daily - july 25
words: 185

You click on your emails and see a new message:

From: Unknown (12:34 AM)
IMPORTANT

You are confused and a bit concerned by the timestamp on the email, but you still read it.

Do you have magic powers? Like sorting things? What about solving mysteries?

Click this link if you do, ignore this email if you don’t. swc://sciencemeetsmagic.cabin.wars/archives/awesomeness-awaits/

As soon as you click the link, the white of the screen begins to dissolve out of your computer in a spray of small red, green, and blue squares. The now-solid pixels wrap around you tightly, and you close your eyes.

When you come to, there are three people in front of you.

“Sorry about that,” the one in the middle of the group says, extending a hand to you. “I’m LEADER, and this is Co1 and Co2,”

You take LEADER’s hand, and they pull you up to your feet.

“This is the Science Fantasy Archives,” Co1 says, gesturing broadly behind them at the seemingly endless rows of shelves and boxes.

“Welcome to the team,” Co2 says with a smile to you.

Daily 7/25

You slide into your seat, five minutes before the start of class. The room is fairly empty; only a few other students sit at the desks around you, quietly chatting or scrolling on their phones. With nothing better to do, you rummage through your backpack and pull out your class schedule. Intro to Creative Writing, reads the first course title. Interesting. Beneath that is Fanfiction Tropes 101, followed by Exploring Fandoms and… Shipping?

Startled, you look up from the list. What kind of a school is this? As if to answer your question, a tall figure strolls into the room, accompanied by two other people. “Welcome,” they say, “to your first class at Fanfiction Academy. I am (insert leader name), your school principal. These are my fellow teachers, (insert co-leader name) and (insert other co-leader name). We are delighted to have you.”

Word count: 142

july 25 daily yes this is kinda rushed. my genre i chose is ghost stories. my theme is sorta like scary stories you tell on a campout with a western twist? idrk lol. i would have done better but my brain is like dead

You’re are all packed up in your car, drivin’ out west in the desert ready to go camping when you hear a splutterin’ sound and your car dies. Surrounded by dust and stars on this desert night, you’re tryin’ to figure out what to do, you hear the sound of hooves cloppin’ down that lonely desert road.
“Evening Pardner,” a cowboy says, tipping his hat to you. “I reckon you’ll be needing some place to stay tonight then? There’s ghosts what prowl this here desert waiting for unsuspectin’ travelers.”
You and your friends swore you’d been seeing strange things for a while, so you went with the cowboy and his friends, each of you riding on the back of a horse to a place where they say you can spend the night. Then in the morning you can go back to your car and call a mechanic.
You come to a dusty little ghost town, that seems frozen in time.
The cowboys invite you to meet the ten other people who live in town including Amos an old man who tells you, “beware the ghost in the mine… Welcome to ghost stories ghost town

You crawl under the blankets, amazed by the way they change the color of the light. Pillows are piled around you, stacks and stacks of them, and they seem to go on forever.
Suddenly, a scream sounds from through a wall of blankets. A series of loud thumps follow it, probably someone crawling away.
You feel a tap on your shoulder, and you spin around to see three people in their pajamas, looking very worried.
“I'm Moss,” the girl with sea creature pajamas says.
“And I'm Re,” the Star Wars pajama wearing person adds. Did you hear that scream?“
You nod, then turn to the third person.
”I'm Robin.“ This person's pajamas feature lines from various musical songs. ”We think something's wrong."
Welcome to the Real-Fi Pillow Fort…

7/25 daily (161 words) (Aster, Len, and Eve are made up):

You wake up, not knowing where you are. You start walking around, trying to figure out where you are. There is a long valley of grass where you are standing. You climb up a tall hill and look towards the horizon. There, you see colorful towns, but that isn’t the most part. In the center of it all, a castle stands tall.
You are in awe until someone behind you calls out, “Hey! There you are! Why are you all the way out here?”
Before you can react, the person makes a portal and drags you into it. On the other side, you are inside the huge castle. Two more people then get out of the portal.
“Hey! I’m Aster.” One of the people says. “That’s Len and that’s Eve.” He gestures to the two others. “Any questions before we get started?”
You quietly peep out, “Where am I?”
“Where are you?” Len says. “Well, you are in the Fantasy Kingdom!”

Word War with @23BraveHeart

Inky stared at her computer screen. She had no idea what she was typing, but it was for a word war and she wanted to win. She kept making typos, which was annoying, because then she had to backspace and retype, which was wasting time. She had three minutes to type as much as possible. She thought back to something she had read about winning word wars. You had to use shorter words, which would increase your word count faster. It made sense, but Inky never really thought about the length of the words she used in her writing. Some of them were long, and some of them were short, and some in between. It didn't really matter. Besides, she didn't know what she had been about to type after that. And she wasn't about to pause and think, because she had to win this word war. What else could she write about, Inky wondered. Oh, she had been writing about word length. Some of the words she was using could probably be replaced with shorter words, but

Word count: 178

Main Cabin Daily 7/25
104 words

This theme could go for a couple different cabins- namely mystery, thriller, horror, and probably dystopian- but I’m using mystery for this example :D
I’m also strongly considering using this theme in the future!

Mystery Jailbreak • SWC XXX 20XX

You blink and sit up, greeted by gray bars and the turning of a key in a lock. Slowly, your memories flood back.
So… you were caught, then.
Across the way, the others from the Mystery Crime Ring acknowledge you with tired eyes. You hear the clicking of boots on the cold floor and take in a sharp breath. Someone in dark blue with a keyring hanging from their pinky arrives in front of your cell, studying you harshly.
“Welcome to the SWCounty Prison, Mystery Ring,” spits the warden. “Enjoy your stay.”
Except, comrade, we won’t be staying long.
The ringleaders have a plan.

daily (103 words)

You open your eyes to a blinding flash of light. You immediately shut them again and rub your eyes. You slowly begin to reopen them as to give your eyes time to adjust to the lighting. I get up from the ground, wiping off my pants. My eyes widen as I look at the enormous tower in front of me. The tower must have been at least five stories tall and had countless windows. There was a cute moat surrounding the tower with a draw bridge as well. I can see a figure letting down the bridge gesturing for me to come in.

Daily 7/25 - Cabins are one of the most important parts of SWC - and thanks to the amazing leaders and co-leaders, all fifteen have unique themes reflecting the genre. In most cabins, you’ll see an introduction at the top of the studio description establishing this theme! Now, it’s your turn - come up with a theme for any SWC cabin (real or conceptual!) and write an intro for it. Your intro should be at least 100 words but fewer than 200 words for 400 points.

real fi - 175 words

Reality blurs around you as you spin, faster and faster, seemingly without end. You close your eyes, hoping it might help the wave of dizziness spreading over you, but it just seems to make things worse as you begin to sway back and forth.

After what feels like an eternity, you finally slow to a stop, the world fading back into view around you. Your head continues to spin for a moment before your vision clears up enough to the game show style sign above you, its hundreds of tiny lights blinking in perfect harmony.

“Welcome to The Game of SWC!” it says.

A cheerful sounding buzzer blares behind you, and a trio instantly appears in front of you. “Hey there!” one of them exclaims, smiling brightly. “I’m Moonlit, and this is (name) and (name)!” You wave to each of them, still unsure of exactly where you are. Offering you a hand, Moonlit adds, “The spinner’s not exactly the best seat in the house, if you know what I mean. Let’s get you settled in!”

Hello! I am back to analyze my own writing because I did this last time. In a separate post because I don't want to edit the first. (It's so far past the deadline already.)

The most explicit theme (that also happens to be the worst explained) is probably late-stage capitalism. The appearances it makes are obvious (because I did not want to come off /pos), but I didn't think it was important enough to wrap up at the end, because… it's incredibly convoluted and I am dubious as to whether a 2000-word short story can dismantle capitalism on its own.

Next is probably platonic/familial love. I love my parents a lot, and I tell them that every day, but all the same I struggle to express how much I love them. Alex is… a bit of a projection? Unlike me, he's kind of distanced from himself a lot of the time and doesn't get emotional very often, but in the heat of things, he makes choices he regrets a lot.

This is kind of a segway into my next point of how he expresses how he isn't part of the decision-making in his life during his emotionally heated argument with himself. This is less of an “I'm useless” than an “everything I do feels futile.” But the point of it is to (1) be the conflict that eventually resolves itself, but to (2) show how he makes those choices in how he thinks that restrict how he acts and the way he feels about himself. He feels restricted, as if his potential is limited to what he can do inside the box, rather than seeing what he can do with or even outside of it. (Per say.) Similarly, the conflict resolves because of a conscious effort on his part to calm down. It is a pivotal choice, rather than a story-defining action.

The… resolution is poorly written. It's abrupt, but it has its strengths? It's a small choice -> big moment thing. Also in the end he accepts some things are completely out of his control and that's not really his fault.

It’s not too obvious, but I also really wanted to integrate themes of doubt and conviction. The parentheses are all afterthoughts, (?) questions or statements that either affirm or second guess the previous statement. They serve to represent Alex’s insecurity in himself (and likewise his need for security). His words are never just words, they ramble on and on. That’s why sentences that represent action are usually so short and clippy. I hope it exaggerates how ineffective his monologuing thoughts are because only the short ones actually have much purpose.

Erm. Tense shifts are not the best. My grammar is probably lacking. Overall I'm happy with the premise of the story and the themes I managed to pull through.

That's it, I think.

backpfeifengesicht wrote:

Breathe // a short story

Cut.

edit: oh and thank you nights, i am sorry i made you suffer as you watched me struggle with the first part of my story and the premise. thanks, sine for helping me get an extension and (also zura for) giving me motivation to finish this story and not set it aside. also thanks starr for entering the writing comp last time because while i was attempting to narrow down themes i read your writing because your short stories are executed beautifully (i hope u liked the aureate ) also gracias alb and care and genk <3 when push comes to shove i am a veryyy clingy person

Main Cabin Weekly: Among Us-Themed Choose Your Own Adventure

The Meeting

4,652 words (total of 6,371 words with author’s note)

My code: PATHS TAKEN: 4-2, 1-1, 5-4, 2-3, 3-3, 81-3, 6-1, 7-2, 9-1, 102-3 | SABOTAGE RESULTS: 1- F, 7- F, 2- F, 5- S;4- F, 6- S;9- F, 8- S;3- S | ENDING: neutral

Start a story with 100 words (136 words)

It was cold. Cold and dark, except for the brief glare of flickering white and red lights. But nothing seemed to be complaining. The cargo hold was full of crates and barrels, meant to be shipped to a distant planet. And everything was quiet.

A series of squeaks and whistles came from nearby, and then one of the doors to the cargo bay whooshed open. An inventory droid stepped out, arms held in its usual, crooked way. It sidled between the columns of cargo, scanning them with its sensors to add them to the registry.

After a few repetitions of this, it paused, running the scan on a particular barrel a second time, and got the same result. There was a lifeform in the barrel. The droid reached for the barrel’s top and yanked it open…

Continue the story with 200 words where everything up until then had been a dream (235 words)

Raya bolted upwards, her head thudding against the top of the cargo barrel with a clang. She froze there, adrenaline pumping through her veins as pain throbbed in her skull. She stayed deathly still in the darkness. The barrel was still closed. It had all been a dream.

A terrifyingly realistic one, especially now that she had made a noise that had to have been loud enough to alert the entire ship to her presence. She crouched there, barely daring to breathe.

One breath passed. Then another. But it was only after Raya counted five hundred that she finally relaxed. No one had heard. She was safe, for now.

She leaned back against the hard, ridged metal and closed her eyes. Not that it made much difference, but at least now the darkness made sense. It was almost like, beyond her eyelids, everything might be normal again. The clangs of metal and shudder of the ship could be the whir of her mother’s tools and the whoosh of hyperspace could be the sounds of speeders zipping up and down the street in front of her home.

But then she opened her eyes again, and reality rushed back in. She was cold, so cold, not only physically, but in her soul. It hurt to think about them. About the past.

So she tucked the thoughts away, resolving to focus on the present. For now, at least.

Write for 5 minutes having elements of Fanfiction, Script, or Poetry (184 words)

Suddenly, a rattle shook the barrel, flinging Raya against the side. She froze, despite the hard metal rims of the barrel digging painfully into her side. After a few moments, the ship stabilized, and Raya gently peeled herself back into her original crouching position. From her hiding place, she could hear voices and the clicks and whistles of the ship’s droids. They must have come out of hyperspace.

That meant that they were close. Raya hugged herself tightly, wondering if this had been the best idea in the first place. She didn’t know anything about where they were headed or what it would be like when they arrived. Maybe it would have been safer to just stay home.

She answered that uncertainty for herself quickly. It would be impossible for things to be any worse than remaining in that wasteland. A deep cavern of sorrow welled up inside her heart, and the corners of her eyes pricked.

