Here's my entry for the writing competition
Word count: 914 words

I walk down the worn cobblestone street, listening to the faint crunch of crisp autumn leaves under the thick soles of my worn blue-and-black running shoes. The cozy village was relatively empty and quiet, free from the roaring rumble of cars and bicycles heading to work on a bustling weekday. Instead, the town was an orchestra, mellifluous symphonies of wind chimes and bird calls reaching my ears. As I look up to the clear sapphire skies, I spot a helicopter from the stretching oak boughs above, swaying, spinning to the music and landing onto my palm in a gracious choreography. Its yellowing blades feel rather soft and cool on my skin, and I resist the urge to mimic its airborne moves in the streets. I threw it into the air, and a rush of mirth arose as it twirled around in the breeze.

A waft of warm, freshly made bread lingers in the air, and I continue my stroll, following the enchanting scent leading to the bakery. I walk past rows of shops and quaint, blooming gardens of wild roses, attempting to identify the chanting birds in the tall, rustling trees lining the road. Some stores had Jack o’ lanterns in the windows, and I was reminded of the upcoming Halloween. It was already next week, and I still had to carve a pumpkin and come up with a fitting costume! But before I would stress over the tasks associated with the beloved holiday, I hear something else, a new addition to the beautiful melody of fall. Singing.

    I take a left to listen to the small chamber choir performing by the park. I recognized the piece from my favourite contemporary album, with its ingenious piano chords and pretty harmony. To sing on a glorious, sunlit Saturday morning! I hum the tune under my breath, a cold shudder going down my spine as the ensemble sings the best part of the aria. And, I thought, I should have worn a thicker coat. I had to pull the hood of my orange rainjacket over my head of short brown hair and put on the pair of gloves I had in my pockets to protect myself from the unforeseen frigid weather. My breath came up in puffs of quick-lasting steam, and my nose turned a light shade of pink. As I wrapped my green scarf around my neck, the ensemble had finished the piece and started to pack up, leaving the glacial and bitter outdoors behind, heading for the warmth of an indoor fire. The deep cyan hues of the skies had turned a little greyer, but it still resembled an airy artwork as the colours mixed here and there like expensive, water-based paint.

    And suddenly, I felt something cool touch my skin. Specks of crystally white landed on my black gloves and coat. Could it be? No. It was only October, and the hyperborean signs of wintertime were not intended to arrive this early in the year. I watched the thick, lacy snowflakes descend from the sky and stay on the sidewalk, and I felt my stomach churn. Halloween was in three days! How was I going to spend the night if snow covered everything I loved about the holiday?

Stop, I thought. But this mere word was not enough to withstand the immense weight of the dawning realization and anger that had now filled my mind. I stood there as flakes got thicker and more numerous, ominously hanging in the dry October air.

    After what seemed like an eternity, I moved, the melodies of autumn tuned out by the ringing of my ears. I tried to listen, I really did, but I was unable to hear the bird calls, the leaves in the breeze, nor the wind chimes that sang at the lightest gale. Everything was too still, blankets of white muffling the memorable harmonies until they were reduced to nothing. For the first time in my fifteen-year-old life, I hated pure silence. I yearned for the seasonal melodies one only hears thrice a year, for a faint sound that would shatter the quiet.

    Yet despite the icy air surrounding me, numbing my feet and causing my teeth to chatter, I could discern a soft warmth in the pit of my stomach. Slowly and steadily, it grew bigger, reaching my arms, gradually spreading to the tips of my shivering fingers. A peculiar feeling lingered in the dry air, and I couldn’t distinguish it. It contrasted my sullen disappointment, too joyous to match the shock of the crisp and wintry premature snow that covered all.

    Memories rushed back, but not ones of autumn leaves and Halloween. Ones of winter, of December frost, my favourite hot chocolate and of Christmastime. I could remember these vividly, clear as a fresh, snowy day. I reminisced of sleighs, cross-country skiing in the mountains that touched the heavens, and of the calmness of a still snowfall at first light.

    Along with the echoing memories came a new sound, one different than the ones of fall. The soft jingle of shop bells in the distance, the blue jay’s chorus, the laugh of wide-eyed children as snowflakes landed on their tongue, feeling their intricate designs melt at a slow pace. The symphony of wintertime. Drowning out the doubts and worries I had earlier, it started to call my name, this reverberating over and over. And, like the delicate crystal flakes that swayed and pirouetted in the air, I started to spin, too.

~March 10th-16th~
Main-Cabin Weekly
Total Word Count (Individual ones below): 2,644
Main Post: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/post/6081187/

1: 438 words towards myself, other word count details in the post below
https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/post/6119500/ (Here's where you'll find the info for the specific story for this part, it was snipped from this post to make accessing my other parts easier for other people)

I did this with @ayid_7345 It was a pleasure working with her!

Comment thread: https://scratch.mit.edu/users/booklover883322/#comments-192408398

2: 532 total words
Name: Adelita Monal
Age: 19
Species: Human

Personality and Traits: 225
Adelita is very quiet and cold. She has a prideful air about her, and whenever she talks to you she’ll probably say something about something you’ve done wrong or incorrect. She’s extremely obsessed with perfection and will criticize you every chance she gets. However, under the surface, she is insecure and unsure about her actions. She thinks that since she upholds everyone to perfection, she has to be the same way. She often unhealthily obsesses over her *insert extracurriculars, activities or hobbies that make sense for the setting and world ;-;*. She hates things that are out of place. She has a slight lisp, which she absolutely despises, and tries her best to hide it despite the fact she was born with it. Adelita often is seen muttering to herself about things, sometimes other people but mostly herself. Sometimes, she can be found breaking down. She doesn’t talk to others much (unless it’s to criticize them) since she’s absorbed with her *insert activities*. She often does these things to seek approval and to find self-worth. Adelita has several talents that she’s accumulated through time, and she, through all she does, seeks one major thing. Approval. Given a choice between herself and another person to leave a team, she’d always pick herself because she believes that she has all the necessary talents to better boost herself forward.


Wants, Hopes, and Strengths: 204
Adelita strives for perfection. She hopes to achieve perfection, academic (if it applies to the setting) and physical perfection. She, however, doesn’t care about relationships and might not ever. Adelita is really good at *insert activities* and she strives to always better herself. She’s diligent and will probably always will. She tries her best to be the best, and can get a bit jealous of other people good at the same thing she is. She hopes to… well, to be the best in what she’s passionate about. She also hopes that no one finds out about her break downs. She wants to be her best, but often can’t. Something else that she really wants is to find new extracurriculars/activities. Doing something for fun isn’t really all that fun for her, but she finds it a good, exciting pastime. She is also strong in the area of criticism, whether or not it’s constructive or not. She can see every detail that’s wrong with someone’s performance, whether it’s a speech, presentation or even a *move in a sport that makes sense for the world*. She really isn’t all that interested in participation trophies, and instead yearns for medals. She also doesn’t settle for second place.

Dislikes and Fears: 103
She’s afraid of disapproval. She doesn’t approve of herself inside and often does what she does to seek that self-worth. She hates it when other people achieve something better than her, and she bashes herself for not working hard enough. She is super, and I mean super, afraid of losing her talent. She puts all of her identity on what she can do, what she can accomplish. She doesn’t show this, but she sure does think it. She places all of her worth on what she can do. Adelita may be a snob to others, but she hates herself as well as others.

2: 426
This story is set before there were guns, so think of that for the lifestyles of the characters. It’s set in an alien world, where there’s a huge war going on. The war is between several different alien tribes, over 100 of them. Most of them are in one of three factions. Go ahead and pick the names for these! If the tribe isn’t in a faction, then it's neutral (or not, whatever works ). In this world there are five different biomes of sorts. There’s the desert, jungles, clay valleys, swamps and plains, all on a huge continent that has a strange ocean surrounding it. The desert is dry and barren. There’s never any rain except every five or so years, and the locals have festivals celebrating the rain. The sand is a variety of colors, mostly blues and yellows. The cacti are what you would consider the predators of sorts in the desert. They explode when you get too close to them, shooting all of their spines at the unlucky target. A lot of other plant life, if one of these cacti are in a 100 foot (31ish meters) radius, then they’ll try their best to grow away from it to get out of their range. The jungles are always ridden with carnivorous plants, and you can find every color of the rainbow there, whether it’s with a flower or the leaves of a tree. Swinging vines are everywhere there in the jungle, and some people have rumored that they will sometimes snatch up unknowing travelers. The clay valleys are a lot like mesas, except all of this part of the world is just ravine after ravine. You couldn’t cross the large mesa in three lifetimes if it wasn’t for the precarious bridges that span the valleys. Then there are the swamps. If you’ve ever been to a mangrove, think of all the crazy roots but even larger and crazier. The swamp is an unfriendly place to be, whether it’s night or day. Of course, the time doesn’t really matter in there because it’s way too dark either way. The swamps are home to mutations and monsters. Almost no one dares to venture in there. Almost. The plains are much less sinister than their sibling biomes. The plains are usually teeming with wild animals, the wild versions of livestock, if you will. There are flowers everywhere, and they're renowned around the world for their beauty. The ocean… There is not much to say about the ocean besides three words. Brackish, scary waters.

It ends there.


3: 153
Your character is looking for a new creative outlet, trying several things at the beginning. They are wandering around the world and come across a few different characters in this world. They seem shady, and as one brushes your character, they realize that they start feeling sick. Really sick. They do whatever they can to get better, but nothing seems to work. That’s when they realize that maybe this sickness is something otherworldly (or whatever WOW, THAT WAS UNEXPECTED type of realization). Your character isn’t sure how to cope, so they try other methods to find out more about the whole sickness. They find out a few different things and… well, that’s up to you! Feel free to go wherever you want in the story from here. But… At the end of it all, the character ends up succumbing to this sickness, and… well, there seems to be no hope. Or is there?

4: 1095 words

Character- @criminal-intent: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/582424/?page=75#post-6120329

Setting- @Tails-of-a-Kitsune: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659917639/

Premise- @violent-measures: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/586550/?page=3#post-6117633


I hear voices. Loud, unexplainable.

