(I claimed “At the park, the kitten swatted at the falling feather, feeling like a queen as she jauntily twisted and turned in the air, loving every moment of her exercise, as she had been lying around lazily for most of the busy work day.” by @EvaEvergreen.)

The little black kitten tumbled out the cat door, blinking at the wide summer sky above her. The late afternoon sun glowed warmly on the kitten’s pelt as she pranced across the backyard and shimmied under the fence into the park.
She had been sleeping all day while her human was away at work. Now, she was wide awake, and they still weren’t home to play with her! She realized she would simply have to find her own fun. In the park, there were all manner of curious things she could explore.
Maybe there would be a cool bug to hunt, or a leaf she could bat at with her tiny paws. She wasn’t strong enough to jump up into the trees yet, but she could clamber onto their roots and pretend she was tall.
Once she had pulled herself out from under the fence, she sniffed at the air, ears perked up. She couldn’t smell or hear any humans nearby, which was fine by her. Her own human was okay, but others could be loud and annoying. Sometimes they’d pet her fur the wrong way! Or they could bring dogs with them. The kitten’s whiskers quivered. She didn’t like dogs at all.
Thankfully, the park was quiet. The whole place was hers alone! She scampered across the grass, relishing the feel of the air as she zoomed around.
A movement at the foot of a nearby tree caught her eye. A bird! Though she knew she was far too small to have a chance at catching it, she dropped into a crouch anyway. It was fun to pretend! Her tail curled up happily. With a pounce, she hurled her small body towards the bird, who squawked and took flight before she even got close.
She watched it flutter up into the tree. A single feather drifted down, evidently having sprung loose during the bird’s escape. As it fell, the kitten leapt up to swat at it. She jumped as high as she could, knocking it higher into the air.
Soon, she forgot all about the bird. This was way more entertaining! It was a soft, downy feather, easily caught by air currents. The faint breeze whisked it to and fro, and the kitten followed, vaulting into the air, twisting and turning along with it. At that moment, she felt like she was queen of the whole world. No feather could escape her!
However, like all things do, her fun came to an end when the feather blew off into the street. The kitten was young, but she knew better than to venture where the huge zooming cars raced by. In any case, she was out of breath. She must have been playing for quite a while, as the sun was sinking low in the sky. Her human would be home soon!
Scurrying back under the fence, she returned to her own home, happy as a kitten can be.

In Spring’s Warmth, Winter Thaws
word count - 877 words

—denial: early spring
Unfair endings to a story never told.
From the ashes rise the Dead,
Anew and for what?

Flurries of white banks melted
as the days went on. Trickling along the
driveways, only to be lost in another wasteland.
Beauty. Why does all beauty come to an end?

Yet still, frost-filled air lingered in the moment,
Nothing a warm embrace couldn’t fix.
A wishful spirit carries on, but as real
As it seems, the words never carry through
The wind.

Instead, lost in the blooming fields
of flowers and foes, we waged war for what
We thought was the last time.

Though if we knew that time was ticking,
The clock was running, that the world was
Against Us.

Maybe then, the tears we shed wouldn’t
Have been in vain.

—anger: fool’s spring

Across the barren lands, the Sun
Never fails to rise. Shining its light down
Upon Us, and sharing its warmth once more.

From the hidden cracks, weeds seep in,
Cutting off what we thought was
Our chance for a fresh start.

And when the gray clouds formed again,
Lucious with innocence, yet dark and dreary.
Death’s Final Call is what others would call it,
A reminder that nothing good
Ever lasts for eternity.

With its golden streaks across the sky,
Painting an image ever so filled with lies.
A grip so cold, so harsh and fine,
The icy waves of despair
shine down on the crystal tears.

So when the birds came flying back,
Flocks just up above.
I hadn’t for a moment though that this,
was not true Love.

“Only time will tell” is what people would say,
But how can I go without that
Guarantee. The blooms lost to frost,
As the winter edges on: a final goodbye.
And like that, you’re lost to the wind.

—bargaining: blossoming

Maybe it was a dream, the time has come:
The sun is shining bright across the horizon.
With its light gleaming it brings hope,
I know we’ll meet again.

A few steps down the stoney creek,
If only I had held you back.
One wrong step across the thin ice,
Down one went, drowning for their life.

If all the world’s time turners could
Flash back the sun, could take a step back
And stop. Stop and give me another chance.

As the blossoms sprout, tulips budding,
Birds chirping- the cycle begins, the one
We know all too well.

In your room, the glass windows opened,
Light seeps in and so does warmth.
It should have been me, the one to bare
Winter’s icy grasp. Yet here you are,
Scavenging the ground for any sign of life,
When you yourself are muttering that last
Breath.

—depression: april showers

An enchanted song fills the chambers,
Growing by seconds. Until everything
Succumbs to its painful melody
And withers from the bitter tears.

Just like piercing Death, the walls that I’ve built.
To protect me from the outside storm that is
On a path of destruction.

Shades of gray - not black nor white are what
Cloud my mind as I see my imagination
Come to life. Here once again, the blankets
of white ice were melting. Maybe things
Were changing? (false hopes)

The fine strands of grass, ever so green,
Reminded me of Home. Somewhere that
I was never alone. Somewhere where I
Felt like living to see the sun rise the next day.

And yet, the sky wept gentle tears,
Despite the storms that had come before.
While the skies might’ve seemed clear
To everyone else. Mine were gone,
Shattered into fragile pieces that would
Never be whole again.

To live another day was to feel
The penetrating pain of the guilt within.
For not longing, not trying, and above all,
Succumbing to the storm itself.

When the plants needed shelter,
Why did I halt? When the signs were
There, why did I ignore them?

When you needed me most,
I simply gave up. Covered in the
Stormy weather or downpour,
Drowning in what was worse than
A nightmare.

Isolation, that’s what it was.

—acceptance: rebirth

And now when the breeze passes
Through the ruffle of tulips outfront.
The black-eyed susan, our flower,
Blossoms just as well.

Though the occasional storm hits,
Bitter tears flow with the memories
That flood black. Both good and bad,
But what does that even mean?

It is not, when the sun rises across
The horizon. That I see that things
Have happened just as they were meant
To be.

Just like a cycle of spring brings
Caution and joy, our cycle of life
Is of nothing but adventure.

Creating that worth, the one worth
longing for. To spark new possibilities,
of what can become and what is to be.

So although you may be long gone,
a spirit that melted, in the scorching sun.
Your branches stood tall, wearing it all,
until the storm caught up and left in a sprawl.

You will be mine, I will be yours,
through all my life, you’ll continue to
Blossom. So let me go, you’ll be just fine.

So let me go, you’ll be just fine.
One more time, just one last time.

I’ll let you go. But I’ll never forget
That you were once mine
Before the storm began.
Goodbye.

Author’s note: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/808229/?page=37#post-8473129

weekly 4: grand finale ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚
word count: 2594 / 2150

(i did all the prompts and they're all seperated but i was to lazy to label them </3)
(also too lazy to make the formatting pretty)

Amelie sighed, staring at herself in the mirror. It was the one-year anniversary of her mother’s death, and she couldn’t help but regret everything that had happened prior. She couldn’t stop her thoughts from tearing through her brain whenever she thought of her mother, looking at Amelie helplessly, her fingers slipping off the edge of the pebbled rocks. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that it was her fault, that she should have hurled herself off the mountain instead of her mother. She couldn’t help but feel that it should have been her trying to save her brother, not her mother. She blamed herself, and she blamed her brother– for being clumsy enough to even put them in that situation. She knew it was an unwelcome thought, and she shoved it to the back of her mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about it, though. That it was all his fault. She couldn’t let go, not when she blamed herself. Her father kept telling her to leave it behind, that it would all be easier if they pretended like it never happened– but Amelie never could. How could she? She couldn’t let go, pretend, that her mother never existed, that there wasn’t some kind of tragic accident.
She walked out of the house, ignoring her father and brother. She couldn’t bear to look at them, not today. They had told her to skip school, her brother was– but she couldn’t stand thinking about it any longer. She’d much rather just pretend as if everything was fine, that’s what she’d always done. Her friends met her on their path to school, walking silently with their eyes trained on the ground. They knew what today was the anniversary of. A whirring sounded above them, and Amelie’s friends glanced up to look at it. It was a drone, and it had Amelie’s teddy bear hanging from it. Her head snapped back to the house. It was her brother, she was sure of it– she would kll him. How dare he pull these pranks today? But it wasn’t her brother outside the house. It was her… uncle? He smiled at her, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. She hadn’t seen him in five years, and her mother had sworn her family away from him. He lifted his hands, and the drone flew back to him. It was probably motion controlled, Amelie decided. That was all. But it wasn’t, it never was.

“Amelie?” Fran asked quietly. “Do you know those men?” A group of men, dressed in dark cloaks, marched toward them, hands tucked inside their capes.
“No,” she whispered. She had seen them before, in her dreams. “No, I do– run. Run.” Her friends glanced at each other, then back at Amelie.
“What?” Elisa asked, glancing at Fran.
“Run,” Amelie said, and without another word, she sprinted across the street. She was clutching her necklace, the opal pendant that her mother had given her.
The men behind her glanced at each other, nodding with unspoken words. One raised his hands, swirling them through the air, and suddenly, her friends were encapsulated in a force field.
“Amelie?” Elisa called, her voice wavering. “What’s happening?”
Amelie shook her head frantically, running back to them. “Don’t touch–”
But it was too late, and Elisa had brushed the tip of her finger against the energy field, the blue power crackling against her. She collapsed, falling into Fran’s arms. Fran yelled something, but this time it was muffled by the force field.
“Amelie,” her uncle greeted, striding up to her. The man behind him still had his arms in the air, upholding the energy. “I do hope you know the meaning of this.”
She stumbled, her back hitting the streetlamp behind her. “Don’t come near me. I know why you’re here. Go away.” She tried to sound strong, but she didn’t, and she knew it.

Her mind was racing, and her phone pinged. She reached for it, and then looked back up, mouth open as if she was going to say something, but her uncle was gone. She looked at the messages. Unknown number. ‘Don’t interfere.’ It read. ‘It’s been one year, and we must take what’s rightfully ours. Do not come after us, or else your friends and family will suffer.’ She glanced back up, panicked, and realized her friends weren’t there, either. She ran to her house, swinging the door open. It slammed against the wall, the whole house shivering. “Dad? Henry?” She yelled. No response. They had disappeared, too. “Oh, God,” Amelie whimpered, head whipping back around to look outside. She heard footsteps, and she jumped out the door. Maybe they were just coming back from the mailboxes down the street. But it wasn’t her family, it was… Evan. He was always late to school, and she realized why. He lived near her, but always left later than her.

