Fiction

Juniper scowled “well. According to the schedule, for Magibeasts we have a new professor, and we’ll be learning about tremor toads” 

Kael’s jaw dropped. He loved tremor toads. 

Across the room, Professor Thale’s quill paused mid-scratch. Her green eyes flicked up, studying us from behind her lenses.

The hair on the back of my neck prickled.

Kael sat hunched over the desk, quill scratching furiously as he used detention for what it really was—time to finish an overdue assignment. I leaned back, arms crossed. I’d already finished mine days ago.  

Professor Thale’s eyes flicked to me. “Alright, Ryder. Your turn. Go on—cut it.”  

The moment I first saw you, I knew to be afraid.

This is an old piece of writing, and I don't remember writing it.

I met the strangest man today. He was dressed in a white lab coat, and he had a face like that falling sensation that jolts you awake when you're trying to fall asleep.

I found this vignette in a notebook from summer 2024 and thought it was worth sharing. I have no memory of writing it, but I'm glad I did. 

Ronnie Ravenwood smiled, soft and sad. “They told you I was evil, didn’t they?” Her voice echoed in the dark, wrapping around me like silk.

I swallowed, throat dry. “They killed you because of your stone.” 

I woke up just like any other day. Get up, get dressed, go to school. It was all normal up until recess. I was on the swing set the first time I saw him. A shadow of a figure that looked. . . like me?

I ran past the stores in Boston, throwing newspapers at houses. "Thank you!" I heard people call. I was passing out one of the biggest stories of the decade. The Boston massacre had been done.

I stared up at the popcorn ceiling. A record spun in the background, and lying there I had never been more aware that the world was spinning too– time was flying, my youth was slipping away.