Today I woke up to the sound smell of smoke and my parents yelling. This is a good thing I swear! Well other than me having to wake up way earlier than usual.

“It’s still dark outside. Five more minutes.” I moaned, not opening my eyes.

“YOUR ROOM IS ON FIRE BETHANY! GET OUT BED!” My dad screamed back. This is where I would say something like ‘I shot out of bed, looking around me in terror as the flames consumed my room,’ but that would be a lie. Instead I groggily got up and walked out of my room. I went downstairs, popped some waffles in the toaster and sat there waiting. Only when my parents came downstairs, ash on their face and hair looking extremely disappointed in me did I actually realize what happened.

“I got my powers!” I yelled, jumping around the room in excitement, until my feet didn’t touch the ground. I was floating. I had two powers!

“You're going to be sleeping in the air tonight, because half your room is now ashes.” My dad said blandly. Let me explain the whole, nonchalantly lighting things on fire and levitation business. My best friend’s family and mine are from really prestigious magical families, for some reason. Maybe they were elves or something I can’t really remember to be honest. Basically humans don’t have magic but since we aren’t fully humans we get powers at a certain age, kind of like puberty but it happens later and it isn’t as annoying. Now that I think about it I need to tell Sierra!

I catch my waffles as they pop out of the toaster and bolt, or should I say float out the door. Well maybe I shouldn’t say float, I tried but i just ended up spinning in place and I got so dizzy that I stopped and stumbled to her house.

Sierra loves the outdoors and nature so I figured that she’d probably be in her backyard, if not in the forest but I checked her house first. I half jumped half floated over her fence and there she was humming to herself and watering her garden.

“Hey Sierra I guess what! I–”

“You got your powers. I know I saw the smoke.” She interrupted nonchalantly. I know I just explained how it’s completely normal but the way she said it made it seem like it’s no big deal. She didn’t even look at me.

“Well I can levitate too… see?” I said as my feet left the ground, I did a few flips involuntarily before landing back on the ground less than gracefully.

“Good for you Beth,” She said and that was it. Sierra went back to humming, leaving me there just standing.

“Why aren’t you happy for me? I–I planned an entire party when you got yours! You haven’t even looked at me,” I said annoyance welling up inside of me. She stared at me deadpanned.

“Life just really hates me right now doesn’t it. I lose my powers and less than a week later you get yours.” She said envy seeping into her tone.

That was it? She’s acting like this because she lost her powers! I know losing her powers was hard on her. I probably cried more than her last night. She could at least congratulate me or something!

“This isn’t all about you Sierra! Someone cursed you, I know! You could at least try to act like you're happy for me!” I yell. She glares back at me, her jaw clenched and her hands shaking.

“I’ll celebrate you when you use your powers and get mine back! Oh wait, you can’t even control your fire without burning your house down! Maybe you should just float away.” She hissed and walked into her house. I stood there, my hands balled into fists, trembling. Big fat tears ran down my face. Before I knew it I was running, over the fence and into the forest. That’s where Sierra went before she lost her powers. That’s where I was going to go to get them back. Sure maybe it was partly to see her happy again, but I would be lying if it wasn’t to prove I’m not an imcompetent leach.

I didn’t know where I was going, I wasn’t there. The only thing I saw that day was Sierra running out of the forest crying saying someone cursed her. We consoled her the best we could and both of our moms went to the forest searching for the person who did it. They never found the man and Sierra lost hope. I thought showing her my power would make her happy. We could plan a party, I could, I don’t know, float her around. Make a bonfire. But she just yelled at me the second I got there.

“Looking for me?” Someone said as I stopped to catch my breath. I looked around and saw a boy, maybe a few years older than me.

“You’re the one aren’t you! You took Sierra’s magic, give it back now!” I said, getting ready to attack.

“Woah, woah, woah! Hold your horses, is this how you greet everyone you meet? I never took her powers, mind you. I just sealed them, humans shouldn’t have witchcraft, it’s evil and it’s my job to purge it. It’s not like I’m going to kill you guys, I don’t see the big deal.” He said casually.

“What are you talking about? Magic isn’t evil, it’s a gift, you idiot! When I beat you with it you have to give it back!”

“Is that a challenge? Because saying you’ll assault someone who has only done so much as talk to you isn’t helping your case. No matter, but when I beat you, you’ll let me seal your powers without struggle, deal?” He held out his hand, but I didn’t take it, instead I threw my hand out and tried to conjure fire, emphasis on tried. Nothing happened, the boy stifled a laugh and I dashed towards me. I floated into the air, dodging him but when I was in the air I couldn’t control myself. A wire shot out of his sleeve and wrapped around my ankle. I got tugged down hard.

“That was easier than I thought. Did you just start using your witchcraft today?” he taunted, walking towards me, as I struggled to untangle the wire.

“Get away from ME!” I screamed, the wire burst into flames. I shook it off before it burned my skin but the boy wasn’t so lucky. The flames devoured the wire that caught his sleeve. He yelled as his eyes widened in fear. He ripped off his sleeve and as it fell to the ground the grass caught on fire, surrounding him.

“T–Tell me how to unseal my friend's magic and I’ll put out the flame!” I yelled out fast. I didn’t know how to put out the fire though and it crept closer to the both of us as smoke filled our vision.

“It’s nightshade, something you never get. I try to do this peacefully but I will purge the world of evil, even if that means sacrificing my life!” He said, grabbing me and pulling us both into the fire.

It burned. My lungs were on fire. my vision was black. I had just gotten my powers and I was going to die. Sierra was right, I couldn’t control it. I am imcopetant.

“Bethany!” Was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.

I woke up on someone's bed. My parents were pacing back and forth next to me and Sierra was standing over me crying. “What happened to the forest? What happened to that boy?” I asked weakly and everyone looked at me.

“Bethany! You're okay!” Sierra yelled, hugging me tightly. I began to cough violently and she let me go, my day handed me a cup of water.

My mom looked at me, a smile on her face“I’m so glad you're okay. Sierra went looking for you after you both fought. When she saw you fighting the boy she ran to us to help you. We came right when you passed out. I didn’t see a boy but I was able to put out the fire and save you.”

My dad looked at me sternly though his face was tear stricken. “You shouldn’t be going out on your own. You almost died!”

Then Sierra looked at him guiltily, “It was my fault. I told Sierra to do it! I didn’t mean it, I was just angry.” She then looked at me, clasping her hands together as tears ran down her face, “I shouldn't have made you do that, I'm sorry.”

I smiled at her, resisting the urge to cough, “Don’t worry I was the one who chose it was my fault. I just didn’t want you to think of me as a leach.”

“Why would you think that? You're my best friend, I’ve never even thought that in my life!”

“That’s good, but guess what? You need to think highly of me now! I can get your powers back. The boy didn’t take them, he sealed them. You just have to use nightshade!” Her eyes widened and she jumped on me, yelling how thankful she was and we both were smiling messes.

“Oh an even cooler thing, I probably have the battle scars now!” I yelled happily. Then everyone looked at me awkwardly, “what?”

“We healed your wounds before they scarred, your skin is smoother than ever!” my mom laughed. A giant pout formed on my face, and looked away from them.

“So I caught on fire for nothing!”

setting: an abandoned log cabin by a fiercely rushing river @charliesunset
beginning: You are standing in front of an abandoned cottage @Emma201112y
conflict: your best friend finds you, but something seems off @Cynthialz
Climax - The main character is facing the person that cursed their friend @
SqueakyBird520
Ending: Your character is thought to be dead, but actually survives and doesn’t tell anyone. @
scratch_warrior_cat

7/29 Daily (470 words)
The cottage is right in front of me, the rotting logs barely holding up the structure. I accidentally stumbled up here, and I don’t know how to get back.
“Hello?” I shouted. I didn’t expect anyone to answer – I’m in the middle of nowhere. Also, the rushing river easily blocks it out.
I then hear a familiar voice in the background. “Jordan, Jordan!”
At first, I thought it was in my head. But then it gets louder. I looked back and saw my close friend, Parker.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” I ask.
“I’m just roaming around.” They say.
Roaming around? Parker can’t just ‘roam around’ and get here, but I shrug it off.
“Do you want to explore that house?” Parker asks me.
Explore the house? I raise an eyebrow. This is not Parker.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Me, okay? Why wouldn’t I be?”
I just stared at him.
“Shall we go exploring that?” They ask again.
Before I can react, Parker rushes to the house, slowly opens the door, and urges me to come in. I grudgingly do, and slowly enter the house.
I slowly walk around the moldy floor when I hear a laugh.
“What have you got me?” A woman’s voice asked.
I look at Parker, then at the source of the voice, behind a wall. A shadow of a figure walks towards this way, the figure shown slightly through the cracks and holes.
Then I see the woman. She was beautiful, yes. I look at Parker.
Parker stepped out of the way between the two of us. I stare at the woman, not moving. Parker was smiling. This was creepy.
“Why hello there.” The woman smiles. She then snaps her fingers. My eyes go black. I cannot feel anything.
When I can feel myself again, I open my eyes and find myself in a pitch-black room. I cannot see anything.
“Hello?” I shout. I feel around. I am scrunched up in a small, metal room. I hear footsteps. Confident footsteps. I struggle around in the box, trying to get out.
“Push to your left.” A voice says. I didn’t do anything.
“Push to your left. Your only way to survive.” It says again.
I sigh, then I do what it said. I pushed to the left of me, strongly. The wall pops off, and I see the other side. It was the same house. A door appeared in front of me, and I got out. I quietly and swiftly got out of the scary house. I run away. Far. I don’t know where I am going. How much time has passed? Everyone may have thought I was dead. And if I come back, I would be crowded with questions. I still run. I cannot stay here. It is better if I go back.

The Ghost

Main Cabin Daily, July 29th: Today is national lasagna day in the US - a food that’s quite special to one of us on the daily team. Lasagna is a food with many layers. Today, we will be combining layers of a story. Each person will comment one vague beginning, conflict, setting, climax and ending of a story, and then mix and match from other peoples’ parts to create their own unique story of at least 400 words to earn 500 points. You must do both of these tasks to earn points. You can earn an extra 200 points if you provide proof. (Bonus: Give @Polarbear_17 some lasagna!! No points.)

683 words

Part 1: My Story Elements (83 words)

Setting: The dangerous part of the city, at night, just at the time when supernatural things usually start going on.

Beginning: Your character is running from something. They are scared.

Conflict: The character must deal with the new knowledge that everything that they thought they knew was a lie.

Climax: Your character must choose between going against their beliefs to save the world, or watch it be destroyed.

Ending: Your character is thought to be dead, but actually survives and doesn’t tell anyone.

Part 2: The Ghost (600 words)

Setting (@violent-measures): a house on the edge of town, on the precipice of a cliff

Beginning (@SSingh2008): your character wakes up inside a dark empty room

Conflict (@Emma201112y): The main character loses everything.

Climax (@wishingdeer): your average battle between good and evil -except it’s between the mc and their best friend.

End (@squeakybird520): The friend dies but their ghost is still there

I open my eyes, and the first thing I notice is that it is dark. Rubbing my aching head, I rise into a seated position, glancing at my surroundings. The room is empty except for the mat that I’m lying on, and there are no windows or decorations on the walls.

I look up to see a door. Not sure what else to do, I get up and open it. My steps are shaky, but I make it to the door without falling over. I place my hand on the doorknob and turn it. The knob lets out a horrendous screech, but it rotates, letting me pull the door open.

The glaring light from outside is a sharp contrast, and I cover my eyes while they adjust. When the light becomes bearable, I step outside and scan my surroundings.

I had been inside an old, wooden house. A frown crossed my face. How did I get here? Where was I? I then noticed that the ground dropped off not far away from where I was standing. As I neared the cliff, I realized with a shock that I recognized the city below.

And my heart sank with horror.

The buildings that I had grown up between were scorched and broken, toppled over like a child’s abandoned toys. I scanned the tortured landscape for my home, and saw that it had met the same fate. Its beautiful lawn was torn and scarred, and my house was flattened as if a giant had stepped on it.

“What happened here?” I whispered.

“I did.” A voice, familiar and foreign at the same time, came from behind me.

I turned, heart shattering as my mind slowly processed what had happened. My friend stood there, her cloak billowing in the wind that came over the cliff.

“You did it,” my words cracked with a heaving sob. “You destroyed everything.”

Her eyes glimmered, whether from regret or triumph, I’ll never know. “I didn’t destroy you.”

I sank to the ground as the memories washed over me like a tidal wave. How had I not seen it? Why had I been so foolish as to ignore what my friend had become?

“You did it,” I repeated in despair.

She must have known what I was thinking, somehow, because her eyes narrowed. “You couldn’t stop me this time. You won’t stop me from doing it again.”

I bowed my head, grieving. For everything I had lost. My family. My home. My friend.

“I can’t let that happen.” The words were shockingly steady despite the chaos of emotions that warred inside me.

“Goodbye, friend,” she replied, turning away.

I closed my eyes. I knew what I had to do. And I knew that it would shatter me.

But I stretched out my hands anyway, tracing the wind. I could feel the way it swept and flowed. And I closed my fists in a grip around my friend.

I could feel her gasp, the breath wisping out of her lungs. And everything crumbled inside me as the wind swept her over the edge, and I felt her scream in every cell in my body.

I collapsed on the floor, the feelings breaking inside me. I had succeeded, saved billions from the destruction she would have caused. But that didn’t change the fact that everyone I cared about was now gone.

The wind whispered behind me, and I looked up to see a faded figure kneel before me. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured, the sunlight striking her translucent form.

It was a long time before either of us stood once more.

7/29 - Today is national lasagna day in the US - a food that’s quite special to one of us on the daily team. Lasagna is a food with many layers. Today, we will be combining layers of a story. Each person will comment one vague beginning, conflict, setting, climax and ending of a story, and then mix and match from other peoples’ parts to create their own unique story of at least 400 words to earn 500 points. You must do both of these tasks to earn points. You can earn an extra 200 points if you provide proof. (Bonus: Give @Polarbear_17 some lasagna!! No points.)

setting: your mom's secret basement - zai
Climax: Your character breaks down because they're finally burnt out - zura
Beginning: Character is in interrogation for something they didn’t do - jojo
Conflict: The main character loses everything - emma?
Ending: Character manages to get back to the exact place they were at the beginning of the story, but with something clutched in their hand - sandy

Well this should be interesting

Character - you
Setting - your mom’s secret basement
You mom - is a dictator/queen/empress/something along those line (tyranny)
Your mom thinks you stole her mangoes
You are in a throne room
She throws you, a crown heir, into the dungeons and strips you of your title, inheritance, etc, etc
You’re not sure what to do
Start screaming and tired of trying to be the perfect child
Break out + actually steal mangoes
Arrive in the throne room to rub it in mom’s face

“What. Have. You. Done,” your mom screams, looking down at you from atop her enormous throne of pure 24 carat gold. Her voice is amplified by the tiny microphones hidden throughout her throne and broadcasted by the hundred of speakers throughout the room. Her voice echoes around the circular room, an ever tolling bell of her disapproval ringing in your eardrums. You constantly try to please, yet it never seems to be enough. And you have absolutely no idea what she’s talking about.

Instead of answering, you simply look down, unsure of what to do.

“Do. Not. Ignore. Me,” your mom snaps. You look up, wondering what else you were supposed to do. You don’t want to lie, and you have no idea what the correct answer to her question is, so you see no better option but to remain silent. Still unsatisfied, your mom begins screaming once more. “My mangoes!” she screeches. So that’s what this is about. No wonder she’s so furious. “Where are theyyyy?”

You close your eyes briefly, knowing that your answer is definitely not going to be good enough. Actually, no matter what you say, she’s not going to be satisfied. You can try though, for what it’s worth. “I don’t know,” you whisper.

“THE AUDACITY,” she screams, volume soaring higher than ever before. “YOU STOLE MY MANGOES.” Pausing for a moment, she appears to consider what she’s about to do before continuing. “FOR YOUR CRIMES,” she says, pausing once more for the effect. “YOU SHALL SUFFER.”

Does she really think it was you?

Motioning to one of her guards, she whispers something to him, out of reach of the microphones. The look of shock on his face is apparent from all the way across the room, but he eventually nods.

“I HEREBY STRIPE YOU, MY FORMER HEIR, OF ALL TITLES, INHERITANCE, ET CETRA. YOU ARE NO LONGER HEIR TO THE THRONE OF MANGO-LAND, AND I HEREBY REVOKE ALL OF YOUR RIGHTS TO MY PERSONAL ROYAL FORTUNE. TAKE (HIM/HER/THEM) TO THE DUNGEON!”

A grate promptly opens beneath you, spitting you out into the abyss that is the dungeon. You land on a fluffy stack of pillows before rolling on to a cold, hard floor.

All your life, you’ve tried so hard to please your mother. As heir to the throne of Mango-Land, you’ve done everything an heir is expected to, and so much more. You’ve done everything you possibly could to please your mother, but IT NEVER SEEMS TO BE ENOUGH. You scream the last few words, muscles relaxing as they echo off the walls. You’re tired of this facade. Why did you waste so much time trying to be everything she could ever want? It was never enough. Nothing could ever be enough for her. Enough trying. From now on, you are done trying to be perfect.

Starting right now.

Grinning, you reach into your pocket, where the master key your mother forgot to reclaim still lies.

Reaching for the dungeon door, you promptly unlock yourself before racing up the stairs.

It was time to do exactly what she accused you of.

Steal her mangoes.

You fly up the stairs, making it to your mom’s personal fridge in record time. Reaching for her mangoes, you dump most of them in your bag, taking the last one in your hand.

Seconds later, you arrive in the throne room, this time with a mango, her mango in hand.

Rebellion is sweet.

Hook, Line, and Sinker

Main Cabin Daily, July 30th: I’m on the fence about this daily. Just kidding - but imagine if I were actually sitting on a fence, pondering this daily. Today’s daily is about idioms taken literally! Choose a common idiom and write at least 300 words about a story in which it is taken literally for 400 points. You can earn an extra 100 points for sharing proof.

330 words

I frowned at him, shaking my head. “Seriously? It’s that easy to scam you?”

He looked away, exhaling with a huff of annoyance. “It seemed like a good deal,” he grumbled.

There was a long silence as I spluttered, unable to believe what he had just done. Finally, I grabbed the package and threw it at his chest. It landed with a thump. “Return it. Now,” I growled.

He whimpered slightly, clutching the cylindrical box. “But… they’re already closed.”

“Then head over there first thing in the morning. There’s no way we’re keeping that piece of junk.”

The next morning, I went with him to make sure that he didn’t get ripped off again. The store was just around the corner. If I had known that he was going to buy from that place, I would have gone shopping for supplies myself.

Just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean it’s a bargain. Too bad he was always forgetting that.

Unfortunately, when we showed up, a red sign hung in the window. WE’RE CLOSED. An employee was just stepping out the door when we arrived.

I sighed, realizing that we wouldn’t be able to return it today. “When do you open up again?” I asked the employee.

She shrugged. “I dunno, the place might be closed down for good. Business has been terrible lately, and the boss has been talking about just shutting it down.”

Well, no wonder, with the kinds of products that they were selling.

“But wait,” my brother interjected. “How will we return the fishing rod, then?”

“I guess you’re just going to have to keep it,” the employee chirped, flashing a toothy grin. I knew in that instant that she was the one who had sold it.

“You scammed him. That fishing rod couldn’t catch a cold!” I growled, glaring daggers.

“Hey, he wanted it, I gave it to him,” she grinned, not repentant in the least. “You could say that he bought it…”

“Hook, line, and sinker!”

Day #30
Break a leg
500 words

Nervous sweat beaded the back of Raine’s neck. She wiped her hands on her skirt, breathing in and out, matching her breaths to the music. She watched as the dancers filled out of the wings.
The music rose to a crescendo. She closed her eyes, listening for her cue.
“Break a leg!” one of the stagehands called.
Huh? What a thing to say before a performance. But the music started before she could protest.
Raine felt a weak smile tug at the corners of her mouth.
Showtime.

