Weekly 4!
Total of 3445 words
Code: Your Journey: horror, option #1, adventure, option #1, dystopian, option #2, folklore, option #3, fantasy, option #1, script, option #3, mystery, option #2, nonfi, option #1, realfi, option #3, poetry, option #3, scifi, option #1, bifi, option #1, hifi, option #2, fanfi, option #1, thriller, option #2
The certificate refuses to go on sorry

Intro
(100 words)
I gather my things and check that the den is concealed properly before leaving a note for Kaya. I tell them that I’ll be back soon and not to worry, but I unfortunately can’t explain where I’m going in writing; I promise to keep in touch, and I pray I will be able to keep to my word – no matter how much I doubt it. I glance behind me one last time, ensuring the den is securely hidden, and then I am gone, my friends and family none the wiser – apart from Kaya, but they have always been the exception.

Horror
(213 words)
I tighten the shawl around my shoulders in an attempt to stop the shivering, humming to drown out the shrieks of the souls – desperate and frail. I continue to walk down the riverbank of the underworld, wary of the tall figures that stroll past, heads high, shoulders back. I eye one as he hurries forward, his pace brisk as he continues onward stopping for nothing. His manner is curious but familiar to the atmosphere of this place.
Again, I shiver, as what I can only describe as a gust of cold air, sends chills through my spine. Weird. I brush it off, as the place is foreign to me and I’m probably just being overly cautious. The sound of the currents dwindles as I approach a cathedral type building with turrets protruding from the main build. When I get closer, I see that the outline is one of bones, solidified by dirt and soil. At the entrance one of the shadow men stands waiting, but his shape his flickering, never quite solid. At one point it’s featureless – a shadow – but at others, it is the face of a young man; eyes wild and unfocused. And then the moment’s over, and his mask is back on, protecting him from the horrors of the dead.

Adventure
(303 words)
I slipped past the door, expecting to be met with a throne room, or at least a banquet hall, but instead I found myself at the top of a hill, standing mere feet from a steep descent. I turn to go back, but the door is gone, ceasing to exist. Having no other options, I attempted to stumble down the hill, struggling to navigate my way through the bushes.
When I made it to the bottom of the descent, I was expecting a path, like in the novels, but there was nothing – only more shrubbery. As maddening as it was, I decided to make do, and began to look for supplies – just in case. I wasn’t really sure of my plan, so I gathered all that I could: dried sticks and twigs for fires, some sharper sticks to help with hiking (and in case I have to defend myself), mushrooms and raspberries for food, and while I had no confidence in it, ants – only because Kaya claimed they were a small but nutritious source of protein.
Everything was merry and joyous, until I realised I had no way of getting out of here. I could climb back up the slope, but in its own way, it would be a dead end. My other option was to attempt to shove through the shrubbery that stood before me, their branches sharp and the spacing dense. Unsure of what to do, I began to doodle in the dirt with one of the sticks I had gathered when – that was it! Snatching up a few of the other sticks, I began to bash at some of the bushes in front of me. Thankfully, the branches began to snap and I began to make my way through the vegetation, no matter how tedious and laborious the process was.

Dystopian
(245 words)
Eventually, I made it to the end of the bushes, where I was met with an open field; stars decorating the sky. When did that happen? Has it already been a whole day? Rubbing my eyes, I readied my new found belongings to continue, but when I raised my arms, the brightness of the stars seemed to increase significantly. Cautiously, I lowered them confused, only for the sky to darken again. I went on like this raising and dropping my arms for a several minutes, with similar results. Now properly confused, I decided to see what happened when I waved my arms from side to side. Surprisingly (or not) I found that shooting stars went racing off to the left when I waved my right arm and to the right when I waved my left arm.
It was then that I heard a sort of sarcastic slow clap behind me. Tensing, I pivoted around to see a boy of fourteen or fifteen leaning against a tree, watching lazily and comfortably – not shocked, I noticed. “I see you’ve discovered the magic of Dystopia – you know it usually takes visitors two or three days to realise they can control the stars – I’m impressed,”
Speechless, I nodded and then ran, sprinting across the field desperate to get away from the strange boy. I hadn’t planned for anyone to join me, and that was one of the few things I could control – no way was I giving it up.

Folklore
(180 words)
In my rush to escape the boy, I had accidentally run back the way I had come, doing a full loop before even realizing. At that point, the vegetation had become sparse, and there were more trees than anything. Fairly soon after my realization, I began to lose stamina and slowed, a stitch forming in my side. Exhausted, I used a tree to support myself, when I heard the snap of a twig. I feared the worst, expecting some kind of mythical animal. Instead, I was met with the boy from… Dystopia he called it?
Every, muscle in my body urged me to run, but I was too tired and he wasn’t menacing so I stayed watching him fearfully. “You didn’t have to be so frightened; I didn’t do anything to scare you earlier, and I just brought you your supplies, plus more”
I just stared at him blankly, unsure what to do. Then he grabbed my arm and pulled me onto my feet before offering me my supplies and gesturing for me to follow him. I did so willingly.

Fantasy
(251 words)
He led me through another path in the woods, this one not beaten in by a stick. He chatters lightly as he goes, making a few comments on the weather and the moon phase, I later realised that he was trying to strike up a conversation, but I forgot to respond – I do that sometimes.
After a few minutes he stopped at the bank of what appeared to be a lake, a few lanterns visible in the distance. He glanced down at a watch made of cogs and metal wheels, as well as a few corks, but no actual watch face. Tapping me on the shoulder he told me that ‘it’ – whatever ‘it’ was – would be here in precisely eleven seconds. Ten, nine, eight, a wooden rowing boat emerged from the mist. As I watched it approach the shore, I noticed that there was no one aboard – this boy – three, two - was just revealing himself to be stranger and stranger.
When the boat was a few feet out from us, he urged me towards it, grinning as we waded it out to it. “I want to show you something that I, personally, think is really cool - but I might be a bit biased. Anyway, from what I can tell you’re trying to get somewhere and I think what we’re about to see will really help” he clambered in, waiting for me to do the same thing, before we set off, the lanterns growing bigger as we crossed the lake.

Script
(283 words)
The little boat glides peacefully across the lake, the waves making soothing sounds as they rock against the hull. The boat coasts into a minor harbor, where the boy guides it to a standstill. I hope out and he follows, grabbing my hand in anticipation, clearly passionate about whatever he wants to show me.
He jogs up a set of stairs, pointing to an observation tower, what appears to be a… factory? And astonishingly, dragons. I wonder in awe, but not for long because he takes off at a run, anxious to get where we’re heading.
We end up at the other end of the harbor, where it appears that the bigger boats are kept. His face is plastered with a grin as points to a large sail boat, a crew of three aboard it. “Ta-Daa!” he makes a grand sweeping gesture with his hands to show off the boat, “Do you like it? It’s just been sitting around since no one’s needed it, but I figured you could use it.” I nod slowly, unsure of why I would need a boat, but he thankfully explains, “You’re clearly new here so you probably haven’t realised, but depending on where you’re going, a lot of places are islands – so you’ll need a ship – oh, and I just realised that I never introduced myself, my name’s Will and I’m from the Thriller Islands.” I stare at him blankly for a bit before snapping back and introducing myself, “I’m Stephanie and I’m from a different…world, I think.” “Called it!” “It was fairly obvious,” “Whatever, let’s just get on the boat and go somewhere!” he scramble onto the boat, his hair a mess and his eyes wild.

Mystery
(120)
The inside of the boat is lavish and a little aristocratic, the floor is polished oak and there are all sorts of statues and figurines made from stone. On every table, every window sill, every inch of space is decorated with the statues. It feels as if their eyes are bearing into you, but in a quiet curious manner, not mean or menacing. Will leads me around giving a grand tour of each in every room, although they are similar, a cold feel to them, but not mean just unloving. At the end of the tour, he introduces me to the captain and first mate, who are nice enough – similar in age to me and Will – but a little proud.

Non-fi
(111)
The next morning, we sit down for breakfast, which is cooked by the lovely Alexandra, the engineer on board, who just so happens to have a passion for baking. We munch quietly on our food, until the captain, Martin, asked Will where we were headed. Will looked to me expectantly, “I don’t know where to go, but I’m looking for Neptune, but I don’t think I’m in the right world, yet alone the right place.” “Neptune? Do you mean Poseidon, God of the ocean?” one of the crew members asked, looking puzzled. “No,” I said, “I mean Neptune Island by the west coast” Will just nodded, instructing Martin to head west.

Real-Fi
(145)
Eight days into the trip, we stop at a small island, where we restock supplies. We spend three days there, just exploring the island, Alexandra and Will explaining Scratchtopia to me. We stay in a small inn on the eastern side of the island; a peaceful place, charming and serene. Everything seems fine, but over the course of the three days, Martin begins to act strangely, making snide comments and muttering under his breath. He continues to act up, and soon Will and the others become suspicious, eyeing him when he passes by.
One particular morning, we wake up to screaming as the inn keeper tells us that a sail boat has been stolen from the dock. We run down there, discovering – as we suspected – that Martin was up to something, that something being stealing the ship and leaving us stranded on an unfamiliar island.

Poetry
(173)
Over the course of the next week, Will and the first mate, who’s called Charlie, work together to find another ship, but with little luck. Having tried everything, we eventually decide to settle in for a small while, and really figure out what the plan of action is. “So, you need to get to an island, with lots of relations to the sea. And it’s called Neptune?” “Yep.” “But we have never heard of it, know where it is, or if we’re even in the right universe?” “Also yes,” Is how most of the conversations between me and the crew go, before Charlie just decided that we should go to the Thriller Islands and work from there, because it’s the closest place to my description. “Why do you even need to go there though?” he asked one afternoon as we sorted out transport. “It sounded more prosperous than where I’m from” I stated bluntly. He nods, and we continue asking people around town, about the best way to get to the Thriller Islands.

Sci-Fi
(358)
“Are you sure this is going to work?” we’re walking down the beach, BCDs and regulators attached, as we prepare to dive downwards – downwards – to the Thriller Islands, which are apparently a set of caves underneath the surface, not real islands. “Yep. Positive,” is Charlie’s response, “And so is Will, and the dive company that rented us this stuff,” I just nod, still unsure because I never grew up around large bodies of water, and therefore wary of them.
On the sixth night since Martin had stranded us, Charlie and Will had come back to the inn, grinning and looking triumphant, when they revealed that they had not only found a way to get us out of here, but also to get us directly to the Thriller Islands.
The water was chilly as it seeped through my dry suit, making me shiver as we waded into the ocean. I inhaled deeply, as my BCD deflated, a gentle breeze blowing just above our heads.
I was five, and Grandma was telling Kaya and me stories from her own childhood. She talked of her home, an island which the name of I could not remember. She told us about the floods that pushed them out, forcing them to migrate. How it had started as a gentle breeze, delightful in the tropical climate; but then the winds grew stronger and more powerful, uprooting trees and wreaking havoc on the island. Next came the rain, bold and striking, heavy drops big enough to smash a glass.
I blinked. Once. Twice. I was wrong, it was just a myth – it couldn’t become real, not now. Oh, but it had, it had become real and it was happening right now, right here. I screamed, shouting warnings to the others, but most of them were already under the water. It was hopeless.
I descended with them, sheltering from the wind, but I could still here the rain – a rambunctious cacophony rather than the steady patter I had grown to love and take comfort in.
The waves were next, accompanied by uncontrollable currents shoved us from side to side, separating us, and causing us to collide.

Bi-Fi
(215)
Hello, Kaya here. Ha! I bet you thought all of this story would come from my darling sister’s perspective, but alas, you were wrong.
The waves tore the group apart, a few of them attempting to grab on to each other, but they failed. Alex and dear Stephanie strained against the currents, determined not to be separated, and yet they were cruelly torn apart, as Alex was forced to the surface, washed up on the shore and my sister pushed deeper into the darkness forced to face her fear of the treacherous ocean. I’m joking, well not about the part where everyone’s separated – that’s true, I mean the part where Steph is forced into the darkness, she really wasn’t, she actually elected to swim deeper over her friends, in order to get to the good ol’ Thriller Islands. A bit rude of her. Then, she had the audacity to pass out, but it’s ok, because a strange merman friend of Will’s saw them enter the ocean, and managed to manipulate the currents just enough to get her, Will, and Charlie there. Unfortunately, not Alex though.
Ok, I’m gonna give this back to Steph, because she looks fairly…enraged. I hope you enjoyed a less dramatic, more reliable narrator, and good luck with her version! Mwa, Kaya.

Hi-Fi
(186)
The Thriller Islands were glorious. They had everything one could ever want or need and they were the most scenic place I had ever been. The sun shimmered through the waves, and fish swam around you constantly, circling you like lost dogs wanting attention. As well as this, Will seemed more in his element than I had ever seen him before, his manner easy and light.
But most of all, this was the place that my grandma gad been talking about, all those years ago. It was just as she described it, warm and friendly but profitable and prosperous, full of welcoming people, who also had ambition and motive. It was everything I was looking for, and I had found it, I couldn’t wait to tell Kaya.
But here was one small issue, that being that not everyone had made it. Alexandra was nowhere to be found, possibly still on the previous island or somewhere else completely, washed up on the shore of an unknown, unfamiliar, foreign place. We weren’t sure, and we didn’t know what to do, or where to start looking – we were stuck.

Fan-Fi
(224)
Her hand gripped mine, her nails digging into my skin as she tried to hold on, her face mirroring my thoughts, pleading and desperate. I felt her grip slacken, I watched her calmly float to the surface, her desperation masked by a timid smile. It felt like a slow motion shot from a film, it couldn’t be true – it wasn’t true. And yet it was.
That was until the fourth morning since our arrival. Will and his merman friend were beginning to discuss ways to locate Alexandra and (hopefully) bring her back here, to the base that we seem to have formed. The merman – Daniel, was plotting bizarre weather, and supernatural occurrences on a chart, and shooting down every one of Will’s suggestions on where to find Alexandra.
It was during one of these meeting sessions that Daniel had the idea to check the Thriller Islands. It sounded ridiculous at first, but after a while it became clearer and made more sense. The reasoning behind it was that if the current had pushed us enough Daniel’s way to get us here, it may have done the same for Alexandra. And if not, she knew where we would be, and we hadn’t the slightest idea on where she might be. So, on that Saturday afternoon, we began to search the Island for a lost engineer.

Thriller
(186)
Day and night, we searched for Alexandra, but we couldn’t find her anywhere under the sea.
Charlie believed her dead, and most of the Thrillians presumed the same, but I was sure that she was alive and Daniel was willing to continue the search and so we did.
Unfortunately, the search continued on without a lot of action, and eventually even Daniel grew tired of waiting for someone that he didn’t believe was coming back. The search took up too much resources and time, so we had to call it; but this was going to be my new home, and I didn’t want it to feel like it had a piece missing, so I kept going in my own time – completely and utterly set on finding my friend, I felt like I owed it to her.
Weeks passed, and the excitement died down, but I went on looking, committed when no one else was. I lost sleep searching for Alexandra, I skipped meals to go out and look for her, but still not a thing.
Until one day, I saw her sitting calmly, chatting with Will.

Conclusion
(152)
Alex had washed up on Poetry Island (where the five had been before) but had been unable to get back to the others. That was until she met some other engineers, and they helped her build a submarine to get down there and join her friends. Rather cliché, but then again Steph’s life is really quite cliché – oh I forgot to mention – it’s me again, Kaya.
I suppose you want to hear the end of the story (or maybe you don’t, I don’t care) but I am going to share a brief version with you.
After Alex arrived in the Thriller Islands, the group was all soppy, until Steph made her way back here, through the portal in the underworld, and she begged me to join her bac at the Thriller Islands. I said no. The reason why is irrelevant.
There’s your happy ever after though, maybe you liked it, maybe you didn't.

Tori's weekly (the planets are not all in the order that I did them)

Surfing through the stars, it was clear to me that I’d been thinking so close-mindedly my entire life. I had always thought that I’d belonged on my home planet, and to live anywhere else would be a crazy dream. But out here, I could see that there was so much more to the galaxy, so many different and unique creatures and planets, and I wanted to see them all. As I danced on a star, I realized that even now I was thinking too small. I didn’t just want to see the planets and creatures, I wanted to experience them. I wanted to try the activities they offered, and meet the people who lived there. And so, I declared my adventure, and started out toward the Galaxswc.


Adventure
As I flew into the Planet of Adventure, I couldn’t help but notice the hundreds of knights carrying swords into a field. I flew in behind them, my curiosity getting the better of me. I noticed quickly that they were battling something. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I wanted a closer look. I realized that they were not fighting a “who”, but a “what”. There was a large fire, and the knights were dreadfully unprepared. The fire was getting dangerously close to what seemed to be their kingdom, so I flew in. I found a well with some buckets, as well as a rope. So I filled up the buckets and I strung the rope through their handles before knotting the rope underneath my wings. I flew over to the fire, splashing water anywhere I could. As I held off the fire, the knights ran back into the kingdom to retrieve their own buckets. Eventually- together- we extinguished the fire. The knights gave me their thanks, and I went on my way.

HORROR
I was feeling quite tired after my trip to the Planet of Adventure, but when I got to the Horror camp, I overheard people talking about “The Ghost” recruiting the civilians through their dreams, so I decided this might not be the best place to sleep. I explored the spookish planet, hoping to wake myself up a bit. I felt uncomfortable here, considering how many ghosts were roaming around. They were cartoon-like, almost friendly, but I didn’t dare interact with them, as I was unsure if this was a trick. This didn’t seem like an honest land, but one of trickery and deceit. I didn’t think it would be wise to trust anybody, or even speak to the inhabitants. And since that was what I was exploring for, I decided to go somewhere I felt more at home.

Hi-fi
This land was very nice, scenic. It was very beautiful, and seemed to be placed in the past. There were lots of old trains riding by on scattered train tracks. It felt very calm, so I decided to get a closer look. I caught a glimpse of some people wearing ski masks hopping into the back of one of the trains. It reminded me of the time when I stole my mother’s extra food. She had brought some extra worms home that day, and I was feeling extra hungry. Picked up the worms and tucked the away in a small nook in the nest, preparing to eat it in the morning. But as I drifted off into a sleep, my innocent nestling mind felt guilty, and I felt the need to confess what I had done. So I scooted over to my mother and whispered the truth. She was not angry, but warned me that, had she been someone else, they would be. And so I learned my lesson, and had never stolen anything since. I wondered if these people were about to learn their lesson. But they continued to rob the train. I felt very bad, so I flew over and told them off. They returned everything to the train and scurried away. After helping the planet, I decided it was time to move to the next one.

Poetry
A new planet came into view, one that glistened beautifully. As I got closer, excitement brewed, because I was seeing birds! Hundreds and hundreds of birds flying in a swarm. I dove to get a closer look, maybe even say hello, but I quickly realized that these were not birds. In fact, they were spears. Hundreds and hundreds of spears flying rapidly towards the ground. Where they were coming from, I don’t know, but I knew where they were headed. They were headed for the planet. We were far enough away not to be able to see the terrain, or what was living on the planet, but I figured whatever was down there would not want to be bombarded by spears today. I tried to think of a way to stop the spears, but was at a loss for ideas. I had never seen anything like this, so I didn’t know what the best way to approach it would be. It was starting to seem hopeless, but I wasn’t ready to give up. I’d come out here for adventure, had I not? A challenge? Something to get away from my boring old life. I was determined to make a change. And so when I saw a cloud, I grabbed the edges and whipped it around. It acted as a net, catching all of the spears and stopping them from striking the planet. The cloud was starting to get quite heavy, so I flew away from the planet, and dropped it into oblivion, probably to be sucked up by a black hole. It felt nice to help another planet, even if I didn’t get to see it. I decided that my work was done, and that I should head somewhere else on my adventure to help the Galaxswc. After all, I’d only visited four planets, and there were fifteen in total. Still eight more for me to see. And so I continued on my way.

Mystery
As I neared the train station of this remarkably odd planet. The whole thing had a… mysterious feel. It seemed sketchy, and the people at the train station were giving me odd looks. It occurred to me, for the first time, that I was a bird, and these were people. This was clearly a world without birds who could think as humans do. I had learned about such things in school, and could not judge, because humans are not an intelligent species on my planet. Seeing them out here in these different worlds was certainly a life-changing experience. I was realizing that I had belittled humans my entire life, and thought very little of them. I was starting to find that none of what I had been taught was true. But then again, every world was different. It was very likely that every world had different ideas of truth, making it impossible for such a thing to exist. But now I was starting to develop my own truth about humans, and realize that they were more than I had originally thought. I hoped I was representing the same thing for birds as I took flight, heading to another planet. I had helped myself with a realization, and that was enough for me.

Sci-Fi
As I flew into the glitchy planet, I got a strange feeling in my hands and feet. I landed gently on the ground and screamed when I realized what was happening. The ground was turning into feathers underneath me. Everything I touched turned green and soft, spreading with every step. There was nothing I could do but run, because the feathers couldn’t support my weight. But the more I ran, the more ground got covered. It took quite a long time for me to realize that the best solution would be to fly away. And so I took off, looking down at the crumbling green patch, where all of the feathers were falling into space.

Real-fi
I was getting exhausted, and desperately needed a rest. Luckily. This snowy planet had a quaint motel. I walked inside, feeling very excited to take a nap. I turned around to look out the window. The motel was placed so perfectly that the snowstorm wasn’t so much a storm as much as it was a flurry. A cute, gentle snow flurry. Such a peaceful moment-one of the first that I’d had on this journey. One of the first in my life. There’s a fine line between boring and peaceful. It made me feel so happy, so at one with the world. Everything inside of me was right and happy and I just couldn’t- Click- I turned around to see what the clicking sound was. My stomach dropped when I realized it was the door, and it had locked from the other side. How was I supposed to sleep?? More importantly, how was I going to get out of here? I decided that I would have to do the most risky thing that I had done yet. At least I would be covered with feathers. I took a few steps back, and charged toward the window, crashing through it and rolling into the snow. I flew away as soon as I possibly could.

Bi-Fi
I finally found a planet where I could relax. Just sit and watch a movie. Maybe catch a few minutes of sleep. And by the looks of it, it didn’t cost a single dime. Strange creatures were gathered all over the theater, eating each other’s popcorn and sipping each other’s drinks like everybody was their old friend. And maybe they were, but I had no way of knowing. I was an outsider. I figured I’d be fine as soon as the movie started, but I guess that theaters were different here. They are more of a gathering place with background noise rather than a place to quietly watch movies for fun. The creatures chattered and laughed and threw popcorn, horsing around. I tried to watch the movie, but it was starring strange creatures, which spoke a strange language, making it impossible to know what was happening. So I tried to nap, but it was too loud, and the lights didn’t go off when the movie started. Suddenly, the creatures started screaming and cheering in unison, as if the movie had just shown something exciting. I decided to cheer with them, trying not to be the weirdo who didn’t cheer for something exciting. This was a big mistake, because the creatures immediately turned their heads over to me and started screaming angrily. Their eyes reminded me of flies’. Maybe that was what they were. Mutant flies. Either way, I didn’t want to find out, so I started running for the nearest exit. I ran out into the lobby of the cinema, but the theater security guards grabbed me before I could run out the door. They tried to carry me behind the counter, but I flapped my wings. I beat them against the guards’ face and arms until it dropped me, and I flew out a window. That was an adventure I never wanted to relive.