Not now, she told herself. You can’t think about that now.

To stave off the tears, she forced herself to focus on the sounds coming from outside.

Write 200 words where a character reveals that one of their main motives is to have a sense of belonging (318 words)

At the same time, thousands of kilometers below Raya, a teenage boy fiddled boredly with his uniform. Around him were rows of cadets dressed exactly the same, some fidgeting as well, while others remained stiffly at attention. As time passed, more and more shifted toward the former group.

Pedram sighed, leaning over to whisper in his friend’s ear. “When’s the commander going to arrive? We’ve been standing here for hours!”

The other boy, part of the stick-straight group, flinched and shouldered him away. “She could get here any second now,” he hissed, clearly terrified at being caught slacking.

Getting the message, Pedram shifted back to his original position, letting out a long sigh. “We’re going to be waiting here until sundown, and then they’re just going to tell us to come back tomorrow,” he muttered, earning a glare from his friend.

“QUIET,” the other cadet whispered in horror.

Pedram returned to picking at the buttons on his suit. He tugged at a particularly shiny one, harder, and harder. He wasn’t trying to pull it off, just wanted to see how far it would stretch.

But then his worst nightmare happened. The button popped off, slipping through his fingers and landing on the floor with a clatter. Pedram’s heart accelerated to hyperspeed, but everything else seemed like it had gone into slow motion.

The button rolled away, disappearing through the cracks of a nearby drainage grate. Pedram’s friend looked like he was about to faint.

A similar anxiety now rose within Pedram. He always had to be the slow one, the weak one, the dumb one in front of all the other cadets. Now, in the most important moment of his life, he’d messed up. Again.

His spine now stuck in the straightest position it had ever been in its 15-and-a-half-year lifespan, Pedram stared forward, hoping beyond anything that no one would notice.

Why can’t I ever fit in?

Use the “Chekov’s Gun” principle in at least 300 words (677 words)
A rumbling filled the barrel, shaking Raya down to her very bones. She clung to the side, suddenly grateful for the deep ridges as she used them to keep her balance. A roaring filled her ears, drowning out all other sounds.

It seemed like forever before the noise and tremors stopped. Anxiety and trepidation whirled through Raya, but there was nothing she could do yet. She shifted onto her aching knees, her feet numb from having stayed in the same position for hours on end.

More waiting it is, then, she thought, resigned.

A jolt of fear ran through her when the whirring of machinery passed just outside her barrel, but it didn’t stop, just grew quieter again as the droid moved away.

How much longer will this be? Raya wondered in despair.


Pedram’s heart beat faster and faster as he stared at the platform in front of the crowd of cadets. Please don’t arrive, he silently begged. Please let me have been right about the commander not showing up.

His back started to ache, and time seemed to be passing too fast and too slow at the same time. At some point that could have been a few seconds later or an eternity, the cadet noticed the sun starting to set through the tall glass windows of the Imperial Academy building.

A sigh of relief escaped his throat. It wouldn’t be long before they were all sent away, and he’d be able to fix his uniform. If he got out of this unscathed, he swore to himself that he would never pick at the buttons again.

Then an officer stepped up to the podium, tapping on the speaker. “ATTEN-TION,” he bellowed, causing all the cadets to jump into formation.

“LINE UP FOR INSPECTION,” the officer shouted, as a door opened at the opposite end of the room. A woman dressed in a sleek black uniform strolled out, a quartet of stormtroopers marching behind her.

The commander, Pedram realized, barely managing to step to the side in time as the crowd parted to make way for her.

Her piercing gray eyes and matching hair gleamed as she scrutinized the first few rows, her mouth bent into a permanent disapproving expression.

She passed without comment, edging closer and closer to Pedram, whose mind filled with panic. Maybe I should run maybe I should hide maybe I should just cover it up maybe I should pretend nothing’s wrong maybe I should beg for mercy maybe I should maybe I should maybe I should—

And then there she was, scanning the boy up and down. Pedram could do nothing but stare at her in terror as her eyes flicked over the missing button.

“Cadet,” she spoke sharply, the first time she had done so since entering the room. All faces turned toward them.

Pedram froze.

“What happened to your uniform?” The commander’s words seemed to come from a great distance.

“It broke, sir,” he managed to choke out.

She sneered. “Indeed.”

There was a long silence. “Well,” the commander finally said, drawing out the word. “What a disgrace to the Empire.”

She turned away. “You there,” she barked at Pedram’s friend. “Take him to the disciplinary officer.”

Pedram’s blood ran cold. He stared at his friend, feeling as if he was underwater as his friend replied, “Yes, sir,” and took Pedram’s arm.

You can’t do this, he thought desperately at his friend. The other boy’s eyes darkened, his grip tightening. You got yourself into this, his gaze said.

His legs weak, Pedram had no choice but to let himself be led past the rows and rows of staring eyes. There was no hope, he knew it, but that didn’t stop him from praying for a way out.

Then a loud crash split the air. Pedram whipped his head toward the sound to see glass cascading from where the enormous windows used to be. Cloaked figures rappelled inside with grappling hooks, red blaster fire pouring from their weapons.

“It’s the rebels!” Pedram’s friend shrieked. And then everything dissolved into chaos.

Ask three campers to each give you three words, and write for 10 minutes, using all of them in the story (@piggy_puppy: silver, lemon, forest, @figurative_wings: energetic, listening, squish, @xxfierroorfalafelxx: tardigrade, epic, apple) (436 words)

A thud jolted through Raya, and then the noise of the engines slowly faded away. We’ve landed, Raya thought, relief spreading through every part of her. Finally, she’d be able to get out of this cramped position. Soon, she’d be free.

The barrel jolted to the side, throwing Raya against the side painfully. The creak of metal whirred close by, and then the barrel tilted again, moving forward slowly.

After about thirty seconds, it dropped with a clang. Raya’s head banged against the metal, and she saw stars.

“Careful,” a droid warned. “The cargo is fragile.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” a deep voice replied, growing softer as they moved away. Raya pressed her ear against the side of the barrel, listening.

Everything was quiet. This was her chance. Raya shoved open the barrel, energetic vigor suddenly filling her limbs. She leapt out, landing on the soft ground with a squish.

The ship had landed at what looked like the edge of a port city. Beyond, a thick forest loomed, mist rising out of the undergrowth. Raya glanced at the cargo hold, where the silver edge of another crate was slowly making its way out.

“This wasn’t what I signed up for,” a voice rang out. A jolt of fear ran through Raya, and she hid behind a row of metal sheets.

“Not every Imperial Transport engages in epic blaster battles and dogfights,” a robotic voice replied. “99.6% of ships never encounter rebel hijackers.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the crewmate sighed. “What a shame.”

As they neared, Raya eyed the forest. Knowing that she wouldn’t get another chance like this, she bolted, snatching a small package labeled “Food” from atop a barrel as she ran.

A shout came from behind her, but she was already leaping into the undergrowth, dodging vines and roots as she fled.

She glanced back, but the forest was quiet. They hadn’t followed her. Raya sighed, letting her aching body fall to the ground. She inspected the package she had stolen, opening it up to find some strange, colorful substances.

Normally, she might have turned her nose up at the smell, but right now she was too hungry to care. Raya read each label as she gobbled the food down. The ‘Tardigrade Paste’ was dry and crunchy, a sharp contrast to the juicy wetness of the ‘Rodian Apples.’ Even though she could have eaten tree bark right now, one sip of the ‘Lemon Cider (fresh from Coruscant!)’ made her mouth shrivel up and her tongue swell.

She tossed the bottle into the bushes, groaning as she tried to bring moisture back into her mouth. Ewww.

Write 300 words incorporating a short song into your writing (Something Wild) (377 words)
When Raya finished the food, she rolled up the package and tucked it into her coat. It could come into use later. Then she leaned back against a tree root, pondering her next move.

It was getting dark, and her body ached with exhaustion. Maybe she could finally get some sleep. Raya closed her eyes.

You had your maps drawn, you had other plans to lay your hopes on…

She was a little girl again, playing with her father outside her family home. He lifted her up into the air, and she shrieked with delight, imagining that there was a jetpack on her back and she was touching the stars.

Then she was a few years older, sparring with her mother. Their spears clashed, unleashing a shower of sparks, but Raya ducked underneath them to score a victorious blow.

And then she was older still, standing with her parents in front of all her family. She placed the helmet on her head, raising her fist to a chorus of cheers.

But every road they led you down felt so wrong…

Fire rained down on them, bolts of lightning reaching out to strike her family members down, one by one. Terrified, Raya threw down her helmet, watching it sizzle and spark from the energy.

With a thunderous creak, the roof of her family home—which had been steady for generations—crashed down from the strain. Raya shrieked, covering her face with her arms.

Out of the smoke, a blur of metal slammed into her, tossing her to safety. She looked back to see the distinctive purple of her father’s armor disappear beneath the rubble. She screamed, but the sound wasn’t enough to pierce the sounds of battle around her.

Her mother grabbed her arms, pulling her away from the battlefield that had once been her home. She pushed her toward the road, promising that she would hold off the invaders long enough for Raya to escape. The girl sobbed and pleaded, but that didn’t stop her mother from turning and racing back toward the blaster fire.

The energy caught her in mid-air, throwing her to the ground, and then her mother’s body was obscured by the enemies in white armor.

So you found another way.

Raya’s eyes opened, tears pouring down her cheeks. She hugged her knees and lay there, unmoving, as the horror played in her mind, again and again. She had lost everything. Everyone. Forever.

Something your character thought was safe has now changed into something dangerous (write for 5 minutes) (162 words)
A long time passed before Raya pushed herself to her feet. The light of dawn was enveloping the forest, which meant that it was time to go.

She wiped her face with her cloak, brushing it off against the trunk of the tree she had been curled up against. Her nose still stuffy and eyes red, Raya stood shakily, placing an arm against the tree for balance.

Then, as she took a step forward, something tangled around her boot. She shook her foot, trying to get free, but the vine just pulled tighter, yanking her legs out from under her. A cry of shock was cut off by a branch that swung right into her chest, knocking her to the ground.

She stared up in terror as the tree shook itself, reaching more of its roots toward her. Snap out of it, her mind screamed, but it was too late. More tendrils wrapped tightly around her limbs, pinning her to the ground.

Write for five minutes as fast as you can, take a break, and then repeat it again. (478 words)

Pedram ducked, trying to follow the crowd of screaming cadets. His mind spun with fear and panic. Only moments ago he had been living his worst nightmare. So what did that make this?

A volley of red blaster fire flew past his head, and he ducked. There. He spotted a grate on the ground, the one that his button had fallen into. He looked back at the exit, seeing a throng of cadets in his path. He’d never make it out in time, and the rebels seemed to be getting closer. As soon as the path was clear, he dove for the hatch, flinging it open and dropping inside. His boots squelched as they impacted the wet ground, and he slipped, his head colliding with the hard stone floor. His last thought as the world went black was that it would feel really dumb for the rebels to find him like this.

Then he blacked out.

After what could have been moments or centuries, Pedram opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings. There was a strange ringing in his ears, but he was still in the ventilation hatch. Then he realized what was different. The sounds of battle were gone.

He peeked his head over the ventilation shaft hole, only to duck down again, heart pounding. Two figures in rebel gear had been pacing the room, and there wasn’t an Imperial officer or cadet in sight.

Had they driven everyone out? Or… Pedram forced himself not to think about any other possibilities. How was he going to get out now?

An idea surfaced in his head. Maybe if he just ran, they wouldn’t be able to react fast enough. He wished he had a blaster, but, for now, running was just going to have to be enough. He mentally pinpointed the exit. Then he reached up and swung himself up, slipping on the smooth floor with his wet boots.

Regaining his balance, and forcing himself not to look back, he bolted for the entrance.

Then the ground fell out from under him, and he landed with a thud on his back, all the breath driven out of him. A millisecond later, a bolt of blaster fire whizzed right through where his head had been. He froze.

The sounds of pounding feet filled his ears, and he was roughly yanked to his feet.

“Got him!” the rebel called, pinning Pedram’s arms to his back. The boy gasped for air, feeling like a fish out of water as the rebel dragged him back.

He couldn’t struggle, could barely move, as he was spun around to face a man who must have been the leader of the rebels.

The assumed rebel leader frowned down at him. “The cadet who was left behind,” he mused. He bent down on a knee and grasped Pedram’s chin.

“You know who I am, don’t you?”

Write for 8 minutes where a character who is assumed to have been dead is actually alive 446 words
Pedram’s heart was pumping. He didn’t recognize the rebel, who was clearly expecting an answer. He thought about saying so, but that might make them mad.

He didn’t want to make them any madder than they already looked.

So he searched his mind for an answer. The rebel wore sturdy metal armor, which, despite the firefight that had just occurred, didn’t have a dent in it. Something was tucked under his arm, and, as Pedram looked closer, a memory suddenly flashed in his mind. He had seen that type of helmet before, in class.

