325 words

It used to be so easy. Blowing out their embers with whisper of thoughts, snapping strings with scissors with little regret. Watching as the dust picked up along the streets, watching as the graveyard filled ever with deceased. They used to care so little, were ready to move on – they used to know so little, as if I were something to which they belong. They used to be ready, to wait for me with open arms; they used to be ready, knowing that I would bring justice and the innocent no harm.

My name is Hades. Even as I walk among these lonely hallows, this forest of stone where my citizens roam free, ever present is their reminder. I am being watched. From dusk to dawn, security cameras can’t help but bat their eyes, waiting patiently. For what, we’ll never know. Alas, the graves are the one place among this world I am truly free to roam. Where the wind whistles with melodies long forgotten, sharing stories of the past, once whispered long ago, I can finally escape, escape from a world that wishes to shun me, to scorn me, to cast me away.

Just yesterday, I poked my head up from below, watching the humans wandering through their streets alongside those atrocious contraptions– cars? They were tapping away at their little gadgets, as if nothing else mattered, not the person beside them, nor their next door neighbor walking their dog. If they care so little for the present, why not welcome me as their future? Still, they make their way to those ever chilling metal desks, those glowing, beeping machinery awakening to their presence as they sip their dirt-smelling liquids, waiting for something… but clearly, it could never be me.

Perhaps it should be so easy, to blow out their embers with a whisper of thought – but really, can you blame me, if I wish to watch them kindle, to find something worth remembering?

I wake up by a beach, as a fountain of water splutters out of my mouth. I cough, nearly choking all of it out. I wasn't in my usual cosy home, with potato-shaped puffy clouds everywhere, I have somehow swept ashore. I stand up heavily and feel a pounding sensation in my head, which felt as cumbersome as a giant rock. Steadily, I walk towards the valley, where I can see a lush forest of trees. Nothing interesting caught my eye.

Part One

Starting Event

Kira flipped through the spell book. Strange symbols and mysterious-looking diagrams blurred past before becoming lost in the quickly moving pages. “What language is this written in?”

Cate leaned over her shoulder. “It’s an ancient tongue, passed down through the generations of my family. I don’t know the exact name, just that all of our spells are written in it.”

“Can you read it?” Kira asked. She ran her finger along one of the ink-painted characters, which was curled in the shape of a pointed hook.

“Pretty well. My grandmother taught me.” Cate reached out, turning over the brittle old page. “Oh, look! It’s a spell to change the color of your hair.” She grinned. “Gran used this to turn my hair purple for my birthday. For a week, I had a wig more colorful than a vase of violets. That was such fun.”

“Like a magic dye.” Kira smiled. The picture in the spell book showed a young woman with luxurious looking curls - the tips were the same yellowy color as the time-worn page, but a deep inky black was spreading to overtake the rest of her hair. “So cool.”

“I know! Wait - do you want to try it?” Cate tipped her head, that mischievous glint that Kira had grown to know all too well sparkling in her eye.

Word count: 222

Outcome 1

Kira shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know, Cate…”

“Why not?” Cate complained. “It’d be fun. You could have any color you want: violet, scarlet, lemon, hell, even magenta!”

“I just- aren’t we supposed to be working right now? Finding a solution to all of this? The more we fool around, the longer it will take for me to get home.” She didn’t voice her other concern, the possibility that Cate could mess up another spell if given the chance. The young witch had done it once, and she could do it again.

Cate sobered at that. “I suppose you’re right.” She paused, and then a smile lit up her face. “What if we find the right reversal enchantment and figure out how to use it? Would you like to color your hair then, before going home?”

Kira shook her head playfully. “Well, one extra spell can’t hurt, I guess.”

Word count: 148

Outcome 2

Kira hesitated. “It’s not a complicated spell, is it?”

Cate shook her head fervently. “Not at all. It’s one of the most harmless enchantments you could imagine. Very simple to cast, too. I could pull it off with eyes closed, probably.”

“Please keep them open,” Kira said quickly. Then, seeing Cate’s expectant expression, “I guess one little hair dye charm can’t create that much trouble.”

