《Syria Girl》Goodbye
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I managed half an hour of sleep before our wakeup call sounded. My eyes were hooded and I truly felt that I was a zombie waking from the dead.
The rest of the juvies talked amongst themselves. I don’t think they even looked at me. I just inhaled my wheat biscuits and tossed my bowl into the sink.
Breathing in the cool morning air I walked down to the hospital. I was excited and a little scared about last night. I’m pretty sure she’s into me. I walked through the hospital tents, whistled a little, then stopped.
In front of Grandma Teete’s bed there were four people. A doctor, two nurses, and Ayamin.
The way the doctor was shaking his head as he chatted to the nurses and the way Ayamin was holding Teete’s poppy while a nurse rubbed her back told me everything I needed to know.
I walked a little closer to the bed. Teete’s face was blue, her eyes were shut, and her chest didn’t move.
I felt Ayamin’s arms around me. She was crying and touched her forehead to my chest. The doctor narrowed his eyes, but I didn’t care. I wrapped my arms around her.
‘Hey, hey,’ I said, rubbing circles in her back the way I’d seen one of my foster Mums do. ‘She went happy.’
Ayamin nodded and looked up at me, tears streaked her face, and her hair was a mess, but there was something in her eyes. As the doctor and nurses moved away, Ayamin whispered to me.
‘I’m alone.’
I looked back at Grandma Teete and felt my own tears begin to well up.
‘I’m here,’ I promised.
She nodded like she didn’t believe me, and then turned back to Teete. We took seats to the side of her.
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‘I’m done with this camp. I’m going to head for Britain,’ Her hands traced the route on an invisible map as she listed the journey through Turkey and the boat trip to Greece, ‘I’ve heard plenty of talk about what route is best.’
‘You’re serious about this?’
Her hands fell to her sides, ‘There’s no future for me here.’
‘But you shouldn’t go alone. It’s dangerous.’
She rolled her eyes, ‘A bomb hit my house Danny, and I was out buying bread. By rights, I shouldn’t even be here. If I’m dead, what can hurt me?’
Her eyes were drying and she seemed to have a new spirit in her. But it was a dangerous spirit. ‘I’ve got a lot to do.’ she took a shaky breath and her tears began to flow again, ‘And then there’s Teete.’
Ayamin had nothing to pay for Grandma Teete’s funeral, so there wasn’t much of a ceremony. A line of holes had been pre-prepared and within an hour we were covering her body with dirt.
Ayamin dropped the last shovelful of crumbling dirt onto the grave and then rested on her shovel, staring down at the grave and its simple white marker.
‘She wanted me to go,’ Ayamin said, ‘She didn’t like me staying here and wasting my life. But I’m glad I did.’
‘She always told me to make sure I visit Paris,’ Ayamin pulled out her copy of Two Hearts in the French Night and placed Teete’s poppy inside of it.
Then Ayamin turned away from the grave and looked out beyond the camp entrance.
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Heart of Dorkness
When an accident causes the early death of two young women, one is chosen to become a hero, a saviour, and a servant of the God of Heroes! This is not her story. This is the story of Valeria, whose soul clung to her friend’s, and who was dragged into a new world where her wandering spirit was claimed by the Goddess of Darkness. And so, one who doesn’t belong grows to become the servant of the Dark Goddess, a servant—definitely not a daughter—who will usher in a new age of despair and disgust. The only problem is, she’s really bad at the whole “evil” thing, not that she’s unwilling to do her best to please her adoptive mom, the Dark Goddess Luciana.