Nick liked his job.
Sure, middle school dance stagehand wasn’t something you could win a Nobel Prize for, but it was fun, and it was interesting.
He smiled as he watched Raine Perez dance from the shadows of the wings. He had wished her luck earlier. Maybe one day, when she went on Broadway, he’d get to brag about it.
“I always knew Raine was something else. We worked closely together in school, and I never knew a dancer more dedicated and focused. I’m not surprised she’s come this far,”
The nature of Nick’s job meant that that was all the celebrity he would ever get. His job was to be behind the scenes.
Nick sighed, and lumbered off backstage.
He had more work to do.

For a second, all Raine could see were the rows and rows of seats, half shrouded in darkness, so she couldn’t make out any individual faces. Then the gleam of the spotlight surrounded her, and she felt the familiar rush of adrenaline and excitement. Her muscles moved of their own accord and Raine began to dance.
Her movements started out slowly, smoothly. Her arms arching, light on her legs. Then she sped up, harsher spins, throwing the world into dizziness.
Her feet flashed, she focused on perfection. Flawless.
She spun into a leap, then jumped into the air. She let her hand drop to the ground and arched over it, a backflip in slow motion.
Dancing was supposed to look gentle, and easy but the truth was it was hard, Raine’s muscles screamed in protest as she pushed her body to the extreme.
It was hard and that was what she loved about it.
She pulled herself inward, coiling up, bracing.
Then she leapt, up high and far and landing on her toes.
But something went terribly wrong. Raine’s foot tilted sideways, as all the weight fell under it and she could feel all of the pressure from the impact, pressing, slamming-
Crack!
Raine’s world exploded.

“Nick!” Samantha the set manager called, “Get onstage now!”
Well that wasn’t the kind of order Nick had expected. Stagehands weren’t supposed to be on stage after all. But Samantha was the boss.
He stumbled back to the wings. Something was horribly, horribly wrong.
Raine wasn’t dancing anymore. She was curled on the ground, clutching her ankle, face white with pain.
“It’s broken.” someone announced.
Oh. Shoot.
“Me and my big mouth,” Nick muttered, before dashing on stage to help her.

Main Cabin Daily 7/30
317 words

Leave no stone unturned

“Welcome, one and all, to Rockton’s annual stone-turning competition!” booms a voice from the speakers, met by cheers from the crowd. It comes from a short man in a booth above the archway. “Meet our contestants.”
Seven people emerge from the archway to the roar of townspeople hungry for entertainment. One of them quakes; one of them looks out at the audience with a smirk; one has their brow furrowed and their lips set in a frown. And yet all of them have exactly the same expression the moment they see the task at hand.
They knew it would be like this— maybe they went so far as to expect it, because it happens every year. But it must be quite daunting indeed to see it from the sand, just inches away, instead of the scratched-up silver bleachers surrounding them.
Stones. Hundreds. Maybe thousands. They don’t know; the author is bad at estimation. But it’s a whole lot. Each laid down flat and perfectly flanked by others that look almost identical if not for, say, a slight variation in saturation or a nick in the side.
“The rules!” exclaims the announcer gleefully. He can’t see the contestants— he is directly above them, after all— but he knows well enough the shock, maybe horror, poorly disguised by a calm confidence that resides upon their faces. He remembers it from the moment that he, too, wore that mask. “Number one.”
The crowd knows these words just as well as the man stating them, and a million voices ring out. “Each stone must be placed face down exactly where it is picked up.”
“Number two!”
“The first to find the prize is the winner. All others lose.”
“Number three!” He throws up his arms into the air as if he’s the conductor of some grand symphony.
”Leave no stone unturned,” yells the crowd.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it’s showtime!”

Daily
7/30/2022
400 words

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Natalia, happy birthday to you!” Natalia’s classmates cheered. She beamed, blowing out the candles one by one. As she blew out the final candle, she cut into the cake with a plastic knife. (Clearly, no one trusted fourth graders with actual knives.)

Carter watched from the sidelines as the teacher took over and started cutting slices to give people. Everyone in the class was clamoring for a slice, but the teacher yelled at them to “Go to your seats!” or he wouldn’t give them any cake at all. The cake looked delicious, but Carter was very slow at eating anything, really. He didn’t want to hold up the class.

So when the teacher called his name to get up to the front of the class, he responsibly said, “I’ll pass!” The teacher nodded, but the class gave a collective gasp. Carter tried to stop himself from groaning.

“Awww, Carter, why not? My mom made it, you know. It’s not store bought if that’s what you’re worried about.” Natalia said, standing up.
The teacher interjected, saying, “Carter doesn’t have to say if he would prefer not to.”

Carter answered anyway. It was embarrassing, but he would rather defend himself than have people make up absurd theories about him and why he wouldn’t eat cake. “I’ve never had cake before, and I’m a very slow eater, so it might be hard for me to finish.”

“You can try it for the first time today then!” Natalia said. Her smile lit up her entire face. “Oh, don’t worry, it’ll be a piece of cake.” she said triumphantly. Carter caught a few people in the class laughing.

“Yeah. It will.” Carter said, slightly confused as to why Natalia stated the obvious. “I’m sorry, but I’d rather not. Thanks for trying, though.”

Natalia’s smile disappeared (she looked slightly confused herself) and she sat back down. “Suit yourself.”

Okay, so there may have been another reason why Carter didn’t want the cake. He may have been the slightest bit dishonest. He had, in fact, had cake before, namely cake made by Natalia’s mother. The first time he had it, in first grade, also for Natalia’s birthday, he had gotten horribly sick. He had never eaten cake again. To be polite, he didn’t warn his classmates, but in the end, he was doing himself a favor.

July 30th Daily
(379 Words)

Idiom: “You can say that again.”

—-

“Drug him,” I whisper so that I don't blow our cover.

“What did you say?” Hayes asks me a little too loudly. After glancing around to make sure nobody heard anything I turn to hayes.

“Are you trying to get us caught?” I hiss.

“What? It's not like there's anyone around to hear us.”

“We can't take any chances.”

“Whatever,” he says to me while rolling his eyes. He injects the drugs into our soon-to-be prisoner. “He shouldn't wake up for a while now.”

“You are sure it's not gonna kill him right?”

“Yeah! Or at least I'm pretty sure…”

“Hayes!”

“Ninety percent sure!”

“Ninety!?”

“Listen you have nothing to worry about.

”You better not screw this up. Now get him out of here!“

”Yes ma'am.“

”Don't call me that. It sounds way too formal for my liking.“

”Yes ma'am.“

”I hate you.“

”I know you do,“ Hayes says smirking. He then proceeds to lift the drugged body up and half carries half drags him out of the room.

”I can't with him,“ I say to myself. I glance around the room before following Hayes out of the room.

—-

”We brought him to you, as promised.“

”Good, good.“

”It's time for you to fulfill your part of the deal. We brought you him as promised and now you have to pay us.“

”Oh, I don't have to do anything.“

”What!? You can't just back out of the deal like that! We could have been arrested, or even worse killed!“

”Don't get cocky with me cadet.“ He snarls. ”You'll get your money after you get out of my sight.“

”Yes sir.“

”Now go!“

”Hey! Don't talk to her like that!“ Hayes threatens.

”Young man do you want to be killed because you are asking for it.“ I grab Hayes's arm and drag him towards the door. A guard silently hands us a briefcase. Once we've excited the building I let go of Hayes's arm and open the briefcase.

”Ha! We're rich!“ Hayes says throwing his arms around me. ”We'll never go hungry again!“

”You can say that again.“

”Ha! We're rich. We'll never go hungry again!“

”Dude are you serious.“

”Yeah it's a lot of money, we're set for life!" I shake my head. I couldn't with him sometimes.

Weekly #4: Total 3617 words

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

Begin a story, any way you like, but keep it close to 100 words. (122 words)
Lisa climbed out of her dark green Jeep, after parking in the park's parking area – it was early in the morning, around 5:00. The world was still dark and the moon was sparkling, stars dotting the sky around it. Her boots crunched through the dead leaves and twigs as she made her way towards the Yellowstone National Park cabin (specifically for employees), opened the door, and waved hello to everyone inside.
“Morning, Lisa,” Diego, the receptionist, said to her as she checked in for the day. He was in his early 20s and had a Quiff cut.
“Hey Dee,” Lisa replied brightly. She and Diego were semi-acquaintances. They spoke every morning at the reception desk, but didn't really interact besides that.

You notice a character feeling a bit lonely, despite being the same as other people. Visibly upset, you go and comfort them. The character sighs and tells you, “All I've ever wanted to do is belong!” You sigh, understanding the sentiment. In this room, you will write 200 words, where a character reveals one of their main motives is to have a sense of belonging. (205 words)
“Hey, by the way,” Diego added, do you wanna hang out today? Maybe I can join one of your tours or something? I found someone to take over receptioning for the afternoon and I don't have any other plans.“
”Oh, sure!“ Lisa agreed, grinning. ”Why now, though?“
”Oh, I dunno…“ Diego sighed. ”I guess I was just feeling a little… lonely recently? Kinda wanted to feel like I belonged. I mean, being the receptionist and everything, I don't actually get to partake in the jobs that the tour guides do, so…“
”Oh! Of course you can come,“ Lisa nodded vigorously. ”It'll be fun! I'm scheduled to take a group of 15 visitors whitewater rafting around 3:00 anyway, so you can come!“
Diego grinned at her. ”Alright. I'd actually been wanting to ask someone for a couple months now, but never got the guts to – they'd probably turn me down.“
”Hey, what were you trying to do, ask them on a date?“ Lisa teased.
”This is life as a social introvert,“ Diego responded. ”I can do small talk, but actually talking to people is hard.“
Lisa nodded. Then she grabbed his hand. ”Maybe this trip will help you come out of your shell. A lot."

In the afternoon, at 2:35, DIEGO goes to look for LISA and finds her in the lounge, eating snacks and preparing for her next tour – whitewater rafting.
DIEGO: Hi!
LISA: Hey! Uh, you should probably change your clothes.
DIEGO looks at his t-shirt and shorts, then glances at LISA'S full body bathing suit.
DIEGO: Oh. Right.
Embarrassed, DIEGO gives LISA a quick nod and exits the room. LISA grins to herself as she packs things in her backpack, like sunscreen, a water bottle, and extra clothes.

With at least 200 words, describe the moment your character is revealed to be a ‘chosen one’ of some sort, whether the person to fight a villain, to go on a quest, or to do an everyday task. (206 words)
“Hey, everyone!” Lisa waved at her small tour group, including Diego. “To ensure that we all have a fun and safe experience today, everyone is going to need to wear one of these lifejackets. I'm glad to see that everyone has a bathing suit on.”
Most of the people nodded back at her, smiling. One kid told his mother, “I'm scared, mom.”
“Shush,” she snapped back at him.
“Hey, don't worry,” Lisa interrupted, bending down so she could look at the boy eye-to-eye. “This will be fun! I wouldn't take you anywhere that could be dangerous.” She gave him a very big smile.
The boy looked back at her, eyes sparkling. His mother muttered something to herself. Lisa stook back up. “Alright, everyone ready?” There were a few murmurs of agreement, and plenty of “yes” and “yep”s.
Lisa took the lead and Diego caught up to her. “Uhh, just saying, it was nice what you did back there. I saw the look on the boy's mom's face.”
“Yeah,” Lisa agreed. “Parents these days, you know? They don't give their kids the right amount of support they did.”
“You'd be a great mom,” Diego told her, then realized what he said. Lisa just grinned at him.

Sabotage: Wrote a list of 10 awesome things about a person

Prompt from opposite cabin in rankings: “the world fractured around you” (468 words)
Once everyone was aboard the raft, with Lisa in the front, their adventure began. The raft swayed and bounced through the rushing river, speed increasing with each moment. Some people were shouting and some people were laughing and some people were silent. Diego was gripping Lisa's hand so tightly it had turned white. Lisa shouted as water splashed into her face.
Then she realized something had gone wrong; the raft was tilting, a couple of the tourists had fallen into the water, screaming. Lisa immediately pulled out her walkie-talkie, telling everyone back at the base that there was an emergency. She had been trained for these kinds of things multiple times before actually being allowed to work as a guide, but she hadn't expected an accident to actually happen – they were very rare.
The water splashed over her face and Lisa toppled over into the water. Luckily, her walkie-talkie was waterproof and she was able to get the message across. She pulled multiple ropes out of a kit, while choking on water and trying to stay afloat. Desperately she tried to tie the rope to one end of the raft while anchoring it to land.
The boy she had talked to earlier was frantically waving his arms around in the water, but it seemed everyone else was either on land or holding onto the raft for dear life. Lisa was about to lunge into the waves to grab the boy, but someone else beat her to it. Diego! Lisa watched for a couple moments, frozen. He wasn't trained for these kinds of things – he was risking his own life.
I have to ensure the safety of the other fourteen tourists, Lisa reminded herself, finally securing the end of the rope to a tree on the river bank. She was completely soaked, and the water was up to her chin – her eyes were stinging as she told everyone to form a human chain and get onto land.
After all of her tourists were safe, Lisa began to scan the water for Diego or the boy, but they must have traveled farther down the river. Her heart beating like she had just run a marathon, Lisa began sprinting along the bank of the river, shouting out to them. “DIEGO! DIEGO!”
A hand surfaced, followed by the head of the boy – Lisa tossed a lifebuoy connected with a rope into the water, and the hand grasped it tightly. Then Lisa began to haul them up. Most of the tourists came to help her, pulling with all their might against the river water.
Diego pulled himself out of the water, breathing very deeply. The boy was in the crook of his left arm, gasping as well and blinking water out of his eyes. Finally, with one final tug, they were dragged ashore.

Sabotage: Told @ceebee 5 reasons why I appreciate her

For this activity, write 300 words about your character having a sudden flashback of a previous event. (435 words)
Looking at Diego and the boy, and all her tourists, Lisa suddenly remembered something that had happened years ago, when she was just a young twelve year old – she had been having a lot of fun playing in the pool with her four best friends.
“Hey, Li, dare you to swim into the deep deep deep end.” Brooklyn said with a grin, pointing at the 9-foot end of the pool. “Wanna toss a ring down there and see if you can catch it?”
“Fun,” Zara agreed, rubbing her hands together. “What do you say?”
“Ha! Bring it on,” Lisa smirked. “I can handle anything.”
“Alright, Lily, you got the rings, so you can throw them,” Brooklyn announced.
“On it,” Delilah agreed, selecting a purple ring with red stripes from the pile of pool toys. She gave it a hearty shake and threw it into the 9 foot side of the pool with a splash. Lisa watched as it slowly sank, leaving bubbles in its wake.
“Go, Li, go!” cheered Evelyn, and her other friends all joined in.
Lisa took a deep breath and dove down into the pool, squinting through the hazy water. She could make out the blurry shape of the ring, and kicked the water to go deeper, but she had underestimated how far away it really was. Lisa kicked harder, but the water was pulling her back up. “Ugh! Can't go back up without anything,” she thought, her mind set on retrieving the ring in one go, even though her body was very intent on doing otherwise. Her lungs were aching and her head was beginning to ache as well because of the pressure. Lisa stretched out her arm and her fingertips brushed the bottom of the floor, but she'd been underwater for too long – maybe around 40 seconds. She managed to kick herself back up, gasping, and choking, and she held the pool wall tightly, closing her eyes and coughing.
“Hey, Li, you okay?” Evelyn asked, swimming over to meet her.
“Yeah, are you alright?” Brooklyn added, right behind her.
“I-I'm fine,” Lisa choked. “Just a bit dizzy, but it's nothing, really.” She didn't tell them how she really felt, like she would throw up and she never wanted to go back down there again. Her lungs had felt like they were about to burst but also shrink at the same time, and she was on the verge of having a very bad headache. She wiped water off her eyes (NOT tears, she told herself) and handed the ring to the person in front of her, who happened to be Delilah.

Sabotage: I thanked @Caesious and my friends @-JadeFox- and @LilCutePusheen

For 250 words, your character feels a sudden burst of nostalgia and this mood is carried through the rest of the story. (264 words)
Even though that event had been extremely terrifying for her, and had sparked a small fear of big bodies of water (that she had eventually learned to conquer), Lisa still felt very nostalgic – she hadn't seen her friends in ages. They were close when they were young, all five of them meeting in the second grade, but once they got to high school, they all made new friends and hung out with other groups from time to time. And then they had all gone to college: Delilah and Brooklyn had both gone to the University of Maryland, Zara had gone to Boston University, Evelyn had been accepted into Stanford, and she herself had gone to the University of Irvine.
Then came jobs. As kids, they had planned that they would become actors together, or doctors together, and live as next door neighbors, seeing each other every day. Of course childhood dreams didn't last. Delilah had gone on to become a doctor, Brooklyn a lawyer, Zara a psychologist, Evelyn an engineer, and she herself worked as a park ranger at Yellowstone. Of course, they were all still best friends, but standing there in her wet clothing with wet hair and wet skin, Lisa couldn't help but smile. Maybe someday they would hang out again, just like they had when they were young.
“Excuse me,” a middle aged woman said. “Are you just going to stand around there smiling into the water? When is help arriving?” She was eyeing Lisa up and down as if she was… dangerous. As if this was what she had intended.


Sabotage: Write about five achievements you're the most proud of.

You must write for 8 minutes, where your main character's short-term memories are lost after an onset of amnesia. (284 words)
“Oh! I'm so sorry, I was… uh…” Lisa's mind suddenly went blank. She began to feel even more worried as the woman's gaze bored into hers. “I…”
“You what? Did you suddenly just forget all your training or something? The guides these days are so unreliable! You're faking it!”
Lisa shook her head. Darnit, why did I suddenly just space out? Lisa thought. What am I supposed to do anyway?
“Everyone, the tour guide's lost her mind.” the woman announced loudly, pointing a finger at Lisa. “Let's just take them back to the cabins ourselves.”
“N-no!” Lisa managed to cry. “I-”
“Hey, watch what you're saying!” Diego was still shivering from the cold, but he had managed to pull himself up. “Lisa… she has amnesia. She sometimes blanks out and forgets part of her memory when she's in a stressful situation. I can help.”
“Yeah, well, you're just one of us,” a man says, holding the angry woman's hand, he must be her husband.
“Actually, I'm the receptionist here. I know a bit about these situations,” Diego informed him, controlling the urge to roll his eyes.
The man didn't say anything. Diego told everyone to stay put, preferably in a place with sunshine. As much as it scared him to be public speaking in front of more than two people, he would do it for Lisa. He went over and squeezed her hand and bent down to look at her. “Lisa, remember me?”
“Uhh, yeah, Diego,” Lisa muttered. She pressed two fingers to her temple. “I suddenly forgot what to do in an emergency. I think… I called someone, though. With this.” She pulled out her walkie-talkie.
Diego put a hand on her shoulder.

Sabotage: I listened to my Alec Benjamin playlist :)

You must write for 5 minutes, where a flock of birds appear and have some significance in the setting. (163 words)
Lisa's memories suddenly came flooding back – she looked around. “Hey, glad to see you got everyone under control.” Then she suddenly gave Diego a big hug. They were both dripping wet, it didn't even matter. Diego was surprised for a couple seconds, not knowing what to do; then he hugged her back, his face a bit hot.
Lisa blinked. What was that behind Diego? “Hey, look,” she said, breaking the hug, and motioning for everyone else to look. “Be quiet – there's a dusky grouse. Those are extremely rare!”
Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at the elegant bird. Suddenly a couple others came walking out of the bushes.
“There's four!” she heard someone hiss. Another person wiped their hands on their pants and took out their phone to snap a picture.
Well, at least these calmed down the crowd, Lisa thought. Glad these grouses arrived right now, or else the tourists might have begun to panic in another couple minutes. Who knows?

