked, curiously.
“Mhm!” Erie nodded excitedly as she began explaining. “This dragon’s name is Mago. It’s Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese for ‘little magician'. Anyway, I need to work on the weekly. This guy might take a day or two to hatch. Sai and Emerald, you two can make sure its environment is clean before it hatches. Luna and Ani, would you mind finding some food for the egg?”
“Sure.” Luna headed into another area of the greenhouse with Ani to find some food.
With that, Sai turned to Emerald. “When do you think he’ll hatch?”
“In about 15 hours!”
“That’s not far from now.” Sai glanced at the egg. “We should begin the incubation process later so it can hatch. For now, we’d better prepare the greenhouse- and the incubator itself- for that.”
“I agree!” And with that, the two girls rushed off to get the greenhouse ready.
-
Tales of the Garden
-
(409 words)
-
(While part of this mostly centers around the struggles the character’s sister is facing, it does mention specific components of Fairy Tales’s Night Garden.)
-
This is a place I’ve always liked to go to.
Star’s boots tapped in rhythm with the slow trickling of the lake ahead of her. The institute’s garden at night… it was so peaceful, you could feel all of your troubles breezing out of your mind, blowing away with the cherry blossom petals in the cool breeze.
Usually, Star’s life was always filled with messy drama and sophisticated issues. It was always nice to take a break for once, rather than stay inside and bottle up emotions.
Almost every student who came into contact with nature knew the garden like the back of their own gem. Each grassy section opened up into a different layering of flowers, plants, herbs, and other beautiful sights.
Naturally, Star was one of those students.
Star’s feet followed the usual pattern into a rose garden, complete with lush trees and pretty flowers. However, as she stepped in, she noticed someone was already there.
“Moon?”
Star had least expected her sister, out of anyone, to be there.
“Oh, hi, sis.” Moon turned to face her sister.
That was when Star noticed her bleak, tired eyes. It looked like she’d been crying for quite a while.
“Moon.”
Moon slid over to make some space for Star to sit down on.
“Let me see your gem.”
Reluctantly, Moon handed over her ring to Star, which she transformed into egg form.
“Sis-”
“I know.”
“What’s been happening?” Star carefully put Moon’s gem onto her lap. “Your gem is WAY TOO DARK. Have you not been using the relievers or something?”
“I just-” Moon sighed, and slumped back, her eyes filling with tears. “Do you know how it feels to control fire like this? I’m worried I could cause an accident to the institute, in a part that doesn't have flammable walls.
Star sighed. “Moon, don’t say that. You’re my sister- you can do better. Here.”
Gently, Star took out a spare reliever from her bag and tapped it against the dark purple soul gem. Almost immediately, it lightened quickly, and Star could see her sister’s expression clear faster than she could comprehend.
“Thank you.”
“No problem…” Star couldn’t help but continue to feel like… her sister was still off, in a way. “Do you want to walk around the garden with me? It usually helps me out with this sort of thing.”
Moon, for the first time since Star had seen her in the rose garden, smiled. “Sure.”
-
Agency Introductions
-
(327 words)
-
You wake up, finding yourself in the same bed that you were in before you passed out- again. This time, you feel like you have enough energy to get up and roam around the halls of the agency.
Just as you’re about to, however, the girl wearing purple and the other wearing gray both step into the room, clearly taken aback by the fact that you’re awake.
“Ah-”
“Oh, sorry.” The girl in gray pipes up. “We weren’t expecting to see you awake. Do you think you’ll be alright to move?”
You nod in response.
“Haha, good!” The two both smile. “We’ll both be co-running this cabin. I’m Sai, one of the co-leaders, and this is Luna, the other co!” The girl in greasy, her name apparently being Sai, motions to herself then to the girl in purple, Luna, who waves nervously.
“In the meantime, you should probably explore this place for a little, before you get lost.” Luna digs through a fanny pack on her waist before finding what she needed.
“Oh, here it is!” Luna hands you a crimson, purple, and gray colored brochure. “This brochure is a guide. It’ll tell you everything you need to know about us!”
“You should take a moment to read it first.” Sai adds. “But, whenever you have questions, we’ll both be glad to answer them!”
“Well, who’s the leader of this place?”
“She’s the girl in crimson you saw earlier- her name is Soki.” Luna explains. “She’s a bit busy, so she can’t talk with you right now.”
“But, we’ll give you some time alone.”
With that, the two girls disappear, as if in a flash.
It almost feels odd as you look down at the brochure and begin to read it.
The brochure explains the issue of the cabin, who the leaders are, and the ransom that needs to be earned. However, the last quote catches you off slightly.
Blackmail is a dangerous activity. Don’t try it.
-
Plot for War
-
(1115 words)
-
People featured:
@aniii-
@Rey_venclaw
@Luna-Lovegood-LOL
@MadisonFontaine
Uhh- me lol
@charliesunset
@–galaxi–
Two made-up campers from Thriller (Thalia) and Non-Fi (Arin)!
-
Pull yourself together. You can do this.
Thalia understood why the woods around her cabin’s agency were this thick, but it almost became too much to bear at times.
Really, though, it was nothing. And anyway, Thalia knew she had someone to meet.
Hunching over with the pack she’d been carrying, Thalia was finally able to make it through the dense forest and to the meeting location. Tired, she sat down on the steps and waited.
It wasn’t long before she began to nod off, though…
-
“Thalia.”
“THALIA.”
After what felt like hours, Thalia finally woke up to find an annoyed Arin staring at her expectantly.