*added ^^
Fan-Fi
The next stop on my tour was an agency that… dealt with time? Honestly, it didn’t make total sense to me, but then again, nothing much made sense out here. My brain was so limited to the things I’d been taught that when I heard anything else, it seemed unreasonable. But then again, if people who came to my world thought different things, I’m sure they’d have some opinions as well. After all, my planet’s intelligent creatures were birds. Everything else was considered thoughtless. This reminded me of one time at school, as a young owlet. My friend, Paul, told me about how he’d once met a human and it spoke to him, using words. They weren’t our words, but it was confident enough for him to know that he was speaking his own language. < added< And since then, I’ve never felt the same way about humans. I decided that there was nothing here for me but business stuff, and I had no interest in business stuff. So I decided to head to the next place.

Thriller
I landed on a planet entirely covered in water. I landed on a damp piece of land, and it seemed to be the only one for miles. The rest of the planet seemed to be covered in green, murky water. There was something strange about this planet- and not only because it was mostly covered in water. No, there was something more… unsettling. But I simply could not think over the water tickling my toes. That was when I realized what was happening. Water was flooding onto the small patch of land that I was on, submerging the entire thing. My wings were too damp and heavy for me to fly, so all I could do was sink, and hope to be rescued. But it occurred to me that there was not much hope. For what would be able to survive on a planet made only of water. Then I realized again, there were plenty of creatures who lived in the water. Almost as if they could hear her thoughts, a friendly whale swam underneath me and launched me out of the water and back into space. This time it wasn’t me who helped, but me who got helped.
Fantasy
When I flew into the next planet, a cloudy, stormy place, I decided it was the perfect time to nap. A strange creature had offered to give me a ride to the next planet, so I decided to miss out on the planet of Fantasy. It didn’t look all that interesting anyway. So I decided to take a nap while the creature flew me to the next place on my adventure. As I slept, I dreamed of a strange creature with pointed teeth chasing me through the stars. He resembled a bird, in a strange sort of way. Except for the fact that, again, he had oddly pointy teeth, a devilish curled tongue, and cold, harsh red eyes that would make one feel strangely uncomfortable. And though dreams rarely explicitly list names of people, they often echo them. And somehow I knew that this creature’s name was Jim, and that he wanted to stop me from fulfilling my adventure. Suddenly, I jolted awake, for the creature was telling me that I was at my next stop. But I still had a strange feeling that this wasn’t a dream at all. I had a feeling that my conscience was trying to tell me something. Perhaps Jim was indeed following me? I guess I’d find out soon enough…
Script
I stepped into this planet to find that I had come to see the end of a show. And although I didn’t know what the show had been, it seemed as if it had been quite a spectacle. There was confetti, ashes, glitter, and there were still a billion twinkling lights positioned to shine on the stage. A man handed me a broom and nodded his head toward the stage, as if he were telling me to clean it up. And so, I did. I sweeped up the stage, feeling the need to do something to help, even if it was something small. I hadn’t been able to help at the last few planets, because they seemed too dangerous and dark. So I swept up the stage happily- or at least I was happy until the lights went out. I started to remember my dreams about Jim, and decided that it was my time to fly the coop. Onto the next planet.

This next place smelled sweet like bread. The only buildings I could see for miles were bakeries. And it just so happened to be that I was quite hungry. And so I walked inside of one.
“Hello, Darling!” A woman said from behind the counter. “Would you like some fresh baked bread?”
I nodded happily. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until now.
The woman put some dough in a bread oven and told me to have a seat. She said her bread oven was of the magical variation, and baked super fast. I would only have to wait five minutes for a delicious warm slice of home-baked bread. After staring out the window for a few minutes, she told me that my bread was ready, and pulled a golden brown fluffy loaf of bread out of the oven.
“Here you go, Darling!”
I ate it all up happily, thanked the woman, and then walked out with a full, happy belly. I was ready for the next part of my mission.

Folklore
I landed on a planet that was heavily forested and green, although for once in a good way. The places I’d been in so far had been kind of ominous, but this forest felt lush, welcoming, and peaceful. I walked through it, searching for something I might need to do to help someone. But the forest was as perfect as it could possibly be. Happy birds danced in the air, singing beautiful songs. Bugs crawled in straight lines across logs carrying bread crumbs. A doe and her fawns pranced gracefully through the trees. This place was beautiful, and too perfect for me to dream of helping. So I decided to leave this beautiful forest so that I could help someone.

Dystopian
I was finally almost done with my adventure across the Galaxscw. I reached another planet, it glowed beautifully, so it was hard to find a spot to land. I was flying above the surface of the planet, trying not to land on something I shouldn’t have. It took a lot of concentration, but I thought I’d found a spot.
“Hey hey!” A peppy voice called from behind me
I turned around, causing myself to lose the perfect spot that I had in mind. “Who are you?”
“Does it really matter?” The voice asked. It seemed to be coming from a glowing unicorn. “Does it really matter when there is a lost unicorn in the galaxy?”
“You’re lost?”
“Oh yes.” The unicorn replied. “Very much so. It seems I can’t find a safe place to land on my planet after going on my adventure.”
“Well I had found a place, but you made me lose it.” I said.
“Oh did I?” The unicorn asked. “I’m terribly sorry.”
I turned away, searching for the spot again. After a few moments I found it again. “Here it is.”
The unicorn trotted over. “Ah yes, that looks right. Thank you for helping me.”
I realized that I had done my job here, and now I could go home.

3120 words


Your Journey: adventure, option #1, horror, option #3, thriller, option #1, fanfi, option #1, scifi, option #3, realfi, option #1, mystery, option #1, poetry, option #3, hifi, option #1, script, option #2, fantasy, option #3, nonfi, option #1, folklore, option #3, dystopian, option #1, bifi, option #2

Weekly for Script

Save code:
Your Journey: horror, option #1, adventure, option #3, realfi, option #1, scifi, option #1, nonfi, option #1, folklore, option #3, mystery, option #3, poetry, option #3, hifi, option #2, bifi, option #2, script, option #1, fantasy, option #3, fanfi, option #1, thriller, option #1, dystopian, option #1

Total Word Count: 3,649 words


Intro:
(100)

A small iridescent bird flew through the air. Dew had been flying with her flock when she'd accidentally flown into an asteroid field, losing sight of her flock. After making it out of the asteroid field she found that she was now in front of 15 large planets, a solar system she'd passed many years prior. She remembers that her flock had always said that if she'd ever gotten lost she'd find friends along the way on those plants that would help her find her way back to them. With that thought in mind, she then embarked on her journey.

1. Horror
(125)

Sitting there they are complaining away about their issues, grumpily giving you answers and cursing their heads off. But when an acquaintance comes around a mask is slipped on. Suddenly they aren't complaining, they aren't grumpy, they aren't cursing at all. They are standing up straight, a smile plastered on their face. They respectfully acknowledge the acquaintance, and start making small talk. They don't complain and it seems that now cursing is gone from their vocabulary. They put up the facade that they are innocent and are energetic. It looks fake, and for them it feels fake. It is just a border between what is real and what is asked of them. A veil between the person that you know and the person they know.

2. Adventure:
(1031)

Delila? DELILA! She is shaken awake to find that she is lying on her bed. Her body was aching, and she could swear she couldn't feel her limbs. What had happened? What was going on? She tried to think back to find that she just couldn't remember. She turned her head around to see her brother and parents surrounding her. Her brother looked genuinely concerned, her mother looked to be on the verge of tears and her father…he looked so disappointed. “What (cough) happened?” Her brother looked to her parents, they looked back. The trio didn't seem to know what to do. Delila sighed, what did it even matter. Whatever happened was now in the past, what really mattered was what was going to happen now.

She looked out behind her parents to see another pair of eyes watching her. If she didn't know better she would have broken into tears, laughing hysterically. He should be dead, there was no way that was him. But there he was standing on her balcony, looking as if he was about to die from worry. ‘Come over here’ she mouthed at him. He just shook his head, gesturing to her family. Right.

Her father was the one who had sentenced him to death, and her brother if he saw him would probably go ballistic. Wanting to go kill him himself because he'd shattered her heart and left her without a reasonable explanation. That of course was untrue now since she knew the reason. The reason being that his loved ones would die at the hands of her father's right hand man. With that thought in mind she remembered how she was mad at her father and parents. They knew how much she loved him, but still chose to do it. She didn't blame them, his profession was anything but suitable to be the husband of the princess. Not to mention that he was not of nobility or royalty. There would be no benefit of them being married other than the promise of her safety and the knowledge that their only daughter would be happy. Of course they went the easy way and just chose to take him out of the picture. How cliché of them. If only they knew. Her train of thought is broken when she feels and hands on her arm.

She looks to see her brother looking at her in worry. “Delila…did you know you were pregnant?” This question to her own surprise didn't faze her at all. She deep down knew this even if she hadn't consciously. Delila then turned to her parents to see the looks of disappointment in their eyes. She knew very well that her parents weren't thrilled with the idea that their daughter, the princess of the realm, had gotten hitched before she'd even gotten married. She honestly couldn't care less about that, she was more worried about his reaction. He had for sure heard her brother's question and had put the pieces together. “Just come in already.” she said quietly, lifting a shaking hand to gesture her child's father inside. Her family turned around to see him standing there. Her father looked outraged to say the least and her brother on the other hand seemed unfazed.

“You! How are you alive?!” With newfound confidence he walks over to her bedside. “Is this true…is it really my child.” Delila nods, smiling softly. His expression is emotionless, which starts to worry her. Maybe this wasn't such a good thing. “Are you ok with this?” A smile comes to his face. “Of course, but the better question is, are you ok with this? We are still young, and you are the princess. Are you not worried about the consequences?” “No, not as long as you are able to be by my side.” She then noticed her brother backing away. He didn't look appalled, but seemed to have a look of acceptance. He looked at her, nodding. He approved of this, it didn't matter if he didn't like it. It was for his sister. Anyways if he put one foot out of line he'd be the first one to know and the first one to be able to take a go at him. But also he owed her one for not outing him on his little affair with his personal knight. His sister was all grown up, a tear rolled down his face as he left his sister's chambers.

Now it was only Delila, her parents and her lover. Delila first looked at her mother. She could tell that she was trying to figure out what to do in this situation. After a few more silent moments, her mother had clearly figured out what to do. She got out of her father's grasp and started to leave the room just as her brother had. This act almost brought Delila to tears, her mother had just admitted to accepting this relationship and new revelation. That was her blessing. That then just left her father. He, unlike her mother and brother, looked extremely appalled and angry. She could just see it in the way her father grasped the handle of his sword. Deciding whether or not to pull it out and start a full on duel in his daughter's chambers.

Was this really what he wanted? To cause a rift between him and his beloved daughter. All because he didn't approve of her choice…no he did approve of this relationship…he was more worried about what would happen to her. He was scared of what the public would think of this, he was scared that even with this power as king he couldn't stop the people from whispering gossip around. He couldn't do that to her, he just wouldn't let it. Delila and her lover waited in silence for the king to say something. The anticipation started to get to her, making her feel a tad faint. “Father…please just say something.” she cried out. He looked at his daughter, sighing as he too started to walk out. “Please be careful…I don't want something to happen to you. I want you to be happy. I will not do anything to him, I promise.”

3. Realistic Fiction
(157)

It was a beautiful summer day, Luca walked wandering the field looking for some flowers to pick for his mother. There were so many flowers to choose from, they all smelled so nice. But none of them were quite right. “Luca! Lunch is ready!” He looked back to see his mother and father smiling at him. But something looked off, he couldn't see their eyes. Why couldn't he see their eyes? He took one step towards them, “Mom is everything ok?” His parent's expressions changed, they now looked horrified for some reason. Then suddenly the world became very dark. The ground started to split, causing him to fall into the crack. It seemed that there was no end. “Wake up. Wake up!!” Luca jolts awake, sweating profusely. He isn't in a field and his parents are nowhere to be seen. He is in a dark room, and there are a lot of glowing eyes staring at him.

4. Science Fiction:
(147)

It was late at night, the moon's glow illuminated the world around them. Jake looked out the window of the minivan, Ezra was in the driver seat focused on the road. “I'm going to take a rest stop, is that ok?” He just nods mindlessly in response, not really paying attention. Before he knew it he was sitting in the car alone, Ezra nowhere to be seen. Jake opened the door and got out to find that they were in the parking lot of a park. He figured that Ezra would come back to the car eventually, so he just left and started to wander. A sudden feeling of deja vu washed over him. He found himself standing in front of a bench, the nameplate bringing it all back. He'd been to this park before, stood in front of this exact bench. The only thing missing was…her.

5. Nonfiction:
(98)

Ding! Claire walked into the kitchen, grabbing some mittens before approaching the oven. She peered through the glass at the gingerbread cookies she was baking. Golden brown, perfect. She opened the oven door, warm air rushing out and onto her face. They smelled wonderful, she could just imagine the looks on her siblings faces when they saw the gingerbread lying on the table when they woke up. She took a deep breath and lifted the tray onto the island. 3 rows of perfectly shaped gingerbread men, now to put on the frosting. Now where did she put it?

6. Folklore:
(125)

Delila looked out the window and into the horizon. The sun was just about up, peeking out from the water of the ocean. It was so beautiful, it was sad that this was going to be the last time she was going to be seeing this. She looked back into her chambers, all her things were pretty much packed. Suddenly the cry of a child rang out, she chuckled to herself as she walked back inside and towards the crib of her newborn child. “Hush, it's ok. Mama's here.” She picked up her little girl, rocking her. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of her sleeping baby, she had turned out looking so much like her papa. Well everything but those beautiful eyes.

7. Mystery:
(198)

Imara backed up, accidentally bumping into a vase that stood on a pedestal. Causing it to fall down onto the ground with a crash. The shards of the ceramic are going everywhere. Now she's done it, she looks to see the pair looking back at her. Now suddenly aware of their surroundings. Before either of them can say anything she rushes out of the room and into the hallway. She can hear the sounds of shuffling and then the footsteps of somebody running after her. She couldn't look back, she just wouldn't. If she did she might not ever be able to look him in the eyes again, never be able to see the person she saw again. She may have done her wrong, but she didn't want her to imagine her to die. That person she knew wouldn't have done this to her, she was sure of it. “Imara, I can explain. Please let me explain.” Her words almost persuade her to stop in her tracks, but her consciousness says otherwise. Her trust was a lot more breakable than she thought, but who could blame her. Her mother and father haven't exactly been the most open people.

8. Poetry:
(342)

Melody picked up her phone, confused at who would call her this late in the evening. Not even checking the caller ID, she picked up the phone. “Yes, this is Melody. How can I help you?” “Mom, could you pick me up? This is Imara…” Melody suddenly felt totally awake, Imara? It must be very serious if her daughter was calling her. After all, she'd cut contact with her years ago. “Could you pick me up at ***** st please. I'm in front of **** ” “Yeah of course, I'll be there soon.” She put down her phone, not sure how she should feel. She was between happy and extremely worried, when she realized she had a job to do. Changing into more acceptable clothes, she took her car keys and started driving to the address her daughter had sent her. The whole drive her thoughts were flooded with ideas of what could be happening. Once she pulled up in front of the house, she noticed her daughter sitting on the curb. Imara looked up as she rolled down the window. She sniffled before getting up, “Thanks for coming. I tried to call Charlie, but he wasn't answering his phone.” “No problem, is there a certain place you'd like me to drop you off at.” “No…I have nowhere else to go…I guess Charlie's place will do.” Melody nods, grabbing her phone and putting in her son's address. “Alright, hop in. It's going to be a long drive.” Imara hesitates for a moment, causing Melody to start having her doubts. She was the second option, maybe Imara was worried that now that she had submitted she had to call her. She'd get ideas and make the situation a ton worse because of it. Then the passenger door opens and Imara gets in. Melody smiles a bit, before starting the car up again. It was about an hour's drive to Charlie, which meant they were going to have to be stuck together for that duration of time. She just hoped that it was going to be alright.

9. Historical Fiction:
(275)

The mother daughter pair stood on the steps of a large house, you could even call it a mansion for how large it was. “Does he seriously live here? Where in the world did he get all this money?” Melody mutters to herself. She may live in a quiet large house herself, but she was never one to flaunt her money. If it had been up to her now she probably would have gotten a much smaller house and just settled there with her kids. But on the other hand that house had been a gift to her from Jake and her mother. And she really couldn't say no to that. The door then suddenly opened to a very sleepy looking Charlie. “Mom, Imara? What are you doing here, and together?” “Your sister called me to pick her up since somebody didn't pick up.” “Can you blame me though, she called me at like 3 in the morning.” Melody then whipped around and looked in horror at her daughter. “You waited 2 hours before calling me?! What in the world were you thinking?” “I wasn't, I have a lot more on my plate than you think I do mom.” Melody shook her head. Honestly what was she to say, if it had been her she probably would have done the same. 16 year old Melody hadn't exactly been one to think very logically, she'd been very much more impulsive than anything. Not to mention the times when she used to just stay at her bench in the park all the time. “Well I guess come in, just please don't be too loud. It's still early.”

10. Bizarro Fiction
(105)

Charlie was to say the least confused. He was very certain that Imara would have never contacted their mother for any reason. So seeing that the pair was standing together in his doorway was very odd. He had no grudges against his mother, you could call him forgiving if you want. But he honestly didn't care, she was his only parental figure and he understood that she had been too young to truly grasp the position of being a mother. And honestly she had never really done anything wrong other than mildly neglect them in the beginning, other than that she was a wonderful mother.

11. Script:
(140)

The room was illuminated by a large hanging chandelier with many fake candles. Must have been part of the original design of the house. For the metal of the chandelier looked orange and it certainly wasn't because of the glow. As for the rest of the room, it mainly looked modern for the most part. Compared to the exterior of the house, the room was more down to earth. Most of the furniture was already breaking down, or stained. And there were a ton of miscellaneous things lying around everywhere. The book shelves had other things other than books in it. And the books themselves looked worn down and there were even a few that were upside down. The TV wasn't very big and had a few scratches on the screen. Comfortable. That was a good way to describe it.

12. Fantasy:
(263)

Is he still coming? Lanna looked around nervously, her leg bouncing. They had agreed up to meet here the previous night, but now she wasn't sure if he'd been telling the truth. Maybe he's just late, yeah he's just late. I shouldn't be worrying about that. He'll come. She looked up at the sky, it's snowing. She watched as the snow drifted down to fall on the ground and pretty much everything around her. It was peaceful. “Sorry I'm late, I thought I'd grab us some coffee since it's so cold.” She whips her head around to see An, who is holding two coffees in his hand. His face is bright red, and he is breathing heavily. “Thanks, but you really didn't have to do that.” “It's the first time we're hanging out in a while, it was the least I could do. It is mostly my fault we haven't been in contact.” He hands her the coffee and takes a seat next to her. “It never snowed in California.” “Yeah, and it wasn't normally this cold.” They both take a deep breath, their exhale white as it drifts off into the sky. “How about we restart? I'm An, I'm 25 and am in college right now.” “It's nice to meet you An, I'm Lanna. I'm also 25 and also in college.” The pair then chat, and before they know it the sun is starting to set. “This was fun..” “Yeah, we should do this again.” “It was really nice to see you again and I'm happy that we got to do this.”

13. Fanfiction
(158)

Lanna watched as the world passed by, she wasn't sure where they were going for sure. Only that they'd be meeting up with Analean's family. “Mom, are you sure you won't tell me why we are suddenly meeting up with Analean?” She hears her mother laugh from the driver seat. “No sweetheart. You'll see when we get there.” Lanna huffed in frustration, sitting further back into her seat. It was not fair that the adults got to be in on the secret and she didn't. She knew it wasn't a surprise birthday party since both of their birthdays were long passed. Soon enough they seemed to be at their destination, for they were pulling into a parking lot. Lanna got out and followed her parents to the parking lot where she found that there was a party going on. Then she saw it, the large banner that was tied across the trees behind the tables. “Going away party”

14. Thriller
(154)

Holly walked through the hallways of her old elementary school, which was weird since she would rather never step foot in that place again. It looked pretty much the same as the day she'd graduate. The walls were covered with art and projects from years previous, and then there was that mural. It was made right in front of the office. Subconsciously she had walked herself to her 5th grade classroom. She opened the door, as the rest of the school looked exactly the same. Just as she was about to take a step into the room, her feet started to sink. Panic almost immediately started to rise. She tried to pull her feet out, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get her feet out. She continued to sink, bit by bit her body started to disappear into the floor. Right when her head was about to sink, she woke up.

15. Dystopian
(158)

Delila went out of the castle, her baby in her arms. She was going to get out of here if it was the last thing she did. She had to get her child out, she wasn't going to put her through the pain she had. She was almost there when she heard a branch snap from behind her. Delila froze, unsure of what to do. If it was one of the castle guards she could kiss her daughter's freedom goodbye, but if it was any one of the servants then she just might be able to persuade them into not telling. When she turned around she found that she was face to face with an angelic being. The being wore white robes, it seemed as if a light shone from her illuminating the area around. “Delila, don't do this.” The words of this angelic being surprising her. Was this real? But there was no such thing as magic.

Conclusion:
(74)

After going through the different planets, Dew had figured out that her flock had stopped nearby. After thanking her new friends she flew up and out of the atmosphere of the planet. She looked back at the solar system full of the 15 amazing planets, they were each wonderful places. She loved every moment. Taking one last look, she started to fly off towards the planet her flock was on. Till the next migration.

Weekly 4!

First 100 words

I’ve found a recent interest in the cosmos beyond our Solar System. Something about space phenomena interests me, and the thought of nebulas and supernovas and comets hundreds of light years away makes me feel very small, but in a good way, like I don’t have to worry about the universe disappearing forever. Even crazy scary parts like black holes are interesting, and the concept of a white hole is even more so! I also find more simple things like stars, satellites, and planets cool in various ways. Overall, space is very awe-inspiring, and I enjoy learning about its wonders!

Nonfiction - Dice Sprint - 2 minutes - 79 words

Gypsy was flying over the ocean from Pyrrhia to Pantala, focusing on the map in her talons. She was so focused on not getting lost in the middle of the massive ocean that she hadn’t noticed how close to the water she was…until she was submerged. In panic, the Silk-Skywing flailed around in the saltwater, her wings soaked and making it hard for her to get out. Suddenly, she was tossed out of the water by an invisible force.

Mystery - Epiphany - 125 words

Gypsy looked behind her to see where the burst had come from, but saw nobody. Shrugging it off as her own feat, she moved on, focusing on her map as she flew. But the thought of that sudden release from the ocean still swirled in her mind, and she would keep looking behind her in fear that the ocean was going to eat her. On the 5th time of looking there and back, she realized something. She had been completely submerged in the water, how was her map completely dry-?! She knew that it had to have been animus magic, and there was only one animus who knew that she was going to Pantala. “Pacific!” she called, the Seawing emerging from underneath the salty waves.