“Yes! This is going to be so much fun!” Cate yanked away the spell book, running her finger down the ingredients list.

“You have cast this spell before, right?” Kira asked.

“Of course I have!” Cate leapt to her feet and ran around the basement, gathering supplies in her arms. She returned carrying a small jar containing a clear, thin liquid, a bit of twine, and a square wooden box. “What color do you want?”

“Um… light brown? Kind of a caramel color.” Kira had always been a little jealous of Sam’s glossy brown curls.

“Not bright green or orange?” Cate sighed. “You really need to be more adventurous.” Still, she opened up the wooden box, which was filled with a multitude of colored vials, and selected one with a caramel colored lid. She reached up and began braiding Kira’s dark hair. “Weaving it into a rope will help it better absorb the dye.” She tied off the braid with a small length of twine, dipped her hands in the clear liquid, and then sprinkled them with powder from inside the caramel vial. Carefully, she laid her fingertips against the tips of Kira’s hair. “Hold still.”

Kira sat rigidly in place. At first, nothing happened. Then she felt a gentle warmth against the back of her neck. She tensed. Behind her, Cate sucked in a breath. “Is it working?” she asked through nervously tightened lips.

“Of course it- ” Cate broke off with a loud curse.

“What?” Kira asked, then hissed in pain as a sudden burning heat scorched the skin beneath her braid. “Oh… Cate, that hurts.”

Cate had already dived for the spell book, and was frantically scouring the page. “I don’t know what went- oh.” She glanced up. “I. Uh. I’m really sorry, Kira.”

“What did you do?” Kira demanded. Her anxiety slowly began to drain, replaced with an emotion more akin to anger.

“I… well. It says here that I was supposed to start the dye at the roots of your hair and let it work its way down. Not the other way around.” Cate chuckled nervously. “It’s an honest mistake, really anyone could have- ”

“Cate, what did you do?”

Cate sighed, then rose to her feet and headed over to one of the supply cupboards. She rummaged around and came back with a delicate-looking hand mirror. Kira took it and held the glass out, craning her head in an attempt to see the back of her hair. A flash of her neck in the reflection almost made her drop the mirror. She steadied it and angled her body for a better look.

The back of her neck was stained with a messy, bleached caramel splotch that vaguely resembled a long braid of hair. It looked like she had the world’s most unnatural sunburn. Or like she’d gone to a tattoo parlor and the tattooist had severely messed up.

Cate grimaced. “I’m really sorry, Kira,” she said again.

Word count: 558

Outcome 3

Kira glanced away, unsure how to answer. She knew what Cate wanted her to say. She also knew that it would be very difficult not to refuse the young witch’s offer; after all that she had been through already, did she really want to give this girl another chance to fumble a spell and ruin her life even further?

“Oh, come on,” Cate begged. “It’ll be fun, I promise!”

Kira nodded. “Maybe. I just…”

Cate frowned questioningly. “What? Do you not want to color your hair? You could do mine instead, if you wanted.”

Kira raised her head. “What?”

“Yes!” Cate looked excited now. “You could try your hand at magic! It’s such a simple spell, too, and you’re a very careful person - there’s no way you could make a mess of it!”

Kira stared, confused. “But I’m not… I’m not a witch. I can’t cast spells, or make potions, or- ”

“You don’t know that! There’s no rule that people born outside of witch families can’t perform magic. None really get the chance to, that’s all.”

Kira hesitated. “I don’t know if I should…”

Cate had already leapt up to collect the supplies for the spell. She rummaged around in the basement cabinets, pulling out and inspecting small jars and boxes. After only a few minutes she returned, carrying an armload of different ingredients. “Tie my hair into a braid.”

“Why?”

“It helps the pigments to sink in.” She tossed Kira a spool of twine. “Fasten it with this.”

Kira glanced down at the string in her hands. Reluctantly, she began to weave Cate’s messy blonde hair into a braid. “Ooh,” the witch girl murmured, already having turned her attention away to a short wooden box that rested in her lap. “I think I’ll use this color… oh wait, this one’s nice too. You know what, I think I prefer that one.” She pulled out a tiny bottle with a rose-colored cap. “That’s a nice shade of scarlet, don’t you think?”