Write 300 words incorporating a magical element, such as levitation and specific magic powers. (307 words)
Suddenly, the birds began to fly. Or no, they began to levitate. A couple of the tourists eyes opened wide in wonder, pointing and whispering. “Is this normal-?” a man asked.
“Oh, yes!” Lisa smiled at him, hoping her sudden amnesia issue was forgotten. “We have a lot of levitating birds living around here. It seems supernatural, but it's actually not. Yellowstone is home to plenty of magic. Just look around you, you'll see it everywhere.”
“She's doing that boring nature is magic talk again,” whispered the angry woman. Her husband whispered back something Lisa couldn't hear. Lisa pretended that she hadn't heard either of them.
“Oh, and by the way,” Lisa added, “If you are close enough to a magical animal, you may even be able to experience some of the magic yourself!” and with those words, she herself rose off the ground by about half a foot. She “walked” around, levitating, and waved hello to everyone there. Diego watched in awe. Then he too began to levitate.
Even though he worked at the park every day, he had never actually been inside it that often. Just a couple times as a kid with his family, and once with his buddies just a couple months before he'd gotten the job there. He closed his eyes and imagined levitating. He swore he felt his right foot jump a few inches off the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he was still standing with both feet on the ground.
Lisa grinned at him and pulled his hand, dragging him into the air with her. The tourists, as wet as they were, were beginning to dry off, and enjoy the effects of levitation themselves. Then the grouses flew away and everyone fell back onto the ground, some laughing and some cursing about how short lived their entertainment was.

Birdi's Booth :> (576 words)
Suddenly, a bunch of sound came through the forest – a group of rescuers were coming to save them.
“This isn't as bad as I expected it would be, everyone is fine?” one of the men asked Lisa, and she nodded. He nodded back at her respectfully. “You did a great job keeping everyone under control.”
Lisa smiled. “Well, you can thank Diego. I blanked out for a minute and he's the actual one that stopped the chaos.”
The man shook hands with Diego. “You too, sir.”
Diego nodded at him. “Um, thank you.”
The rescue team then began to board the shivering people onto the truck and supplied them with warm towels that they could wrap around themselves. Even though they had full body suits on (like the ones surfers wear), the water was still freezing and it had splashed all over their faces and their hair was slicked to their backs.
The angry woman and her husband were complaining about how the towels had a stain on them. Lisa chose to ignore them, though secretly thought to herself, I've never met a real life Karen before. Guess I have now.
She and Diego boarded the truck together, huddled in their towels. Luckily, even as tour guide, Lisa didn't have to do anything else except apologize to the people and tell them that next time this would not happen and they should definitely come back again soon. Lisa rolled her eyes internally, but did as she was told.
“I'm so sorry this had to happen on our adventure,” she told them. Most people nodded at her in forgiveness, but a couple snorted quite rudely. “I can assure you this will never happen again if you come back to Yellowstone and decide to give whitewater rafting another try, and I would be honored to be your guide again.” She finished with a fake but real looking smile and then sat back down.
“Yeesh. I can't believe they make you apologize for these accidents,” Diego whispered.
Lisa shrugged. “I mean, it is kind of my fault as the tour guide. I guess they can all feel extremely lucky that nothing happened to them, though. They are a big cold, but no one died and no one blacked out. I've read about much worse accidents happening in places other than Yellowstone. Bigger rivers, stronger waters, you know.”
Diego nodded. Then suddenly he grinned at her. “Well, today was certainly an adventure. I had fun. Wanna hang out again sometime soon?”
“Yeah, sure!” Lisa nodded. “I wouldn't call today ‘fun’, though. More like ‘scary’. But interesting, I guess.”
“Pfft. I thought you were the big risk taker guide,” Diego teased.
Lisa nodded, though her mind was on something else. Diego was a great friend, but she still wanted to hang out with her friends, the girls that had supported her since she was seven years old. How would the trip have been different if they had been here? But no, that would be rude to Diego, though she didn't want to replace him with her BFFs. “So, what do you want to do next time?”
“I don't know, maybe something safer, like mountain climbing,” Diego joked.
“Ha. Bet you anything someone would fall.”
“Okay… then how about a dip in the springs?”
“Water again?”
“A hike? God, you are hard to please.”
“That better have been sarcasm,” Lisa told him. “And I bet you anything we'd run into a bear.”

Ending (500 words)
Eventually, Lisa and Diego did decide on going on a hike, because it was the safest activity. And they didn't run into a bear. Diego decided that he'd like to quit his job as a receptionist and become a tour guide instead, but he hadn't considered one thing – that he would have to be an apprentice for about one to two years. He ended up being apprenticed to a woman in her thirties who was named Davina. She was nice, but they didn't really have a lot in common. She kept telling him in a very heavy accent that he was there to learn, not to have fun, and that one day the things she was telling him could save his life or the life of one of the visitors.
Lisa also arranged for a meetup with her four best friends, Brooklyn, Zara, Delilah, and Evelyn during Thanksgiving Break. Their conversation (over text) went something like this:

Lisa: Hey, everyone, it's been a long time! Do you think you'd like to maybe meet up sometime during Thanksgiving Break?
Zara: OMG yes that would be amazing !! I can't wait, it's been ages
Delilah: Eee I'm so excited
Evelyn: Yeah, me too! Where we meeting at?
Brooklyn: Heyyyy guys we haven't texted in a while and I miss you all so much Becky's been keeping me so busy, why did I even decide to have a kid. Anyways, like Eve said, where are we going to have this hang out date?
Lisa: Maybe the mall? There's one near me that's really nice, not a lot of people there
Delilah: Sounds good!
Zara: Yea !

Diego asked if he could tag along and Lisa had to refuse. It was an “all girls date”, as she called it. Their relationship had grown a little closer over the few months that they toured together. Lisa was kind of oblivious to the fact that Diego had developed a tiny crush on her. She saw him as a very good friend whom she could have a lively conversation with.

After seeing each other for the first time in person in about a year, the five best friends had an extremely loud screaming fit and then a jumping group hug.
“Girl, you've grown a lot,” Brooklyn commented. “5'7''? Impressive.” She herself was only around 5'4'', with medium toned skin and brown hair in a ponytail.
“Ha, I'm still taller,” Zara joked. She had dark skin and even darker long hair.
“I'm still the shortest, apparently,” Evelyn groaned, at 5'3''. She had fair skin and had gotten her black hair cut into a lob.
“Why are we talking about our heights after we haven't seen each other in a year?” Delilah commented. She had a pale complexion and curly blonde hair.
“Easy for you to say! You aren't the shortest, Lily.” Evelyn looked her up and down. “How tall are you? 5'6''?”
“5'6.37,” corrected Delilah, grinning.
“Brooo, seriously?” Zara asked.
Lisa laughed. “I'm just glad we're all back together.”

Idiom taken literally - “going down in flames”

549 words

“Elveryn?”
“What?” He snaps back at me, his cold eyes piercing.
“Is this a good decision? I mean, is it going to work?” I try to phrase it in a way that won’t offend him.
Of course, he gets offended anyway.
“Are you questioning my authority, Dusk?”
“Of course not.” I sigh. “But you’re not only my commander, you’re my brother. I want to make sure you’re safe.”
“I’m fine! I can look after myself!” He spits, turning his head back to the tree we’re climbing. With a pang, I think of my best friend Sycamore, even though this tree is nothing like their namesake. They begged to come with us. Elveryn…
It doesn’t matter what he did. I can’t think of it, I can’t allow myself to become weak, I can’t show any sign of treachery, not in his presence.
Since when did my brother turn into such a stranger?
I push the thought out of my mind; I have to concentrate. The siege is tonight - and if we don’t succeed with my brother’s stupid idea of an ambush, everyone and everything I’ve ever loved will be destroyed. Buried under the ash of gunfire. Swept from the history books and lost from memory. Such is the way with war.
We’ve reached the summit of our tree, the point where sturdy branches dwindle into spindly fingers sprawling across the canopy of leaves. It would be a beautiful sight, if it were not dripping with darkness and tension.
I finger my gun. It’s small, easily concealed. But inside is bullets full of poison that could kill three men with one dose.
Elveryn wouldn’t hesitate to fire it. Me, however- I am weaker than he is. Call it empathy, morality, whatever you want. I am not strong like my brother and that is why I am not powerful in this world.
Thump-thump thump-thump.
I jerk my head up. I hear them; they’re coming. All thoughts flee my head. All I can afford to think of now is the coming battle.
I ready my gun. “Elveryn?”
“What is it?” He hissed, craning his head down between the branches to try and catch a glimpse of the approaching forces. “I don’t have all day, sister.”
“I-”
“I’ve already told you. Spare no lives, show no mercy.” He continues looking for the enemies.
“It’s not that-”
He growls in frustration, firing a bullet into the undergrowth beneath us. It hits a branch and bounces onto the ground.
Thump-thump thump-thump.
“Where are they?”
I stand, pulling myself above the cover of leaves.
“Dusk, get down!” My brother yells. I pay no attention to him. It was his fault, all of it his fault. Look what his stupid plan did to us. Everything we’ve worked for gone down in flames.
“Duskwhatthehellareyoudoing-” He stands up beside me, his cold fingers gripping my arm.
He goes silent.
From here we can see, see the line of thumping feet avoid our outpost entirely. Going around the forest entirely.
He raises his eyes.
There is our city. That we fought so hard to protect. And now because of this plan, it has fallen.
I can almost smell the smoke from here.
I can certainly see the red, red tongues of fire licking the sky.
As it goes down in flames.

last weekly for hi fi!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Paths taken: dining hall table 5
Boring rooms: theater
Throne room: ghost shrine
Bull. board: leader board
Basement: data station
Swc room: judge room
Host rooms: kitchen
Daily team: robin
Workshop: fantasy subgenres
Rooftop: mango trees

Sabotage results:
Catch success
Water success
Line success
Bugs success
Gas failed
Lights success
Counting failed
Passwords success
Sort success

7/9 successes (good ending)
(in my defense my mouse sucks sometimes)

(this is loosely inspired by pre-muslim arabic and persian cultures. Mostly persian. it’s also my own fantasy world so don’t come after me if this isn’t accurate)

“Do you remember how to catch a jinn?” my father asked me, hazel eyes locked intently on mine. “Because if you make one mistake-”
“They’ll corrupt my soul and I’ll be dragged into the House of Lies, I know baba,” I sighed. I was getting pretty tired of his constant worrying. I hadn’t even joined up with the hunters yet. “But I have to do this. It’s the law.”
“I just never thought my youngest daughter would be forced to fight the jinn,” he said sadly.
“I’ll be fine baba. Children are supposed to be the only ones who can kill the jinn.” I dipped my paintbrush into some ink and began painting protective symbols on my arms. “See? I’m doing it just like you taught me. I’ll be back before you know it and all the jinn will be gone.”
My father had tears in his eyes and suddenly he took my face in his hands and kissed the top of my head. “Peace be with you and may you and your fellow hunters be kept safe, Khina.”
I smiled sadly, tears welling up in my eyes too. “Peace be with you, and may you be kept safe too father.” For a moment he just held me like I was still a little girl again. But all too soon that moment had to come to an end. I grabbed my pack of food and provisions for travel (I would get the rest of the equipment needed at the palace) . I wanted to linger just a little longer, but I forced myself to walk out the door and climb onto my horse Shamil.
“Alright, boy, to the palace I told him.” I held on tight as the world swirled around me in a kaleidoscope of colors, as he raced through the air faster than any normal horse could. And soon I stood in front of the palace gates with about a thousand other youth. From what I could see the youngest was ten and the oldest was sixteen, and they were all practicing the exorcisms for jinn that we’d all learned from the magi before coming here.
i had to read for ten minutes and i chose to read some articles on the mythologies my story is loosely inspired by because hey they’re interesting and some swc dailies and weeklies]


I dismounted and led Shamil toward the stable. A tall boy with sharp, dark blue eyes looked at me and Shamil. At first glance he struck me as someone who didn’t know how to smile. But he surprised me and his face broke into a wide grin. In my defense I was never great at reading people. “You have a divine horse!? That’s awesome! I hope I’m in the same hunting party as you.”
I laughed a little surprised. “Shamil is pretty great, aren’t you boy?” I asked, petting his neck. “Though I think my exorcism skills are an equally good reason to want to hunt with me. My uncle is a magus and he says I’m a natural.”
The boy laughed. “My name is Farrokh, son of Kayvan.”
“I’m Khina, daughter of Cyrus.” I opted against adding that I was adopted and had been found by one of Cyrus’s real children, abandoned in the garbage. That was a sore subject. I gently scratched the side of Shamil’s head and Farrokh peered at my arm. He laughed. “It looks like you have a second skin made of protective glyphs-” he stopped suddenly and looked up at me wide eyed and jaw agape. “Did you know you have a birthmark in the shape of the moon?”
“Yeah… I was kind of born with it…” I said, giving him a weird look. Why was he acting so obsessive about my birthmark? Was he going to make fun of it like everyone in my village?
He just stared at me, blinking and I waved my hand in his face. “Hello?”
“Oh, sorry, sorry. I just. Well, in my village way up in the mountains, our magi said that a girl marked with the moon would be the one to kill the king of the jinn.”
I laughed and shook my head. “I’m good, but not that good. You must have confused me with someone else.”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
I called over a stableboy and he took Shamil away from me. “He will be well fed, ma’am,” the boy promised, bowing low.
“Y-yeah,” I said, a little uneasy. What if Farrokh was right? And if this was common knowledge like Farrokh seemed to think it was, then why was I never told that I might be… well a chosen one?




Farrokh and I went back to join the others. I made him promise not to say anything about my birthmark and made sure that my sleeve covered it now. Farrokh introduced me to his older brother Bijan who was strikingly beautiful like a sword? Ha! See what I did there? He was also very quiet but he was good at listening while Farrokh told him how they had to hunt with me. I shot him a sharp look warning him not to say anything about that chosen one stuff. “I mean… well she has a divine horse. So that’s got to count for something, right? I want adventure out of this and she seems like our best chance.”
My cheeks reddened a little at all his sudden interest. “Well, I mean either way hunting jinn is going to be an adventure.”
We talked for a while, then we were called into the palace and a servant led us past beautifully tiled halls filled with tapestries and potted plants. I was at the end of the line, so when one of the tapestries caught my eye and I stood there transfixed, no one saw me to tell me to get out of my head and follow the other hunters.
Not only was the tapestry beautiful in a terrifying way, but there was something in it tugging at my memory. The story the tapestry displayed was a well known one, The Thousand Star Warrior and the Banishment of the Jinn. But the tapestry was all wrong. The warrior who I knew was supposed to be Dariush the Compassionate was fighting with a sword, but he hated swords and he always fought with a bow and arrows. I could hear his gentle laughter and his voice. “You see my love, these arrows are like my pet birds. They fly through the air and make their nests in the bodies of our enemies. I tell you it is my arrows and not my brothers and sisters’ swords that will be the tipping point in this war. Now I just have to go k*ll them.” Then he k*ssed me and leaped down from the tree we’d been sitting in.
I was tossed back into reality and I just stood there for a moment, confused. Was I going crazy? The Banishment of the Jinn had happened a thousand years ago and I’d never heard anyone ever say something like that. Okay, well sort of like that but still. Dariush the Compassionate had definitely not fought against the other Star Warriors, and to say anything to suggest he had was blasphemy. Also, I’d never k*ssed anyone. But I don’t know… something about that felt so real. These flowers I was surrounded by right now… they’d been there too. And there was another flower that I remembered making a poison with for Dariush to dip his arrows into. Clearly these tapestries were doing something to my mind. I realized just then that I was alone. Luckily I could just catch a glimpse of Bijan’s green clothes. I ran to catch up with the group.


(random note to self: farrokh’s armor os decorated with a manticore, for khima i want something that represents either hidden poison or music or maybe just a rose with thorns, bijan i think will have a gazelle idk)

We went into the throne room, which had to be the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, but a memory tugged at me, trying to show me a palace that was even more beautiful. At least, it felt like a memory, but this was definitely somewhere I’d never been. I’d probably just seen it in pictures. Either way, I wasn’t here to focus on beauty. I was here to hunt jinn.
Me and the other youth knelt in front of the emperor who reclined on a throne, being fanned by servants. His empire was close to being overrun by jinn, and he just seemed entirely disinterested in anything! An advisor sat to his left on a simple throne. scribbling on a scroll. She looked up quickly when we were announced. “The Hunters! Wonderful-”
“Silence,” the emperor drawled. “I will greet them. I am Emperor Kaspar Jahan Mirza Shahin, I am the sun that rises and brings day to the empire. I am… blah blah blah, I never cared for those silly introductions. You all know who I am, and frankly all that matters to me is that you are young and have been trained in jinn hunting. We can’t get the stars this time, so you brats will have to do.” He rolled his eyes and I heard him mutter. “They’re going to fail. It’s better if we all stop pretending to have hope.”
“Your majesty,” the advisor said in a hesitant voice.
“You’re all dismissed. Take them to the imperial magi. They can handle everything from here,” the emperor said.
The servant led us out of the room, and through a dark tunnel lit by flickering oil lamps. The tunnel took us to a large room with a huge glass dome for observing the skies. The walls and floor were covered in charts and little notes.
“Okay, but like the emperor was really underwhelming,” Farrokh said, leaning close to me so he wouldn’t be heard by the others.
I nodded, wondering if anyone else believed we were destined to fail. Last time the freaking stars had helped them banish the jinn. We were just a bunch of kids. “Hopefully the magi will be able to give more answers than he could.”
“Hopefully indeed, my child,” said a voice, masculine and ancient, but also strong. I jumped and realized one of the magi was standing right next to me. His skin was dark and covered in tattoos, he wore long billowing robes that I swear shifted like the night sky, tied with a simple sash. His hair, beard and mustache were all pure white and very long and his brown eyes held centuries of pain and joy. This man was not a simple magus like my uncle was, he was one of the Imperial Magi, the favored scholars of the stars.
Farrokh and I, along with the other kids near us tried to bow to him, but he stopped us. “There is no need for that.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted several other men and women dressed similarly to the magus near us, appearing randomly in the dome, causing people to stumble back.”Whioa! What the heck?” “Dude this is awesome!”
The magi stepped into the center of the room. “Peace children,” the man who had appeared next to me and Farrokh said, raising his hand. “Be calm so that we might explain everything.”
Reluctantly we all closed our mouths but we were still burning with questions.
“Now, you brave children have all completed training with your local magi in jinn hunting but just knowing the stuff in theory is not enough. You will need armor and weapons. My brethren and I have consulted the stars and they have gifted us with armor and weapons that will suit you.”
We began to whisper excitedly amongst ourselves. “What do you think we’ll get?” Farrokh asked.
“I have to get a spear,” a girl nearby said.
“I just hope they have cool powers,” a boy who was probably her little brother said.
“They will have powers, but perhaps not in the way you expect,” said one of the magi. “Well, I suppose we shouldn’t waste anymore time. Bring forth the weapons!”
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t shimmering light to appear for a second and then disappear leaving weapons floating in the air, but that’s what we got. We stood there transfixed, jaws agape. Then armor and weapons moved toward us. The armor put itself on us, and the weapons appeared in our hands.
Farrokh’s armor was designed to look like a manticore and he was armed with a bow and arrows.
Bijan’s was designed to look like a gazelle and he was also armed with a bow and arrows.
I looked down at mine. It looked like some sort of bird and after a moment I was able to figure out that it was a shrike. My weapon was a scimitar with a shrike design on the hilt.
The boy who had made the comment about powers, was the first one to ask the question. “What’s with the fancy designs?” His armor looked like a lion and his sister next to him looked like a horse.
“We have found that your souls are very close to these animals. And remember, this armor is to protect your soul as well as your body. This will serve as a reminder of who you are.”
“How am I a mosquito!!?” an angry ten year old shouted.
“Actually that’s perfect for you,” her friend teased.
“Can we just hunt the jinn already?” I asked. I wasn’t sure what to think of my armor being a shrike, so I just wasn’t thinking about it. We weren’t here to worry about that. But I couldn’t help but wonder why Farrokh had a manticore. Most of our stories showed them as evil, what did that say about his soul?