Fanfiction - Time Sprint - 8 minutes, 10 seconds - 277 words

“Hey,” he said, Gypsy beaming. “Hello! Thanks for saving me!” she chirped, Pacific flying up to her side. They began to make more progress towards Pantala as Gypsy bombarded her friend with questions. “I thought you didn’t want to go, why?” “Because I was overwhelmed in the moment-“ “You said that you had important prince stuff to do!” “Well, I really don’t-“ “I knew it!” she laughed triumphantly, even though it really wasn’t that big of a deal. She knew Pacific always had this behavior, she just liked to give him a bad time. Pacific huffed, looking at his reflection in the waves. “So hopefully soon we’ll get to this island,” she said, pointing to one of the many small ellipses on the map, “and then we can set up camp for the night!” Pacific rolled his eyes, Gypsy noticing. “What?” she said, a little annoyed by his attitude. “You know I’m an animus, right?” “Yes?” He glared into her soul until she realized, facepalming. “You could’ve just teleported me there, couldn’t you.” “Yep.” They flew in awkward silence for a few minutes, before Gypsy turned to the Seawing. “…Could you teleport us there now?” “Mhm,” he sighed, touching her shoulder. “I enchant me and Gypsy to teleport to the shores of Pantala,” he said in a mocking tone. Both of them were very aware that Pacific could use his spells without the words, but Gypsy liked to hear them for whatever reason. In a silent flash, the two had their talons in hot sand. Gypsy squeaked, flapping into the air, shaking off her talons, before chirping “Thanks!” to Pacific and quickly flying towards…wherever she was going.

Thriller - Sinking - 150 words

Stella looked around at…wherever she was. It was a strange place, filled with fuzzy plants and trees and…everything. For some reason, she didn’t feel all that bothered as she walked along the glass path in front of her. She slowly found it more and more difficult to move, before she screamed, noticing that half of her legs were in the floor. “Help- HELP!” she called, sinking faster now. She was able to walk before, why couldn’t she now? The question quickly slipped her mind as she sunk further, hyperventilating. Was this the end? It couldn’t be- could it? She looked up, trying to squirm out of the trap she was in, before stopping. A bright light stared at her- or at least she thought it did, her vision quickly overtaken by the glass, everything going dark. She heard a voice, but the words fluttered from her memory. She then awoke.

Script - Characterless - 150 words

The world just abandoned tore at the seams. A black hole appeared, sucking in almost everything within the landscape, before closing up quite nicely. A portal opened, and through it was a wondrous scene, a mountain range encircling a forest which encircled a field. All sorts of creatures, both adorable and horrifying, transversed the area, and the brilliant orb of light in the sky cast everything in its warm light. It seemed like paradise- and it almost was. While the average mortal would see the beauty in the land, someone who was more observant would notice the lack of shadows cast in the world. There was nothing known about what was past the mountains, because there was literally nothing. The sun in the sky was nothing more than a magical sphere of light suspended 50 miles above the ground. It was only a figment of one’s imagination, only a dream.

Dystopian - Celestial Interference - 150 words

Stella was at her desk, scrawling as much as she could remember about the dream. She had been having these strange dreams…they were short, very short, but took up the whole night somehow. And they always had a light staring at her. With a sigh, she walked over to her floor mirror, before gasping. Rather than her reflection in the mirror, there was a strange being. They seemed to be some sort of raccoon, their fur consisting of purples, pinks, and blues, and the strange robe they wore, lined with what almost seemed like clouds, was a strange mixture of swirling pastels. Stella stared into the being’s twinkling orange eyes, before they began to climb out of the mirror. Shrieking, Stella ran for the door, only to fall through a portal that led to the opposite side of the room. The cosmic entity silently turned to look at Stella, smiling.

Historical Fiction - Balance Sprint - 5 minutes - 266 words

Stella didn’t know where she was anymore. She looked at the raccoon, not seeing anything around them, not her room, not the mirror the being had come from, nothing. “Hello,” the raccoon said, watching her with a smug look. “I see that you’ve been keeping track of our journey. That’s a good trait to have.” Stella stuttered. How would she respond to them? They weren’t just some ordinary person- they were some celestial being who knew her, and was willing to talk to her! She tried to understand what they had meant by journey, before noticing her dream book as clear as day. “T-the dreams- they- they were you?!” The raccoon laughed. “Yes, they were, Stella. And you’ve been fun to be around.” She was even more confused now. The dreams were so short, they didn’t mean anything- or did they? “Please don’t k-k-kill me,” she whispered with a whimper. The being stared at her for a bit, before bursting into laughter. “KILL YOU?! Why would I do that? You’re like a friend to me, I wouldn’t hurt you!” Stella sank to the floor, trembling. She didn’t know where she was, who she was, anything. The purple paw of the being landed on her shoulder. “Don’t be scared, little one. No harm will come to you.” Stella wasn’t sure of that, but looked into the eyes of her ‘friend’. Then she remembered the light at the end of each dream. The raccoon gently nodded, as if they could have read Stella’s mind. Then they stood up and turned around, vanishing without a trace, Stella’s world refocusing.

Poetry - Isolation - 150 words

When Geni woke up from a nap, she was in an unfamiliar cave all by herself. She looked around the room, the only light coming from a firefly lantern attached to the ceiling. She saw a clear exit, but it was pitch black, and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to go out there. She stayed seated where she was, pulling her legs to her chest, shivering in the cold of the cave. She wasn’t what you would call a ‘people person’, but she had friends in the birds and various small animals who resided around her home, and without anyone of that sort, she began to feel loneliness setting in. She whimpered, wrapping her tail around herself, becoming terrified of the silence. She needed fresh air, she needed her friends, she needed to get out of here! She then sped out the door as fast as she could.

Realistic Fiction - Escape Sprint - 3 minutes - 155 words

Geni was not the best at keeping her emotions under control, coughing and sniffling and crying as she ran through the hallways. It wasn’t straight, and so she kept running into walls, but then just turned and ran down the next path. She wasn’t even sure if she was in a maze or not, she just wanted out! The first time she saw light, she shrieked in joy, rushing towards it, only realizing that it was a fire in the center of a different room, stocked with various materials and food. She paused, looking at the scene, listening to the crackling of the fire, before her loneliness set in again and she kept running, not stopping until she came outside at the edge of a cliff. She squeaked, stepping away from the edge, but had a smile on her face. She was still in her mountain range, which meant she could find her way home!

Science Fiction - Transformation Sprint - 3 minutes - 175 words

Can I have a pencil?” Bagliora asked, looking at Paulina. “Sure!” the hedgehog chirped, touching a book, which poofed into a pencil. That book was Walnut’s, who looked at her in concern. Paulina just giggled and touched the table, which became a pile of pencils. “I…only wanted one, but okay,” Bagliora said, giggling as well. Paulina zipped around the room, touching pillows, pots, whatever she could get her paws on, and they all turned into pencils. Both of her friends wondered how she had so quickly spiraled into…whatever this was. Walnut got up and walked over to Paulina as she was turning the rest of his books into pencils. “Uh, buddy…” he said, concerned. “Hm?” Paulina looked at him, trying to hide the grin on her face. “Why are you doing this-?” She honestly had no clue as she looked back at the mess of pencils. With a shrug, they all floated back to their original positions and reverted to normal, and a pencil appeared in Bagliora’s paw. The trio then all burst into laughter.

Bizzaro Fiction - Absurdity - 153 words

Eridite and Opius were exploring a cave together, being chill buddies curious about the world. They heard that riches and power lied within this specific cave, way high up in the Berasii Mountains. So of course, like any adventurer would, they came to investigate it. Suddenly a circle of fire formed around them, leaving them startled. Then Eridite shrieked. “OPIUS MY SHADOW IS EATING ME!” Sure enough, black void was crawling up Eridite’s front legs, making them practically invisible. Opius found the lack of legs, along with Eridite’s squirming and hopping around to free them, amusing, but she went over to him, trying to pull off the shadow, which obviously didn’t work because shadows are tangible. The two heard maniacal laughter, and turned to look at a break in the flames, a new cat staring at them, insanity in their eyes. “Welcome to my den,” they giggled, grinning. “Hope you enjoy your stay!”

Horror - Awakening Writing - 5 minutes - 157 words

The Crystal Trio was wandering in some random location of the world infested with strange shadow creatures. Contrary to popular belief, they were actually respectful and had good manners, letting them stroll through without any trouble. At least, that was until a curious shadow child started messing with Flamestarr’s tail, ticking off the Inferno Night Fury. He turned around and hissed at the child, fire forming on the edges of his mouth as he prepared to burn the creature to ashes. Then the shadow creatures leaped onto him, lashing out at his threat to their young. Halogena immediately went to help her boyfriend, the shadows beginning to attack her as well. Alphasnoww slowly backed away, seeing the uninvolved creatures glaring her down. After a few minutes of this, Flamestarr yelled “FINE I’M SORRY JUST GET OFF ME-!” and the shadow creatures complied, although they glared at them and made them very uncomfortable until they left their territory.

Adventure - Environment Problems - 139 words

After half an hour of walking through a forest, a storm began to start. It was very sudden, thunder booming loudly in their ears and the freezing rain making Flamestarr and Halogena uncomfortable. Suddenly they found themselves sliding down a steep, mud-covered hill towards a raging river. They tried to take off, but their wings were wet, and Alphasnoww’s were caked in mud as she started to tumble towards the water at an extreme rate. Halogena began to figure out how to ski on the mud, speeding down to Alphasnoww and grabbing her tail in her mouth (retracting her teeth so she wouldn’t hurt her friend). The second she felt Flamestarr’s body flopping onto her from his tumble, her amulet flashed brightly. The three merged into the crystal dragon, the massive beast easily stepping over the river to safety.

Fantasy - Stealth Sprint - 7 minutes - 319 words

Out of everything in the known universe, the most least known thing is the cosmic elements. There are 12 elements: light, dark, fire, water, earth, plant, ice, air, electricity, time, magic, and space. Space has been thought to be the most powerful of them all, due to its overextending reach across everything to ever exist. But what’s even more unique is that when the powers of space merge with that of another element, they create an object with incredible power. The power depends on the element, of course, but the magic of the cosmos influences the abilities the single element would have alone, creating elements with incredible colors that can tear through worlds if used for evil. Yet they’ve been lost to myth, and nobody really knows if they exist, especially since there would be a very chaotic response if word spread of a world being disintegrated from cosmic flame. The objects are not held by the major deities of the elements either, as far as it is known, because that sort of power could not be entrusted to anyone. So why do I think that they exist? Well, I held one once. The power of liquid water, infused with cosmic wonder. It was fun for a bit, creating beautiful, colored water, but it soon began to free itself from my control, creating a flood that if it continued to grow, could swallow the entire planet. And then it vanished. Perhaps a higher being than the majors holds them, to prevent such accidents. Mortals such as I can’t wield such incredible power, for it could tear reality apart from the seams. Yet I still search for them, to find the truth about them. To see what would happen if I put all 12 next to each other. It will be an exciting experiment, for sure. But nobody has found more than 1, ever. That won’t stop me from trying.

Folklore - Chill Writing - 250 words

Perithos was wandering though a tundra, muttering to herself. She had just narrowly escaped a ticked-off shiny Charizard, who had blue fire because obviously that was a good idea. The ‘Experiments’ she had heard everyone chatting about seemed to be bad news, and this proved it. Luckily throwing snowballs somehow worked, but she knew that he could come back, even angrier than before, and probably turn her into nothing more than a pile of ash. Then she looked up, seeing what looked like a Noivern-Guzzlord approaching her. “I’ve been tracking that Charizard for days,” she began to say, not even introducing herself. “Good to know that he doesn’t like snowballs.” Perithos frowned. She didn’t like people who didn’t show respect to others. “Well, excuse me Ma’am,” she started, “but why are you getting me involved in your little quest?” “Because these Experiments must perish, can’t you see that-?” “No, I can’t see that. Sure, some guy has a temper, but that doesn’t mean all of them do.” She was surprised that she was defending the odd ‘mons, but the angry look on her fellow hybrid’s face was worth it. “Well, exCUSE me,” she snarled, “I suppose you do not know the damage these beasts can do!” “I am fully aware that some of them are dangerous. That does not mean that I will waste time tracking them down. Have fun with your Charizard.” Perithos walked off before the dark-scaled creature could interject, who simply growled and stormed off pretty loudly.

Final 100 words

I’ve known about SWC for a while now, but this month was my first ever session. And it was incredible. I felt like Naan-Fi was the perfect beginner cabin to be sorted into, and looking through the stories of each cabin made me feel like I was in a fun and exciting community! The dailies and weeklies were so unique, and the amount of effort that went into the workshops and occasional projects helped me understand why SWC is such a popular event. Thank you to everyone here for making this camp so awesome, and I’ll definitely join next session!

-2895 words total-

Your Journey: nonfi, option #3, mystery, option #1, fanfi, option #3, thriller, option #1, script, option #1, dystopian, option #1, hifi, option #2, poetry, option #1, realfi, option #2, scifi, option #3, bifi, option #1, horror, option #2, adventure, option #1, fantasy, option #2, folklore, option #2

Abbie's Weekly

In the far off land of Nevora, a baby cried into the night. The air was as still as the water in the lake, as it reflected the full, purple-tinted moon. No creature could be heard, with the exception of the screaming child. Towering over the lake and blanched as precariously as a bird on a branch, sat a humongous castle. The child’s scream’s rang from the castle again, and this time it was greeted with another noise. Not the friendly one of a bird’s call or even a wolf’s howl, but the wicked screech of a terrible monster. A figure streamed from the foggy night towards the castle. The child screamed no more.
Silene was a forgotten princess. No one spoke of her. It was as though Silene didn’t exist. With her beautiful siblings and fit-for-the-throne brothers, she might not have. At the age of 14, she was far too young to marry off, and it was only men who were allowed to inherit the throne. If none existed a princess would quickly marry some man to ensure there was a “steady ruler”.
Silene often stood at the top of a tower and stared out over the kingdom. Over the twisting walls and homes of the city and then over the lake, and then over the dry grasslands beyond that, and then even farther on the bright days when the sun burned away the endless fog, and towards the far off mountains. When she did, she saw the flashes of dragons. She saw the glimmers of light bouncing off their scale and the roars of their battles.
It did not matter to the court where she went or where she was. That is why, one day as she scrambled down a servant’s hall, she ran into the man. He had hair as black as night and skin as pale as the moon, but his eyes… His eyes were gone. In their place were only sunken, hollowed pits.
As Silene watched, he moved his hand over his face. Just like that it was covered by a mask. A convincing mask, so real that you would never know that he wasn’t normal. The man turned, his eyes still dark and angry, and looked at where Silene was standing. Or had been standing. She had already turned and headed to the safety of the halls beyond. She did not know what that had been, did not need to know. She just knew she had to leave. Had to leave the castle with the evil thing inside. The thing with the mask.
Silene ran from the castle. She had raced to her room and changed as fast as possible into the clothes of a commoner, the only thing she had to keep her from being recognized as a noble, or even a member of royalty. She kept her pace, far faster than a jog, all the way to the cliff’s edge. The cliff dangled the castle precariously over the lake, just as always.
Silene stepped as far as she dared. But then, as if by the force of another world, she was pushed toward the edge. Later she would come to realize it was wind, but then it didn’t matter. What mattered was she was slipping, Slipping, slipping, slipping, to the edge of the cliff. Slipping until she neared the very tip. Still slipping when she teetered on the edge, as paper on a blade. She was slipping away as she fell, as the water rushed to her, slipping as she fell through the air. Slipping from her mind so much she didn’t notice the wind stopping her from splattering on the water, but only sinking. She stopped slipping as she sank. She sank into the dark water, into the nothingness.
Silene had hit the water. Everything disappeared the lower she fell. And as her body was swallowed into the lake, her mind drifted away. It drifted to the past.
Silene stood in front of a bookshelf. Nothing moved around her, no noises at all. She stepped forward towards the shelf. Dim light flickered from the shelf itself, as though something glowed behind it. Silene touched the shelf with a tiny hand. She could be no more than 7. Far too young to be out when it was so dark with no adults. Her tiny hand moved across the shelf to touch the books. She kept her hand on the books, gently moving it along. When Silene’s hand stopped, it was on a teal book. The book had gold all over it. Gold accents covered it’s spine and more peeked out from the hidden cover. Silene pulled the book out. The shelf slid away. Young Silene gasped, staring wide-eyed at the shelf’s empty space. Inside was darkness. Silene stepped in. She walked forward until she disappeared into the gloom. For a moment it was silent. Then she screamed. She ran out, and shoved the teal book back into place. The shelf slid shut, but her scream had awoken another. A baby cried into the night.
Silene gasped to life from the shore, her breath coming out ragged and torn. Her eyes streamed, but as they slowly cooled, her eyes speared the surrounding area, looking like a wild animal caught in the light. When they landed on the woman at her side, she scrambled backwards.
The woman was sitting forward on her knees, wearing a dark green cloak and a black tunic and pants. Her black hair cascaded over her shoulders, matching perfectly with her cofee skin and green eyes.
“Woah, take it easy there. I’m not gonna hurt you,” she said, putting her hands up. “I’m Rhianna. And you?” Her voice had a slight lilt, as though she had been raised by someone not from here.
“Uh.. GIisselda. Call me Gliss,” she smiled nervously at the woman. This would be harder than she thought. “What happened?”
“Well you were sinking, I saw you, I saved you. Pretty simple!” Rhianna said with an impish grin. Silene realized she might not be older than her at all. No, they could be the same age!
“But how?” Silene asked, oblivious to how rude she might sound.
Clearly Rhianna was too as she grinned and replied, as if it were the normalist thing in the world, “With magic of course!”
Silene’s world stopped. Everything in her life stopped. Magic.. Magic… no. Magic was not real. Magic was- Everything flooded back to her. A shelf. A teal book. The spine… The History of Magic. The tunnel. The… the thing inside… She knew that thing. She had seen it that very day. Seen its eyeless sockets. And she knew. She knew that no matter what she did, magic was real.
The next few minutes passed in a daze. Rihanna took her to an inn, where people barely gave her a passing glance. It felt as though she were… normal. But in comparison to Rhianna, in comparison to possibly some of them, even as a princess she was plain as porridge. Magic. What she wouldn’t give for that!
But… she had magic. She knew that. No, she felt that. Like… like she had seen it somewhere. But just as quickly as the flash came, it was gone. Silene was normal. Or as normal as a princess could be. No ma-
Silene nearly bumped into Rhianna as she stopped in front of a worn brown door in the dim, musty hallway. A floorboard creaked in a room above them.
“This one's mine. Or should I say ours! I’ve never shared a room before! Do you snore?” Rhianna’s rapid fire words gave away her obvious excitement.
“Uh, great?” Silene mumbled.
Rhianna’s smile disappeared. “Do you want your own room? I can try to get you one…” Her voice trembled.
“No!” Silene rushed. “Please don’t,”
“Oh! Okay, here we go!” Rhianna’s smile returned and she grabbed the rusted door knob.
Inside, two beds lay on opposite sides of the room. Both were made and a small table sat beside each of them. On the tables sat a couple of candle stands. There were no windows at all and immediately Silene felt trapped.
“Er… this looks great Rihanna. I’m just going to… uh clear my head. I’ll be back in a minute,” Silene mumbled as she backed out the door and began to walk away as quickly as she could.
“See you soon, Gliss!” Rihanna yelled at her retreating form.
Silene barged out the back door and into the woods beyond. She continued her stride until she had reached a clearing, of a sort. The trees had cleared into a wide circle around one larger tree. As she looked at the tree in the center she realized there was something glowing on the ground. She reached down and picked it up. A… key? The key still glowed faintly in the dimming light.
Silene looked back up at the tree, and realized it was even more peculiar than she had originally seen. The bark was almost sliver, and it was dotted with clouded areas where random other colors shined through. She took a step forward and laid her hand on the tree’s mottled bark, feeling its texture. It was smooth and warm, but the longer she kept her hand there, the more she realized it thrummed. It was as though the tree had a heartbeat itself and she was just feeling its beat. She moved her hand farther up the tree until she reached a colored spot. There it felt… fuzzy. Not soft, but like moss. She peered closer and realized it was moss, but it was transparent!
“Hello.” A soft, elegant voice with a slight accent drifted from the tree. Silene jumped backwards, nearing the edge of the clearing.
“I mean no harm,” the voice said, still not coming from any visible speaker. “I only wish to help you, if you’ll allow me?”
Silene’s voice was ragged as she bravely said, “If you want me to believe that you’re going to have to show yourself!” She trembled from her place at the edge of the circle.
“Very well,” the voice said, sounding resigned. “But… please don’t freak out,” Silene barely had time to wonder why before the speaker appeared.
She let out a shrill scream as the… the creature glided down from a branch high, high above in the flowering blue leaves. It had pale skin, like snow on a tree, and brown-red hair, and indigo eyes. But what set him so far from human were the ears. No one had ears that extended so far out, ended so sharply, pointed upwards like that. No, this thing was not human.
“Well you haven’t run off screaming, so that’s a start!” It said brightly. “Cosm Vindaso, expert phoenix trainer and descendant of Hikla and son of Nafari. And you?” His voice had its elegant lilt again.
“Uh… Glisselda. Just Glisselda,” she muttered, still not totally in belief of what was happening.
“So… I’m assuming you’re lost?” Cosmo said, tilting his head at her. “No one comes if they aren’t lost.”
Silene wondered how she had got here. “Yes,” she said, more confident. “Can you help me get back?”
“Of course!” Cosmo said, looking as shocked as if she had just asked him if the sky were blue. “That’s my entire job! But I think I’ll do a little extra. There’s a phoenix who needs a bond and I think you’re perfect for the job!”
“I… Uh… That’s a great honor but… umm,” It was too late to argue as Cosmo floated back up to the tree and disappeared from view. A moment later an ear-splitting screech echoed through the air and a great firey beast arose from the tree. But as the “firey beast” landed in front of Silene, she realized it was not, in fact, a huge monster as big as a mountain, but a creature no bigger than a small horse, with room on it’s back as one.
“Wow,” she breathed, reaching her hand forward to its beak. “Can I… can I touch it?” She asked dubiously.
“Of course you can!” Cosmo said grinning. “She won’t burn I promise,”
Silene reached her hand forward and touched the beautiful creature's smooth beak. The flames didn’t burn at all, and the phoenix nudged her hand a little, looking at her with those beautiful brown eyes of her’s. Silene smiled, and then laughed. The first one she’d had for a while.
“No you can go back with her! Two dragons with one lasso!” he cried, whooping a little as he floated up a foot or so.
“Thank you!” Silene said, eyes shining. She moved to hug him but quickly switched to a handshake.
“You’d better head back, just tell her where you want to go,” Cosmo sounded a tad bit sad.
“W-what’s her name?” Silene asked as she mounted the phoenix.
“It’s up to you, I suppose,” he said. “Goodbye, Glisselda!”
Silene didn’t have time to yell back as her phoenix swooped up into the falling sun’s rays. “What am I gonna call you?” she murmured as the began the journey back. “How about… Echo? How’s that?” Echo purred beneath her as the firey wings sent them gliding over the sky.
The sun had set and Echo had extinguished her flames by the time she reached the inn. They landed not too far away so Silene didn’t have to walk too far, but no one would find Echo lounging around in their woods.
“Just stay safe. I know you’ll be able to hear me if I call, and don’t worry. I’ll visit and bring some food if you can’t find any,” Silene gave her phoenix a sad smile as she walked away. Echo made a sad whining noise but stayed. “I’ll be back soon!” she called to her phoenix.
It didn’t take long for her to reach the inn, and when she did she was greeted by a loud yell of, “Glisselda!”
“There you are! I’ve been looking all over,” Rhianna said as she surveyed Silene. “Where were you?”
“I went out on a hike and got lost,” Rhianna looked horrified, but Silene quickly reassured her. “I just walked around a lot. My poor legs will ache for days!” she laughed, “I just need some rest,”
“If you say so…” Rhianna agreed, looking unconvinced. The pair walked inside, and when Silene got to their cramped room and flopped onto her uncomfortable bed, she felt as though she were in the best place in the world.