He must have seen the look of panic on her face, because he rushed inside and grabbed her shoulders.
“Woah, woah, Lia, what’s wrong?”
“Don’t call me Lia,” she grumbled, the phrase she repeated to him everyday. But then her mind cleared, and focused again. “M- my father and brother– they disappeared.”
“Are you sure they didn’t just walk to school?” His brows furrowed. He was looking at her like she didn’t get enough sleep, like she was crazy, the way everyone had been looking at her every day since the incident.
“I need to think,” she hissed, shrugging his hands off her shoulders. She paced back and forth in the foyer, looking at the ceiling. It suddenly clicked.
“You’re going to think I’m crazy, but listen closely.”
He began to say something, but she stopped him and put her hand up.
“Listen.”
He nodded, running a hand through his hair.
“My uncle has superpowers.”
He burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. “Oh, Lia, you need to get some sleep.”
Her face went red. “I can prove it. Well, I can’t– but you’ll see. Please. Trust me.”
He raised an eyebrow, but waited for her to continue.
“He visited me when I was younger, and I never liked him. He was really scary. And he was talking to my mom in the kitchen, the same day as…” Her voice broke. “Today. But three years ago.” Not the day her mother died, she wanted to add. But the day itself had enough significance. “And he threatened her, I think. He said something, and I couldn’t hear, but… she looked really scared. And he did something. She floated up into the air, until her face turned purple, and then he let her down. And she nodded.” She blurted this all out, like even she couldn’t believe it. Like she had thought it was a dream the whole time.

“Amelie,” a voice chided. Her head whipped around. “Amelie…”
“Who’s there?” she demanded, frantically looking around.
“Right here,” the voice giggled, and Amelie looked back at Evan. There was a girl, about her age, with one hand floating behind Evan’s neck. She noticed then that there was some kind of dynamic, metallic fluid around his neck, shifting to reflect in the light. It looked like liquid metal. It looked like the gold of Amelie’s necklace, and her hand immediately flew to her neck to check if it was still there. It was, and there was a pulsing feeling emitting from it. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror, and the opal was… glowing. She ignored it, though. It was probably a trick of the light.
“Let go of him,” Amelie whispered. Evan looked thoroughly terrified, his mouth shut tight, as if he would perish if he spoke one word.
“Why should I?” The girl smiled, swirling her finger around in the air. The metal danced around his neck, forming shapes like a chain, then the same necklace that Amelie was wearing. “You know, I think I’ll keep him,” she decided, backing out of the house.
“Stop!” Amelie yelled, and the opal glowed brighter. She threw her hand out, as if that would stop the girl, and it did. The girl floated into the air, a galaxy of iridescent sparks circling around her, like the pattern of an opal. The metal around Evan’s neck fell to the ground, breaking into little droplets. They made a ding sound as they fell, bouncing off the carpet.

The energy floating around the girl had stopped almost as immediately as it had appeared, and the girl fell to the ground with a thud. She scurried back to her feet, shaking her head in fear. She ran out of the house then, and Amelie gaped at the place where the power was. She was still clutching the necklace tight, and the glowing had subsided.
“Oh,” Evan said softly, his hands rubbing his neck where the metal was. It was red, as if it burned him.
“Are you okay?” Amelie rushed over to him, grabbing his shoulders.
“Fine. Just… concerned. Why aren’t you… worried?” He stammered.
“I honestly don’t know,” she sighed. “I gotta go, though. I know where.”
Evan raised an eyebrow, but shrugged. “I’m coming with.”
Amelie resisted the urge to laugh. “You… can’t. No?”
“Why not? I’m not letting you go on this dangerous quest by yourself.”
“You don’t have… magic?” She sounded ridiculous.
“Watch,” he grinned. He ran into the kitchen, grabbing a magnet from the fridge, and held it to the ground where the metal was. It picked up all the droplets. He reached for a ring that the girl had dropped, tugging it on to his pinky. He raised his hand, and the droplets jumped together, forming the same liquidy metal that the girl had wielded. The magnet separated, the metal also joining the puddle.
“Now I do,” he said triumphantly. “I was watching her hands, and her rings glowed like your necklace did. Whoever’s related to all of this seems to really like jewelry.”
Amelie gawked at him.

“You still shouldn’t come,” she started, but he cut her off, his fingers dancing in the air. The metal followed, and the puddle separated, making letters. It spelled out, ‘Too dad!’
He frowned. “That was supposed to say ‘too bad.’”
She sighed. “Why are you like this?”
“Amazing? It takes a lot of work,” he grinned, walking out the door. He formed the metal into a sphere, compressing it and shoving it into his pocket. “Don’t be a wimp. Get out of yoru comfort zone!” He did a little boogie. “Let’s go.”
She blinked a few times, following him with a sigh.
She led them down the street, staring at the ground the whole time.
“What’s wrong now?” He asked, playing with the metal in front of him.
“Oh, nothing. Just my friends are k!dnapd3d and my uncle might be behind it,” she grumbled. “Oh, and my necklace is magical, and the ring you’re wearing is… also magical, and now my world is upside down, and apparently, you don’t seem to care.”
“Gee, Lia, can’t you ever have any fun?”
She stared at him, eyes raking over the burn marks on his neck. His hand went to his neck, covering them up.
“I see your point,” he said quietly. “But I can’t let you go on your own, can I?”

They made it to her aunt’s house after a few minutes. They had been walking in complete silence, Evan trying to cheer her up with floating metal ducks and elephants. Amelie knocked on the door, and her aunt opened it almost immediately, as if she was expecting them. She pulled them inside, grabbing their arms. Amelie almost yelped, scared that it wasn’t her aunt, but she looked up and saw the familiar face.
“Aunt Jen,” she sighed happily, wrapping her arms around her aunt.
“No time,” her aunt huffed, pulling them down into the basement. “I know what’s happening, don’t bother explaining…” she was mumbling to herself, spinning her bracelet around her wrist.
The basement was like a full-on batcave situation. There were walls with jewelry hanging on them, organized so neatly, and all kinds of cloaks and outfits. Evan was following silently, gawking at all the things.
Her aunt pulled her into the middle of the room, grabbing a few things, still mumbling to herself. “Okay, dear, close your eyes,” she muttered. Amelie obeyed, and when she opened them, she looked at the wall-covering mirror. Her hair was cut to shoulder length. It used to be so long, almost to her elbows. “That hair of yours.” Her aunt shook her head. “Always in the way. It has to be short now, dear. I’m sorry.”

“Uncle Sam, he…”
“I know,” Aunt Jen said softly. “I’m queen of sandcastles he destroys, believe it or not. I should have known it was a matter of time before he…” Her voice trailed off. “There was a litany of reasons why. I know I’m just repeating myself… Because I knew too much, there was danger in the heat of my touch. He’s going to destroy everything.”
Amelie smiled weakly. “What do I do?”
“You know what you have to do. Save your friends and family. And just say when… I’ll play again, Amelie. I’ll help, but… there’s only so much I can do. It’s Sam, after all.”
Amelie nodded, clutching her necklace. She looked at her aunt, the bracelet on her wrist sparkling in the dim light. “What’s your ability?” She asked quietly.
“Pyrokinetics,” her aunt answered, as if she had been asked this a million times. She probably had, Amelie realized. There was so much she didn’t know, but her aunt went through all of it.

“Show me?” Amelie asked. Evan was still standing a few paces behind them, watching.
Her aunt nodded, lifting her hands. Fire danced across her fingers, and she shot orbs of fire into the air, juggling them. “Enough. Put these on, and get out of here,” her aunt mumbled, grabbing two black bodysuits from the wall. “Fireproof. Waterproof. And can deflect most swords.”
She threw one of them across the room to Evan, who caught it with ease. He grinned. She sorted through the jewelry, and tossed Amelie a ring. It was opal, too. Nothing for Evan, though. He didn’t need one, Amelie decided– she wouldn’t let him fight anyway. But then her aunt took another gold ring, throwing it to Evan. He slid it on his finger.
“Practice one time,” her aunt said. “Lift me up into the air.”
Amelie glanced back at Evan, then nodded slowly. She lifted her hands, and tried to focus, but she couldn’t lift her aunt up. She dropped her arms to her sides in disappointment.
“Try again,” she pressed.
And so she did, but her aunt floated barely off the ground.
Her aunt gave her a look, but shook her head. “It’s– it’s fine. It’ll come to you in battle.” She sounded like she was convincing herself more than Amelie. “Go.”

Evan had already zippered on his bodysuit, and was looking at his ring-clad fingers. He was smiling softly. Amelie looked at him.
“Ready?”
“Oh, I sure am,” he laughed, and threw his hands out. All the metal in the room bent to his will, coming to form a cage around Aunt Jen.
Amelie stumbled backwards, shaking her head. Aunt Jen was already working to melt the metal with fire, but it was no use– he just reformed the bars she melted.
“Don’t do this,” Amelie said, her voice shaky.
“But there’s so many rings and powers here… I can’t think of a better decision.”

problem-solving

Kai’isha sat across from me, her hands in her lap. Her hair, the color of some strange rare flower, was tied into two ponytails, purple strands flying out when she moved her head. Kai was the effortless sort of cool, the kind of girl everyone had wanted to be around.
“Alright, so what’s the plan?” she said, dark eyes sparkling beneath her choppy bangs. “If we really think about it, we can find a way to figure this out.”
I nodded, pursing my lips. I didn’t have any ideas. Clearly, neither did anyone else. “Maybe… we could do a… no, that wouldn’t work. Hmm….”
Everyone was silent. It was clear no one had any ideas about what to do about our falling numbers.
“Do we care about how much people like us or just how many people know?” Mak asked after several minutes of agonizing silence.
Kai blinked, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingertips. “Ideally, people won’t hate us afterwards.” She sounded annoyed.

magical item

“Hmm…,” Mak said finally, “maybe we could use the notebook?”
I raised an eyebrow, turning to Mak with my best ‘what are thinking’ face.
Vexal looked equally confused. “How is that gonna help? Sure, we could write better music, but we need a POP to it or let’s be real, no one cares.”
“Besides, none of its suggestions are even any good,” Deverelle said. “If I wanted to write a bad song, I would just write it myself.”
I nodded my agreement with the group. “Yeah. Nothing it's given us has turned out well.”
Mak scoffed. “Fine. What are your ideas?”
I pulled out my phone, looking for inspiration—- well, really I was just scrolling. But maybe I could find something motivating. “Hey, here’s an idea.” I flipped my phone around to show the group the picture of a fog- covered woods, lights shining through it like a lighthouse. “We should try something like this.”
Kai cocked an eyebrow. “What part of ‘we need something unique’ do you guys not understand?”
“There’s no need to be rude, Kai,” Vexal said. “It’s as good a suggestion as any.”
None of us were getting anywhere. We were sitting in a circle on the floor of Kai’isha’s room, each of us dressed completely differently. Vexal was dressed to the nines, surprising no one. She had a white cardigan pulled over a red cherry stem tank top, heavy sunglasses balanced on her nose. They had white rims, blending into her skin. Kai was wearing a large black T-shirt, the neckline cut off or stretched out so far she could wear it around her shoulders. It had a worn out guitar graphic on the front, a dark red miniskirt across her thighs.
“Hey, we should go to the pool.” The suggestion came from me. My house was in a colder neighboorhood, and we didn’t have a pool like Kai’s family. Kai’s family was richer than us anyway.
“We’re busy.”
I rolled my eyes, trying to bite back how hurt I was that everything I said was ignored. Mak was across from me, her hair in long dark braids. She was the prettiest of us, with full eyes and a easygoing sort of style. Shame she was so unwillingly to commit herself to any cause. She was dressed in a dakr grey sports top, the shoulders pulled dwon to match Kai’s outfit. She had a pair of purple eyeglasses perched on her head, matching a purple handbag she carried everywhere. Dev looked cooler than any of the rest of us, with a black halter top made of some sort of plastic leather. Her hair was dark red and hung over her shoulders like a ghost, but like a really cool ghost. It was perfectly straightened, some strands falling in her face like she had just stepped inside from a windy day. I was dressed like any other girl on the street, cargo pants and a dark blue T-shirt with a star embroidered on the front.
I always got the impression I was never liked by the group.