“Oh- sorry, Arin!” Thalia chuckled nervously as she got up. “Wait, where’s my pack?”
Arin motioned behind him. “I returned it back to your place while you were asleep, but kept a few things. We don’t need that many supplies. It’s only a spy mission on Poetry.”
Thalia bit her lip just hearing Arin speak the cabin name. The two sibling cabins were both enemies of Poetry- they both knew that Poetry would have no mercy on either of them.
Surprisingly, during the cabin wars period, not many Poetry campers focused on Thriller, and turned their wars over to Non-Fi instead.
And with the second war day in precisely two days, the leaders of both cabins were obviously distressed. Even though Poetry didn’t seem to bother Thriller too much, they would most likely be targeting Non-Fi as much as they did last time the second their shield would be down, which concerned Thriller about their sibling. Soki, Luna, and Sai had been working on a strategy to maintain their wars and help out with their siblings.
It didn’t matter if Non-Fi would war Thriller sometimes- no one really seemed to care about that. After all, they were siblings.
“Anyway.” Arin’s sudden comment caught Thalia off guard for a moment. “Are you ready to head over to the Poetry Grove?”
Thalia sighed. “We need to do this for the safety of our cabins, and so we can be prepared for what they’re scheming. Let’s go.”
-
Thalia’s hands quivered as she held the recording device used for proof of Poetry’s scheming. She was well aware of the dangers she’d be facing accomplishing this mission. That’s what frightened her.
What if they see me? How will I escape? Will I…
Thalia shook the questions out of her mind as she ventured into the center of the grove.
No… I can’t think like that. I need to do this, to warn Soki, Luna, and Sai of the danger!
-
“Alright, is everyone here and present?”
“I believe so, Elfie. With the exception of a few busy campers, everyone is here.”
Thalia turned the recording device on as soon as she heard voices, and did her best to blend herself in with the lush trees of the grove.
“So, cabin wars is, again, tomorrow.” Elfie began the speech with an air of dignity and respect, pacing around the center of the grove at a relatively slow speed. “How will we face off against our rivals?”
“I have a suggestion.” An unfamiliar camper began to speak. “We can ambush Thriller so they won’t have time to help Non-Fi, who we can take hostage immediately after that.”
“Then, we can hijack their website and make it ours!” Another camper added, and the others joined them in strong, loud laughter.
As the discussion went on, Thalia continued to listen in horror.
Poetry was planning to sneak half their cabin to Thriller, where they would commit an arson attack on Thriller’s main wing of their agency building, destroying most of their forest background in the process. During this, the other half of Poetry’s cabin would head to Non-Fi and hijack the website, taking Zura, Pi, and Fenn hostage, along with the other campers, and make Non-Fi’s website into their own.
Thalia had known Poetry would plan something atrocious, but she certainly had not been expecting something so offending and brutal. She knew that she had to go out of her way to stop Poetry’s plan.
I have to warn Luna, Sai, and Soki, then Non-Fi’s leaders, with Arin’s help. Then-
The beeping sound coming from the recording device caught Thalia by surprise.
It was running out of battery.
Surprised, Elfie turned around quickly to face the direction of the sound. “What was that?”
The other campers looked around as well. Thalia, knowing her cover would be blown shortly, gripped the recording device as quickly as she could and ran.
-
Everyone in the agency’s discussion room was caught by surprise and Thalia burst in, her face coated with sweat.
“Thalia!” Jaide exclaimed, rushing over. “Are you alright? What happened?”
Thalia was too tired and distraught to speak. She motioned to a seat, and with Galaxi’s help, Jaide helped her get in a seat.
“I-It’s horrible… just horrible…!”
“Thalia, what are you saying??” Luna asked, with a hint aof panic in her voice. Jaide and Galaxi both stepped back to give the clearly shaken up camper some room.
Once Thalia was able to calm down, she spoke more clearly. “I went over to the Poetry Grove… to spy on them. I suspected they’d be doing foul play on both us and Non-Fi for cabin wars tomorrow, and I was correct….” Thalia proceeded to explain everything that Poetry was scheming, and how she’d made it out just in time.
Once she finished, the entire room was filled with stony silence.
Soki finally broke it with a sigh. “I appreciate you doing that. Now we can prepare for their ambush, if it ever comes. Do you have the recording device Luna gave you?”
Thalia held it up and handed it to Luna, who replayed the audio it had recorded- fortunately, with good quality. However, they were only able to listen up to the very end before the battery went completely out.
Sai had nearly dropped the latte she’d been holding in her hands, but she now maintained a much calmer expression, despite her eyes blazing with fury. “I knew Poetry would be up to no good- we’d better start working on a strategy to counter their attack.”
Ani suddenly rose from her seat. “We can’t just stand here and discuss Poetry’s awful scheme. That won’t help anyone.”
Madison also got up. “I stand with Ani’s statement. Poetry has done something like this before- we all should probably know what to do?”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Thalia stood as well, a look of determination on her face. “We should get to work, right now!”
She turned to her leaders. “Soki, Luna, and Sai. Do you have any ideas on a counter strategy?”
-
GRAND TOTAL: 2447 words
I’ll be real here. This has a LOT of inconsistencies and inaccuracy on my part, but I did it. I might have forgotten to italicize a few sentences, but wHo cArEs-