Weekly 4
4,074 words

Word Crawl
Save Code: Your Journey: horror, option #1, folklore, option #3, fantasy, option #3, nonfi, option #1, poetry, option #2, script, option #3, hifi, option #2, thriller, option #1, mystery, option #2, realfi, option #2, adventure, option #3, bifi, option #1, scifi, option #2, fanfi, option #3, dystopian, option #3

100 words to begin your adventure
122/100 words

Juniper cautiously put the glass ornament on the Christmas tree. She had to be careful not to break it. After all, it was her mother’s favorite ornament and it was the first year that she let Juniper put it on the tree. The ornament’s orange carrot nose was protruding outwards hence making it very prone to snapping off. June put the ornament towards the top of the tree. She stepped back and admired its jet black top hat with a violet ring at the rim. Its three dark purple buttons lined up vertically in the middle of its middle. The perfectly white body formed with three round balls. The glass snowman ornament hung on a pokey branch of Juniper’s Christmas tree.

In your next 150 words describe someone putting on a literal of metaphorical mask
169/150 words

The next day, Juniper performed her usual weekday morning routine: wake up at 6:30, get on the bus at 7:15, and arrive at school around 8. When she got to school everything was the same, nothing was strange or unsettling. June hung out with her best friend, Faith, like normal. However as lunch had gotten closer, June’s stomach had gotten tight and she was starting to feel uneasy. Lunch had eventually came. June walked through the bustling cafeteria to her usual lunch spot when, to her horror, someone else was sitting there! Not just a someone either, it was Tiffany- one of the “popular” girls.
“Heyyyy.” Tiffany said dragging out the ‘y’s until she got bored. June never and will never understand how this girl ever got popular.
“This is my seat, y’know.” June sassed. “Faith, why is she sitting here?” She asked staring into Faith’s dark brown eyes.
“She’s my new bestie.” Faith hesitantly replied fixing her lilac hijab. Her eyes wandering off; Tiffany’s eyes beaming with pride

Pick a Taylor Swift song and sprint for its duration. I did “willow”
124/idk

That was only one of the first of that occasion. It happened over and over. In the beginning June just found it strange. She noticed Faith’s hesitation a few days earlier. She noticed that she was fixing her hijab. For Faith she did that whenever she was uncomfortable. June thought that Tiffany had a big role in the unusual behavior of Faiths. She was also doing this to some of Junes other friends but it mostly revolves around Faith. One day June finally confronted them. She found Tiffany and her best friend in the hallway after her math class. She walked over the two newly beat friends and said “Tiffany, why have you been doing this? What did I ever do to offend you?”

250 words free-write
383/250

Tiffany looked at her in shock, as if she had just gotten insulted. Then she whispered something into Faith’s ear and jerked her head away from June, grabbing Faith’s arm. Faith looked at June with a sorry look. She reached her dark brown hand in June’s direction. Faith mouthed something that June couldn’t quite read. Then Tiffany snapped her fingers which made Faith spin around to the opposite direction of June, next to Tiffany- brainwashed.

When Juniper got home that afternoon, she went straight to the Christmas tree she had decorated a couple days before. It looked the same as she left it. The LED lights wrapped around, glowing in the dim light of the living room; the golden metal star slightly slanted on the top; and the ornaments seemingly to be in the same places. She studied the tree just in case. Then she noticed something. Her eyes locked at the snowman. It wasn’t in the same position she originally put it. Instead of at the top of the tree, it was towards the bottom. June went to go fix the odd change when the ornament fell off the tree. She rushed to catch it- she couldn’t let it fall. If it broke she’d be grounded for life by her mother, and she couldn’t let that happen. She caught the ornament the moment before it touched the ground. ‘Thank God’ June assured herself with a sigh of relief following. Only, in that moment, June found herself falling down to somewhere she didn’t recognize.

June landed on a snowy surface. She looked around. Where was she? She was in a snow dune, her face planted right in the middle. It was freezing. She was only wearing an oversized beige sweater with a white collared shirt underneath, dark-wash jeans, and a pair of black fuzzy boots. None of which kept her warm in the freezing weather of where she was. She lifted herself out of the snow pile. Around her was a circle of spruce trees blanketed with snow. Rings of trees circled around the clearing in an every-other pattern. June cleared a seat at the base of a tree. She took a seat there to collect her thoughts. Snowflakes fell upon her eyelashes. She blinked then away. There she pondered her current condition.

In the next 100 words, include someone who bakes
108/100 100 at “She followed”

Then June heard a rustling from behind her. She quickly looked to see what it was. Out from one of the lower-to-the-ground trees came a small elf. It was around two feet tall and almost looked like it could be one of Santa’s elves. June screamed and then the elf screamed.
“Who are you?!” questioned June.
“Me?” the elf said looking around. “Oh! I’m Ash! You seem cold, come with me!”
“Why should I?”
Ash smiled gleefully. “I’m a baker! I can give you some warm food!” June did like the sound of warmth, so she took the offer. She followed Ash through the forest to his house.

Word war someone- I warred @luna724
215 words- this has nothing to do with my main story fyi

I rested my sword on the stone next to Henry. I just slayed a dragon, I needed a break. “Good work out there” Henry said. I wanted to tell him thank you but I was so out-of-breath I couldn’t speak. After all I wasn’t the only one defeating the dragon. Henry had helped me tremendously and I couldn’t have done it without him. I just killed the dragon, he distracted it and teased it so I could come in without it noticing. I still had to report back to the king. Me and Henry were on a mission to kill said dragon and return its scales to the king. I don’t know why he wanted the scales but I had to do what I was told. Me and Henry started to head to the castle but we got interrupted. “Why would you do that” said a voice from up in the trees. It was a small yellow bird. “Do what?” I asked confused. The fact the bird could talk was the least of my worries. The bird stared at me like I was stupid. “Why would you kill the dragon for the king” “because he told me too?” I was so confused. Henry came I. To the rescue, again. “We were requested by the King.”

Say your ideas out loud then write them down
433 words

Through the forest they went, dodging falling piles of snow. Eventually they arrived at Ash’s house. It was a two story cream-colored square building. The first floor being a bakery and the second house. There were two large glass windows that showed the inside of the bakery and in between the windows was a chocolate brown door. June went to open the door but the doorknob was at the height of Ash- awfully low. When she walked inside the building, she was hit with the smell of bread, cake, and butter. It smelled heavenly. Against the back wall were the glass display counters. There were intricate decorated cakes and desserts, all flavors of cookies, and most importantly, different kinds of bread. June found a seat at a table close to the counter. Ash went to the back and brought her two slices of freshly baked bread with butter spread on top and a cup of hot coco. June tried the bread. It was the best bread she had ever tasted. It tasted like nothing her tongue had ever tasted before. Then she took a sip of the steaming hot hot coco. She did burn her tongue a little but the rich flavor made up for it. Ash walked over and struggled to get up on the elevated chair. “So what’s your name?” he asked June, setting up his own display of cookies to eat.
June looked up at him, still sipping on her hot chocolate. “My name is Juniper, but you can call me June.” she replied swallowing a gulp of coco. “Well then June! Welcome to Snowopolis- yes it’s called that because of the snow we get here. It’s not just a coincidence.” Ash bit in his snickerdoodle cookie.
“It’s kind of funny how your name is Ash and you’re a baker, y’know? Burning bread.” June laughed. Ash looked at her unamused.
“Anyways, what brings you here? Too Snowopolis? You’re not from here.”
“How did you know that?”
“It’s obvious. You’re a human.” He said emphasizing the word ‘human’.
“What? Are there not any humans here?”
“I mean there are, but- know what never-mind. You don’t need to know that.”
“Okay? Anyways,” June begun, “I really should start to find my way home. Thanks for the food! It was delicious.” She got up out of her seat and headed for the door.
“WAIT!” Ash shouted moments before she opened the door. “It’s getting dark. I advise you do NOT go out in the dark. It’s not safe. Come with me.” June turned around and followed him for the second time that day.

Sprint for 5 minutes and if you don’t reach your word count times 5 then sprint for 10 more minutes - 30-40 WPM x 5 = 150-200 words
189 words in total- 165 words for the 5 minute sprint

“FAITH!” June screamed at the top of her lungs. Faith was falling down a large hole in the ground. Next to the hole was a sign that said “Infinity pit”. June walked over to where Tiffany was slyly smiling. “YOU! YOU DID THIS TO HER!” she shouted angrily. “Me what did it ever do?” Tiffany lied. “What did you ever do? You STOLE HER FROM ME! And now she’s falling to her death!” Faith was screaming and screaming in pain as she fell down the endless hole. June looked down the hole. She could see Faith falling down to the pitch black. Then purple fog surrounded her and Tiffany. The world was spinning and it was getting dark. The endless pit went away and it was the world just pure purple. “What happened? WHAT DID YOU DO?” June hollered at Tiffany. She was smiling. “Just you wait.” And at that she walked away, out of the purple world. She faded away. June fell in agony. Her elbows on her knees, face to palms. Then she jolted upward to where she fell asleep- Ash’s floor. It was just a dream.

In the next 150 words make a character sink
395 words in total- 150 mark at the two slashes (//)

In the morning, Ash whipped up some pancakes. Juniper went to explore the house while she was waiting. Everything was so small. ‘This would be a perfect house for a dwarf’ she thought to herself. She went back to the kitchen to find a nice plate of perfectly golden brown pancakes handed to her by Ash. She gobbled the deliciousness up. June asked Ash how he thought she could get home. He had an idea but didn’t want to tell her just yet. They went and ventured out following Ash’s secret plan, taking a small backpack with them. They walked for what seemed to be miles. After a while they ran into a pond. To make sure the pond was frozen, June lightly tapped it. So far so good. The she stepped on it. Crack. She fell right through. She was sinking- and fast. She reached for the surface ice. // No luck. She kicked her legs, trying to swim to the top. Her clothes were not made for his. Above the ice Ash was panicking. What’s the spell, what’s the spell? His thoughts racing.
June was freezing. She was an ice cube under the ice. Her lungs were burning like fire in fireplace where she wished to be. Finally Ash remembered. He drew a picture with his finger in the air and took a deep breath. He put all his focus on making sure the spell went to plan. He lifted his finger up higher and higher. June’s head broke through the ice and she gasped for air. She was flying. Ash slowly brought his finger down and pointed it next to him. June landed gently on a pile of snow. Ash buried her in snow only leaving her neck and above. This was to act as a blanket. When June regained her breathe she jerked up.
“You’re okay.” Ash sighed in relief. He hadn’t performed that spell in a millennia.
“Thank you.” June managed to make out.
Ash told her to rest and they’d carry on after. June layer back down shivering. Ash reached into his small backpack and took out a blanket. It was small, yes, but it was better than nothing. He set the blanket on June. Her eyes were closed and she fell asleep. Ash took the emergency book out of his backpack and sat next to June. There he read.

Go into a room you do time spend much time in and spend 3 mins finding inspo- write for 4 minutes with said inspo
278 words

June woke up to find Ash scurrying through the snow. He seemed to be looking for something. He was looking for a specific flower that typically grew around ponds. He wasn’t sure if it grew that time of year but he was hoping that it did. He needed that flower. After a couple minutes he picked two blush pink flowers. It was the shape of a heart with layered petals.
“Here, eat this.” He coaxed. June took it out of his tiny hand. She hesitantly ate it. One things for sure it did not taste good. She instantly became warm and dry. “Im want now- how does that even work?”
“Magic.” Ash replied putting the second flower into his backpack. Soon the two of them went off on their journey once more. On the way to wherever they were going Ash explained that they were going to the castle. However he didn’t explain why the castle. He pulled out a wrinkly old map from the side pocket of his backpack. He showed June where the castle was. The sun was starting to go down. He pointed to a small town on his stained map. Then he said, “That’s where we’re headed. I don’t want to have to be outside at night.”
“What happens at night?” June asked confused.
“You don’t want to know.”
Ash and June arrived at the nearby town. They tried to book rooms in hotels and motels but for some reason, there was no room. There wasn’t a big holiday so Ash found it odd. It was getting darker and darker by the second. They had no choice but to stay outside for the night.

Sprint for 3 minutes
179 words in total- 102 words for the sprint- 3 minutes mark at the two slashes (//)

Night fell upon Snowopolis and things were getting harsh. Ash and June took refuge at a nearby pavilion to at least protect themselves.. The howling wind screamed at the top of its lungs. It whipped up snow and threw it everywhere. June stared at the sight in horror. No wonder nobody wanted it be outside at night. There was a blizzard and giant birds swooped down and grabbed any animal they saw on the ground. It didn’t matter if it was smaller than it or 3 times larger, the birds caught it swiftly and flew away to somewhere unknown. June realized that // that’s the reason there was so much snow- and the reason they were under a roof. However, the pavilion didn’t protect them from one thing- the biting cold. It nipped at your fingers and whacked you write in the face. Ash took out his blanket and the extra warmth flower he picked. He gave the flower to June and wrapped the blanket around himself. The nestled themselves right under a table and slept there for the night.

Write until your word count reaches the next 1000
425 words- word count: 3021

June and Ash woke up at the brink of dawn. The packed up and then set out for the Royal castle. Although, they did encounter some obstacles, they weren’t too far away from the castle. They took a break when they reached a giant rock. On the map it was labeled ‘Checkpoint rock’. Therefore it was just respectful that they took a checkpoint break there. June stared up at the towering rock. You could not miss it. It was as big as Ash’s house- maybe a little bit bigger. It was mostly a cool gray color, with slight variation of different shades of grays. There was moss circling the bottom, as if the rock was wearing a skirt. It was surprisingly smooth for a rock that size. With very few holes and indents. No scars were to be found.
June noticed Ash reaching into his backpack. Which reminded her, “What did you mean when you said it was obvious I was not from here?” she prompted. Ash sighed a long sigh and said, “If too really want me to tell you I can.” June nodded vigorously. “Well you’re a human, for starters.”
“I know that. You’ve already told me that.” She interrupted.
“Let me finish.” Ash stated annoyed. “To continue,” he stared at June intensely. “The only humans to walk foot on this realm (besides you) is the royal family and their guards. The royal family consists of three people: the King, the Queen, and the princess. None of which, at least not to the common people like me’s knowledge, have names. I only ever known them as King, Queen, and Princess. Therefore explains why it was really easy to tell that your were from another place. Any other questions?”
“Nope.”
“Alrighty then, let’s get going.” Together they carried on their journey. On the way there they had to cross a river (luckily, it was skinny), dig through giant snow dunes, and cross ice patches. As they got closer and closer, June could see the castle clearer and clearer. It wasn’t snowing and the air was crisp.
The castle was huge. Everything in this world seemed to be huge, ignoring the fact that the population was mostly elves. One thing to note about the castle was that it was in a snow globe. You could see the grass and there was no snow unlike the outside world. Ash and June walked up to the castle. June asked, “How are we going to get in there?” Ash grinned. “Oh you’ll see.” He murmured under his breath.

Make something absurd happen
329 words

Ash knocked on the glass of the snow globe, tightly holding onto June’s arm. Confused on to why he was holding her arm so tight, June asked what he was doing. He didn’t respond. He was grinning ear to ear, but not out of happiness. A castle guard walked up to the glass from the other side. He opened an invisible door and said, “Welcome back, Sir Ash.” Ash walked through the door dragging June with him.
“Sir Ash?!? I thought you said you were a commoner!” June said puzzled.
“Oh I was. You don’t need my entire life story, now do you.” Ash replied, still smiling. He brought June up to the palace. They walked through the echoey corridors. After the maze of doors and hallways, they arrived at the throne room. There was a long red carpet leading to three thrones, two of them occupied. Ash bowed down. “I have fulfilled your request, your majesties.”
“Lovely!” boomed the man on the biggest throne. He clapped twice and two guards came and yanked June from Ash’s hands.
“What is this all about?!” June yelled to Ash.
“Oopsies! I guess I forgot to tell you!” Ash slyly giggled.
“I trusted you!”
“That’s not my fault now is it.”
Then the woman sitting on a slightly smaller throne next to the King spoke up. “Stop chitter-chattering and start moving!” she demanded, flicking her hand. The guards holding June brought her to a room that was specifically for her. It was fairly nice for being locked up. It had a full sized bed with a purple bedspread and comforter. The ceiling was high and the walls were painted an off-white. There was a desk and chair off to the side of the room. There was also a wooden door which lead to a bathroom. June fell on the bed defeated. She couldn’t believe that Ash would betray her like that. There she looked up at the ceiling contemplating her life choices.

Hand write an outline of the next scene for 5 minutes. Then type out the full scene.
311 words

After an hour or two a guard came to accompany June to the throne room. The guard brought June out of her room and brought her to the throne room. When they arrived at the throne room, three out of three thrones were occupied. Plus Ash standing next to the King. June walked in with her head down. She didn’t want to see Ash’s face ever again.
“My, my. Who do we have here? Oh! I know! It’s Juniper.” teased a familiar voice. June looked up only to see Tiffany sitting on the third throne.
“Tiffany?!” June shrilled confused. “Why are you-“ But then Tiffany interrupted, “Yes, we’re all aware of my presence. No need to remind me of my greatness.” June hated this girl’s ego. The King spoke up.
“Well, Juniper. You might be wondering why we have you here today. Long story short we want the snowman ornament. You know, the one on your Christmas tree?” He paused. What June wanted to say to that was “Couldn’t you just ask me and not kidnap me?” but she kept that to herself.
The King carried on. “Long story long,” the King chuckled at his own joke. “You give us the snowman ornament and we will send you back to your home.”
“Why should I?” June argued.
“I figured you’d say that. M’lady?” the King looked at the Queen. She explained, “You should do as we ask because one, we are nobles and you are not.”
June saw where Tiffany got her narcism from. “And two, we have your friend.” She said as if June’s friend was a disgusting insect.
From the side of the room two out of the many guards dragged out Faith. June couldn’t believe her eyes. Billions of questions raced through her mind, the main ones being: why was Faith here? And how did she get here?

Covert the time to minutes and seconds and sprint for that long. - The time currently is 4:30 so 4 minutes and 30 seconds
128 words

“JUNE?!”
Faith was staring at June sorrily. June mouthed ‘I will help you’ to her. Faith nodded, the badana around her mouth almost falling off.
“How will I give you the ornament if it’s at my house?” June asked the King.
“How about this. I send you back to Earth, you achieve the ornament, give it to us, and then we free your friend?”
“Sounds like a deal.” Only, June didn’t really mean it. The King walked over to June holding his staff. He closed his eyes and muttered some words. Right before he could finish the spell, June unleashed herself from the guards grip and darted over to Faith holding her shoulder. The Queen shouted, “WAIT!” But it was too late. The king had finished the spell.

For the next 5 minutes, your character will walk into a room and dazzle everyone.
121 words

June and Faith got teleported back into June’s living room. Exactly where she had been teleported a few days before.
“How did you do that? Oh June, I wish I had your confidence!” Faith admitted.
“Don’t flatter me!” June playfully thanked. Putting her hand to her heart dramatically. The two of the shared a laugh.

The next day at school, Tiffany came up to June.
“I’m sorry. I am sorry to you too Faith. I hope you forgive me.” she apologized.
“Well I don’t forgive you.” June declared confidently. Everyone around in the hallway went “OOOO!” making June smile proudly. A girl from her class came up to her and said, “No one’s ever been able to say no to Tiffany!”

Write 100 words to finish your story
166/100 words

June walked away with Faith full with pride. Later that day June asked Faith how she got to Snowopolis and what Tiffany was doing to her.
“I’m not 100% sure on how she was luring me in, but I was doing it unwillingly. Then she asked if I could hold this ring for her while she went to the bathroom. She told me to put it on so it didn’t fall off. I did as I was told. Then the next thing I know I was in a palace.”
The two of them agreed to never let Tiffany do something like that ever again and to cut toxic Tiffany out of their lives.