Dark.

They reach and grasp for me, shrieking, wailing.

They want something.

I jolt awake. Sweat beads my forehead, and I use the back of my sleeve to swipe it away. What was that?
I look around. It was probably just my imagination.
Before I can stop it, my mind fearfully adds, What if it was the woods?
Shut up. I tell myself. The woods were just dark and spooky. A place to play halloween pranks, nothing more.

Lily.

I clutch my head. The sound was loud and biting, something you’d hear from a monster.

A beast.

Strangely, however, it was humanlike, like all the voices of those I have ever known were compiled into a demented sountrack of screams.

I decide to ignore the pressing thoughts that are rampaging around my head. It was nothing, probably some sort of food poisoning or something.

Nothing more.

Right?

Before I knew it, it was morning. The sun was creeping over the horizon, casting warm, happy rays over everything. However, the sun decided to shine itself right in my face.
I did not like that.
A knock at my door sounds. Still paranoid from the night before, I jump up. But, it’s just my mom.
She peeks her head through the door and says, “Lily, you should be getting up already. It’s friday, so you can rest more tonight. I have breakfast at the table.”
“Thanks.” I reply. “I’ll be down soon.”
Mom closes the door and I get ready. I slip on one of my brother’s shirts that read, ‘Peyton Strong: National Tour’. The shirt was green, with black font that displayed all of his different locations that he was playing at.
I proceed to put on a pair of jeans. This one had a few rips in it, but who cares?
I took a brush to my hair. It was long, black and boring. I never knew what to do with it besides braid it or leave it down, so I just left it down today. I grab a set of green gummy bear earrings and poke them through my ears.

I walk out of my room and trudge down the stairs. My mom and my dad greet me from the table.
“Morning Lily!” My dad says, grinning widely. He was wearing a suit today. As if that was different from every other day.
“Hurry and eat, Lily. You’ve got to start walking in five minutes.” Mom exclaims, pushing a plate of fruit in front of me. I start to wolf down the food while my mom prepares my dad the rest of his breakfast.
“Do you have your backpack?” Dad asks all of a sudden.
I nod my head and tilt it towards the door where my backpack sat.
“Homework done?” He presses on.
“Yep.” I say with my mouth full of strawberries. I grab one of the napkins on the table and wipe my mouth. I stand up and rush to the door. “Love you guys!” I shout, racing out of the door before I could hear their response.
I start walking towards my school, which was only a few blocks away.
My family lives in a small town, where every house is bright and every lawn is well kept. There are always kids out playing, whether they are young or older. They love the outdoors here in my city. They always will.
I walked past some kids playing hopscotch, and I heard teasing coming from two little kids that I knew well. I wasn’t able to stop to talk, I would probably be late if I wasn’t running now.
I bolted forward towards the school, and made it into my classroom just as the bell rang. Thank goodness.
I slid into my seat and grabbed my books out. I couldn’t be called tardy, thankfully.
The thought of the voices that had been pressing my mind finally started to fade. Now I could focus on Algebra.

Yay.

A long day of school warrants tiredness, whether or not you like it.
I arrive home and hang up my backpack. I don’t see any of my parents; they’re probably still at work.
I go up to my room and start on my homework.

Before I know it, it’s 9:30.

I go to get ready, and by the time I’m inside my bed, I feel like I’m ready to drop.

9:58.

9:59.

Lily.

I gasp. There it was again.
I look around. Nobody was there. It couldn’t be someone. It had to just be my imagination. It would just happen one time, then that would be it.
You hear me, brain?! One more time, and that’s it!

It was not one more time.

I sat up every night, just hoping, waiting for the whispers to stop.

But they never did.

I tried my best to ignore them, but it didn’t work out.

I went to school tired, bothered, and stressed.

I think it’s time I told someone.

During lunch, I approach my friend Sam. She was tall and sporty. Her short, blonde hair often flew everywhere due to her activity.
“Hey, Lily, what’s up?” She asks, smiling.
I smile, hoping that she didn’t notice the bags under my eyes.
“Nothing much. I just have something to tell you.”
“Do tell.” Sam grins.
“Well… I’ve been hearing… stuff.” I say.
“What kind of stuff?” She asks.
“Creepy stuff.” I reply.
“Did you have a nightmare the night before?”
“That’s the thing, Sam. It’s not one night, it’s every night.”
Sam giggles. “Are you sure that you’re just not getting enough sleep?”
“I’m pretty sure, Sam.” I protest.
Sam shrugged. “Well, I hope you get better.”
“I don’t know if I can get better. I need help but I don’t know where to go.”
“Well, maybe talk to your dream doctor. He should be able to help.” Sam teases, smiling. She thinks that this is all a joke.
“The whispers aren’t dreams!” I complain.
“Sure.” Sam says. “Anyways, have you heard your brother’s new song yet?”

I walked back from school. Sam didn’t care, Lilian didn’t care, and even Maria didn’t care. I need to find someone that would care.
I hand brushes my shoulder, and a man says to me, “Sorry, sorry. Say, you’re Peyton Strong’s sister, right?”
I nod.
“I just came to look for you.” He leans in closer and whispers in my ear, in a voice almost identical to the whispers I hear every night.

“You can’t make the whispers go away if you ignore them.”

3/15/22
308 words
‘When pigs fly’

The sun is bright and shining, and Sammy lays sprawled out on the warm grass with her little brother, both of them sucking popsicles. Suddenly, completely unprompted, he exclaims, “I’m gonna go to the moon!”

She snorts at the random outburst. It’s far from the weirdest things her brother has said, but it’s up there. “Of course you will. When pigs fly, that is.”

Her brother huffs and drapes over her shoulder. “No, I’m gonna do it,” he insists. And nobody can really argue with six-year-old’s insistences, so she keeps her mouth shut.

~

Kinda funny how far childish ambitions can take one, sometimes.

Sammy watches her brother climb aboard the huge white space shuttle, and she can’t suppress the goofy grin on her face. Her little brother (though he isn’t little at all anymore) is going to the moon.

The flight is a long one, however, so before long she continues about her daily routine, preparing some activities for her kindergarten class. Some people end up famous astronauts while others paint with five-year-olds.

However, the next morning, when she steps out to her car, she notices a pink blob floating through the sky. This isn’t a normal occurrence. Squinting up at the sky, she tries to figure out what the thing is.

Then she sees it. It’s a pig.

Perhaps she’s missed something, but she’s pretty sure pigs can’t fly.

Logic thrown out the window, more pigs soon appear into the sky with white wings, and they float as graceful as ballerinas.

The kids waiting for the bus all point and shout, and soon the whole neighborhood is out looking at such an odd occurrence. People take videos and pictures, and Sammy is swept up right with them. Then, she remembers an oh-so-distant conversation she had with her kid brother.

Looks like he made it to the moon.

WEEKLY PT 3 - SETTING

Your setting is a great city, erected in an endless desert. Tall skyscrapers overshadow ancient structures. A sprawling palace is in the middle of the city. Surrounding it are the Layers. Which Layer you live in affects your status and wealth. On the outskirts are the marketplaces. These are the only places where the common and the rich intermingle. Average people work and live in these places. Those that are wealthy live either in the palace or in lavishly decorated penthouses. The closer you live to the palace the better. Not just because of the status, but because the outer layers are dangerous. Bandits as well as honest citizens live and work there. When you don’t know how to deal with them, wear jewelry, and parade your affluence, these bandits are deadly. Outside the city, though, is a different world. The city is ringed by ten different cathedrals, all centered around wells. Sources of water that have been utilized since ancient times. Certain of these cathedrals are also mines, where a regular citizen might work for a living. Cuneiform-like letters decorate the cathedrals, and stained glass paints colors across the waters. But robotic, high-tech updates accentuate the entrances, reminiscent of the buildings that the rich inhabit in the city. They are obviously not in a state of disrepair. Monks are cloistered away in these cathedrals. If a commoner is lucky enough, they might be chosen by the monks to join them. While becoming a monk seems like a blessing to people who have to fight to survive and eat and provide for their families, no one truly knows what these monks do—or even what they worship. No statues or carvings on the cathedrals represent any gods or goddesses. Even the wealthy people will journey to the cathedrals, though, in search of answers about life—or the jewelry that the monks create, though no one has ever seen them at work. Not only do people visit, but the water in the cathedrals is necessary for life in the city to go on. No one has ever found another water source, and all of the rest of the world has been forgotten to history. No maps record anything outside of the city. However, a species of flightless bird that lives in the area migrates away for half of the year, always coming back healthier than before. As if there was something more out there….

(401 words)

- Crim from Sci-fi

WEEKLY PT 4 - PREMISE

Every day, you see a man walk by your house. Watching him is fun—though he doesn’t do anything odd. He doesn’t run. Doesn’t hide his face. Doesn’t act suspicious in any way. Except for his odd consistency. Every. Single. Day. Except today. Today, he’s gone. And in his place, people appear at your doorstep. Asking after a mysterious man who doesn’t show up in any registers. You would know—you work for the government. You’ve looked the man up. The only thing you’ve found is a picture. A picture taken from inside your house of the man who has only just now stopped walking by. It can’t be a coincidence. Despite your misgivings, you tell the people that you haven’t seen him. For some reason, you feel a sense of loyalty to this man. As if he is your friend. As if you have to find him before anyone else does. Maybe something is more wrong in your world than you believed.

(161 words)

- Crim from Sci-fi <3

WEEKLY (2515 total words)

Pt. 1 (I wrote 317)
I wrote all normal text, @Basic_Potato wrote bold text


I opened the refrigerator and was shocked to see all the food was gone. Beyond the shelves, the back of the fridge was missing. It seemed to open into an alleyway lit by torches. I pulled out the shelves and stepped through. A chill immediately hit me, it felt even colder than if I had just been standing in an actual refrigerator. I ran my finger along the brick walls as I walked. It felt like the path would never end, but after a while I found myself…

at a dead end. Bewildered, confusion was written all across my face. Why would there be a path just for it to close off? I ran my fingers across the brick wall, through the sealed cracks, searching. For something more, a hidden answer maybe? Anything really, that could give my mind something to wrap around, cause this right now was just not making sense. You see, I'm a very methodical person - curious too, if I might add. I believe everything has a reason behind it, so this right here is foreign to me. There's got to be something… right?

