Heyo! This is where I’ll be posting all writing for SWC July 2022. I am part of the Adventure cabin this season!

DAILY - 5/7/2022 (478 words)
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away”

“Don’t forget to take your apple sweetie” mum yelled from her office as I grabbed my bag and began rushing towards the door.
“I won’t!” I yelled back, swiping an apple from the batch sitting on the bench and bolted out of the door. I dashed down the street, praying that the bus wouldn’t have left yet. It was normal for me to be a little late to the bus, and our bus driver usually waited, but you never know.
Luckily, the bus was still waiting when I got there.
“I am so sorry,” I said to the bus driver as I got on and slipped into a seat next to my friend Chelsea. She rolled her eyes at me, she never understood how I managed to always be late, without fail.
I pulled the apple out of my pocket and started to take a bite. A tangy citrusy flavour seeped into my mouth and I looked down at it in surprise. Shoot. I had picked up a lemon instead of an apple. This was not good.
“Hey Chelsea,” I asked, “Do you happen to have a spare apple with you?” She looked at me in concern.
“Did you forget to grab one?”
I held up the lemon in answer, offering a meek smile as she sighed.
“I don’t know, let me check my bag” she replied, “This isn’t good you know.”
“I know Chelsea. I know what happens when you don’t eat your apple-a-day, but I just- I thought this was the bag of apples, but apparently not”
She rummaged through her bag, the frown on her face deepening as she looked up at me.
“Nothing”
My head spun and I looked out of the bus window, trying to keep my cool.
“Maya, you do know what will happen if-“
“Yes, Chelsea I know, let’s just… wait until we get to school. They usually have a bag of apples out the front don’t they?”
“Maya- I’m scared. What if he comes? What if… the- the- doctor comes for you” Chelsea looks me in the eyes, and she looks terrified. Every child is taught from a young age what will happen if they don’t have their apple-a-day. The doctor will come for them. He will take them. The last time someone didn’t have their apple-a-day was three years ago. They haven't been heard from since.
The bus pulled into the school parking lot, and I quickly rushed to get off first, running down to the main building. I slowed down as I went into the lobby, there were too many teachers around for me to run anywhere. But the bag of apples wasn’t anywhere to be seen. It wasn’t sitting in the tub where it normally sat, and there wasn’t a single apple in sight.
A hand closed around the back of my throat, and everything went black.

DAILY - 6/7/2022 (594 words)
Based on Pisces horoscope

The school gates stretched up in front of me as I hopped out of my mum's car. I could see students ambling their way into the school, speaking with their friends, and just generally having a good time. I wish I could have such a splendid time here, and actually look forward to coming here each day. My friends were all waiting inside for me, and I can tell you now, they looked miserable - as usual. Most people wouldn’t be able to see the cloud of sadness hanging over the group of five, but as the resident group therapist, it was vivid to me.
I sighed and walked over to them. A few of them perked up a little once they saw me approaching, but the rest were too engulfed in their cloud of sadness to notice anything around them. I smiled tightly.
“Hey guys!” I said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible, “We should probably head to class, don’t you think?”
They nodded mutely and we began walking outside to our classroom.
“Hey Mia,” Sarah asked me on our way, “Do you think I could talk to you about something?”
I repressed my sigh and nodded, smiling thinly.
“Well,” Sarah said, stopping so we could lean against one of the walls as the others walked off, “The other day, my mum said that we might have to move houses. Now, I’m completely fine with moving, but we’ll be moving to a completely different country! My dad got a job offer for a branch of his work in the United States, and mum thinks he should take it because it pays much better - you know we’ve been struggling with money lately. The problem with this is…”
I tried to listen, I really did. But Sarah just had one of those voices, that even when she was expressing her deepest emotions, it was flat. Completely monotone. She just kept droning on and on, and I tried my best not to yawn. I sympathised with her, of course I did, but it was so hard for me, carrying everyone else’s troubles and worries on my back, that I felt I couldn’t work out my own problems. My worries and issues were insignificant compared to everyone else’s, and I had no one to share them with. No one that would listen, or offer advice when needed. I zoned back into what Sarah was saying - I needed to pay close attention if I wanted to get to class on time.
“… and then my brother threw a huge tantrum in the middle of the coffee shop when she told him - he’s not happy about it either. I just don’t understand why he has to take a job all the way across in the U.S - I mean seriously can't he find one anywhere in Australia?”
I took her short pause as a chance to interject.
“Maybe you should try speaking to your mum in a reasonable manner about how you feel? Clearly your brother's way of showing his feelings won’t work. Other than that, though, there isn’t really much that you can do about it.”
Sarah started speaking again, but I quickly walked off.
“We’re going to be late for class! Come on!” I called over my shoulder to her. I had given my advice, and now it was her decision whether or not to listen to it. I walked off to class, and could feel Sarah following me. I knew we would come back to this later, but for now I had done all I could.

WEEKLY - 3/7/2022 - 9/7/2022 (4545 words)
PART ONE (827 words total)

CHARACTER SHEET (146 words)
Character Reference Sheet for Hermione Jean Granger (Harry Potter book/movie series)
Pronouns: She/her
Sexuality: Straight
Species: Witch
Age: Ranges from 11-17 but let's make her 15 in this one cause why not

Strengths: Intelligent, logical, brave, loyal, passionate about standing up for what is right, gifted at magic
Weaknesses: Can be close-minded at times, stubborn, bit of a show-off (although mainly in the earlier books), can hold a grudge

Personality: Very independent, not the most popular person ever but not hated, very smart and spends a lot of time reading, excels in lessons, can be found annoying depending on the person
Relationships:
Parents (names not stated)
Boyfriend (not at this point in time later in the series) Ronald Weasley
Notable friends: Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Ginny Weasley

Tendencies: Whenever she needs to know something will immediately rush to find a book on the subject.

SCENARIO (681 words)
I chose the scenario “your character is face to face with their evil clone and has to convince their friends that they are the real character”. For purposes of staying accurate to the story her family won't be included in this as they are not at Hogwarts

“I promise you guys. It’s me! Hermione.” Hermione cried, looking imploringly towards her friend Ron. After meeting her eyes, he looked away, scanning the clone that stood next to her.
“How do we know we can believe you?” Harry asked, watching her defiantly. She looked desperately at the clone next to her, trying to find some imperfection that would prove her case. The thing standing next to her was a perfect clone, down to the T. It was as if someone had just copy-pasted her and placed them both in the same room.
The clone leaned against the wall, crossing her arms, “Well I mean clearly I’m the real Hermione. If you want real evidence then come to me instead of watching her beg for you to believe her”. Harry and Ron exchanged an uncertain look, and the clone smirked in Hermione’s direction. She clenched her fingers together, praying that Harry and Ron would make the right decision.
Harry looked at them both, before nodding in the direction of the clone. “You’re right”. Hermione glared at them as they both stood up and began to walk over to the clone. Ron smiled at it, “We should have known you were the real Hermione.”