At June’s house, June’s mother asked June why her snowman ornament was on the ground. June made up a lie and her mom went with it. But little did she know that her mom knew everything. Everything about Tiffany and everything about Snowopolis and everything about Ash. Her mom, was a Snowopolis criminal.

introduction: 100 words
scifi: deja vu / premonition prompt
realfi: 3-minute sprint
dystopian: 5-minute confident character
fanfi: flashback prompt
thriller: 5 paragraphs
hifi: 5-minute sprint + possible additional 10 minutes
mystery: 3-minute inspiration + write 4 minutes
poetry: isolated character prompt
bifi: make something absurd happen
horror: 3-minute sprint
adventure: sprint to nearest thousand
script: absent characters
fantasy: write 250 words
folklore: write 200 words
nonfi: sprint for 1-6 minutes
conclusion: 100 words

January clutched the message in her shaky hands, rubbing the edges of her freshly painted crimson nails along the envelope. She’d been assigned to deliver some strange messages in her life, some that she’d almost dared to open without permission–but this one felt different. Even clutching it stung her fingers. She was sure something was awfully wrong with this envelope, which meant the words inside had to be bursting with dark, classified secrets.
She had a feeling the new weight on her shoulders, and the darkness in her thoughts, wasn’t just because she was thirteen now.
If the secrets she was carrying were what she thought they may reveal, not even the most mature teenager could handle the idea of this.
January looked down at the envelope again, trying to see if she could read anything through the thick white envelope, sealed with a glimmering sticker of a pink camellia flower. She wished it didn’t blind her so much, but kept staring down at the envelope whale walking, until she realized she had ended up somewhere where she was not supposed to be.
She stood in the middle of a grassy field, roses of various colors sprouting up on all sides of her and almost swirling around her legs. A few thorns pricked through her tall socks, a very oddly familiar feeling.
She could’ve sworn this wasn’t the first time she’d ended up in this field of roses. Shuddering, she turned to back away. It took her a while to escape all of the vicious thorns.
People had talked about deja vu before.
In that moment, January couldn’t help but feel that this field was going to come back to haunt her like an evil ghost.
The arching roofs of houses stood proudly in front of her like shimmering scarlet beacons of hope, and she rushed towards the one she’d been assigned to deliver the message, happy to get away from that eerie rose field.
January had known the Emersons for a long time, having been friends with their son Adair as a young girl. She hadn’t talked to him in a while, and if she wasn’t about to deliver such an important message, that could’ve been the day that changed. But reluctantly, she stopped herself from waving up to his window as she scaled the tall steps to the Emerson residence, trailing her fingers over the familiar bricks as the message shuddered in her hands.
Adair’s mother, Mrs. Emerson, seemed to know she was here before she even rang the doorbell. Which was good, because January wasn’t sure she was going to be able to make a coherent sound out of it.
“January! It’s nice to see you,” Mrs. Emerson spoke softly. “Um, are you here on business? Or just for fun?”
January knew she was thirteen years old now.
And that she should be able to get real sentences out.
But her supposed maturity failed her, and the arch of the door looked a thousand times taller, as she handed the envelope to Mrs. Emerson and whispered hoarsely, “Business.”
Mrs. Emerson took the envelope in her steady hands, and January noticed that her nails were painted a bright shade of pink that January envied.
“Come on in, January. We’re happy to have you.”
“Um, Mrs. Emerson, are you–sure?”
Mrs. Emerson smiled. “Call me Nadia. We know you’re busy, but we’ve missed you lately. I’ll make you a drink.”
The familiar smile, and the fact that she wasn’t screaming about the envelope and calling emergency services, washed away a bit of the panic swirling through January’s veins. She straightened up, like an actual thirteen-year-old, smoothed her frizzy hair, and walked through the tall arch, glancing around at the familiar glimmering chandeliers.
At some point, the Emersons’ house had been something of a second home. Then life had gone down for January.
Still, the scent of cookies drifting in from the kitchen–probably baked by Adair’s older sister, Gemma–and the sound of the soft rug bouncing against January’s boots–made January smile like she had when she was a happy eight-year-old girl. She almost felt as if life shimmered the same way it had before she had all these concerns and the awful burning feeling.
Gemma’s familiar face popped out from the doorway, framed by dark curly hair. “Hey, January.” She fluttered her fingers, then disappeared back into the void of baking supplies.
Classic Gemma.
The days had blended together when January spent all her time here. When being a messenger meant occasionally throwing an envelope to a neighbor with some exciting news from Placata’s leaders, January had spent long hours listening to Nadia’s offers of tea or hot chocolate, Gemma’s frustrated baking, and Adair’s attention-catching stories. She didn’t know exactly when her friendship with Adair had started to fade, and in fact, she wasn’t sure it ever had. She still saw them on the backyard swings, laughing and talking after dark, when she closed her eyes sometimes.
Everything had changed.
Nothing had changed.
The house still felt the same, like a time machine where everything got distorted. January could be anywhere she wanted in time if she was here. But she knew that that possibility would soon be coming to an end. After all, she didn’t wear frilly “casual” shirts and plaid skirts as messenger anymore. She could notice very clearly in her reflection through wide-paned windows that she was wearing a fitted crimson dress with black patterns, and so she reluctantly centered herself back into the present.
“Adair, your friend’s here!” Gemma called out, a classic inside joke they’d shared when January came by often. January knew, of course, that Gemma remembered her, even if January herself hadn’t thought about Gemma much in the past few… years. Now she was at least sixteen, pretty much an adult.
January knew that Adair’s room was far up the stairs, practically an attic. She didn’t hear anything, which made her feel a bit uneasy, as she settled into a chair in the dining room. Mrs. Emerson, or Nadia, brought out a steaming cup of hot chocolate, claiming that “it was a cold day” even though it was almost March and that rose field appeared to be thriving. January shuddered at the thought, a bit of the hot cocoa splashing around in the cup. She listened for her friend’s footsteps, needing something to distract her from visions of swirling flowers.
The cocoa was sweet and warm against her lips, inviting just like the Emersons’ home. January breathed in deeply, and that was when she realized she was nervous. Not about the message, or the roses, but about seeing Adair for the first time in what felt like years and years. Would he be upset with her? Or ask her a thousand questions? Would he even say anything? In fact, would he come down to talk to January at all?
“Sorry about Adair. He enjoys taking some time to come downstairs, although I expect he’ll be a bit quicker, if you’re here,” Nadia commented. “Is the cocoa too hot?” And January shook her head, because it was honestly one of the most perfect drinks she had ever tasted. It felt awful to savor it while she also felt like every part of her was flipping inside and out, even when she wasn’t thinking about the envelope, which Nadia was finally sitting down to open.
“ADAIR!” Gemma shouted, and finally, her younger brother trailed down the curving stairs, actually smiling when he saw January seated at the dining room table. “Are you here to deliver a message? Or did my mom force you to drink some of that hot cocoa stuff she’s been obsessing over? I’m so sorry.”
“Quiet down, Adair,” Nadia snapped jokingly.
“No, it’s absolutely delicious,” January said, holding up the cup as if to display the pure amazingness that it held. “If you don’t think so, then, well, you’re just wrong.”
She wasn’t sure if she had started out on the right foot, but Adair was laughing, so the burning and twisting that was going on inside of her calmed down a little bit.
“January just came by to deliver a message, but of course, I know you’d want her to stay…” Nadia said, trailing off for some reason. She was still reading over the message intently, and January wondered if this was the first or second or third time.
Adair came over to read over her shoulder, but Nadia motioned for him to leave. So instead, he went to sit by January, which made January completely confused as to what she was supposed to say.
Um, sorry I haven’t talked to you in, like, two years?
I hope you’ve been enjoying your day?
I probably would’ve stayed anyway if your mom hadn’t asked me to?
“So, um… what do you think is so bad about pure deliciousness, Adair?” she asked in a jokingly accusatory tone instead.
“Honestly?” he said with a whisper. “It really is pure deliciousness, but I cannot let Mom know I said that. And you cannot tell her that either.”
“Mrs. Emerson!” January called out right on cue. “I just found out that Adair is actually deeply immersed and completely adores your–”
“January!” Adair cried out jokingly.
“Hey, your mom deserves to know the truth!” January retorted.
“I missed this,” Adair laughed, and January couldn’t help but agree. She had missed this, without even realizing it. Maybe that was the key to getting those childhood days back.
And she would’ve kept thinking that obliviously, if through Adair’s laughter, Nadia hadn’t slammed one hand on the table and stood up abruptly, her face turning red and pale at the same time as she scanned that letter.
Anger masks fear.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” Adair asked, ripples of concern fluttering across his face. “We were just joking.”
“It’s… it’s not you, Adair, surprisingly,” Nadia gasped, trying to throw a joke into her words. “I have to go to January’s parents’ house right now.”
January and Adair both stared at her, bewildered.
I was right.
I was so right.
I hate being right.
The words burned through January’s mind, a fierce fire that nothing could quench.
She felt sick to her stomach, and also as if she wasn’t herself anymore.
Her heartbeat was controlling her, while she was also half floating above it.
“Mrs. Emerson,” she breathed, trying to sound extra-thirteen and as respectful as possible in case Nadia snapped, “what happened?”
Nadia stared at her with a grim, almost pitiful expression. “You can’t know.”
“In January’s defense,” Adair cut in before she could attempt to get answers out of his mother, “she is one of the most trustworthy messengers, as well as being the daughters of Placata’s leaders. She’s probably going to hear about whatever crisis has occurred anyway, so I don’t see the problem in telling her.”
Nadia’s gaze turned to Adair.
It held all the possible emotions in the world, from love and concern to anger and annoyance, as she spoke, “Once she knows, she won’t want to. And neither will you.”
Then she turned and rushed towards the arching door, which had turned a crack open, probably when the Emersons’ white cat slipped out as usual.
January and Adair rushed after her, like they had when going to play outside as young kids.
Something’s happening.
It was me.
It was a premonition or something.
And they won’t tell me.
“Why do you have that look on your face that you always get when you realize something’s your fault even though it actually, like, isn’t?” Adair inquired as they rushed after Nadia, who was clearly following the tallest half-sphere with the mini-spheres around it, the roof of January’s family’s home.
“I just…” She reached down to feel the ghosts of burns on her fingers. “I felt like something was going to happen today, and maybe I, I don’t know, jinxed it or something. And then your mom came in with the hot cocoa and the nostalgic memories from being eight years old, and I let down my guard. I don’t know why I was stupid enough to do that.”
“How is that stupid?” Adair countered. “There’s nothing helpful in worrying about something that you can’t control.”
“Maybe if I was good enough–” no, that doesn’t sound right– “maybe if I was capable enough… I could control it.”
“If it’s really as bad as Mom says it is,” he whispered, “do you really think anything could make this better?”
January wasn’t sure what to say to that.
So instead they both stared out at the gorgeous, lush camellia fields, where spring was starting to show itself in all the most vibrant shades of pink. And January missed the hot cocoa and the fuzzy rug.
Spring meant life going on.
Spring meant coming back and cleaning and fixing the year.
Winter meant enjoying its new light while not really having to do anything.
And it sounded ridiculous, but January couldn’t help but miss not really having to do anything.
Before anyone knew it, they had made it to the house with the big half-sphere, the one January had called home for ages. She felt a bit of nostalgia hit her as she remembered peacefully walking by here with Adair, or her sister Lumi–and it melted into painful lava as they followed Nadia into the house, immediately seeing Lumi, Sora, and Calida hidden away in an entryway closet.
Lumi was nine.
Sora was five.
And Calida had barely been born before the strange things started spreading.
“What are you guys doing in here?” January whispered, happy to creep into the closet with her siblings, Adair following.
“Hiding from the insanity,” Sora hissed, hiding himself among a rack of old shirts that their dad never wore. Lumi was practically crouching inside of a box with old dolls inside, clutching Calida in place.
“The insanity? Woah, Sora, you’ve developed quite the vocab since the last time I saw you,” Adair remarked.
“I am a man of many words,” Sora whispered, ducking into the shirts.
January almost laughed.
The closet was dark, with only a few cracks of light seeping through. January kicked at some old wrapping paper that her family had used for gifts at New Years’ and birthdays.
Lumi suddenly motioned for Sora to follow her deeper somewhere in the closet, bringing Calida along, and Adair stepped outside at just that time, leaving January standing alone with the wrapping paper, a bit of light flooding in through the door. The peace was almost nice, which felt bad to admit. She hadn’t enjoyed any sort of true peace for a while, and of course this couldn’t be true when her heart was beating in her throat.
At the same time, she felt… lonely.
The darkness clouded around her, and she wasn’t sure what made that such a big deal.
Maybe it was how her siblings were all younger than she was, and this was their first taste of stress.
Or how she hadn’t seen Adair in such a long time, and she wondered if there was something he was holding back.
The ideas almost flooded away the relevant stress in her head, quenching the normal cloudiness with some strange burning lava that made her feel selfish.
Something about the emptiness swirled all around January, making weird shapes surround her and bizarre creatures seem to peek out from the darkness, waiting to pounce. It was weird to have thoughts like this when she was thirteen, but everything seemed really real for just one second. She wasn’t sure if she was in reality anymore.
“Lumi.”
No response.
“Sora?”
Nothing.
“Adair??”
For a moment, the world seemed to fall backwards, and January wondered if she was about to pass out from all the thoughts flooding through her mind.
I can’t do this alone.
I cannot do this alone.
She didn’t know how she was alone, and this would not be the last time she had this thought. But she clung to that rope, trying to stay fastened into reality.
I.
Cannot.
Do.
This.
Alone.
“January, what’s going on?”
Adair’s face appeared from the darkness, somehow clouded by the fog. January found herself reaching out to grasp his arm, trying anything to get back into the light. She’d liked the darkness before, at least when it didn’t try to trap her.
“Something weird is going on,” she gasped. “Uh, what on earth is happening out–out there??”
Adair rolled his eyes to the side, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever January’s parents were doing without actually going out to see them. “They were intimidating. But, um, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“I know when you lie, January,” he said with a grin. “What happened?”
The most ridiculous answer happened to be what she came up with. “Um, our linen closet appears to be possessed.”
The smile on Adair’s face fluttered as if he wanted to laugh.
“Okay, I’m sure your closet is not actually possessed, January. But… maybe we should find Lumi and Sora and Calida,” he whispered. “KIDS! WHERE ARE YOU??”
His outcry was so loud that January thought she heard part of the chandelier shatter in the back of her mind, but it seemed to work when Lumi and Sora crept out anxiously with Calida.
“Okay, you don’t have to go out there to the possessed world of–” Adair made a dramatic gasp– “your own parents. But at least don’t scare us by hiding in the depths of that place, okay? January thinks it’s possessed now, and she’s a whole thirteen years old.”
That felt like the first time January had truly laughed in years.
She’d forgotten how many times Adair liked to say the word “okay”, or how entertaining he could be, especially now that Lumi was nine and Sora was five.
Coming to think about it, he’d barely met Calida–maybe a year or so before that day, when she was still a newborn.
The thought of Calida growing up in a world surrounded by chaos made January shudder again, the coldness it brought biting through her core.
By then, the sun had already started to sink into the camellia fields, casting a strange warm glow that didn’t seem to belong there over each flower. Probably the roses, too, wherever they had been. The clouds were beginning to block out the sun like they did every night. There had been a lot more of those clouds around in the recent days, as if they were crowding in with cloud popcorn, waiting for something to happen.
And the house seemed to be shuddering, holding its breath for too long and nearly collapsing. But the chandelier still hung high on the ceiling, shimmering around the room like some bejeweled sequin sun.
It would’ve been beautiful. It would’ve been peaceful. But all of it was so wrong for the situation. The day wasn’t particularly warm, and everything about it had started to feel frigid as if it was back to the middle of winter in the Delmonta Mountains to the northwest.
“January, return to reality.”
“Oh, I did it again,” January muttered, shaking her crimson hair out of her eyes (the wind streaming through the door desperately tried to blow it back) and turning to face Adair. “Are we supposed to have a… plan or something??”
“Um,” Sora piped up, “if I may ask, is this a plan that’s only for cool teenagers or whatever?”
“I’m twelve.” Adair blushed.
“Oh, January’s older than you??” Sora asked. “Whoa. She must be really old.”
“Five-year-olds,” Adair chuckled, shaking his head as Sora scampered back towards the linen closet, Lumi and Calida following after him. “They think we’re the most mature people in the world.”
“We met when we were five,” January added, which felt totally unrelated and as if it was leading up to something.
“Well, I was four,” he lamented. “It was… around this time of year, actually.”
“And your birthday’s April 17th.”
The words flew from January’s lips. Of course she should know that! And she did. Of course she did.
Although, for a moment, she actually came to second-guess herself.
“Okay, January,” he said with a knowing wink. “So, you are acting somewhat strange. I don’t know what’s going on, but I want you to know that nothing’s wrong. If this is about the fact that we haven’t seen each other in, like, a year–” he looked away, swiping part of his dark curly hair back– “I get it. You’ve been incredibly busy, and, well, we all have, with the leadup to whatever on earth is going on.”
“I got April 17th right, didn’t I?”
She wasn’t sure why she was insisting on knowing that. She should’ve known, of course.
“Yeah, April 17th. I know I’m young. Don’t use it against me.”
“Adair, I’m really sorry,” January started, really confused as to why she wasn’t actually responding to anything Adair said at the right time. “I haven’t made any time to talk to you, just stressing in my room about whatever stupid thing I’ve decided to make take up my time, and if you actually are angry at me, I’d like you to spill it all out right now. You deserve to be able to, and selfishly, I’d like to know.”
“January,” Adair whispered, sensing the presence of Placata’s leaders debating some unknown problem just yards away. “First of all, I told you I’m not angry. And second of all, you’re not stupid. You have a lot to deal with. I mean…” he paused, searching for words… “we all know that you’re under quite a bit of pressure with everything. I’m not angry. I swear on, um, I swear on the delicious hot cocoa and my magnet collection.”
“You swear on your famous, prized magnet collection?!”
The familiar smile flickered on his face again, a slightly sad one this time. “Believe me, January, there are things that matter a lot more to me than the magnet collection.”
He bit his lip, as if he was trying to keep something from slipping out.
January felt herself smiling, the whole world seeming to warm up just a little bit with the fact that at least one wrong had been righted. “So, um… I think we should definitely, um, hang out again sometime.”
“Okay, tomorrow?”
The spontaneous request surprised January, and she stumbled back slightly.
“Whose house?”
“That drink place down the street.”
“YES!” January shouted, a little bit too loud, jumping up and down twice in her fancy uncomfortable messenger boots. “I love that place so much!”
“I know.” And before any uncomfortable silence could fill their conversation, Adair added on, “I do too.”
“Do you remember that time,” January ranted, feeling her energy pick up, “when we were, like, ten and we took a six-year-old Lumi to the drink place and she was trying to mix the different drinks together to create her perfect medley or whatever ridiculous word she and Sora like to–”
“January,” a sharp voice snapped.
One that felt terrifyingly close all of a sudden.
January froze up.
Adair did too.
Two stares of pure terror coated their eyes like ice.
“Th–that’s your mother,” Adair finally choked out, the air coming to a sudden still around them.
“What a brilliant thought process,” January hissed back, reaching out for his hand although she wasn’t completely sure why.
Adair looked surprised.
And still terrified.
But he took it, locking hands with her before they strolled into the living room, as if nothing was happening.
January’s mother, her father, and Adair’s mother–Nadia–Mrs. Emerson–whatever stood there, faces hard like stone and gazes on them.
“I’m sure you’ve picked up on the strange energy circulating through this neighborhood, January,” her mother spoke coldly. “Adair, you may want to, um, not be here to hear what’s going on.”
Quietly but confidently, he responded, “If it’s okay, Mrs. Kumar, I’d like to stay with January.”
Everything suddenly seemed to shift.
Suddenly, January was sitting down on the camellia-patterned couch, Adair still by her side like he always used to be. And her mother was leaning forward, ready to tell her about whatever was going on.
But she couldn’t speak.
Eventually, her brave countenance collapsed into her hands, and Mrs. Emerson took over, laying a hand on January’s mother’s shoulder as she softly spoke the words.
Just as calmly as offering up a cup of hot cocoa.
“It appears,” she whispered, “that some sort of rebellion is upon us.”
Everything seemed to stop.
And freeze.
But at the same time, the whole world seemed to burn.
And tilt over.
January couldn’t tell who was speaking next, or whether anyone was. She’d been mentally preparing herself for the revelation for so long, but now that it was finally real…
And now.
There’s nothing I can do now.
She almost matched her mother as she pressed her fingers to her temples, Adair peering at her with concern–probably trying to hide the terror that she knew had struck him too.
“What–what do we–know?” he asked, barely audible to January. But it was the exact question she wanted to ask, and she felt that he’d known that.
“Well, the rebellion, um, developed–” Nadia shifted uncomfortably. “It developed sometime in the past four or so years, and word has just gotten to us, well, now. And the group is a mysterious congregation with a strange name.”
“What’s the name?” Adair pressed.
And Nadia, with her bizarrely incredible intuition, almost seemed to know how it was going to set the rest of January’s world basically on fire as she whispered, “The Roses.”

INTRODUCTION (203 words)

Kenshi had set off on the ship a month ago, called by the Wielder on a mission to unite the strongest fighters in the world.

Now, land was in sight, and Kenshi was about to disembark from the boat onto an unfamiliar land to complete an unfamiliar quest with unfamiliar people.

When every village in every part of the world had received the letter detailing the quest to find the best war people in the world, Kenshi had been alerted by their king that they would be the one their area had put forwards to be part of the mission.

And in a world of magical people, when Kenshi, who had no special ability, was selected just because of their proficiency with the art of knife fighting, they were shocked. But they were ready as well. And from then, Kenshi’s training had tripled- even on the long voyage to the Centre Island Kingdom.

Now, as Kenshi was being guided by a few soldiers from the army and the navy to a royal meeting room, they were beginning to feel… nervous.

Kenshi squared their shoulders continued up the grand outdoor stone stairs towards the massive oak door they would have to enter.

HORROR PLANET – SPRINT FOR 3 MINS D (118 words) OPTION 3

As Ietas waited inside the massive reception hall, tapping his fingers on the plush chair he was rested in, he thought about why he was here. After the letter detailing the quest to unite the best fighters in the world was sent, there was a massive battle in his enormous city to be nominated for the job. Obviously, Ietas had wanted to be the one- which is why he had tried so hard. He had an advantage, as well- his ability was a perfect one for fighting. He could summon glowing, pulsing pellets of pure energy and throw them wherever he needed- and they exploded on impact. It was the perfect power for combat- fast, destructive and deadly.

FAN-FI PLANET – AT LEAST 150 WORD FLASHBACK (475 words) OPTION 1

Ietas remembered the competition his city had hastily hosted to choose a person to put forwards. Of course, he had entered- and it had been the coolest experience of his life…

Suddenly, Ietas was back in his home city, at the starting point of the race- the race being the city’s competition to get their champion. There were crowds of hundreds, thousands, at the starting point- Ietas had tried to push to the front, but he was stranded in the middle of the pack, elbows and shoulders shoving him on all sides, desperate to get a head start.

As was he.

Overhead, a voice rang out, shouting from the tallest tower around. Trumpets blared. A fanfare played as the king explained the rules- get to the finish line using whatever means you have to- but if you injure another player, you’re out. And then the countdown began- three, two, one…

Go!

Ietas tried to hold his ground in a steady jog as the rest of the people surged past him in a crowd of sprinters. Eventually, he was left at the back of the pack with a few other stragglers. But Ietas smiled. He had a strategy.

Summoning a glowing ball of energy in his palm, Ietas jumped, and threw the pellet into the ground-

And was launched upwards into the sky.

“Weee-hoo!” Ietas cried, free-falling down towards the city. Preparing another pellet, when he was close enough to the ground, he unleashed another explosion- this one angled to launch him forwards as well as up.

He surged through the sky, spinning and crowing in delight. The crowd was ahead of him, in view now-

(added to cwars)

This is where Ietas would have to be careful. If he created an explosion too close to the horde of people, he could harm some of them accidentally- and that would disqualify him.

As Ietas fell, he realized he would land right in the middle of the crowd- oh no, what could he do? He was falling too fast the think… the wind rushed around him…

Wait.

They were in the city.

And once again, Ietas laughed, summoning a ball of energy and flinging it sideways into a building.

The crowd below him all paused and looked up simultaneously, gasping, when they heard the explosion. They would see a figure clad in purple and yellow with long hair tied back in a ponytail seeming to fly, using the buildings to propel himself forwards.

Ietas looked down and laughed. “See ya!” He shouted, waving, as he finally reached flat ground where he could use his original method of travel.

Suffice it to say, he won the race.

Ietas smiled back in the plush chair, his fingers still drumming impatiently I=on the armrest.

If his story was that exciting, what would the other selected fighters bring to the group?