“You’re a Mandalorian,” he breathed, not sure whether to feel awe or terror. In the end, he settled for confusion.

The rebel looked vaguely pleased, so Pedram continued. “But, Mandalore’s part of the Empire. Why would you attack us?”

That… was the wrong thing to say. The rebel growled, his hand closing around Pedram’s throat.

“The Empire invaded Mandalore,” he hissed, piercing eyes boring into Pedram’s. “We have no allegiance to those murdering scum.”

Pedram let out a squeak of protest, but the rebel didn’t relax his grip. “The Empire killed my family. My wife. My daughter. I will NEVER stop making them pay for what they’ve done.”

With a final glare, the rebel threw Pedram to the floor. He lay there, coughing and wheezing.

“The only reason you’re still alive is I won’t sink to the same depths as them. That,” the rebel added, eyes taking on a wicked gleam, “and you still might be useful.”

Pedram couldn’t speak. He just looked at the rebels in terror. The leader raised his hand, and the rebel who had caught him grabbed the boy by the shoulder and hauled him up, pressing the barrel of a blaster into his spine.

A woman, another Mandalorian, but with her helmet in place, stepped forward. Although he couldn’t see her eyes, Pedram could feel her glare like daggers boring into his flesh. “Are you sure about this, Daro?” she asked. “Sparing him won’t bring your wife and Raya back. We should just kill him now.”

Pedram suddenly felt like he was being choked again. He stared desperately at each of the rebels, but only saw hostility in their faces.

The rebel leader, Daro, just waved his hand and placed the helmet back over his head. “Take him away,” he ordered, his voice slightly warped by the helmet’s communicator.

The rebel nodded shoved Pedram roughly, forcing him to walk. The cadet made no attempt to resist, and let himself be led away, head bowed.

I just have to hold out, he promised himself. The Empire won’t just leave me here. They’ll be here soon, I know it.

Write 250 words where the character feels a sudden burst of anxiety, and the mood continues through the rest of the story (287 words)


Raya thrashed and bucked, trying to get free. She managed to break one of her arms away, and reached for a pocket in her coat, grasping the dagger that she had hidden inside. Panic flooded her as another branch pinned her previously free arm to her chest. She threw all her energy into rolling to her side, using the dagger to slash the branch in two.

The tree jolted back, shaking, and then, before she could react, swung back with a vengeance. Raya raised her dagger to block it, digging deep into the wood.

She jerked it out and slashed the vines, freeing her legs, and then rose unsteadily to her feet. She dodged an incoming branch and bolted, tripping over a flailing root, but managing to catch herself before she fell. Once she was out of the monster’s reach, she bent over and placed her hands on her knees, panting heavily.

WHAT WAS THAT? her brain shouted. Fear ran like a spider up and down her spine as Raya gasped for breath, clutching the tatters of her cloak.

As soon as she got a hold of herself, she made her way back toward the settlement. She’d take Imperial troopers over monster plants any day. The thought had only just crossed her mind when she felt a burst of shame. Tears pricked her eyes. How could she even think that?

Unease filled her as the town came into view. The ship was gone now, but she could hear the high-pitched wail of an alarm blaring, and smoke seemed to be rising from a tall building near the center.

Nevertheless, she continued on. Raya would find her way to survive. She owed it to her family, after everything.

Leave your story unresolved with a cliff-hanger. Write 500 words to wrap it up. (Oh yes, phew, they’ll let me put in this last bit. Thank you, daily team!) (916 words)

Even though her clothes were ripped and there were scratches and bruises all over her face and arms, no one in the town seemed to give Raya a second glance. She limped past a trio of merchants, thinking about her next move.

Food and shelter were immediate priorities. She looked around, scanning the buildings and people around her. There was a wide range of species and social classes, from tattered Rodian beggars to Twi’leks in lush robes. As she passed an intersection, she spotted something that made her blood run cold. She darted into an alley before they could spot her.

Her breathing ran fast and shallow as she watched the Imperial stormtroopers march down the street. They didn’t even glance in her direction, but seemed to be heading toward the damaged building farther up ahead.

Every cell in her body screamed at her to run as far as possible, but she forced herself to follow them. If I’m going to stay in this town, I’ll need to know their habits.

They were moving at a fast pace, but Raya managed to keep up, making sure to stay close enough to keep track of them, but far enough so that they wouldn’t spot her. Soon, they reached the building. Raya looked up. It was taller than she had expected, sporting a large symbol of the Empire on the side. A flash of triumph passed through her as she saw the damage done to the structure. They deserved it, and much more, after everything they had done.

She stayed behind, watching as the troopers ran into the building. The sounds of blaster fire rang out from inside. Raya wondered what was going on. Whoever was fighting the Empire, they might be good people to get to know.

She stayed there for a long moment. Maybe she could help. As she struggled with whether or not to follow the troopers inside, a clatter from behind her drew her attention.

Raya turned to see a scuffle between three cloaked figures and a teenage boy. The figures kicked him viciously, leaving him gasping on the ground as they dragged him away. “Help!” the boy choked out, gasping for air. But the onlookers just stayed to the outskirts, peering at the scene nervously.

One of the attackers grabbed the boy by the hair and slammed him into a merchant’s cart, sending fruit flying everywhere. He lay there, groaning, as the three figures closed in on him again.

The boy looked up, and his eyes met Raya’s. “Help me,” he pleaded, reaching out a bloodied hand.

In his eyes, Raya felt his fear, and a powerful feeling rose up inside her.

Mandalorians are warriors, her father had told her, long ago. It’s up to us to protect those who can’t protect themselves.

Before she had truly committed to what she was about to do, the boy’s eyes softened, hope and relief shining in his gaze. She couldn’t walk away now.

Raya took a deep breath. Then she ran straight toward the figures, shouting at the top of her lungs. “HEY UGLY! PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE,” she screeched, waving her arms.

The cloaked figures turned toward her in surprise. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the boy gaping in shock. “RUN,” she shouted at him, leaping at the closest assailant.

The boy didn’t need to be told twice. He dragged himself off the scattered produce and took off, disappearing down an alley. One of the cloaked figures made as if to pursue, but Raya grabbed another by the shoulders flung him to the side, sending them both crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs. The third took a swing at her, but she dodged the blow and drove her elbow into the attacker’s gut, then whirled with a roundhouse kick to knock his feet out from under him.

Before they could recover and attack again, Raya leapt over the struggling figures and raced in the direction that the boy had gone. She turned and darted into the same alley, glancing back once she’d reached it.

Instead of continuing the pursuit, the cloaked figures picked themselves off the ground and fled in the opposite direction. Raya watched, eyes narrowed, as they disappeared.

Then she turned back and plucked some pieces of scrap off the ground. “That is the worst hiding place you could have ever thought of,” she informed the boy she had rescued.

He stared up at her, eyes wide. “W-Who are you?”

“My name’s Raya,” she replied, feeling a burst of pride at his dumbfounded expression. Something, almost like a brief flash of recognition, went through his eyes, but it disappeared just as quickly. Perhaps she had imagined it. She extended an arm to help pull him up. “What about you?”

“I’m… Pedram,” the boy said hesitantly. “I’ve never seen you around here before.”

“Let’s just say, I’m new to town.” Raya looked away. Pedram looked like he was about to say something else, but a rumble shook the ground, cutting him off.

“What do you say we get out of here, Pedram?” The girl glanced at the entrance of the alley, evaluating possible escape routes.

“Sounds good.” Pedram’s voice was quiet. “Thanks for saving me, Raya. I’m not sure I would have survived that without you.”

Raya responded with a smile, then beckoned him to follow her. “Come on. Time to go.”

Then she dashed out into the street, her new friend close behind.

Author’s Note 1719 words

Phew! This has been quite a weekly, and I think I’ve finished it faster than any of the other ones! It’s been so wonderful to see all the aspects of the previous weeklies incorporated into this one, as well as the amazing writing prompts, really creative and fun minigames, and relaxing rest periods! This must have taken an insane amount of time, code, effort, and energy, and I feel so lucky that I was able to be in this session of SWC to complete it. Thank you so much, for this, daily team. I appreciate it so very much, and this will certainly be my most beloved memories of SWC.

At the start, in honor of my watching of the Mandalorian for the first time, I decided to do another Star Wars fanfic (and it didn’t hurt that it matched the Among Us theme XD). This one is set in the period between the prequels and original trilogy, at the height of the Empire’s power.

I put the story in the point of view of Raya, a stowaway in a cargo transport. All I knew at this point was that she was fleeing the Imperial destruction of her home, and that she had lost her family and everyone she knew. She was trying to start over on a different planet, far away from the ashes of her old life.

Then the next prompt told me to write 200 words as if everything had been a dream, and I was glad that I hadn’t been too far into the story XD. So I edited in a little part at the start as if the droid was about to discover her, and then made her wake up. I included a bit more that I had brainstormed about her family and the life she had left behind, mostly because there isn’t much else to do when stuck in a barrel .

Next, I believe that one of the sabotage tasks told me to go thank someone that had been important to me, so I headed over to Katie’s profile and dumped a list of how she’s amazing :). There’s much more that I could have put, but I’m saving it for thank-you notes at the end of session . If you’re reading this, I’m talking about my awesome co, @always-wriiting, and you should definitely go say hi and drop her a follow. :]

Then, the next prompt was to write for five minutes with fanfiction, poetry or script. Since this is already a fanfiction, I just continued Raya’s story without making any major changes to the plot so far B). The ship came out of hyperspace, and they’re getting closer to their destination.

After that, the prompt was to write 200 words about a character wanting to belong. That didn’t really fit with Raya’s personality so far, so I thought up another character. This time, an imperial cadet who accidentally breaks his uniform and regrets making himself stand out. This is the first time I’ve tried writing parallel story plots, so I was pretty excited to see how it went. As a side note, looking at other people’s weeklies, I see that another prompt I could have gotten was that a character had a motive for revenge, which would have been able to fit Raya much better. I guess that if I had gotten that, this story would have turned out very differently. :33

Next, it was time to write about the “Chekov’s Gun” principle. I’ve actually heard of this before, and it basically means that if there’s a gun on the wall in chapter 1, it’s going to go off by chapter 3. I decided to make the ridges in the barrel plot relevant for Raya, and the missing button, the Imperial commander, the nervous friend, and the large windows plot relevant to Pedram’s story. That gave me a nice plot twist, and it gave me the idea to make the rebels attack.

Now, the most important rule about having parallel storylines is: constant cliffhangers. Every time you change perspective, make sure that you leave the readers impatient for you to get back to the first character they were reading about. Then, when they get used to the second character, leave them off on another cliffhanger and be like ‘Hey, I thought you WANTED to get back to Pedram! :>>>’ It’s certainly kept me reading a lot of books XD.

So, we leave Pedram with the rebel attack, and switch over to Raya, whose ship just landed. I asked in the Main Cabin for three words each from three campers, and Piggy (@piggy_puppy), @figurative_wings, and @xxfierroorfalafelxx were kind enough to provide me with them. Most of the words were fairly easy to incorporate, and the only trouble I had was with the words apple, lemon, and tardigrade. So I decided to make Raya snatch a snack and used up all the words there (this was past the 10-minute mark, btw). I consider that the cringiest part of the story, so I apologize for that XD.

Then, I’m pretty sure I might be mixing things up, but the next task might have been to go say nice things to a Scratch Team member, and I picked @zinnea, who has been a great inspiration to my coding on Scratch .

Now, I had to somehow turn my story into a songfic. I was originally regretting this, since I couldn’t really remember any songs that would fit with the epic fight scene that was coming up for Pedram, and I wasn’t sure how I would put a song in for Raya. Finally, I had the idea to use Something Wild, by I forget the creator but if you search it up you can probably find it pretty fast, and it would fit with a flashback to clarify what happened to Raya. Cue the really sad story of her growing up and watching her family die. Here, I had a pretty good idea of what planet Raya came from, but I wasn’t going to state it straight out just yet. :>>>

So then I was told to go compliment some Daily Team Members/Hosts/Workshop creators, so I decided to go say hi to Zai and Robin and give Willow a long-overdue message of appreciation for her amazingness as my co-leader and her awesome Steampunk Fantasy workshop. Go say hi to all of them, and drop them a follow and some lasagna in Zai’s case.

Next, I had to make the surroundings DaNgErOuS :OOO. Hmm, Raya’s already on an alien planet, and that tree that she fell asleep against is looking rather sus in my opinion. Cue the alien monster plant, and I think that’s a sufficient cliffhanger to drag my poor readers off of, don’t you? >:D

So now its word sprint time, and I’m so sorry that I couldn’t do the five-hundred-headed hydra, Birdi :sob:. Buuuut we’re back in Pedram’s perspective, and let’s see how he does with the rebel attack! :000 Full disclosure, please do not be mad at me, Birdi, in those five minutes where you said to do something else, I may or may not have word warred with Sandy. But then I got back to the word sprint, went on a little longer, and made Pedram come face-to-face with the rebel leader! At this point, I was just planning to make him say “uhhh actually I don’t know who you are very sorry plz don’t hurt meh.”