“Wait!” Hermione yelled as they began walking out of the common room, “I can prove that I’m the real Hermione”. Ron raised his eyebrows at her, “Oh yeah? How?” he asked defiantly.
She twisted her hands around together, desperately trying to figure out how to prove herself to them. Why do I even have to prove anything to them, she thought to herself, they will soon realise their mistake anyway. No, she told herself, she had to show them.
“Hogwarts: A History” she said “Page 261. The four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were; Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, Goodrich Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin. The school was founded in the 10th century by these incredible sorcerers. Each of them created a house in their name, and thus established the longest lasting school of magic in England. Each house looked for different qualities in the young students attending the school, and the founders themselves would hand-pick which students belonged in each house, until their eventual passing. This led to what is known as the Sorting Hat, an old and weathered hat which is now used to sort the students into their houses. It will be placed upon the students head and look into their mind, therefore finding their true nature and determining the house they belong in. This is called the Sorting Ceremony, a tradition which occurs at the start of each school year in order to sort all of the new first year students into their houses. Each house corresponds with an element, which is shown in where their common room is placed. Hufflepuff is associated with the element earth, and the common room is placed in the lower levels of the castle. Ravenclaw is associated with the element air - the common room is in the highest tower in the entire castle, and is said to have the best views of all houses. Gryffindor is associated with the element of fire, and is more focused on the fact that they have fireplaces dotted all around their common room, rather than the placement of it. Last of all, Slytherin house is associated with the element of water and is located underneath the black lake, which is why the common room is often rather cold. The house common rooms have different ways to get into them, for example they may have a password that only those in that house know, or some kind of test that only those with the traits of that house would be able to pass” she took a deep breath, “Is that good enough for you?”
Ron was looking at her in astonishment, and Harry, who had managed to find copy of the book somewhere was nodding his head.
“She’s right,” he said, “Word for word, and the only person I know who can do that is Hermione”
Hermione smiled in satisfaction, “Told you.”

PART TWO (956 words total)

SCENE (369 words)
Scene from Sophie’s perspective (358 words)
I went up to my room after everyone had left, my head still ringing after everything that had happened. Grady had come down while they were still around, and he seemed a bit off, although I supposed I couldn’t blame him after everything that had just happened. I walked out of instinct straight to Iggy’s cage, not looking as I knew the path there so well. I felt that I would need some moral support tonight. When I reached the cage, I looked down and my eyes widened slightly. Dex must have been really subtle in sneaking up to change his colours, because I had not noticed at all. He was all different colours this time, green and purple and blue, even with some tiny back tiger stripes across his body. Sitting underneath the cage was an envelope, and I tilted the cage up to reach under and grab it.
To the Mysterious Miss F!
…
Love,
Keefe
I read through the entire letter three times, trying to find the mistake. He wasn’t doing this again. He couldn’t be. Not again. Not when I needed him. I didn’t care about the abilities he had gained, I just wanted my friend to stay.
Forget all about me. It read. I shook my head, “I could never do that” I whispered to myself. Honestly, this boy was going to be the death of me. I really did not know how long it would take for him to realise that leaving us all over and over again instead of dealing with these problems head on was really not the way to deal with it. I did feel bad for him though. I- I understood what he was going through, and I honestly felt kind of betrayed that he hadn’t thought to talk to me about it, because if anyone was going to understand having new and strange abilities, it was me. I sighed and placed the letter back onto the table, backing up and sitting on my bed. If he wasn’t going to give me an explanation, then I would simply have to find him and make him give me one.

Scene from Keefe’s perspective (311 words)
I didn’t know where I was. Of course, I knew that I was somewhere in the Forbidden Cities, but Foster was the one that grew up there, not me. I didn’t know whether or not I should have been regretting the decision I just made. I knew Foster well. I knew she wouldn’t listen to what I asked of her in the letter, but I just prayed that this time, she would see how desperate I was. And I prayed that Grady would stay true to his promise. So I began walking. I didn’t know if they had a way to track my leaping crystal, but I didn’t want to wait and find out. The sooner I got as far away from here, the better.
After a while, I felt my importer begin buzzing from an incoming hail in my pocket. I sighed as I checked it, and sure enough, it was Foster. I slipped it back into my pocket, and ignored it the next three times it buzzed. She clearly wasn’t going to be giving up anytime soon, and I wasn’t sure that my willpower would last that long. So I grabbed it out of my pocket, dropped it onto the leaf-strewn ground, and stomped. The hard material on the bottom of my boots crushed it instantly. If something happened, and they desperately needed to find me, then Grady would be able to. I still couldn’t shake the look of sadness in his eyes as I leaped away. I think she’s going to need you, Grady had said. The memory of Grady admitting that to me, Grady, the one who disliked me to no end, almost convinced me to change my mind. To go back. I shook my head. I couldn’t go back now. It was too dangerous. I cleared my mind and began walking again. I was there now.

PART THREE (1839 words)

I chose to use the characters Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley from Harry Potter. The tropes I am using are friends to lovers, fix-it-fic and hurt/comfort. Also they’re in fifth year.