Kira mumbled something that might have been an agreement. She tied off Cate’s braid with a piece of twine - the material was thicker and coarser than she had expected, and it took some effort to break it off from the spool - and sat back stiffly. “What next?”

“Here, dip your hands in this.” Cate held out a glass jar filled with some sort of clear-colored liquid. Kira hesitated, then cautiously did so. “That’ll channel the color into my hair. Now, put some of this on your fingertips.” She nodded toward the rosy vial. “Here, I’ll help.” She picked the little bottle up and dusted Kira’s hands with a light coating of red powder. “Place your fingertips on my hair.”

“Where?”

“Oh, wherever. Wait, actually…” Cate leaned over to inspect the steel book. “Oh. It looks like you’re supposed to start at the roots of my hair and work your way down.”

Kira nodded. Slowly, she lifted her hands toward Cate’s scalp. And stopped. “No. I can’t do this.”

“Yes, you can.” Cate sounded annoyed. “It’s very simple. A small child couldn’t fail at this spell.”

“No,” Kira said more firmly. She got up, located a rag folded on one of the basement shelves, and wiped her hands. “I shouldn’t be doing this. We shouldn’t be doing this. It’s not my job to perform magic. I just need to get home.”

“Come on Kira, lighten up…” Cate trailed off at the look on the other girl’s face. “Oh, fine.” She flipped the lid of the wooden box shut. “Here, help me put these away.”

Word count: 598

Total word count: 1526

Part Two

1. Catherine accidentally summons a girl (Kira) from the future
Catherine, a teenager descended from a long line of witches, is attempting to cast an enchantment from her grandmother’s ancient spell book, which she believes will help her find her father. Her parents are from different time periods (her father the 1950s, and her mother the 1910s). Her mother was killed years ago in a time-travel related accident; her father has not been seen since then, though Cath firmly believes that he is still alive. The spell goes haywire, however, and rather than bring back her father she summons a teenage girl from the year 2020 named Kira. (In Cath’s time, the current year is 1918.)

Word count: 106

2. Catherine and Kira work out what happened
Kira is understandably confused and upset. Cath does her best to explain the spell and how Kira ended up in the past. In order to prove she is a witch, she performs a small charm that causes a flower to bloom in her palm. Kira decides that she must be dreaming; unsure how to convince her otherwise, Cath convinces the 21st century girl that perhaps if she finds a way back to her present time, she will wake up. This might prove to be a bit of a challenge, however, as Cath has no idea how to reverse the spell.

Word count: 100

3. Cath searches for a spell reversal and makes a startling discovery
Frightened of revealing that she cast a dangerously complex spell without permission or supervision, Cath hides Kira in her family’s basement. She then runs upstairs and begins to research time travel enchantments: how they work, how they could go wrong, and how to reverse them. In the margins of a dusty old book on time magic, she discovers a series of scribblings in her mother’s hand. These outline a series of modifications to a conventional time travelers’ spell; if performed successfully, it could have the power to rewrite history. Cath realizes that her mother was planning to alter the past so that their family could have existed together within the same time period; it would be as if they had never been separated by the years at all.

Word count: 128

4. Cath finds that Kira and her grandmother have left
Cath emerges from the family library, excited to share these discoveries with her grandmother. She finds an empty house, and a note, scribble angrily in her grandmother’s handwriting, left on the kitchen table. According to the message, Kira lost her patience, went upstairs, and explained the situation to Cath’s grandmother. The two then pieced together a reversal enchantment and returned to Kira’s time. Cath’s grandmother is furious, and threatens in the note to take away her granddaughter’s magic privileges when she returns home. However, the time gateway that she and Kira opened into 2020 is still open in the basement.