changing appearance

I leaned back in my chair, throwing my hair out of its disaster of an updo. It was short, and a dark, bright blue, cascading in strange, ugly waves around my neck and face. I examined my face in the mirror hanging above my desk, catching the light of my eyes in my reflection. Brown. Not like Dev’s, whose eyes seemed almost red in the right light, or like Kai’s, whose were so much more full of life than mine. They were just a boring shade of regular brown, and up until this point I had never particularly disliked my appearance. But I felt so mediocre compared to everyone else in the grop.
Fine.
We could make a change. I deserved to feel good about myself, and besides, no one would care unless it made a negative impression with our audience.
I wandered into my grand bathroom, rifling through the drawers for something I could use. I wasn’t particularly well versed with beauty tools, but how wrong could it go?

Very wrong. I had cut strange bangs into my hair, the blue color creating a harsh contrast with my face. Before, I had looked like a butterfly.
Now I looked like I was crazy. Just like–
No. I couldn’t be thinking about her right now. The guilt was already too acidic, too harsh, corroding my soul.
There was no time to think of what she could do to me now.

something dangerous

The woods were cold, lonely, and entirely unafriad of me. Who would be afraid, though? I was a small person, standing just fix feet and six inches and I, was entirely afraid of the woods. They stood tall, tall and unceramonious but with a certain grandeur that nothing else could mimic. Dark shapes stood out against the trees, words and faces forming where there weren’t any. Where there couldnt be any.
I felt like i was going crazy. Like i was on the run. Like it wasnt too late to trun back.
But it was.
I think we all knew that, in some sort of way.
I had come all this way, in the dead of night, without telling anyone where I had gone, just to come and save someone who likely did not even want my help.
I could be killed.
I would be.
Just like her.
But i had to try, if for nothing more than to say i did something meaningful in my life. If nothing else, at least i would die trying something stupid. Something crazy, but maybe something legendary. Maybe we could make it out! We could get far away from this place, and i would never have to think about Kai and her pointless opinions of me ever again. We could run from the police, living all across the world and learning everything about every culture. What a life that would be for me to run towards, wouldn’t it?
But the floodlights just had to come on, blaring to life, blinding me.
ANNOUNCE YOUR NAME AND YOUR REASON FOR BEING HERE
They shouted.
But i ran before i could even think to do so.

something leaving

“You’ve changed,” I said to the woman in front of me. “I don’t like who you are.”
Mira scoffed. “I never liked who you were. I put up with your * anyway.”
I was shocked by her sudden change in personality, my jaw falling slack.
“What’s the matter?” She said, her tongue sharp. “You don’t like that I bite back now?” she barked a bitter laugh. “You think you could just walk over me forever?”
I bit my tongue. This wasn’t the time to pick a fight with Amirroa. But, then again, there wasn’t a Time to pick a fight with Amirroa. She was always *. About everyone. All the time. It was fair, but did she have to be so rude? I hadn’t done anything to her.
Or had I?
Had my lack of resolution to save her ended our relationship after I thought possible?
Or had she… always been gone?
“You were never really with me, were you?” I asked, my voice shaking. “It… was always going to end this way.”
Mira nodded. She didnt look sad.
“But its not the end.”
“Yes, it is.” Her eyes were wet, but she wasnt crying. “You can’t help us, Seris. Not where we’re going.”
“But… you can’t just leave. I love you.”
“It’s too late, Seris. You weren’t there, you don’t understand that we can’t go through that again.”
“I’ll help you,” I promised. “I’ll protect you. I swear it.”
Her hands wrapped around my shoulders, her eyes sparkling by the light of the lantern on the side of the road, illuminating the dark circles under her eyes. One tear trailed down her cheek. “You can’t.”
And then she left.

stepping out of comfort zone

I stepped through the woods, careful not to make a sound. If I did, we were all dead. Mania and Zylion followed behind me, equally silent, but Amirroa was nowhere to be seen. She was a dead girl walking, a corpse slipping around in the shadows completely unable to be found or noticed by anyone. Even Mania didn’t seem to notice or particularly care for her absence. But the stress— I couldn’t breathe. If we got found out, if they noticed the three’s absence, if the police were called, if— no. I had to keep going regardless of what my fears were. If I let my fears control me, I had already lost the game.
So I swallowed my fear, my anxiety, the rising pressure in my chest. I bit it all back until I couldn’t taste the heat on the back of my neck or feel the alarms ringing in my head. we had to keep going. We had come this far, not to give up now.
“Amirrora?” I hissed through the shadows. “Are you there?”
“Shh,” Mania said.
There was no reply from Amirrora. If she was here, she stayed silent and her presence went unnoticed as usual.

new technology

And then Mania, running through the woods without a care in the world, dropped like a stone to the ground.
We came to a halt. She was unconscious, knocked out by some strange blast that no one could seem to sense. No one besides her, and she was in no condition to tell us what had happened.
Amirrora was by my side. “Microchips. Electric.”
I turned to her, my face a mess of confusion. “How do we help her?”
Amirrora shrugged. “I don’t know. Wait for her to wake up?”
That seemed as good a suggestion as any, if a little cruel to the poor girl crumpled at our feet. “Are you sure she will?” I finally asked.
Mira pursed her lips. “Yeah. Probably.”
Zylion to my left gritted his teeth together in a horrid sound. “How long will this take?”
I sighed, knowing exactly what I was being asked to do. I picked up Mania’s limp form and draped her over one shoulder carefully. “Here we go!” I spat out, trying to sound optimistic but really only sounding like a very sarcastic dead rat.

character overestimates themself

I tripepd over my feet instnaltly, nearly sending both me and Mania into the nearest tree stump. But I held my goround, running as fast as my legs could carry me against the cold air of the night.
Until I tripped over a loose root, sending us both crashing to the ground, Mania on top of me. Sighing dramatically, I got back to my feet, pulling Mania up by her boots and hoisted her back over my shoulder.
This… was a lot harder than it looked in the movies. I kept losing my balance, falling over broken sticks and rocks and crevices in the pitch black, inky darkness of the woods. I couldn’t hear Amirrora around me at all, and Mania’s unconscious state made me feel so alone.
I looked to my left, scouring the trees for any sight of her or Zylion. Or their other friend, the one whose name I have never gotten to know and felt too ashamed to ask for. The night was frigid, icy, even in the air, the wind too strong and the noises of the woods strange and unfamiliar. I had risked it all to come this far. But it was worth it.
And then I took another tumble into some roots, this time falling so hard I didn’t bother getting up for several minutes.
But Mania woke up, and she was talking to some strange thing embedded in her wrist.

messages from an unknown person

“Hello?” a spluttery voice came through over the sound.
“Who’s this?” Mania responded serendipisously. “How’d you get this device?”
“I’m… well, maybe I shouldn’t share. It sounds like your life is pretty dangerous.”
Mira and Mania barked sharp laughs in unison. “If that ain’t the half of it.”
“Who are you, though?” I found myself asking the voice. “Not your name… just like. Who are you?”
“You can call me Ivy. I got this device by stealing it, because I like stealing stuff. I’m contacting you now because I felt bad and wanted to give it back.”
“And you can communicate through some sort of microphone in this microchip? How?” The questions came from Zylion, intrigued by this strange individual.
There was a moment of silence on teh line, followed by a sigh. “Yeha, i don’t know. Just a hacker thing, I guess. But anyway, if you guys don’t need my help, I think it’s about to be time for dinner—-”
“We do need your help,” I spat out. “Desperately. Can you deactivate the microchip? It’s… hurting one of our friends.”
I could almost hear the girl raising an eyebrow on the other line. “Okay, can do. But this seems very suspicious. You guys aren’t doing anything illegal, right?” Ivy laughed after she said it, but the awkward silence said it all. “Oh.”

learning something unexpected

We got home alright. Despite the odds, we pusehd through. We made it through the storm, the cold, the night, the winds, the world againsdt us.
I made it back.
I made it home. I didnt think it was possible, but I managed to lead us through the crazy, out of control night that had us all under its thumb.
I got us away from the police.
But where would we go now?
Where in the world would be safe for us, knowing who we were?
Nowhere.
There was no place any of us could get to that would protect us from this fate.

something good turns out to be bad

Saving them was a mistake.
The realization hit me like a truck hitting a brick wall.
I was dead on impact.
I was dead knowing what I did could cost the lives of innocent people.
My heart ripped a hole in my chest.
My world fell apart.
I worked tirelessly to build this life for myself, just to tear it apart for a girl who couldn’t be bothered to save herself?
Amirrora would be the death of me.
I was sure of it.
I was sure of it now.
I was so sure of myself.
So positive I was doing the right thing.
This was supposed to be justice.
This wasn’t justice.
This was… evil.
Yes.
She was evil.
Amirrora.
Freeing her was a mistake, and soon it would cost us everything.
What would Kai say?
What would she think of me now, knowing what I did?
Knowing I cost her everything, too?
How could I ever bear to see the looks on their faces?
Knowing I destroyed it?
Knowing I took what we had built, the hearth we had constructed off our backs, everything we had, and burned it to a crisp for a girl who would never look at me the same?

something bizarre

The world shifted, the hues changed with a starling depth in each passing second. Objects existed, things I had never seen, and then vanished before I could drag them into my memory so I could laugh at myself when IU got bored again. Deep shades of colors I had never seen popped out of the ground, sprouting into flowers that flew and worlds that shifted and fell and crumpled back into reality. It was amazing.
“Ivory?” someone’s voice called, but I was too far gone to hear any of it. Even if I should’ve. Even if I wanted to. “Excuse me, Miss Ivory? Are you alright?”
I waved a lazy thumbs up through the air, barely holding myself together for long enough to process what was being said to be. The room was covered in stars, flowers, lights, big and bright enough to hold up the weight that held me down.
One time.
One night.
But it was never just once, was it?
It turned into such a daily occurrence, such a lovely time of night meant perfectly for tuning into a lullaby of haze like there was nothing else that could hold me together. It was like a radio. Always there. At the same time, in the same cold room where nothing made sense, turning into something just magical.

lyrics

I sat in the cold corner of the room, humming under my breath.
Don’t let me run right after you, please, God.
The words echoed in my head.
Don’t let me run right after you.
Not again.
I was a ghost to you now, spinning in the shadows liek I was always going to end up doing.
It wasn’t fair.
I forgot your name.
Your face.
The cold touch of your skin on mine.
I was the dead one now, the one whose name should be carved into some crazed tombstone in the world where nothing makes sense.
A world without you in it.
Now i become a ghost, I thought, continuing to hum.
I become a ghost.
Just like you always were.
Dancing in the dark, our hands tied as we looked for any way to save ourselves.
It was awalways going to end this way.
Thats why we were a tragedy.
We were doomed from the beginning.
Thats the saddest ending of all.
Isn’t it?
I can’t remember.