LUNA
Luna skipped down the stairs away from her dormitory, humming a tune she had made up. Today was going to be a great day, and nothing anyone did would change that-
A group of 6th year Ravenclaw boys were waiting at the bottom of the stairway. The tallest of them was leaning casually against a pillar, and when he saw her coming down, he looked up and smirked at her.
“Well, look who it is, boys. Little Miss Loony” he said, his eyes scanning over her, judging her.
Luna held her chin up and looked him in the eye, “I need to go down to breakfast, if you wouldn’t mind moving” she asked politely.
He smirked at her, “Alright then,” he said, moving to the side and gesturing with his hands for her to go, “There you go”
Luna hesitantly took a step forward, and then, when it appeared that he wasn’t going to do anything, she began walking confidently forward. As she walked past him he shoved her, and she tripped forward, grazing her arm against the sharp corner of a pillar. Her eyes welling with tears, she urged herself to keep on walking.
Luna exited the common room and, once she was a safe distance away, began rubbing her eyes furiously. By the time she reached the great hall, her eyes were dry again, and there was no evidence that she had been crying.
She plonked down at the Gryffindor table, sliding into a seat next to her friend Ginny. The others seemed to be deep in conversation, and Luna tried to listen in and get an understanding of what was going on, but it was very confusing.
“… and that,” Ron said, throwing his toast onto his plate in defiance, “Is why donuts are better than cupcakes!”
Hermione, who was seated next to him, rolled her eyes. She clearly had no interest in Rons long speeches about food, and had a rather thick book laying open on the table in front of her. Harry, who was on the other side of Ron, looked rather bored, although whenever Ron looked towards him during his story, he would quickly push his glasses back up his nose, smile and begin nodding along.
On the other side of Ginny were Fred and George, her older brothers. They were both peering over a large sheet of parchment, muttering to each other. Their business, in which they were selling different prank items to students, seemed to be going quite well, and they had made a lot of money so far.
Ginny, who seemed a bit annoyed that she had listened to Ron's whole rant about donuts and cupcakes for nothing, turned to me and smiled.
“Hey Luna! Are you excited to come stay at the Burrow this Christmas?” she asked, taking another bite of her toast.
“Yeah! It’s going to be so much fun!” I replied, reaching across the table to get the plum jam and butter knife. I spread the jam over a piece of toast and took a bite. I was going to stay at Ginny’s house this Christmas, and I couldn’t wait. It was always so much fun there. Her parents were both lovely, and it was so full of love and happiness that it was impossible to be upset. Although, I admitted to myself, another reason I was so excited to get away from Hogwarts was to get away from the bullies. She was lucky she didn't have to stay at Hogwarts this time.

GINNY
I noticed that Luna seemed a bit preoccupied at breakfast this morning, but I decided not to think too much of it. She was probably fine. You’re just overreacting, I told myself. Luna was often distant, although she had been more so recently.
“Hey Hermione,” I asked, “Did you think Luna was acting a bit odd at breakfast this morning?”
Hermione looked up from packing books into her trunk.
“I’m not sure Ginny, I didn’t really talk to her, she was sitting next to you” she smiled knowingly.
“Uggghh, Hermione, for the last time, I do not like Luna like that!”
“Mhmm” she hummed, “Sure, Ginny. Sure”
I glared at her. “Okay, fine, maybe a little-“
She clapped her hands and smirked at me, “I KNEW it! I bloody well knew it!”
I rolled my eyes at her enthusiasm, my face going beetroot red. It’s not like we had any possibility of becoming a thing, Luna was definitely straight, and even if she wasn’t, I was pretty sure she wouldn’t like me back.
We finished packing out trunks and took them down to the entrance corridor, placing them with the rest of the Gryffindors’, waiting for us to pick them up on our way out after lunch.
Lunch before Christmas hols was always special. The Great Hall was always full of chatter, people loved to discuss what they were doing these hols. It was also like the calm before the storm. Christmas at the Burrow was absolute chaos, and with the amount of guests we would be having this time around, it was sure to be extra loud. I sat down next to Luna, and Hermione looked at me. I stuck my tongue out at her and grabbed a turkey sandwich from the platter sitting in front of us. Luna reached out to grab one as well, and I noticed something.
“Luna!” I exclaimed, “What happened to your hand?”
“Oh!” she quickly pulled her hand back and began fiddling with the bandage, not looking me in the eyes, “It’s fine I just… cut it on something. It’ll be fine though! Cho helped me bandage it”
I noticed she had gotten rather nervous, and wasn’t looking me in the eyes. “Are you sure? Those boys aren’t bothering you again are they?” I asked. She had some trouble with some boys in the year above us last year, but I hadn’t heard anything about them lately so I had assumed they left her alone.
Luna looked at me, “Well…”
I growled under my breath, “I’m going to kill them”
“No- really, Ginny i- it’s fine!” seeing my murderous look, she hastily added, “Look, how about when we get back after the holidays we can tell one of the professors. Does that work?”
“Fine” I agreed reluctantly.
We didn’t speak about it the rest of the meal, but I could tell Luna was still thinking about it.

LUNA
My hand was still hurting a lot, but I didn’t want to say anything around Ginny. I knew she was just trying to make me feel better, and come up with a solution to the problem, but I really didn’t want to worry her. I didn’t want her to think I was weak. Even though I was.
We found an empty carriage to sit in, along with Hermione, Ron and Harry. I had already said thank you to Cho, who would be staying at Hogwarts over Christmas. We began discussing the ball, which would be occurring after the Christmas holidays and we were all very excited. Harry, who had already decided that he wasn’t going with anyone, was very slightly less excited than the rest of us, although I think he was still looking forward to it. Apparently Hermione had asked Ron if he would like to go with her already, as they were going together.
It was only Ginny and I who didn’t have a date yet. Of course, if I had to choose who I would want to go with, it would be Ginny. I had liked her since before we became friends, although there was no chance of us ever getting together. She was straight, I was sure.
“What about you Luna?”
“Huh?” I looked up at Harry, who had asked the question.
“Who would you like to go with?” he repeated patiently.
“Oh!” I could feel a blush creeping onto my face, “I don’t really know, I might not go, I’m not sure.”
Hermione looked at me, then looked next to me at Ginny, then back at me, and smirked. I wondered if she knew I liked Ginny. I might have to ask her when we get to the Burrow, I thought.

It only took a few hours for us to arrive at Kings Cross, and it was a few hours full of fun. We played many games of exploding snap and wizards chess. Ginny had brought snacks, which we were all very grateful for. When we got off the train, we met up with Fred and George and found Mr and Mrs Weasley waiting for us outside. We found a small wizarding cafe nearby, and used their fireplace to floo powder back to the burrow. These holidays were going to be fun.

GINNY
Luna, Hermione and I were sorting our stuff out in my room when Ron knocked at the door.
“Hurry uppp guys! Fred and George want us to help with some of their new prank items!”
“One minute!” I yelled back, stuffing things into my wardrobe. Luna was still sorting through some of the stuff in her bag, I think she was having a bit of difficulty because of her hand.
“Well since I’m done, I’ll go join them while you two finish up” Hermione said. As she shut the door behind her she winked at me and mouthed ‘now’s your chance’. I glanced back at Luna when she left.
I shoved another bunch of clothes into my chest of drawers and then hesitated. I wanted to ask Luna to the ball but… if she said no, that could break the bond between us. But Luna and I had a great friendship, we had known each other for years, and we had such a strong bond between us that I thought it would take more than this to break it.
“Hey Luna,” I started, fidgeting nervously with the sock in my hand, “Um… well, I was just wondering if, well, maybe…” I trailed off. I didn’t know how to ask her, but I had already started, it was too late to go back now. I took a deep breath.
“Well you see, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go to the ball with me” I said quickly, trying not to stumble over my words.
I looked up. A blush was quickly spreading across her face as she looked at me in the eyes.
“Oh, well, yes I would actually. Thank you” she replied as she smiled at me.
I sighed in relief. We stood there awkwardly for a few more moments, before I spoke.
“We should probably go down to the others now - they’ll be wondering what’s taking so long,” she nodded in agreement, and we made our way down to the living room together.
“By the way,” I whispered to her before we opened the door and went in, “Don’t listen to those bullies at school. You’re beautiful and no one can ever change that”
She smiled at me, before we opened the door and went inside.