8 115The Inheritance Saga
In the southern fringes of the barbarous Hinterlands, a young Demon spends his days deep underground, forging a path in the cold and narrow tunnels beneath Mount Stormpeak under the whip of the Aurelians. Yet, despite his harsh reality, the boy still clings to his dreams of becoming a Warlock and roaming beneath the sun unfettered. When a dangerous discovery shatters the fragile status quo in the Trion Mountains, Atell disregards his safety in a desperate bid to spite his enemies and see his dreams realized. *I do not own the cover image. Will take it down upon request*
8 182Luck And Chronomancy
Time Magic is the best magic as everyone knows, although there are lots of unique Talents in the world. Most people only remember Haste because it is hard to get to higher Phases of Chronomancy. That is still enough to make the Talent iconic. A lucky enough Aleatory Talent can position you for greatness or leave you languishing in obscurity. The only true equality in the world is when that glowing message pops up at 8 years old. Even if it doesn't activate until you are an adult at 16 you still know. Sure you can find a new dungeon spawn and get another chance at a rare Talent, even this one, but you have to already be ready to delve into the *Far Wilds*, which is far easier with wealth or family power. This is the story of where my good fortune took me and the difference it made, even among a party of 7 others including an Arcanist. It is a journey of magic and monsters but also math, which some think is actually worse. Luckily I was born with Intelligence and Focus as my personal traits, and my parents were scholars. Of course Chronomancy can also be a frontline combat talent. Versitility well beyond other Elder Talents like Gravity, Abstraction, or Arcana. Might could have worked for me, too. I also met a runaway princess. All the best adventures have a princess. She hated being a noble and we didn't get married but it still counts. Besides she really filled out our front line. All that Leadership training came in handy. I still don't know where she's from. Who cares? How well Haste goes with giant hammers is what's important. I never learned much about anyone in the party, except the one I grew up with. I'm not a people person. I just wanted to optimize dungeon clearing time. *******Story Details******* No romance, politics, or traumatizing content, slice of life, or even dialogue. 1st person narration, like a guide/adventure log. 2000-7000 words a day, maybe 40-60% rpgish combat log with some reasoning on combat decisions, with the rest character Talent discussion and progression stuff. 8 person party with a decent variety in roles. Party members usually have 2 primary functions. Told from the support/control Chronomancer's perspective. Each party member will have 6 Basic/Background Traits, then 3 actual Talents with abilities. Capstone from their Educational Institution, Arbritrary as a gift from the temples, and Aleatory which is decided at birth, revealed at 8, and activated after adulthood at 16. Aleatory Traits ignore requirements and are random why is why they are so important. They'll gain new Talents from finding Dungeons to consume in the *Wilds*. Mature dungeons in cities can provide *Challenges* to raise the Phase of a Talent, up to 3 times from 1 to 4. Each character will get to roughly 8 non-Trait Talents. Attributes come exclusive from Talents, are required by Talents, and provide various effects as well. I designed about 220 Talents with abilities, 4 in each of 4 phases. "Traits" are just Attribute stuff. I'm not sure how many will be detailed in the story, more than 100 for sure. I used Talents because I want to be free of the legacy of tabletop. Half those rules are just because of the limitations inherent in a pre-computer ttrpg. This story mostly uses combat Talents, although like 1/3 of the 220 are for crafting and other society and economy stuff. If you really wanted to be a Thief you might take Intuition, Awarness, and Might for Basic Traits and Deftness, Manipulation, and Trickery for Family/Education. Then you'd pick Acrobatics, and Climbing for Educational Capstone and Arbitrary traits. You Aleatory Trait might be Shadow(Light/Dark) Magic, Umbramancy. A Bard might swap Dexterity for Charisma, Music for Acrobatics, and have gotten Illusion(Shadow/Sound(Air/Force)) for their Aleatory Trait.
8 177LILAC MUSINGS.
graced poetic rambles & what-not.lower-case intended.
8 91Levia Codex
A VRMMORPG! The first volume of a book i wrote last year in a mixed style of Japanese Light Novel and Western young adult. I wrote the entire book in one shot, so I apologize for the chapters not being standard web novel length. On the bright side, it's a complete novel, so if you're F5, waiting for updates will be good ;) Plot: Oh no, our MC is stuck in a game! Quickly, gather a harem, explore the intricacies of a fantasy setting, find love, and escape! What do you mean the games difficulty is set to Nightmare + 1,000,000?
8 100101 voicemails
"hey, it's me again..."//now available for physical copies! https://www.amazon.com/101-voicemails-marley-bookout/dp/1387378368
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