I turned and looked back where I had come from. I had walked so far it was now no bigger than my fingernail. I turned back towards the wall, and found myself face-to-face with an annoyed-looking fairy. They had shimmering pinkish-white hair, and wore a sage green dress. “We picked the wrong house,” she muttered to herself. “Hi,” she said flatly to me. “I'm Opal, a moon fairy, bla bla bla. Ugh, I hate the script, so hard to memorize. To cut to the chase – we're going to wipe your memory now and send you back home.” She smiled with mock sweetness.

“Woah, woah, hold on,” I tried to no avail. “WAI-” I shrieked, before I was momentarily blinded by a white flash. When I could see clearly again, I found myself in front of the fridge. Why can't I remember anything? How did I even get here? Oh well.
I opened the fridge, seeing that strangely, the entire back was open. A surge of pain ran through my head, and my mind flashed with an identical scene to this. I had a weird feeling, like this was deja vu. Had this happened before? Either way, I removed all of the shelves, and ventured into the tunnel. It seemed endless, but I kept going. Until I reached an oddly familiar wall. I caressed it, intrigued by the strangeness of it. All of a sudden, I was met face to face with a fairy. I stumbled back in shock. She sighed. “Geez, these humans and their curiosity. Why is she back…” she muttered to herself, but I still caught it. “Goodbye now,” she said before I was hit with another bright light. I once again found myself in front of the fridge. Each time I was sent back, I remembered bits and pieces of my previous journeys into the fridge. I soon realized I was stuck in a time loop. How did this happen? Is there something I'm supposed to see..?

Around the tenth time, I stood defiantly in front of Opal. “Your memory wiping isn’t working,” I said, feeling like I was stating the obvious. “Yes, but you humans have horrible willpower and stamina, you’ll give up soon enough.” She laughed, and I was sent back to my house. “Horrible willpower and stamina.” I echoed to myself as I walked. I’d show that fairy. 5 times later, Opal actually looked a bit surprised when I stumbled up to the wall. My legs felt like pool noodles from walking there so many times. “Horrible willpower…” I gasped for breath, “and… stamina, huh?” “Yes, horrible stamina.” She smirked at me. “Look at yourself! You look like you just ran 5 marathons back-to-back.” Aaaaand back to the fridge I went.


Pt. 2 (558 words)

Name: Nova Normandy

Age: 14

Species: Human

Personality and traits: Nova is a pretty spontaneous and disorganized character. She’s also extremely smart and curious, and one of the (many) reasons her room is so messy is she likes to steal clocks from around the house and take them apart, to figure out how they work. She has a super low self-esteem, and is always second-guessing herself. She’s the kind of person to say sorry when someone bumps into her in a crowd. She can seem aloof or like she’s in her own world sometimes, but if you’ve known her long enough she’s super nice and empathetic. But, she often pulls away in friendships, since other people and their thoughts are something she can’t learn about in a book or through a scientific experiment, and the unknown scares her. I guess if she wasn’t always second-guessing herself, or she was given more resources, she’d probably be classified as a genius or autodidact. She always tries her best, but often feels like her best isn’t good enough. She loves long, deep conversations about things she’s interested in, and absolutely hates small talk. Nova isn’t the most loyal person, and when things start to look tough it’s more likely for her to avoid it than try to help. She is, however, someone you could trust a secret with, and she takes great pride in the fact that she’s never spilled a secret.

Wants, hopes, and strengths: Nova’s super philosophical and curious, so one of her biggest wants is to find the answers to all the questions constantly swirling around inside her head. She also constantly seeks affirmation from her peers, so I think that’s a ‘want’ too. She doesn’t like the unknown, but instead of hiding from it like many people with a similar fear, she seeks it out and attempts to understand it. Nova hopes to make her family proud of her, as the middle child in a family with 5 kids, she often feels forgotten. She loves her family more than anything, and sometimes she feels that it isn't mutual. One of her biggest strengths is her ability to figure things out. Give her, say, a lamp, and within a few hours she’s taken it apart and put it back together, and can give you a brief explanation on how it works. However, she’s constantly in a state of too many things to do, and too little things to do at the same time, since all the things left for her to discover and learn about, she doesn’t have access to. Another strength of hers is how she can take complex information, and explain it in a way that the average person could understand.

Dislikes and fears: She hates it when the adults in her life tell her to “stop asking questions'', which happens a lot xD. She also doesn’t like being pushed out of her comfort zone, but she’s too polite and shy to argue. She doesn’t mind if someone doesn’t know as much as her, and kind of likes teaching people things, but it confuses her and makes her a bit sad for the person when someone isn’t open to learn or try new things. She also dislikes bananas, but that isn’t too relevant- Her greatest fear is that when she dies, no one will remember her.

Pt. 3 (454 words)

Your story is set on a series of floating islands. If you were to fall… Well, no one knows, but it couldn’t be good. The abyss where the islands are floating is seemingly endless from what scientists can tell, and they’re still not sure how the islands float in the first place. Most of the islands are around the size of a large shopping mall, usually 3 or 4 families live on each, or people live with multiple roommates. The three center islands (also known as the Center Circle) are the biggest, and kind of like the “town square”. All the necessities for a town to survive are there. The islands are connected by old rope bridges that were made long ago. They are very unstable now, but the government refuses to build new ones for an unknown reason. Your character lives on one of the smaller islands, and the farthest away from the Center Circle, meaning they need to cross the most bridges to get there. Resources are thinning on their Home Island, and wild plants are growing more and more by the day. The current season is fall, and bridges get very icy and even more dangerous as winter gets closer, soon it would be impossible to cross one and get to the other side in one piece, as the bridges are usually around 35 feet long or more. Your character's house is small and modest, painted baby blue with white accents, though the colors are fading and the paint is chipping. Various vines and ivies are climbing up the walls, And your character/one of their roommates/a member of their family created a little hangout on the roof (which is flat), using the vines as a ladder.

The Center Circle is always kept in pristine shape and spotless, it’s actually scary how clean the place is, certainly in comparison to most of the houses. Most of the interactions in the Center Circle are begrudgingly friendly, though most people prefer not to talk at all. Speaking of the Center Circle, let me elaborate: The smallest in the Center Circle is the farmlands, where all resources come from. Farmers sleep in tiny shacks and usually horrible living conditions, simply because there is no other space, but they are highly respected and an essential part of the community. The next island is mostly for children, with two schoolhouses, one for elementary and middle school-age children, and one for highschool and college. There is also a tiny, very crowded playground. The last island is the one with actual stores. It’s a pretty boring place honestly, just stores in perfect rows, with tiny roads (oh right, no one rides cars, just walking) to conserve space.

Pt. 4 (157 words)

Someone your main character lives with looked out their bedroom window at the night sky one day at midnight. Some of the stars are glowing an odd color, each one like its own aurora borealis. They walk over to where your main character is trying to sleep. At first your main character doesn’t want to wake up, but when character #2 says what they saw, they jolt awake. Character #2 called your main character over to the window, but when they see what character #2 was so awestruck by, they’re filled with dread. “Aren’t the stars so pretty?” character #2 asked. Your main character isn’t sure how to tell them. Because those definitely aren’t stars. They know what they are, and even if they may be pretty, they’re very bad news. Like, world-ending bad news. The story follows your main character on a perilous journey to try to stop whatever those rainbow-colored dots in the sky means.

Pt. 5 (1027 words)
Character – https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/post/6105177/ Setting – https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/post/6109949/ Premise – https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/post/6107086/

My hand gripped the paper grocery bag so hard I was afraid it’s going to tear as I walked home from the city center. I was less focused than usual, but I still noticed the rabbit hopping off into an alleyway as I crossed into the suburbs. It was pretty hard to miss. It’s fur was a deep unnatural shade of sapphire blue, and it’s eyes were a cherry red, like albino rabbits. I studied it closer, and it almost looked like it was glowing. I knew I should’ve been getting home, my mom would be worrying, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the creature. I placed the grocery bag down at my feet and ran after the blue rabbit. I’d been down the alleyway before on a dare (All the other kids were convinced it was haunted or led to the undercity), but it was just a random alleyway, it wasn’t even particularly run-down. I had no clue why a rabbit wanted to go that way. Actually, I had no idea why a rabbit was so close to the city at all, they usually stick to the suburbs or outer limits.

As I followed the creature further into the alleyway, I noticed it didn’t come to a dead end like I remembered. Was it a different alleyway? Or had I just remembered wrong? It had been five years, and I was nine at the time, and my memory wasn’t the sharpest. Yes, that must be it.

Where the alleyway would end, there was a round tunnel. It was all in shadow, despite the glaring sun.

I didn’t even see them until they moved.

A cloaked figure was standing in the tunnel, facing away from me. Their clothes were as black as crow feathers. The blue rabbit hopped over to the figure and the person crouched down for the rabbit to jump on their shoulder. They continued into the pitch black tunnel.

I followed from a distance, keeping my footsteps soft. I stepped into the tunnel, the darkness surrounded me, wrapping me in a tight, suffocating hug. It took a bit for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. But when I stepped out of the tunnel on the other side, my eyes didn't need to adjust. Because it was lit by only small torches lining the walls.

I inhaled sharply. Those kids had been right. The entrance to the undercity.

I wanted to leave, but my eyes were fixed on the person and the rabbit. I couldn’t believe my eyes, the rabbit was definitely glowing now. I had heard the undercity was a place of dangerous people, a sort of criminal underworld, I guess you could say, but no one mentioned magic.

The person sat down, crossing their legs. The rabbit jumps onto the person’s head, facing me this time. I met its eyes, the red color was still unnerving, but I had a feeling the little creature was smiling at me.

The person began to chant a song in a language I didn’t know. The rabbit was still looking curiously at me, but the longer the person chanted, the brighter the rabbit glowed. Soon, the cavern was lit with more of a blue than the orange from the flickering torches.

