nanowrimo fifteen

“Bailey,” she set her tea down on top of a glass case. “Calm down.”

He kept going on, gesturing with the snake as his voice rose in pitch. “You know, we could all be in danger, and we wouldn't even know it-”

“Calm down.” She grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to stop and look at her for a moment. The poor snake curled more securely around Bailey's hands in the moment. 

--

I am very much in love with Emily Dickinson's 'The Soul selects her own Society' again. Mr. Reardon had no idea how perfect the poem was when he assigned it...

Poems take on such meaning and weight after analysis. 

nanowrimo fourteen

“You have 5 new messages. First message:

“Evie, it's Libby. I wanted to see if you wanted to get some ice cream this Saturday- I found a nice place over here. Amelie wants to see Anthony- Devin can keep an eye on them both if you want to bring him along. Hope you're well; miss you lots. Call back, okay?”

Evie smiled. Libby was her dearest friend- they had first met back in middle school, and were inseparable until a few years ago despite Libby's marriage and child- Amelie was now four- when Libby's job transferred her out of town two hours away. She'd have to make sure to call back- she hadn't been to see Libby in a couple of weeks.

“Next message:

“Are you home yet, Evie?” It was Bailey. “Call when you get the chance.” From the terseness, there was probably another problem. She'd have to get back to him after her tea.

“Next message:

“Evie? Evie? It's spreading faster- I need to talk to you soon to sort everything out. I'm getting worried. Call, please.

“Next message:

“You're not home yet? I really need your help here. We're going to need another isolation room, and I can't- Call.

“Next message:

“Evie, I need you to come back. I can't take care of the issue myself. Let me know when you're on your way.”

nanowrimo twelve

With a lack of anything left to do, he ended up going back to his and Ainsley's room, feeding his fish a light afternoon meal and trying to actually do his homework. However, the small little jolts kept interrupting to the point that, by the time Ainsley considered it 'later', he returned to Rainer lying down on his bed, head ineffectually covered with a pillow.

“Are you trying to strangle yourself?”

“Not really,” came the faint, muffled reply. Ainsley gently pulled the pillow away. Rainer continued staring straight up at the ceiling. “There are too many things in my head.”

nanowrimo eleven

A second jolt, and he opened his eyes. Mrs. Thomas let go of his shoulders, actually looking shaken. Mr. Carroll had moved the cage away and threw his jacket over it. Rainer didn't notice the distressed squawking until it was gone. He was being guided gently to Mr. Carroll's desk chair by Mrs. Thomas as the door opened.

“What's going on?” Ainsley was leaning against the doorframe, his previously tan face pale.

“Rainer was helping Mr. Carroll,” Mrs. Thomas explained. Her arms were crossed tightly across her chest and gave no sign of saying anything further.

“That's all? It seemed like something was wrong...”

“It could have been an accidental summon. You can ask Mrs. Ellis about how to deal with that later.”

“We have to deal with that still?”

“If you aren't feeling well,” Mrs. Thomas continued, “You should go lay down.”

But Ainsley didn't move. “What about Rainer? He looks just as bad off.”

“He'll be fine, we're almost done.” When Ainsley remained, Rainer nodded weakly.

“I'll be back in the room in a bit.”

“If you say so.” He finally left, though he didn't look as reassured as Rainer would have liked, and Mrs. Thomas closed the door behind him.

nanowrimo eight

The shelf was at the end of the bed in the room, so it was narrower than the one he had before. Only the shark tank and a second tank fit on the bottom; the upper shelves still held three if he pressed them together- the food would have to go elsewhere. As for the last tank, well, there was a shelf above the bed that looked like it was made of the same material. Pushing the bed out of the way and grabbing the desk chair, Rainer managed to install the tank on the shelf, finally plugging everything back into the power strip and plugging the strip in.

Ainsley had been in and out the entire time, carting boxes in and placing them far away from the fish things. When he saw what Rainer was planning, he shook his head.

“No way I'm sleeping in that bed. If that falls, you'll end up with a broken bone and fish flopping in your bed.”

“As long as you'll help me get the fish in water,” Rainer had replied to a disbelieving chuckle.

“Sure thing. Then I'll get a doctor.”

“Yes.”

But the room was back in order.

nanowrimo six

She hung up, tossing the phone on the side table; it skidded off and landed on the floor. She didn't care and left it there. Anthony had picked at his peanuts and taken the bigger shell pieces off somewhere. The floor around the bowl was mysteriously covered in small bits of peanut shell. Far more than would be created by the few peanuts Anthony had taken. A moment, then it clicked. She had a very clever bird indeed. Good thing she didn't have guests over often.

Finally, slowly, she sat down in her chair. Her tea was steeped- over steeped, actually. Taking out the tea bag and putting it on the saucer, she took a long sip. Lemon Lift indeed.

She leaned back, determined to ignore the implications of her choice for the rest of the afternoon.

nanowrimo five

Jeremy was already getting the students gathered in groups- Rose and Mollie were already outside, so that meant everyone had to be out of the building. Bailey was already going down the beginning of the line, pulling the snake from the girl's neck and showing her a better way to hold it (she looped it back around, more carefully. It didn't seem like the snake minded so much.), and showing one boy how to convince his parrot that his hand was a better place to perch than his head.