PART FOUR (923 words)

“Bye mum!” I waved to her as I jumped out of the car, clutching my duffel bag tightly in my right hand. When I had applied for the Writing Camp on the first of June, I had not heard of it before and was slightly dubious to start with, but after doing some extensive research on the camp and reading many articles by people who had attended, I became very excited. It seemed like such a fun experience, and a great way to meet other aspiring writers from all over the world. It had been a dream of mine since I was very young to one day become an author. Both my parents and I agreed that this would be a great way for me to improve my writing skills even more. I was so excited to meet everyone else here. It was going to be an absolute dream come true to spend a whole month camping out and writing stories with people who share the same passions as me. When I got the phone call the week before saying that I had been accepted, I almost screamed in excitement. They didn’t have lots of room at the camping ground, so I felt very honoured to have been accepted. I was introduced to Soki, who would be leading the Adventure cabin, in which I was a part of, along with our co-leaders, who were busy making their own phone calls to different campers.
There were tents set up all along the riverbank, leading down to one huge tent at the end with a huge sign out the front saying ‘Main Cabin!”. I gazed around in awe for a few moments before someone bumped into me.
“Oh! Sorry,” she said, bending down to pick up her bag, which she had dropped, before straightening and extending a hand in greeting, “Hi! I’m Iris!” she looked around with the same awestruck look I had been wearing moments before, “Are you lost?”
“Yeah, sorry, this is my first time here” I replied, “I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.”
“Well, usually we head to the main cabin to start off with,” she said, pointing down towards it, “I’ve been here twice before, so I kind of know what to do.”
“Sounds like a good place to start. I’m Star by the way” I smiled at her.
“Nice to meet you Star,” she said as we began walking down to the main cabin, “Which cabin are you in?”
“I’m in Adventure!” I replied enthusiastically, “What about you?”
“Script,” she said with an excited look on her face, “Did you know, Script’s actually a new cabin? They used to have a contemporary cabin but they just changed it to Script this session!”
“Oh cool!” I said, “I didn’t know that”
We pulled back the flap covering the entrance to the main cabin, and I was hit by a torrent of noise. There were campers all throughout the cabin. Most were standing in groups together, although I could see a few of them standing on their own.
“Hi!” someone greeted us as we walked in, “I’m Birdi, the host for this month's camp! And you are?”
“I’m Iris, and this is Star,” Iris said, introducing the two of us.
“Nice to meet you two! Iris, I think I’ve seen you around before, you know where to go right?” she nodded in way of an answer and grinned at me as she walked over to a group of people standing by a table, “Star, you must be new? Great, we love introducing new campers!” She walked me over to a group of two sitting down near the entrance.
“These guys are Misu and Aurora. Misu and Aurora, this is Star, and this is her first time here. If you guys could explain what’s going on here, that would be great!” she said, and when they nodded she went and resumed her place by the door.

“Hey!” the one called Aurora said, smiling at me gently, “I’m Aurora, as Birdi already mentioned. I know this can be quite overwhelming first time around, so I’ll try my best to explain what’s going on,” she laughed, “Basically, at the moment we’re just waiting for everyone to arrive. We have about two more minutes left until the day officially starts, and we’ll all head off to our cabins.”
“Don’t worry,” Misu said, seeing the look of panic on my face, “They’ll get us all into our cabin groups first, and our leaders will show us how to get there and explain all the rules of the cabin.”
“Yeah,” Aurora continued, “If you have any questions at all throughout camp, go to your cabin leaders, they’ll be able to help”
A loud whistle sounded throughout the tent, and the three of us turned to watch. Birdi and a bunch of other people were standing up at the front of the tent.
“Right!” Birdi said, “Welcome to the Writing Camp! We are now going to read out your names, and when you are called out, come stand with your leaders, who will have their hands in the air.”
She then went on to list a bunch of names. When she called my name, I made my way over to three girls who had their hands raised high in the air.
“Hi Star,” the first girl greeted me, “I’m Soki! Welcome to the Adventure cabin!”
As I shook hands with her, I smiled. I had a feeling I was going to enjoy it here. Quite a lot.

Word War - 7/7/2022 (244 words) Outcome: Lost

I walked down the long moonlit street, my dagger swinging from my waist. My boots were loud against the cobble road, considering how quiet it was all around. I had a mission to do tonight, and I wasn’t going to let anyone stop me. A movement in the shadows caught my attention, and I quickly twisted my head around to look at it. I tensed as I noticed a human-like figure moving around nearby, but then sighed in relief when my partner Jay stepped out and held his hands up in a move of peace.
“You scared me” I said, continuing down the track, Jay falling into line directly next to me.
“He’s got men following you, I thought you should know”
“I already did”
The men following me thought that they were being discreet, but being one of the most highly trained assassins in the entire city meant that it was difficult to track me without being noticed. It was honestly kind of sad that they thought that they could get away with this. That they thought they could take me. Although, I suppose one doesn’t take a fourteen year old female to look especially dangerous, even if they do have an in-depth understanding of their history.
I checked to make sure that all of my weapons were still safely in place, before walking briskly into the centre of town with Jay. These guys were going down. At the hands of a girl.

Word War - 7/7/2022 (171 words) Outcome: Won

I dashed through the streets, tucking the stolen piece of bread under my worn denim jacket. It didn't provide much protection, as there were rips all through it from living in the streets, but it was better than nothing. I ducked down a side ally, hoping the guards would get confused and I would lose them. Apparently though, luck was not on my side today, as they found me and kept on following me with much too much ease. They didn't understand. I needed this food. We needed this food. To survive. My mum was losing more and more of her life to cancer each day, and if we didnt get her treatment soon, we would be left alone to be sent to an orphanage. The door to a cafe swung open as a young couple stepped out, so I took the opportunity and ran in. The door closed in the faces of the guards, giving me a few precious seconds ahead of them. I breathed in deeply, gasping for breath.

