Prologue:
Magic doesn't exist. It simply doesn't. And yet our village, Leicht, is surrounded by moss-capped stone walls. These walls are over twenty feet high, and even though the next village is more than fifty miles away and there are no bandits along the roads, no one has dared suggest that they be torn down, if only to make them a little shorter.
Every once and a while, a handful of schoolchildren would doubt this magic-just-doesn't-exist scenario, but the other villagers always would attempt to quench these doubts. In school, we were taught that wild boars lurk beyond the walls of the village in the Black Forest, wild boars more fierce and violent than any others. The walls are simply there to protect us from them.
Then, one morning
…show more content…
As it was only breakfast time and the younger children hadn't yet stirred, breakfast was laid out in an informal fashion on a sideboard and girls milled about, serving themselves or gossiping.
I grabbed a hunk of toast and an apple, wrapped them up in a napkin, and stepped outside onto the front porch. It was a crisp, breezy October day, and the cold wind in my face made me feel alive. I gazed out into the narrowly paved streets, watching cars zoom past as I bit into my apple. Then, I walked off the porch, around the orphanage, and to the forest's edge. I sighed. Although we had the conveniences of motor vehicles and electricity, I never had felt comfortable with the chaos they usually orchestrated.
I gazed out at the Black Forest until I remembered that I had school and didn't want to be late. Circling the building again, I undid the lock on my bicycle and leapt on, sticking to the sidewalks and checking my watch when it could be spared. I arrived at my school, a pale, yellow concrete building, with no time to spare. I secured my bike on the rack and slipped into line, at the head of which the principal was calling
…show more content…
When I went through the pale wooden door the principal was sitting on his big leather chair, a mug of something dark and steamy set before him.
"What is it now, Fiona?" he asked, taking a sip.
"Miss Florence finds herself ill and unable to teach her classes today," I said quickly.
"Is that all? I'll attend to that. Now, head on out of here."
I stayed rooted to the spot. I had a question to ask, a question that had been on my lips since I was twelve, three years in the past.
“Fiona, leave,” came the commanding voice of my principal.
“Sir?” I asked.
“What, Fiona? I don’t have all day.”
“Sir, everyone here is keeping something from us. Something important. Sir, what is that? I already know that it can’t be wild boars.”
The principal’s lips thinned. “We’re hiding nothing from you,” he said, as if humoring a child. But I knew that he was telling me a lie. I could tell by the way he rocked back and forth with that insane smile on his lips.
“Tell me what you’re hiding from me,” I pressed, leaning closer across the desk. “Tell me what you’re all afraid of!”
That’s when I heard it. The voice I thought I’d heard when I was twelve, calling my
Zero awoke to find himself standing, it was not something he was familiar with and he searched his memory for any recollection of it happening before. Quickly he discovered that large parts of his memory were missing, gone were the seemingly endless data bases of information. Quickly he sent out feelers trying for a connection of some sort but he drew a blank. It seemed that where ever he was now, had limited connection capacity. Instead he used his visual feed to survey his surrounding, it appeared he was in some kind of desert of discarded parts.
Into The Lush Forest The sun had just kissed the hill, giving warm color to the sky, but I was feeling cold. The excitement in my heart was slowly losing its fire. We were lost and I felt alone, lost in the crowd of trees. A cold crowd perhaps. As the three of us walked slowly through the dense forest, our steps made loud noises - crushing the fallen leaves, and the broken twigs.
Brock awoke to the sound of a trumpet. He was ready to get training. Brock put on his long johns, pants, shirt, coat, and hat. Then he slowly walked out of his tent. When he walked out he was greeted by Major General Wayne. He said, “Follow me i'll show you where you will be training.” Brock followed him for a about a mile until they walked into a large field with hundreds of saddled horses, and about 80 other men. Major General Wayne said,
I used to think wild pigs were just that, normal pigs that went out into the world alone, but I was wrong they are actually a lot different! Did you know the Binomial Nomenclature or scientific name of the wild pig is Sus Scrofa and that they are considered mammals and are thus part of the Mammalia family. They’re hair color differentiates between brownish-red to black, and they are 3.6-4.9 feet long. Though they aren’t as tall as a bear they are 3 feet in height at adulthood and can weigh as much as 400 pounds. They usually live 1-2 years but can live up to 9-10 years of age. They are also thinner than they’re domestic cousins and have much rougher hair that is known to sometimes stick up they’re spin in a threatening manner to make themselves look bigger. The long spear-like tusks protruding from they’re mouths are actually teeth that are on the top of their mouths, these tusks curve like a hook to protrude from the mouth at an actual angle. The females are almost always smaller than their male counterparts and as the males and females age this difference becomes more substantial and more visible. When they are born the pigs have a yellowish strip of color running down their sides that goes away after 4 weeks. Depending on their environment they also can have spots of different colors that allow the pigs to blend into their environments. Pigs teeth aren’t always pre...