Then, I got the next prompt, which was to make a character come back to life :sparkles:. I stared at this one for quite a bit, unsure what to do, since I didn’t really know how I was going to put THAT in the storyline. Then I re-read the Raya songfic bit, AND I REALIZED THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING PROMPT EVER FOR POOR RAYA!!! It wouldn’t really have the same impact for Raya’s father to appear in her perspective, and I can’t really stop torturing the readers with suspense at this point, so PLOT TWIST TIME!!! At this point, it is revealed that Daro, the rebel leader, is Raya’s father, but that’s dramatic irony since none of the characters are supposed to know that yet. :>>> Also, they’re MANDALORIAN so yay :).

Now, I got the prompt that my characters are supposed to have a sudden burst of anxiety. Hmm, which to choose, which to choose. I ended up with Raya since it’s probably time to get back to her perspective, and what’s more anxiety-inducing than a monster plant that’s trying to strangle her?

So epic Raya gets free, and she heads toward the town. I noticed that I was getting near the end, and was slightly worried about having to end the story here. I already had a plan for her to rescue Pedram from the rebels, and I wanted to put that in before the story wrapped up.

Then I got my final prompt, and was so happy that I would be able to finish things up in 500 words. And with a cliffhanger no less ;). I accidentally wrote almost double that (oops), but I hope that I put in a satisfactory conclusion to this part of the story. Pedram and Raya finally meet, but Raya doesn’t know he’s Imperial, and Pedram isn’t about to tell her given his encounter with her very ferocious father not long ago. The story ends there, which isn’t an intense cliffhanger, as far as they go, but it is a point that will (hopefully) leave the readers wondering what happens next.

And that’s the end of the weekly! I’m so grateful to have had the chance to do this, and I give my deep, deep gratitude to all the people that made this possible, including the fantastic Daily Team: Birdi, Robin, Bakie, Sawyer, Lio, Zai, and Zura, as well as the other campers and leaders that gave me motivation to complete this daily. Piggy, @xxfierroorfalafelxx, and @figurative_wings gave me some great words to build the story off of, and Dawn, CJ, and Moss helped motivate me to continue and complete the weekly! Thank you so much to everyone for this experience. It has certainly been one of a kind, and I couldn’t have created this story alone. Thank you. <333

weekly (4231 words without headings and other things that aren't really part of the writing)

Ending code:
PATHS TAKEN: 3-1, 1-5, 82-2, 7-5, 9-1, 6-4, 5-4, 102-3, 2-2, 4-1 | SABOTAGE RESULTS: 7- S;4- S;9- F, 5- F, 2- S;3- S;1- S;8- S;6- S | ENDING: good

First story:

There is a mysterious building in front of me. It is covered in plants, made out of wood, and rotting, it seems completely abandoned. I check the note that was strangely sent to my room. This is the correct address. I look down, then back up. To be your desired greater purpose, Diana, you must be willing. It says. It is sketchy that the sender knows who I am, but it is sketchier that they attach an address. I shouldn’t have done this, but my curious side tells me to come here. I take a deep breath and remove all the fear inside of me. I look at the note for one last time, and then I start enter the building.

Bulletin board:

“news of a death is delivered to your character, and it comes with an inheritance.” – wilde-gray

Just before I go in, I received a frantic text from my mom. It had a thunderous noise in the quiet structure.
MOM: Diana!!! Come home as quickly as you can. I know you are partying with your friends but you need to come quick!
DIANA: what happened?!
MOM: It is about dad! He um… I’ll explain when you get here!
I exit the building and run back home. Someone happened to my dad. Something bad. I hurriedly get to my house and my mom quickly finds me.
“Diana, d-dad was k-killed in a c-car accident.” My mom stuttered.
I was in shock. “I-I’m s-so sorry.”
There was a moment of pause and silent mourning.
“We talked a-about something a couple of w-weeks ago.” My mom said, still stuttering. “He said that w-when he passed away, he said y-you would inherit his wealth. We started to p-plan it, but we didn’t expect it to be this e-early.”
We mourned and mourned. In a couple weeks, we had a funeral for my dad. In the next week, my mom created a bank account for me for my dad’s inheritance, and I started to earn it.
But then, the same exact note as the one before came into my room. Ugh. What do I do about it?

To an irl friend:
1. You are friendly and really likeable.
2. You are kind and nice.
3. You are funny and silly (in a good way!)
4. You are enthusiastic and positive.
5. You make my bad day awesome!
6. You are smart and intelligent.
7. You are flexible and helpful.
8. You have so many talents!
9. You are ambitious and determined.
10. You are caring and bubbly.

Dining hall (fantasy, fairy tales, mythology)

One early morning, I walk to the same, abandoned-looking building. I had told my mom that I had a invite from a friend, even though I didn’t have it. I went here. I enter it again, hoping to not be distracted again by something. I walk down a long, narrow hall and then I reach a fork. Or if you can even call it a fork – this intersection contains eight paths, going to eight different places, one which goes to the door. There are labels with different letters on the top of each fork, aside from the one leading to the door, which reads ‘exit’, and the one opposite of it, which reads ‘Mr. Sedgy’. I think over the note again. /To be your desired greater purpose./ I try to understand what that means.
I then walk down the path opposite to the one which I came from, the one with ‘Mr. Sedgy’. I have believed in magic, but I know, at least I am pretty sure it is fake. I have pretended to be a warrior, but I know I can’t become it. I see a wooden door-ish structure., but there is no knob. I look around and see a little button on the corner of the floor. I gently push it and it clicks. The door starts to slide open. As it opens, I hear two people talking which I didn’t hear before. When it fully slides open with another click, the two people stop their conversation and look at me. I noticed a handsome man sitting in a chair in front of a curved desk with a fancy robe on was talking to an older woman in a silky white dress who was standing.
“Who are you?” The man asked.
“Umm… I’m Diana Hawle.” I replied
The man thought for a moment then he said, “Diana Hawle? Let me check something really quick.” He spun his chair to a stack of folders and began rummaging through them.
The woman whispered something into his ear, and he replied, “Yes, me too. I just need to confirm.”
I just stood there watching, confused. The man took a piece of paper out of a folder and read it. He whispered something to the woman, and she nodded. The woman closed the door with a button, and with a snap, the woman disappeared from sight. I was surprised. Before I could say anything though, the man stood up.
“Hello Diana Hawle! Sorry for all the confusion. I’m Gregor Sedgy, and this, maybe to your surprise, is the Silverwood Magical Academy. I’m the principal. You can be new student here. We just have one question; do you accept or do you want us to remove you? It is your choice. We value what you want.” The man said.
I think over my options. This is a greater purpose that I believe in. But what would happen if I agreed? I’ll probably have an option to get out if needed afterwards though. “Yes.” I say.
“Great! Let’s just go over some things.” Gregor said.

Workshops (fantasy worldbuilding):

Gregor went over some things. Things like time outside the academy is frozen until you step out of it, the academy is invisible for people without magical talents (which I have), and other random stuff. He also told me I can just in time for today’s class.
He told me to wait as I watched him leave the office and go down a path. He came back a couple of minutes later, and he told me some ‘good news.’
“So, Diana, I talked with an instructor, and it seems you can come to class today! You are a beginner, and a lot of the other students are also having their first time. Don’t worry, the class is for around your age and the rest of the kids are around your age too. Just go down the hallway that says ‘A’, and your classroom is the one on the very end.”
I nod and thank him. I exit the room and think over what has happened in this past ten minutes. A lot. Life-changing. Awesome.
I follow his instructions and enter the room with hallway A. I press the button in the corner, and I see a huge classroom that could have easily fit the entire building. Guess the classrooms are bigger on the inside than on the outside. And not to mention it isn’t cringy like the usual beginner classes I’m used to. The teacher notices me, and she waves.
“You must be Diana, right? Mr. Sedgy came to be right before. I’m your teacher, Mrs. Lause.”
I nod. Mrs. Lause is wearing a mint-colored gown that reaches her knees. Her hazel, wavy hair is let down, and it barely touches her shoulders. She is wearing a sky-blue headband, which matches her eye color, also sky-blue.
I walk into the room, and I see many cabinets, scattered across the walls of the room. Also, I notice there are no desks.
“Um… can I sit?” I ask.
“Of course! I forgot. You can sit anywhere between this line and that wall.” Mrs. Lause gestured to a wall and a faint line on the middle of the room.
I sat down, and the students start one-by-one coming in. When the last one was introduced to Mrs. Lause, he sat down, and Mrs. Lause clapped her hands three times.
“Welcome everyone! I’m Mrs. Lause, your teacher. Why don’t we get started?”

Daily team (honey: racecar, palm, fret):

Mrs. Lause just started with some basic introduction like all those classes I usually take. Cringy, if I have to say. My class had seven students: four girls and three boys, all around my age, around eleven years old. Then she does something different. She goes to the back of the classroom and opens a cabinet. We watch her as she takes out eight wooden sticks from there. Mrs. Lause somehow was able to carry all of those as she closes the cabinet and brings them over to the front. After that, Mrs. Lause puts a stick on my palm, and then does the same for everyone else. She leaves the last one for herself.
I observed the stick. It seemed like it was from a tree, but it was strong. It was rough and it seems like many sticks were wound around each other. The bottom was thicker, and it gets thinner. There was a small, clear, crystal in the shape of a rhombus on the tip. The whole stick was slightly smaller than the size of my lower arm.
“So, everyone. This is your magic wand.” Mrs. Lause explained, showing her wand.
“To power up your wand, focus your power to that wand. It would take some practice, but you’ll get the hang of it. Once you have done it, the little gem on the top would change color.” Mrs. Lause’s gem then turned a majestic purple.
We did as what we were told. I focused on the gem, but it stayed clear. I closed my eyes and tried to focus, but when I re-opened my eyes, it was still clear. I looked around. Already, Kimberly just got hers to be a foggy grey. I sighed.
“If you are struggling, maybe imagine it. You can close your eyes and focus all your energy. Make sure you don’t about other things while you are doing this. And remember that this is your first time. Don’t fret. You aren’t in a race. Don’t try to be super-fast like you are in a racecar.” Mrs. Lause suggested.
I did as I was told to, I closed my eyes and focused my energy. I tried to get rid of the thoughts, but they still come once in a while. I tried to imagine… what? I tried to imagine the energy focusing and I tried to imagine the gem turning non-clear. Then I opened my eyes again, and there it was. My gem turned a majestic indigo. But I look around and everyone was already done. I sighed again. Oh well.
“Now, gently break the gem from the tip and press it on the bottom.” Mrs. Lause instructed. She did it herself, and her wand had a wave of the same majestic purple as her gem before.
We did it as she asked of us, and it was easy, actually. All of our wands glowed the color of our gem for a second, then it turned back to brown, just like Mrs. Lause’s wand did. On the bottom, the gem was half inside the wand and half outside.
“Good job, good job everyone. I’ll need to send you to specialized classes now.” Mrs. Lause declared.

To @ceebee
1. You are kind and supportive to everyone.
2. You help improve our experience on scratch!
3. You make amazing projects!
4. You are an awesome person for either new scratchers or scratchers who have been here for years!
5. You never let anyone down and always encourage everyone!

Mango trees:

Mrs. Lause first sent Jordan, Hunter, and Ninith to a class a couple rooms away. She then sent Kimberly and Grey to a class one room away from this one. After that, she took Sabrina to a class in the center of the hallway. That means I was the last one to be sent to the specialized class.
“Diana, do you know that we have similar magic talents?” Mrs. Lause asked as she led me to a room.
“No…” I replied. We did have similar colors, but 100 percent not the same.
Mrs. Lause smiled then left me to enter the room myself. I looked at the door, then pressed the button.
Inside, there was a huge room with a lot of padding. I wonder why. I entered the room and closed the door behind me with another click.
Then I see him. My dad. Right there in the center of my room. I stared at him. My dad smiles.
“D-dad?” I ask him.
“Yes, Diana?” He asks.
“What are you doing here?”
“What does it seem like I am doing? I am a teacher here.”
I just stare at him blankly.
“Oh-ho-ho, did your mother tell you I died in an accident?” My dad chuckled.
I nod.
“Ah, that was all purposeful. People were getting too close to knowing the secrets of magic, and I had to fake my death to deceive them. Also, do not tell this to your mother. At least not yet.”
“But I am getting your inheritan-”
“Yes, yes. The academy keeps me well. I had a feeling you needed an inheritance later on. But anyways, this isn’t what were supposed to be talking about.” My dad told me. “So… me and you. We have a special type of magic which is really rare. This is a type of magic which can make magic into a powerful form.”
I nodded to understand that I understood. But I still couldn’t focus fully. How is my dad here?