Author's Notes:
▸ writing assignment, i'm only really posting this for critique. i'll likely delete this post afterwards so that my assignment isn't marked for plagiarism or something like that

Boom!

Furious bursts of flame shot through the air, sending Jay’s ears ringing. It was bright. It was vivid. It sent debris of metal and iron flying. The soldier’s heart pounded as he shut his eyes, shielding them from the explosion.

“Jay!” Robin yelled from across the road.

Jay coughed and spluttered. He froze, heart punching his chest.

“Jay! They’re attacking our databases!” Robin screamed. “Run!”

Jay gasped. He stumbled as he rushed away from the explosion, his legs threatening to fall. He took rapid breaths as he darted past the flames, his body begging him to stop running.

Their country’s systems, marvellous utopias utilising brilliant technology, were hacked. Why harm this paradise? Why attack every citizen?

Jay rushed past wreckages of buildings that he once knew so well, buildings that once stood tall and proud. All that remained was a cracked road and an orange sky, and any still intact buildings were being thrown to the ground. The wreckage blurred around him. His speed faltered. His body wasn’t built for this. He forced himself to move regardless. Pain. Heat. Destruction.

He tripped. Crash! He slammed into the ground, body bursting with pain. Jay struggled, trying to spread his wings, trying to get up before an enemy granted him a worse fate. He gasped as he forced himself to stand. He wobbled but kept rushing across the ruins, stumbling as he raced away.

The world faded into a kaleidoscope of red and orange. Tears filled Jay’s eyes. He reminded himself he was a soldier, someone made to fight, not run! Yet nothing could have prepared him for a real scenario with real hackers and bombs. He ran away from it all, hoping Robin was fine.

“They’re getting away! Capture everyone!” a voice roared.

The voice wasn’t from an ally. Jay begged his legs to move faster despite his duty lingering over him. He yearned to help, but his mind twisted with dark clouds that trapped him in a tight snare.

A scream pierced his ears.

His speed slowed.

He knew that voice.

Robin twisted, struggling to free herself from a hacker’s arms. She kicked and yelled, but digital handcuffs trapped her. The hacker punched her rapidly, and she fell as she clutched her waist.

Jay nearly toppled over. He froze, staring at his sister.

His mind scattered. His thoughts were louder than the bombs’ blasts. He couldn’t move, couldn’t spread his wings. Buildings crashed down. Fellow soldiers summoned their weapons. Yet Jay stood there, heart stopping.

Why couldn’t he do anything?



A feather. It was elegant, dripped with touches of brown and white.

Robin picked it up. Her pigtails bounced as she rushed across the balcony.

“Jay!” she exclaimed, grinning. “It’s a feather! We barely see them nowadays.”

Jay took the feather. He observed it from different angles, inspecting its colour and shape. “It could be an owl’s feather, maybe?” he suggested. He shook his head. “No, that’s not right. I don’t know what this is.” He glanced at Robin. “We should ask Ma.”

The two skipped into the kitchen, eyes sparkling. They presented the feather to their mother like it was a royal heirloom.

“Hmm.” Their mother tapped the crystal counter. “I believe this could be a hawk’s feather! They’re very rare nowadays.”

Robin frowned. “What’s a hawk?”

Their mother smiled. “A hawk is a beautiful bird. Their wings can span over a metre. They symbolise insight, guidance, power and courage.”

The siblings gazed at the feather.

“You have it, Jay,” Robin said, handing the feather to her brother. “To remind you to be courageous and spread your wings, even when the sky is dark.”

Jay held the feather in his hands, eyes widening. He glanced up at Robin and smiled softly.



A feather. It was elegant, dripped with touches of brown and white.

It fell from his pocket, kissing the floor gently. Jay slowly picked it up. His sister’s words echoed through his head, growing louder than the cracking thunder in his mind.

“To remind you to be courageous and spread your wings, even when the sky is dark.”

Jay shut his eyes. He took a deep breath.

A hacker caught him.

Jay yelled, trying to break himself free from the hacker’s strong grip. The hacker’s eyes went white, and Jay knew she was typing a command. In a few seconds, he would be completely trapped. He scrambled to remember any form of defense.

The thought came. He ducked, pulling the hacker down with him. He spun and kicked the hacker’s glasses, sending them flying. They shattered. The glasses granted the hacker her powers; without them, she was useless. The hacker blinked, and her eyes returned to normal. She roared and rushed after Jay, but he was already darting away.

He forced himself to fly, forced himself to rush towards Robin, one step after the other. His head and heart pounded, yet he spread his wings against the impending darkness.

“I’m coming, Robin!”

⭒ Daily 29 no, was, were or is (482words)


when we all fall asleep where do we go?

her hands shake, lack of sleep keeping her alert and hyperactive. no one cares for her, she may just be better off without them. they continue to make the exact same mistakes. they just don't do anything, evident in her unstable state and her disordered thoughts. she wracks her brain, clawing for answer but none become known, sending her into a spiral of madness.

every. single. voice. in. her. head. screams.
her thoughts take over, each one yelling over the other as if in a heated debate yet she herself has no voice. the thoughts cram into every inch of her mind, making her experience the fiery underworld whilst living. they fill her head, like water rising flooding a room, and heaven has left her sight, now she finds herself trapped in a nightmare. with nothing left to save her. not anymore.

she has lost all feelings of peace and goodness. everyone she ever felt comfortable with has slipped away, leaving her alone. alone with her thoughts. they bring out of deepest fear, as creatures with eight legs crawl in the crowded room of her mind, dragging her deeper into her spiral. dragging her deeper and deeper. she reaches out- attempting to resurface but her hand remain empty before it too gets taken away.

salty liquid fills her eyes, blurring her vision but oddly causing it to get dark. shaking, she rubs away the tears, but pulls away her hand to see a liquid similar to pitch darkness of the night. in a way, it has tar-like similarities causing her to shake even more and fears begin to surface and she sinks deeper and deeper.

she could lie to herself, pretend she might be ok. but nothing would be ok, not ever and certainly not now. how can she escape, how can she come her when she has no one? she'll leave and no one will ever know. would they even feel anything? at the realisation her heart sinks, pulling her down into the bottomless pit of darkness further and further away. all she can feel are the spiders all over, sending shivers through her skin and the crawl.

all over. all over.

she can't lose. she can't. she reaches her hand out, this time not for help but to pull herself out. the tar liquid causing her to slip. she screams. but pulls through. she reaches out again, pulling herself up. and then opens her mouth and

screams as she sits up in her bed. she rubs her eyes, her hands shaking. tears stain her cheeks, she rubs them. clear. not black. she shivers as she remembers the crawling. all over. all over. she licks the side of her mouth, tasting the salty tears on her cheeks. the year long headache she had, being the creator of this nightmare.

when she falls asleep, she knows where she goes. it's a hellscape.

happy 6th bday wwafawdwg


back to collection

Word War w/Clev!
3/29/2025
282 words

helo!! okay so what am i going to talk about? well from my heart or whatever released their first song and mouse and ivory and nova are doing such a great job the lyricism is literally insane and um now i have a new semi like music project to work on!! i was hoping try to fiuu go re out how to play a music piece by listening to it and maybe make a composition just to see how my skills actually are in action and now i have something sad related i can do!! from what i can tell from working out the chorus, it’s in e flat. i did say a flat at some point, but i don’t know why?? because i don’t think it’s a four flat thing. and that is just from the chorus and there well i donny know. like i have to listen to the song more and whatever before i am able to fully figure out things and be able to have the song in my head enough to try to play it by ear so um yeah- i don’t even know if what i am doing is playing it by ear?? probably not cause im just listening to it and then playin parts of it and then recording myself so that i can reference back. i just play around with the keyboard to get a note that matches what is being sung. but i do think that this would be a really fun project for me to work on and i am still at the piano butmy brother is here now and oh good he just left so i don’t have to like get

return to table of contents
Word War with @angelkitty4

Elisa looked up from the blank pages, admiring the orange lights the setting sun cast across the scottish highlands. After a week of continuous snowing, a thick blanket of gleaming white snow covered the mountains, forest and plains of Scotland. The beautiful nature rested under it, soundly asleep. Those animals that hibernated not left delicate footprints across the endless sea of snow, as though carving intricate little sculptures on that snow, soft and cold. The pine trees, the only vegetation remaining in the midst of winter, stood like christmas trees here and there. Their branches bent in a graceful curve from the twenty centimeters of snow that had covered the evergreen leaves. The nature at rest displayed its full beauty under the last lights of the golden sun.

A gentle breeze travelled through the air, lifting up the hems of the young girl's black robes and her long brown hair. She stood, like an angel, alone in the peaceful clearing, eyes closed, admiring with her senses the elegance of the sleeping natural world. As though transported to a haven of her own, Elisa noticed not the departure of the day and the rising of the night. Absorbed in her thoughts and in a world unique to herself, she stood, motionless, so long that the snow on her shoulders melted away into thin droplets of water. They soaked through her robes and hair, delicately caressing her skin with a cool tingling sensation.

Still her eyes remained closed, her thoughts remained drifting. A few of her pale and thin fingers held a small, leather bound notebook, and in her other hand a quill dipped in ink lay. She had been writing. Elisa wrote about everything. Incredibly observant and thoughtful, she recorded every detail of her life in this notebook, with this quill - she wrote not those teedious interactions with her peers, for she thought those of little importance - instead, she wrote about what she observed during her long journeys into the forest. She wrote about birds and little critters, she wrote about the trees and their fascinating colours, she wrote about the raindrops and the feeling of them against her skin…

As years passed she began getting good at describing - so that a picture painted itself before one's eyes when one read her notes.

That day, she wanted to feel snow. She wanted to experience the feeling of melted snowflakes - how different or how similar compared to water droplets felt the touch against her skin.

Thus, her mind and body were transfixed in a state of utmost concentration when a tap on her shoulder pulled her violently from her reveries.