Daily: Nov. 29, 2021 (this is written as if SWC was in person xD so theres no stupid studio update and Emma and Elijah are not real campers xD)

–MacKenzie–
“Ok, no one add points right now– I'm going to try to add everything posted in the last three hours.” MacKenzie said. So she walked over to the Main Cabin and found the clipboard with all the campers points written. “Hm, ok. So looks like Kit finished the weekly for adventure… 5K points…” she muttered to herself. That meant that Adventure was now in first. And Fan-fi was still in last. But Mac's eyes lit up when she saw that FIVE PEOPLE HAD finished the daily for Fan-fi– which meant that they were now third-last instead of last. She continued adding for another fifteen minutes before she stumbled back to where the other cos and hosts were. “My brain hurts,” she complained. “I only managed to do one hours worth of point adding!” Vi patted her back reassuringly. “Don't worry. I can do the rest.” She told MacKenzie. Mac smiled. “Thanks.” She was really thankfully and glad that she had so many caring friends, even if they were competing against each other.

–Pandora–
Pandora was walking back and forth in front of the mirror in her bathroom. “Okay. Guys. We're in first place. We need to keep this position. So keep it up, you're doing great! Also, make sure to vote for the ‘Most Likely Tos’! Don't forget that goats are amazing!” She stopped at the mirror and looked at her reflection. She stood there for a few moments, then sighed. “No, that won't do,” Pandora muttered to herself. “Hi everyone! Good job. We're in fir–” she was cut off by the one, and only, Bakie, pounding on the bathroom door. “Pandora? You in there?” Pandora had almost– ALMOST forgotten that she had guests over. “Just a second!” she called. She turned on the tap and pretended to wash her hands. Thirty seconds later, she stepped out of the bathroom so Bakie could go. Pandora walked over to the living room, where everyone was busy creating the memory book. They had decided on Emma's (a Fairy Tales camper) design for the front cover, and Elijah's design (a Myth co leader) for the back. “We should put this picture here!” someone suddenly yelled angrily. It was Pika. “No, it needs to go with the other mango pictures, on the third last page!” snapped Birdi. Pandora sighed. Judging by what she had been told before she signed up to be a leader, these kind of discussions– and creating the memory book in general –could be pretty chaotic. So far that seemed to be very true.