The parrot ended up on Bailey's head, and Evie Thomas laughed at the frowning veterinarian. She watched for a moment, then realizing Bailey was resorting to a quick lesson in familiar handling through energy connection- the sort that they were only allowed to do in a classroom setting- she removed her gaze quickly, going to help Jeremy, who was wrestling with the registration table.

nanowrimo four

They bypassed the secretary with a nod from Mrs. Thomas. Rainer had only been into the office once, but it hadn't changed- the same weathered oak desk with an older laptop and a few pictures on it, a diploma on the wall behind, and a thin bookshelf littered with books, stress relievers, and a fake ivy plant. And one chair; the room felt like a closet with four people crunched into it.

The principal, Mr. Ingram, had been typing, but stopped as they came in, taking off his glasses and putting them on a small dog stuffed animal that was sitting next to the laptop.

“What's up?” he asked mildly.

Mrs. Thomas had remained standing, and Rainer followed her example, leaning against the wall out of the way. Ainsley had taken the single chair, and scooted out of the way into the corner.

“We need to make arrangements for twinning.”

“These two here?” Mr. Ingram gestured vaguely to the other side of the room, mostly at Mrs. Thomas since Rainer and Ainsley were on opposite sides of the room. “I think there are rooms on the end of the wing open.” He typed for a few seconds, then nodded. “There's a few. I don't know how things have turned out this year, but we'll have to make them a priority since our numbers have risen and they can't stay in the pre-Selection wing...” A few more clicks, and he nodded decisively before looking up. “I've got you two assigned to room 320. I'll have to get a bed and other things out of storage, and it's going to be tight, but it's meant for those with familiars that need more space...”

“What about my fish?”

Mr. Ingram looked over and frowned. “Fish?”

“Yeah,” Rainer replied, standing up straighter. “I have nine different tanks of fish- what am I going to do with all of them?”

The principal pursed his lips together, looking as though he were in deep thought. “We allowed that many tanks of fish in the room?”

--

Yes, Mr. Ingram, you did.

nanowrimo three

Rainer blinked as his focus readjusted to reality. The internal image dropped away, and any sense of the connection beyond a lingering sense of completion was gone. The hand moved, but the person was still there. Rainer must've done something wrong- dropped the thread early or something... But that sense... He had finished...

He turned around to see a boy standing still, an expression of disbelief on his face. Rainer knew of him- the school was too small not to at least recognize everyone- but didn't know him. His name, if Rainer recalled correctly, was Ainsley.

Ainsley continued standing with a frown, hands buried deep in the pockets of his red windbreaker haphazardly thrown over what looked like an inter-mural soccer shirt. His hair, an indiscriminate blond brown color, was probably messy due to having fingers run through it like he did now as Rainer finally met his eyes.

“I, um... Something is wrong.” 

--

It takes me about 1000-1200 words to get into the swing of things... and then so quickly afterward, I hit word count for the day. How depressing.

 

nanowrimo two

“No.” Her voice hardened. “I've done enough harm already. It's too dangerous for you-”

“But you never have any issues-” He was leaning forward now determinedly, hands on his knees. “I know how often you help Mr. Carroll, and nothing ever happens. Ever. We can keep it a secret too, just the three of us, and if anyone figures out, I'll just say it's my idea-”

“Rainer. No.”

“How can we just ignore what's going on? I can do something about it-”

“Rainer.” But this time, her voice was softer, and she reached over to give him a hug that he, still frustrated, unwillingly received. “You care so much, but you can't help here. You've got to let it go and let us take care of things. We'll figure it out... Somehow.”

But her last word held too much worry for Rainer to be reassured. He 'd be more careful, but he couldn't just wish that the teachers would make everything better. The illness had been around for so long, and still Mr. Carroll was baffled by it...

“Promise me you'll stop.” Mrs. Thomas had drawn back and was staring intently at him.

“Are you sure?”

“Rainer.” Her hands tightened on his shoulders. “You've got to promise me this.”

He swallowed, but nodded. She dropped her hands back to her lap, her face slowly composing itself again.

“Thank you.” She rose from her chair, and Rainer followed suit. “Good luck with Selection tomorrow. I hope things go well for you.”

Rainer nodded, and made to leave the room.

nanowrimo one

It was unnerving, the way the dog's eyes didn't follow him, how they stayed straight forward as he approached. Not even a reaction to the scents that had to be all over him from his work in the familiar house earlier. He looked over his shoulder, but the adults seemed to be preoccupied. Closing his eyes, he put a hand on Lucy's head and reached for the energy in his head. True to his training, a single strand came from the pool that felt like it existed at the base of his skull. Every time there was a slight giddy rush, a mixture of adrenaline from rule breaking and the energy pulsing, ready to be moved.

Keeping a mental hold on the thread, bright gold in his mind, he felt for the connecting thread that would lead him to Lucy. He wasn't quite as fast as traversing the web as his old teacher, but he soon found it and laid the golden thread on top of the dull, greying one. The light seemed to creep up through the thread, infusing the connection with a bit more luminescence. Lucy wouldn't ever be as good as new, but some of the effects should have been reversed.

He came to, pulling his eyes open with an effort. The dog on the table looked up at him questioningly as he rubbed his eyes, then pushed her nose under his elbow.

“Rainer.” The sound of Mrs. Thomas's voice sent a small dart of fear through his chest. Giving the dog a pat for reassurance, he slowly turned around.