“Elisa!” a voice called out, “It's almost curfew, let's go back to the castle.”

Bothered by this sudden intrusion, Elisa swivelled around, leaving traces of footsteps on the snow, to face the intruder. Of course, she thought. Her brother was calling her to dinner.

She presented an almost imperceptible nod, before following the boy all the way to the castle, where dinner awaited.


Okay so I actually wanted to write the daily for this word war but then in the middle of it I realised I focused way too much on the details and also it is pretty hard to write without using the verb ‘to be’. I realise I use that a lot lmao. Anyway I'm continuing to write because the thirty minutes are not up and also because I need more words because my wpm when I wrote the daily (the part above) was like of thirty because I was thinking so much. So this means that I obviously have no chance of winning so since I still have about five minutes left I'm going to sprint and try to get as many words as I can so that… well so that I can get more words.

Also a large part of this and the part above may not make sense because I'm pretty tired and I'm basically sprinitng to finish this daily. And I also leave my word wars unedited because that makes the word count more concise and exact. I'm running out of things to write about but I still have two minutes so I'm going to ramble on about random stuff. I think I already am but anyway I should think of stuff to write about before I run out of time. Okay so um let's talk about piano! I've been playing the piano for almost ten years (wow) and I'm currently playing a piece by Brahms that is called Intermezzo op.117 n.3 if you want to go search it up. It's really beautiful and I think it matches my personality really well hehe. That's also why my piano teacher recommended it for me I think. But it's really hard to master and I've been working on it for almost three months oops- and I have an audition in a month, meaning I have that much time to learn the piece by heart. Which is not easy, considering I will be away for a full two weeks
(840 words)

return to table of contents
Daily 29

Elisa looked up from the blank pages, admiring the orange lights the setting sun cast across the Scottish highlands. After a week of continuous snowing, a thick blanket of gleaming white snow covered the mountains, forest and plains of Scotland. The beautiful nature rested under it, soundly asleep. Those animals that hibernated not left delicate footprints across the endless sea of snow, as though carving intricate little sculptures on that snow, soft and cold. The pine trees, the only vegetation remaining in the midst of winter, stood like Christmas trees here and there. Their branches bent in graceful curves from the twenty centimetres of snow that had covered the evergreen leaves. The nature at rest displayed its full beauty under the last lights of the golden sun.

A gentle breeze travelled through the air, lifting up the hems of the young girl's black robes and her long brown hair. She stood, like an angel, alone in the peaceful clearing, eyes closed, admiring with her senses the elegance of the sleeping natural world. As though transported to a haven of her own, Elisa noticed not the departure of the day and the rising of the night. Absorbed in her thoughts and in a world unique to herself, she stood, motionless, so long that the snow on her shoulders melted away into thin droplets of water. They soaked through her robes and hair, delicately caressing her skin with a cool tingling sensation.

Still her eyes remained closed, her thoughts remained drifting. A few of her pale and thin fingers held a small, leather bound notebook, and in her other hand a quill dipped in ink lay. She had been writing. Elisa wrote about everything. Incredibly observant and thoughtful, she recorded every detail of her life in this notebook, with this quill - she wrote not those teedious interactions with her peers, for she thought those of little importance - instead, she wrote about what she observed during her long journeys into the forest. She wrote about birds and little critters, she wrote about the trees and their fascinating colours, she wrote about the raindrops and the feeling of them against her skin…

As years passed she began getting good at describing - so that a picture painted itself before one's eyes when one read her notes.

That day, she wanted to feel snow. She wanted to experience the feeling of melted snowflakes - how different or how similar compared to water droplets felt the touch against her skin.

Thus, her mind and body were transfixed in a state of utmost concentration when a tap on her shoulder pulled her violently from her reveries.

“Elisa!” a voice called out, “It's almost curfew, let's go back to the castle.”

Bothered by this sudden intrusion, Elisa swivelled around, leaving traces of footsteps on the snow, to face the intruder. Of course, she thought. Her brother was calling her to dinner.

She presented an almost imperceptible nod, before following the boy all the way to the castle, where dinner awaited.
(504 words)

March 29 daily
411 words


She checks her phone again. 4:05, its clock says. Checks her messages — nothing new.
She looks around again. Turns her phone back on, reads over the message she sent, as if she doesn’t already have it memorized. Looks at the bus stop sign again. No, she didn’t get the place wrong. She wrote the right thing. Maybe they got it wrong.
She looks warily at the approaching clouds, an ominous dark gray. How long should she wait? Looks at her phone on again; 4:07.
And to think she showed up early for this. Took the early bus, in case the four o’clock one wouldn’t get there on time. Should’ve known better. Should’ve expected as much. Shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up. Shouldn't be so disappointed. Shouldn't have tried.
She debates texting them, asking, checking in. Would that be annoying? Would it make her seem too clingy, too desperate? Maybe they have a good reason for being seven, no, eight minutes late, and she’d only make them feel bad.
It doesn’t count as being stood up, she thinks to herself, if neither of you called it a date. If it might not even be a date, have ever been a date. If maybe they didn’t mean it that way. Just meant it as two friends hanging out. Assuming someone you talk to less than once a month and who may or may not even like you counts as a friend.
A gust of wind blows her hair into her face and makes her shiver. She pulls her sweater tighter around herself, wishes she’d worn something warmer. Thunder rumbles in the distance. Why didn’t she check the weather?
Another gust of wind. The leaves rustle. She can’t wait here in a thunderstorm for someone who might not even be coming. The bus shelter won’t protect her from lightning.
She turns on her phone again. Notices it’s 4:10 as she opens the message app again. Type type. Delete. Type type type, delete more, type type. Sound friendly, sound casual, sound normal, sound like you’re not worried or frustrated or impatient or desperate. Hii, i’m at the bus stop, do you know when you’ll be here? :)
Adjust the punctuation, the capitalization, the emojis. Sound normal and casual and spontaneous and unworried.
Another rumble of thunder, louder this time. The wind picks up. A few raindrops blow into her face. She sighs. At least she has enough cash left for a ride home.

DAILY 29

The color red means a lot of things. Like a spiderweb, red has a complexity I can’t understand.

If you asked me what red means, I would answer that it means violence. I would answer that the color stains my two shaky hands, the color that embedded itself in my DNA. I would say that red makes me the monster I am, that the color laid over my eyes happens to be red. I would say that red makes me insane.

I would say that red happens to be the color of blood, the thing that I have learned to take pleasure in. I learned to love red a long time ago. Now, I can’t help but feel ecstasy whenever I see the color, the deep color that cannot be recreated. Red gives me life, it gives me a purpose, something to live for.

To me, red embodies all wrong I have done, it resembles the terrible deeds I did to get here. Red reminds me of the blood I have had to spill, the lives I have taken, what I have ruined from swinging my sword. I have been forced to know the color red, despite the fact that I’ve always wanted to be able to love blue.

Red tells me of my sins, it floods the ground after I kill. I see red as an embodiment of my evil, the very thing I try to run from.

Red means violence.
Red means blood.
Red means destruction.

I am red.



Though, when I see him my heart shakes. My heart keeps beating like a drum, he makes me feel different. I am different when I am with him. He makes me feel things I have never felt. He makes me understand what warmth is, and my chest feels like it will burst. I have never felt it before, but I love to feel it.

When I am with him, red has a different meaning.

To him, roses are red, so red represents roses. Red paints the scarlet sky, and the flowers the sun blesses. To him, red makes someone human, not a monster. He sees red as a blessing, as something to be cherished.

He sees red as love. He sees red as the color of his heart, and the color of the heart of the one he loves. He sees red as something to protect with all your might, he sees red as something beautiful.

To him,
Red means love.
Red means gratitude.
Red means passion.

We are both red.
But we are both different.

For both ferocity and adoration are red.

434 WORDS

Mania’s character happens to be a Kai parellel, because she also comes from a family of similar status to Kai and has a strangely rebellious sibling that faced large legal and public consequences for their action. For Kai, its her sister and that’s largely what construbutes to Kai’s fear of police and the legal system and being prosecuted. Mania actually has a sister too, Militia. Militia ends up becoming good friends with Kai after Mak leaves her, something that only hardens her view against Mania and Mira. Kai’s awakening, very sudden, happens when her younger sister, the one mentioned to be particularly rebellious, gets caught and taken to the same facility that Mira and the others got trapped at. Based on her past conversations with Mira, Kai knows how messed up she happens to be but isn’t sure if it was due to the facility or if Mira’s actually just crazy. But she knows her own sister isnt actually crazy, so she starts to realize her own moral failing to protect her.

Kai cuts off Militia, leading Militia to tell the local police (Lala, Zylion’s sister) and her own friend, after Kai and to keep aan eye out for her and her rebellious behavior and especially some sort of relationship between Kai and Kania. Deverelle, the leading strategist behind the current attempts mocks Kai for not pretending to keep being Militia’s friend which would’ve helped them a lot more in the long run because it would’ve kept them safe. Deverelle doesn’t understand what this means to Kai, because she isn’t very close with her or Mak. Lets take a quick break to focus on Dev’s story, which we dont gt to see much of in the story due to her not being as involved as everyone else.
Deverelle happens to be an only child, just like Mak and Seris. She’s also not super close with either of her parents, but they aren’t manipuliatve like Kai’s parents or strangely evil like Mira’s. Deverelle’s extesnvie sense of justice came from her beliefs growing up, having been betrayed by someone close to the police but i havent decided who. She knew what happened and that it happened to be wrong based on her relationships with two friends, one of whom joined the polce and she’s friends with Milittia and Lala, and one of whom that got caught and killed by the friend. Possibly Ekolalia, but that sounds a bit too similar to Lala and it sounds like it would be the name for someone in a higher position of power.

march 29th daily: exactly 400/400 words!
authors note: it started out fine but the end was so lame xD i rushed i literally handed this in at 23:59 utc lol <3

eventually, the day ends. the other spellcasters scramble home in hushed hurry, waving vacant goodbyes whilst the apprentices do the same, rushing the return home and rest. aliss steps out of the workshop into the biting cold and turns to close the door, snow landing on her brown braids. with sad eyes, aliss silently watches her fellow apprentices run ahead, chattering away. they race each other back, but aliss takes her time. slow steps on cobblestones, mindless dawdling and useless paths. the only thing that keeps her coming back everyday is her younger brother roe, a small sprinkle of happiness she loves so very much.

swish, swish. aliss stops suddenly and looks up. there’s nothing but a vast and endless cloudy sky, shadows rippling uncertainly. with a pause, aliss continues on reluctantly, looking behind her as she goes. what if..? no, it couldn’t be dragons, right?

arriving at the orphanage, aliss slips through the door quietly and crosses the main room to where the children are supposed to eat. a bowl of slop has been saved for her and she just about
manages to swallow it all, wincing slightly.

aliss sits alone in the mess hall, thinking back to the day. she smiles, remembering the jumping butterflies she accidentally conjured up. remembering pure happiness, the mask long gone.

another one of her pounding headaches start up so aliss starts walking upstairs to her dormitory. entering with fake ease, she slips the mask back on, grinning to the other girls. empty inside but fun loving on the outside. until she can’t stand it, aliss excuses herself from the deafening chatter and flops under her scratchy sheets, trying to get to sleep.

she finds it hard to close her eyes and lose herself in dreams, like always. she wants to sleep so so badly, but there’s that niggling thought, the one thing that occupies her mind.

aliss doesn’t care about what you think it may be because.. what she worries night and day about is life. what does aliss plan to do with hers? that, she doesn’t know. she stays up late and can barely keep her eyes open when it is daytime.

the world around her lures her in with all its magic and wonder- all the things she could learn! except for one thing: aliss doesn’t want to be lured in. aliss likes struggling, she likes it. then she sleeps.