–Sai–
“ORDER” Sai screamed, but no one seemed to have heard them. “COME ON, EVERYONE, PLEASE!” Still, they were ignored. Sai slumped down in their chair. “Why can't this be easy?” they groaned. So far, the memory only had one page filled with stuff– the third last one. It was filled with pictures of everyone being splattered with mangoes during Cabin Wars. Sai finally decided to do something. They snatched the memory book from Pandora's glass coffee table and held it up. “IF Y'ALL DON'T CALM DOWN, WE'RE NEVER GONNA FINISH!” But it was no use. No one listened.

To /never/ be continued….

SWC Weekly #4

Part 1 - 504 words:
“Attention, campers! Cabin Wars have officially begun!”
Sushi looked up from her notebook. Nudging Luna next to her, she inquired, “Er…what are Cabin Wars?”
Luna's expression was a mixture of anticipation, excitement, and fear. “Oh, Sushi, you have no idea what you're in for.”
Just then, the co-leader of Non-Fiction who Sushi knew as Fenn sprinted up to the two, screeching to a halt. “I come bearing gifts,” he panted, holding a hand behind his back in a way that seemed a tad bit suspicious.
Luna raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? And those would be…?” she prompted with a smirk. It seemed that Luna already knew what was about to happen. Sushi hated not being in the know.
Fenn slowly revealed his hand and threw down what looked to be a crumpled piece of paper before running off into the distance. “Love from Non-Fi!” Luna's eyes flashed in recognition, and Sushi knew better than to stick around. Both of them ducked as the paper exploded into a burst of scraps, rearranging to form a message above them.
*Cabin Wars! Your cabin must write 1000 words within the next 8 hours or you lose 600 points! Bonus challenge for 200 points: All writing must be in second person!*
“Oh god, what is this?” Sushi thought out loud with a confused expression.
“Your signal to get writing!” Luna supplied hastily, already pulling out her own notebook. “Quick quick quick, we've only got 8 hours!”
“O-oh!”
————-
“1000 words! Finally,” Sushi breathed a sigh of relief as she collapsed against her chair. Luna leaned over to take a look at what she had written, then gave a thumbs up. “Okay, if you're done with that, then now is the fun part.”
Sushi felt a smirk grow on her face. “Revenge time?”
“Revenge time.”
The two bolted towards the direction of the Non-Fiction cabin, ducking behind the bulletin board nearby once they had arrived. Immediately, Luna began scribbling something unintelligible in her notebook.
“…What are you doing?” Sushi asked hesitantly.
“I know I look insane doing this,” Luna began. “Which I am, but this is for a good reason.”
Sushi beckoned for her to continue.
“See, you need to write the challenge you want to inflict on the paper, and then make it come to life with the special SWC seal!” Luna proceeded to draw a rectangular symbol on the paper with connecting letters that spelled out the letters S, W, and C. Sushi mimicked her actions, holding up her own notebook for Luna to approve.
“Good! Now, crumple the whole thing up and yeet it!”
“Oh, I can definitely do that.”
Sushi creeped up to the door of the Non-Fiction cabin, crumpling up her notebook bomb as she knocked. The door opened, and a camper popped their head out.
“Who is it?”
“Your doom.”
“Wha-”
Luna burst out into laughter as Sushi yeeted the paper at the camper and the two ran for their lives.
“I think I'm going to love Cabin Wars.”
“Oh, you certainly will!”