DAILY - 16/7/2022 (626 words)

Meditrina ran over to the woods, determined not to turn back. Her Ma had always warned her to stay away from the woods, but even though she believed her, she was determined to prove herself to Everleigh. She stood on the other side of the wire fence, watching Meditrina with a curious expression on her face. She was wondering what Meditrina was going to do, and if she was brave enough to go into the woods.
Meditrina looked behind her and saw Everleigh watching her. Far from what Everleigh was intending, the expression on her face just made her more determined to go forth. She was sick of being teased every time she set foot into the street, tired of having trash being thrown at her whenever she walked into the market. If she could only get so far into the woods, and find Everleigh’s bracelet that she had put there.
Inside the woods it was dark, even though the sun was out outside, the leafy canopy blocked out most of the sunlight. There were roots sticking out all through the misshapen path, so Meditrina was careful not to walk too quickly and to make sure she was watching where she was walking, so as not to trip over. There wasn’t a particular path, at least not a path like Everleigh had described, but there was a trail where it was clear many people had walked on before.
After walking for a few more minutes, Meditrina noticed a glint among the greenery, and leant down to take a closer look, hoping that this was the bracelet Everleigh had told her to get, so that she could get out of there as fast as possible. She pulled it out with a sigh of relief, it was Everleigh’s bracelet, she could leave now! As she turned around to begin making her way out, she frowned in confusion. The path had disappeared, gone completely. Meditrina’s Ma had told her that the woods were tricky, and that it was easy to get lost - a contributing factor to why she shouldn’t go in there - but she hadn’t realised that there was magick involved.
Not knowing what else to do, Meditrina began making her way back in what she thought the direction of her home was. After a few hours of wandering aimlessly through the woods, she found the path again. She had just turned around, deciding that she was going to try a different way, when she dropped the bracelet. She didn’t understand why she still needed to look after it, but she leant down to pick it up anyway. And that’s when she noticed the path there.
Sighing, because she now knew the tricks of the woods, she began following the path. After a few minutes, as though she was in the exact same spot as when the path had disappeared, she re-emerged. Everleigh was still standing next to the fence, as though hours hadn’t passed, the sun was still at the same spot in the sky, even though it should have been night by then.
She ran over to Everleigh, who looked up in distaste.
“Oh, you’ve already given up,” she sniffed, “I knew you were a wimp, but I did expect you to last a bit longer than… What has it been? About two minutes, I think”
Meditrina looked at her in confusion.
“But… I’ve been in there for hours. And I found your bracelet. Here,” She held out the silver bracelet, which was still shining in the sunlight.
Everleigh rolled her eyes.
“Don’t be dramatic,” She spat on the ground in front of Meditrina, “And I didn’t even lose a bracelet in there, witch's child”.
And with that, she turned on her heel and ran back home.

WEEKLY - 10/7/2022 - 16/7/2022 (2650 words)

PART ONE (819 words)
Fake crime about all the stories of swc being stolen.

Early this morning, a shocking crime was brought into light. A young Fairy Tales camper awoke early with the intent to start on their writing competition entry, only to find that all of her stories had gone. Completely erased from her computer's memory. She quickly alerted her leader, only for them to discover that all of swc’s stories had disappeared.
At 10am that morning, Birdi - the host of swc - called a very important meeting with all of the leaders and co-leaders. Below we have attached the audio recording of said meeting.
BIRDI: Alright, so, most of you will be aware of why this meeting is taking place. A very terrible crime has occurred and we need to get to the bottom of it. Vi, would you like to fill everyone in on what happened?
VI: Right. This morning one of my campers woke me up to some very tragic news. All of their writing had been erased from their computer.
*sound of other leaders gasping*
VI: After checking and confirming that her stories were indeed not there, I logged into my own computer and found that none of my writing was there either! I checked with the other leaders of Fairy Tales, and none of our writing was saved. We couldn’t find any of our campers’ writing either.
BIRDI: Many of you will have also noticed that yours and your campers' writing is no longer saved on your computers. This is a serious issue, and one we need to fix immediately. Has anyone seen anything that may help the case?
ARLI: I think I might have.
BIRDI: Go on, Arli. Any information is helpful.
ARLI: Okay. Basically, last night one of my campers was up pretty late working on the weekly, so I stayed up with them to help, because I’m and awesome leader *laughs*
Anyway, it got to about quarter to twelve and we were just wrapping it up, when we heard a noise outside the tent. I stuck my head out to see what it was, and I saw this person wandering around.
BIRDI: Where were they? And could you see what they looked like?
ARLI: Right, so you know how the poetry cabin is right near the main data panel? *everyone nods*
ARLI: Well, they were creeping around near there. I couldn’t really see what they looked like because it was so late, but some of the light was coming off the control panel and they were definitely a male. I caught a quick look of their face but they bolted when they saw me and I couldn’t quite see where they went after that. I stood out at the front of our tent for about five minutes after that and when they didn’t come back I kind of just assumed that they left so I went back to bed.
BIRDI: Right, so from this information we can assume that they stole all of the files from the main database. Addie, as leader of the non-fi press you’re the one in control of the database, is there a way to get the files back?
ADDIE: There is actually. If we head over there now, then we should be able to recover them safely.
BIRDI: Right, let’s head over now.
After this conversation, we have learnt from Birdi that the rest of the leaders followed Addie over to the database and they were just in time to recover all of the lousy files, much to the relief of all participants and leaders. They then went back to the meeting room and continued, which we will attach the audio recording of below once again.
BIRDI: Well done Addie. I’m so glad we were able to recover the writing in time. Crisis averted!
FAE: We still need to make sure that that person doesn’t come back and steal it all again.
BIRDI: Right, Fae, good point. We’ll contact the police department and ask them to keep a look out for us. In the meantime, we’ll have leaders patrolling the database and set up security cameras.
ADDIE: I can add some extra security to the database if needed to make the files more secure.
BIRDI: That’d be great Addie! Thanks a bunch. We really got the best group of leaders this session.
We ask anyone who may have information about this figure to please come forward to the police department. It is very important that we catch this person before they sabotage the local Scratch Writing Camp again. It must also be noted that they have very good hacking skills and would be able to steal other valuable information using it.
Thank you for reading through this article. We must once again ask you to come forward with any information if you have it. Remember, any information is better than no information and even if you don't think it will be helpful, it may help us to find the suspect