Achievements:
1. Getting first in a competition
2. Doing well in a big performance
3. Playing a perfect performance with many songs
4. Making an art piece that many people enjoy, including me
5. Writing this many words this month like how did I do this

Kitchen:

I quickly search around in my pocket, and I find a rock. No, I found that with my dad. I searched more and I found a small string. I got it from music class which I neglected. Looking in my other pocket, I felt something strange. I took it out, and I found that it was three things, actually. They were three eight-sided glass stars with a bright yellow color. My friend gave them to me as a gift years ago. My dad saw me doing this, and I tried to hide it, but he saw it.
“No need to hide it.” My dad said. “Do you like them?”
I nodded sheepishly.
“Here, give me your wand and one of those.” He said.
I gave them to him. He then pushed the star into the side of the stick, very near the base. The star became imprinted on the wand, like it was painted. Then he gave it back to me.
I put away the other star and then felt the one on my wand. It was the same smoothness that it had been before. It gave me a calm feeling towards magic. I then looked back at him and smiled.
“So. What do I need to know?” I asked.

Sorting room:

“First of all, there is some history you should know.” My dad said. “This type of magic only appeared two years ago, when a young man, slightly younger than you, got this type of magic. His teacher found his magic was different from any others any have seen. They allowed him to try to use his magic, but when he did, it made an explosion. They then told him he cannot do what most of us do. He made something that would help control his powers and presented it to the principal. The principal says that they could do more things like teach, but they can’t be in major combat and anything that would be dangerous if he used his powers fully.”
I just nodded along.
“Could I have your other stars?” My dad asked.
I gave it to him, and he pulled out a little pad. He then took my hand and pushed the star into it. It had a slight stinging, but it was fine. He did the same for the other hand. I took my hands back and touched the stars. They were still smooth like glass. I folded up my hand, but it didn’t hurt me, nor did I feel it.
“That’s your magic controller.” My dad explained.
I looked at my hands a couple more times and looked back at my dad.
Once he knew I was listening, my dad sighed. “Let me tell you a secret. I want people like us to be accepted and that we can be useful. Being fully committed to the academy can help us do that.”
I thought and knew this was him. He liked being equal. He likes acceptance. I just never knew this was something he wanted. I thought about it for a moment, then came back to the present. I nodded and began to be taught again.

Compiling room:

I then realize something critical. What if I am neglected? What if I am not appreciated for what I am? I try to calm myself by telling me that I could change it. But it doesn’t work. What if I can’t change it? What if no one can? I start to worry. What if I can’t control my powers? I want to be someone who does good, but if they don’t let me, then what happens? I want to help. I don’t want to stay backstage and just watch. I can go out there. No, that isn’t guaranteed. What if people don’t like me for having this power? No, my dad and Mrs. Lause have this. But they may be special! What if I am terrible at controlling my powers and it becomes dangerous? Then everyone else with this type would be considered dangerous!
All this chaos is happening inside of my head while my dad prepares for the next segment of the lesson. I try to hide it, but I still squirm, and my expression makes it obvious that I am not okay.
What if the majority agrees that I need to have my power taken out? What if that happens to all of us? No, all of this won’t happen if I am just normal. But what if I am not normal? There is a chance! A small one, but still a chance!
Then my dad looks over at me. “Diana, are you okay?”
“Yes, I am.” I say, trying to regain myself.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I try to get rid of all those thoughts, but they still linger like those flies on a summer day.

Compliments:
To lio (@opheliio)
Thank you for making fun dailies and weeklies! (especially this among us one ) They give me so many ideas and prompts that I use to write many stories!
To birdi (@Bellevue91)
Thank you for hosting SWC! You dedicate so much time helping SWC. From keeping it fun and enjoyable to making sure it is updated, you being the host is awesome!
To arli (@charliesunset)
Thanks for leading poetry! It is so fun with you as our leader. With all the fun activities to do, I am constantly writing. You are also funny and encouraging. Thank you!

Throne room (ghost throne):

Thinking of that, I suddenly thought of an experience I had when I was seven years old.
“Don’t worry Diana. We can do this.” Diana’s mom said, looking back at Diana.
“Are you sure?” Young Diana asked, looking at her mom.
“Yes, yes. We will get out of here.”
Diana and her parents were exploring in the forest when they got lost. They were in the middle of nowhere. They were surrounded by short, leaf-filled trees.
“What if we are going to get lost forever? What if we can’t get back home?” Young Diana started to tear up.
“Diana, honey, it is going to be okay.” Diana’s dad said.
“How about let’s go over there?” Diana’s mom suggested, gesturing to an area with fewer trees. “That might lead to something.”
Diana grudgingly followed them, but they ended up still in the forest.
“Then let’s follow the thin trees ahead of us.” Diana’s mom suggested again.
They followed a less dense patch of trees, but it ended not too far from where they started.
“We are never going to get home!” Young Diana cried.
“Diana, it is going to be okay.” Diana’s mom said.
“You always say that, but we always get lost!” Diana shot back. She then turned away and walked away from them quickly.
After a bit of not doing anything, Diana’s dad ran to catch up with her. Soon, her mom also started coming.
Diana kept on walking in rage. She stopped on top of a hill and sat down, knees against her head. She walked forever and was started to regret it.
“I’ll never get home!” Diana whimpered.
Just then, Diana’s dad caught up with her, breathless.
“Diana, we’ll fi-” He stopped, and he started to smile.
“Diana, come up here.” He brought Diana to his shoulders and pointed into the distance. “What do you see there?”
Diana squinted through her tears, but she could easily see civilization near this hill.
Then, Diana’s mom came and saw the same thing.
“Diana, we are going home!” she exclaimed.

Theater
“Diana, if you are worrying, don’t be. Don’t worry about it.” My dad said.
I took a deep breath. Remembering that experience made me calmer. I am still worried about what can go wrong still, however.
“I got one thing to tell you if you are down about our special ability. We are rare, that means were are special. We have extraordinary abilities if we use them well.”
I look at my dad and slowly nod. I pull out my wand and smile. Having magic already is awesome.
“Having magic talents is special. But having this, one extraordinary ability, cannot be only by luck. It can only be attained by being chosen.”
Just then, a thought popped into my head. I look at my dad, and it doesn’t seem like he is doing anything.

There are talented,
There are special.
But only a rare amount are chosen.
And those who are chosen would change the world.

I look at my dad again. It doesn’t seem like he is doing this.
“Did you do that?” I ask him, just to confirm.
“Do what?” He looked at me, confused.
“Never mind. It’s nothing.” I said.
“Oh, you heard it? Yeah. It’s weird. It just pops up in your head when you think about it.”
I then think about it. Me? Chosen?

Ending:

“We are special.” My dad tells me. “We have to control your power well. We don’t want it to get out of control. That would be bad. But with what I know of you, you would do great things with magic.” My dad tells me.
I smile. Then a thought passed over me and I chuckle.
“This is so weird.” I laugh.
“What?” My dad was confused.
“Just an hour ago, I thought you were, umm, not here.” I said. “And you are here now. It is just, uh, awkward.”
“Oh, yeah. It would be… interesting if I were in your shoes.” My dad chuckled too.
We laughed for a while together.
“So, uh, anything else I should learn today?” I asked my dad.
“I don’t think so. It should be enough for your first day here. Don’t want to overload you with a lot at first.” My dad said.
“Okay! So, um, should I just leave here and return? Or how should I leave?”
“Yeah, why not! Just remember to not tell your mom yet. She won’t be ready. Also, remember to come back tomorrow! It is every weekday at around this time.”
“Bye dad!” I say, happy.
He waves back.
I take my wand and walk out of the room. I stride out the front door, and the still rising sun means that it is the same time since I came. I think about how the time-stop works for everyone but shrug it off. Magic is complicated. It should be at least.
I quietly put the wand in my room without my mom seeing me. I told her I was studying with friends before school and won’t be back until afterwards.
I went to school distracted with the new experience. People frequently asked if I was okay, and I tell them yes, I just didn’t get much sleep. A lie that everyone knew was false but said nothing about it. Hey, it works.
School and the rest of the day went slowly. I keep longing for the next day. For the next experience to come.
Once the new day came, I smiled. The whole morning, I was basically buzzing with excitement. I got ready and told my mom that I’ll be studying with my friends every day, so I don’t have to tell her each time.
I take my wand and tuck it in my shirt. I then hurry towards the academy with my wand with excitement. The building was in front of me once again. But instead of mysterious and suspicious, it seems like a new beginning, a purpose for me in life. Somewhere that I can change things for the better. Somewhere where I can be better. I take a deep breath, not for releasing fear anymore. This time, it is with happiness, with knowing that this would be great. I grasp my wand, feeling the texture of the wood. I then enter the building once again. Once again, with new knowledge. Once again, with excitement.
Once again, with pride.

My weekly's story (without other stuff)