Shadows slip through her mind, lapping at the edges of her thoughts. She doesn’t mind, though; no, she wears them like a second pelt, even darker and softer than her own.
She whispers her secrets out to the void, still and quiet, yet thrumming with energy. It has a pulse all its own, subtle yet alluring. She feels it reverberate through the shadows in her head and all around her, rippling them and stirring something deep within her.
Many seasons had passed since she had let herself trust fully. She had told herself she was far too old to give in to such things. But this was different. This crystal-clear moment lodged itself deep in her chest, where her heart beat in time with the pulsing of the void.
Alone in the night, she gives herself to the rhythm flowing through the empty space, a strange calm coming over her. A step forward. Then another. Wings pull back, half spread. Tail raises. Head lowers. And all at once, she takes to the sky, wheeling and turning high above the ground below.
She dances, her body becoming a flurry of tight spirals and wing flares. Nothing in the world could bring her back down now. Away from the world so far behind her, she drinks in the freedom, letting it shine out through her movements.
Slowing down, she scents the air, cold and crisp and promising snowfall soon. The wind carries her higher, an unseen force cradling her in its embrace. Every one of her feathers hums with sensation as the rush of air wraps around her like an old friend. She tilts her wings, cutting through the night, slipping between the currents with practiced ease.
Stars glitter above, distant and unblinking, their silent gazes pressing against her. The void listens, as it always does. A deep breath, steady and slow. Frost lingers in the air, sharp against her senses. The world below stretches vast and endless, an expanse of shadow and moonlight woven together in seamless harmony.
She twists, spirals downward, then catches herself at the last moment, skimming the treetops with outstretched talons. Leaves tremble, whispering secrets to the wind. She hears them, just as she hears the pulse of the night, just as she hears the steady thrum in her chest.
A whisper, not from the void, but from within. A call, a beckoning. Not a command, not a demand, but an invitation.
And so, she follows.

rant for a word war with @AmazaEevee - 263 words

Okay so I typically do something more structured or potentially prompted for this but I’ve been seeing people just going on rants for their word wars and I thought it’d be super fun to do that this time!! I am a yapper let me yap!! Currently I’m procrastinating finishing an AP Seminar IWA (which stands for Individual Written Argument) by writing this and honestly, I definitely shouldn’t be but I’m severely under my word count (like 10,000 words under cough…) and SWC ends in like two days and I’m panicking!! I am crashing out!! So the IWA can wait, unfortunately. I’m also re-listening to Forever is a Feeling, the new Lucy Dacus album right now!! I originally forced my friend to listen to it with me on the bus on a field trip yesterday, so I only had one airpod and I wasn’t really getting the full experience, but now I have both airpods and I truly am!! And it’s great!! I love Lucy so much and so dearly, I’m seeing her live in New York on the 23rd of April with my uncle’s girlfriend (whom I absolutely love) and I’m actually so excited oh my god. Also the news that she was dating Julien?? Hello?? I expected it, I mean fork found in kitchen c’mon, but I was still literally shaking and crying when it was confirmed, so I love that Most Wanted Man is about her and it’s so sweet!! Also Julien doing background vocals… I love how it still seems like a duet even though it’s just Lucy’s song.

Word War with Maya
3/29/2025
314 words

(please excuse the typos sobbing)

okay, i am starting this word war so late, but like the zoom meeting i was part of ended like 40 minutes late, so um yeah tehre’s that. i mean right now there isn’t too much i am thinking of oterh than what we were ewatching during the um zoom meeting because it was about the comfoort women and that whole issue, but i can’t go into it mcuh because it isn’t very scratch friendly at all, but it is such an itneresting topic and a part of hsitory that is like very much not talked about and it just like um yeah. i tink that it was a fascinating documentary, i forget the title at the moment beecause it’s in japanese, but it was really eye opening and gave a really nice argument to both sides of the comfort women issue and how different people view it. i think that there is a lot that you can learn about that issue and about how people view it in general.

oaky anwyas, like i know that i cna’t speed up time, but this does have to get done soon like aaa why does time not pass faster? i guess i have to go help hang up laundery but i still have liek waht a minute or something left of this? okay so let me just like write about what i did while watching. i was able to keep my camera off while watching the documentary, so i got like anotehr three parts done wot my whole lego set, which i think ws really great!1 like obviously it isn’t a lot and i do. think that i oculd have goten a lot mroe more done during that time, but i did also have to look up because the film was done a lot with japanese inveireees? is that a word i don’t know, but

Weekly 4
4159 words
This is the worst thing I've ever written </3

(writing from the perspective of Percy Jackson cos… why not?? haha)
Also, inspired by Percy Jackson and Keeper of the Lost Cities!
Prompt 1

Percy blinked his eyes open.
“Percy, get up! It’s your first day of college!”
His mum’s voice rang up the stairs.
“Coming!” He called, before promptly falling back asleep.

Around 5 minutes later

He felt arms shaking him violently.
“Ugh, get off!” He complained, shrugging off his mum. Sally Jackson could be naggy when she wanted to be. “I’m getting up.”
He stretched, the bones in his knees creaking as he hauled himself out of bed, collapsing to the ground in a state of weakness and fatigue.
“Am I really that old already?” He groaned, crawling towards the door, doing his best to get back to his feet.
He trundled down the stairs, brushing sleep out of his eyes, yawning widely. The smell of freshly cooked waffles, maple syrup and bacon wafted up. His pace quickened.

“Morning, Percy. I tried waking you 4 times.”
Just a normal greeting from his mum.
“Morning to you too!” He replied sarcastically, digging into his waffles.
They were slightly springy, with an irresistible bounce, soaked in perfectly sweet maple syrup and crispy bacon. He savoured the succulent flavour, closing his eyes in satisfaction.
“Percy!” His mum yelled, an irritated edge to her voice. “You can’t be late to your first college class!”
He gave her a thumbs up and carried on gorging on waffles. Unlike most others, he had decided to go to the local college, which meant he could stay at home, and more importantly, closer to Camp Half-Blood. The place he had wanted to go was practically on the other side of the states, and it was too dangerous for him. Even now he was technically an adult, he still encountered monsters nearly everywhere.

He clutched his throat, feeling it closing up. A chunk of waffle was trapped in there. Panic coursed through him and he desperately tried to cough it out. Was this really how he was going to die? He imagined his funeral: ‘In loving memory of Percy Jackson, died from choking on a chunk of waffle.’ That was depressing.

Mum slapped him on the back.
“That’s what you get for being so greedy.” She scolded. “Anyways, I wanted to introduce you to a new member of the family. Blame Paul.”
Paul, my new stepdad. Well, not exactly new anymore. He’d been with Mum for years. But it felt like only a few months sometimes. I barely saw him.
“Um, OK?” I answered hesitantly.

A sharp bleating resounded from the hallway. A sheep plodded in. But not any sheep. It was a sickly shade of green with lilac wings sprouting from its side and scorpion’s tail.
“What is this?” I asked in horror.
“A sheepion, or something…”
Percy put his head in his hands.
“Why?” He muttered. “Just why, Paul?”


Prompt 2

Song: Sleeping Giants by the Crane Wives

With his new pet sheepion - named CheeseBob very creatively by Paul - Percy trekked to his college. Nerves pulsed through him. What if no one liked him? What if he failed in class? What if he was attacked by some random giants who just happened to hold a grudge against him and he accidentally burnt his school down and killed everyone but magically survived like he always did?

He approached the gates, his fists clenched. He swallowed. He’d be fine.
A friendly looking girl strode up to him. She was dressed in a plain dark hoodie and tight-fitting jeans. Suddenly Percy felt very overdressed in his shirt, tie and trousers. He’d basically come in school uniform, apart from with clothes from home. A flush spread through his cheeks.
“You new this year?” The girl asked.
Percy nodded mutely. “Yeah. I’m Percy.”
She grinned. “Oh, I know you! Nancy. Bobofit. I went to your school a while ago.”
A flash of recognition shot through Percy. Nancy, his eternal bully at his old school. His very old school. He gulped.
“Yeah, Nancy… haven’t seen you for a while, I guess!” He exclaimed in a forced bright tone.
She smiled. “Come on, I can show you around. I’m one of the tour guides this year! They moved me up a year, so I’ve already been here for quite a while.”

2 hours later

A rumble penetrated the ground. Percy stumbled out of his seat, falling face-first on the floor. Embarrassment washed through him. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.
He listened to the stifled laughs in agony, curling up into a ball and holding back tears.
“Percy, maybe try and stay in your seat!” The professor called lightly.

The laughs became louder. Percy dragged himself into his seat just as the laughs turned into screams.
Two looming figures towered over the building. A fist swung towards the window, shards of glass flying everywhere. High-pitched shrieks pierced the air. The giants lumbered through the wall.
“We have awoken.” One of them rumbled in an ominous voice.
Percy tutted. “Called it.”


Prompt 3

Percy jabbed his keys into the lock of his house, fury stabbing through him. Why did he have to summon those giants, burn his school down and make all his professors hate him before they’d even met him? He’d made them redundant, he’d wasted thousands of student’s precious college time and wasted money. He tried to push away the guilt, but it kept coming. Everyone hated him.

“You alright? I tried to come as soon as I heard it happened, but I think I missed you. You need to talk?”
Percy glanced at his mum, then looked away swiftly as tears sprung to his eyes.
“I’m OK.” He mumbled.
“I’ll go make some more waffles. See you in 10?”
He nodded, trying to look enthusiastic. Truth was, he was sick of always being the one to cause the trouble. He just wanted to be normal, live a normal life where he could go to school without almost killing everyone inside of it. The burning guilt flared inside him almost nonstop.

“Percy?” Came a muffled voice. “Could you let me in?”
Percy, barely registering who it was, opened the door and held out his hand on autopilot, ready to receive whatever random package it was. Instead, a calloused hand slipped into his outstretched one.
He gazed up. A girl with silky blond hair and calculating eyes gazed back at him.
“Annabeth?”