Part 2: Based off of Thriller's theme

A flash of shadow in the night.
Camen pivoted on the spot to retaliate, throwing her notebook in its direction, but by the time it hit the ground, the shadow had gone.
It had been following her and Jayden all night without pause. Whenever the two detectives made any moves to reveal it however, it dashed out of sight.
There was no hope of going back to the agency to get help of any kind either, as they couldn't risk bringing dangerous subjects in. Not to mention the possibility of it being Z, the notorious cybervillain threatening to destroy the Thriller Detective Agency.
They were completely and utterly alone.
In fact, as Carmen looked about her, she realized that Jayden had disappeared as well.
Muttering about her bad luck, she turned back to retrace her steps. She knew not how far she had walked, or in what direction, but it was better than staying in one place.
Carmen continued through the forest, calling Jayden's name all throughout.
“Jayden, where'd you go? I swear, if you've gotten yourself kidnapped, I'll kidnap you right back-”
Suddenly, Carmen was grabbed by the collar of her royal purple coat. She turned back to find the very subject of her search.
“Shh! You'll alert the shadow.”
Jayden's eyes were wide with fear, and they darted around as if expecting an attack.
“Where were you? Are you okay?” Carmen hissed with a mixture of concern and anger.
“I was following the shadow. You've seen it too, haven't you? It's been trailing us this whole time.” Jayden's tone had a seriousness unlike any other as they concluded, “We're not safe.”
Carmen felt a surge of determination flow through her. She resolved to put all her effort into helping the two escape from the eerie forest as she replied, “Well then, what's the plan?”

Part 3:

I stood at the steps of the gigantic library, waiting. I was told to meet here, but my leaders seemed to be late. I studied the sprawling library, easily the biggest structure I’ve ever seen. While it seemed stately and fancy on the outside, (to be honest, the pillars were a bit excessive) I found that the inside of the library was cozy, with beanbag chairs and wooden bookshelves, desks with warm yellow lamps.
Suddenly, a young, blond-haired girl popped out from behind a pillar and nearly scared me to death. “HI!” She said energetically.
Another girl emerged from behind the pillar. “Shut up, we don’t want to scare her.” She hissed to the other, regarding me warily.
The third came out from behind the statue of three girls. Her brown braids whipped around as she posed. “Welcome to the Fanfiction Library! I am your leader, Mac, and these are my cos, Mia and Rockie!”
The two arguing girls smiled and waved sheepishly.
“Now, let's get you to your cabin! Follow me, please!” Mac said and threw open the heavy wooden doors.
I gasped. The library was even more amazing than you thought. Four stories of books surrounded me, exceeding the most books I’ve ever seen in one place. The first few floors had what one would expect from a library, but the last two had odd selections like unpublished fanfiction.
This library had it all. “I think I’m going to like this place.”
“I’m glad,” Mia grinned as she led me through the doors. “‘Cause you’ll be spending a LOT of time here.”
“Get ready for the most insanity you’ve ever seen,” Mac warned with a devilish grin. I couldn’t help returning the expression as I replied, “Watch me multiply that a thousandfold.”
The three girls left me to explore the place on my own, going to greet another camper. I rubbed my hands together in anticipation. “Socializing time.”
Using the spare time I had before the session officially started, I weaved in and out of the aisles of bookshelves, pulling out books to read and meeting fellow Fan-Fiction campers along the way.
As I revealed a cart full of novels from behind a curtain, I spied a girl walking over from the corner of my eye. I turned to greet her. “Hello there! You’re in Fanfiction too, I presume?” I made sure to sound as eloquent as I possibly could to make a good impression. After all, this was my first time joining Scratch Writing Camp, and I didn’t know if everyone would be as easy going as Mac and Luna were.
“Yeah, I am. You can call me Smartii, nice to meet you!” She shook my hand and gave a friendly smile.
“I’m Sushi. Isn’t this library amazing?”
“There are so many books here, I’m not sure how many I can go through before this session ends!”
For some reason, this girl struck me as the type to hoard pens and pages. I brushed the thought off carelessly. It wasn’t like that assumption was going to be important in some kind of ‘Most Likely To’ event.
A scream shook me out of my thoughts however, and Smartii and I ran toward the source. I could see the panic on my fellow camper’s face as we dashed over. I hope nothing’s gone wrong… I thought to myself. No one would sabotage our cabin…would they?