PART TWO (802 words)
Book review of Pages and Co

The book Pages & Co by Anna James is by far one of my favourite books. “What’s your favourite book?” is one of the hardest questions for a bookworm to answer, but when I think about it, it is definitely this book. Pages & Co: Tilly and the Bookwanderers is the first book in a series, the other current books including; Tilly and the Lost Fairy Tales, Tilly and the Map of Stories, and The Book Smugglers. There are two more books planned to be released, making it a six book series. This book is perfect for almost anyone.
It follows the story of Matilda Pages, who lives in a bookshop with her grandparents. But soon strange things start happening - Tilly is seeing characters from her favourite books around the shop. She soon discovers that she has the rare ability to travel into books. Her newfound ability might even be able to solve the mystery of what happened to her mother eleven years ago, but there are people trying to stop her from getting that information.
One amazing thing about this series is that you could just read the first book as a standalone. When I first read it, I didn’t realise that there were going to be more books in the series, but I was thrilled to discover that there were going to be more books. It ends in a way where you can go away from it satisfied. There are a couple of loose ends, but they are fixed up in the next book. So basically, you could read just the first one, and if you didn't enjoy it, you wouldn’t feel the need to read the next three. The first one is personally my favourite book in the series, making it the one to read. The series can be enjoyed by lots of different people, which I will be discussing next.
It has been listed as dyslexic friendly, meaning even people who have trouble reading because of dyslexia will find it easier to enjoy. There are beautiful black and white illustrations scattered through the pages to help give you a clearer picture of what is going on. Pages & Co may look like a long book, but it really is not a super lengthy read. I would recommend it for ages 9 and up, because that's the age I started reading it at, but I am now 13 and it is still my favourite book, so don’t be put off by it just because younger people enjoy it too.
It has a colourful cast of characters and is very diverse. Pages & Co is definitely my comfort book. It is so familiar to me that whenever I am having a bad time or just need to read something cosy, I will instantly come and pick it up. You know that dream scene of being curled up by a crackling fire on a cool winter day with a nice hot cup of cocoa? That is this book. It has this warm and cosy feeling to it that is just so comforting. I like to describe books like this as “Hot Chocolate Books” and Pages & Co is at the top of that list.
If you enjoyed reading The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer, or Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, then you would probably love this book. It has similar themes of travelling into books, and includes a lot of classic stories.
Going along with Tilly on her adventures is her friend Oskar. It is so refreshing to have a male and female friendship without romance being involved. They have such a nice friendship and the way that the characters interact is so well-written and believable. It involves a lot of interaction with made-up characters that don’t belong to Anna James, but to other stories - like Anne of Green Gables, Alice in Wonderland etc - and the author has done such and amazing job of staying true to the character voices of those characters, and making sure that they do not stray too much from what they are like in the original story. Although there are some new ideas and insight shown towards those stories, it still stays true to the essence of the story, and doesn’t completely ruin the experience if you choose to re-read those other books. You don't have to know those other stories to understand what is going on in Pages & Co, which I think is very well done by the author.
All in all, it is a well-written book for all ages. I can guarantee that you won't regret giving it a try, and even though it probably isn't the right book for everyone, I haven't met anyone that's absolutely hated it. Thank you for reading this book review and I hope this encourages you to go and give it a try.

PART THREE (511 words)
Advice columm

Should children be allowed to read heavy gore? - Echo
A lot of people would say no to this question, but it really depends on the child and their age. If you’re talking about a child younger than 10 then I would definitely say no. If we’re speaking of an 11 or 12 year old, then it really depends how mature the child is. If they are one of those kids that knows nothing about the world and can't handle violence then it wouldn’t be recommended for them to read it. If they are pretty mature and have read some gory scenes before without reacting too much, then it would probably be okay, but that is really up to the parent. For children 13+ then I think that it should be okay. After all, we are talking about reading, and it's the kind of thing where it really depends how messed up their imagination is. Of course, if they are not ready then they should not read it, but as long as it isn't too inappropriate then they should be fine.

HELP I THINK EVERYONE HAS GONE CRAZY! How can I stop them from talking about mangoes? - Emma
The simplest answer to this question is - you don’t. Mangoes are the best fruit and they shall someday rule the world so we should bow down to them. It is impossible to get us to stop talking about mangoes. The easiest way for you to stop hearing about mangoes is to cut ties with everyone in your life- no not really. Just ask people why they talk about mangoes so much and if you would like them to stop then simply ask them. Thank you for the question Emma.

Is the ability to match songs to books normal? - Echo
Uhhhhh yes! I mean or we’re both weird. But sometimes there’s just that perfect song that seems like it’s literally made for that book specifically. I also have songs that give me vibes of just random things like ‘Oh yes this song makes me think of teapots’. So in answer to your question, yes! I would say that this is a normal skill, or at least a normal skill for most bookworms and avid book readers.

Any book or movie recommendations? - Shine
This is my area of expertise. Thank you for letting me pass on these books and movies to other people - books first! Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger is a fantasy series about elves with different abilities. Pages and Co by Anna James is a series about a girl that can travel into books. The Other Alice by Michelle Harrison is a book about what happens when someones characters are coming out of their stories. Movies. Basically any Marvel movie ever but some of my favourites include Black Widow, Captain Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy. Beauty and the Beast, Harry Potter, Mulan, Wonder Woman 1984. Please remember to check the age ratings and trigger warnings for these books and movies before reading and watching them. Thank you for your question