The magi assured everyone that they had hidden strengths that would surprise them. Then they gave us a blessing and divided us into groups and sent us off to different places. I was with Farrokh, Bijan, a fifteen-year-old girl named Dalileh, a twelve-year-old girl named Azadeh, and Azadeh’s twin brother Gauzar. We were sent to my home village to set up our base. I was glad to be there to protect to my village, but a few people in my group were complaining. They wanted to be somewhere where there actually were jinn, not just to prevent the jinn from coming. I wanted to ask the magi about my birthmark, but I never found the courage to ask. It was probably just some insane story Farrokh had made up.
(if I ever continue this in the future. I’ll add more about their journey)
My companions all had regular horses, so as much as Shamil and I were itching to run and get back home, we had to go at a regular horse pace, but still very much at a full gallop. Citizen’s in the capital waving to us sped by as we galloped down the streets. I led the way since we were going to my village and I constantly had to shout for people to move out of the way. The journey to my village took only two hours. After a while though, the horses began to tire and we slowed our pace some, letting them stop to drink. We had just under half an hour left before we reached my village. We just had a bunch of flat farming villages to go through.
“So you’ve never seen a jinn in your village? Or even near it?” Farrokh asked.
I shook my head. “A few of their minions have been reported, but no jinn.”
“Lucky,” Gauzar said bitterly.
“How much further until we get there?” Azadeh asked.
I pointed at some smoke. “See that smoke, that’s from our ch-” I froze. “That’s way more smoke than we should be seeing!”
The others started to ask me what was going on, but before any of them could get even one word out, I had urged Shamil into a real gallop toward the village. The others could catch up later but I couldn’t leave my village like that.
In just a moment, we stood in. The sky was red and full of smoke and ash. Fires roared through the village, devouring houses, and people screamed. But there were also non human screams. I quickly tied a bandana around my face so I’d be able to breathe easier. Shamil was a divine horse and more powerful than other horses, but fire spooked even him. “It’s okay, boy,” I said, trying my best to reassure him.
“Help me!” I heard the choked voice of a little boy said and I spotted him trying to pour water on a huge fire that had consumed his house. “Mama! Mama!” he screamed.
I ran over and picked the little boy up. “I’ll get her,” I said, setting him with his father who was only half conscious. Then I ran into the house. The heat was agonizing and I thought I might die, but I managed to drag the boy’s mother our before the house collapsed.
I stood there panting for a moment. I was about to go check on my family but a voice that was clearly not human spoke to me. “You thought you could hide, didn’t you?”
I quickly turned and saw a jinn for the first time. It was like a sandstorm with a vaguely human shape. And all around me, the world had slowed down as if turned to syrup.


A chill crept down my spine, and turned my blood to ice. Just like when I looked at the tapestries I could feel memories oozing their way into my mind. Memories that I swore weren’t mine. I could feel the jinn trying to pry into my soul with what felt like cold fingers. Images filled my head. Scared children running for their lives, but these weren’t human children they were jinn. I saw the star warriors attacking innocent people and I kept hearing them say something about an oath. I saw the horrors of war. And in the back of it all, I heard a song that turned my bones to sand and stopped my heart.
“See what you did, Khahar?” the jinn whispered in my ear, has voice scratchy like sand but full of sweet poison.
I jerked away. “I’m no sister of yours,” I snapped, but my heart was pounding and a little voice in my head was asking, who are you really, Khina? Perhaps there is a reason you were left in the garbage as a baby, a reason besides poverty.
The jinn just laughed. “Oh does your new form not take kindly to this? I suppose it is fitting that the gods placed you there as punishment.”
“What did you do to my family?!” I shouted, heart pounding, I reached for my scimitar, but it wasn’t there.
The jinn studied me. “Exactly what you did to your last family. We assumed you would want this.”
Panic bubbled in my chest. What was he saying? Was he- No, no he couldn’t be. “I haven’t had a family before this. What are you talking about?”
“Think. What is it they’re calling you now? Khina? Well, think.” And I did think, I thought about all those strange memories I’d been having, about the fact that my armor was a shrike, usually an ill omen. Something inside of me felt heavy, trying to drag me down. My breathing went ragged, my heart pounded. “What did you do to me?!” I shouted, panicking. “I- is, did you do something to my soul!?”
“We have done nothing, Khina. But you have done a great much and now we would like you to watch and see as all your plans are thwarted. Your betrayals and all your hardwork will mean nothing after what we do.”
Without warning, two snakes made of sand wrapped themselves around my legs and began dragging me down, down, down as I tried to fight them off.



I expected I would be dragged into some eternal agony, but instead I was just brought back to reality. The world suddenly speeding back to normal hurt my ears and eyes.
“Are you okay?” Farrokh asked, apparently he and the others had arrived while I was… in my trance or whatever that was.
I saw that the rest of them were helping put out fires or helping out healers with patients who were either burnt or had inhaled too much smoke. The jinn had seemingly all disappeared.
“Alright guys,” I said, after we’d all gathered back together by the burnt remains of a school. My voice was a little scratchy from all the smoke I inhaled despite my bandana. “Let’s look for the jinn after we make sure everyone is okay.”
I wasn’t exactly the leader, but nobody objected. Except the youngest member of our group Gauzar. “That’s all lame healer stuff. Anyone can do that! We’ve been trained to fight jinn! Helping some lame village put out some fires won’t make us famous. Hunting jinn will!”
I turned on him, and honestly I’m not saying I had the intent to murder, but like… I was prepared to shut this kid up at whatever cost. My scimitar had reappeared since my trance but I managed to keep myself from drawing it. I kept my hand on the hilt though so the threat was clear. “You want to say that about my village again?”
Bijan put a hand on my shoulder. “Easy Khina, I’m sure he didn’t mean it like that.”
“Sorry about him,” Azadeh said. “Even back in our village he’s always like this. Always needing to be the center of attention and always looking at things in a what can I gain from this perspective.”
Gauzar got angry at that. “I’m just sick of always being ignored and underestimated! I can do great things. I can save us all and defeat the jinn without you!” he stormed off.
‘I’ll go after him. I’m good with kids,’ Azadeh signed. ‘You all stay here. Make sure everyone is okay.’


The rest of us worked to help put out the fires and we were constantly talking with village leaders and making sure we were doing everything we could. Finally one, a woman named Parisa said to me, “Khina, go see your father.”
“Is he okay?”
“He’s fine, but you’ve done all you can. Go see him. He’s telling stories to some children by the well.”
Part of me wanted to argue, but I saw Bijan mouthing, ‘go,’ and I decided to listen. In just the past couple hours so many strange and unexplainable things had been happening I needed to be with someone who made sense to me. Someone who might have answers.
The well which was near the center of our village was one of my favorite places. I couldn’t explain it. It wasn’t like it was grand and beautiful like the temple, but it held so many memories. Before mama died, she used to bring me here so I could play with the other little kids while she laughed and chatted with the other mothers. They would all work together while we played then mama would put her stuff back in the basket and say goodbye to the other mothers. She would scoop me up and k*ss my head and call me her precious little gift. The thought left a warm and fuzzy feeling in me. I missed her so much but being here could bring me a little comfort. And I was very glad that the benches where she and the other mothers used to sit weren’t burnt beyond recognition. They were still hot though and for that reason my father and all the children sat on the ground as he told them the story of The Lioness who made the sun rise and set. It was one of my favorite stories. So I took second to just tear myself away from thoughts of jinn and weird memories, and just focus on the memories that I knew were real, the memories that came with this story as I just listened. Here by this well, I felt that everything could be alright perhaps for the moment.


After the story was over, my father asked if everyone would like to sing the song that went with it. Being smart children they all said yes and we all began singing. The song was actually perfect for this moment. Together we all softly sang. My father caught my eye and I smiled at him.
“Though the night is long, the sun will always rise,
So little child do not be the one who cries
For that big bright gentle sun is just playing hide and seek
Be like that lioness brave and not so meek
For while the night reigns supreme
You must be like the sun bright and with a brilliant gleam
Little child don’t give off hope on the sun
Just dream a little more and night will soon be done.
Little child don’t give off hope on the sun
Just dream a little more and night will soon be done.” I had my eyes closed as I sang and when I opened them, I noticed there were tears in them. I rushed to my father and threw my arms around. “Will this night really ever be over?” I asked him, trying my best not to cry.


“I believe so, as long as you keep your souls strong.”
I bit my lip. “Can I… talk to you about something? In private?”
My father nodded. “Yes, of course.”
We went somewhere away from all the people and I pulled up my sleeve, exposing the crescent-shaped birthmark on my arm. “Did you know that apparently this makes me the chosen one?” I demanded.
He frowned slightly, and I saw shame in his eyes. “No. I didn’t know that. But I…” He closed his mouth.
“What??” I demanded.
He was silent for a while, but then he spoke. “A crescent moon was the symbol of the jinn before their banishment.”
The world felt like it was spinning and I had to sit down so I wouldn’t fall over. “Am I…. a jinn?” I asked quietly, the words painful on my tongue as they came out. Before my father could answer I was telling him all about the tapestries and the jinn who had put me in a trance. When I was done, I just stared at him, trembling and waiting for an answer. Waiting for him to tell me that no I was just a normal girl.
“That might explain a lot. Those tapestries in the palace are designed to make us remember things we may have forgotten or well buried so deep inside of our minds they might be forgotten.” While he was talking, my emotions slowly went from anxiety to pure fear. Who was I? What was I? I didn’t let him speak anymore. I just ran and ran and ran.
I was a jinn, it all made sense, and yet it made absolutely no sense! All those memories I’d been having, they were because I was a jinn and had fought against the Star Warriors. I dry heaved at the thought of it. Did the magi know? Was I a danger to the other people in my group? And if I was a jinn, did I want to be fighting them? No matter what, I had to face the jinn alone, without my newfound companions.
In the distance, I saw a jinn resting. Steeling my nerves, I began to walk toward it. The scimitar at my side hummed with a strange energy and I drew it to look it over. It was really the most exceptional forgery I had ever seen. It seemed to be made out of starlight and honestly that wasn’t that far-fetched of an idea. I spotted something on the shrike head hilt that I hadn’t noticed before. A tiny button. I pressed it and the head opened up, revealing a small potion. I carefully uncorked the bottle but it smelled so bad I had to close it back up immediately. I tried to find something to tell me what the potion was, but there was nothing. Annoyed, I closed the shrike head back up and noticed something else, a panel on the back of its head. I opened that up and found a tiny map. On the back was written: the singer will find her voice here. What? Was I supposed to be helping some singer? What did this have to do with the jinn? It was entirely stupid, but I had a feeling I was right. I had to follow this map and help this singer find her voice and somehow it would help us with the jinn.
I started to follow the map and it ended up leading me to the jinn. I gritted my teeth, tightening my grip on my sword. I wanted to k*ll it so badly, but I couldn’t. It was the same one from earlier, I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I did. Maybe it was something about the energy. “Who am I??” I screamed, tears filling my eyes. “Am I a jinn?”
Breathing heavy, I waited for his answer. All my life I’d been taught not to trust jinn, but I still had to get an answer from the jinn.
“You were my favorite sister, and you betrayed us all,” the jinn said in a quiet rumble. He brushed his fingers through my short hair and I jerked back. “Come on, I need to show you a memory.”
It was a stupid idea, but if it might give me answers… “Okay.”
I was expecting some… memory of when I was supposedly a jinn, but instead it was a memory of when I was a little girl. I was kneeling by my mother’s bedside, holding her hand as she slipped away. I choked back a sob. “Why are you showing me this?”
“Showing you what you were made to forget.”
That was crazy, I hadn’t forgotten anything that happened that day. It was forever engraved in my memory. But now I saw in this memory, my father having me sing and something coming out of my mother’s body like… her soul and going into a machine body. An automaton. Drawing in a sharp breath the automaton sat up, now looking like my mother. My father stared in awe and shock at what he had been able to master. Little me just stood there paralyzed. Then the automaton that was my mother had gotten a look on her face that looked like pure terror and started running.
With a gasp I was pulled back into reality. “What-?”
“She no longer had mortal eyes. She saw what you were,” the jinn said. “Now though I think she wants to see you. My father has her as a guest.”
“I- what? Let her go! I-” I groaned. No, it couldn’t be real could it? It was definitely too good to be true.
The jinn’s face almost softened. “Little sister, come with me, father may be ready to forgive you and don’t you want to see your mama?”
My eyes narrowed and I wanted to snap at him but he was right I wanted to see mama so badly. “Okay…” I said hesitantly. “Lead the way.”
“Oh walking won’t do.” Suddenly I was in the air surrounded by a sandstorm and it was all I could do to cover my face and try not to inhale a ton of sand.
We came to an old abandoned temple and there she was. “Mama?” I whispered, a tear tracing its way down my face. Ignoring all the terrifying jinn around me I ran toward her and threw my arms around her and she hugged me too.
“Why’d you leave?” I asked. “Why’d you make us believe you were dead?”
The jinn who had been sitting on the throne spoke. “It was needed for your powers to properly flourish, my little songbird.”
“Don’t call me your little songbird!”
My mother sighed. “Let me try and explain everything. A thousand years ago the jinn were banished, but it was wrongly so. It was… well I’m sorry to say but it was your fault. Afterward though, you saw what destruction you caused and you were horrified, swearing you would make up for this one day. You hid yourself in the world as a spark of magic, gathering strength slowly so one day you could take form but you sacrificed many memories that way. One day you were able to take the form of a human baby and you were found by your baba a man who was experimenting with jinn magic. Both of us were in a secret organization for the protection of the jinn, but we had to hide that even from you. Your magic grew stronger every day and one day you were literally able to put my soul into another body. Well, with that bit of jinn magic in me, your father wouldn’t be really safe with both of us, so I left in hopes to find the jinn, and you found us.”
I wanted to scream at her to tell me the truth, but she was. She was and in a way I was glad to have the truth.
The jinn king spoke. “These attacks are all an act.” He waved his hand and outside the window I saw burnt down villages spring back to life. “An illusion to get my daughter back.” He stood up and embraced me as a wave of old memories flooded into my mind, and I saw my body changing. Shifting into sand and fire. I could still smile though and that’s just what I did. Finally, the pieces were starting to fit together. “I’m still
living with baba,” I told them. Because even though everything seemed alright on the surface, I was still unsure about everything. Something seemed just a little off, but at least it might be better than I initially thought.

(oookay uhhhh ending it like that was weird…….. By which I mean I kinda hate it but shhh it’s experimental lol. I tried to make it nice like the prompt said, but still keep it kinda ominous… it felt kinda forced rip but hey lol it;s an ending i suck at writing them lmao. Yeah… umm so I like this general concept might actually write it one day. It will be wayyyy better though xD. )

Weekly:
PATHS TAKEN: 102-1, 4-2, 2-2, 1-2, 54, 823, 9-3, 5-4, 7-4, 6-3 | SABOTAGE RESULTS: 8- S;3- F, 2- S;4- S;6- F, 9- F, 5- S;7- S;1- S | ENDING: neutral

Proof:

It was midnight. A single person climbed up the hill, breathing heavily. Generating light in the lantern, they looked around. Soon enough, they saw another person on the hill, roughly their age.
“Excuse me!” They walked up to them. “Excuse me, do you know the way to the school?”
“Uh, no. I was just trying to find it.” With a lantern in one hand, the person brushed their red hair from their face. “Who are you?”
“Oh, I'm RL, they/he pronouns. And you?”
“Lily, she/her,” replied the redhead.
“Nice. We should find the school now, though. We arrived quite late.”
It was funny how a similar situation happened quite a long time ago to RL. He remembered how he was walking to an “experience” thing that their parents paid a lot for, and the experience was late at night. They couldn’t find the entry though, and were soon tired and worn out. But then, RL found a person in the same situation. Her name was Ellie - a normal and common name for such an extraordinary person… not very fitting, is it? It was fun to be around them and the two talked for a while as they wandered the deserted streets. In about half an hour RL and Ellie grew closer than most of their other friends ever dreamed to be. After they finally found the entrance, the two had to go to different groups, but they exchanged phone numbers and talked with each other and became really good friends… that was, until Ellie went missing.
A sudden wave of nostalgia hit RL. They didn’t know what they would give to see Ellie again… to meet with her in real life, to talk to her, or even to hear her voice again. RL recalled being worried and scared for Ellie and when she was finally announced as missing, they wanted to go out and find them but their parents stopped them. Then they cried for weeks and wouldn’t show up to school. Lily seemed quite similar to her… but was she really? RL had only known her for a few minutes.
“So, uh…” RL muttered, not knowing what to say. “What brings you here? To Fox Hill, I mean?”
“It’s kind of a long story.”
They now reached the docks. Lily held her lanthern up high as RL peered on the sign that read ‘STUDENT NOTICE’ and had a small message on it. “And we have a long way to go, it seems,” they said. “We can’t get on the boats. You have to pay Robux for that. So you could tell me.”
The two stepped onto the illuminated path, made out of dirt. The only sounds that were around were frogs croaking and a distant owl hooting. That was when Lily broke the silence.
“Well… it’s because… you see, back in my middle school, this person used to always pick on me because of my good grades,” she admitted. “I think they were a bit jealous, though they had pretty good grades themselves. Yeah, so, I eventually got fed up with it. So I told an adult I trusted, you know, like they always tell us to in those anti-bullying presentations. But the person wasn’t happy with me.”
“Oh.”
“They bullied me even more. Those were some of the darkest months of my life. Luckily, we left school after, but they got into, like, a really good school, poised to become successful in a few years. So I promised myself to get into a better school and this was one of the only ones.”
“So you got into here because of revenge,” RL said. They made a mental note to not become enemies with this girl.
As the girl nodded, everything started to become less and less visible and more blurry and confusing. RL tried to blink and closed their eyes to open them, but…
But when they did, they realised they were sitting under a tree, without Lily. So this was a dream? Ellie hadn’t really come back, even if as another person? RL felt themselves tearing up. But it was still midnight. They were still in a forest. And they still had to get to Fox Hill.
RL brushed away the tears and looked at their lantern beside them. It was dark, blown out by him before they went to sleep. Cursing their past self, RL stood up and stretched. Looking around, they didn’t see another soul. I guess I am alone again, they thought as quickly cast a hiding spell in order to ensure that their world wasn’t found.
The landscape wasn’t quite as he dreamt but somehow, his dream still made sense. There were, in fact, docks, but you didn’t have to pay to get on the boats, so they decided to do so. You know, nothing like the chilling wind that blows in your face, trying to get your glasses off, to completely wake up. RL tried to bend away from it, or at least shield himself by getting behind the driver, though unsuccessful.
As the boat finally came to a stop and RL climbed out, they remembered how he and Ellie once travelled by boat.
Back then, the two were going on a camping trip. They had to get themselves over a river in order to get to their campsite, and neither of them had skills for swimming on a boat but they decided to get there by boat anyway - besides, they had no choice, they couldn’t swim over the lake or get there by any other means. The two best friends took the paddles and began to attempt to move the boat, but even after a lot of splashing around, RL and Ellie weren’t able to move as much as an inch.
RL remembered that Ellie even wanted to go in the water and try to get them to the other side by swimming in the lake and pushing it forwards.
“Don’t,” RL said back then.
“I mean, what’s stopping me?” the girl smirked, chuckling.
“Me and the fact that you will drown. You can’t swim to save your life,” her friend deadpanned. “I mean, what will I do without you?”
“You won’t have memes, and you won’t be able to look like you’re tall standing next to me,” Ellie said, face morphing into a joking kind of seriousness for a moment before cracking up in obnoxious laughter.
“So you finally admit it,” RL said while also laughing. “You are short.”
“Yeah, I suppose.”
After the exchange, the two decided to try and move the boat some more, to no avail. Glancing at their watch, RL realised that there was about half an hour of time left until they had to be at camp. It seemed that at that point, jokes aside, they had to actually get in the water and move the boat that way.
The taller person promised to pull Ellie out if she was drowning. So, they got to work.
This time, the boat actually moved, albeit slowly. In about fifteen minutes, they were about halfway through the lake, with Ellie pushing the boat and RL somehow helping using paddles. The two ended up being a couple minutes late and both drenched but it was worth it.
Suddenly snapping out of their daze, RL realised that they had come to the doors of the school. Not exactly surprising them, the doors were closed - it was night, after all.
So, RL knocked - maybe someone was awake.
Knock, knock.
Knock, knock.
No-one came. RL waited.
In a few minutes, they looked for a book in their bag - there was a lot of stuff in there, like clothes. Fox Hill was a boarding school, after all. Finally pulling it out, RL decided to read for a while.
After a while of reading, they noticed something about one of the characters. They seemed to have a similar motif to RL. While all Lily the dream-girl ever wanted was revenge for how her school bullies mistreated her, all RL ever wanted was to belong with someone. Everywhere he went, they always felt like an outsider, wanted or needed by nobody. The only person that ever seemed to like them and truly understand them was Ellie, and she was gone… RL blinked back tears.
The urge to belong was also one of the main reasons why they decided to start over in a new school - after all, there were other first-years here too, and there must be at least one weird person on the loose, strange and a stranger, just like them. If they were also as lonely as RL was, maybe they could be lonely together, like Ellie and RL were. Besides, this was a grammar school. There must have been many nerds at Fox Hill and maybe some people who shared RL’s interests. Either that, or they might not be intelligent enough for them and hated once again, cast aside as an outsider once more… RL didn’t really want to think about this right now and went back to reading.
They suddenly felt their neck prickling. Making to turn around to face the door, they saw light out of the corner of their eye…
Suddenly, RL felt themselves grow warm and tired… Their eyelids were drooping… The will to turn around was gone, like carried away by a breeze… only exhaustion…. There wasn’t any harm in laying down for a nap, was there? It was night after all…
The second they closed their eyes, they went straight to sleep.