To be continued in part 4 of the weekly :0

Part 4:

I stood at the steps of the gigantic library, waiting. I was told to meet here, but my leaders seemed to be late. I studied the sprawling library, easily the biggest structure I’ve ever seen. While it seemed stately and fancy on the outside, (to be honest, the pillars were a bit excessive) I found that the inside of the library was cozy, with beanbag chairs and wooden bookshelves, desks with warm yellow lamps.
Suddenly, a young, blond-haired girl popped out from behind a pillar and nearly scared me to death. “HI!” She said energetically.
Another girl emerged from behind the pillar. “Shut up, we don’t want to scare her.” She hissed to the other, regarding me warily.
The third came out from behind the statue of three girls. Her brown braids whipped around as she posed. “Welcome to the Fanfiction Library! I am your leader, Mac, and these are my cos, Mia and Rockie!”
The two arguing girls smiled and waved sheepishly.
“Now, let's get you to your cabin! Follow me, please!” Mac said and threw open the heavy wooden doors.
I gasped. The library was even more amazing than you thought. Four stories of books surrounded me, exceeding the most books I’ve ever seen in one place. The first few floors had what one would expect from a library, but the last two had odd selections like unpublished fanfiction.
This library had it all. “I think I’m going to like this place.”
“I’m glad,” Mia grinned as she led me through the doors. “‘Cause you’ll be spending a LOT of time here.”
“Get ready for the most insanity you’ve ever seen,” Mac warned with a devilish grin. I couldn’t help returning the expression as I replied, “Watch me multiply that a thousandfold.”
The three girls left me to explore the place on my own, going to greet another camper. I rubbed my hands together in anticipation. “Socializing time.”
Using the spare time I had before the session officially started, I weaved in and out of the aisles of bookshelves, pulling out books to read and meeting fellow Fan-Fiction campers along the way.
As I revealed a cart full of novels from behind a curtain, I spied a girl walking over from the corner of my eye. I turned to greet her. “Hello there! You’re in Fanfiction too, I presume?” I made sure to sound as eloquent as I possibly could to make a good impression. After all, this was my first time joining Scratch Writing Camp, and I didn’t know if everyone would be as easy going as Mac and Luna were.
“Yeah, I am. You can call me Smartii, nice to meet you!” She shook my hand and gave a friendly smile.
“I’m Sushi. Isn’t this library amazing?”
“There are so many books here, I’m not sure how many I can go through before this session ends!”
For some reason, this girl struck me as the type to hoard pens and pages. I brushed the thought off carelessly. It wasn’t like that assumption was going to be important in some kind of ‘Most Likely To’ event.
A scream shook me out of my thoughts however, and Smartii and I ran toward the source. I could see the panic on my fellow camper’s face as we dashed over. I hope nothing’s gone wrong… I thought to myself. No one would sabotage our cabin…would they?
The thought echoed through my mind as we arrived, but I found myself shocked into silence by the sight before us.
A cart of books similar to the one I had come across earlier had gone up in flames. Smoke filled the air as a girl, assumingly in Fanfiction as well, looked on, slack-jawed.
Concerned, I shook her shoulders. “Hey! Earth to camper! There’s a literal fire!”
The girl’s glazed eyes didn’t clear, and I gave up. “Smartii, I’m gonna look for a fire extinguisher.”
Smartii nodded curtly. “I’ll run and get Mac!”
The two of us split up, and I sharply turned at an intersection between bookshelves, scanning the walls. Where’s a fire extinguisher when you need one? This is a library, literally EVERYTHING is flammable! I thought to myself frustratedly.
Only upon reaching the entrance of the building did I realize that the fire extinguisher was stationed there, which should’ve been the first place I looked. There was no time for regret however, and I used a copy of Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix to break the glass and grab the gadget.
Running back to the source of the fire, which didn’t take too long since I could follow the distinct trail of smoke, I fiddled with the trigger of the extinguisher. “How does this work-”
“Wow, this is pretty lit,” Mac remarked as Smartii brought her over.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the pun. “No, not the puns…”
“Anyways, do you need help with that?”
I nodded and handed the extinguisher to her, and she quickly made use of it. The fire had gone out, and the girl from earlier had shaken out of her trance.
“Have you done this before?” I asked Mac curiously.
“Oh, this? This happens all the time. It is a library, after all,” she replied carelessly.