Then the rabbit exploded into a swirl of sapphire blue dust.

I stifled a scream, hoping the person didn’t hear me. The person jolted upright, a blue stone falling off their head. the remnants of the rabbit. That was all the motivation I needed.

I bolted toward the tunnel I had come from, but I heard footsteps thundering behind me.

A hand gripped my wrist as I was about to re-enter the tunnel. I tried to shake them, try any of the self defense I’d picked up from living in the city all my life, but this person was strong. I guess you pick up even more when you live in the undercity.

“I don’t want to hurt you. Stop struggling.” Came a girl’s voice. She couldn’t have been a year older than me. She sounded genuine, but that just made my pull harder. ‘Don’t trust strangers’ was the first thing they’d taught me when it came to the undercity. Well, actually that’s a lie. ‘Don’t go to the undercity, people there are dangerous’ was the first, that was the second if somehow I did get to the undercity.

The girl sighed. “I’ll let you go, but you’re to tell no one. If anyone in the undercity found out, the world would blow up by next week.”

That stopped me. “You’re not one of them?”

She laughed, a soft, melodious sound. “Of course not!”

“You just exploded a rabbit,” I scoffed. “That sounds like some pretty evil undercity stuff.”

She grimaced. “I try to avoid dark magic as much as I can. But it was necessary.” She let go of my wrist and put the stone in the pocket of her black jacket. “Go now, I’m supposed to be getting back to my shift.”

“You can’t be older than 15, you’re already part of a super secret revolution?” I asked. It made me a bit self-conscious, my best accomplishment was probably the A+ on my science project last year, or how I was captain of the soccer team. Or that one poem I was really proud of, but people would laugh at me if I said that.

“Yeah. Hey, you should join us! I didn’t even know you were following me until you screamed. And we can’t have some random kid wandering around who knows about us.”

“Woah, woah, woah, no thanks.” I held up my hands and took a step back. My life was complicated enough.

The girl frowned. “Fine. Really though, you should get going.”

I walked out the tunnel, my mind racing. Who was that girl? What was the blue stone that had come from the rabbit? Also, she had mentioned dark magic, right? What was that about? And what did she mean about the world blowing up if I told anyone? Must’ve been a hollow threat…

My mind was so occupied I forgot the groceries I had bought.

weekly

Tuesday mornings for me are usually quiet. I got out of bed at 7:30, same time as always, and went downstairs to make breakfast, like always. The only thing out of the ordinary was that Mum wasn’t there.

“Dad?” I called uncertainly. “Where’s Mum?”

No response. I turned around. A small note written on Dad’s special paper was lying on the kitchen table. I immediately snatched it and read what it had to stay.

“Sy,

Had to leave early to help the police by answering calls. Mum had to leave as well - chaos in brewing downtown. School’s cancelled for safety measures. We’ll be gone for a while, ask the neighbors if you need anything. Stay safe, remember the safety precautions we told you about, and we’ll be back soon.

Love, Dad.”

Great. Now I had to fend for myself. Sighing, I started to make oatmeal for myself. Suddenly, as I sat down, someone started knocking at the door. I got up, and opened our door.

“Le residence, how can I help you?” I recited sleepily. I wasn’t in the mood to do anything right now, not even to investigate about what’s happening.

“Cut it out, Sy, it’s me.” the voice said impatiently.

I opened my eyes. “Viola! Why are you - oh.”

Viola, one of my close and only friends, was drenched with some gross red sauce - ketchup, my least favorite condiment. She looked as tired as I was, and definitely exhausted.

“What happened?” I exclaimed as I led Viola into the sitting room.

“Haven’t you heard what’s happening downtown? The earthquakes, the flooding?” Viola asked, shocked.

I shook my head. This must be what Mum and Dad were talking about. Were they still alive? I know for a fact that these disasters are fatal.

“Well, good for you, I guess.” Viola said, annoyed. “Why don’t you get out of your pajamas and help the VAC, you know, The Voluntary Association of Carpathia? Your first order of business is to follow me to Mayor Hearst’s meeting.”

Viola was involved in a lot of volunteer work around town, so naturally she would know what’s happening.

I instantly obeyed her, and followed her to the park, where an large crowd was gathered around Mayor Hearst.

“We’ll be forming groups to look for the ancient talisman that has be stolen from Peking Mountain this morning. According the University Of Carpathia, this talisman being stolen is the reason why all of this is happening. See, 20 years ago, this land was ruled by people - or non-people - called Elementalists. When our settlers came and started this town, the Elementalists tried to drive them away with their powers. Then, the settlers and Elementalists made a truce in the stolen talisman, and the talisman was the reason why nothing like this has happened in a long time. Now, since it’s been stolen, we need groups to find it, restore it, and save the town.” Mayor Hearst proclaimed loudly. “The leaders shall be chosen randomly from this hat, and the leaders are members of the VAC. Leaders will choose their members and set out the find the talisman right away. Whoever finds it will get a large cash prize and a surprise.”

The mayor put his huge hand into the hat and pulled out three paper name. “Tammy Weather, Simone Pullman, and Sy Le!”

I gasped. It couldn’t be me, I wasn’t apart of the VAC! I stepped away from the crowd nervously.

Viola pulled me into a hug. “I knew you would get it!”

“Wait,” I thrust myself out of her arms, “what did you just say?”

“Well, see here, I did sign you up for the VAC only because I wanted the best for you…”

“Viola…” I said through gritted teeth. “You know what? I don’t have time for this. We have a talisman to find!”

Viola grinned. “That’s the spirit!”

I went up to Mayor Hearst and confirmed that Viola and I were going to hunt for the talisman. He was overjoyed as he wished us luck, and we went on our way.

“Now, I know exactly where it is. Just trust me.” I announced confidently, even though I had not the slightest clue where it actually was.

“See, I know you would be good in a leadership role!” Viola exclaimed happily as she reached out to hug me again. I managed to dodge it this time.

After we finished our long trek, I finally paused in front of our destination.

“Ella’s Space Diner.” Viola read off the LED sign. Turning to me, she said, half-annoyed, half-amused, “Seriously, Sy?”

I nodded. “Seriously.”

We walked into Ella’s Space Diner. It was painted in a shade of neon pink that blinded both Viola and I, and we couldn’t bear it any longer.

“I am searching for the talisman!” I yelled the top of my lungs.

“Talisman?” Ella, the owner, popped up from behind the bar table. “Here? You got to be kidding me! That’s as dumb as saying that the Earth doesn’t exist.”

“Well, the Earth must not exist, since the Talisman is here.” a voice said.

A brown-haired boy came out of the shadows from behind the chairs, waving the talismans.

“Come here, little humans!” he taunted.

I clenched my fists and ran towards him. Suddenly the ground rose and he was jolted up about 7 feet.

“Climb to get it, Sy! I know you can’t do it!” he yelled, laughing.

Tyler. That bully from across the street. Of course it was him!

I started to climb, my anger consuming me completely. I didn’t even realize how far I had climbed. I grabbed Tyler’s foot, swung him off the stone-thing he was standing on, and threw him to the ground. Viola grabbed the talisman and the last moment and pinned Tyler to the ground. “Gotcha.”

I jumped off the stone. “I can’t believe I just did that.”

Viola hugged me again. This time, I actually let her do that.

“You saved the day, Sy.”

The full collab!
https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/31245665/comments/

My parts: (357 words)
She heard someone else’s voice and the plants growing around her turned into vines! She wasn’t doing any of this so how in the world was this happening. The vines latched onto the governor's net and threw it the other way, the vine’s started attacking the man. A voice, the same voice that caused her magic to go out of control started laughing. She looked around yet couldn’t see the person who saved her, then it called out, “Over here!”

“The name’s Liam, nice to meet ya,” the elven boy said. He didn’t take Emma’s hand but instead looked back from where he caught the governor.
“We should get out of here, it may not be my magic but I can’t hold it forever,” Then Liam started running in the opposite direction.
“Hey wait up!” Emma yelled, chasing after him, “You never told me how you did that!” He didn’t stop or even slow his pace. He just turned around winked, a smirk playing across his lips, and continued running.

Heat radiated from Emma’s face. I was probably because of how fast she was going, right? Regardless of why she mumbled a quick thank you and tried to imagine what she just did. The spring breeze, the air around her, the sounds of the wind. This time she wasn’t flung forward but instead hovered only slightly above ground, leaves fluttering around her. She waves her hands around in a silent celebration. “Hey, I saved you, remember? It’s only fair if I can hitch a ride,” Liam says.

Emma looked over to him, noticing the yearning to be able to do the same in his eyes. Grabbed his hand and said, “Just try it! Picture the wind blowing and you soaring through the air. If you can make vines grow like that then floating should be easy!” Lam closed his eyes and did what Emma said and before he knew it both of them were floating in the air. They started laughing together, it seems they both discovered a new talent today. Little did they know they were already at Mysterium and someone was watching their every move.


“The name’s Liam, nice to meet ya,” the elven boy said. He didn’t take Emma’s hand but instead looked back from where he caught the governor.
“We should get out of here, it may not be my magic but I can’t hold it forever,” Then Liam started running in the opposite direction.
“Hey wait up!” Emma yelled, chasing after him, “You never told me how you did that!” He didn’t stop or even slow his pace. He just turned around winked, a smirk playing across his lips, and continued running.

Heat radiated from Emma’s face. I was probably because of how fast she was going, right? Regardless of why she mumbled a quick thank you and tried to imagine what she just did. The spring breeze, the air around her, the sounds of the wind. This time she wasn’t flung forward but instead hovered only slightly above ground, leaves fluttering around her. She waves her hands around in a silent celebration. “Hey, I saved you, remember? It’s only fair if I can hitch a ride,” Liam says.

Emma looked over to him, noticing the yearning to be able to do the same in his eyes. Grabbed his hand and said, “Just try it! Picture the wind blowing and you soaring through the air. If you can make vines grow like that then floating should be easy!” Lam closed his eyes and did what Emma said and before he knew it both of them were floating in the air. They started laughing together, it seems they both discovered a new talent today. Little did they know they were already at Mysterium and someone was watching their every move.