RL woke up with a start.
They had no idea where they were. The last thing they remembered was climbing up a hill to get to school and spacing out… It was dusk back then. Now, the sky was dark. They looked around and saw a fancy double door. The view was slightly familiar…
RL still didn’t know where they were.
That was when they started to get sleepy again- wait, again? Trying to get rid of the exhaustion, RL shook their head furiously but that wore them out even more. They quickly grabbed a piece of paper in case they woke up and still had no idea what this place was.
This isn’t happening for the first time and I’m going to fall asleep, they quickly wrote and blacked out.

RL woke up with a start.
They had no idea where they were. The last thing they remembered was climbing up a hill to get to school and spacing out… It was dusk back then. Now, the sky was dark. They looked around and saw a fancy double door. The view was slightly familiar… They stood up and saw the sign on the overhang, in golden cursive letters:
Fox Hill Grammar School
So, did they get teleported there or something?
Then, they noticed a piece of paper.
This isn’t happening for the first time and I’m going to fall asleep, it read.
Did RL wake up here before?
Were they about to fall asleep again?
And then the exhaustion hit them.
I’m at Fox Hill, they quickly wrote and fell asleep.

This isn’t happening for the first time and I’m going to fall asleep.
I’m at Fox Hill.
I don’t remember how I got here but I remember walking up the hill at dusk. It’s 1:18 AM.
It’s 1:50 AM for me now.
I fall asleep every time I think about it, it’s 2:25 AM for me.
So, black out for 30 minutes every time and amnesia from the hill walk… 3:07 AM.
The faculty isn’t letting me in but I saw someone
Why is there a line running down the page? Why did I not stay awake enough for this that time ;-;
Timeline for me so far: wake up, notice note, read note, write my note, fall asleep. 5:08 AM.
Same for me but I saw the Fox Hill sign after reading a note; 5:39 AM.
I saw a faculty member who pointed aglovvingfinge r at rn e 6AM
I slept for an hour. 7:07 AM.

RL blankly stared at the note, unsure what to do. They just wrote theirs.
That was when their memories returned to them.
They remembered every time they woke up and what happened before that.
Still, RL didn’t know what to do.
In a moment, they got an answer to that question.
Suddenly, the doors swung open. RL jumped away and slowly stood up.
Behind the doors, there was a woman in a ballgown.
“Congratulations, Riley,” she said. “You passed the test.”
Almost no-one called them Riley by this point. Not that they minded.
“This was a- this was a test?” RL spluttered.
“Yes.” She gave him a faint ghost of a smile.
“And who are you? You ob
viously know who I am.”
“I’m Headmistress Villan,” she cast a hiding spell without looking.
RL quickly cast their own, ensuring their world wasn’t found.
So this was the headmistress… RL made a mental note to not annoy her.
As they entered, RL noticed that the entrance hall of Fox Hill was slightly messy. Really messy, actually. Before their very eyes, rubbish spawned like blocks sometimes do in Minecraft when you look into the far-away. They muttered a confused “huh?” and looked at Headmistress Villan.
In a fraction of a second, her face changed from confused to surprised to impressed to angry.
“Did you do this?” she hissed, voice ringing with anger.
“No…”
A silence followed. Then, they heard giggles coming from a hallway somewhere.
The headmistress made a circular movement with her finger and three students flew into the room, held up by the collars of their shirts.
“I’m really sorry miss,” one of them said. RL noticed they had a heavy British accent.
“We are sorry,” another said.
“No matter,” Villan said dismissively. “Dumbeck, Ryan, Ellison.” As she said each name, one of the students went down. “You have to tidy up, then show mx. Reynolds here around.”
“Yes miss,” the three of them chorused. They quickly made some hand gestures and the mess disappeared.
As Villan walked away, the student that the headteacher called Ryan - with a heavy British accent - walked over to him.
“Hello there. My name’s Theo.”
“I’m Riley, or RL.” They shook each other’s hands.
The student who Villan called Ellison waved and walked over. “I’m Ella.”
Ella? RL thought. She did seem a bit familiar… with the same red hair and a similar face…
“Do you know Ellie Henderson? You look a bit like her.”
Immediately, they regretted saying that. They saw how Ella’s face changed to confusion and then to slight fear.
“Sorry, is that a weird question? Probably a weird question… uh, who’s that?” RL rushed to divert the group’s attention to Dumbeck.
“Oh, that’s Arlyss,” Theo said. “He’s also our friend. He’s a bit quiet.” He was also the only one who RL didn’t hear speak yet. Arlyss walked over to the three students.
“Enough with the chit chat, we have to give her-”
“Them,” RL corrected.
“Them a tour, don’t we?”
So they set off. Theo did most of the talking, since Ella mostly tried to keep away from RL and the only place that Arlyss described was the library.
“You have a library? A big one?” RL asked, pleasantly surprised.
“Yeah, we do. It has all kinds of books.”
RL also noticed that the quiet second-year became more animated when talking about reading, and asked him some questions about books as well. They soon launched into a conversation about a book series that they both enjoyed and soon enough, they came to a stop when they entered the dorms.
“You have…” Theo checked his watch, “half-an-hour to get dressed into the school uniform and get breakfast. Oh, and here’s your timetable,” he handed them a sheet of paper.
“Thanks.” RL smiled at the freckled boy.
Then, they turned around and stepped into their dorm.
There weren’t many students on the non-binary spectrum in Fox Hill, and it seemed like RL was the only one in their year, so they got a single dorm without a room-mate. They quickly got changed and washed and soon enough, they were on their way downstairs to the canteen.
The first thing they noticed when they entered was how good the food looked. The second thing they noticed was the group that messed up the hall, waving at them. There were four other people at the table that were busily talking about something between themselves.
Ella gestured for them to sit next to her.
“Hey, Riley,” she began, with traces of nervousness in her voice. “So, uh… about that thing that you asked me the other day-”
“RL, did you meet these four yet?” Theo interrupted. Ella glared at him, but he already turned away to the others. “Where is Jane, by the way? Please, stop flirting with Will for a second and answer me.”
A teenager with black hair stopped talking to his friend - or partner? - for a second and turned around. “Probably snogging Max like she always is.”
“RL. I need to tell you something. It’s important. It’s about Ellie Henderson.”
A kid with curly hair - one of the four unnamed Theo’s friends - glanced at them for a second. Of course, RL didn’t notice that. Ella had their full attention.
“I know where she is.”

Begin a story, anyway you like. but keep it close to 100 words.

Ace looked at the sky, a wide grin on his face. He loved the feeling of the wind in his hair, and the grass between his toes, that was the only thing he remembered though. It had been awhile since he had lost his memories, alone with only the clothes on his back and his thoughts. No matter how much and how hard he tried, nothing would come to him. Ace may have a family, friends, a significant other or even a pet, but he had no recollection of any of their names or faces. Instead of focusing on that, Ace traveled, to nowhere in particular just seeing where the wind took him, trying to enjoy the strange situation he was in.

In these 200 words, a character reveals one of their main motives is revenge.

“Hey Ace! Stop snorting oxygen and get moving, how else are we supposed to find who did this to us!” The red headed girl yelled at him, several feet ahead. What was her name again? Nia? No it was Nyx, right? Ace thought to himself, whatever it was he didn’t really care. He had bumped into the girl maybe a few days ago, or at least something like that, time felt fuzzy here. He was surprised and thankful as well, Ace would go crazy if he was here alone. But the girl had way too much energy for his liking. She asked too many questions, yelled way too loud and wouldn’t quit talking about revenge.

Nyx also had amnesia and had been running around for, they assumed, about how long Ace had. Neither of them had any clue on how they got there, and unlike Ace, it drove her crazy and she always made sure he knew that. She thinks someone put them in this place, took their memories, and if they travel far enough they’d find that person and make them pay. Nyx wholeheartedly believes she’s important somehow, a celebrity or someone who changed the world, and she’s needed. “Whoever had the audacity to put me in this never ending hellhole will pay!” She’d say. The two of them had teamed up, as far as Ace knew they were the only humans there. Even so, sometimes he wished they didn’t, her thirst for revenge and energy annoyed him. Ace didn’t understand her urgency, sure he wanted to go back home, wherever it was, but she never took a break.


Sabotage! Positivity Flood: Thank at least 3 people in SWC for everything they do.

Incorporate features of fantasy, fairy tales, or myth into your writing.

One thing about wherever they were is that while time passed, their bodies didn’t. The sun would rise and fall, yet Ace never got hungry, not even a stubble appeared on his face and he never got tired. Nyx didn’t seem to either, though with how much she ran and screamed, Nyx probably photosynthesized. That’s the only way she hasn’t passed out by now.

“I said let's go! We’re almost out of here, I can feel it!” She yelled again, before continuing to scurry away. Ace looked away from the sky and sighed before following her. She looked back, walking backwards, and tried to make conversation. He’d try to answer all of her burning questions, with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. After a while though, Ace wanted nothing more but to mute her.

“Do you like cats or dogs?”

“Dogs are cute but I’ve always preferred cats. They–”

“What’s your favorite candy?”

“Lollipops I guess, what’s–”

“How about your favorite season? Mine’s winter!”

“I like winter to– Wait, look behind you!” But before Nyx could stop herself, she fell. Ace ran forward, and looked down to see her dazed, a few feet down a slope. He slid to the bottom, anxiousness filling him, he wanted Nyx to shut up, not die. He examined her carefully, there didn’t seem to be any bruises on her, no broken bones either. Other than her muttering, ow, to herself, Nyx seemed fine thankfully. A chill ran through his bones and he looked away from Nyx to see blankets of snow over the plains. A smile danced on his lips at the beautiful sight and then gestured for Nyx to look as well.

“Seems whoever put us here heard us. You found us a winter wonderland,”

Sabotage! Do nothing for 15 minutes.

Write at least 200 words where your character is magically transported to another world!

The fall seemed to soft reset Nyx, instead of getting all hyped up on how she was right about being close, she was finally going to get revenge, she laid there complaining about being sore. That didn’t stop Ace, sooner or later she’d start blabbering again and the scenery was too beautiful to not admire while he could. He strolled in the snow, a smile on his face. He wondered if he should make a snowman, it may have been childish but he’s always wanted to make one. Ace gathered snow in his hand, pushing away the thought of throwing it at Nyx and then the snow began to float. Ace suddenly felt weightless and panic surged through his body. He was falling.

Ace landed into the desert sand with a thud. Now he knew how Nyx felt, his entire body hurt. Wait, Nyx! Where is she? Ace jolted up, wasting no time to take in his surroundings, Nyx was still back at the bottom of the hill and he was, wherever this place was! He needed to get back to her. He looked up but the wormhole thing Ace fell through wasn’t there, without even thinking he ran, and ran and ran. Maybe what Nyx said was right, someone trapped them there and now they were going to do something with her.

Though the sun’s heat beat down on his body and sweat dripped down his skin, exhaustion never caught up to him. So, Ace kept running through the endless desert, even more vast than the plains he had just recently got away from. After what felt like hours, he began to lose hope. Whatever this place was, it was against him, he’d never find her, would he? He’d be alone like when he had first arrived, yet now he desperately wished for that photosynthesizing, annoying, blabbering bottle of energy to be with him. Then something fell out of the sky.

Ace skidded to a stop and looked down at the thing to see Nyx. She jumped up and looked around frantically until her eyes landed on Ace. Before she could say a word, he wrapped her into a hug. He couldn’t even say why.

Sabotage! Stop writing and eat or drink something for 5 minutes.

Go to a profile of a random person from your cabin and make a character taking inspiration from it. Introduce them to your story, do it for 10 minutes.

“It’s been like five minutes, I didn’t think you’d miss me so much!” Nyx breathed, gasping for air. The panic was gone from her face and was instead replaced by a teasing grin. Ace let go of her, heat spreading across his face, he looked desperate didn’t he? He opened his mouth to say how, for him, it had been hours, but she jumped away from him aggressively, glaring at something behind him. He looked over as well to see a girl.

She faced them but her eyes darted elsewhere, she tapped her foot anxiously and had a bashful smile on her face. In her hand she held a sketchbook and a pencil, occasionally glancing at them and scribbling in her book. After Nyx’s staredown didn’t seem to affect her, she cleared her throat, the girl jumped slightly and then looked at them, still writing or doodling something while Nyx spoke.

“Who are you and what are you drawing in that notebook? Are you the one who put us here? Neither of us had anything when we got here, how do you have two?” She interrogated, her tone more violent than Ace had ever heard from her. Ace held her hand, stopping her from getting in her space. He understood she was on guard, but they had been– who was he kidding they still were strangers, the girl might have been one of them. The girl focused on her notebook though, seeming to not even have heard Nyx despite her jumpiness from moments ago.

“Please stay still. I’ll be out of both of you guy’s hair once I’m done. I won’t hurt you, I just need to report your conditions in this place, and you can go back to exploring,” That shocked him. Report their conditions? She knew how to get out, she knew where they were. Nyx was right, she had to be one of the people who put them there.

“Please, let us out, why are you doing this? Who are we?…Who am I?” Ace said, trying his best to keep his voice steady.

“I’m Nicole and I’m done. Sorry, I can’t let you out even if I wanted to, this is for the greater good I swear. You’ll find out who you are soon enough,” She said, anxiousness seeping into her voice. Nyx pounced at her, but she was too slow, and with a startled yell Nicole sank into the sand. Nyx yelled in frustration. Ace felt hopeless. She had come in with answers, and had left leaving only questions.

Sabotage! Stop writing and read something for ten minutes.
Incorporate “Chekhov's Gun” into the story in 300 words.

“Nyx, let’s go, we should try to get out of here,” Ace said, his voice void of emotion. Nyx didn’t move from where she was, instead she clawed at the sand, digging desperately. There was nothing, she didn’t drop her pen, or even a scrap of paper. Then rain began to fall. The first rainfall since they had appeared. Ace approached her and put a hand on her shoulder, the rain felt real, and the desert heat was replaced with an uncomfortable moist feeling. Nyx refused to face him, her hands on her face. Only when she began to shiver did Ace realize she was crying.

“You can start going Ace, I just want to stay here for a bit. Have I ever told you I enjoy the rain?” She said, turning to him with a fake smile on her face, her voice fragmented. She weakly began digging at the sand, looking down as a mixture of rain and tears fell down her face.

“I’m not leaving you alone again! I’d been looking for you for hours, I thought… I thought I lost you!” Ace said, raising his voice. Then he stopped, looked down and took a deep breath to calm himself. “You don’t have to hide your feelings, I know you're angry and sad right now, I am too, you don’t have to do this alone.”

“I’m not just angry, I’m furious! She knows how to get out. She just did! She kidnapped us, trapped us here, and then she says it's for our own good!” She screamed, while sobbing, her fist clenched.

“Ny-”

She jolted up and turned to him, her eyes red“ I can’t remember anything, Ace! Nyx isn’t even my name! I spent hours trying to remember it when I got here! At least you have something!”

Then Ace hugged her and this time she hugged him back. She cried into his shoulder as he rubbed her back slowly. While Ace wanted to comfort her, the hug wasn’t for Nyx or whatever her name was, it was to hide the tears silently falling down his face. Nyx was wrong, he didn’t have anything from back home but he also lied to her. As he calmed her down, he felt the weight of the scrap of paper in his pocket. Written on it was the word Ace.

“Don’t worry it’s going to be okay.” He cooed, repeating again and again. He didn't believe it himself, but Nyx stopped shaking and calmed down. When she let go, the rain stopped. Her eyes were sad but she had a wide grin on her face as she looked at him.

“Thanks Ace, I really needed that. Now that the rain has stopped, we can get our revenge on that Nicole person!”

“I thought you said you enjoy the rain?” Ace said, smiling at her.

“Oh, did I? Why don’t you forget everything that happened right after she disappeared, okay?”

“Why do I feel so wet all of a sudden, and why are your eyes red? I think I’m forgetting something,” He teased and Nyx punched him in the arm. They laughed as they kept walking, though now their journey felt different somehow. Who knew what could happen now?

Sabotage! Stop writing and do something creative for 15 minutes.
Writing for 5 minutes, make a feature of your setting become dangerous to the characters.

Suddenly the ground below Nyx sank. She tried to get out but no matter how hard she struggled, it wouldn’t help. Instead she sank deeper into the ground, as she grunted and yelled Ace realized what it was, quicksand.

“N-Nyx calm down! The more you move the harder it is to get out. You have to– I think you're supposed to–,” He swore under his breath, racking his brain to remember. The amnesia couldn’t have made him forget this, right? Nyx was sinking, he had to help her, he had to remember! Why couldn’t he remember?

“ACE! HELP ME! HE–” Her voice cut off as she sank below the surface. Before all of this, they had just been traveling, chatting mindlessly, Ace was annoyed by her. Now everything was happening all at once. He was supposed to be optimistic, he was supposed to try to enjoy his time here.

This is going to be okay. Nyx is okay. The quicksand is just another hole that will lead to somewhere else. That’s right, she must be in a jungle right now or in the mountains. She’s not dead, she can’t be. Nyx was alive. Ace had to find her. She– no they needed to get revenge on whoever trapped them here.

Without another thought. Ace jumped in and he sank through the floor.

Sabotage! Come up with five reasons you appreciate a scratch team member and send it to them.

Choose a fantasy subgenre: dystopian, urban, hidden world, steampunk, or sci-fi and incorporate elements of it into your story.