I raised a suspicious eyebrow, but dropped the subject as the now-recovered girl walked over with a frantic expression. “It was an accident, I promise, I just couldn’t make myself move…”
“It’s alright, but how did this happen?” I inquired with a tilt of my head as co-leaders Mia and Rockie ran over.
“I don’t think this was a normal fire,” Mia supplied as she examined the scorched area. “We made sure to rid the whole place of anything that could cause a fire a month ago!”
“Yeah, it just kind of happened,” the girl jumped in.
“You are a camper here, right?” I interjected.
“Mhm,” the girl clarified. “I’m Hermione!”
“Ah, okay. Nice to meet you!”
“You too! Anyways,” Hermione continued to explain the situation. “I was writing about how a villain set fire to a scene and trapping the hero, when suddenly a fire exactly the same as the one I’d envisioned started growing. It just…happened.”
“Straight from the book?” Smartii inquired.
“Straight from the book.”
“Maybe we forgot a candle or something,” Rockie suggested. “It’s not like stories can really come to life, right?”
Everyone agreed, and I pondered on the idea. That would be pretty cool, though it could get dangerous depending on the situation and characters. Pulling out my notebook, I wrote down the prompt for future reference, but couldn’t do much else before I was interrupted once again. On the bright side, it was someone who I was always happy to see.
“Sushi! My sorcerex is alive!!” a very excited Luna exclaimed.
“Wait, what?” I cut her off confusedly. “You mean your protagonist from Sorcerex’s Oath?”
She nodded. “Come on, come on!”
Lune took me by the arm, leading me all the way to the Thriller cabin, which she co-led in. Inside, she rushed past a number of other campers, a few of which I knew. I waved to the cabin’s leader, Soki, and their friend Paige before being yanked inside Luna’s office promptly. “Geez, what is this about?” I demanded, feeling dazed. “You’re making me be the serious and sane one here, and you know that’s not a good look for me.”
Luna smirked. “I know. Don’t worry though, you’ll be freaking out just like me in a second, though!”
I gestured for her to continue, and she pointed behind me. I warily turned around to find a cloaked figure standing awkwardly in front of me. This was the character from Luna’s story, somehow in real life. “Oh my god. It’s straight from the book.”
“Straight from the book!” Luna repeated proudly. “I was editing the story, and suddenly they were standing right next to me! Just, poof!”
“The same thing happened earlier today,” I realized, my mind running a mile a minute. “Hermione was writing about a villain setting something on fire, and then the library was set on fire.”
Luna reeled back with wide eyes. “Wait, really?”
“It wasn’t a big one or anything, but yeah. We put it out, but it seemed like it came from nowhere. This could be really dangerous…”
“And really useful at the same time,” Luna finished my sentence.
“Exactly,” I nodded. “We should go tell the leaders, but afterwards, I want to write a little.”
Luna grinned. “I see what you mean. Let’s go!”
The two of us exited the room, and immediately found Soki at the door, about to knock. “Well, hey!” I greeted her. “We were just going to talk to you about something.”
Soki’s eyebrows shot up. “I was just going to say the same thing.”
Luna cocked her head to the side. “You’ve seen?”
Soki nodded, gesturing behind her. “A lot of our campers have been doing warm-ups and found all their writing coming to life, and now the Thriller detective agency is in chaos.”
I tapped a thoughtful finger on my chin. “So stories really are coming to life.”
“Straight from the book,” the three of us chimed in unison.
“Thankfully, we’re resolving the issue. Seems like everyone already knows about this, and an announcement should be going out soon! We just need to wait a bit-”
Right on cue, a peppy jingle sounded from overhead. “Good afternoon, campers! We’d like to let you know that lately, writing has been coming to life. We have absolutely no idea how this happened, but just be wary! This is all very confusing and exciting, so be sure not to write anything too chaotic. Thank you very much!” The intercom promptly shut off with a satisfying click.
“And there you have it,” I concluded with a shrug.
“Yup. Now that people know, this can grow to be something really fun!” Soki laughed. She pulled out their notebook and pen and waved goodbye to us. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some characters to bring to life!”
I turned to Luna. “Speaking of, we should do the same.”
“Yes! Which character do you want to write about?” she asked, lighting up.
A devious grin grew on my face as I countered, “Who said we had to do just one?”
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3099 words in total oh my god-