Character
Madison Cambelle is a 13 year old who was homeschooled. She’s a human (or at least was born as one) who lives with her mom as an only child.
Personality (212 words)
Madison is competitive, impulsive and outgoing. She’s pretty decent at socializing considering the fact that she’s barely ever been out of her house. Most of her personality and life comes from video games, they’re practically her replacement dad after he died years ago. She respects adults AKA just her mom but can be crude online to her friends. She’s almost always doing something if it's playing a new game that has come out, thinking of her own video game idea, or ranting about how terrible a game she played is. She’s oblivious in a way to the things around her though its not exactly her fault. For example her eyesight is completely fine considering the fact she’s always looking at some screen, she’s relatively fit for her age even though she doesn’t exercise, her ears are pointy even though others don’t seem to and her hair is a mix or pink and blue yet she never has to dye it. While she is curious about these types of things she doesn’t actually pry, it’s not like it’s life changing or anything. Other than that she has pretty decent grades and pretty decent relationships, she could live this way forever if it was up to her, sadly that’s not how the story goes.

Wants hopes and strengths (211 words)

She doesn’t really know what she wants. Short term: She wants to speedrun a game or finish her homework but nothing long term. She makes some money in gaming competitions but her mom doesn’t want her to do that as a job and she doesn’t really think she wants to either. Honestly she just wants to keep a normal life, as much as she loves games where the main character's life is flipped upside down and they have to figure out how to fix it level by level but not in real life. She’s great at thinking of solutions on the spot, figuring out things without instruction and solving puzzles but you guessed it only in video games! Honestly she doesn’t have much of her life figured out if at all she just goes through with life day by day and she’s cool with that. If anything she wants to know of the secrets her mom’s been keeping. Why is she barely allowed to go outside? Why does she look nothing like her? How did her dad die and why is she hiding the reason? As said before she tries not to pry but she does want to know the answers, and she wants to know the reason for keeping them.

Dislikes and Fears (146 words)

She doesn’t really like outside much. Now she hasn’t been out of her house many times but the more she’s outside the less time she can play on her PC or console or test out a new update. Why go out when she has all she needs inside, the weather is always too hot, too cold, too wet or too dry. Her least favorite games are romance, otome or dating themed ones, she’s not opposed to love she just prefers competitive games. On a more serious note she’s afraid of change. She doesn’t want to go to an actual school, she doesn’t want to meet irl friends, it’s not that she doesn’t want her mom to find love but she’s fine living with just the two of them no one else. But as I said before a story is boring if everything goes the MC’s way
(In total 613 words)

Setting (410 words total)
This story will take place in a simulation game world. As the name suggests, this is not a real place but just a space created by someone else’s mind. The victim of the simulation’s memory is wiped every time they enter a new game and they enter a new game each time the victim realizes this place is in fact not real life. The simulation is highly realistic and can replicate many different scenarios and many different weathers. Everything that happens in the simulation will happen to the victim, all mental and physical pain, all feeling, hunger, thirst and physical scars stay with the victim even if they were to somehow escape the simulation. Due to this fact if the victim were to die in the simulation they would also die in real life.
Sometimes the simulation glitches out, it is man made and people make mistakes. In those times colors can be inverted, the temperature can go from hot to cold in the matter of just a few seconds and the victim inside the simulation can regain or lose more of its memories. These glitches could be fixed rather easily or be really difficult and can take a while to fix, if the glitch even gets caught in the first place. This period of time is usually the time victims either escape or get transported to the next trial of the simulation, though this is only in the scenario of the victim trapped inside the simulation gaining memories of real life and how they appeared in the simulation.
In the case of the victim losing more memories, it’ll usually only happen during the glitch period and they will regain the core memories when it is fixed but occasionally that doesn’t happen. When a person first appears in the simulation game, they lose memories of their previous life, not themselves. The victim will still remember their name, age, height and things that contribute to the simulation itself. If they lose memories in the glitch period they’ll forget who they are as a person. In severe cases they could forget how to talk, walk, and other basic human functions, basically turning them into a newborn.
Back to the simulation normally, it’ll have some sort of task for the victim to complete forever until they either die or realize this world is a simulation, resulting in them getting transported into another world to do another task with their memory once again wiped.


Premise (153 words total)
Your main character is having a normal day, chilling out defeating monsters, exploring outer space, going on a date whatever is their typical day. For some reason they feel like they’re being watched and out of fear, curiosity, peer pressure, false trust, again whatever fits the character they go out to find out who is watching them, if anyone is at all. After searching around asking others if they have seen anyone suspicious and looking for clues, your main character gets lost and isolated. Only then does your main character find out who they thought was watching them. The person talks to your main character with such familiarity, like they’ve been friends (or enemies) for years but your main character has no idea who this unknown person is. Now your main character is face to face with this mysterious figure in this unknown place and not prepared for what's about to happen next.


Story
Premise https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/582424/?page=73#post-6119003
Setting https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/post/6118747/
Character https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/582424/?page=3#post-6070068


The room was pitch black. Not a sound could be heard other than the witch’s soft breathing. She arose from her slumber still tired from the night before. There was a party the night before and everyone was invited, she tried to back out but their was rumored to be many magical and ancient artifacts. She wanted to study them, maybe even meet those who discovered or found them in the first place. Maybe she could extract their properties and use them to help reach her goal, a perfect world.
Many thought her dream was impossible. Humans are imperfect, all living things are. How could a world run by these imperfect creatures ever become perfect? She knew that this would be almost impossible, but whenever people say impossible they usually mean improbable and she’s been using her intellect to be able to make the world perfect, or at least better one step at a time. Progress has been made, though it’s far from ideal and maybe so more magic, as much as she hates to admit it, outside assistance could be the key.
She crawled out of bed and lit the candles surrounding her. The flames danced around lighting up the room around her. The room was a complete mess. Books were scattered all over the ground, flowers and medicinal herbs were droopy and depressing and she couldn’t find any of her potion ingredients. What in the hells happened here? She thought. She would never allow anywhere she resided to be this filthy. She didn’t drink anything from the party either so who destroyed her room?
She spent some time organizing her room while thinking of who could’ve done this. For some reason some things were missing, specifically ingredients for spells. The strange thing is they weren’t rare at all, at least where the witch lived. So why did someone break into her house? All of these questions confused her but she didn’t feel like there was a reason she should investigate. The items were common, the thief clearly didn’t know what they were doing and if anything, has probably been caught by now.
One thing about the situation annoyed the witch and that was a mixture she was working on before the party. Again it was made of common ingredients but she was going to work with it and it’s a hassle she has to go get more. She lets out a sigh and grabs a bag, I might as well get everything else while I’m here, she thinks. She opens the front door to her home and everything is chaos.
Screaming, crying, arguing everywhere. What was happening. Someone catches sight of her, it was someone she met at the party, and he ran over to her. The man gripped the witch by the shoulder, leaning his weight onto her in panic and exhaustion.
“ALICE! Thank goodness, you’re finally out. Last night, something got stolen during the party. You have to help us, it was the talisman,” The man gasped out between breaths and Alice immediately knew there was danger. The talisman kept the village together, it warded off monsters and was a peace offering between the two leaders who formed the village. Not only was it highly magical, it was the heart of the community's history.
“The talisman? But who would take it? The village has no enemies and its the only thing keeping everyone inside safe. Why didn’t anyone tell me this before, the culprit might still be nearby,” Alice responded, her mind racing a mile a minute. It was the same night someone broke into and stole from her home, this can’t be coincidence.
“We tried to reach you! We’ve known the talisman has been gone for an hour now but no matter how hard we tried you wouldn’t come out!” Oh… right, Her house was sound proof. Many people try to disturb her during her studies for the most incomprehensible reasons. It had bothered her so much that she had casted a spell so she wouldn't be able to hear anyone from outside. People stopped bothering her, but this time it backfired. While she was preoccupied with her thoughts an older looking woman came up to her. It was the village leader.
“Alice, finally you’re out of your little hole. Based on the council’s majority vote, you, the man you are talking to, and a suspect are going to the woods in search of the talisman. If you do not retrieve it in time our village may end up in rubble.”
“WHAT!”
~
After a lot of argument and much yelling, Alice and two other men were forced into the forest. The man she met at the party’s name was Yesmin and the suspect, who for some reason got chosen, was fenrir. They were given a map towards a cave with an artifact, if used correctly by a witch who knew what they were doing, in this case Alice, it would answer a question again in this case who took the talisman and where they were. Yesmin apparently was good at map reading and guided them through the trees towards their destination. Fenrir on the other hand was complaining the entire way.
Alice tried to tune the two men out. The person who raided her house has to be the same one who stole the talisman, the place where the talisman was kept was just as, if not more messy than her room was. The person couldn’t be experienced in the slightest yet they were able to steal a highly guarded object right under their noses. Maybe the mess was an act. Other than trying to solve the mystery herself she collect the herb, flowers, and mushrooms she had lost the night before.
Eventually they were able to find the cave. It radiated negative energy and Alice felt like she was going to throw up. How could a place that held something so powerful feel so foul. She composed herself again, She had to do this, it was her job, or else the village would be destroyed, she looked at her two partners and they looked back at her, ready for the trials ahead of them. The stepped inside the cave.
(1035 words)