Ace fell faster than he thought, like the quicksand changed to water when he fell in. He was right about it leading somewhere, he fell face first and panicked as he saw a cityscape, and he fell onto solid concrete.

Somehow, he didn’t die on impact, in fact he felt fine, if not a bit sore. The same thing happened when he fell in the desert, somehow in this world, it seems it’s impossible to get injuries. Slowly stood up from the fall, right next to him was a fountain, which he was thankful he didn’t fall into, and all around him were gigantic buildings of all sizes. There were no cars on the road or people on the streets. Just like before he was alone, and his first goal was to find Nyx.

“OH MY GOD!” A voice screamed from not so far away, it was Nyx. Ace bolted down the sidewalk towards her voice. Was she in trouble? What happened to her? He stopped when he saw movement in a candy store. He looked through the window to see Nyx’s red hair waving around as she dashed from wall to wall, candy spilling from her hands. Ace sighed, a relieved smile on his face as he walked through the door. A bell jingled as the door closed, Nyx turned around a grin on her face. “You’re finally here! There’s candy, I’ve been waiting for you forever! You said you like lollipops, right? This one’s for you!”

She shoved the lollipop into his hand, it was rainbow, and swirly, it looked childish and exactly what he wanted. Did she actually remember my answers? I thought she just wanted to fill up the silence. He thought. Nyx counted down from five and when she got to one they both tasted their candy. Nyx took a massive bite of chocolate and Ace licked the giant lollipop. They both looked at each other, puzzled, a giant pout formed on Nyx’s face.

“It doesn’t… taste like anything,” Ace mumbled. Nyx scoured for another one, this time it was a bag of marshmallows, she grabbed a fistful and stuffed it into her mouth. Then gummy bears, she even took a bite out of his lollipop, much to Ace’s horror.

“What the hell is wrong with this place!” She yelled, sinking to the ground. Ace sat there with her, and she laid her head on his shoulder. They just sat there, more than mildly disappointed, the silence unnerved Ace for some reason. Before he met her, silence was calming to him, yet now, without her talking his ears off, he felt uncomfortable. He found himself asking a question.

“Why’d you choose Nyx? As your name I mean, it’s not a common one, I don’t think I’ve met someone with that name actually,”

“I like Greek mythology. She’s the goddess of night, and I’ve always loved the moon and the stars.” She said, her voice far away, like she was thinking back to her past. Then she blushed and looked away, and she mumbled, “It may or may not be because I had a werewolf phase too,” Ace couldn’t stop laughing.

Sabotage! Stop working on the weekly and listen to music, look at abstract art, or pictures of scenery. DON'T LOOK DO ANYTHING ELSE!

Your character receives a premonition and then it happens. Write for 15 minutes

“Why are you still eating? We can’t taste anything.” Ace asked, still catching his breath from laughter. Nyx chewed on gummy bears, biting their heads off before throwing the rest in her mouth. He chose not to question that habit but if they don’t get hungry, and they couldn’t taste eiter, what really was the point?

“I don’t know. I guess I just like the texture, don’t you eat when you’re bored?”

“No not rea– are you okay?” Nyx’s eyes dilated, her mouth open, the remains of gummy bears still in her mouth. Ace debated closing her mouth, mostly so she wouldn’t drool all over him but then she suddenly jolted up. She looked out of it for a second before a sly smile appeared on her face, she gazed into Ace’s eyes wiggling her eyebrows.

“I think these gummy bears graced me with some knowledge. I think there's a trampoline park around here somewhere, revenge can wait. Let's have some fun!” She stood up and held her arm out to Ace. He looked at her, a mixture of confusion and amusement visible on it.

“And I think you're sugar-high.” But before he could say any more, she grabbed him by the hand and ran out of the store. They ran aimlessly for a while, Ace constantly telling her, “I think there was something in the gummy bears,” but she wouldn’t stop, each of her steps being led by determination. He couldn’t tell why she wanted to go so badly, but Nyx was right, and they found a trampoline park.

She dragged him inside and went straight to the ziplines, ignoring every other game, or trampoline. At the base of the stairs, she stopped, the same sly smile on her face as she said. “I love ziplining, let's do it together! You can go first!”

Ace smiled nervously, and he swore he saw her grin even wider. “I’ve ziplined a lot of times before, it’s gotten kind of boring. Maybe we can do bumper cars first.”

“You’ve done it before? Then you can show me all the cool zip lining tricks, right? Show me, show me!” Once again she dragged him up the stairs. Ace made sure to look everywhere but down, almost tripping multiple times because of it. He tried to convince her to stop but Nyx secured the harness and pushed him down.

Ace screamed.

“Oh my GOD! It was right! I never thought you were scared of heights. Haven't we fell like five times since we got here? Were you screeching like a banshee when you fell too?” She laughed, staring at him suspended in the air. Ace couldn’t care less, he tried to focus on his breathing but began to hyperventilate. His eyes widened as dread coursed through his entire body.

“You have to move forward or you’re going to be stuck there!” He heard her say just before his ears began to ring. Only the third time she said it did Ace actually register it, and he frantically rocked his body and all of a sudden flew forward. He squeezed his eyes shut, even when he stopped moving, until eventually the harness came off and Nyx was in front of him.

“I didn’t know it was that bad, sorry Ace.” Nyx muttered as Ace calmed down. He was mad and terrified and his heart was still pounding in his chest, he wouldn’t look at her. They stood there in silence, until Ace’s breathing went back to normal.

“W-What are you scared of? When I’m done throwing up, we're going to do that!” He said, his voice ragged.

“Okay I’m sorry but not that sorry! I’m never telling you!” Ace didn’t hear the rest of it as he rushed to the bathroom.

Sabotage! Stop working on this weekly and make a list of five things you’re proud of.

For 250 words, write your character feeling a burst of nostalgia, have that feeling carry through the story.

Ace walked back sluggishly, wiping his chin with his hand. Nyx looked at him, an awkward yet apologetic smile on her face. Little did she know he wasn’t joking about what he said. Once she leaked her greatest fears, he was going to make her go through it, and it’ll be much worse for her. Maybe he’d go back and eat the gummy bears at the candy store. I sound just like her, he thought to himself with a sigh. Nyx was a bad influence.

“You okay? You aren’t going to barf all over me right?” She said as I approached.

“Yes I’m okay. No I’m not going to barf all over you, but if I ever feel the urge to again I'll be sure to aim it at you,” Ace responded. She looked at him, fear flashing on her face before she smiled wider, waving her arms around.

“I said I’m sorry!” She whined. Her eyes widened then she dug through her pocket, fishing out a map, “Okay you have to forgive me! While you were… y’know, I looked around and there's an arcade connected to here, let's go play there! That’ll cheer you up!”

So they headed towards the arcade. It did take some time, the trampoline park was huge and apparently Nyx doesn’t know how to read a map. When Ace took over directing them he realized they were on the exact opposite side of the arcade.

Eventually they got to the arcade and they walked around, Nyx in complete awe. Ace found tokens in a cup sitting in the front desk and they both looked for what game to play first.

“Ace you should choose first, since I chose the zipline and all,” Ace was about to counter her statement, but then he saw something that made several emotions hit him all at once. It was a humongous claw machine, specifically the giant penguin plushie inside of it. “What are you–” Nyx started but Ace was already there.

He shoved a token inside the machine and moved the claw towards it, he pressed the button but it didn’t even pick up the penguin. He tried again, the claw missed. Again, the claw missed. Ace growled and Nyx giggled behind him, this time the claw picked it up, he must’ve just been a little rusty. The claw dropped the penguin. He swore.

He didn’t give up though, he needed that penguin. It was so familiar to him, nostalgic. Sure it wasn’t helping him remember his family and friends, but he didn’t care. It was the closest thing he had to one of them, something from home. Before he knew it, he ran out of tokens.

“Nyx give me your tokens.”

“Huh?” Ace just took one anyway, he was almost there, he’s picked it up so many times, it was right next to the hole, he’d only have to grab it one more time.

One more time.

One more time.

Nyx watched in horror as he got down to her last three. Ace grabbed it, shoved the coin in and steadied his hand. He moved the claw carefully, moving it ever so slightly until it was right below the claw. He pressed the button and it went down, grabbing the penguin perfectly. Then he moved the claw, not too fast but not too slow. The claw dropped it, right into the hole.

“Yes!” He yelled, practically jumping up and down. He bent down and picked up the plushie, looking right in its beautiful beady eyes. “I’m naming you Skipper.”

“You named it after that movie, you're such a kid!,” she laughed, then she stopped and glared at him, “Wait, you used all of my tokens!”

“I didn’t use all of them. You can consider it as payment for giving me a panic attack.”

“I think I liked you better when you barely talked,”

“I think I liked it better before I met you, and now that I have a new friend, I think it’s time we parted ways,” He teased back. A look of exasperation appeared on Nyx’s face.

“You can’t seriously be replacing me with a stuffed animal. I’m gonna shove that thing back into the machine!” She threatened and Ace started running.

“You’ll never get me alive!”

Sabotage! Stop working on the weekly and write down ten awesome things about a person who impacted you significantly.

For the next 8 minutes, write your character losing their short term memory.

As they ran around, Ace tried to remember why Skipper was so important. Sure, there didn’t have to be a reason, Skipper was part of the family, he loved him unconditionally, but there had to be a reason Ace felt so much nostalgia when he saw the penguin. Just like how Nyx seemed so wistful when she talked about her love of Greek mythology.

When he couldn’t see Nyx anymore he stopped, closed his eyes, and tried to focus. He must’ve had it at some point, it also had to be important to him, maybe someone gave it to him. Or did he win it himself? Maybe the feelings didn’t come from Skipper, maybe it was actually the claw machine. There could be an identical one at a local arcade back home, did his family own an arcade, that would’ve been amazing. Ace opened his eyes, he was getting nowhere. All he did was daydream what he wanted his home to be like and he didn’t feel any closer to getting his memory back.

Then he inspected Skipper. He was a giant penguin plushie, a special one of course, but nothing about him seemed out of the ordinary, out of all of the plushies, why did he choose Skipper? He turned the plushie around in his hand, it was classic, black and white coat, orange beak, blue eyes. Then he turned him upside down, on his left flipper was a green dot.

Ace knew that green dot. Someone he knew, someone close to him drew that dot. He cried when it happened, because he loved his penguin plushie and it wouldn’t come off. Who drew that green dot? He couldn’t remember. Pain surged through Ace’s brain, a terrible migraine that won't go away. His head was throbbing, his tongue was dry and his hands shook violently as he dropped Skipper. Then his vision went dark and Ace dropped too.

He woke up to a girl crying above him, her red hair bouncing as she shook. The carpeted floor felt rough against his skin, the room around him seemed to be lit by colorful neon lights. His head throbbed lightly, maybe he hit it when he fell, he tried to remember what happened but nothing came to him. He looked up to notice the girl above him with wide eyes, she smiled at him, pulling him into a hug.

“You’re okay? What happened? I saw you stumbling around, holding your head, you yelled and passed out! You wouldn’t wake up! I thought I lost you!” The girl cried into his shoulder. He just sat there confused. So he did pass out, but why? And who was the crying girl?

She let go of him holding his shoulders and smiling. The boy didn’t know what to do, it would be rude to say she had the wrong person but it didn’t feel right to comfort a stranger. The girl’s smile faded as he stared at her blankly, her blue eyes welling up with tears. “You’re okay, right? Right?”

“My head hurts a bit but that isn’t what you’re talking about, is it?” The boy asked, shifting around uncomfortably. The girl got up, using her hands constantly to wipe her tears. The boy felt bad but didn’t know what to do.

“You can’t remember anything can you?” She asked softly. When he didn’t answer her she raised her voice, desperation filling it, “Where are we right now? What were we just doing? What’s my name? Please, say something!”

“I– I don’t know, I’m sorry…” he whispered and she collapsed to the ground. She sobbed her hands on her head. This time the boy reached out to her and rubbed her back. After a while she calmed down. She looked at him with a tired smile.


Leave your story unresolved with a cliffhanger, write 500 words to end your story.

“I’m sorry for crying, let’s get out of here, I’ll try to explain everything.” She grabbed his arm and then quickly and then let go. The boy stood up awkwardly and then followed behind her, they walked out of what seemed like a trampoline park of some kind, the girl holding a giant stuffed penguin.

The boy looked around him as they walked in silence. The city was really beautiful but also oddly unsettling. It was void of people, or life in general, like he and the girl were the last people on Earth. Though that wouldn’t make sense, sure that thought was crazy on its own but if they really were the only one’s left, he’d surely have more belongings. The only thing either of them seemed to have were the clothes they were wearing and an oddly familiar giant plushie. Out of curiosity he dug through his pockets and found a scrap of paper, on it was the word, “Ace”

They had stopped walking and sat on a bench near a fountain. The trip could've been shortened, the girl had taken a lot of unnecessary turns and while there was a cutesy looking candy store he thought looked nice, his legs felt sore and he wanted to rest. The girl next to him stammered at first before a look of determination spread across her face, she looked at the boy intensely.

“I’m Nyx, we met each other here in this strange world but I’ll explain that later. We’ve been traveling so we could get revenge on whoever trapped us here! Well I was, we just became partners because neither of us wanted to explore alone, you remember something right? Oh this is skipper! You one him at the arcade! You named him!” She rambled on, but nothing rang a bell. She had handed him the plushie named Skipper, it did look like a skipper to him but he didn’t feel anything but its soft black and white coat.

“Since we’ve known each other for a while you know my name, right? I can’t seem to remember it and it’s kind of driving me nuts,” he said, digging through his pocket and showing her the scrap of paper, “Also do you know what this is? I don’t know what it means but it looks important.”

The girl didn’t even look at the paper but instead stared at him in shock. “You don’t know your name? Wait, tell me about yourself! Anything,”

“Anything? I don’t really remember much but my favorite color is blue, I like cats, um– My favorite season is winter–,”

“And your favorite candy is lollipops, right?” the boy nodded, slightly puzzled. “Then you remember things from before you got here, but not your name?” Then she finally looked at the scrap of paper, grass stains on the edges, and the word “Ace”.

“Your name isn’t Ace. You found that paper, didn’t you? So you couldn’t remember your name like me, you just chose it?” She said, seemingly more to herself than the boy. She looked surprised, he guessed they did meet recently he might’ve not shared everything, though the word on the paper stuck to him. She went silent, intensely focused on the paper. It unnerved him for some reason, usually it was nice but right now, with Nyx it felt odd and he found himself talking.

“Well it makes sense Ace isn’t my name, and I guess Nyx isn’t yours? They aren’t common, I doubt I’ve met anyone with those names before.” Then Ace froze, his mind exploding with thoughts and emotion. He looked at Nyx with a familiar smile. “You named yourself after the Greek goddess of the night, right? You’ve always loved the moon and the stars, and you despise rain.”

Nyx jolted up, staring at Ace dumbfounded before jumping on him with a massive grin on her face. “You remember me? YOU REMEMBER ME ACE!” She yelled as they hugged each other tightly. Ace noticed tears rolling down her face and she rubbed her back in slow circles. After what felt like an eternity she let go of him and a sly smile crossed his face.

“I remember some things but my memory is still spotty,”

“Huh?”

“Yeah I remember falling in the desert and then next thing I know your eyes were red and we were both wet for some reason,” he teased. The fear disappeared from her face and she punched him in the arm, hard.

“Why did you say that? You scared the heck out of me!”

“That was payback after the zipline incident. I think we’re even now.” He said. They glared at each other before immediately bursting into laughter. Sure they didn’t know where they were, or even who they were before everything, but at the moment it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that they were together. But the person who trapped them there was still a mystery and there was no way that was getting unsolved, but revenge is a dish best served later.

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

I would submit the screenshot but but I don't know how to sorry!

July 30th Daily
real-life idiom
“You'll need an arm and a leg for that.”
I stared at the old lady.
“An arm and a leg? That's way too much! What do you think I am, a Manic?!”
The old lady sighed, spinning the gold ring around on her finger.
“If a Manic wanted it, I'd give it to one of them. But they don't, and it's on the Human market now. So the price is an arm and a leg.”
I glared at her. The price was way too much for a human like me. I'd already lost all my toes, and I only had one hand left. If only I was a Manic, with five arms and ten legs. I wouldn't have to beg for food every day. Not that I'd get many more years, though. The Manics never lived long, always spending too much too quickly.
“An arm and a foot?” I asked, hoping to lower the price a bit.
The lady shook her head. “An arm and a leg, and that's that. Besides, you don't even have any toes. Your foot is practically worthless.”
I sighed. She was right, though I hated it. The ring was definitely worth an arm and a leg. But, it was so important to me, that I was almost willing to pay the price. I couldn't explain it. I just felt drawn to the ring in some sort of way. It's like… it was calling me somehow.
“Okay, okay. I'll pay for it.”
The old lady sighed. “About time.”
She got up from her chair, and let me into the back room. It was dark, and it smelled a bit salty.
She gestured towards the chair in the middle of the room, and I sat in it, bracing myself for the terrible, awful pain that I always seemed to forget about when I bought something.

༺═─── daily 30 ───═༻

second last day of swc :sobs:
“call it a night”

༺═── word count; 639 ──═༻

Rey had lived in a castle since he could remember. Once, awoken from a nightmare and desperately hugging his toy knight to gain relief from the emptying void in the back of his mind, he had wandered along the empty, silent corridors. Every painting had been viewed in dim light coming from outside the window, and every noise sounded like a threat.
Stumbling into his parents' room, he didn't speak, only mouthing some sort of terrible omen that his mother didn't recognise as she reached beneath his arms and held him to her arms, holding him until sleep was all that he could comprehend.

He had other memories of castles, too. Of castles that were large, with knights stationed around the portcullis and of smiling but stern emperors ruling from diamond thrones. He had memories of castles that were smaller, more minute, with cramped but homely interiors and rose bushes climbing the walls outside. Throughout his travels, he learnt what it was to be a good ruler or a bad, a just king or a biased, frowning statue of wealth and ignorance.
Throughout his travels, Rey figured out what it took to be himself and what the price was to become it.

At ten, he was visiting his frequent haunts when he noticed a shadow shift in a corner. He couldn't stop himself from letting out a slight breath of surprise as he pressed his small head next to a picture frame and a cabinet, crouching. He watched as his mother began walking, roaming, in fact, towards an open window. She stuck her head out and exhaled, her breath heavy on the air. Rey didn't know why and he didn't know whether she was planning on doing something else (his young ten-year-old mind was bursting with extremities – she was going to run away in the middle of the night, she was planning a rebellion against his father, she had a mysterious pet that she was keeping a secret from him because it was so dangerous and prohibited), but he watched as her shoulders sagged. He crept away and moments later returned to her room, knocking on the door timidly.

“Mom?”
“Yes, darling?” She came to the door within moments, which made him think that she had not returned to sleep, but at least she was still acting like his mother.
“I was wondering if you'd go on a walk with me.”
“Okay.”

Throughout that night, Rey was held enraptured by his mother and her thrills. If it was comments about nature, or rulers, or gentle tips on what to do as a king and what not to do, she had an anecdote to regale him with, a fact to entertain his young, childish mind, or a silent squeeze of his hand or a ruffle of his brown curls. During those two hours of roaming the castle and its gardens with his dear mother, Rey learnt so much more about kings and queens, knights and soldiers, castles and their keeps than he had ever accumulated in his ten years of life. At the end of the night, she leant down and whispered into his ear,

“I'm going to call it a night, okay, buddy?” And, with joy, she began calling out into the night: “Knight, knight!” The trees enclosed her echoes and magnified them, and soon the gardens were echoing with the word ‘knight’ – or was it the word ‘night’?

A couple of years later, as a knight and a king, he still wasn't sure what his mother was trying to tell him. But he often relived the night, roaming his own keep with his sword in hand, breathing through open windows and entertaining himself with titbits of information about the flowers he had planted during the day.

