Writer's Journey

  Noah quickly stuffed his notebooks into his bag, and got ready to leave the classroom the moment the bell rang. Unfortunately, he wasn’t fast enough, and his desk was surrounded by guys with nasty smiles before he could even stand up. “Nice watch you have there, new guy. You might scratch it in PE, why don’t I hold onto it for you?” asked a blonde-haired guy, Daniel. He looked around at his friends, who were whispering and laughing with each other, a clear threat in his words. Noah looked around, but nobody in the class was looking him in the eyes. The teacher had long left, being the last person to want to stay behind. None of his new classmates wanted to interfere, and their uncomfortable expressions made their feelings clear. With a sigh, he tugged the sleeves of his long sweater down. “I’m going to take it off to keep in the locker room, you don’t have to worry about damage. My watch is cheap, you wouldn’t like it anyways.” Looking at Daniel’s now-narrowed eyes, and the pause...

  Not for the first time that day, Alan couldn’t help but preach to his exhausted coworker about the miracle drink; coffee. Not the instant kind, but the ones made with real ground coffee beans. There’s nothing like a shot of caffeine to get you out of the slump of a Tuesday morning. “Well,” he said under his breath, a frown tugging at his lips as he quickly glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s more like a Monday night.” The warmth from the cup of coffee seeped into his hands, banishing the chill of the November winter. “Oh my god, Alan, shut up.” groaned the previously-mentioned coworker, slumped over his desk next to Alan. “My head feels like it's going to burst looking at this stupid presentation for what feels like the millionth time. I can’t deal with your ramblings at the same time as well.” Alan smiled at the grumpy attitude of his friend. When people saw the two of them chatting, they would always remark at the stark difference in their personalities, with one being loud...

  The lady in the hood walked briskly past the crowd, her tattered cloak flowing in the wind behind her. She ignored the murmurs and whispers from the people, all having gathered around the town’s sole notice-board. Most towns in Elander had a couple of public squares scattered through them, with announcements pinned up on a large board. However, Olivia, the woman in the cloak, had taken care to ensure that the towns she passed through were small enough that fewer people would interact with her. Of course, this meant that people might notice someone they hadn’t seen before in their tight-knit communities, but the situation announced that morning from the capital city, Thanard, had caused mass panic. People were already leaving the major cities en masse, and there were a lot more people in such small towns, having the same idea as her. It would be in her best interest to move quickly and leave the city, but Olivia was exhausted and burnt out. She had been travelling non-stop for the...