PART FOUR (518 words)
Horoscope readings

Sagittarius: Today you will come across someone who will change your life for the better. They may not like you very much but you will come away from the conversation with more insight into a subject. Avoid the colour yellow as much as possible today, and try to help others as much as possible, you never know who you might meet.
Aquarius: Well done, you’ll get through today and have a relatively good time. Remember to pay attention to how much you share with others, you are prone to over sharing and if you give away too much to a certain person then they will know much more about you than you feel comfortable with.
Capricorn: Be careful when walking out your front door this morning, someone might throw a fridge at you. The way that Saturn is aligned with the sun shows that you are not going to have a very good month, but don't let that stop you from enjoying today! Be careful though.
Aries: It is highly likely that you will be hit by a lawnmower while reading at the library. It won't be life threatening, just might result in a broken toe. Maybe you'll see Capricorn at the hospital.
Libra: Don't worry, today will be very peaceful. Remember to take time for yourself, even if you feel pressured to always be around your friends. You are a human being too and deserve just as much care as everyone else.
Virgo: Be careful of suspicious strangers on your morning walk, someone might throw their bowler hat at you and then it turns out that there is a savage cat in the bowler hat and you get attacked. It might not necessarily happen, but be prepared just in case.
Scorpio. Try to restrain yourself from attacking that one person who accidentally bumps into you today. They don't mean any harm. But today may be the day where you actually make a friend! Good luck with that
Taurus: Look, I know you just want to spend the whole day in bed watching netflix, but it might be a good idea for you to actually accept one of those party invites and go out to socialise with people. It'll do you some good.
Pisces: Try not to make your friends hate you and you should be pretty good. Just go on being a nice human being.
Gemini: Try to be more kind to your friends today, otherwise they will follow up on that threat to throw a toaster at you. Look out for flying toasters in general, they are made of metal and that would really hurt.
Leo: Try to check in with your friends, they may be going through a hard time without you noticing. I know you think you don't need anyone in your life, but not everything's about you and you need to spend more time with others.
Cancer: Just, try not to injure yourself. You know that you're everyone in the friendship groups' favourite and you have a tendency to fall over mango skin a lot so, try to look out for mangoes today.

DAILY - 18/7/2022 (627 words)

Two young writers were wandering through the wild woods, looking for a place to pitch their tent for the night. It had been voted upon that for this session of SWC the campers would spread off in groups of two or three and find their own place to sleep each night, before heading back to the main campground in the morning. Hansel of the adventure cabin and Gretel of the fantasy cabin had both decided to share a tent with each other - they were good friends and it was permitted because their cabins were allies. The sky was slowly darkening and the two girls wanted to find a good place to sleep soon, the woods were said to be hard to move about during the dark. Hansel, being the smarter of the two, had come up with a clever plan to scatter bread crumbs along the route that they took so that it would be easier for them to get back to camp in the morning.
As they walked further into the woods, a delicious smell seemed to be coming from a small clearing up ahead. Thinking that there might be other campers there, Gretel suggested that they should go check it out to see if there was a spot for their tent. Not having any better ideas, Hansel agreed. They neared the clearing and discovered not other tents, but a whole house. Hansel was instantly suspicious. She noticed that the house resembled a gingerbread house very much, and even appeared to be made of gingerbread and other candies. But before Hansel could utter her doubts, Gretel had happily skipped over and knocked on the door. It seemed after a few seconds that no one was going to answer, and Hansel took a breath of relief and walked over to Gretel, but as she neared the door swung open.
An old woman was standing in the frame of the doorway. She was rather short and skinny, with spindly legs and an old cloak on. The light of Hansel's torch shining upon her seemed to momentarily blind the old woman, as she staggered backwards and blinked rapidly. Hansel quickly flashed the torch away from her, making sure there was still enough light to see what was going on. The old woman, being able to see again, looked in confusion at the two girls, before smirking as she took in Gretel, who was almost inside the house in her excitement at seeing someone out here. Before Hansel could react, the woman grabbed Gretel by the arm and dragged her inside, slamming the door behind them.
Hansel gasped. Immediately she began looking for a way into the house, and came across an open window. The old woman - who Hansel now realised to be a witch - had Gretel tied up in her kitchen as she stirred something in a boiling pot.
“You’re going to go very well with the herbs I picked earlier,” she said, stirring the pot more aggressively.
Hansel stared in shock. The witch was planning to eat Gretel. She wouldn’t stand by and let this terrible act of cannibalism occur. As the witch grabbed Gretel and started dragging her towards the heated oven, Hansel busted through the side of the wall, crashing easily through the crumbling gingerbread.
“Get your filthy hands off her!” she yelled, kicking the witch in the back of the shins. She buckled over and dropped Gretel. Hansel scooped her up off the ground.
“Quick! We need to get back to the campground” Gretel cried, stumbling over a tree root as she tried to catch up with Hansel.
They ran back to the campground as quickly as possible to tell the leaders what had happened. It wouldn’t be safe for anyone in the woods tonight.

DAILY - 19/7/2022 (512 words)
((TW - homophobia))

I ran.
“Wait!” Matilda yelled, grabbing my shoulder.
I spun around, tripping over my own feet and having to grab onto her shoulders in order to stay upright.
“What?” I spat, trying to balance myself without relying on her to keep me steady.
She looked at me imploringly.
“Look, I- I didn’t mean to upset you then. I should have defended you. I was just- being stupid.” she muttered something else under her breath after that which sounded a lot like “as I always am” but I couldn't be fully certain.
Earlier in the day, while Matilda and I were just hanging out with our other friends, another group of girls came over. They were the stereotypical “popular kids”, with their crop tops and their Frank Green drink bottles. As soon as they sat down with us I knew there was going to be some trouble.
“Sooo…” one of the girls said, smirking at us, “We heard a rumour from someone before that one of you… isn't normal”
“Huh?” our friend Clarissa had said - none of us had any idea what they were talking about, “What do you mean?”
“What I mean, is that one of you isn’t like the rest of us. You’re a homosexual. A female who feels attraction to other females”
We all looked at each other after that. If this was even true, it was the first we were hearing of it. Or, it was the first everyone else was hearing of it. I knew that I liked other girls, but the only person I had told was Matilda and I knew she wouldn’t dob on me.
“Heard a rumour, or started it?” Matilda asked, which I thought was a very good point.
Before they could answer, we all got up and left, walking away so that they couldn't speak to us anymore. The other girls were discussing the conversation as we walked.
“I bet it’s Matilda,” Clarissa said.
“Oh, yeah totally,” the others agreed.
Matilda looked terrified at this comment and to be honest I couldn't blame her. It’s bad enough being closeted and accused, but how awkward would it be to be thought that you are gay when you aren’t?
“Oh yeah it’s totally her,” Tahlia said, also noticing the petrified look on her face. I rolled my eyes.
Clarissa, noticing this, then said, “No actually, I reckon Mia,” she gestured towards me. I tried to remain calm and looked to Matilda for help, but she was avoiding my gaze.
“I- It’s not me I-” I stuttered, trying to think of something on the spot.
“Hah! Is it seriously you? I can't believe we didn’t notice.” Tahlia looked me up and down, “I can’t believe we had someone like you sitting with us.”
Tears welled in my eyes and I stormed off.

I came back to the present. I was still disappointed that Matilda hadn’t backed me up, but I had an inkling as to why she looked as terrified as me, and that gave me some sympathy. It also meant I might have a chance.