Maybe it wasn't perfect, but it was life. It was a memory.

༺═─── thank yous ───═༻

wowow okay thank you's for July ‘22, I’ve never done formal thank you's per se (rather a very large jumbled and unprofessional bunch simultaneously) so I'm hoping these will take up the last few thousand words I need for my word goal

༺═── word count; 4406 ──═༻

Hello! This is my list of official thank-you's this session of Scratch Writing Camp, SWC. As it was my first session co-leading and my three session anniversary of participating in this wonderful camp, I decided to write formal (well, I wouldn't classify it as formal, but certainly fancier) thank you notes for everyone who made this sessions special for me, personally. I wish I could write personalised notes to every person who participated in, stalked or cheered on a cabin in July, but that would take too long and I have been told not to let my hands fall of trying to write six thousand words in the last two days of camp. Anyway, enough stalling and without further ado, here are my final thank-you-notes for SWC July, 2022!

Sun: Sun! It is officially time for some more compliments towards you, isn't that a surprise! Anyway, consider this a lengthy version of all the small compliments I've given you in the last month or so. First of all, thank you so much for guiding me through the parts of being a co-leader! It's weird that mere months ago I didn't even know how to accept a co-leader request, so I can literally map out my personal growth because of you. Second, thank you for being such a wonderful and active leader! Everyone in our cabin is so lucky to have you and your amazing ideas and dedication. Thank you also for your wonderful ideas and planning suggestions! Our cabin definitely wouldn't be at the place it is without all the work you've put in for us and I really, really appreciate it. Now, it is time for the well-deserved compliments that hopefully won't be the exact same as those that I have already given you. Let me start with your creativity. Whether it is through a writing piece or simply the poem you made for Hi-Fi's cabin relationships, your genius and creativity shine out in every word and phrase. I'm in awe of how wonderful your writing is, and I would go so far to say that we have an advantage over the other cabins because of your writing. Now, let me move on to how kind, helpful and friendly you are! Being even a co-leader is a lot of work, as I have learnt these past few months, and a leader it seems that you have more to do, yet you always take the different jobs and do them excellently! You can make new campers feel a lot more comfortable because of your explanations, and you've certainly helped multiple people this session understand dailies, weeklies and more, as well as sounding super-positive and glad. I wish I could have that same talent in helping people as you do. Also, thank you for all the conversations we had this session, whether it was discussing cabin colours or gleefully dropping clues left and right about our storyline – it certainly makes SWC more enjoyable and less of a daunting experience. You are responsible and inspiring and creative, and your diligence and hard work leave me in awe! Thank you, Sun, for all your compliments and help this session, you are stupendous (this is also a magnificent uno reverse to your other compliment).

Star: Star! It is time for a multitude of compliments about you, too, because you deserve it! First off, thank you for making this session so enjoyable and fun. Your ideas and planning skills are excellent, and you surely made Hi-Fi a friendlier and more relaxed place to be inside. You have such an incredible sense of humour and have surely started some of the greatest inside jokes we had this session, whether it is the celestial goose – which is such an important part of the Faire now for reasons I cannot reveal (but you know so I don't need to mention it) – or the shield fanclub. Both of those jokes had me laughing out loud, and the fact that the shield won all of our most-likely-to's is just so lucky, isn't it! (/j) Anyway, apart from humour, you are so helpful and creative. It's been so great learning and working alongside you and Sun that I cannot believe that the session is coming to an end, I wish that it could continue on so I could continue planning and joking with you guys and Elfie! You are amazing to talk to and an absolutely wonderful writer. I may have stalked politely scrolled through your writing competition entry last session to read your writing, and it held me enraptured, as does the one you entered this session! I'm so grateful that I get to work with such talented writers in such a wonderful camp as SWC. You are amazing and wonderful and talented and creative, and also a very cool person overall that knows the boundaries that are life > swc. I loved hinting at clues with you or making an elaborate essay on the cabin war's shield, and you have a lot of potential as a (co)leader. You've outdone yourself this session, thank you so much for every conversation and every compliment. I've loved talking to you and I hope we continue to after July. Thank you a hundred times for being such an excellent co-leader to our Faire and for being such an amazing person in general. The celestial goose proudly declares you as an excellent part of the Hi-Fi Renaissance Faire!

Elfie: Elfie! Even without being a (co)leader this session, you still have put such an immense amount of work into our cabin, whether it is through your elaborate and amazing clues, your diligent quoting of songs, or simply babysitting me and Star when Sun left us alone during that one hour in cabin wars, (even if we technically did create a fanclub for the cabin war's shield and then I completed the cabin war with an essay about it, but shush, we don't talk about that). You are such a wonderful friend and I feel honoured to have known you for as long as I have. It's been a year as of this session, which is unbelievable! I still remember the first time we spoke and how awed I felt to have been speaking to such a talented writer and amazing person, and that awed feeling has definitely not subsided! You are such an incredible part of SWC and even without being a leader or co-leader, people still look up to you for guidance and advice, (me among them). Writing-wise, you are among the most talented here on scratch, in my opinion, alongside Sun and Star, and I am so lucky to know all three of you and have the privilege of reading your various writing pieces. Thank you wholeheartedly for critiquing my writing competition entry, too, as I feel much more confident with it after you looked over it and pointed out the areas I need to improve in! I'll definitely ask more writing advice from you in the future, it's a miracle that I haven't already before this session. Also, your amazing clues! They puzzle me and make me laugh at the same time – your seemingly endless amount of creativity is outstanding, and the fact that you are able to construct such delicate clues on such short notice astounds me. Even I, who knows the storyline, finds myself puzzling over some clue or another, looking at the quotes you have spread all over the Faire and imagining what the campers must feel. You are a wonderful, stupendous person and you have the ability of making anyone feel good about themselves, which I wish I had myself. All in all, you are an amazing friend and a wonderful person to work with and I hope I get the chance to either co-lead with you or be in your cabin in the future, if you happen to apply as a leader. Thank you for all your compliments and encouragement, you are so cool!

Italian Guild Members: The best Guild! Of course I have to dedicate a couple hundred words to you guys, as you've done so absolutely wonderful this month. It's no surprise that you all have done so fabulously – I never doubted it. Anyway, first I'd like to congratulate Bunni on the most quests completed this session. You did wondrously and 8 quests is so, so many, excellent work! You now have bragging rights so be sure to flaunt that /hj For everyone else who did quests, thank you so much for participating in the storyline we set out! Even one quest shows that you appreciate the time we used brainstorming quests, and that honestly means a lot to me, so thank you. Anyone who duelled, too, amazing work! Again, it shows appreciation for the hard work we put into perfecting our storyline, so thank you! Bunni, Coco, Nyx, Phoenix, Summer, Joanna, Kiki, Mac, Cedar and Ms. Sloth, thank you all for being such wonderful campers! You all wrote so much this session and I'm awed by those who wrote more than 10,000 words, you've contributed so thoroughly to the cabin. Also, to anyone who investigated the mystery of three vanished campers, your investigation was so heart-warming and I loved seeing you delve into every word that Elfie gave as a clue, you are excellent. Congratulations to anyone who got to the top four in the in-cabin leaderboard, and you did awesome, every single one of you, so give yourself a pat on the back, (or any equivalent to that – you could easily treat yourself to your favourite food or an episode of your favourite tv show, you can explain that the celestial goose allows it /j). In a more serious tone, I hope you had a great time in my Guild and I hope you are proud of what you accomplished this July!

Hi-Fi Ren. Faire Members: This is addressed to everyone that was a part of the Hi-Fi Renaissance Faire, whether you were a camper or an honorary or a leader (or simple someone interested in the plot who stalked it, haha). The cabin has been so cool this session, and it is because of all of you! Whether you shared your thoughts or added words, the different aspects of the cabin – the inside jokes or the long to-do lists – made my month, so thank you for contributing to that. I'm going to write a couple of words about each of the members who replied to my comment about the weekly to thank you, but literally everyone who was sorted into Hi-Fi made such a big part of the cabin! The fact that we have stayed steady in the top five throughout basically the entire session, and the added bonus that we have built such a wonderful community in the space of a month astounds me. You have all worked hard and I hope you achieved your goals for the session, whether it was to complete your word goal or meet some new people, or even both! I'm so grateful to have met and interacted with the people I did, and I hope you all had a pleasant experience in our Faire. Without further ado, here are some of my individual notes to the members of the Faire. As much as I'd like to write a hundred words about everyone, I have some things to finish irl and life > swc, even if it is the last day.

Nyx: you've been such a great camper to be around! You've written an incredible amount (more than me, in fact) and the effort you put into your dailies and weeklies has not gone unnoticed. The amount of words and points you've contributed to Hi-Fi with is astounding, and your activity is very much appreciated! You are also super creative and your idea for a dnd campaign would have been such a great thing to pull off – it's a pity we only have a month. Thank you for your hard work! <3

Bunni: you have done so much this session, it is seriously admirable. Through your dailies and weeklies, quests and duels, and the fact that you were the first person and one of the few to rank up just shows your dedication and talking to you is an absolute pleasure. You've been a model camper and your writing is amazing, thank you for doing the dailies, weeklies, adding words and just talking this session, I look forward to speaking to you more in the future! You have incredible potential and you're a wonderful person to talk to, so thank you for your hard work, too. <3

Bakie: Bakie! There's a lot I have to thank you for, so I'm going to keep this individual note as short as I can so I don't end up ranting, haha. Anyway, first of all thank you for being an amazing camper this session, you made July a lot more enjoyable through our conversations and your constant procrastinating (which for some reason I find amusing? It's strange). Thank you for being so considerate and kind, especially during cabin wars and keeping my sanity while writing and editing my writing competition entry. And thank you for critiquing that as well! You are an integral part of SWC and you're a very cool person to talk to additionally, so thank you for that and your hard work! <3

Summer: As you've been an Italian Guild member, I've had the chance to look over your progress this session, and you've done amazing! You've written quite a lot and juggled SWC and school, and your positive attitude makes our cabin a lot more fun and relaxed. Your writing competition entry was wonderful and you're a great person to talk to, and I hope that you had a great session with us in the Faire! I look forward to talking to you more, your hard work is very much appreciated. Thank you <3

Lycka: You've been super active and friendly this session, and you are wonderful to talk to as well – your writing also seems amazing, from the pieces I've read! You have been such a wonderful part of Hi-Fi and it's been a pleasure to communicate with you. You're so positive and nice, and I hope you had a wonderful session with us in the Faire! I've really enjoyed our conversations about music tastes and plants, and I hope we keep in touch after the session is officially over. Thank you for your hard work! <3

Phoenix: As soon as you responded to my invitation to the cabin, I could tell that you were going to be a wonderful camper, and I wasn't mistaken! You've written so much and participated so well this session. Your continual contribution of dailies and weeklies have definitely helped us remain steadily in the top 5, and your positive attitude and cheerfulness make you so fun to talk to! You've done so well this session, you should be proud of yourself and I hope to talk to you more. Thank you for your hard work! <3

Crystie: I haven't talked to you too much this session, and I wish I had, but as far as I can tell, you've been an amazing camper! Your positive comments and work dedicated to Hi-Fi are truly admirable, and I really love your profile aesthetic (although that is totally unrelated, haha). Your contribution is definitely part of the reason why we have been so successful this session, and I hope to talk to you more and see you around SWC after July! Thank you for your contribution to Hi-Fi and I hope you had a great session. Thank you for your hard work <3

Arli + Lio: Of course I have to thank the leaders of Poetry and Script! Arli and Lio, you are both wonderful people and excellent leaders, and I've loved stalking Script and Poetry and watching the development of both those studios! It's been great having Script, Poetry and Hi-Fi as siblings and the alliance has been really helpful, especially during cabin wars! Arli, thanks a lot for all the help during cabin wars and maintaining the friendship between Hi-Fi and Poetry, I appreciate it! I've loved Poetry's theme and all the different projects are amazing and aesthetically pleasing. Lio, I wish I reached out during the session to talk, as I don't know you that well, but Script has turned out wonderfully and you set up the Enduring Siblings' hangout so well! I loved the various activities and the collaborative story, even if I didn't get to partake in it due to a loss of motivation. Thank you both for being such wonderful additions to SWC this session and amazing leaders for your respective cabins!

Cami, Sein, Fae, Mayhem + Piper: I wish I had talked to all of you more, but I do have to say that both Poetry's and Script's matching icons are stunning, firstly. You individually have contributed a lot to each of your cabins, and Script and Poetry have been formidable cabins through and through. I love both colour palettes and each storyline and they all have been very cool cabins to stalk and even cooler cabins to be allies with, so thank you for all your hard work! You all are so kind and have amazing leadership skills, and I hope to see you around in other sessions so we can interact more. You are all so talented, thank you for being the most wonderful allies <3

Enduring Siblings Members: Anyone in Script, Poetry and Hi-Fi, this goes out to you! I loved playing the different games in the library with all of you guys, and I hope you all enjoyed it too! Whether it was ‘Never Have I Ever’ or ‘Twenty Questions’, I loved having the chance to interact with you all in a calm setting separated from the hectic, chaos of SWC. I hope you all enjoyed the sibling-ship between those three cabins (ah, I'm saying ‘hope’ a lot, but I do) and made the most of the collaborative story! You are all so wonderful.

Hosts: Birdi, Robin, Bakie and Sawyer, thank you so much for the hard work you've put into SWC this session. It is has been extremely memorable, in my opinion, and I am so thankful to have such wonderful (co)hosts running the camp. I know that being a host must be a lot of work, but you all managed to make the camp this July run smoothly and efficiently, and you deserve so much appreciation for that. You are all such wonderful, wonderful people and it has been an absolute pleasure to work under you all this session, I hope you guys each had a great July, and have a great August, too. I wish I could put it into words how thankful I am for your hard work and contribution to SWC, but I'll just leave it like this: each of you are such a vital part of the smooth clockwork of this camp, and having you behind the scenes, organising everything, makes me feel so confident in the brilliance of SWC. Thank you!

Daily Team Members: Lio, Zai, Birdi, Robin, Sawyer, Bakie and Zura – wow. You all have done such a fabulous job of writing dailies and weeklies this session. The last weekly, especially. This session, more than ever, have the daily team outdone themselves – the fact that you all coded a game with so many different prompts for the last weekly, while sticking to the theme of among us absolutely astounds me. The dailies were a pleasure to do, rather than a hassle, and I loved writing so many of them, and struggled (but happily) with some others. You've made me grow quite a bit as a writer this session, so I have to thank you all once again for the hard work you've put into this July's dailies and weeklies, which were all uniquely amazing. Thank you!

Leaders: I'm going to write a message to each of you, even if it may be slightly short, because you deserve it. Without each of you, we wouldn't have the amazing 15 cabins we have today, so I'll have to thank you all. This session, more than others, I have been invested in the storylines of other cabins, and you've kept me enraptured and intrigued the entire time! The cabin colours are all amazing, the themes are all amazing, and you are all amazing, so I hope you appreciate that!
Birdi: Birdi! You are so cool for so many reasons – in fact, you are one of the reasons I joined SWC to begin with, as I was so intrigued when I happened upon the March 2021 session and saw your cabin. You're super friendly and an excellent host, daily team member and leader. Thank you for your hard work! <3
Moss: Moss! You have led Myth so, so well this session, I am in awe. Whether it is the way that you inspired them for dailies and weeklies, and writing, in fact, you have been a truly inspirational leader and the Myth Maze has certainly turned out as a success. You are great to talk to and I hope we discuss more books soon!
Soki: We haven't talked too much, but you have been a wonderful leader for Adventure! Your cabin certainly climbed the leaderboard unexpectedly, and I've been following the progress of Adventure for a while – and the storyline is very cool, as well as the theme. You seem really nice and I'd like to talk to you more.
Addie: You have led Non-Fi so well for what I believe is your first session leading? Anyway, you are so talented and cool and I am in awe of your amazing writing. Our conversations make me smile and you've dealt with all the problems that have cropped up this session professionally. Keep being the awesome person you are, thank you! <3
Sun: I've already made a huge compliment for you but you're really awesome and we have a definite advantage because you are in our cabin <3
Lio: Another person I've already complimented and thanked, but your ability through being a leader and a daily team members is admirable, and Script has turned out wonderful, great job! You're super cool and I'd love to get to know you more.
Alyelle: You are so talented as an artist and a writer, and Sci-Fi turned out amazingly! I love the thumbnail and the matching icons, and the theme is certainly very cool. Great job and thank you!
Vi: Fairy Tales has turned out so, so wonderfully! Your thumbnails and storyline have kept me in awe all session, and I can't wait to see what you do in the future, SWC-wise or otherwise. I hope we can talk more eventually, thank you for your hard work! <3
Luna: Although we haven't talked, Neon Horror has turned out amazingly and it's because of you and your co's! Your personality seems very cool and you seem super nice, and I hope we get to talk in the future! Amazing work, and thank you!
Lily: Again, we haven't talked, but Real-Fi has been a great ally to Hi-Fi this session. I hope you're doing alright and we can talk eventually, you seem like a great person!
Arli: I've loved our communications during cabin wars and our conversations, you are such an awesome person and I hope to talk more once July is over! Poetry has turned out so brilliantly and you've put so much work into it, so thank you for your hard work and for being so cool!
Wari: Fan-Fi has been so cool! The thumbnails and matching icons have turned out amazingly and you've led so well for your first time. We definitely should talk soon, you seem really nice!
Luka: You seem like a wonderful person and I hope you enjoyed your session! Dystopian's theme is so wonderful and the thumbnails are so pretty and aesthetically pleasing. I also love your banners, which is random but I have to say it. Hopefully we can talk more soon.
Faer: Mystery's theme and thumbnails have awed me! You're a wonderful part of SWC and your writing is absolutely splendid, I've been looking at previous session's writing competition winners and I stumbled upon one of your pieces and I was so awed. I hope to talk soon! <3
Cae: Last but not least, Cae! Fantasy is lovely and you seem like an amazing person, so I hope we can talk more. I've loved Fantasy's theme, too, so congratulations on having me stalk politely drop in and not commenting for some of the session!

Co-leaders: I was originally planning on dedicating a couple of lines to all of you, but irl life (me procrastinating, actually) got in the way, so instead I'm just going to summarise. You have all worked so hard this session and every word you wrote or idea you planned has made this session as iconic as it is. I've loved getting to know you all and I hope to talk more in the future, so thank you for everything you've done this session! You're such cool people with iconic and wonderful personalities and you deserve being selected as co-leader's, thank you once again!

Campers: I wish I could write an individual thank you note to every person in every cabin, but I'm afraid that my hands would fall off before that would happen, and I'd probably manage to forget someone. But whatever you did to contribute to SWC this session, whether was it a daily, a weekly, or words, was so great <3 You're all such an important part of SWC and I'm sure you did amazingly, so thank you for participating in this session! I hope you enjoyed it.

Everyone else: Anyone that I haven't already mentioned but has contributed to SWC in some way – maybe by being an honorary for a cabin, or by (co)hosting in the past, or any other way that you could help SWC flourish to the wonderful camp it is! You've contributed to the wonderful camp that it is today, with such a friendly and positive attitude. Thank you! <3

And these are my thank-you notes for July SWC, 2022! Thank you once again for all your hard work, no matter your role, you are very cool!