DYSTOPIAN PLANET – 5 MINS DESCRIBING A ‘BEDAZZLING D’ (317 words) OPTION 3

Three harsh thuds sounded on the door, bringing Ietas back to reality. The massive oaken aperture slowly swung open, revealing a short person with strange blue-grey hair surrounded by soldiers. They were obviously being escorted from the nearby harbour- which meant that they were one of the warriors chosen as well. Ietas stood up in greeting.

The person nodded their head in thanks to the guards and walked over to Ietas, shaking his hand formally.

“Are you here for the assembly of the world’s best fighters?” the person asked.

“Yeah, I’m Ietas- nice to meet you!” Ietas replied, smiling.

“I’m Kenshi,” said the blue-haired person. They relaxed and smiled as well. “It’s an honour to be here.”

Ietas chuckled. “Yeah- it was an insane jou-”

CRASH!

Both Ietas and Kenshi instantly went on high alert, glaring in the direction of the noise. A side door had swung open, and a figure was appearing through it…

“Hey, guys! It’s me! And boy, aren’t you glad to see me!” A tall girl with a fluffy afro posed for Ietas and Kenshi, hands on hips, grinning. I guess you two are also fighters, or something. Well, fear not! I'm here to carry you all on what’s probably going to be an epic journey.” She spun on her heels, stalking over to Ietas. “Who are you, anyways?”

“I’m-” Ietas began, extending a hand.

“Boring!” the girl exclaimed, flourishing a hand in a dramatic gesture. “I’m Veren. And you-”

The girl, who said she was called Veren, turned to Kenshi. “Well, you’re an uptight one, aren’t you? Probably from the east. They’re all like that.” Veren walked into a clear space in the centre of the cavernous room.

“Alright, where’s our task or whatever? I’m ready! Bring it on!” She shot a dazzling grin at the other fighters, who shared a look. Oh, boy. This was going to be an interesting mission.

FOLKLORE PLANET – WRITE 250 WORDS AT ANY PACE (306 words) OPTION 2

In fact, the mission was not brought on.

It was a long wait. The trio of the world’s best fighters were stuck in the massive room for hours, with nothing to entertain themselves with. Ietas tried to get to know everyone better, but after the excitement of Veren’s arrival, Kenshi wouldn’t open up again. Veren had finally calmed down enough to actually say hi- she hadn’t meant to be rude, apparently, she was just ‘like that’.

Let’s just say, this was not what Kenshi was expecting when they were told that the world’s best fighters would assemble.

A meek, eager to please boy and an overexcited, impulsive girl? This was not the group that Kenshi would work well with. They had expected the warriors to be like how everyone was back home- calm, straightforward and mature.

The hours of waiting were not hard for Kenshi. They were used to long periods of under stimulation and solitude. Hours of waiting with two strangers, however? A completely different predicament. It was hard to focus, to take in what was happening, with two eager, overexcited people, even if they showed it in different ways. So Kenshi was glad for the distraction when another quadrant of guards arrived from an unexplored hallway to take them to the organizer of the assembly.

The wood-panelled hallway was embellished with paintings, plants and expensive furniture, just as the waiting room had been. Kenshi tried to admire some of their surroundings but was rushed onwards by their companions. Honestly, people couldn’t appreciate art when they saw it.

Kenshi had to admit, however, that they were nervous when they reached a large, solid wooden door. On the other side of it, their mission would await. Finally, the guards knocked.

It was a second. A minute. And then finally, the cry of “Enter!” reached Kenshi’s ears.

NAAN-FI PLANET – INCLUDE A BAKER IN YOUR STORY (274 words) OPTION 1

Veren, the other two fighters, and the four guards finally entered the room.

The long wait had been torturous for Veren. She was someone who needed excitement and action all the time. Which was funny to her, as it kind of contradicted her ability to put anyone to sleep with a foggy green gas.

The person who had summoned them sat behind a large wooden desk. Seriously, why was everything wood in here? He was facing them, eying the group with his strangely pale blue eyes. He motioned for everyone to sit down.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” he began. But Veren was tired of all the formalities.

“Come on, tell us what to do already! We’ve been waiting for aaaages,” she complained loudly. Kenshi performed a very noticeable eye roll, which Veren ignored.

The man laughed, and his eyes crinkled up happily. “Not one to wait around, ey? Well, surely I have to tell you my name… no? My age? My birthday? My favourite colour?”

It was at this point Veren realized he was provoking her. She scowled.

“I’m a baker, you know. I like to bake. Cookies and crumpets and biscuits! Ooh, I could do with some of those right now… oh, yeah…” He turned, as if to call for some refreshments. Veren clasped her hands together loudly and exclaimed, “Well, considering I came across a sea to hear about your love for baking, I think I at least deserve some of your crumpets.” She shot the man a side eye.

He sighed. “Really not one for time wasting, hey. Alright. I guess you want to know why you’re here.”

SCRIPT PLANET – SAY MY IDEAS OUT LOUD (143 words) OPTION 1

“There’s a problem on this earth that I've known of for about a year now. We sent our best fighters to battle this villain, but they were defeated. This is why we gathered YOU.”

“But what did they do?” Asked Kenshi solemnly. This was the first time Veren had seen Kenshi talk in hours.

The man cleared his throat. “He’s found a way to poison all animals on earth, except for a very specific type of goat that he has bred and only he knows of. He plans to monopolize the goat and force everyone else to pay him for access to a source of food. He wants to become rich.”

Kenshi looked shocked, in their own serious way. Ietas had a strange, sad expression on his face. But the news only filled Veren with anger.

“Well, come on- let's fight this guy!”

MYSTERY PLANET – CHARACTER HAS AN EPIPHANY (190 words) OPTION 1

Ietas trained day and night with Veren and Kenshi.

He had never been taught to use his ability for harm to others, so it was a big step for him. But eventually, he got the hang of telling himself before he threw his energy pellets that it wasn’t a human being he was targeting; it was just a dummy. Which was true- but it wouldn’t be. Not when they were fighting.

And the trio were told, time and time again, that it- the battle against the Goat Man, as they had begun to refer to him- would be dangerous. It could even be deadly. This man… he would do whatever it took to carry out his plan.

Including killing the three people battling against him.

If Ietas wasn't comfortable with the prospect of battle against another human being, he was even less comfortable with the prospect of death.

He did not want to die. But as a week went past, and the battle came closer, a sense of dread filled Ietas. He didn’t want to die.

And he realized that meant that he didn't want to battle the Goat Man.

REAL-FI PLANET – BUILD UP TO A HAPPY SCENE AND THEN PLOT TWIST =00 (221 words) OPTION 1

Kenshi was enjoying training, honestly.

There wasn’t really another word for it. Even though they were preparing for what could be a life-ending battle, Kenshi was putting their all into training, and was invested into learning everything they could about the culture of western fighting, seeing as they had never been exposed to anything like that before. They trained for about two weeks, and then the time came- the final day before the departure into the territory of the Goat Man.

The trio had a dinner together- to Kenshi, it kind of felt like a last supper of sorts. But it was a happy occasion, a time when the fighters could celebrate how far they’ve come and prepare for what they would have to face next.

They ate, and drank, and laughed. They talked earnestly about their homes, where they had come from- and Kenshi began to like Veren slightly more. She seemed like a nice, earnest person. But Ietas was being slightly quiet- not at all his usual, determined self. Finally, he asked a question he seemed to have been wanting to ask for a while.

“Are you guys…scared?”

It was met with silence. Kenshi shook their head. Veren smiled slightly- “Of what? Death?”

Ietas nodded, gulping. “I’ll be right back”.

They were still waiting when they left for their sleeping quarters.

SCI-FI PLANET- CHARACTER HAS A PREMONITION (243 words) OPTION 1

Ietas left the dinner before eating his food.

He couldn’t be around such happy, excited talk of what he was now sure would be the certain death of himself, Veren and Kenshi. So he just left. He went to his room, got ready for bed, and tried to sleep it off.

Ietas lay tossing and turning for a long while, and it was a miracle when finally, he managed to fall asleep. But he slept fitfully… his dreams were disturbed and detailed him in what he was sure would happen.

He would go to the battle, terrified and fearful for his life. He would try and face the goat man, but nothing he had done to prepare would be able to match the power of the Goat Man. He and the other warriors would lose their lives.

But then the dream changed. Instead of boarding the ship the next morning, Ietas woke before sunrise and headed for the public dock. He had taken money from his room, and his peers- enough to get him across the sea to the mainland, where he would find his way home. He would never speak to, or see, Kenshi and Veren again. And he would be disappointed in himself, but safe. He would be safe. That was all that would matter.

And as Ietas woke, knowing he could choose which path he embarked on, he had no doubt about how the next few days would play out.

FANTASY PLANET- INTRODUCE A BOAT INTO THE STORY (188 words) OPTION 1

Veren and Kenshi were at the dock, waiting.

Veren was getting bored. Come on, where was Ietas? He was almost three quarters of an hour late- they'd have to leave without him soon. The boat they would travel with would have to leave as soon as possible to get to the Goat Man’s land before three days’ time’s sunrise. At this rate, it may not be possible.

“Do you know where he is?” Veren asked Kenshi again. Kenshi shook their head, an agitated look fighting their always serious expression. Neither of them had seen him since last nights’ dinner, where he had left unexpectedly.

The hustle and bustle of the dock was only growing by the second. Soon, there would be too much traffic in the water to make a hasty departure. Come ON, Ietas, where were you?

But as Veren watched, she saw a familiar figure appear out of the crowd… it wasn’t Ietas. It was the white-haired man that had summoned the fighters- the one who liked to bake. And he didn’t look happy.

This was clarified when he reached them and said, “Ietas had left.”

HIFI PLANET- WRITE FOR 5 MINS, IF YOU DONT REACH WPM x 5 WRITE FOR 10 MORE (247 words) OPTION 2

“What?” exclaimed Veren, shocked. What could he mean? Ietas… wasn’t coming?

The white-haired man shook his head solemnly.

“He left a note. In his quarters, I mean. He-” the man paused and looked off into the distance for a moment. “Actually, it might just be better for me to show you his message.”

He dug around in his pocket for a moment, extending his arm bearing a sheet of paper that looked as if it had been ripped from a notepad- like the large one in the main entrance hall. Veren gulped, and then reached out and took the paper. She read it out loud.

“Kenshi and Veren, and the trainers, and the man who summoned us, and anyone else who sees this,

I can’t do this. It’s just that simple. I can’t face risking my life and going into a battle that I might not leave. You guys are stronger than me. You are braver than me. I wish I could face this task as you can.

I’m sorry. I know that I was selected for this, that I’m letting the world down… but I just can’t face the prospect of death. I hope that you can conquer the Goat Man yourselves.

I’m so, so sorry-

Ietas.”

Kenshi let out a small, harsh gasp of shock. Veren’s eyes began to water. The baker man stared at his shoes, a pained expression on his face. Nobody could believe it. His cowardice… his…

“Betrayal,” breathed Kenshi, almost angrily.

BIZARRO PLANET- ROLL A DIE, MULTIPLY YOUR NUMBER BY 100, WRITE THAT MANY WORDS (I got 3 =3) (334 words) OPTION 2

The boat trip was tense, to say the least.

All Kenshi would do is pace up and down, up and down the boat, wearing the floorboards in the places they tread most. Occasionally, they would pause to whip out a knife and hurl it, with perfect precision and technique, into the thick wooden mast of the boat. The ship was lucky that it was made of solid, sturdy wood, or else the mast may have collapsed from the sheer force of Kenshi’s attacks.

Veren was constantly on the edge of tears. Maybe she was simply emotional, or maybe she thought she had a bond with Ietas, but she couldn’t believe that he had simply… abandoned them all. Maybe it was just because she had never been betrayed before.

But they only had two days to grieve, because before they knew it, Veren and Kenshi were at the shore of the land of the Goat Man, one world-class warrior down.

It was at this point that Veren really thought about the prospects of this battle. Ietas’ departure had really opened her eyes to what could happen… what could go wrong… she really could die today. But Veren wasn’t going to let possibilities break her. No, she was better than this… she had a powerful ability, training, and an amazing battle partner in Kenshi. They could win the battle. They had to.

After docking the boat, they had a while to walk. It was almost a day of hard, fast-paced travelling, during which not a word was uttered by Kenshi, before any development was seen. And when the living place of the Goat Man was finally reached, Kenshi turned to Veren and spoke frankly to her- perhaps even the first words they had said that weren’t hiding anything.

“This could be deadly. But we have to do it. And we will do it.”

And with those few words, both Veren and Kenshi nodded firmly and turned to face the sunset, where they would find their enemy.

POETRY PLANET- SPRINT FOR WPM x 10 SECONDS (7.5 minutes) (219 words) OPTION 3

Veren and Kenshi each took in a deep breath, and on the count of three, Kenshi released a great shriek into the air. The sound reverberated around the mountains, amplifying the sound every time it echoed off the hilly terrain around them. This would bring the Goat Man out to face the two heroes. And sure enough, within a few minutes, a tall, goateed man appeared, seeming to travel along the ground like it was moving. He looked around for a few seconds, and then caught sight of Kenshi and Veren standing on the hill. He studied them for a few seconds. And then he laughed.

He laughed and laughed and laughed. He cackled and guffawed and tears came out of his crinkled, dark eyes. Until finally, he straightened up and spoke.

“You? You’re the mighty heroes I’m meant to face? Really?”

Kenshi and Veren shared a look. The man shook his head in amusement, wiping his eyes.

“I’ve faced many a supposed hero. I’ve faced armies. And now I’m being challenged by two- what, teenagers? Twenty-somethings? It doesn’t even matter. You’ll both be gone in the blink of an eye.”

Kenshi looked at Veren. She seemed to be provoked by the Goat Man’s words. That wasn’t good. Kenshi gave Veren a sideways glance and shook their head subtlety.

ADVENTURE PLANET – YOUR CHARACTER’S SETTING STARTS TO WORK AGAINST THEM (231 words) OPTION 1

Veren couldn’t afford to get angry. Kenshi knew that from their extensive battle training. So, under their breath, they whispered, “Stick to the plan. We can do this.”

The Goat Man looked at his watch, finally calming down. “Well, I guess it’s best to get this over with. Okay, kiddos! Let’s go!” He smiled and waved his hand dismissively. Kenshi armed themselves with their knives. Veren began to summon sleeping gas. But before they could act, a sharp shard of stone shot at their head.

“Duck!” shouted Kenshi, dragging Veren down. But more shards of stone were whipped towards the, seemingly being pulled from the mountains around them. And then Kenshi realized.

The Goat Man was telekinetic.

Kenshi gritted their teeth and jumped- and it was a good thing that they did, as the ground began to shift under their feet. Veren was caught in a bad place and stumbled, becoming enveloped in the tumbling sheets of grass. Kenshi whipped out a knife and focused their eyes on the target, aiming… and then releasing the knife in a flurry of sharp movements and metal.

The Goat Man tried to avoid the knife, but it managed to nick him on the arm, sending a stream of (liquid =3) come spurting out his arm. He looked surprised.

“Oh, you’re good. I’ve never been injured before. Guess I’ll just-”

And then the world collapsed.

WHATTT THIS PROMPT FITS PERFECTLY WHAAAAT =0 THRILLER PLANET!! LAST ONE!! UM CHARACTER SINKS OR SOMETHING!!! (305 words) OPTION 1

Kenshi tried to get out of the folding hills, but the floor seemed to be liquid all of a sudden. How was this possible? How could this man wield so much power?

Kenshi began to struggle to breathe. Their lungs were being compressed by the enclosing space around them… the blue sky above seemed so far away. Kenshi’s vision started to go foggy, and they began to black out… would this really be the end? Was Ietas right? Had the mission been a failure from the start?

And as Kenshi lost consciousness, the sky turned green.

-

Veren had managed to escape. The tumbling, turning ground had ejected her out into the sky, and she had managed to land somewhere hidden.

This is when she released her sleep gas.

The area around her turned green. The gas extended its long, foggy tendrils out in all directions. Although Veren was immune to the effects of her power, she began to feel woozy from the exertion of so much strength. So she began to run.

In the direction of the Goat Man, in the direction of Kenshi. The Goat Man saw her approaching rapidly and his eyes widened- he seemed to realize what was happening. He tried to run, but the green gas had reached him already. He collapsed, asleep, and the ground stopped moving.

Veren fell to the ground, trembling. She had never used so much of her ability at once. She couldn’t keep it up for long.

But the ground had spat Kenshi back out, and they were slowly getting up. They looked around, seeing the quivering Veren and the twitching Goat Man, both on the floor. And though they were clutching their ribs in pain, they staggered towards the Goat Man, drawing a long, pointed knife.

Veren watched as an earth-saving murder was committed.

ENDING – 133 words

The journey back home was a victorious one.

They had done it. Together, Kenshi and Veren had saved the planet from the terror of the Goat Man. And they would never be the same.

Kenshi’s chest was injured in ways that would take years to heal, or may even never heal at all. Veren suffered from periodic collapses, and she could barely produce more than a wisp of gas anymore… but none of that mattered. They had saved the world. They were heroes.

Ietas watched the processions of the victory from the shores of the main island they had met at, never quite having the courage to leave. He was shocked… and ashamed. He really was a coward.

And Kenshi and Veren parted ways, knowing that they had saved the lives of millions.



That was a really badly written story but whatever I hope you enjoyed

I bite into a warm cinnamon roll, the sweet taste coating my tongue.
Not exactly the best sentence to start off with, huh? I could have said, ‘My life was spiraling out of control’ or ‘I was breaking a little at a time’. Those would have been great story starters-and they would have been true! But I don’t want to sound like one of those drama queens or something like that. Because I’m not. Perfectly normal, not a drama queen. Just a regular eighth grade girl dealing with some normal issues. Except I can fly, but let’s get back to that later, since I’m restarting this story from the beginning. New opening line. It’s probably going to also sound awful. (Write 100 words)
So, the flying part. Yeah, that’s a thing. When I was born, this creepy guy showed up and took me… somewhere. Still have no idea where, or what this guy’s name was. And you can’t expect me to remember when I was one or two, although those years would shape my life from then on. Feathers started growing and wings started forming. It was almost impossible to teach me to walk, but I was flying from a very early age. (Write for 5 minutes at your own pace, Horror i think?)
Anyways, when I was… I don’t know, maybe 12? It’s really hard for me to keep track of my age, since I don’t know my birthday-but that’s not the point. So I was in my weird cage thingy. It was really small and smelled awful. Anyways, I think the scientists were talking about lunch, so they left. It was just me and the other weird mutations. That was when those other angel kids-are we angels? I don’t know. I don’t really feel human, and I don’t feel like a bird, and I DEFINITELY am not an angel. That’s only going to happen when I’m dead. Right now, I’m just a weird avian freak-but THAT’S NOT THE POINT EITHER. They set me free. It was… a little dramatic, but not the kind of dramatic that I’d been thinking about. They guided us to safety easily. I’d been picturing myself as the hero, breaking everyone out of there. (5 minute sprint, Adventure)
But I wasn’t the hero that time. That shook me. Every day, all I had really pictured was busting myself out of there and proving that I was better than any evil mad scientists that had come my way. Finally flying free, for the first time in my life. I didn’t need some “savior”! Back then, I thought I could’ve totally done that myself.
Of course she-I never got her name-offered to let us be a ‘part of her gang’. Those were her exact words. Obviously I turned her down. So what if I would have gotten more protection from joining this ‘gang’? My pride wouldn’t let me. I regret that decision now, but at this point it’s too late.
Anyways, you might not want to hear this long, drawn out backstory. Trust me, I’m cringing just writing it. I actually just realized I forgot to describe literally everything, and I know you want to visualize this in your head, so here’s a few randomly placed paragraphs telling you about me and the lab.
I’m tall and thin with long blonde hair. My eyes are brown and my skin has a bunch of freckles. There’s also this weird zit on my forehead that I can’t stand. My clothes are pretty casual, nothing that fancy, coming from thrift stores. I have never worn makeup in my life, so don’t imagine me as that beautiful blonde girl from those movies. That’s not me at all. I wish it were me, but it’s not. (Folklore, write 250 words)
Now to describe the facility. That awful lab. It has kind of a menacing aura. Cold gray walls, short silver cages stained with red. Doctors everywhere, but they’re not the kind you want to help you. They want to experiment on you as if you’re just an object. (Non-Fi dice roll sprint, I got 1)
But anyways, we need to get back to this plotline. I’ve wasted enough time writing boring descriptions when I should probably continue this story.
I looked around the street and into the. Maybe there were some other kids like me that needed help. There were plenty of other kids in the lab, so I mentally assembled a team. As I was thinking, I realized I didn’t know anybody’s name here. I didn’t have a name. I needed one.
Oh, and then a bird fell out of the sky.
So I picked the bird up and started to walk over towards some of the other mutations. (Dystopian story starter)
I was a little nervous to ask, but there were two children who looked like they needed me. Honestly, I probably needed them too. One of them looked around my age, with messy black hair and darker skin. Another was younger, maybe 10-and I was 12 right then, by the way.
I approached the nervous teenager and said, “Hey, do you want-”
She cut me off, her voice laced with emotions. “What do I want? There are so many things I want right now that I can’t have. Maybe a family, for once?” Her angry tone suddenly lightened, yet her eyes were still teary as she said with a fake, oversized grin, “Wait, what were you going to say again? Sorry, I shouldn’t have spoken yet.”
I quickly replied, “So, I’m starting a group like that girl did with her group so want to join?”
The girl thought about it for a moment. “I guess, if I can be the leader.” She saw my eyes narrow and sighed. “Or we could maybe co-lead. Like that thing… I think it’s called a democracy?” (Thriller dice roll, 51, 11, 64, 19, 37)
Democracy. My mind suddenly took me back to a few years ago as I replied shakily, “Yeah, sure.” I remembered that they-the scientists, I mean-had been making me run through a maze, my wings bound. The maze had been around 15 minutes long, and then I’d get a 5-minute break as they quickly set another one up. Anyways, in the waiting room, there was a television along with a blue water bottle. I looked down at the heart rate monitor and realized there was a power button. I was done with this, so I pressed it. But it didn’t turn off the monitor. Instead, it turned on the TV. No idea how or why that happened, but I don’t ever know what’s happening these days, do I? Anyways, there was this ad on, and I only heard four words before somebody in a white coat shut it off, “America is a democracy.” (Fan-Fi flashback)
The girl replied as her blue wings unfurled, “So who else is joining this group-thingy?”
Honestly, I didn’t know. Probably the blonde 10-year-old, but who else? “Uh, the other bird kids, I guess?”
She replies, “Oh, I never got your name.”
“I don’t have one…”
“Well, you should have named yourself! I’ve had one since I was 3. It’s Hope, by the way.”
I thought about that for a moment. “Hope is a good name. I’m not sure what mine should be, but I’ll think about it.”
Hope smiled. “Uh, I have a ton of suggestions, but I’m not going to name you. You name yourself. I’ll give you half a minute and then I’m going to call you Little Miss Leader Girl.”
I looked around for inspiration. I hadn’t named myself yet. Honestly, I was just a bunch of numbers for those scientists. There was a gas station, a Wendy’s, an ad for vanilla-flavored coke, and a rose bush. “Rose.”
In that moment, I knew everything would be alright, just for a little while. I had a friend already, and I would make two more, Wendy and Isabel.
And I was right about how it would be OK. But like I’d thought, it had only lasted a little while. (Sci-Fi premonition)
So, we had gone to the Wendy’s in this new town, which we had only done because Wendy, the youngest, had begged a bunch. Isabel thought this Wendy’s thing was really awesome, even though Wendy had literally named herself that after the amazing place that sold Frosties and burgers and hot dogs. I wasn’t a big fan of Wendys, since I thought some of the places in town were better. This is three months after we escaped, by the way, and we’d already been to Los Angeles and Tennessee and Italy. Now we were in… I think it was called Texas? (Real-Fi 3 minute word sprint)
Anyways, we’re at Wendy's, and this elf toy is staring at me weirdly. So I go and take a closer look, and guess what, there’s a camera instead of a pom-pom on its red, pointed boot. (Mystery, go in a room for writing inspo)
I’m creeped out, but Hope says calmly, “Rose, it’s just a security camera. They have a bunch around this place. There are probably people spying on us when we’re asleep.”
Well, that makes me more freaked out than before. How have they not caught us-wait… that’s them, isn’t it.
Of course they chose to go to a Wendy’s.
So anyways, they crashed through the windows, sending shards of crystalline glass everywhere. The guy at the counter says, “Uh, there’s a literal door here?”
A scientist says, “We’re here for these kids.” I know what’s happening and I don’t know what’s happening at the same time. Why would they get us now, so openly?
Everything erupted into chaos as frantic parents struggled to get their kids out of there. The counter guy is the first to go out the door, not looking back. Nobody is. They’re too scared of getting hurt themselves to do something, and I don’t blame them one bit. (Poetry WPM x 10 word sprint)
I suddenly noticed that the other scientist, a female in a black coat, is holding a shotgun. “We have to get out of here”, I heard Hope say. And so we just flew away through the window. Really fast, like lightning. Flying is the best, by the way. It’s effortless, and the best feeling in the world is to just look out at the endless sky above and all of the people and buildings below.
But of course it wasn’t that simple. I realized a second later that Isabel wasn’t with us, and I made that clear when I asked, “Where’s Isabel?”
Nobody else knew, so of course we had to go back.
Isabel’s neck was held by a third scientist, one I didn’t recognize. Although I knew the other two a little, this one was unfamiliar to me. I had no idea who he was, but I wasn’t willing to find out.
“What do you want from us?”
“We want you to come back. Or it’s over for this girl.”
Sharp fingers were pressed against Isabel’s neck, turning the skin around them a pale shade of red. Hope said, “I think we have to do this, don’t you think?” (Hi Fi word sprint)
Also, the sky was flashing bright red and then blue again. (Bi-Fi absurd thing)
Also, the toy boat on the counter was starting to shake. (Fantasy boat)
The knife was silver, stained with blood. The table was red striped with zigzags of white. There were two plants outside, both bushes with spiky green leaves and bright pink flowers. Inside there was a black pot with silver stripes that held inside brown dirt and a small cactus that was way too tiny for this big pot it was in. The chairs were a shade of tan slightly darker than my skin but lighter than Hope’s. Who knows what color that girl’s skin is by now. Everything is blurred together. There is no other option. We have to do this. (Hi-Fi don’t put in any character names)