WRITING FOR CRITIQUE

You have to kill the princess.
My mothers’ words echoed around in my head for a few moments before I fully began to take in what she had said. I had yet another task ahead of me, and this would most likely be the most difficult yet. I bowed my head.
‘Yes mother,’ I answered, ‘Is there any particular way I should be going about this task?’
‘You will leave for the castle tomorrow,’ she said, pausing to make sure I was paying close attention, ‘Disguised as the princess’s new personal maid, you will get close to her and then, once you receive my signal, take her out’
I swallowed, then nodded, ‘Yes mother’
Those seemed to be the only words coming out of my mouth nowadays. “Yes mother”, “Of course mother”, “Thank you mother”. What had happened to me. All of those younger years I had spent being a disappointment and disobeying my mother had gone to waste. I was now just what I was born to be – a puppet. That was all I was and all I would ever be.
I stumbled up the rest of the decaying wooden staircase, my hands curling and uncurling into fists. I could not appear weak in front of my mother. I was strong. I was a witch for god’s sake, it would simply be an embarrassment to my mother if I was queasy about death. The door to my tiny room slid shut silently behind me. I had long ago cast a spell on it so that everything in my room was silent – too much noise stressed me out as a young child.
My bed made no sound as I slumped down on it in defeat. I had long ago accepted that if I wanted to survive, I would need to be who I wasn’t. This task would be especially hard for me. I hadn’t been asked by mother to take the life of another human being in six years. I was ten.

⛧⛧⛧

I was lost. Not physically, but mentally. I had no idea what I was doing here. Of course, my job was to make the move and take the life of Marina Fisher, the local baker – I knew that – but I had absolutely no idea how to go about it. At just ten years old, I had not yet had such a difficult task, and although the prospect of failing and disappointing my mother terrified me, the thought of killing another human being, of making their heart stop permanently, scared me almost as much.

Please excuse me if my transitions seem to be missing a few words, I have comments in my google doc with all the notes I've had and I am now adding them in.
First of all, here are some things I need to say off the bat: indents are needed. Make sure to put indents between each paragraph or piece of dialogue. Also, if you can replace the word “mother” with a name, then capitalize it. If you can't, then keep it lowercase. Another tip is to use quotation marks like this “ instead of ‘ (ahhh I don’t know where to put the period). Finally, if you can replace the word ”mother“ with a name, it should be capitalized, if you can't, then it should be lowercase. Now onto the more specifics.
”My mothers’ words echoed…“ Unless it is two Moms, it should be ”Mother's.“
”‘Yes mother,’ I answered,“ There should be a period after the word ‘answered.’
”…make sure I was paying close attention,“ Same deal as last time, there should be a period after ‘attention.’
”…take her out’“ There should be a period after out, the sentence is finished, isn't it?
”I swallowed, then nodded," There should be a period after nodded, you should only put a comma after/before words like said, exclaimed, remarked, etc.
“‘Yes mother’” This also needs a period after it, it is after all a complete sentence.
““Yes mother”, “Of course mother”, “Thank you mother”.” These should be italicized instead of in quotation marks. If they were to be in quotation marks, though, you would put the punctuation inside of the quotation marks.
Finally, in the cases of “…I was born to be – a puppet.” and “…was silent – too much noise…” replace the hyphens with commas.
I hope the critiques helped you, keep on writing, your writing is phenomenal, there were just a few minor mistakes. (314 words)

DAILY - 28/7/2022 (323 words)
Hyping up the horror cabin (enemy)

I am here today to convince everyone reading that indeed, Horror is the best cabin. The Horror Arcade has recently been changed into what is known to the campers as “The Mirrorverse”. The fact that the campers and non-evil leaders are able to bounce back from this terrible tragedy shows their true dedication to writing and to this camp. Being a group of fantastic writers, they have done so much towards their cabin, being extremely successful in cabin wars, weekly’s, and daily’s. Not taking the cabin into consideration, the entire genre of horror is fantastic. There are so many sub-genres that can be taken from the overall branch of “horror” - paranormal is, to name one. Horror is one of those genres of writing that can be mixed with almost any other genres, it’s flexible like that.
Horror is such an underrated cabin. They have been floating around the middle area of the leaderboard, and while there is attention paid to the very top and very bottom cabins, the ones in between are often left unrecognised. They are currently at the very middle of the leaderboard with seven cabins above them and seven cabins below them. Horror’s point count at the time of me writing this is 171550. From whenever I’ve interacted or seen others interacting with members of the horror, they all seem so nice and friendly. There is all of this drama up at the top between the top three cabins, while horror is just chilling in the middle, going unnoticed even with all of their achievements. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them won the writing competition and bumped up their cabin quite a few places - they are all such brilliant writers that I am honestly expecting it at this point. Don’t get the wrong idea here, all of the cabins are brilliant, but I think that Horror is especially so, and am drawing attention to that in this piece.

DAILY - 30/7/2022 (434 words)
Once in a blue moon

The festival of the blue moon is tonight, and I am so excited. We don’t get to have these very often, only once every three or so years, every time there’s a blue moon. But this year will be special. My mother, being the “King” of our tribe, will be making a special announcement. One that could change the lives of all on our island forever.
I have heard that in other places in this world, there is a phrase, a special kind called an “idiom”. My mother had used one of these ways of speech to inspire the festival of the blue moon, which we celebrate “once in a blue moon”. The blue moon does have cultural significance to us, but those from other places would not understand, and so we use that phrase as a way of explanation.
The streets are lined with shining fairy lights, strung up between all of the houses. I gaze in awe at the beautiful decorations and costumes that people have put so much effort into. Although I have been to a few of these festivals before, they never cease to amaze me. People are dancing to the music being played by the band, sitting with their friends around small campfires that had been set up. There are local dancers teaching children how to do the dances they do, and all in all, it is very fun, full of music and laughter.
I push past the crowd and make my way to the stage, my mother standing up on it, microphone to her mouth.
“Hello everyone!” she yells into the mic, making herself heard above the raucous crowd. “As you may all know, I have had plans to make a very big announcement to you all. Many of you have been fearing something bad, but I can assure you that the news I have for you is only good.”
The crowd sighed as a collective group in relief. They had all been very worried leading up to this announcement.
“Some of you will remember a few years ago, when we sent a messenger across the sea to find more materials. Well, yesterday, he returned.”
“Don’t worry!” she adds, seeing people exchange glances. “He is alive, fully intact, and still the same as always. He met a really nice community over there who, once hearing his dilemma, helped him get materials and get back to our island.”
The crowd cheers. Everyone is so happy that he has returned. It isn’t exactly the news everyone was expecting, but it is so much better than that.
My father has returned.