There is a mysterious building in front of me. It is covered in plants, made out of wood, and rotting, it seems completely abandoned. I check the note that was strangely sent to my room. This is the correct address. I look down, then back up. To be your desired greater purpose, Diana, you must be willing. It says. It is sketchy that the sender knows who I am, but it is sketchier that they attach an address. I shouldn’t have done this, but my curious side tells me to come here. I take a deep breath and remove all the fear inside of me. I look at the note for one last time, and then I start enter the building.
Just before I go in, I received a frantic text from my mom. It had a thunderous noise in the quiet structure.
MOM: Diana!!! Come home as quickly as you can. I know you are partying with your friends but you need to come quick!
DIANA: what happened?!
MOM: It is about dad! He um… I’ll explain when you get here!
I exit the building and run back home. Someone happened to my dad. Something bad. I hurriedly get to my house and my mom quickly finds me.
“Diana, d-dad was k-killed in a c-car accident.” My mom stuttered.
I was in shock. “I-I’m s-so sorry.”
There was a moment of pause and silent mourning.
“We talked a-about something a couple of w-weeks ago.” My mom said, still stuttering. “He said that w-when he passed away, he said y-you would inherit his wealth. We started to p-plan it, but we didn’t expect it to be this e-early.”
We mourned and mourned. In a couple weeks, we had a funeral for my dad. In the next week, my mom created a bank account for me for my dad’s inheritance, and I started to earn it.
But then, the same exact note as the one before came into my room. Ugh. What do I do about it?
One early morning, I walk to the same, abandoned-looking building. I had told my mom that I had a invite from a friend, even though I didn’t have it. I went here. I enter it again, hoping to not be distracted again by something. I walk down a long, narrow hall and then I reach a fork. Or if you can even call it a fork – this intersection contains eight paths, going to eight different places, one which goes to the door. There are labels with different letters on the top of each fork, aside from the one leading to the door, which reads ‘exit’, and the one opposite of it, which reads ‘Mr. Sedgy’. I think over the note again. /To be your desired greater purpose./ I try to understand what that means.
I then walk down the path opposite to the one which I came from, the one with ‘Mr. Sedgy’. I have believed in magic, but I know, at least I am pretty sure it is fake. I have pretended to be a warrior, but I know I can’t become it. I see a wooden door-ish structure., but there is no knob. I look around and see a little button on the corner of the floor. I gently push it and it clicks. The door starts to slide open. As it opens, I hear two people talking which I didn’t hear before. When it fully slides open with another click, the two people stop their conversation and look at me. I noticed a handsome man sitting in a chair in front of a curved desk with a fancy robe on was talking to an older woman in a silky white dress who was standing.
“Who are you?” The man asked.
“Umm… I’m Diana Hawle.” I replied
The man thought for a moment then he said, “Diana Hawle? Let me check something really quick.” He spun his chair to a stack of folders and began rummaging through them.
The woman whispered something into his ear, and he replied, “Yes, me too. I just need to confirm.”
I just stood there watching, confused. The man took a piece of paper out of a folder and read it. He whispered something to the woman, and she nodded. The woman closed the door with a button, and with a snap, the woman disappeared from sight. I was surprised. Before I could say anything though, the man stood up.
“Hello Diana Hawle! Sorry for all the confusion. I’m Gregor Sedgy, and this, maybe to your surprise, is the Silverwood Magical Academy. I’m the principal. You can be new student here. We just have one question; do you accept or do you want us to remove you? It is your choice. We value what you want.” The man said.
I think over my options. This is a greater purpose that I believe in. But what would happen if I agreed? I’ll probably have an option to get out if needed afterwards though. “Yes.” I say.
“Great! Let’s just go over some things.” Gregor said.
Gregor went over some things. Things like time outside the academy is frozen until you step out of it, the academy is invisible for people without magical talents (which I have), and other random stuff. He also told me I can just in time for today’s class.
He told me to wait as I watched him leave the office and go down a path. He came back a couple of minutes later, and he told me some ‘good news.’
“So, Diana, I talked with an instructor, and it seems you can come to class today! You are a beginner, and a lot of the other students are also having their first time. Don’t worry, the class is for around your age and the rest of the kids are around your age too. Just go down the hallway that says ‘A’, and your classroom is the one on the very end.”
I nod and thank him. I exit the room and think over what has happened in this past ten minutes. A lot. Life-changing. Awesome.
I follow his instructions and enter the room with hallway A. I press the button in the corner, and I see a huge classroom that could have easily fit the entire building. Guess the classrooms are bigger on the inside than on the outside. And not to mention it isn’t cringy like the usual beginner classes I’m used to. The teacher notices me, and she waves.
“You must be Diana, right? Mr. Sedgy came to be right before. I’m your teacher, Mrs. Lause.”
I nod. Mrs. Lause is wearing a mint-colored gown that reaches her knees. Her hazel, wavy hair is let down, and it barely touches her shoulders. She is wearing a sky-blue headband, which matches her eye color, also sky-blue.
I walk into the room, and I see many cabinets, scattered across the walls of the room. Also, I notice there are no desks.
“Um… can I sit?” I ask.
“Of course! I forgot. You can sit anywhere between this line and that wall.” Mrs. Lause gestured to a wall and a faint line on the middle of the room.
I sat down, and the students start one-by-one coming in. When the last one was introduced to Mrs. Lause, he sat down, and Mrs. Lause clapped her hands three times.
“Welcome everyone! I’m Mrs. Lause, your teacher. Why don’t we get started?”
Mrs. Lause just started with some basic introduction like all those classes I usually take. Cringy, if I have to say. My class had seven students: four girls and three boys, all around my age, around eleven years old. Then she does something different. She goes to the back of the classroom and opens a cabinet. We watch her as she takes out eight wooden sticks from there. Mrs. Lause somehow was able to carry all of those as she closes the cabinet and brings them over to the front. After that, Mrs. Lause puts a stick on my palm, and then does the same for everyone else. She leaves the last one for herself.
I observed the stick. It seemed like it was from a tree, but it was strong. It was rough and it seems like many sticks were wound around each other. The bottom was thicker, and it gets thinner. There was a small, clear, crystal in the shape of a rhombus on the tip. The whole stick was slightly smaller than the size of my lower arm.
“So, everyone. This is your magic wand.” Mrs. Lause explained, showing her wand.
“To power up your wand, focus your power to that wand. It would take some practice, but you’ll get the hang of it. Once you have done it, the little gem on the top would change color.” Mrs. Lause’s gem then turned a majestic purple.
We did as what we were told. I focused on the gem, but it stayed clear. I closed my eyes and tried to focus, but when I re-opened my eyes, it was still clear. I looked around. Already, Kimberly just got hers to be a foggy grey. I sighed.
“If you are struggling, maybe imagine it. You can close your eyes and focus all your energy. Make sure you don’t about other things while you are doing this. And remember that this is your first time. Don’t fret. You aren’t in a race. Don’t try to be super-fast like you are in a racecar.” Mrs. Lause suggested.
I did as I was told to, I closed my eyes and focused my energy. I tried to get rid of the thoughts, but they still come once in a while. I tried to imagine… what? I tried to imagine the energy focusing and I tried to imagine the gem turning non-clear. Then I opened my eyes again, and there it was. My gem turned a majestic indigo. But I look around and everyone was already done. I sighed again. Oh well.
“Now, gently break the gem from the tip and press it on the bottom.” Mrs. Lause instructed. She did it herself, and her wand had a wave of the same majestic purple as her gem before.
We did it as she asked of us, and it was easy, actually. All of our wands glowed the color of our gem for a second, then it turned back to brown, just like Mrs. Lause’s wand did. On the bottom, the gem was half inside the wand and half outside.
“Good job, good job everyone. I’ll need to send you to specialized classes now.” Mrs. Lause declared.
Mrs. Lause first sent Jordan, Hunter, and Ninith to a class a couple rooms away. She then sent Kimberly and Grey to a class one room away from this one. After that, she took Sabrina to a class in the center of the hallway. That means I was the last one to be sent to the specialized class.
“Diana, do you know that we have similar magic talents?” Mrs. Lause asked as she led me to a room.
“No…” I replied. We did have similar colors, but 100 percent not the same.
Mrs. Lause smiled then left me to enter the room myself. I looked at the door, then pressed the button.
Inside, there was a huge room with a lot of padding. I wonder why. I entered the room and closed the door behind me with another click.
Then I see him. My dad. Right there in the center of my room. I stared at him. My dad smiles.
“D-dad?” I ask him.
“Yes, Diana?” He asks.
“What are you doing here?”
“What does it seem like I am doing? I am a teacher here.”
I just stare at him blankly.
“Oh-ho-ho, did your mother tell you I died in an accident?” My dad chuckled.
I nod.
“Ah, that was all purposeful. People were getting too close to knowing the secrets of magic, and I had to fake my death to deceive them. Also, do not tell this to your mother. At least not yet.”
“But I am getting your inheritan-”
“Yes, yes. The academy keeps me well. I had a feeling you needed an inheritance later on. But anyways, this isn’t what were supposed to be talking about.” My dad told me. “So… me and you. We have a special type of magic which is really rare. This is a type of magic which can make magic into a powerful form.”
I nodded to understand that I understood. But I still couldn’t focus fully. How is my dad here?
I quickly search around in my pocket, and I find a rock. No, I found that with my dad. I searched more and I found a small string. I got it from music class which I neglected. Looking in my other pocket, I felt something strange. I took it out, and I found that it was three things, actually. They were three eight-sided glass stars with a bright yellow color. My friend gave them to me as a gift years ago. My dad saw me doing this, and I tried to hide it, but he saw it.
“No need to hide it.” My dad said. “Do you like them?”
I nodded sheepishly.
“Here, give me your wand and one of those.” He said.
I gave them to him. He then pushed the star into the side of the stick, very near the base. The star became imprinted on the wand, like it was painted. Then he gave it back to me.
I put away the other star and then felt the one on my wand. It was the same smoothness that it had been before. It gave me a calm feeling towards magic. I then looked back at him and smiled.
“So. What do I need to know?” I asked.
“First of all, there is some history you should know.” My dad said. “This type of magic only appeared two years ago, when a young man, slightly younger than you, got this type of magic. His teacher found his magic was different from any others any have seen. They allowed him to try to use his magic, but when he did, it made an explosion. They then told him he cannot do what most of us do. He made something that would help control his powers and presented it to the principal. The principal says that they could do more things like teach, but they can’t be in major combat and anything that would be dangerous if he used his powers fully.”
I just nodded along.
“Could I have your other stars?” My dad asked.
I gave it to him, and he pulled out a little pad. He then took my hand and pushed the star into it. It had a slight stinging, but it was fine. He did the same for the other hand. I took my hands back and touched the stars. They were still smooth like glass. I folded up my hand, but it didn’t hurt me, nor did I feel it.
“That’s your magic controller.” My dad explained.
I looked at my hands a couple more times and looked back at my dad.
Once he knew I was listening, my dad sighed. “Let me tell you a secret. I want people like us to be accepted and that we can be useful. Being fully committed to the academy can help us do that.”
I thought and knew this was him. He liked being equal. He likes acceptance. I just never knew this was something he wanted. I thought about it for a moment, then came back to the present. I nodded and began to be taught again.
I then realize something critical. What if I am neglected? What if I am not appreciated for what I am? I try to calm myself by telling me that I could change it. But it doesn’t work. What if I can’t change it? What if no one can? I start to worry. What if I can’t control my powers? I want to be someone who does good, but if they don’t let me, then what happens? I want to help. I don’t want to stay backstage and just watch. I can go out there. No, that isn’t guaranteed. What if people don’t like me for having this power? No, my dad and Mrs. Lause have this. But they may be special! What if I am terrible at controlling my powers and it becomes dangerous? Then everyone else with this type would be considered dangerous!
All this chaos is happening inside of my head while my dad prepares for the next segment of the lesson. I try to hide it, but I still squirm, and my expression makes it obvious that I am not okay.
What if the majority agrees that I need to have my power taken out? What if that happens to all of us? No, all of this won’t happen if I am just normal. But what if I am not normal? There is a chance! A small one, but still a chance!
Then my dad looks over at me. “Diana, are you okay?”
“Yes, I am.” I say, trying to regain myself.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I try to get rid of all those thoughts, but they still linger like those flies on a summer day.
Thinking of that, I suddenly thought of an experience I had when I was seven years old.
“Don’t worry Diana. We can do this.” Diana’s mom said, looking back at Diana.
“Are you sure?” Young Diana asked, looking at her mom.
“Yes, yes. We will get out of here.”
Diana and her parents were exploring in the forest when they got lost. They were in the middle of nowhere. They were surrounded by short, leaf-filled trees.
“What if we are going to get lost forever? What if we can’t get back home?” Young Diana started to tear up.
“Diana, honey, it is going to be okay.” Diana’s dad said.
“How about let’s go over there?” Diana’s mom suggested, gesturing to an area with fewer trees. “That might lead to something.”
Diana grudgingly followed them, but they ended up still in the forest.
“Then let’s follow the thin trees ahead of us.” Diana’s mom suggested again.
They followed a less dense patch of trees, but it ended not too far from where they started.
“We are never going to get home!” Young Diana cried.
“Diana, it is going to be okay.” Diana’s mom said.
“You always say that, but we always get lost!” Diana shot back. She then turned away and walked away from them quickly.
After a bit of not doing anything, Diana’s dad ran to catch up with her. Soon, her mom also started coming.
Diana kept on walking in rage. She stopped on top of a hill and sat down, knees against her head. She walked forever and was started to regret it.
“I’ll never get home!” Diana whimpered.
Just then, Diana’s dad caught up with her, breathless.
“Diana, we’ll fi-” He stopped, and he started to smile.
“Diana, come up here.” He brought Diana to his shoulders and pointed into the distance. “What do you see there?”
Diana squinted through her tears, but she could easily see civilization near this hill.
Then, Diana’s mom came and saw the same thing.
“Diana, we are going home!” she exclaimed.
“Diana, if you are worrying, don’t be. Don’t worry about it.” My dad said.
I took a deep breath. Remembering that experience made me calmer. I am still worried about what can go wrong still, however.
“I got one thing to tell you if you are down about our special ability. We are rare, that means were are special. We have extraordinary abilities if we use them well.”
I look at my dad and slowly nod. I pull out my wand and smile. Having magic already is awesome.
“Having magic talents is special. But having this, one extraordinary ability, cannot be only by luck. It can only be attained by being chosen.”
Just then, a thought popped into my head. I look at my dad, and it doesn’t seem like he is doing anything.

There are talented,
There are special.
But only a rare amount are chosen.
And those who are chosen would change the world.

I look at my dad again. It doesn’t seem like he is doing this.
“Did you do that?” I ask him, just to confirm.
“Do what?” He looked at me, confused.
“Never mind. It’s nothing.” I said.
“Oh, you heard it? Yeah. It’s weird. It just pops up in your head when you think about it.”
I then think about it. Me? Chosen?
“We are special.” My dad tells me. “We have to control your power well. We don’t want it to get out of control. That would be bad. But with what I know of you, you would do great things with magic.” My dad tells me.
I smile. Then a thought passed over me and I chuckle.
“This is so weird.” I laugh.
“What?” My dad was confused.
“Just an hour ago, I thought you were, umm, not here.” I said. “And you are here now. It is just, uh, awkward.”
“Oh, yeah. It would be… interesting if I were in your shoes.” My dad chuckled too.
We laughed for a while together.
“So, uh, anything else I should learn today?” I asked my dad.
“I don’t think so. It should be enough for your first day here. Don’t want to overload you with a lot at first.” My dad said.
“Okay! So, um, should I just leave here and return? Or how should I leave?”
“Yeah, why not! Just remember to not tell your mom yet. She won’t be ready. Also, remember to come back tomorrow! It is every weekday at around this time.”
“Bye dad!” I say, happy.
He waves back.
I take my wand and walk out of the room. I stride out the front door, and the still rising sun means that it is the same time since I came. I think about how the time-stop works for everyone but shrug it off. Magic is complicated. It should be at least.
I quietly put the wand in my room without my mom seeing me. I told her I was studying with friends before school and won’t be back until afterwards.
I went to school distracted with the new experience. People frequently asked if I was okay, and I tell them yes, I just didn’t get much sleep. A lie that everyone knew was false but said nothing about it. Hey, it works.
School and the rest of the day went slowly. I keep longing for the next day. For the next experience to come.
Once the new day came, I smiled. The whole morning, I was basically buzzing with excitement. I got ready and told my mom that I’ll be studying with my friends every day, so I don’t have to tell her each time.
I take my wand and tuck it in my shirt. I then hurry towards the academy with my wand with excitement. The building was in front of me once again. But instead of mysterious and suspicious, it seems like a new beginning, a purpose for me in life. Somewhere that I can change things for the better. Somewhere where I can be better. I take a deep breath, not for releasing fear anymore. This time, it is with happiness, with knowing that this would be great. I grasp my wand, feeling the texture of the wood. I then enter the building once again. Once again, with new knowledge. Once again, with excitement.
Once again, with pride.