Lol I don't normally write this bad but I had to rush - #dystopianftw! Btw, this is a fanfic for a series I read a year ago (forgot the name of the series, but I remember everything that happened XD )

last daily – thank you notes!! <3 y'all are amazing

fellow folklore friends (and other SWCers), you are honestly so upbeat and I really truly enjoyed spending the session with you all. I would like to say thank you to all of the leaders and co-leaders of the entire SWC session for making beautiful icons which really brings the camp spirit up a notch. I would also love to thank the amazing daily team for all of the fun ideas for the weeklies and dailies because it made me interested in working on my writing and adding more to it so that I can do better. I also want to thank all of the people that reminded me to do this daily!! I also want to thank all of the people who are in the main cabin having fun and setting the scene for this great camp. I also want to recognize the hard work of the point counters, because that sure is tough work looking through all of the thousands of comments and adding it all on their own time, so congratulations to them!! I would also like to put out many thanks to all of the people who made all of these super helpful workshops because I honestly feel as though they were really helpful. Ahem, I think this one needs to recognized. I would like to thank the word counter website for helping me not have to waste time on counting the words up one by one, google docs helped as well!! I would also love to thank my leader and co-leaders for having super fun challenges to do in cabin. They were a great little break to have. Many thanks to Ryann for leading a wonderful session in folklore and I think this is definitely the session I have felt most included, or at least one of them. Thank you for also picking amazing co-leaders!! I really enjoyed you all. Thank you so much Faer as well for just being so interested in what all of the campers have to say and being able to talk about just plain life. Thank you a ton Lio for being super motivating in the cabin and in the main cabin I felt much belief in #FOLKLOREFTW!! Last of the co-leaders, but definitely not least with such a happy and upbeat spirit, thank you Vee for being there to talk and to and keep my motivation to write up and running fast. I really loved hanging with the swifties this session here in folklore. You guys are super awesome and definitely helped make it a session to remember. Now for people I talked to and some friends. Thank you to my fellow folklore challenge lover Airabella for always being so into camp and having such spirit it really made our cabin fun. I would also like to do a folklore reunion sometime later as well. Also, Alba, I really want to thank you for being very unique and inspiring. I know we didn't really talk, but maybe you saw me. I would also like to thank Willow (@Xx_Hermione_xX) for being a super awesome friend and supporter during SWC and I know you did a great job in your position. And of course I would like to thank my wonderful sibling cabin, Fantasy. As well as the allies bi-fi, dystopian, mystery, and script. I also truly enjoyed all of the other cabins, even our ‘enemies’ for making this November SWC 2022 so great. Thank you all!! <3

+576 words I think I missed points but that's okay

Thank You Notes <3 (WIP)

thanks to this being a daily i'm actually starting my thank you notes (a day) early this session instead of doing them last minute :00)

(Co)Hosts: Where do I even start? You guys are all literally so slay and without you, SWC wouldn´t even exist <3 I cannot put into words how truly grateful I am for each and every one of you. Swc has literally become such a bigger part of my life over the past year and a half and I owe it to you guys <3 Thank you so, so much for everything <3


Daily Team: Moving on to the incredible daily team! The dailies and weeklies this session have literally been so fun and I´ve had such an fun time doing them! I have no idea how you guys come up with this stuff. :starstruck: I especially liked the fourth weekly thiss session! You guys clearly put so much freaking effort into it and that is something I am so grateful <3

Bi-Fi (Co)Leaders:

General Thank You: Alkdhflkdhf this session has been absolutely amazing and I literally had such a great time! The four of you are all amazing (co)leaders and I hope to be able to participate in future sessions with you guys. I also want to say the Bi-Fi storyline might have been my favorite so far. It was so fun participating in and adding all of the popcorn to send the characters home. Being able to send home some of my favorite characters was incredible partially because I'm a fandom geek. Bi-Fi has been amazing and I'm sad that it's coming to an end but as cheesy as it sounds the memories I've made this session will last forever <3

Soki: Aaah Soki <33 Thank you notes are always so challenging for me to write because I never know how to put people's awesomeness into words haha, so much awesomeness and not enough adjectives. You are an amazing leader and also an amazing friend and I am forever grateful for you <3 Bi-Fi has been so much fun and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it. You (and the rest of the bi-fi leader team) are so super creative and I have no idea how you guys came up with all of this. Thank you Soki <33

Skye: Skyyee :starstruck: <33 I am yet again struggling to find words to describe how incredible you are. Bi-Fi has been a blast and I am too very glad that you kidnapped me for your word group (referencing your ty note lol, thank you, by the way, you are much better at using words than me haha) <3 This has been an amazing session and I am so glad you were one of bi-fi's leaders <33 You're chaotic energy made everything 10x better and you've truly been a big part in making this session so freaking incredible <33

Mayhem: Mayhem!! <3 We didn't get to chat a lot this session, but I've definitely witnessed enough of your awesomeness this session to understand how amazing you are <33 The pfps were also amazing and I'm very grateful that you made them for us! You're crazy productive and an amazing leader! Thank you so much Mayhem! <3

Stingray: Stingrayy <3 You are an incredible leader and such an amazing person adslkhfldkh <3 I'm running out of adjectives worthy of the amazing bi-fi leader team so sorry if im re-using a bunch of these, but you are literally so encouraging and also an amazing and creative writer too! You're also insanely productive and have made helped make this session as awesome as it is. :starstruck: <3


Bi-Fi Campers:
I'm feeling a little bit unmotivated to write right now (totally has nothing to do with the fact that I just speedran the entire weekly heheh, but I thought I'd give you guys a general thanks. Bi-Fi has been so super fun and I really enjoyed meeting new people (and getting to know people I already knew even better). Without you guys, Bi-Fi wouldn't be the same. I am so happy and incredibly grateful I got to experience this session with all of you and I hope to see some of you guys in future sessions. <3

Total Word Count: 1125

Hello! Welcome to my SWC thank you notes! I’m quite surprised with myself since I usually don’t do thank you notes. The last two sessions I’ve been in, I didn’t do it even though I finished the weekly and had the time but, this session I haven’t finished the weekly yet I’m working on this instead. Huh. Kind of ironic.

Honestly, it's kind of cool how these thank you notes are aligning with the Thanksgiving theme of ‘being thankful’.


To All SWCers:

This session wouldn’t have been fun without the mass quantities of campers and leaders! So I thank all of you for making this session amazing! Most of you didn’t get any individual thank you notes from me but I still felt that I needed to be thankful <3.

To (co)hosts:

Birdi, Robin, Luna, Sun, and Starr, thank you guys so much for all you’ve done for this session! The session couldn’t be, quite literally, possible without what you guys organize for each session! Also thank you for consistently taking the time to satisfy us campers by updating the Main Cabin Daily whether it's in the actual desc or in the chaotic comment section ^^.

To (co)leaders:


Everyone did absolutely amazing at your respective cabins! All the storylines were well made, detailed, and unique! Despite cabin rankings, all of you did amazing in keeping your campers motivated and entertained. Great job!

To Horror (co)leaders:

#AchyldFTW.

That’s all I have to say.

JUST KIDDING, I HAVE TONS TO SAY. All of you made this session incredibly amazing and fun with the silly Achyld marriage wars between Wave, Twi, and Iris and the constant silly fights with discopain. :COUGH: TWI :COUGH:. I didn’t interact with much of the campers which is unfortunate but I do have some thank you notes for those who I interacted with or saw a lot around camp! For those who’ve got individual notes, I’ve also added a little bit of a memory that I’ll remember you by .

To Ethel:

Why hello there mother of Achyld! I see your child brings up tons of controversy amongst us :eyes: Thank you Ethel for being such an amazing leader this session! Your leadership really led us on to move our way up the rankings! You picked a great team of Iris and Wave out of all the other co-leaders possible! I’m probably going to mostly remember you because of Achlyd XD I’m glad I was able to participate in your cabin this session

We also can’t forget the war between you, Twi, and Iris over Achlyd.

To Wave:

Hey Wave! You were an awesome co this session! Unfortunately, we didn’t get to interact as I would have liked but I still had fun with the times I did interact with you. One of the memories I have of you is the person who would take over our word count studio when Iris was unavailable to update it! In that way you’re a very helpful person who just makes the day brighter and gives Horror campers tons of motivation to continue on with weeklies and dailies <33

To Iris:

Hello Hello Iris who’s in charge of my word count group! Along with Wave and Ethel, you were a great (co)leader! You’re kind, you’re motivating, and you really do seem to take the time to get to know your campers! Thank you for adding the tons of words that get added to the word count group (I swear, our group seems to be constantly adding words! So thanks for keeping it up ^^) Also, thank you for keeping me occupied and laughing with what I call the Achlyd wars XD. I wonder… who does end up with the ghost in the end?? Along with the others, I hope to see you around maybe SWC again, scratch in general, or even other scratch camps!

Horror Campers:

Twi:

TWI! HII PARTICPATER OF THE ACHLYD WARS! To be honest, whenever I scroll through disco-pain’s comments, not me totally admitting to stalking, I always see you defending Horror and fighting back with the #HorrorFTW! Also, that’s a lot of fireflies and words you got there :0 keep up the great work! I hope to see you in other camps/SWC again!

Sandy:

Hey Sandy! I didn’t talk to you very much, but I did see you a lot everywhere! Thanks for being my first Critique of the session (and of all the sessions since its the first session lol)! You’re a great writer as I loved your piece. I believe you were planning on entering it into the writing comp? I hope you get a place! <33

Fishy:


Hi Fishy! I’ve seen you a lot around SWC and always thought, “Wow she looks really cool!” So I’m super glad that you were able to be a fellow camper with me in Horror this session! I hope to see you again sometime!


Tiger:

Tiger! This is my second time being in the same cabin as you!! Thanks for helping out tons of times with the dailies that come up. Everytime I wake up and check the main cabin, I can see your post stating that you finished the daily, which for me, is a great way to gain motivation to see others in my cabin are writing constantly!

September:

Hi September! Thank you for always giving it your all when trying to complete dailies and weeklies. I always see you commenting in the Horror Cabin with something along the lines of how much progress you’ve made on the weekly. So, thank you for giving it your all in supporting Horror! #HorrorFTW

Also, September is a really pretty nickname!

Iris/Galaxy: (Iris_Galaxy)

Quick Question… Are you called Iris or Galaxy, your profile bio is a bit hard to understand XD. I’m pretty sure you were the one who kept getting muted on your account at the beginning of the year. Thank you for supporting Horror as a cabin by getting the dailies and weeklies in! I wasn’t able to interact with you much but you seem like an awesome person so I hope we can interact more in the future!


Anyone else I left out is most likely I didn’t get to know you as much as the people I listed above ^^ but you all did an equal amount of help towards Horror’s placement so thank you all.

Horror Ghosts:

Achlyd:

ACHLYD, OH GREAT ONE!! I HAVE TO SAY, YOU ARE THE ONLY THING THAT BROUGHT THE HORROR CAMPERS TOGETHER. (well you and the sorters but we ignore that ) Without you, Horror wouldn’t be the same! Our storyline would be completely different without you. You also cause much controversy among our cabin mates but we’ll ignore that.

Thank you notes! It's been a wonderful session ~ thank you all <3 It was a pleasure to be co-conducting on the Mystery express, I got to work alongside some of the most creative people on this planet! All the suspects were very sus indeed but also so cool, kind, and such amazing authors As were the campers in the other cabins; yes this includes enemies hehe. Moving on…

(Co)-Hosts: Wonderful job, as always! You guys never fail to impress me, this camp has grown to be so big over the years yet you manage to keep it orderly so well. The new rules implemented work really well in my opinion, and I appreciate that you're still improving SWC! Thank youuu :applause:
Daily team: Y'all are so cool :starstruck: The dailies this session were one of a kind, they were super inspiring and gave me so much motivation! SWC dailies are mostly what makes me enjoy writing ^^ I loved how most of them promoted improvement and creativity, thanks for improving my writing hh. Oh, and the weeklies - I loved them all, they weren't overly complicated or impossible or anything, it was relaxingish and it was really sweet how a self-care one was included! My favorite was the last one, even though it's the only one I didn't get around to doing sobs
Workshops: Wow, they were all really easy to understand! They were straight to the point and were worded to get all the details in, in an effective manner Good jobs
Writing comp judges: There were so many entries this session, thank you for taking your time to read them all !!
MBC: I haven't contributed very much to the memory book this session unfortunately, but I I know it's going to blow me away when the project comes out!!

Fae: It's been an honor to lead alongside you <33 I remember way back when I chose to accept your offer, and I'll never ever regret that! Your plans for Mystery were so creative, the storyline was executed beautifully and your ideas never fail to amaze me! You were active all throughout the session and often popped into the cabin with updates, which was awesome. By the way, the profile pictures you made were so aesthetic and cool, you're a great artist I've enjoyed my time on the train, I hope we can stay in contact !!
Brave: It was really nice leading with you too! You were really active around the cabin and kept us updated with stuff during cabin wars. The planet you made for the last weekly was outstanding, and while we haven't talked too much I can tell that you're a great person! Thanks for being such a helpful part of our cabin :0
Rockie: I've seen you around SWC before, and it was nice leading with you also! Your application was really nice, and it's been a pleasure to work with your ideas Thank you!!

WC group: I really like adding words lol, so thank you for having words for me to add /lh For real though, you guys wrote a lot over the course of this session :0 Thanks for helping out haha!
Mystery campers: Some of the best campers out there <3 You've outdone yourselves with cabin wars when I wasn't there, and it was some really amazing work! It doesn't matter if we lost a war, it doesn't matter if we're lower down on the leaderboard, what matters is that you contributed to the cabin and had fun Thanks for being with mystery, I hope you guys had a spectacular time !!
Campers: How could I forget the rest of camp - campers make SWC, well, SWC, so thanks for causing amazing kinds of chaos :]

Annnd that's a wrap! Once again, it's been an enjoyable November with everyone <3 Have a good time writing + happy holidays!

thank you notes - 904 words at the moment (until I think of everyone else I forgot to write a note to XDD)

Naan-fi Campers: I had such a great time being in a cabin with all of you this session, and I loved watching you all grow and get to know each other - it was truly amazing You are all such talented writers and cool people, so just thank you guys so much for making the best breadhouse! Naan-fi for the win!
My Word Count Group: You guys are all so nice, and even though I didn't get to know some of you as well as I would have liked to, I've really enjoyed adding all of your words - some of you wrote so many words in one day; it was really awesome to see!
Reese (@TheBibliophile7): Thank you so so so much for all of your help during cabin wars! I didn't really get the chance to talk to you all that much this session, but you were such a big help, especially in the last cabin wars day, where I'm pretty sure you helped out in every single war and even completed a few of them single-handedly - that's amazing!
Miner (@Minergold48): I know this might seem like a small thing, but thanks for congratulating me on reaching my word goal! You've probably forgotten about that by now XD, but even though it was a small gesture of kindness, it was really encouraging.
@PhonyOOPS (sorry I don't know your nickname): Thank you for just being so energetic this session! You seem like a really amazing person and just give off good, happy vibes I don't really know how else to describe it, but thanks for always cheering everyone on, it's really encouraging, so thanks
Alia (@Aliana_Cantu): I had so much fun doing the naan baking roleplay with you! It was really fun to see the story grow in very- ah- /unexpected/ ways, and it made me laugh a few times, so thanks for that
Moonlit (@MoonlitSeas): Thanks so much for all of your encouragement and just general friendliness, and most importantly, for reminding me about twenty times that I am /not/, in fact, in horror anymore XD
Daisy (@MyDoggieDaisy): Ahh Daisy! Thanks for being such an amazing leader and just generally a nice person to talk to! I loved getting to know you more this session (and talk a lot about ice skating since I don't really have many people I can talk to about it irl). This is a little bit less of a thank you, but I just wanted to say how brave (that isn't really the right word but I can't think of it so I hope you get what I mean XD) it was of you to prioritize real life over swc; I know that was a really hard decision for you to make but I'm really glad that you're taking care of yourself <3 Naan-fi wouldn't be as amazing as it is without you as a leader, so just thanks for making the session special
Birdi (@Bellevue91): Birdi! Thank you so much for being an awesomely cool co-leader! I had so much fun this session, and I really enjoyed getting to know you a bit better. Also thanks for making all of the really cool thumbnails - they look so happy and pretty and breadhouse-y Thank you as well for making all of those super adorable bread pfp's! They look like they were a lot of work, but you still finished them so fast, so thank you for that
Daisy and Birdi: I had so so so much fun this session, and I absolutely loved getting to plan and do fun stuff like play games with you guys! All of your ideas were so interesting and unique and just yeah (I think we've already established that I'm bad with words in terms of writing notes to people, but sorry again about that XD)
Luna and Zai (@Luna-Lovegood-LOL and @Polarbear_17): I'm still a little bit unsure as to who came up with this, so I made this thank you note to both of you - thank you for coming up with the- ah- /beautiful/ sound effects on the word wars project; it really made my day a bit more- well- interesting, I suppose. Also thank you for GVRSWC (I don't know if this technically counts since it's not completely SWC-related, but still, it's been really fun )
Zai (@Polarbear_17): Thanks a ton for the lasagn- wait whoops, you weren't supposed to know about that- Well, anyways, thanks so much for that lasagna that you didn't know that I borrowed from you - it's currently very happy in my stomach, but you're welcome to have it back if you still want it
The Daily Team: Thank you guys so much for all of the hard work that you all put in to making sure that the dailies and weeklies are amazing; the dailies this session have all been so much fun, so thanks!
(Co-)Hosts: Thank you all so much for everything that you do, you really help SWC be the amazing environment and place that it is, so just thank you
Everyone in SWC: Aaah you guys are all so cool and amazingly talented; keep on writing and being your best selves! Also thank you for bringing the occasional needed chaos XD Also to everyone whose stories I've randomly clicked, thanks for sharing your writing, it was amazing

Weekly #4: Week of 11/22 (ABWC)

Task I - Write 100 words to begin your adventure

People try to explain the colors of the sky. Blues during midday, the pink and orange hues of the sunrise, the darkness of midnight. Puffy white clouds that drift across the stars.

Stars.

Glowing, twinkling balls of light suspended in the sky as if hanging from invisible threads.

I’ve never seen any of it.

I’ve been completely blind since the moment I awoke in the roaring loud world, sobbing, or so my mother tells me. Everyone tries to explain the sights, rolling green hills and a brilliant golden sun, but I can’t picture any of it in my head. All I see is… a blank space? A hazy cloud of nothing? I don’t know what color it’s considered, since I’ve never seen nor understood colors. Some tell me being blind is like having your eyes eternally closed, so I might be seeing darkness? I don’t know, and I frankly don’t care to know. I prefer to say I see emptiness.

Task II - (HORROR) Write about someone putting on a mask- literally or metaphorically

I move my hand gently over the soft surface of my bedsheets, feeling for the smooth frame of my sunglasses. They don’t help me with anything, but apparently it makes other people feel less uncomfortable. People tell me my eyes are creepy, with their silvery-blue hue and foggy sheen. It makes me look like something unnatural.

My mother tries to deny it, saying my eyes are beautiful, but I can hear the change in her voice when she talks about them. She knows they're strange. But I don’t tell her I can hear it.

Instead, I keep up the innocent facade, much preferring to keep my eyes hidden under the glasses. I keep myself behind the mask, too. No talking out of turn. No laughing unless others are. No trying to move if I don’t have to. Not taking off my glasses, or talking with those I don’t recognize the voice of. Fitting in. Just how my mother wishes I did.

It’s hard enough for her as I am, with my being blind. She doesn’t say it, but I can tell. It’s plain in her voice.