Prompt 4

I collapsed onto my bed, sinking into the soft pillows. I was tired. So tired.
“Hey!”
Annabeth nudged my arm.
“Am I that boring?”
I blinked my eyes open and gave her a weak smile.
“Deeeeeeeeeeeeefinitely not!” I exclaimed, loading on the sarcasm.
She rolled her eyes. “Anyways… Why did you have to go blow up your school? Again? What is this, the tenth time?” She cried, a lopsided grin glowing on her face.
I shook my head firmly. “Nope, I’m not that bad. WHo do you think I am, a psycho?”
She raised her eyebrows at me skeptically.
I sighed. “OK, OK, I might be a psycho, but that doesn’t mean I just go round blowing up schools for fun!”
Her eyebrows were pretty much touching her hairline at this point. I was shocked.
“How do your eyebrows do that?” I asked in shock, desperately trying to do the same.

She stifled a laugh. “You look like a… bat who’s just seen a - a flamingo!”
“What? That doesn’t even make sense!”
She waved it off. “You’re not a daughter of Athena, you wouldn’t understand, silly boy.” She tutted. “I know you’re trying to stay away from the subject. Was it because you’re upset that you were kicked out of Camp Half-Blood?”
I shied away from her. “It wasn’t that. I didn’t do it on purpose! Bad things just happen to me, OK?”
She nodded. “Why did I see Nancy Bobofit?”
I furrowed my brow. “How do you even know what she looks like?”
“I have my ways.”


My phone buzzed in my pocket. I never got messages. I had unsubscribed literally everyone on my email. Why did I have a notification?
I sifted through my pocket and brandished my phone.

The worst is yet to come, Perseus.
You will succeed…
To fail.
Miserably.
Enjoy life while you still can.
And maybe keep an eye on that girlfriend of yours.

Lots of hate and bitterness,
Your worst enemy

I slid my phone across to Annabeth without saying a word.
After a few seconds, she sucked in a breath. “Are they really resorting to prophecies via text?”
I gave a bitter grin. “Life must be real depressing for them.”
“What does this mean?”
My stomach churned. “That we’re going to die.”

Prompt 5

I tapped at my phone, trying to get a response. I jabbed harder. And harder.
“Annabeth, my phone’s broken!” I whined, dropping it dejectedly.
She snatched it away. “Here, give it to me.”
I could hear her brain ticking away as her fingers flew across the screen. Her forehead was creased with lines of concentration. Her striking grey eyes were narrowed.
“I sent them a message back.” She announced, handing my phone back.

What do you mean?
And also, why not send this the old-fashioned way?
It’s just cooler.
Keep up.

I slapped her on the shoulder. “Why is this message so weird?”
“You can’t even send a message.” She retaliated. “Anyway, this has all our questions in and sounds intimidating.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, judging someone for sending a prophecy by text, reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally intimidating(!)”

My phone vibrated in my hands, sending a spark of shock through me. I jumped back, startled, my hand over my mouth. This device was honestly one of the most terrifying monsters I had ever met. And I had fought Gaia herself.
Annabeth laughed softly. “You’re such a grandma!”
“No, I'd be a grandpa! And I’m only 18!”
“Not in that way, silly.”


Prompt 6

(changing perspective and person - Annabeth and first person)

I lifted the phone up to my ear, my heart pounding in my chest. Percy looked so at ease, like nothing had happened. His sea green eyes were sparkling with humour and his cheeks were rosy and flushed. But I could just feel something. I knew that something was going to happen. Something bad.
I willed him to pick up.
“Please, pick up, pick up.”
I almost cried with relief when Dex’s familiar voice filled my ear.
“Dex!” I greeted him, joy lacing my voice.
I heard him let out a snuffly laugh. “Annabeth! Haven’t heard from you for ages!”

Percy looked up abruptly.
“Who the hell are you talking to?” He asked with hostility, his eyes narrowing.
“Just a dude from the Lost Cities. Nothing for you to worry about.” I told him lightly.
He shrugged and went back to gorging himself on pizza.
“Well…” I began, my voice cracking, “We’ve got a slight problem.”
“Yeah?” Came Dex’s disembodied voice.
“We received a prophecy over text and-”
“Over text?!”
“Look, that doesn’t matter, the thing is, I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen. The prophecy hinted that we’re going to die. And I think, instead of just winging it like usual, me and Percy actually are going to-”
“Annabeth!”
I screamed. “Shut up!”
Anger bubbled up inside of me. Couldn’t Percy be quiet for once? Just let me get on with my conversation?
“No, actually Annabeth.” He said softly. “There’s a floating spoon in the air. And it has a built-in laser gun. And it has my sheepion in a trance.”


A strangled MAAAAAAAAAA interrupted him. The sheepion’s eyes were glazed over and it was trotting after a floating wooden spoon that was drifting towards us as though it was being pulled by an invisible rope.
“This is bad.”

Prompt 7

I held up my crystal and was immediately bathed in silvery light. Percy’s eyes were the size of saucers, his mouth hanging open in awe as we whizzed towards the Lost Cities, vibrant colours weaving together in front of our eyes.

We were set down not-so-gently on the floor in Dex’s room. A high-pitched shriek piercing the air. Dex was flattened against the wall, breathing heavily.
“Jeez, you scared me, Annabeth and…Who are you?” He directed the question at Percy.
Percy shook his jet black hair out of his eyes.
“I’m Perseus (but you can call me Percy) Jackson, son of the mighty sea god… POSEIDON! I have defeated many monsters including Mother Nature, Gaia the monstrous-”
I shoved him. He frowned.
“What?” He asked indignantly.
“Stop. Showing. Off.”
He bit his lip. “OK, got it. But, did I mention the time-”
“I said, stop!” I repeated louder, irritation gnawing at my insides.

The door banged open. A shadowy figure of a girl stood framed in the doorway. She stepped forwards.
Rich dark brown hair rested in curls around her delicate pale face, and startling turquoise eyes glimmered out at me. Her eyes locked on Dex’s.
“Who are they?”
He grinned at her. “Friends. They need some of my super awesome Technopath skills to help them!”
She glanced at us out of the corner of her eye.

Suddenly she was inches away from me. I shook uncontrollably as she took me in with a calculating gaze.
“They’re not from the Lost Cities. Who are they?”
My lip wobbled. A tear stung at my eye. Why was it all going wrong?

Dex pushed the girl away.
“Biana, Annabeth is my friend. She’s the daughter of a goddess that the Forbidden Cities used to worship. And Percy is her friend. They’re in trouble.”
She took his hand. “Are you sure that they’re safe?”
“Yes!” he exclaimed passionately. “They’re fine.”
The door swung on its hinges. This time, two great, towering beasts strode in and pointed a sword straight at my throat.
“What are you doing here?”

Prompt 8

“We mean no harm!” I told the creature quickly. “We needed Dex to help us. To track down the source of an unknown message.”
The creature swivelled its head towards Dex and gave him a skeptical look.
“Look, I know them! They really needed my help!”
I gave Dex a grateful smile.

A sharp bleating made me start.
“CheeseBob, shut up!” Percy hissed in fury, running his hands through the sheepion’s thick, tangled fur.
“CheeseBob? Really, Percy?” I muttered.
“Yes, really!” he replied indignantly. “Blame Paul.”
The creature - ogre, I thought - kicked CheeseBob’s flank. I rushed in front of him protectively.
“Get away from CheeseBob!” I screamed at him, thrashing as the ogre lifted me up with ease over his head and shoving me onto the floor. “It’s a sheepion! Perfectly harmless. Quite friendly actually. He loves gummy bears.”
“Gummy bears?” The ogre murmured. “What sort of barbaric creature would eat gummy bears?”
“He’s not barbaric!”
“Yes, he is, look at him!”
I looked at him. His eyes were still glazed but had an ominous red glint in them.
“All hail… Q-Queen Gaia.” CheeseBob stuttered, a whirring inside him growing louder and louder. Slowly, but surely, the sheepion grew, almost matching the ogre’s height.
“I-I sure am b-barbaric!” He yelled like a maniac. “Toodle-doo, Annabeth!”


Prompt 9 - working with others to achieve a goal

“Look, CheeseBob, we had a deal. No killing Annabeth until she breaks up with me! I only bought you so I could use you as a revenge tool if she does!” Percy sighed, putting his head in his hands.
I swallowed, a shrill gasp escaping my lips. “What?”
He gave me a crooked smile. “Just kidding!”
I laughed bitterly. “Oh, yeah, I’m going to die! Perfect time to make a joke!”
Blades erupted from CheeseBob’s horns with a sharp screech. I was going to die.
The ogre scooped up CheeseBob. The sheepion’s legs bucked and it bleated at the ogre, foam frothing at its mouth, its pupils dilated.
Oh, wow. I wasn’t going to die.

“OK, now that the thing’s gone, I think we need to get started on how to work out how me and Annabeth aren’t going to die. I mean, we aren’t anyway, but she’s a bit paranoid, so it’s worth a shot.” Percy announced, banging his fist on the table for emphasis.
A hand crept onto Dex’s shoulder.
He jumped.
“Not again!” He cried.
A pale-faced boy with mussed blond hair and ice blue eyes appeared from the doorway.
“Hey, I’m Keefe, sorry to interrupt whatever lovely conversation you were all having, but the triplets - sorry, Dex - all wanted me to see how many pizzas you could stuff in your mouths in the space of 30 seconds, I think it’s some trend at their school, I’m really sorry, and your time starts… Now.”
About 10 pizzas all piled on top of each other messily, the ends hanging limply over one another. Pepperoni.
“Aren’t these from the Forbidden-” Dex started, but Keefe hushed him.
“Just eat!”

I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity of free pepperoni pizza, so I stuffed a whole half of one in my mouth, my cheeks bulging with the pizza. Juice seeped into my mouth.
“20 seconds!”
I chewed and chewed, but it just became harder with each mouthful. The muscles in my mouth ached painfully and I could feel my throat starting to close up. I had to carry on.
One slice after the other, we gorged our way through the pizza. I swallowed my last mouthful. Then the beautiful realisation came to me. We had finished all the pizza.
“Time’s up!”

Prompt 10 - character change in appearance

Keefe swiped the plates off the table as I wiped my mouth.
“You’ve still got a bit there.” Percy pointed out.
I glared daggers daggers at him before swiftly licking my fingers clean of the succulent tomato sauce.
“Also, they want one of us to change our appearance drastically. Lex said that she would give any of you who do it infinite mallowmelts.” Keefe added.
For a moment, I completely forgot anything was wrong. I was just having fun with my friends. Not being worried about getting killed.
“I’m in!” Dex yelled. “I change Iggy’s appearance all the time with my elixirs, and they’re easy to reverse, so it should be fine! And I get infinite mallowmelts. I’ll be back in a moment.”
He flounced out.