5 reasons @zinnea is awesome! (for the weekly)
1. She is kind to all scratchers and encourages them to try and recreate her projects in their own creative way.
2. She posts tutorial videos on the scratch youtube account that can help scratchers (new or old) learn how to use this site.
3. Her projects are really creative and you can gain inspiration from them to make your own.
4. Thanks to her videos, I learned how to improve my code and make really fun projects.
5. She is really kind and against hate which I find is really important for scratch.
That's all, bye!

task - july 30
words: 939

If SWC were to become a reality, I think it would be on a large plot of land with fifteen sections built around a center main cabin that is the crossroads to get to any other cabin. The main cabin is painted in different colors each session, with different patterns and palettes that make each session unique. The fifteen cabins, when you go clockwise and skip every other cabin, are alphabetically ordered, and each has a cabin for point adding with a door that leads to a larger space outside that the leaders can repurpose to make whatever storyline they want.
For point adding, you fill out a form with a link to your daily/weekly, then give it to the people who are charged with adding points to feed into a machine that will automatically update the points. If a form is filled out incorrectly (such as the camper not mentioning their cabin), the machine will instead display an error message and not add it, giving the camper the time to edit their form.
In the main cabin, there would also be a large leaderboard that displays each cabin’s ranking and a digital display with each daily and weekly, with a countdown until the daily/weekly is changed and a slide that automatically changes for the next daily/weekly when the clock turns to midnight.
Word Wars would have an area of its own where you can work and wait for somebody to come up and war you, with tables that have name cards you can edit to show your cabin, words per minute, and preferred war settings. People can wander through the room and find others with similar settings, like how Word Wars work in the digital SWC, and in the meantime you can still work on your projects while you wait for other people to come by to war you.
Cabin Wars would be similar to how it is right now, but instead of people going to other cabins I think there would be a machine with a set of buttons you can click to select a cabin and a war to war them with. If the war is invalid, it will tell you why the war is invalid and not send the message, but if the war is valid it will send the message to the other cabin for them to complete.
For some of that cabin spirit, instead of matching profile pictures I think there would probably be some sort of accessory such as a matching T-shirt, pin, scarf, hat, bracelet, necklace, earring, or other thing you can wear, depending on what time it is and what materials are available. (I personally am an advocate of pins, though bracelets are a very close second.)
And instead of being an online writing camp, it would likely end up being a camp that ends up becoming a reality show with a budget large enough that it covers all of the leaders’ expenses, letting them bring their cabin-related dreams to life.
As for the cabins, some examples follow.
The Non-fi Press would have a constant buzz of keys being clicked and the whir of printers and photocopiers, with the somehow-magnified smell of a fresh sheet of paper throughout the entire building. The inside of the Press itself is a building that is clean and sterile, with campers sitting in neat cubicles- often with pictures of things related to SWC- as they work. Conveyor belts connect the sections of the Press, sending each article through the entire process to be reviewed and finally added to the next edition of the paper. This far into the session, if you asked a camper what the silence was like they would describe it as comforting. Reporters dig deeper into the strange mystery surrounding the Press, finding new clues by interviewing suspects- though they’re not sure who to trust, they know that their enemy will soon show themself.
The Mythological Maze is filled with mirrors and mist, reflecting the shattered multiverse. Ominous music, courtesy of leaders Robin, Moss, and Re, plays in the background as their campers write, and they would say that it helps them be on alert during Cabin Wars. The thick scent of honey fills the air, and the Maze smells both old and familiar at the same time- there is a clear sense of nostalgia, reflecting the ancient deities that the Maze contains. The Maze itself is made up of four rooms mounted on a rotating disk- at midnight, the Maze rotates to open up a new room, and each section of the Maze uses two rooms (the situation and the ending). In front of the Maze is the only room that seems to stay: the Statues, where a statue of an unknown deity stands covered in moss watches over the Mythians.
The Fan-fi Republic looks peaceful, with a sprawling complex of buildings that houses the Government headquarters. Down below, it isn’t quite that simple. The leaders have created a maze to rival the Maze with a series of tunnels that cross over and intersect, all requiring an access code or some other form of security, and this underground labyrinth is home to the Rebels. And while the Government buildings may be peaceful, filled with the typing of keys and music of all genres mingling to create a somehow-pleasant sound, the Rebels are tense and prepared. Their belongings are already packed, access codes memorized- they won’t be caught off guard, no matter how hard the Government tries. Their seemingly endless game of cat and mouse has one single ending- to work together and fend off a greater threat.

suswc weekly 4

total word count: 2844
PATHS TAKEN: 4-1, 1-2, 5-4, 2-2, 102-3, 3-1, 82-3, 7-6, 6-1, 9-1 | SABOTAGE RESULTS: 2- F, 3- F, 1- S;9- S;8- S;5- S;4- F, 6- S;7- S | ENDING: neutral

writing:

begin a story
It was just a normal day in the quiet town. Birds chirped, the sun shined. Cars hurried to their destinations, carrying flustered humans. Houses sat peacefully in their neighborhoods, and one such house had a young girl inside of about eight. While all the other young children were out playing in the garden, Elle sat in her room. She was fiddling with heavy machinery, smiling when sparks began to fly. Grabbing a welding tool, she adjusted her invention before smiling proudly at her work. Turning the machine on, she grinned as snowflakes began to spiral around the device. An instant snow creator.

chosen one trope
Placing her invention to the side, Elle walked out into the sitting room where her mother was waiting excitedly. “Elle!” Elle’s mother’s shrill voice pierced the air. “You’ve been accepted to Yale!” Excitement flooded through the little girl, and she bounced up and down, snatching the letter. The words of acceptance drilled themselves into Elle’s mind. She was chosen, and was going to Yale!

Elle’s bags were packed and she was on the plane ride to her new university. She unwrapped the letter once more, just to glance at the wonderful shining letters of her acceptance. But when she opened the letter, the words were glowing a strange shade of red.

“You’ve been chosen, little inventor.”

Shards of light whirled around Elle, and the world turned black.

When her eyes opened, Elle realized she was in a strange fantasy world. A.. throne room? An agitated king sat at the throne, surrounded by the members of his court. “Young girl, you were chosen from birth to save our fantasy world with your inventing skills. Will you help us out?”

Elle didn’t know how to respond, so the king continued, “We are under threat from reality, and our world is disappearing. You need to invent a way for us to stay alive! If you refuse, we’ll behead you..”

Now Elle seemed to have no choice ahead of her. “I guess I’ll help.”


incorporate non-fi, real-fi, or hi-fi for 5 minutes

Suddenly, Elle blinked once more and found herself back in the plane. “What was that all about?” she wondered to herself. Shrugging, she left it to her crazy imagination. She probably fell asleep. People on the plane were doing realistic activities, such as eating peanuts, chatting with each other, and complaining about crying babies. It seemed that Elle’s world had gone back to normal. She was still going to Yale!

Elle pulled out her envelope but looked at it in horror. Her acceptance had disappeared, and instead she was being sent back home. The words “Think realistically” appeared on the envelope, and Elle felt a sudden urge to bawl.

She gasped. Her intelligence! She suddenly forgot everything she knew about quantum physics and could barely remember how to add. What was going on to her?


a sense of belonging

Now that her intelligence was gone, Elle felt a strange emptiness inside her. What was this new feeling? Is this what came with being.. normal? Just like all the other eight-year-olds? No, other children often played and smiled. Elle felt like curling into a ball and sleeping forever.

When she had her brains, she never needed anyone else. Her toys and friends were her machines, but now? She couldn’t be alone forever! All Elle wanted was her brains back, or maybe a friend? Suddenly, it hit Elle what her life was missing.

She was missing a sense of belonging. Being alone her whole life must have had a toll on her. If she went back to school now.. Throughout her school years she hadn’t belonged, ever. A sophomore who was six years old? Unheard of! None of the others would talk to her, they were busy being normal high school kids. Would Elle’s life be better if she was just.. normal?

But then she wouldn’t have her machines. Would that make a difference? The other kids her age seemed happy enough without technology and brains. Maybe, if she had just belonged in the crowd.. It was too late for that. She had graduated high school at age eight and now had to live with the consequences. Everyone gets rejected. She was just an eight year old, why would Yale want a child at their university anyway?

flashback

Elle was feeling terrible when the flashback hit her. She gasped as the powerful memories began flooding through her little body.

She could remember her first day of kindergarten, when she was four. Her intelligence had blown away the teachers, and she was bumped up three grades in the span of a week. By the end of the year, she had graduated fifth grade instead of kindergarten.

The next few years were a blur to her. One year of middle school, one of high school. That was all the education she had gotten. Throughout her years there were many students, those who were jealous of her. They would pretend she didn’t exist. There was this one kid.. She shuddered, remembering Kenny. A high school senior, soon to be valedictorian. When she had been chosen instead, Kenny’s fury was indescribable. Once she was walking in the alleyway..

Kenny had surrounded the little girl with his gang mates. “You’ll pay for stealing my thunder.” Elle had been terrified, glancing at the sharp rings and bats facing her. But she knew that her small size was no match for them. Elle went home that day bleeding and broken, with bruises covering her from head to toe.

She hid this incident from her mother somehow, although it took her a while to return to school. While she waited she advanced her studies, diving into rocket science and filling her bedroom with inventions. She returned to school nonchalant, ignoring Kenny’s need of attention.

Why was she remembering this right now? Elle couldn’t recall what had triggered the sudden dive into her past. She was thrown aggressively into another memory. Her cousin, Trina.

Trina was one of the only ones who understood Elle. A 14 year old graduate with a bachelor degree, Trina related to Elle’s giant brain. Trina used to constantly come to Elle’s place, helping her out when she got stuck. The accident had changed all that.

Trina had insisted that she had found a way for her to live, though it was experimental. The doctors refused to attempt it, and Trina’s genius had left the world, along with the support she had provided for Elle.

Wiping the wetness from her eyes, Elle shook herself. Get a grip! Wouldn’t it be funny for a genius kid to be crying on an airplane? Then she remembered she wasn’t a genius anymore.


sudden burst of anxiety

She wasn’t a genius anymore.

Suddenly, the truth began to sink in for Elle. No more chances were left for her! She couldn’t go back to being a normal kid. It would ruin her reputation! Who heard of a genius kid get rejected from Yale and suddenly become normal? She definitely couldn’t go back home and face her mom. She was too proud of her genius daughter. What would Trina have said? Trina would have been incredibly disappointed. Elle would never grow up to finish her cousin’s amazing work. Kenny? He would laugh in her face. Why was Elle such a disappointment?

Elle’s face fell into her sweaty palms, which she picked up. Her thoughts whirled around in her head and her fingers began to shake violently. Something inside her had to explode, and Elle wanted to scream, but she couldn’t make a sound. Tears flowed out of her eyes, so hard she couldn’t see. Is this what it was like to be normal? Do normal kids cry all the time? Am I not special anymore? The wetness seemed to clog Elle’s brain, so much she couldn’t think anymore. All she could think was how much of a failure she was.

This new feeling was worse than the fear she had felt in the alleyway. It was coming from inside of her, and eating her up from the inside. Sweat streamed down her face, and Elle hugged herself, trying to prevent the shaking. A sudden urge to get to her mother overpowered her, and she just wanted her mommy.. Wait! What was she thinking? She was supposed to be genius! The panic stretched around her, grasping Elle in its hold.


prompt from opposite cabin (thriller): “that’s a very salty pickle” in your writing

“Hey, are you okay?” Elle looked up, and through the chaos she made out a face. A kindly old lady was looking at her, concerned. Elle wiped her face and nodded hastily, but the lady was unconvinced.

“Something must be wrong, dear.” The lady was treating Elle like.. a normal kid. “Here, this will make you feel better.” She took out a jar of pickles from her handbag and pulled one out. The pickle juice rolled off the pickle appetizingly. Elle licked her lips at the sight of the pickle, and the lady offered it to her.

Stranger danger flew out the window as Elle accepted the pickle. She took a large bite out of it, chewing slowly. After a few moments, she only had one thing to say. “That’s a very salty pickle.”

The lady laughed. “Well so it is then!” She took out her own pickle and they ate in silence. After a while, Elle felt a tugging in her gut.

Oh no, was she going to vomit? But no projectiles flew out of her mouth, only the sudden urge to explain the chemical formula of the pickle..

“My intelligence!” Elle cried loudly. She looked at the pickle in wonder. “Did this pickle- Did you?”

But the old lady only smiled and vanished, to Elle’s astonishment. Eyes landed on her: passengers glaring at her curiously.

What was happening to her?


subgenre of fantasy: dystopian steampunk fantasy

Another blink and Elle was back in the throne room. This time she took a while to look around. Gears and cogs seemed to be powering all the members of the court, except the king.. He smiled as Elle gasped in horror.

“I see you’ve finally understood. My subjects.. they’re breaking down. You need to fix up my toys!” He began to throw a fit, and Elle backed away hesitantly. “Behead her if she doesn’t obey!” Half of the servants immediately broke down, but the other half were coming at her, and fast. Elle ran as fast as she could, away from all the chaos and disarray. She ran and ran until she broke free of the palace walls. Elle looked around at the strange city, made of gears and bolts. Smoke polluted the air, and Elle began to cough. Ash blackened her face. Was this place.. on fire? No, but it felt like it.

This strange dystopia soon made Elle fall to her knees. The lack of oxygen in her lungs soon reached her eyes, and everything turned black.


daily team member lio - non relevant tangent

Elle couldn’t realize where she was, but suddenly she was stalking her mother’s life. What..? She watched as her mother walked into her elementary school, waving happily at everybody. Secretly, everyone who she passed covered their ears. Even back then, Elle’s mother’s voice was too shrill to listen to. Even her teachers ended up leaving her outside during many of the lessons just to escape her voice. Her mother was too young then to realize what was going on, but middle school was when she was teased.

She was teased so much that eventually she stopped speaking. Teachers went from ignoring her raised hand to begging for her to answer in a heartbeat. Throughout middle and high school she stayed mute, eventually losing her voice.

Then college came and she realized if she wanted to succeed she would have to learn to speak. Slowly she began to use her voice, but only by herself. When she was asked to speak, an overwhelming anxiety flooded her for a few years. Then she met Josephine.

Jo always supported her even though she never spoke. Eventually Elle’s mother became brave enough to speak in front of Jo, and soon she was able to talk again. Slowly she was able to apply for college and jobs, and people more or less ignored her shrill voice.

Now, Elle’s mother spoke too much just as she did in elementary school. But this time, she was proud of her voice.


beekeeping - feature of setting dangerous

Elle woke up from her fever dream on a bed. The pickle lady was looking at her kindly, giving her a smile. “You’re awake! Thankfully.”

Where was she? Elle was about to open her mouth, but the lady hushed her. “Shh, you’re off the plane. We’re at Connecticut, at my home. You passed out. Don’t worry, I’ll take you to your fancy school once you’re all better. You can trust me.”

Elle sighed. Someone she could trust. This lady was super kind to her, and wouldn’t harm her in any way. This setting made her feel safe.

“My- my head hurts,” Elle mumbled. The lady frowned, then picked up a few pills. “Swallow these, my sweet. They’ll make you feel all better.”

As Elle swallowed the pills, her intelligence kicked in and she faintly recognized the poison lacing the pills. However, it was too late to do anything, and Elle watched the lady’s triumphant gaze as she fell back into darkness.


mango trees - dead character is alive

“Elle.”

Elle woke up, recollecting her thoughts. I- the lady with the pickles- I’m supposed to be dead.

She looked around and found herself on another bed. A familiar one. Her mother stood at her bedside, joyfully grasping Elle. “You’re okay!” Elle patted her on the back and asked, “What happened?”

Her mother frowned. “I don’t know. You were delivered at my door, nearly dead, then somebody came in and injected you with something, and now you’re alive!”

Injected? Footsteps approached, and Elle’s mother left as the stranger walked in. The familiar locs bounced as inside walked a person Elle was least expecting to see.

“Trina?”

Trina gave Elle her signature grin, and Elle felt tears streaming down her cheeks. However, all her loneliness had left her. “Trina!” Elle jumped up and leaped into Trina’s arms and the cousins reunited. “Trina! How?”

“My cure. They tried it last minute, they thought I was dead at first,” Trina laughed. “But I survived, and ran away to create more of the cure. And now it came in handy because you’re okay!”

“Don’t you dare ever scare me like that again, you hear, Trina?” Elle murmured through her tears.

“Don’t worry, Ellie. We’re together again.”


leave your story unresolved with 500 words

Suddenly, Trina sat up. Her eyes began to glow a strange color. “Trina?” Elle sat up as well. “What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry, Ellie.” Trina’s voice was now growing to be no more than a whisper. “I tried to make it all better. To hold the house down, you know?”

“No! I don’t know!” Confusion and dread were battling in Elle’s mind. What was happening to her? What was happening to Trina?

“I tried to keep you connected, to solve your nightmares, but it didn’t work.” Tears were now running down Trina’s cheeks, cascading like a waterfall. “I’m sorry, Ellie. Yale, the dystopia, the pickle lady, m-me, your brains.. It was all me.”

“What?” Elle tried to hold on to Trina’s hands, but they whisked away. “Trina-“

“Listen to me. Whatever happens, whatever hardships you end up going through, just remember that I always- that science-”

Trina never finished her sentence as Elle suddenly was thrown around the room. Left and right Elle went, slamming into walls. Eventually, Elle passed out from exhaustion once more.

Elle woke up on her bed, pondering her strange nightmare. There was a machine.. a pickle.. Trina? Elle shrugged. What’s a Trina? Nothing for her to worry about, anyway. Elle rolled out of bed and bounced down the stairs, grabbing a bouncy ball. “I’m going to go play outside!”

Her mother glanced at her weirdly, sadly, even. But Elle was too wrapped up in her newfound excitement to go play outside to notice. “See ya later, Mommy!” Elle bounced out the door, forgetting that anything was even wrong in the first place. She was ready to go catch up with her friends.

Her friends.. Chunks of Elle’s memories of her nightmare were piecing together as she began to toss around the ball. Brains? She was already super duper extra smart! The best in the third grade, in fact. A session of joy seized her and she tossed the ball into the air, cheering for no reason. “I’m gonna grow up to be a pineapple!” she shouted. One of her friends’ moms called everyone for cookies, and Elle excitedly ate half the jar. “Oops-i daisy!” Even her friends were looking at her weird! Probably because of how jealous they were about how amazing Elle was. She paid it no mind as she enjoyed the rest of her day.

When she lay down to sleep that day, however, all her friends’ and families’ faces burned in Elle’s mind. Why did their expressions bother her so much? Why should she even care? Elle shrugged and sat nonchalantly, while in the world of the alive Elle’s family grieved for the intelligent girl they had somehow lost.

sabotages!

5 achievements:

- writing 14k words this month
- winning a writing contest a while ago
- getting into my school play last year
- getting into my school’s advanced math class
- getting into my school’s advanced science class

mini game score: +20
fail

drink water in small sips: complete
mini game score: +61
success!

relax for 15 minutes: complete
mini game score: +6 (ik im a loser lol)
fail lol

read for 10 minutes: complete! ( i read @her_story ‘s amazing memoir! )
mini game score: +50
success

thank three people in swc: @bellevue91 , @-redredrobin- , @honeybreeze complete!
mini game score: +185
success

five reasons i appreciate a scratch team member: completed, @ceebee
1. you’re so respectful and patient with the scratch community!
2. you’re open about your supportiveness towards movements like lgbtq+ and blm
3. you work so hard on the scratch team to bring us awesome projects like these!
4. your art style and projects are so cool!
5. you have an amazing personality!
mini game score: +17
success

do something else creative for 15 min: completed, worked on pfps for another camp
mini game score: +36
success

stop working and relax: completed, looked outside bedroom window for ten minutes
mini game score: +54
success

ten awesome things about my best irl friend
1. she’s supportive of my identity and decisions
2. she recognizes when i’m under stress and helps me out
3. she’s super fun to hang with
4. when i was sick, she always made sure to cheer me up
5. in fact, even when i’m just down she manages to make me feel better
6. she helps me stay motivated and focused
7. she is kind to my siblings and family
8. she’s creative and great to work on projects with
9. she helps me not spend all my money on stationery lmao
10. she’s wife material she’s overall friendly and amazing!
mini game score: +5
fail