Daily yahoo

442 words

Credit to @-JadeFox- for the original setting description

The city of Center used to be a bustling metropolis above the clouds, hidden from all other civilizations. However, climate change soon began to change the city - drastically. With more intense and frequent storms, an abundance of storm clouds formed while the day clouds were blown away by the high winds. Rain became rarer and rarer as it became hotter and hotter, though, and the storm clouds began to drift south instead of continuing to form in the place where they once thrived. After around a hundred years, it dried up completely, the only weather being the incredibly strong winds that still blew through the mountains.
The mountains were where civilization retreated to, hollowing out caves and tunnels into the sides and the tops of the rocky landmarks. The bridges between each mountain town are extremely dangerous with the wind, and there have been many casualties of people trying to cross in the middle of a storm. But although the people’s life wasn’t as carefree as it once was, they still lived, if not thrived. They got water by using tech that converts the water vapour in the air into liquid and drank that, as the conditions were very humid as there used to be a lot of lakes/rivers/springs in the area, which all eventually evaporated in the heat. A couple people sometimes try hopping onto a cloud on the rare occasions one forms, trying to find a better place towards the south, where all the clouds go, but none have ever come back.
A few underground lakes were found, as people tunnelled deeper into the mountains and even further down (one town accidentally found a pit full of lava and panicked, realising their mountain was actually an active volcano). Said volcano exploded a couple years after it was evacuated, demolishing half of the surrounding mountains and making weirdly-shaped craters from debris it hurled at the further-away ones. For a couple of months, clouds of dust and rock from the eruption lingered above the mountain range, but missions to build towns on top of them failed - they were much too ash-y. It did provide welcome shelter from the heat, and liquid water became a lot easier to harvest from the air - except it was, of course, contaminated with volcanic ash; they found this out after a bunch of people finding out they had damaged lungs and wondering what the reason could possibly be.
Soon the clouds dissipated and the place returned to a baking desert-like area, but the towns continued to bury themselves deeper and deeper into the ground, and as far as they’re concerned they’ll keep doing that forever.

Word war with @coolgirl100-
The books suddenly disappeared. There I was standing in the library when, poof. They were all gone, all of them. I had been clutching a book to my chest, but not anymore. There was a moment of tense silence of which was broken by a baby’s screams and the librarians kicked into action. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of green. What could it be? 70 words

MysticScratcher101 wrote:

My weekly's story (without other stuff)

There is a mysterious building in front of me. It is covered in plants, made out of wood, and rotting, it seems completely abandoned. I check the note that was strangely sent to my room. This is the correct address. I look down, then back up. To be your desired greater purpose, Diana, you must be willing. It says. It is sketchy that the sender knows who I am, but it is sketchier that they attach an address. I shouldn’t have done this, but my curious side tells me to come here. I take a deep breath and remove all the fear inside of me. I look at the note for one last time, and then I start enter the building.
Just before I go in, I received a frantic text from my mom. It had a thunderous noise in the quiet structure.
MOM: Diana!!! Come home as quickly as you can. I know you are partying with your friends but you need to come quick!
DIANA: what happened?!
MOM: It is about dad! He um… I’ll explain when you get here!
I exit the building and run back home. Someone happened to my dad. Something bad. I hurriedly get to my house and my mom quickly finds me.
“Diana, d-dad was k-killed in a c-car accident.” My mom stuttered.
I was in shock. “I-I’m s-so sorry.”
There was a moment of pause and silent mourning.
“We talked a-about something a couple of w-weeks ago.” My mom said, still stuttering. “He said that w-when he passed away, he said y-you would inherit his wealth. We started to p-plan it, but we didn’t expect it to be this e-early.”
We mourned and mourned. In a couple weeks, we had a funeral for my dad. In the next week, my mom created a bank account for me for my dad’s inheritance, and I started to earn it.
But then, the same exact note as the one before came into my room. Ugh. What do I do about it?
One early morning, I walk to the same, abandoned-looking building. I had told my mom that I had a invite from a friend, even though I didn’t have it. I went here. I enter it again, hoping to not be distracted again by something. I walk down a long, narrow hall and then I reach a fork. Or if you can even call it a fork – this intersection contains eight paths, going to eight different places, one which goes to the door. There are labels with different letters on the top of each fork, aside from the one leading to the door, which reads ‘exit’, and the one opposite of it, which reads ‘Mr. Sedgy’. I think over the note again. /To be your desired greater purpose./ I try to understand what that means.
I then walk down the path opposite to the one which I came from, the one with ‘Mr. Sedgy’. I have believed in magic, but I know, at least I am pretty sure it is fake. I have pretended to be a warrior, but I know I can’t become it. I see a wooden door-ish structure., but there is no knob. I look around and see a little button on the corner of the floor. I gently push it and it clicks. The door starts to slide open. As it opens, I hear two people talking which I didn’t hear before. When it fully slides open with another click, the two people stop their conversation and look at me. I noticed a handsome man sitting in a chair in front of a curved desk with a fancy robe on was talking to an older woman in a silky white dress who was standing.
“Who are you?” The man asked.
“Umm… I’m Diana Hawle.” I replied
The man thought for a moment then he said, “Diana Hawle? Let me check something really quick.” He spun his chair to a stack of folders and began rummaging through them.
The woman whispered something into his ear, and he replied, “Yes, me too. I just need to confirm.”
I just stood there watching, confused. The man took a piece of paper out of a folder and read it. He whispered something to the woman, and she nodded. The woman closed the door with a button, and with a snap, the woman disappeared from sight. I was surprised. Before I could say anything though, the man stood up.
“Hello Diana Hawle! Sorry for all the confusion. I’m Gregor Sedgy, and this, maybe to your surprise, is the Silverwood Magical Academy. I’m the principal. You can be new student here. We just have one question; do you accept or do you want us to remove you? It is your choice. We value what you want.” The man said.
I think over my options. This is a greater purpose that I believe in. But what would happen if I agreed? I’ll probably have an option to get out if needed afterwards though. “Yes.” I say.
“Great! Let’s just go over some things.” Gregor said.
Gregor went over some things. Things like time outside the academy is frozen until you step out of it, the academy is invisible for people without magical talents (which I have), and other random stuff. He also told me I can just in time for today’s class.
He told me to wait as I watched him leave the office and go down a path. He came back a couple of minutes later, and he told me some ‘good news.’
“So, Diana, I talked with an instructor, and it seems you can come to class today! You are a beginner, and a lot of the other students are also having their first time. Don’t worry, the class is for around your age and the rest of the kids are around your age too. Just go down the hallway that says ‘A’, and your classroom is the one on the very end.”
I nod and thank him. I exit the room and think over what has happened in this past ten minutes. A lot. Life-changing. Awesome.
I follow his instructions and enter the room with hallway A. I press the button in the corner, and I see a huge classroom that could have easily fit the entire building. Guess the classrooms are bigger on the inside than on the outside. And not to mention it isn’t cringy like the usual beginner classes I’m used to. The teacher notices me, and she waves.
“You must be Diana, right? Mr. Sedgy came to be right before. I’m your teacher, Mrs. Lause.”
I nod. Mrs. Lause is wearing a mint-colored gown that reaches her knees. Her hazel, wavy hair is let down, and it barely touches her shoulders. She is wearing a sky-blue headband, which matches her eye color, also sky-blue.
I walk into the room, and I see many cabinets, scattered across the walls of the room. Also, I notice there are no desks.
“Um… can I sit?” I ask.
“Of course! I forgot. You can sit anywhere between this line and that wall.” Mrs. Lause gestured to a wall and a faint line on the middle of the room.
I sat down, and the students start one-by-one coming in. When the last one was introduced to Mrs. Lause, he sat down, and Mrs. Lause clapped her hands three times.
“Welcome everyone! I’m Mrs. Lause, your teacher. Why don’t we get started?”
Mrs. Lause just started with some basic introduction like all those classes I usually take. Cringy, if I have to say. My class had seven students: four girls and three boys, all around my age, around eleven years old. Then she does something different. She goes to the back of the classroom and opens a cabinet. We watch her as she takes out eight wooden sticks from there. Mrs. Lause somehow was able to carry all of those as she closes the cabinet and brings them over to the front. After that, Mrs. Lause puts a stick on my palm, and then does the same for everyone else. She leaves the last one for herself.
I observed the stick. It seemed like it was from a tree, but it was strong. It was rough and it seems like many sticks were wound around each other. The bottom was thicker, and it gets thinner. There was a small, clear, crystal in the shape of a rhombus on the tip. The whole stick was slightly smaller than the size of my lower arm.
“So, everyone. This is your magic wand.” Mrs. Lause explained, showing her wand.
“To power up your wand, focus your power to that wand. It would take some practice, but you’ll get the hang of it. Once you have done it, the little gem on the top would change color.” Mrs. Lause’s gem then turned a majestic purple.
We did as what we were told. I focused on the gem, but it stayed clear. I closed my eyes and tried to focus, but when I re-opened my eyes, it was still clear. I looked around. Already, Kimberly just got hers to be a foggy grey. I sighed.
“If you are struggling, maybe imagine it. You can close your eyes and focus all your energy. Make sure you don’t about other things while you are doing this. And remember that this is your first time. Don’t fret. You aren’t in a race. Don’t try to be super-fast like you are in a racecar.” Mrs. Lause suggested.
I did as I was told to, I closed my eyes and focused my energy. I tried to get rid of the thoughts, but they still come once in a while. I tried to imagine… what? I tried to imagine the energy focusing and I tried to imagine the gem turning non-clear. Then I opened my eyes again, and there it was. My gem turned a majestic indigo. But I look around and everyone was already done. I sighed again. Oh well.
“Now, gently break the gem from the tip and press it on the bottom.” Mrs. Lause instructed. She did it herself, and her wand had a wave of the same majestic purple as her gem before.
We did it as she asked of us, and it was easy, actually. All of our wands glowed the color of our gem for a second, then it turned back to brown, just like Mrs. Lause’s wand did. On the bottom, the gem was half inside the wand and half outside.
“Good job, good job everyone. I’ll need to send you to specialized classes now.” Mrs. Lause declared.
Mrs. Lause first sent Jordan, Hunter, and Ninith to a class a couple rooms away. She then sent Kimberly and Grey to a class one room away from this one. After that, she took Sabrina to a class in the center of the hallway. That means I was the last one to be sent to the specialized class.
“Diana, do you know that we have similar magic talents?” Mrs. Lause asked as she led me to a room.
“No…” I replied. We did have similar colors, but 100 percent not the same.
Mrs. Lause smiled then left me to enter the room myself. I looked at the door, then pressed the button.
Inside, there was a huge room with a lot of padding. I wonder why. I entered the room and closed the door behind me with another click.
Then I see him. My dad. Right there in the center of my room. I stared at him. My dad smiles.
“D-dad?” I ask him.
“Yes, Diana?” He asks.
“What are you doing here?”
“What does it seem like I am doing? I am a teacher here.”
I just stare at him blankly.
“Oh-ho-ho, did your mother tell you I died in an accident?” My dad chuckled.
I nod.
“Ah, that was all purposeful. People were getting too close to knowing the secrets of magic, and I had to fake my death to deceive them. Also, do not tell this to your mother. At least not yet.”
“But I am getting your inheritan-”
“Yes, yes. The academy keeps me well. I had a feeling you needed an inheritance later on. But anyways, this isn’t what were supposed to be talking about.” My dad told me. “So… me and you. We have a special type of magic which is really rare. This is a type of magic which can make magic into a powerful form.”
I nodded to understand that I understood. But I still couldn’t focus fully. How is my dad here?
I quickly search around in my pocket, and I find a rock. No, I found that with my dad. I searched more and I found a small string. I got it from music class which I neglected. Looking in my other pocket, I felt something strange. I took it out, and I found that it was three things, actually. They were three eight-sided glass stars with a bright yellow color. My friend gave them to me as a gift years ago. My dad saw me doing this, and I tried to hide it, but he saw it.
“No need to hide it.” My dad said. “Do you like them?”
I nodded sheepishly.
“Here, give me your wand and one of those.” He said.
I gave them to him. He then pushed the star into the side of the stick, very near the base. The star became imprinted on the wand, like it was painted. Then he gave it back to me.
I put away the other star and then felt the one on my wand. It was the same smoothness that it had been before. It gave me a calm feeling towards magic. I then looked back at him and smiled.
“So. What do I need to know?” I asked.
“First of all, there is some history you should know.” My dad said. “This type of magic only appeared two years ago, when a young man, slightly younger than you, got this type of magic. His teacher found his magic was different from any others any have seen. They allowed him to try to use his magic, but when he did, it made an explosion. They then told him he cannot do what most of us do. He made something that would help control his powers and presented it to the principal. The principal says that they could do more things like teach, but they can’t be in major combat and anything that would be dangerous if he used his powers fully.”
I just nodded along.
“Could I have your other stars?” My dad asked.
I gave it to him, and he pulled out a little pad. He then took my hand and pushed the star into it. It had a slight stinging, but it was fine. He did the same for the other hand. I took my hands back and touched the stars. They were still smooth like glass. I folded up my hand, but it didn’t hurt me, nor did I feel it.
“That’s your magic controller.” My dad explained.
I looked at my hands a couple more times and looked back at my dad.
Once he knew I was listening, my dad sighed. “Let me tell you a secret. I want people like us to be accepted and that we can be useful. Being fully committed to the academy can help us do that.”
I thought and knew this was him. He liked being equal. He likes acceptance. I just never knew this was something he wanted. I thought about it for a moment, then came back to the present. I nodded and began to be taught again.
I then realize something critical. What if I am neglected? What if I am not appreciated for what I am? I try to calm myself by telling me that I could change it. But it doesn’t work. What if I can’t change it? What if no one can? I start to worry. What if I can’t control my powers? I want to be someone who does good, but if they don’t let me, then what happens? I want to help. I don’t want to stay backstage and just watch. I can go out there. No, that isn’t guaranteed. What if people don’t like me for having this power? No, my dad and Mrs. Lause have this. But they may be special! What if I am terrible at controlling my powers and it becomes dangerous? Then everyone else with this type would be considered dangerous!
All this chaos is happening inside of my head while my dad prepares for the next segment of the lesson. I try to hide it, but I still squirm, and my expression makes it obvious that I am not okay.
What if the majority agrees that I need to have my power taken out? What if that happens to all of us? No, all of this won’t happen if I am just normal. But what if I am not normal? There is a chance! A small one, but still a chance!
Then my dad looks over at me. “Diana, are you okay?”
“Yes, I am.” I say, trying to regain myself.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I try to get rid of all those thoughts, but they still linger like those flies on a summer day.
Thinking of that, I suddenly thought of an experience I had when I was seven years old.
“Don’t worry Diana. We can do this.” Diana’s mom said, looking back at Diana.
“Are you sure?” Young Diana asked, looking at her mom.
“Yes, yes. We will get out of here.”
Diana and her parents were exploring in the forest when they got lost. They were in the middle of nowhere. They were surrounded by short, leaf-filled trees.
“What if we are going to get lost forever? What if we can’t get back home?” Young Diana started to tear up.
“Diana, honey, it is going to be okay.” Diana’s dad said.
“How about let’s go over there?” Diana’s mom suggested, gesturing to an area with fewer trees. “That might lead to something.”
Diana grudgingly followed them, but they ended up still in the forest.
“Then let’s follow the thin trees ahead of us.” Diana’s mom suggested again.
They followed a less dense patch of trees, but it ended not too far from where they started.
“We are never going to get home!” Young Diana cried.
“Diana, it is going to be okay.” Diana’s mom said.
“You always say that, but we always get lost!” Diana shot back. She then turned away and walked away from them quickly.
After a bit of not doing anything, Diana’s dad ran to catch up with her. Soon, her mom also started coming.
Diana kept on walking in rage. She stopped on top of a hill and sat down, knees against her head. She walked forever and was started to regret it.
“I’ll never get home!” Diana whimpered.
Just then, Diana’s dad caught up with her, breathless.
“Diana, we’ll fi-” He stopped, and he started to smile.
“Diana, come up here.” He brought Diana to his shoulders and pointed into the distance. “What do you see there?”
Diana squinted through her tears, but she could easily see civilization near this hill.
Then, Diana’s mom came and saw the same thing.
“Diana, we are going home!” she exclaimed.
“Diana, if you are worrying, don’t be. Don’t worry about it.” My dad said.
I took a deep breath. Remembering that experience made me calmer. I am still worried about what can go wrong still, however.
“I got one thing to tell you if you are down about our special ability. We are rare, that means were are special. We have extraordinary abilities if we use them well.”
I look at my dad and slowly nod. I pull out my wand and smile. Having magic already is awesome.
“Having magic talents is special. But having this, one extraordinary ability, cannot be only by luck. It can only be attained by being chosen.”
Just then, a thought popped into my head. I look at my dad, and it doesn’t seem like he is doing anything.