Daily for 3/15 (non fi)
“Julia Richards.”
My palms were sweaty as I went up to the front of the classroom to grab the report card from my teachers hands. I didn’t even have to look at it, I knew mom would be furious at me. I felt a lump in my throat and I couldn’t look the teacher in the eye. When the bell rang, I walked as slowly as I could to my mother's blue Ford Explorer.
I climbed into the car with a smile on my face, hoping she’d forget. “Hey, mom.”
She smiled back and started the car, driving out of the gravel spraying up as we pulled out of the parking lot. “Hi. Can I see it?”
I faltered. “See what?”
“Your report card.”
“Oh, no. We don’t get those until next week.”
I was hoping she would fall for my lie, but she was too smart for that. “Nope. School called last night. You’ve got a report card, and I want to see it.”
“Oh. Well. Maybe my teacher just hasn’t printed them yet.”
My mother glared at me. “Julia, what have I told you about lying?”
“Uhhhh.”
“I know you have a report card, and I would like to see it.”
“Some music. That’s what we need. It’s too quiet in here.” My cheeks were starting to get very warm.
“You can’t avoid this forever!”
I jumped out of the car, a broom appearing in my hands. “Yes I can! Yes I can!”
“Julia! Stop beating around the bush and give me your report card!”
I ran up to a Holly bush and began to hit it with the broom.
“Julia! Get back in the car!” As she yelled this, I ran around the bush. “I’m going to count to three….”
“No! No! I don’t have a report card!” I yelled, still running around and hitting the bush. Other people were starting to stare.
“Julia! Back in the car!”
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! The broom hit the bush with a satisfying wack.
“One….”
My footsteps were hard and my breath was heavy, the sun hot against my skin. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
“Two….”
I couldn’t let her see my report card. I would be grounded for weeks. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
“Julia, I’m warning you….”
“I don’t even know what you're talking about. Report cards don’t exist anymore. It’s all online. I guess they wanted to cut down on paper waste or something…”
“I know you have a report card, Julia.”
My arms were getting sore, and the broom handle felt sweaty.
“Fine. I’ll just check your backpack.”
“No! Not my backpack!”
I tried to rush over there, but it was too late. She unzipped my backpack and an orange peel, two GoGurt wrappers, three gum wrappers, four milk cartons, five dirty socks, six candy wrappers, and countless unfinished homework assignments spilled out.
“Julia! Your backpack is filthy!”
At least she forgot about the report card.

Daily 15

“Raining Cats and Dogs!”: A Research Essay

We've all heard the phrase “it's raining cats and dogs.” Typically used as an exclamation when the liquid falling from the sky comes down at an significantly greater than average rate. However, reasonable thought is seldom given as to where exactly this idiom originated. How ever did the notion that fluffy mammals most often kept as pets would precipitate from the clouds on a showery day and plummet to the ground below? It's a rather asinine concept, isn't it?

In order to properly understand the reason for the existence of such a curious expression, we must look to the isle of Kitipup, located in the southern portion of the Indian Ocean. It is here that the locution finds its roots. The people of Kitipup are a quaint type of folk, living modestly within familial tribes around the island. Despite differences from group to group, each of them agree on the origin and its apparent basis in nature. You see, the island already has an abundant source of natural water, and as such does not rely upon rain in its liquid form for subsistence. Therefore, its inhabitants are not jeopardized by the lack of such. Nature makes up for this in the most bizarre manner. Kitipup experiences weather much the same as the rest of the world, with wind and storms akin to those one would find in any other land. However, it is in the content of the precipitation that brings uniqueness to this particular island. Instead of raining water or even sleet or snow, the thunderheads up above instead dispense small domestic creatures complete with fur and whiskers and four adorable little paws. Yes, it quite literally rains cats and dogs! Record of this strange happening dates back to prehistoric times, with cave paintings depicting similar circumstances. (However, instead of small domesticated kitties and puppies, such primordial illustrations portray more primitive sabretoothed leopards and vicious wolves pouring down from the heavens.) The people of Kitipup handle the phenomena as though it were any other ordinary naturally occurring aspect of life, as one told me: “It is simply a part of life for us. Just as the sun shines and the tide washes the sand, cats and dogs come from the clouds.” They explained that the cats and dogs find homes on the island hunting vermin for their human companions, and any unwanted pets are sent to larger countries to find loving families of their own.

Now, to add further confusion to this already perplexing phenomenon, this seemingly rare natural occurrence once thought to be limited to this specific known region appears to have the ability to spread. Truly, increasing amounts of cases have been reported from lands both near and far from the island of Kitipup. Yes, you may even experience this strange happening in your own homeland, witness it with your own eyes. The majority of such accounts have in common the explanation that these events would start off as one would normally expect. These would not be considered “freak accidents”, as some have speculated. A storm would roll in entirely as predicted, even following prior weather forecasts covering the day. The rain would begin as usual, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. The peculiarity occurs when a spectator, any person at all, remarks on the heaviness of the precipitation using the following phrase, and I quote: “It's raining cats and dogs.” Then, with virtually no notice in advance, the water would cease to cascade from the troposphere and instead would be replaced by fuzzy bundles of joy as though the proverbial dam had been broken, as it were. Supplementary testing is currently being undertaken in various locations across the globe, but all results thus far have yielded positive results supporting this theory. What an extraordinary world in which we live!

daily - 03/15
~


“Once, in a blue moon – ”

“No!”

“No?” My eyebrows furrowed.

“No,” he repeated. “That’s not how it goes. It’s Once upon a time. Everyone knows that’s how you start a story.”

I sighed. The little boy stared back at me, his mouth set in a disgruntled but firm line. He was sitting cross-legged in front of me. His eyes peered intensely into the depths of my own.

“That’s not how you start this story.”

“Why not?” he cut in.

“Because it’s a special story.”

“Why is it so special?”

I pursed my lips. “How will you find out if you won’t let me tell it?”

“Fiiine.” He crossed his arms and leaned back. Dark, tired eyes followed me expectantly.

I coughed. “Now, as I was saying … Once, in a blue moon, the silver cat came.

“When the moon was high, high in the sky, just shining and singing with the stars quietly, the apparition appeared. From the cerulean waves of light, a shape formed.”

“How?”

“That’s the thing! No one knows. Blue moons, of course, are normal – but cats? And silver cats, specifically? It sounds crazy, but I swear, I was there. I saw it.”

“What was the cat l – l – like?” he asked, trying to stifle a yawn and failing. With a huff, he slid onto the rug and curled down, rather like a cat himself.

I smiled. “He was a downright snob, of course! Most cats are. But he was really beautiful, you know. And he did float out of the blue moon. It was such a wonderful moment.”

“Mhm.”

His eyes were starting to flutter close. I reached out and set my hand on top of his soft curls. His breaths evened out as slowly – very slowly – he fell asleep. I pulled away.

“Goodnight,” I whispered.

Outside, the moon hummed contentedly. But if any silver cats drifted through the clouds, I didn’t know.

(319 words)

His yells were silent to the world as the women in black dragged him down the long, obsidian hallway. Chills floated through the air like whispers, passing through his body. “Please, just let me go!” he wailed, his words leading to no avail. “I'm innocent, I promise!”

The women in suits spoke no reply to him, only gripping him tighter in their leather gloves. They wound him through mazes of halls and passages and offices alike, before finally arriving at a bleak, wooden door.

A shattering crash, a rattling shout, and the door swung open to reveal two more people in black. “All yours,” the taller one said. He watched in horror as they left without another sound. What was to become of him?

As he was lead into the room, his skin was met with the throbbing pain of cold. Chilling vents, below-freezing air. The second he stepped onto the sleek, white, floor, he could hear a faint cracking sound beneath him.

“Greetings, Elian,” a voice sounds. Elian spins around, his eyes finally settling on a large screen atop the ceiling. One of the black-suit women was staring at the center of the screen, speaking in a flat tone. “We are here to give you your lie detector test. Pass, and the consequences will range from none to less severe. Fail, and the punishment will be nothing less of horrifying.”

Elian gulped, nodding tightly. He wasn't even sure that the women could see him.

“Now,” she continued. “What is your name?”

“Elian,” he echoed, his voice trembling slightly. The edges of the screen turned green. “Well done,” the woman said. “Onto the real test.” she paused for a moment, pulling out a manila folder. “Did you set fire to the Guardian Temple?”

“No,” he responded, filling his voice with as much conviction as he could.

The room was silent for a minute. Then the edge of the screen turned red.

The ice began to crack beneath him.

“No! No!” Elian cried. “I'm innocent!”

The ice cracked louder, spreading like a spiderweb beneath him.

“You're on thin ice here,” the woman said, her voice continously flat in a robotic fashion. “Fail the test, and the punishment will be nothing less of horrifying.”

“I didn't do it!” he yelled, his voice echoing around the room. “It wasn't my fault!”

The screen's color didn't change, and neither did her expression. “I regret to inform you that you have failed the test.”

“No! NO!” Elian shrieked, the ice breaking even louder beneath him. “IT WASN'T-”

The ice gave way beneath him, and he let out a terrifying scream as he plunged into the freezing waters.

“Come on, Jonah. Spill the beans.”
CRASH!
Everyone jumped. Their heads turned to the left. And there, rolling around (making the most horrific clanking noise, as Johanna would complain) on the marbled kitchen counter was… a can of beans.
Baked beans. Overflowing onto the stone.
The crowd of seven stared. Beans? Where had they come from? None of them liked beans- okay, well except Emil, but he'd been banned from beans since the tuna incident. They hadn't even stocked any beans for emergencies. So how on earth was this possible?
Johanna, as expected, instantly started shrieking.
“Beans? BEANS! Ohmygod what are those doing here? Get them a-way from me! Do you hear that? AWAY!”
Everyone's glares were now focused on Johanna. The farthest away from the can.
Sighing, Kate explained to Jo the lack of need for a dial to the emergency services.
After many hysteric breaths and exasperated looks, silence reigned again. And back came the problem of the beans.
There was much debate, but after a good half hour, Kate finally banged her hands on the table.
“Okay, this is getting us nowhere. Can we just go back to the original debate, please? Jonah, did you steal Rina's purse?”
“No.”
The room exploded into shouts.
“JONAH!”
“We all know you did it.”
“Just tell us the truth!”
“Spill it!”
“Yeah, spill the beans!”
CLANK!
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
Johanna's shriek was later reported by Emil to have shattered his eardrums.
But this time, she had a reason- she was covered- and I mean covered- in baked beans.
At her feet lay an empty can.
“What? How? Why?” sputtered Rina.
“What is going on…” muttered Kate under her breath.
“The beans!” Rina exploded. “They- they've been spilled!”
CLANK!
“The beans?”
SMASH!
“Yes, the beans!”
THUD!
Beans were pouring out of cans that seemed to be hung from thin air. It took at least an hour for the cascade to stop-
Finally, there was peace again.
Michael looked around. “All those beans must had cost an arm and a leg!”