And so I keep up the mask. Over my face, and over my emotions. It’s much easier that way, for everyone.

(a/n: this was a five minute write section, as I combined the prompt and activity 1 stuff, unknowing I wasn’t supposed to do that- *shrug*)

Task III - (ADVENTURE) Write, in 100 words, about a challenge coming from the setting of the story

Once they’re secured on the bridge of my nose, I rise shakily to my feet, steadying myself on the edge of my bed. Balance is sometimes challenging when I can’t see where I’m standing.

I move my arm in a slow circle, trying to find my cane. I need my cane to get around in the endless hallways of this castle. The place is impossible to traverse for a blind girl like me. I can never find my way around; the corridors all feel the same to me. It’s irritating, especially since Mother’s always busy with her Duchess-duties.

Ah, yes, my mom’s a Duchess. Moving on.

(a/n: wow, just added that in there randomly… it helped to explain the castle thing, I guess, but… okay, then)

Task IV - (FOLKLORE) Incorporate a lost relic into your story in 103 words

My arm brushes the stick, and I wrap my slender fingers around it, grasping the smooth handle. I wave it in front of me, and find the door of my room after a few moments.

The musty scent of books drifts down the hallway from the library. My other senses are heightened, because of my loss of sight, and scents always remind me of things.

I’m brought back to a yesterday, when Mother showed me an ancient relic that had been found. Or, at least, brought it to me. She said it was brilliant gold with a green stone. Like that meant something to me.

What did mean something, however, was that I ran my fingers over it, and a shiver had run down my spine, sending a tingling through my body.

(a/n: I know, that was very abrupt. That’s what you get when you have a word limit. That you may have overshot slightly (slightly by 30 words)-)

Task V - (NAAN FI) Include someone who bakes

I make my way down the hall, scents tickling my nose along the way. I run my cane in front of me as I go, and I find myself passing the library. I’m greeted with the smell of baking bread, as well as the loud sound of clanging pots.

Daisy, my youngest sibling and the most mature of the four of us, is probably baking. She sometimes goes a bit stir crazy and took up baking and cooking recently, although Mother clearly disapproves. I like it though; her baked goods are delicious.

The scent begins crafting an image…

(a/n: this story clearly isn’t going anywhere…)

Task VI - (SCRIPT) Write 150 words without mentioning characters

The sounds of nature fill the space. Rushing water, seeming to be churning into a froth spraying mist onto my bare arms and legs. The distant chirp of birds, echoing from all around me. A rustle of trees, indicating their thick trunks with elegant patterns of bark, and smooth, papery leaves. A slight breeze rushes by me, kissing my cheeks and blowing my hair across my back. The air smells sweet and gentle, like the nectar of a blossoming flower.

Then silence.

All indication of life vanishes, replaced with an eerie stillness. It sucks everything in, rendering the voices of nature lifeless and incomplete. The world is empty, drawn into a shell by the toxic whispers of silence. The wind is gone, replaced by thick, heavy air that draws the air from my lungs, the same way it stole the songs from the trees and the breath from the wind.

(a/n: huh. It’s hard to write a long and drawn out setting when the main character can’t see anything. I also really want to rewrite the beginning to make it flow better but, alas, I can’t… *sigh*)

TASK VII - (FANTASY) Incorporate a boat into the next 150 words

I’m jerked out of the scene, as if being violently rocked forward on a boat. I stumble, collapsing to the imaginary deck of the ship. My hands splay in front of me as I catch my breath.

Emptiness fills my vision, but the boat churns its way into my surroundings. No longer is it the scent of bread, but the smell of the sea. Sweetness twisted to salty air, bogged down by the moisture of the rumbling waves. Clanging pots contort until they’re bells, ringing from somewhere in the boat, warning of imminent danger until I cry out from the overwhelming sounds.

I panic, my breath heaving in short gasps as I try to calm myself. It’s all imaginary, I tell myself, steading my shaking limbs on the rug. Or is it the wooden boards of the rocking floor?

Imagination mixes with reality, leaving me suspended somewhere in between on a raft crafted from my mess of emotions and confusion. I’m stuck, washed out in the sea, with no idea how to get back to shore. Reality seems distant, a dream.

(a/n: ack, that went deep, haha. I don’t know where I’m going with this plotline…)

TASK VIII - (POETRY) Put your character in isolation and, in 150 words, see how they respond

I want to scream, but I know it’s not real. Waves lap around me, washing gently over my bare feet, but they sound like thunder, crashing down with roars to rival the lions.

“Mother!” I cry out, my voice sounding shrill and quiet against the rush of water.

There’s no reply.

I’m alone… in my mind? I know none of this is real, but I can’t seem to get the sounds out of my head. I can feel my heart racing, and my breathing quickening to sharp wheezes as I try to stay balanced on whatever surface I’m on. Being alone scares me; I can’t see, and if I’m by myself, there’s no one to help me get out of wherever I am.

But none of it is actually real, so what am I feeling?

(a/n: huh. This story doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I suppose I like parts of it? I don’t know. This whole concept is interesting, but the setting doesn’t make sense… Whatever.)

Task IX - (MYSTERY) Write about your character having an epiphany and realizing something important in 125 words

I pinch myself, seeing if it would wake me from this nightmare, but it only succeeds in making my arm hurt.

Pain.

Another memory fills my mind: last night, with all of my crazy dreams. The dreams of just sounds, all incoherent noise that overwhelmed me and made me want to scream. Thunder, waves, leaves, shrieks, chairs squealing across the ground, thumping, footsteps, pots clanging- everything, all overlapping on top of each other. It was so loud, so overwhelming. I’d clasped my hands over my ears, but the noise was all in my head and it didn’t help at all.

What was I missing? Why was all of this happening?

Then it hit me: the relic. It all happened after I touched the relic. The tingle, the dreams, these weird moments right now. The relic was at fault.

For once I didn’t doubt myself.

(a/n: that happened way too fast for the idea to make a whole lot of sense…)

Task X - (THRILLER) In 150 words, your character starts sinking

The water continues to splash around me, soaking my clothes and hair and skin until I feel as though I’ve stepped into a shower. Waves lap at my ankles, and then my knees, though I’m kneeling-

I freeze.

My fingers twitch beside me, and the tips brush water. My legs are almost completely underwater and it’s still rising.

Either I’m sinking, or the water is rising.

I need to get out.

(a/n: this story makes no sense)

Task XI - (FAN FI) Write a 150 word flashback

The water surges around me, but the splashes begin to echo in my head, and suddenly I’m back into my nightmares.

A gentle hum pierces my ears, muttering inaudible words.

Trains roaring down the tracks. Thunder booming. Squealing, screaming, yelling. Crashing waves. Thumping of heavy footsteps. Glass shattering.

My head throbs with the influx of sounds, and I can’t feel the water anymore, just the empty cold of my dreams. Wind blows, and it seems to rush past my ears like a bullet, though it feels gentle. Everything is so loud, and I can hardly hear myself think. I can’t smell anything. It’s just noise exploding in my mind.

I can’t think, I can’t breathe, the sounds are stifling and I scream.

Then I’m back in the waves.


Task XII - (DYSTOPIAN) In the next 150 words, a celestial being appears

Suddenly there’s a snap and I’m dry. My hair is no longer plastered to my forehead and the water isn’t washing around my waist.

I let out a sob and press my fingers to my forehead. Silence. It’s beautiful.

“Are you okay, dear?” a woman’s voice sounds from somewhere around me.

I can’t see her of course, but I wish I could. Her voice is silky smooth, like velvet or honey.

“I- I’m okay,” I whisper back.

She breathes, a sigh of relief perhaps. “That’s so good to hear. I’m going to help you, okay?”

“Who are you?”

A pause. “Apate.”

The way she says it makes me forget any skepticism. “Okay.”

Task XIII - (SCI FI) In 150 words, your character has a deja vu moment

Something feels familiar about this woman. Her voice tingles in the back of my skull. Apate. Where have I heard that before?

I hear shuffling and the tapping of footsteps. She must be moving around. “My dear, I need you to trust me.”

My brow crinkles. “Why?”

“Just trust that I can help you,” she coos, now next to my ear.

My limbs feel like jelly at her words, and when her hand rests carefully on my shoulder, a surge of warmth rushes through me. Why wouldn’t I trust this woman? She’s going to help me!

“I trust you.” I don’t realize I’ve said the words until they’ve left my lips.

“Then we can begin. Relax, dear girl. Relax…” The woman begins to hum, a gentle and sweet sound.

Then it clicks. The woman in my dream, the one who hummed right before I woke up. It was her.

“It’s you,” I murmured, but it was lost in the sudden breeze.

Task XIV - (REAL FI) In the next 150 words, build up to a happy moment and then add a dark twist

The wind swirls around me, until I find myself lifting off the ground. It blows my hair and kisses my cheeks delicately, until I feel weightless. Then it slows.

I frown, wanting it to continue. The wind is peaceful. Calm. I want to keep swirling in it. Swirling away from my troubles and the problems of my sight. I feel powerful, surrounded by gentle air. Relaxed.

I slowly lower back to the ground, this time into something hard and metal. Something that isn’t the castle.

“Where am I?” I ask, though I don’t care really. Apate will take care of me.

“You’re almost home,” she replies in her honey-sweet voice. “Almost home.”

A slam of metal. I feel around me, and find myself gripping metal bars. I draw in a deep breath, refusing to believe it. This woman would never trap me. She is too kind. Too gentle. Too-

I run my fingers along the walls, finding only bars. I’m in a cage.

Apate laughs, and it doesn’t sound like sweet honey anymore. Now the honey is poisoned and twisted. It’s like thorns rather than a rose.

“Apate,” I say, it all falling together. “The goddess of tricks.”

“Ah, yes,” she says. A small pause. “I was wondering how long it would take you to figure it out.”

Task XV - (HI-FI) Your character remembers something they stole and then returned in 100 words

I’m at a loss for words. Apate. The goddess of tricks and deceit. And I’d fallen right for them.

“You stole the relic, my dear. You know you did. That’s the reason for this. It was all your fault.” Apate cackles again, and I want to cry.

I’d taken it. I touched it. I wanted it. I stole it. And then I gave it back. But it wasn’t enough to stop her coming after me. How could I have been so stupid?


Task XVI - (BI FI) Something absurd happens

I was selfish, and caused my own doom. Now I’m trapped in a cage in my mind.

In my mind?

Suddenly, everything explodes. The last thing I hear before I black out is Apate’s demonic laughter.

—

I awake to light. People stare down at me like I’m a test subject. “Lia?”


Task XVII - (100 word conclusion)

“What?” Groggy, I sit up, taking in the sight of my two sisters watching me. “Why are you guys in my room?”

They stare at me, and then Adelle, my youngest sister, throws herself at me.

“You were screaming and crying and yelling about some lady named Apate!” she exclaims. “I thought you were dying!”

Opal, the eldest of us, sighs. “She overreacted. Mom told us to check on you. Plus, it’s 8:00.”

I blink, and then run my hand over my face.

“What?” Adelle squeezes me again, before rushing back to Opal’s side.
It was all a dream. All of it.

Apate tricked me again.

CODE:

Your Journey: horror, option #1, adventure, option #1, folklore, option #1, nonfi, option #1, script, option #1, fantasy, option #1, poetry, option #1, mystery, option #1, thriller, option #1, fanfi, option #1, dystopian, option #1, scifi, option #1, realfi, option #1, hifi, option #1, bifi, option #1

(Late) Thank you Notes!
396 words

Dear Willow,
You were such a spectacular leader for Fan-Fi. You did an amazing job and would not have it any other way. You were so motivational and kind. Thank you for answering my obnoxious questions xD. Thank you so much for having me in your cabin.

Dear Fen,
Thank you for being an amazing co-leader. Thank you for adding all my words and answering my questionable questions xD It’s been an awesome session this November and it wouldn’t be as amazing without you. You were supportive and nice!

Dear Bookie,
I did not talk to you much, but you were a great co-leader of Fan-fi!

Dear all (co)leaders of FanFi,
The cabin’s plot line is amazing and the writing is phenomenal. I love the idea broadcasts, the timeline trackers, and the supply department! I loved being in Fan-Fi this session and would not want to be in any other cabin.

Dear Fan-Fi cabin,
As of now, we are in third! I’m so proud of everyone. No matter what place we end up in everyone did such a great job! I loved this session and you guys made it so special. Good job during Cabin Wars to everyone that helped! Thank you for just being in the cabin and extra thanks for helping out and making the experience so amazing!

Dear (Co)Hosts,
You all have been such wonderful (co)hosts! I appreciate all the work and effort you guys out to keep the camp up and running. Camp would (literally) not exist without you. Thank you for putting up with all us campers and our chaos xD

Dear Daily Team,
Thank you for creating all the dailies and weeklies this session. They have been a lot of fun! I admire all the effort put into making an idea a reality. All the coding and researching to make astonishing works of art. I love seeing what you guys come up with and the I especially love playing them out!

Dear everyone,
You all have made SWC truly amazing. SWC would cease to exist without y’all. I love participating in SWC and it’s be a travesty if it had ever went away. Thank you for participating, either only a few times this month or hours daily. All your effort was worth it. My writing has improved much because of this camp and I can see it. Thank you so very much.

There’s more to come as a remember who to thank

Thank you notes time! :cries:

Birdi! Gorgeous Idbid! ( where’d the R go? :0 )

Dear Birdi,
ah, it’s you! I’m surprised I chose you for my first letter, and not Moonlit. But problems aside, thank you so much for hosting this entire session of SWC, and you never fail me! Your amazing encouraging, efficiency, and hilarious jokes all just come together to be so… Birdi! I loved Naan-Fi’s theme, and it’s funny that there’s a name of a bread that’s similar to the sound of ‘non’! That explains why you’re so amazing and observant. *smiles* So yeah… I might as well ramble on and on, but it’s not really related to this session. You were amazing, and I think you deserve to get a letter from everyone who participated in this session.
From, Hydrooo <33

MOONLIT. AAAAHHH.

To Moonlit.
You. Are. Amazing. And I still get repetitive even after reading Moss’ workshop. Great. You have put so much thought into our cabin designs, storylines, and other cool in-cabin stuff. And don’t get me started on how well you write, you writing comp entry was amazing! Your skills are dazzling, and I won’t be afraid to say that you can’t have done any of this without Moss, Ave, and Elle! You co-operate really well, and I love your encouragement to everyone in our cabin. And the other cabins. And the hosts. And the- I should stop this. You can also balance your real life tasks with SWC perfectly (I wish I could do that…). Your time management is just simply *chef kiss*. I enjoyed this session with you, and I hope we will all have another together!
From Hydro

AVA!!!

You are amazing!
Thank you so much for help out, even if it’s just helping with adding words! You are truly amazing!
From Hydro

Riley <33

Riley!
You are always such a cheerful friend, and I don’t know what we’d do without you! You encouraged me all the time, and tried hard to do the dailies and activities yourself, too!
Hydro

Miney!

Miney, you were truly amazing this session! Your motivation to write, giving motivation too others as well, and hitting your very much large word goal.
*smiles* Hydroo

Please don’t say ‘you forgot about me’ if you’re name is Robin, I just haven’t interacted with you very much this session.

It’s that time of the session again - thank-yous! <33
I actually can’t believe November’s nearly over already ahfbsjvnw this session went soooo fast :sob:
This session was amazing and I loved every minute of it - so, firstly, thank you to everyone for such an epic month! Every single SWCer had a part to play in making this session as cool as it was, no matter if they were a leader, host, camper, writing competition judge, honorary, coleader, gHost, cabin stalker… the list goes on and on <3
I could ramble on for hours about how much I loved this session, but I don’t want to bore you with all my ‘amazing’ synonyms again , so I’ll get right to it -

first off, co/hosts! Birdi, Robin, Luna, Sun, Starr - you put in soooo many hours and so much hard work to organize SWC - but not only that, you add so much to make it new and cool and fun! We’re all incredibly grateful for all that you do for us, and for SWC, tyranny and all <33 (# sky tyranny forever!!)

next, to the daily team - you put in so much effort to create awesome and fun dailys and weeklys for us, and it pays off! The dailys and weeklys have been so fun this session (Absurdy Birdi Wordy Crawl :star_struck), and it’s thanks to you and your super creative ideas <33

And to the writing competition judges and memory book committee, you put in so much time and do so much work judging the writing competition and making the memory book - the writing comp results and memory book are some of the most iconic aspects of SWC, and they wouldn’t be the same without you

And to the leaders and coleaders - you all put in SO MUCH effort into your cabins - which are all brilliant, no matter how many words you write or what place you get <33 Every single cabin this session was amazing, and everyone’s been working so hard to make sure of that! BIG BIG thank you to all of you D

And MOST IMPORTANTLY - to fantasy!!! To the rest of the co/leaders, to our INCREDIBLE campers, to helios the griffin and our honorary arsonforg! I really hope you all enjoyed your time at our steampunk sanctuary it was so fun asdfghjkl-
We definitely could have organized our storyline better for you guys - but hey, we still saved the sanctuary! This month was SUCH a great session and you guys made it the best, I’m so lucky my first session as a coleader could be with such enthusiastic and dedicated campers <33

Individual thank-you’s to all the wonderful fantasians -

@MoonlitSeas -
MOONLIT MOONLIT MOONLIT you are so incredibly nice, fun to be around, great to talk to, professional yet chill at the same time, and you’re such a good leader + friend + mother :moon_struck: I couldn’t imagine a better person to lead with this session, and I am so SO lucky I know you afhnsjvnsmk <33

@mossflower29 -
MOSSSS <333 you’re a super kind person, fun to talk to, an epic leader, and you have this amazing friendly and kind attitude that comes off on everyone around you <3 I’m so happy I was in your cabin last session, and SO glad I got to colead fantasy with you this session DDD

@-everiasting
Elle you are sooooo nice, kind, and the sort of person people just really enjoy being around <33 I’m super happy I got to colead with you this session, it's been amazing

@Luna-Lovegood-LOL
OUR EPIC HONORARY ARSONFORG Luna, you are so iconic and were so fun to have around in fantasy as an honorary <33 You are the best forg )

@BubblegumPinkDagger
Emmi <33 you’re so nice and kind, and such a cool person - your constant activity and enthusiasm was wonderful to have in our cabin. I loved getting to know you this month, and I really hope you keep doing SWC in the future

@HydroHype
Hydro! you’re always so excited, enthusiastic and cheerful, and I’m so glad you were a fantasy camper, you were amazing to have in the cabin <3

@rainiidreamxs
Rainy! You were so active and enthusiastic, and a brilliant person to have in our cabin <33 I really hope to see you around SWC more

@macaroni–penguin
Mac DD you are so nice, fun to talk to, and honestly iconic xD You were so great to have in fantasy, and I can’t wait to see you around SWC and SAC more <33

@-AMETHYSTQUEEN-
Amy you are ALSO iconic, and you put SO MUCH energy and enthusiasm into everything you do <33 You’re such a great person to be around and I’m so glad you were in fantasy

@perhapslucy
Lucy <3 you are such a kind person, so nice and amazing to be around - I loved having you in fantasy this session!

@pages-of-ink
Inky you’re also super nice and kind, and a really cool person to have in fantasy <33 I hope to see you around SWC more in the future

@ButterflyWings22
Riley <33 you were so enthusiastic, active and super kind - I’m so glad you were in fantasy this session, you were a really fun person to have around D

@–LilyWriter–
Lily, you’re such a kind enthusiastic person, even though I didn’t talk to you that much, and I really hope to see you around SWC more! <33

@-IiIybell
Izzy, you’re super nice and kind, and I hope to see you around SWC

@–Shine–
Lila, you’re such a nice person <3 I loved knowing you in fantasy this session!

@-micheal-rat-
Ray, you seem like such a cool person! We didn’t talk much, but I really hope you do SWC again

@-StrawberriiStxr-
Auj - I didn't talk to you much, but you seem like such a nice person <33 It was great to have you in fantasy!

@-Summerlakes
Summer <3 I didn’t talk to you that much either, but you’re such a kind, fun person <3 Loved having you in fantasy, and I hope to see you around SWC in the future!

@27agraber
Agawin you’re a super cool person, and your ‘1577’s will always be iconic xD

@Minecrafter13529
Miney you were super fun, active and a great part of fantasy ) I hope to see you around SWC again!

@FairyAyla
Ayla - you were such a nice, kind and fun person <3 It was great to have you in fantasy this session

@SketchingWith_Nat
Nat, I didn’t talk to you much but you seem like such a cool, nice person <3

@Squirrelflight278
I also didn’t talk to you that much, but you’re such a fun, enthusiastic person and I hope you do SWC again

(hopefully I didn’t miss anyone hehe </3)

I can’t believe SWC is over already! This session was so amazing, and I’m so glad to be a new part of this community! I have thanks to give so here they are-

To all of the SWC co-leaders:
Thank you all so much for putting so much work into making this session amazing! It seems like hard work to log all of the cabin points and keep track of everyone’s chaos and you did it spectacularly!

To the Daily Team:
Thank you! You all did a great job of coming up with such creative dailies and weeklies this session! There was definitely a ton of effort put into the workshops and projects (like the Word Crawl- that was incredible-), and I really enjoyed participating in your creations

To all SWC’ers:
Thank y’all for putting so much life in this place! I’ve enjoyed hopping around the cabins and seeing all of you be yourselves, and your writing is incredible! I’m so glad to have been a part of your community this session!

To Naan-Fi:
Thank you so much for being such a supportive, wholesome cabin <3 y’all are awesome and I’m really hoping to see you guys again sometime soon!

To the Naan-Fi co-leaders (Birdi, Sophie, Daisy):
Thank you three for bringing the Naan-Fi bakery to life, and being so supportive to all of us! Birdi, your pfps are so adorable, and I’ve learned a lot about bread from your check-ins! Sophie, I really enjoyed being a part of your word count group, and you’re so fun to be around! Daisy, I really appreciate the effort you put into leading the cabin, and I wish you the best of luck in your irl life ^v^

To Reese (@TheBibliophile7):
I appreciate the help you put into Cabin Wars, and you’ve been a really supportive cabinmate

To Robin (@-redredrobin-):
Technically you were the first SWC’er I met, since you had the sign-up project, so thank you for that You did an awesome job running SWC and being a major part of Naan-Fi, and I’ve enjoyed seeing your Among Us and pretzel pfp popping up on occasion ahaha-

To Moonlit (@MoonlitSeas):
Your most likely to’s are amazing :0 Thank you for the support you’ve given to everyone here, and I really like your cabin!

To Dystopian and Horror:
Thanks for making the battle for the top spot exciting :3 I’m just sitting in the background eating my caramel bread popcorn watching this all unfold XD

To Ave (@smalltoe):
Your Fantasy pfp project is amazing- I appreciate the effort put into it (even though I can’t access it X3)!

To Bookie (@booklover883322):
Thanks for co-leading Fanfi! It’s nice to see you around SWC ^w^

To Rylie (@lilac_panda34)
You’re very very cool and I appreciate your existence

Again, thank you all for being a part of SWC! Can’t wait for March!