Word count: 100

5. Cath decides to rescue her mother on her own
Cath, confused, betrayed, and terrified of losing her magic, makes her second terrible decision of the day: she will set off into the past using Kira’s portal and rescue her mother herself. She returns to the notes her mother made and deduces that she is likely stranded somewhere in 1900, roughly between the time periods she wanted to join. Using the time travel book for assistance, she makes some slight modifications to the gateway that has already been opened in the basement. This way, it will lead into the past rather than the future. She quickly packs a bag of supplies she thinks may be necessary for the trip (for casting small practical charms that are always useful to have on hand, and for making adjustments to the larger time spell). Finally, she steps through the gateway, unsure what might await on the other side but determined to bring back her mother.

Word count: 152

Total word count: 592

Part Three

Summary

Catherine Arling is on a mission to rescue her mother, who was stranded in time due to a magical mishap twelve years prior. Accompanying her is Kira Fukumoto, a girl from a different time period who through no fault of her own got tangled up in the Arling’s dangerous family drama. In the year 3804, Cath attempts to seek down her mother. Meanwhile, Kira travels to 1918 to try to prevent the magical disaster that caused this whole situation in the first place. Cath discovers that her mother has perished in the future. Kira successfully stops Cath’s mother from casting the spell that would have caused her demise; however, this creates irreversible changes in her present.

Word count: 116

Outline

- Catherine arrives in the future, in a gleaming city of man-made metals that protect people from the sun’s harmful rays. She immediately gets lost.

- Kira arrives in the past. She locates Cath’s mother, about to cast the spell that will banish her to the future, and warns her of what will happen.

- Flashback to Kira and Cath’s first meeting, and the events that led up to them traveling through time. Framed as Kira’s warning to Cath’s mother.

- Catherine finds VR parlor, puts in a search request for her family

- Kira finishes explaining the situation and begs Cath’s mother not to cast the spell. The foolish witch remains unconvinced, believing that she will not mess the spell up now that she has been warned.

- Catherine finds the last remaining descendent of her family line, a witch named Rue Arling. She learns that her mother came to seek refuge with Rue some months before, only to die of a bacteria that the people of the future have been immunized against.

- Reluctantly, Kira agrees to help Cath’s mother cast the time-joining spell. However, she sabotages the ingredients so that the enchantment is entirely ineffective; the magic cannot even begin. The entire source of time-bending thyme is also rendered useless. Cath’s mother cannot cast the spell and is therefore saved. However, Kira mysteriously vanishes.

- An epilogue of sorts, told in the form of a journal entry of a girl from the 21st century. She discusses how she is a descendant of Cath and her family, and has been messing around with time traveling spells. (A new patch of thyme was found fifty years after Kira’s interference.) It is revealed that history was completely rewritten, with Cath never having traveled to the future and having no recollection of such a thing. Kira no longer exists; with the changes in the timeline, the circumstances of her being born were never met. Furthermore, the Arling family has not learned their lesson about tampering with time. Perhaps they never will.

Word count: 334

Total word count: 450

Part Four

The first part of my non-linear timeline

The city was terrifyingly enormous.

Cath didn’t know what she had expected civilization in the future to look like, but no amount of outlandish predictions could have prepared her for this. Great metal walls rose perhaps hundreds of feet high, framing a street paved in some sort of sleek silver material. A great glass dome stretched above, pockets of blue sky shining through its wide transparent panes. Such a staggeringly vast place, and yet at the same time so enclosed; there was no sunlight or fresh air to be found in this endless hallway. Some distance away, a softly whirring machine roved in smooth, controlled circles, spraying some sort of liquid on the ground before mopping it up with a damp rag. It was the most efficient street sweeper Cath had ever seen.

Alright, enough gawking. She’d stood around for long enough; her mother was trapped somewhere in this place, and she was in desperate need of a rescuer. The thought filled Cath with a wild thrum of excitement. She hadn’t seen either of her parents since she was a very small child, scarcely old enough to remember. Now, after years of being told that she never would again, she stood in the very same time period as one of them. So close. And yet she had no idea where to start looking.

Cath mentally slapped herself. In the rush of new discoveries and time travel and sudden, terrifying hope, she had completely overlooked a crucial detail: what she would do once she arrived in the future. She had no map of this place, no indication as to where her mother might be, not even an idea of what to expect of the time period. Kira might have reminded her. But then, the older girl had been too consumed with the plans for her own time jump to pay attention to Cath’s. She probably assumed that I would figure it out on my own. Because who in their right mind would leap nineteen centuries into the future without the slightest scrap of a plan to act on once she arrived?