–

the next day

Kate pushed her shopping cart down the isle, looking for the right kind of cheese Jo liked. There, the cheddar. How much was it?
“WHAT? AN- AN ARM AND A LEG?”

lol really late but HAHA
WC: 316

“Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.” Alexandria said, grinning as she washed the dishes. Scrub, scrub sounded the sponge against the ceramic plates as they began to glisten and sparkle.
Wait, no.
That’s not it.
They were…
They were YELLOW.
And they were LEMONS!
The dishes that had once been innocently sitting in the sink, bathing in foamy clear water, were now lemons… and peas! The peas were jumping around screaming up at her: “Easy! Easy!”
Alexandria was appalled.
“What’s easy?”
“THIS IS!” They screeched, jumping on the lemons. Pea after pea after pea jumped on the lemons, squishing and squashing until the lemons began to squirt out all of their juice.
“Oh no, the plates. They’re ruined!” Alexandria groaned, looking up at the ceiling in annoyance. “How dare you, stupid lemons!”
They’re lemons, she thought. Why are there lemons in my sink?
For some reason, this seemed totally normal. Alexandria crossed her arms and stared at the sink, fuming.
Oh yeah.
That was why.
She vaguely recalled about a year ago when this same thing had happened.
That meant that it was- DUN DUN DUN- IDIOMS DAY! THE DAY WHEN ALL IDIOMS COME ALIVE! When easy tasks provided pieces of cake!
“Ooh, fun.” Alexandria said. “This’ll be a piece of cake.” She stated to the empty air.
“NOOOOOOoo.” The peas cried out, swirling into the drain and leaving the lemon carcasses behind. A cake suddenly appeared in their place. Gasping, Alexandria turned off the water.
“CAKE!” She called. “Oh-ho-ho, YES!”
She brought the cake to the table and started to eat it.
Her little brother, Jacob, walked in.
“CAKE! Can I have some?”
Alexandria stared at the massive cake, which she could not possibly eat on her own, and then decided to do something selfish and wholly dumb.
“When pigs fly.” She said, rolling her eyes.
A knock came at the window.
“NO- THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!”

swc daily - march 15
words: 417

“This is the last straw!” I shouted as I pushed back my chair just by the force of standing up. My math teacher suddenly turned into a straw- yet another sign that my new magical powers had been too literal. The impact, though, was far greater than I ever could have imagined.
It all started on my thirteenth birthday. I was celebrating with my best friends when the first sign of my power manifested.
“Magical powers are stupid,” I had said. “Who would even want them? Not me, that’s for sure.”
When I finished my sentences- even though I had meant them as a joke from a dare, I suddenly felt like I didn’t even want powers anymore. It felt like saying that had made me not want them anymore- as though whatever I said became reality. I dismissed the strange feeling for a while, but that had only been a first sign of my strange powers.
The day after that, I said that I would give my brother my only penny if he stood on the table for a full hour- no sitting down, nothing else. He did complete his end of the trade, despite complaining a lot, but when he came back down I refused to give him the penny. After all, I had meant it as a joke.
“When will you give me the penny?” he asked angrily.
“When pigs fly, that’s when,” I said in response.
Not even three hours later, the entire neighborhood watched sixty pigs with feathery white wings fly around and fly up towards the sky until they reached the clouds. With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I handed my brother the penny with no complaints.
My powers continued to cause more trouble for me- they seemed to have a mind of their own, though they took everything literally and had no sense of sarcasm or humor. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when my math teacher paired me with one of my classmates that I had no tolerance for. Normally, I would have ignored it and tried to be a good student, but I was fed up with my feelings not being considered whenever someone needed to be paired with the “better” half of the class.
“This is the last straw!” I shouted. My teacher immediately turned into a bright pink plastic straw, and I quickly realized what had happened.
My magical powers had turned my math teacher into the last straw in the whole universe.

IC Weekly #2

Maia sat at the kitchen table drinking her morning tea, staring out the window at the chicken coop. The chicken coop was her favourite place to be, with the chickens all nestled around. It was so cosy. Once she finished sipping her tea to the bottom, she went into the bedroom and pulled on her overalls, signature beehive yellow t-shirt, and her farmers hat. The way she got that farmer's hat was quite interesting. She was foraging for fresh goods to put in the Luau potluck for her first year, when she stumbled upon a small, abandoned cottage. The cottage housed a small mouse that sold hats, and not to be rude, Maia bought the farmer's hat. The hat suited her quite well and looked exactly like her grandfathers when she was young.

Maia sifted through her storage shed, trying to find her watering can to water her newly planted flowers for summer in the garden. Since the flowers were just planted yesterday, Maia didn’t have enough money to buy the materials to make another sprinkler, but for now, the watering can would work.

Back when she was just a wee sprout of a kid, Maia worked on her grandfather’s farm. He had passed just a little over a year ago, and Maia had inherited the farm. She would wake up before even the sun was up and start watering the crops, making sure that the sprinklers that were on the farm were working properly, and when all that was finished, sip her apple juice beside grandpa drinking his coffee and watching the sun rise.

Once all of Maia’s morning chores were done, she decided to do a quick sift through her storage to sell anything she didn’t need. Later, she would go to Pierre’s General Store and sell all of her goodies.

————

Erica, Mike, Catherine, and I were riding the bus to Stardew Valley. In the valley, we would have a nice, well deserved vacation from all of our past missions. Like thwarting bad guy after bad guy, most recently being on a cruise ship. It might’ve seemed like a vacation, but it was all a front so we could thwart my nemesis, Murray Hill. He used to go to Spy School, just like Erica, Mike, and I, but then turned to the dark side at Spyder’s orders. Spyder has tried to kill me on many occasions, but I defeated them once and for all in Paris a few months ago.

Now, we finally had a vacation. It was finally summer break, school let out a few days ago, and we were just going to relax for the next week. My childhood best friend, Mike, said he had an aunt who lived in Stardew Valley. He has such a big family, I’ve lost count, and I am great at maths so that shouldn’t have been a problem.

We got off the bus and walked down a dirt road to, according to an old, rickety sign, was Pelican Town. Catherine asked an eldery woman if she knew where we could find Mike’s aunt, Maia Sternwald. The elderly woman introduced herself as Evelyn and said that Maia lived outside of town, but had just walked into the general store, to our left. We thanked Evelyn and headed towards the store.

It was your typical country store, fruits and vegetables, a few snacks, and this thing called a Joja Cola. We spread out to look for Maia, me and Mike went together while Erica and Catherine went into the aisles.

“Hey, Aunt Maia! It’s me, Mike!”

The girl turned around, certainly surprised to see us. “I thought you said you would come in later tonight.” Maia seemed like she was in her early twenties, had long dark brown, flowy hair, and blue eyes as deep as the ocean.

“Yeah, our flight got here a little early so we decided to surprise you!” Erica and Catherine came over, obviously hearing the interaction between the two. “This is my friend Ben, and this is Erica, his girlfriend.” Erica punched his arm for saying that. On the cruise ship, Erica kissed me, one time. Once, and only once. Now he thought we were dating, because Erica normally had zero affection towards anybody. Back at school, one of my friends, Zoe, called her the Ice Queen due to how little she interacted with other people.
“Ben, I’ve heard so much about you!” Maina must’ve sensed that Erica was very opposed to touching other people, because she just said hi. “Erica, nice to meet you. Oh, you must be Catherine, Erica’s mom, right?” Maia shook her hand graciously.

————

Maia walked the group back to her house. She could tell that Mike forgot to tell them that she lived on a farm because Ben freaked out.

“Mike! You forgot the part about your aunt living on a farm!”

“Oh, right. It must’ve slipped my mind. I haven’t actually seen it before. It looks great, I love what you’ve done with the place. The flowers are a nice touch, by the way.” Maia blushed, finally somebody liked her flower garden.

“Tomorrow, you’ll get to work on farming! I’ll teach you all how to care for every crop I own, how to keep the animals healthy, and the daily life of a farmer!” Maia was very enthusiastic to have guests, and guests that could help her with her long days out in the summer sun. Obviously, the feeling wasn’t mutual.

Everybody, but Catherine, had their mouth drooping like a full on 0. Even Erica, who wanted to actually enjoy a vacation for once. There always had to be a twist, especially to the fun stuff.

“Now, now, what did you expect? Of course we can’t just stay at dear Maia’s house for free, can we?” Catherine asked the group like they were mere ducklings.

————

The next morning, I was awoken by the sound of a gunshot. Being spies means you have to be alert, at all hours of the day. Mike, Erica, and I were sleeping in the same room with two beds for the three of us. Erica suggested that Mike and I should sleep together because “we were such close friends.” She just didn’t want to be that close to me for so many hours. We all raced out of the room and Catherine was first there because she was sleeping on the pull out couch. It wasn’t a gunshot at all, it was merely Maia with her phone turned up all the way.

“I figured I could wake you up by playing a little sound on my phone, and look how that looked.” Maia was probab;y used to waking up early to do farm work before it got too hot in the day, because she was already ready for the day. Save for the fact she hadn’t eaten yet. “C’mon, we have work to do. The sun is going to be up soon, and that means it’s going to bring heat along, too. Get ready and meet me back here. Breakfast is almost ready.”

Everyone trudged back to their beds and almost fell back asleep, but instead grabbed their bags and picked out what we were going to wear for the day. I picked a t-shirt with the Pi symbol, and some khakis to go with it. Erica was dressed in her usual all black outfit.

We were all out in the kitchen sitting at the table right before Maia finished with her second tea of the day. She had made us scrambled eggs and sausage patties, what a treat.

We finished our breakfast and she handed each of us tools, and sent us off. Erica and I were sent to clear some brush so Maia could plant some more crops before the fall harvest. Mike was put to work with the chickens, and Catherine with the flowers.

Maia was making her rounds around to show us how to do things the right way, and how to do it more efficiently. She told me to pull harder when I was trying to get weeds out of the ground and told Erica to hit the trees she was chopping at a 98° angle.