“Well, there goes our help. And my chance for infinite mallowmelts, whatever they are.” Percy muttered.
I nodded with him. “Yeah…”

A few minutes later

The door banged open. Dex stepped in with a flourish. My hand flew to my mouth.
“Dex, what happened?”
His hair was a sickly shade of pink. His hands were dyed an olive green. He was wearing a sparkly silvery suit with a bright amber tie.
He grinned. “I happened. It should all be gone by morning hopefully and I’ll have a never ending stash of mallowmelts.”

Prompt 11 - a character getting out of their comfort zone

A girl with shimmering golden hair and chocolate brown eyes knocked hesitantly on the door.
“Keefe?”
Keefe looked up and immediately his features softened.
“Hey, Sophie!”
She ran over to him and gripped his hand and cupped her other hand to his ear.
“Why are there people from the Forbidden Cities here?” She ‘whispered’ in his ear.
Percy tapped Sophie on the shoulder. “We can hear you, you know!”
She flushed bright red and stuck out her hand. “Um, yeah, hi… I’m Sophie. I used to be from the Forbidden Cities as well. If you don’t mind me asking, who are you?” She inquired, her eyebrows drawing together.
“I’m Annabeth, and this is Percy!” I introduced us, gesturing towards Percy. “We have to get some help from Dex.”
She cocked her head. “You know Dex? I didn’t know many people from the Forbidden Cities knew us!”
I shrugged offhandedly. “It’s a long story…”

Dex cleared his throat. Sophie gasped.
“Dex, what happened? You look like Iggy!” She blurted out.
“Yeah, the triplets wanted me to… do this. Don’t worry, it’s all reversible! Anyways, I’ve tracked down the number. I’m not sure if you recognise the name Nancy Bobofit?”
My phone buzzed at that exact moment.

I see you’ve figured it out.
Meet me at the Louvre.
I wouldn’t usually invite heroes to my awesome end-of-the-world party, but it should be funny to watch you try and beat me.
Hugs and kisses,
Nancy

I handed the phone to Percy silently. His face darkened.
“We need to go to the Louvre. How do we get there quickly? Your crystal won’t let you go anywhere outside of the Lost Cities!” He burst out, his breaths quick and shallow. “I just wanted to enjoy college without getting bombarded with monster attacks.”
I made a sympathetic noise. “Yeah, that’s so real.”



10 minutes later

I stood poised on the edge of the cliff, Sophie’s arm around my shoulder. I gazed down at the jagged rocks and the ferocious waves in horror. My whole body shook. Tears cascaded down my cheeks.
“Come on, Annabeth, you’ll be fine.”
Why did I have to develop a fear of heights at this moment? Why now?
“You’ve got this.”
Percy stroked my hand. “I’m terrified too, if that makes you any better.”
“Yep, that really helped.”
“Come on, we’ll do it together.”
I bent my knees, terror spiking through me. I shook my head, a lump rising in my throat.
“3.”
“2.”
“1.”
I jumped.

Prompt 12 - overestimating abilities

The light returned to my vision. I squinted. This was definitely not the Louvre.
“We’re in Norway.” Sophie murmured. “I went here on holiday with my family once.”
Percy sighed and exchanged a glance with Dex.

Hatred pulsed through me.

“Give her a break!” I screamed. “Carrying five people more than halfway across the world isn’t easy! Leave her alone.”
Percy glanced at his feet guiltily. “Sorry, I’m just impatient, I guess.”
Sophie shook her head, running a hand through her hair. “No, you’re right Percy. I should have been able to do that. I’ve done bigger jumps than that.”
Keefe raced to her side. “You’re just tired, Soph.” He soothed, glaring at Percy in a way that said ‘If you insult my girlfriend again, you’re going down.’

I bit my lip. We had to get to the Louvre. But Sophie couldn’t take us. We couldn’t get a plane. I didn’t have any money and Percy would probably die anyway.

Sophie got to her feet.
“Come on guys. I’m trying again.”
Keefe blocked her path to the edge of the mountain. “Oh no, you don’t.”
She shoved him away. “Yes, I do. It’s this or the world ends. I can do it. I’ve done it before.”
Keefe frowned. “You’ve tried multiple jumps in a row before, and usually it ends with you at Elwin’s.”
She batted his hand off. “Please, let me try.” She pleaded.
Keefe rolled his eyes. “You can’t just give me that look every time and make me do whatever you want.”
“Yes, I can.”


We linked arms and leapt… again.

We rushed through nothingness. And then flashing colours. And then we stopped.

“Why have we stopped?”

“Sophie?”

“Are you OK?”


Her face was deathly pale, creased with concentration.

After seconds of painful waiting we burst out into the air and onto the floor of the Louvre.

But Sophie was unconscious.

Prompt 13 - Character can’t let something go

Nancy strutted up to us.
“Hey, Percy, Annabeth.”
I struggled to my feet and lunged for her, seething.
“You stupid, stupid, thoughtless, cruel-”
“OK, OK, calm down!” Nancy laughed, brushing her flaming locks out of her eyes.

Her eyes.

They were… brown.

“Why are your eyes brown?”
She smirked. “Really? The first question you ask?”
“Yes.” I said solemnly. “Why are your eyes brown? They used to be green, right?”
“I’ll save that reason for later.”

A sob pierced the air.
“Sophie, wake up!”
Keefe shook Sophie desperately.
“Come on. I can’t teleport.”

I was sick of it all. Stupid monsters.

I strode up to Nancy.
“Can’t you just leave us alone? Why do you want to kill us? Kill everything?”
Nancy scoffed. “It’s fun, obviously!”
I grinded my teeth. “Yeah, you won’t have anyone left to kill if you kill everyone. If you leave us alone, we leave you alone, you get eternal life and offerings, wouldn’t that be nice? I know who you are. Gaia.”
“Are you actually kidding me?!” Percy muttered.
“Nope.” Gaia giggled.

I unsheathed my dagger.
“Bye.”
I looked into her eyes and something knotted up inside me. I couldn’t kill her.
“Go on!” She taunted. “Do it!”
I stepped back. “I can’t.”
“But you want to. I know you do!”
Percy nudged me. “Come on, Annabeth!”
I couldn’t.

“She’s my sister! Nancy! Well, half-sister. My dad and step mum had her a little after I turned one.” I blurted out.

Kill her.

Don’t.

You have to.

You can’t.

“I can’t kill her, I’m sorry.”


Nancy - Gaia - laughed evilly. “Oh, you’ll regret that, Annabeth.”

⭒ Daily 30 happy birthday to me! (529 words)


happy birthday to me. again. i sigh blowing out the dancing flames of the candles that sit atop a small cupcake. i toss the object to the side, it's meaning almost gone for me, as it has lost it's special element.

at the start it was so nice having a birthday every day. i was treated well, and i got presents each day. i have everything i could ever wish for or ever need. i got cake each day, and i loved cake so much then. so much. but it lost it's meaning. just like everything else did. back then, i loved it. i loved opening presents every single day. being able to jump up and down when i got something i really wanted. the joy of unwrapping the paper wrapper ignited happiness within, but just like the cake, it lost its significance.

now, all i wish is that i didn't have my birthday. it's not special. it's not like easter, or Christmas, a day that causes anticipation and excitement. i get so excited for them, because oh my god it's something special. unlike a birthday, which is just the every day normal for me now. even that stupid song is forever engrained in my mind. i put a ban on it- because it got so annoying. so annoying.

each time i look at the calendar all i'm reminded of is my stupid birthday. i don't want anything anymore so the gifts just get really pointless. i take a look at the cup cake i discarded, and the candle with it's hardened wax, frozen in time. gosh knows how many i've thrown out. years and years worth of those pointless sticks of wax.

it gets annoying. the happy birthdays. those two stupid words. “happy birthday siana!” “happy bday!” “happy birthday!”. can they just be quiet? i can't anymore.

once such a special day to me as a child, a day i loved to experience every single day. now degraded to just an average day by older me. a day that's like everyday. with no significance, no memories, no special moments, nothing attached to the word birthday. except my hatred. i stare at the wall. covered in brithday decor by my friends and family, and think of what it would be like if birthdays were like christmas or easter. would i maybe wait in anticipation and excitement? would i count down the days.

would it be a special day?

surely. surely it would. maybe in a couple years, it'll be different. i just wonder if anyone else feels this way. i push myself up from the chair, dreading to walk outside. I slowly move towards the door, my hand gently lowers the door handle and opens the door.

and there it is. a sign with my two least favorite words, accompanied by a smaller line: “sorry we couldn't be here, we had to leave for work” from my parents. and just like normal, a gift wrapped in a green wrapping paper, tied with a black ribbon, and there we go again my two least favourite words.

i take a step back and stare at the arrangement. it's nothing special.



back to collection

daily 030: birthday girl ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚
word count: 517 / 500

She sat down at the table, clasping her hands in her lap. She was making what she hoped was a pleasant smile, watching everyone mill about. She was getting sick of the birthday cake. The candles mocking the number she was stuck on, the number she had to repeat every single day. ‘Happy fifteenth birthday,’ they’d all yell, waiting for her to make her wish. Her wish was the same every day– that the charade of never-ending festivities would slow to a stop, that people would remember that this had happened a million times before, that people would remember the things she had said the day before.
“Happy birthday, Anne,” her friends would smile, clapping their hands. “How does it feel to finally be fifteen?”
If she was being honest, being fifteen sucked. She’d given up on attempting to change the way the day went, knocking over the cake or even jumping out the window of her bedroom to escape the birthday pancakes her parents would give her.
All the sprinkles were making her sick.
“It’s great,” Anne would grimace, taking a bite of the too-sweet cake. She hated strawberries. Her mother had made the cake last night, or, what was supposed to be last night.
“I wish that this would end,” she whispered under her breath, blowing out the annoying candles. The wax was melting down onto the cake. She was trying to ruin it, to get an excuse to not eat the sickening sugar.
But her friends all clapped, and her father made quick work of cutting and distributing the slices. She picked at the cake, separating the white frosting from the pink cake, almost glaring at the treat. But she ate it, shoveling the cake into her mouth as fast as she could. It was easier to just get the day over with. Cake, then presents, then sleep… and usually, that was the only time things didn’t repeat. At least her dreams had a mind of their own.
The presents, of course, were the same every day. A makeup kit that Anne never got a chance to try (the presents disappeared once the clock struck midnight), a few bouquets of flowers (per her request), and a movie projector.
The wrapping paper, pink with white ribbons, was becoming an eyesore. She was starting to wish she didn’t get presents at all. It was so tedious. She’d try to unwrap it so that the paper had no tears, like it could be reused– of course, it would never be, since the day would reset– but she didn’t like putting it to waste. She’d take the ribbon with her when she went to bed, coiling it around her finger. At least the little curls would leave a mark. Nothing else did.
“Goodnight,” she’d call down the stairs. Her parents wouldn’t respond, they’d still be drinking the champagn3 that they claimed was just celebratory, only on her birthday. She hated the sound it made when they popped it open. It used to be fun, having it spray. Now she excused herself to avoid being sticky with the bubbles.