Well, no matter. She’d figure it out as she went along. Cath excelled at improvisation. Adjusting the strap of her supply bag, she set off down the street, cutting around the sweeper contraption and down an alley. The walls were a bit narrower here, though there was still more than enough space for three people to walk comfortably shoulder to shoulder. A couple turns later and she emerged in a different sort of space, this one evidently designed to look more like the interior of a regular building. Lines of people thronged around a long counter, where they shoved over card-like squares for a row of machines to inspect. They then headed away to a series of tall metal doors, which opened smoothly open and shut every minute or so to let in and out new people. The air was filled with the sounds of human chatter and mechanical whirring; after the unsettling silence of the outer streets, it came as somewhat of a relief.

“Are you going to get in line, or just stand there?” a voice asked from behind.

Cath whipped around. A metal machine about the height of her waist stood less than three feet away, a tiny red light in its upper section blinking inquisitively. “We prefer not to have loiterers taking up space.”

“Did you just… talk?” Cath choked.

The machine emitted a whirring noise vaguely resembling a sigh. “Yes, I am speaking to you. Please get in line, or exit the transport station.”

“Wait. Transport station? I can get transported somewhere?”

“Are you trying to waste my time? If so, I will have to report you,” the metal contraption hummed. “Yes, you may travel instantaneously anywhere you please. In actual reality, not a simulation.”

It was a start. “I’m going to get in line. Um, thank you for your assistance!” Cath ran off to join the crowds of people waiting in front of the counter. She could feel the machine’s red light boring into her back as she stood, hands clasped anxiously in front of her. After what felt like at least an hour, she reached the front of the line. “Identification, please?” the mechanical thing behind the counter droned.

“Um, sorry?”

“Your identification. For boarding the transporter. Would you please pass it over so that I may verify it.”

Cath glanced over at the man beside her, who was taking out a slender card and sliding it over to the machine attending him. Somehow she had completely forgotten that she had no such item with her. “I… lost it. Yesterday. I believe.”

“Then I cannot verify you. As you cannot board the transportation system, please leave the station.”

No! Cath turned to look at the doors which the people with approved identification were entering. One set not far from the counter had just begun to slide open and admit new passengers. If she made a mad sprint for it-

“Please leave the station,” the machine repeated, this time with a bit more force.

“I’m sorry.” Cath bolted away from the counter and towards the opening doors. Pushing aside the woman who had been about to enter, she leapt through and shoved the doors closed. Outside, she could hear the noises of startled people and outraged machinery.

“Please state your destination,” a crisp monotone requested from somewhere above her head.

She was too terrified to try to locate its source. “Somewhere. Anywhere. Far from here, where they won’t catch me.” Where my mother is.

“Very well, then.”

A beam of light shot down from the sealing, pouring over her hair and skin.. In a blinding flash of white, Cath was swept away.

Word count: 958

blackout poetry, using idlol’s intro:

eyes of the immortal,
speck of pure gold –
something noteworthy
to see; hold on to forever
since days of my childhood

(172 words)

Dear Destiny,

From thrones above, I watch as the trickling days sleep through my fingertips, their everlasting hours looping around my hands, each second ticking away with the breath of a mortal. Once, I watched their lilies bloom, delightful blossoms of perfection, a happiness of the untouchable sort. There was always something so pure about their wide-eyed innocence, their hope for a future they could surely never have; a future they held fast to, the string of a kite long lost to the wind, just waiting to soar well beyond their reach. Even as I would later watch their melodies fade to distant echoes of breath, engraved in keys my ever-aging fingers will forever grace, some days I can’t help but wonder, what if we could remember? Remember what it was like. To be children, after all these years – what was it like to be young and joyous, to be idealistic and believe in our dreams?

What was it like to be truly happy, in this world of ours?

Forever yours,
Eternity

LET'S GET STARTED

The blackout poem (taken from Percy Jackson)-
Eyes with old legend
The blessing of a father
Not necessarily useless