There are talented,
There are special.
But only a rare amount are chosen.
And those who are chosen would change the world.

I look at my dad again. It doesn’t seem like he is doing this.
“Did you do that?” I ask him, just to confirm.
“Do what?” He looked at me, confused.
“Never mind. It’s nothing.” I said.
“Oh, you heard it? Yeah. It’s weird. It just pops up in your head when you think about it.”
I then think about it. Me? Chosen?
“We are special.” My dad tells me. “We have to control your power well. We don’t want it to get out of control. That would be bad. But with what I know of you, you would do great things with magic.” My dad tells me.
I smile. Then a thought passed over me and I chuckle.
“This is so weird.” I laugh.
“What?” My dad was confused.
“Just an hour ago, I thought you were, umm, not here.” I said. “And you are here now. It is just, uh, awkward.”
“Oh, yeah. It would be… interesting if I were in your shoes.” My dad chuckled too.
We laughed for a while together.
“So, uh, anything else I should learn today?” I asked my dad.
“I don’t think so. It should be enough for your first day here. Don’t want to overload you with a lot at first.” My dad said.
“Okay! So, um, should I just leave here and return? Or how should I leave?”
“Yeah, why not! Just remember to not tell your mom yet. She won’t be ready. Also, remember to come back tomorrow! It is every weekday at around this time.”
“Bye dad!” I say, happy.
He waves back.
I take my wand and walk out of the room. I stride out the front door, and the still rising sun means that it is the same time since I came. I think about how the time-stop works for everyone but shrug it off. Magic is complicated. It should be at least.
I quietly put the wand in my room without my mom seeing me. I told her I was studying with friends before school and won’t be back until afterwards.
I went to school distracted with the new experience. People frequently asked if I was okay, and I tell them yes, I just didn’t get much sleep. A lie that everyone knew was false but said nothing about it. Hey, it works.
School and the rest of the day went slowly. I keep longing for the next day. For the next experience to come.
Once the new day came, I smiled. The whole morning, I was basically buzzing with excitement. I got ready and told my mom that I’ll be studying with my friends every day, so I don’t have to tell her each time.
I take my wand and tuck it in my shirt. I then hurry towards the academy with my wand with excitement. The building was in front of me once again. But instead of mysterious and suspicious, it seems like a new beginning, a purpose for me in life. Somewhere that I can change things for the better. Somewhere where I can be better. I take a deep breath, not for releasing fear anymore. This time, it is with happiness, with knowing that this would be great. I grasp my wand, feeling the texture of the wood. I then enter the building once again. Once again, with new knowledge. Once again, with excitement.
Once again, with pride.

This is a really good piece! I really like your writing style, and I enjoyed it a lot I did notice a few grammatical errors, but I'm just really picky, and a perfectionist in general. Maybe you could add some backstory, like what Diana's power is, and how she got it. Also, the part about her dad was a bit unclear. Does Diana's dad have magic as well? And if he does, is it the same as Diana's or something else?

Another thing that I noticed is that the story cut off very quickly. It was like, say we are on a plane, travelling smoothly, and the suddenly we just like, stopped. It seemed a bit surprising to me, and maybe this can be something to think about for your next piece.

Also, I really liked the storyline! But, it was a bit unclear to me what the complication or problem was. It might be clear as day for other fellow scratchers, but for me, it just wasn't really obvious. The story really captivated me, by the way, because I'm interested in magic and that sort of stuff

Keep up the awesome writing! Happy swc <3

- rose xx

Word War 2:111 words

Prompt: “Take a look behind you.”

He told me to take a look behind me. There was no one there except for me and him in this here building, this silent, empty building that had once been a community center for all the people to host indoor festivals, host parties, weddings, and wakes.

Now it was in ruins, nothing was supposed to be here other than me and him, and the cobwebs and the spiders.

I lost my father's journal back there while I sat here to write, My friend came up to me and we led me outside to have lunch. We walked back in, and my father's journal had vanished.

As if into thin air.

Daily 26:300 words

Setting from @Scrax24

One hundred years ago, this place would've been a mix of strange and beautiful. It was wild like a storm and lush like a grove of apple trees. It was full of house-sized mushrooms you could live in. It was full of birds, butterflies, and life.

But now, one hundred years later, humans had discovered it.

the trees had reached up to the heavens further than what the humans built, and they chopped the highest ones, causing the greatest tress to meet their demise. The wildlife, which had breathed life and sound in the forest had scattered, leaving a gloomy atmosphere where they would have filled it. the air had seemed rotten, and the waters had become murky when they were once clear. Space had been cleared for humans to make their settlement.

The people had started to carve rooms and homes out of the house-sized mushrooms and fungi. Farmland had been made when there were once peaceful clearings. remaining animals had been hunted down, and the forest was soon coated in the ashes from the human's fire.

The ashes had sometimes contained small glowing embers within them like a hidden evil within the small, grey dust. The embers had fed on the wilting leaves, and had soon taken over the grove of trees, which had then gone on to feed on the entire forest. A fire had started. the humans scattered away immediately as their houses and crops burst into flame, and now, what's all left, one hundred years later, were the burnt remains of a once sky-scraping forest.

And there, new life, as wild as a storm and as lush as a grove of apple trees started to take form once again. Growing and growing, and we will wait until the sky-scraping forest will be back once again.

༺═─── daily 26 ───═༻

I did not intend for it to turn out in such a vent-ish way, apologies pfft. I ended up just deliberating about the once-forgotten economy instead of describing the setting and ended up just using long words,,

༺═── word count; 327 ──═༻

When change was brought to the desert, it changed in many ways. Only the slightest change in temperature twenty years before the current day led to the animals who lived there to become rarer. The sand dunes were carted away to form building materials, and a man-made oasis was resurrected to let human-kind live in the desert more easily. However, with stone and brick-patterned paths being placed around the desert led to more destruction, and the heat dropped another few degrees, leaving the desert as less-of-a-desert and more of a lump of sand with moderate temperatures. Skyscrapers were constructed to stabilise the growing population of workers being employed to excavate the sand and transport it as their main export. Over time, the sand has become gravelly and less hardy, unable to be compacted into sandstone, which came as a fatal flaw in the economy. Now, the land is an empty shell of what it used to be – no longer the sparsely populated desert that took up space as a natural exhibit of heat, or the worker-inhabited expanse of land that had once been a great source of money for the building economy. It has skyscrapers long deserted, a mildly warm temperature affected by climate change and change itself, and brick-patterned roads that pattern an oasis that is on the verge of drying up, all water deserting the manmade lake that has not been refilled in years. With few people passing through the desert at this point of time, having no interest in tourism nor work, tumbleweeds bounce across the roads and settle in forgotten crannies, shovels long-deserted lay buried in the sand, and the occasional sandstorm is not a rare occurrence. Those who remember the desert remark that it was a pity how it was destroyed and broken through the cruelty of humanity, but nobody really cares. It is just another piece of land used for machinery that didn't end up benefitting society, but rather the opposite.

Daily!

The largest and most technologically advanced city in the world has not risen up quickly. It was kind of an accident, if we're being honest here. The city's history museum has photos of the land taken every five years for the last three hundred. In the very earliest photo there is nothing but an old abandoned tree fort in the middle of a huge forest. It slowly became a village, then a town, and now it's a huge, bustling city. The museum is a very popular destination for both residents and tourists. It's been five hundred years since the invention of the photograph, and now most museums are largely photo galleries, including this one. It's more than seeing an object, it's seeing how an object fits into space. People fit into space too, that's really all a city is. People intertwined like puzzle pieces within a given space. In this day and age, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who knows what it's like to not live in a city, but even people who've lived in huge cities their whole lives are surprised when they arrive here for the first time. Usually the surprises are two things, people and technology. Someone could easily be caught saying “there's people everywhere!” as they discover that every single street is almost always incredibly crowded and that most buildings house many hundreds of inhabitants. Now someone could just as easily say “there's technology everywhere!” as three levels of vehicles navigate the roads, vehicles on the ground, vehicles in the air, floating fifteen or so feet above the ground, and then vehicles in the air floating thirty to forty feet above the ground. Nearly all of the buildings are tall enough to reach well, well, beyond the three levels, and they all have doors on the outside at each level, not just on the ground. There is even talk of adding a fourth vehicle level. The buildings and vehicles are all incredibly efficient, and technological surprises, hidden by the crowds, wait for tourists around every corner and turn.