————

We switched jobs throughout the past couple of days. The chickens were the hardest. You had to calmly loathe them out of their nests, gently set down each egg into the pail and then you could finally move the chicken back into its nest. If you messed up even a little bit, though, the chicken would go berserk and that chicken would create a chain reaction throughout the entire coop. It was a nightmare of a task.

On our final day in the valley, and on our vacation, Maia told us we were going to the annual Luau and we wouldn’t have to do any farm work because the mayor of Pelican Town, Lewis, was going to do all of them for us while we were at the gathering.

Maia had brought a small picnic basket of fruits and vegetables with her to put into the potluck. She also said that the Governor of Stardew Valley was going to be at the Luau and was going to be tasting the potluck first. If he didn’t like the soup, everyone in town would have to make another one twice the size and give it to him to take home.

Thankfully, the governor liked the soup, and it didn’t taste as bad as I thought. I thought since there were so many flavours in one bowl, they would all clash and taste like the colour brown. The flavours worked the exact opposite, and I eventually went back for seconds. We also met everyone that lives in Pelican Town, they all seemed nice except for a few who seemed quite to themselves.

Overall, I think I would definitely want to go back to Pelican Town and be a farmer once more. Probably in fall, though, because Maia said there was going to be a market for all the goods makers in Stardew Valley to sell their goods. Being a farmer sounds much better than I imagined it to be.

————

Word Count: 1692

Daily for the 15th!! (Yes I literally stopped in the middle of a sentence)
“Go check the weather,” my mom told me.
I ran over to the computer, opening the weather app and scrolling over to my city from where I had earlier been looking at the weather in sunny California.
My eyes widened as I saw the forecast for this evening. The symbol underneath the words was unlike anything I had seen there before—it looked almost like a tiny cat and dog behind a raindrop. The words, however, were even stranger.
It read ‘Raining Cats and Dogs.’
My first thought was to be completely sad for the poor creatures who ould be falling out of the sky, but then I remembered—this was never supposed to happen in the first place! Was there any way to stop it?
I shook off those thoughts almost immediately. The problem of ‘fixing the weather’, to be honest, wasn't my problem. All I needed to do was sit back, relax, and let the authorities handle it.
***
Of course, they didn't. It was seven p.m., and the forecast hadn't changed. I had been staring out the window for the last five minutes, but now I thought it was time to take matters into my own hands.
With a sigh, I pulled on my raincoat, shoved my feet into their bright orange boots, put my hat on, grabbed extra dog and cat treats, and stepped outside.
Within moments of coming out the door, I saw my first animal.
It hurtled down through the sky towards me, orange fur soaked with water, mouth frozen in a yowl.
I quickly made my way under the falling feline, holding my arms above my head. The wet weight slammed into my hands, digging its claws in deeper in fear.
Ignoring the sharp pain, I pulled a treat out of my pocket and offered it to the cat.
It reached its pink nose out, trembling in the cold air as it sniffed the treat, then taking it with an agressive crunch. I smiled as the cat blinked gratefully up at me

As much as I loved this cute kitten, I had to move on. I could hear a howl in the distance, and, letting the kitten climb into my pocket, I raced towards it.
Craning my head to look upwards, I saw a dog falling downwards, its paws splaying out crazily.
I positioned myself underneath it, but, as I looked upwards, I realized that this was no small dog. It seemed to be a fully grown golden retriever, its brightly colored fur shining in the early evening moon.
I gulped, knowing that I needed to catch this poor dog, no matter its size.
With a deep breath, I prepared for impact, stretching my arms wide and, hopefully, though not probably because of my lack of exercise, strong.
THe dog fell into my waiting arms, the weight of it causing me to crumple to the floor.
ITs eyes were closed, and I stared at it, hoping desperately that a treat would heal it. However, as I stuck a meat-flavored pellet in front of its nose, it didn't twitch a whisker or move an inch
Creeping out of my pocket, the kitten strolled over to the retriever, tail held high. Despite the pouring rain, the kitten seemed confident as she stopped directly in front of the dog.
She reached her nose over to the dogs', and I couldn't believe my eyes when she gave him a single lick.
I stared down as the dogs' eye slowly blinked open.
How did this happen? I thought cats and dogs were supposed to be, like, mortal enemies or something.
But, as the dog bounded to his feet, I couldn't help but contradict that assessment of the two animals. (what is this sentenceee)
With a grin, I stood up as well at the sound of a falling creature, and our little team assembled underneath the sound.
This time, however, I couldn't see anything. The falling animal must have been black, because it was completely invisible against the darkening sky.
Squinting upwards, I made my best guess as to where it was by the flash of eyes and the quiet howl that I sensed above. The dog and cat, however, stood several feet off. They looked worriedly at me, then upwards, and I understood.
I stepped in between the two pets, reaching my arms out for a third time just as a small black dog plopped into them.
Barking right in my face and rejecting the treats I offered, the dog scurried away, tail between his legs.
As the animal fled, the rain stopped, and

Muahaha doing the weekly suuuper late.

Well, here’s my character:

Name: Dawson Jordan.
Age: 15-16?
Species: human.

Personality and Traits:

Dawson is a very to-himself kind of guy. He generally doesn't like to socialize, and when he does, how wants it to be good, relaxing, casual sort of thing. What he loves to do is to be with friends. They don't set any expectations for him. Dawson really just likes to be himself (I guess that's where I'm going with this? I don't know…?)

Dawson doesn't like very much to put himself out, to steal the spotlight. He doesn't like to talk to people, and generally makes his friends talk for him. And he's not only afraid that HE'LL be in an awkward place, when conversing, but he's really afraid that other people will be hurt or offended by something he says. He doesn't want to be like his father, who is more rough around the edges and doesn't care as much.

Gosh, I sound like I wrote this at three in the morning. Let me assure you, this was all written when I'm as awake as I'll ever be (60 percent awake, maybe less?)

(Lol totally didn't keep that but for words.)

Finally, I'd have to say that the underlying aspect to Dawson's personality is that he's loyal. Okay, okay. Loyal is starting to sound like . . . a dog or something. (No idea where that comes in to, if you get what I'm sayin' *wink wink*) But loyalty is an important part of who he is. He relies on his friends, whether for social situations or just for emotional support. So he, in turn, wants to help them. It's not so much a question of loyalty, as much as it is a question of HOW THE FRICK WOULD YOU NOT STICK UP FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ALWAYS STICKING UP FOR YOU?!?!

*points at /certain/ book characters*

Not gonna name names, though.

Wants, Hopes, and Strengths:

Dawson, most of all, wants to see his father again. Yet, in his mind, that is impossible. He also wants Olivia to notice him, but he doesn't want anybody to know that he likes her. Dawson also really just wants to remain safe, despite all the dangers surrounding him.

Dawson's hopes are much like his wants. He hopes that one day, he could escape. He hopes that, one day, he could see his father again. He hopes that Olivia might like him, too, and he really hopes that nobody finds out that he likes her, because that might jeopardize his other wants and hopes.

Finally, his strengths. Dawson I'd rather physically strong, but I don't that is what we are going for. Mostly, he's emotionally strong. He won't let let little things make him angry or sad. Not that he is stoic or anything. Besides that, he is very loyal. He would even stand up to people much more powerful than him, if it meant protecting the people he loves. And finally, I'd say that Dawson has a strong personality. And by that, I mean that he isn't the person to buckle or break under pressure, nor is he the kind of person who would believe anything and everything people would tell him.

Dislikes and fears:

I love how there is less needed for dislikes and fears.

So, let's begin.

Dawson dislikes a few things. Bad hygiene, for example, or rudeness. But what he dislikes most of all are people who are selfish or cruel. People who have a chance to make a positive change in the world, and yet choose not to. People of great wealth or power who choose to use all that for evil and on themselves.

Ohh, don't you love ranting through your characters? It's wonderful.

Okay, on to fears.

Most of his fears are just aversions of his wants and hopes. He is afraid of staying captured for the rest of his life, and he's afraid that he will never see his father again. He's afraid that somebody will notice that he likes Olivia, and he's even afraid that she'll like him, even though that's what he wants. He's afraid of the cold (little quirky thing) and he's afraid of trying to escape, and failing. And he's afraid of the people keeping him. They induce a kind of terror inside him.

(715 total words.)

Daily March 15
I was walking with my friend Cherry at school. It had been a couple of weeks since the first day, and both us of had gotten back into the hectic rhythm, so we were feeling comfortable… until Cherry started sliding backward!
For a couple moments I didn’t notice anything — I was a bit lost in my thoughts — but eventually I realized that she wasn’t at my side anymore. I turned back and saw Cherry’s panicked face. “Help! I don’t know what’s going on!”
Resisting the urge to say that neither did I, I ran towards her and tried to pull her that way — but the force that was dragging her didn’t let go, and her face started to turn red, so I stopped. Instead, I decided to just jog and follow her, wherever she was going. She went across the field… into the gym… through the hallway into the Main Building… and through a door into a classroom.
But the force didn’t stop there. Instead, it pulled her right into the corner of the room and smooshed her right against the back of some dude with dyed black hair and a baggy shirt.
He turned around. He had some sort of contacts in that made his eyes look pitch-black, and he had some eyeliner on his lower lashline. He had a pentagram tattooed on his arm (seriously, we’re like 17!).
When I thought about it, I realized that they were almost perfect opposites. First was their style — Cherry didn’t like to be called preppy, instead prefering trendy, while that guy was wearing clothes from the 80s. Then there was their posture, their way of acting, their facial expressions…
Suddenly, I broke out with a laugh. Both Cherry and the bewildered group of guys looked at me like I was crazy. I didn’t care.
“Hahahahahahah….. Opposites attract! Geddit? Geddit???”

Another bit for my weekly: for err, I’m too lazy to spell out their name, but it’s there. Somewhere.

A man comes alone, every night, to stand at the corner of an old house. Nobody in the town knows who he is, and after a while, he causes a bit of a stir in the small town. He isn’t staying at the one hotel, and nobody says that they are letting him stay with them. Soon, the townsfolk make an attempt to rid him from their town