As the sun rose in a pool of crimson gold, light spilled across the sprawling rainforest, heralding in the start of a new day. Thousands of feet below under the thick canopy of trees, I was abruptly woken by the raucous cry of a large bird. Sluggishly sitting up on my thick taffeta sleeping mat, I turned to see my equipment shambolically scattered from last night’s blind rummage for a torch. My body ached from last night's trek. Struggling to crawl out, I was struck by a burst of crisp, cool and calming gush of wind.
I have received your letter, are the children healthy and well? How are you lately? Have you been sick recently? I am fine, well, as right as one is capable of being over in this land. I have thought of you every second of every day, there is not one moment I have forgotten about you. I just wish to be back home again. Last time you said that Henry was feeling slightly ill, I have some medicine stashed away in the bottom cupboard near the grand clock. If he shall start to feel very poorly, you may go there and find him medicine. You will know which one it is once you see it, I do not want Henry to turn out like poor Will did.
A city was fast asleep as the night shrouded it. The only ones awake were those who belong to the night. A young man ran down the sidewalk, panting heavily.
Life in the camp is epitomised by one big question mark. Uncertainty is the order of the day. I don’t know how long I’ve been here or why I’m here. I’m lost in desolation and blended into the sea of blue and white. Papa tells me everything will be fine one day but he has lost the spark in his eyes and is now filled with despair. Today we continue to work on building huts, I can make an escape and meet up with Bruno like I usually did. A soldier gives me a wheelbarrow and I barely manage to hold it upright. I run towards the pile of rubble that hides me from the soldiers, the place where I meet Bruno. But before I could escape a blonde soldier yells at me. “Hey you! Come here. Faster you rat!” My heart pumps loudly, ringing in my ears. I run towards the soldier and he raised his hand, I immediately cower and waited for him to deliver the fatal blow. Instead he grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the entrance gates. “We need someone with tiny fingers, you’ll be going somewhere where you are not allowed to talk. Is that clear?” The soldier ordered, I didn’t want to think what they wanted with my small bony hands.
This chilling day began as all days did… with nothing out of the ordinary until the incident had occurred. All school days at Greenwich, Connecticut High School, had started with me not being able to get out of bed, but finding a way to pull myself together to look presentable, but something was different today than how it normally was. The wind that blew the colorful leaves and scattered naked branches, blew peculiar. The ground felt harder and raw as I walked to school unsure of what had changed from the time I had set foot outside the night before.
I walk past the secretaries’ desks and I can feel their eyes shaming me. As I approach the principal’s office, I hear his gruff voice through the doorway. “Well, I apologize for this inconvenience, Miss Taylor. You are free to return to class.”
Grady was able to step away a couple of feet away from the mother bear, so he can get a head start of running away from the bear... I stepped away from the bear, so if the bear starts chasing me, I can get a head start running to say my last prayers. I started to run as fast as I could because you don't want to just stand there and be gobbled up for dinner. I ran so fast that I couldn't keep a trail if I lost my family, then I tripped over a piece of twig that made me stop and hear the awful sounds of the bear. After I tripped over the twig, I decided to go back to the campgrounds.
The Creature That Opened My Eyes Sympathy, anger, hate, and empathy, these are just a few of the emotions that came over me while getting to know and trying to understand the creature created by victor frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. For the first time I became completely enthralled in a novel and learned to appreciate literature not only for the great stories they tell but also for the affect it could have on someones life as cliché as that might sound, if that weren’t enough it also gave me a greater appreciation and understanding of the idiom “never judge a book by its cover.” As a pimply faced, insecure, loner, and at most times self absorbed sophomore in high school I was never one to put anytime or focus when it came time
“Harry we are getting out of here now and exposing this place.” I pulled Harry out of the room and we started running. I didn’t know where we were going to go or how we would get out of here, but I knew we couldn’t stay any longer. Sirens started to go off as we traveled down the second floor of the dorms. I knew within seconds we would have company.
The more time I spent in the stairwell the less I had to interact with other toddlers. Once the teacher started the day, I rushed to the back of the classroom for the seat next to a large window. As I looked down on the city streets and across the treetops, my anxiety settled. Nature was my escape from society; a place in which I was free to wander alone. I remained silent throughout the entire day.
Bonnie the secretary introduced me to my new teacher. As Mrs. Bonnie was leaving the room, my new teacher Mrs. Evaheart introduced me to the class. As I stared at the class I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. I wanted to go back to my old school where I had friends, knew almost everyone, a place where I didn’t feel lonesome, a place anywhere but here. As I saw each and every one of my new classmates faces the utter dread that I felt slowly began to fade as I saw a familiar face. Seeing one of my former friends give me a renewed hope that maybe being in this school won’t be so bad after