I walked until the sun was high over my right shoulder. Then walked some more as it sank towards the horizon. Afternoon brought new problems as the glare of the sun made it hard to see the distant smoke.

Having a Full ride scholarship to MIT meant that I was set for the next four years.
All I had to do was keep my grades up, and I’d have a roof over my head and food in my stomach.
At least, I would once I got to Boston.

But the getting there was the problem.
I ended having to Hitchhike into Fort Wayne to meet the Greyhound going east.
And there I was settling into my seat with a whole fifty bucks in my pocket after bus fare.

Jane's cell was made of living wood. It was a small circular space, just wide enough for her to sit against the wall with her legs straight. The floor was spongy and slightly damp when she pressed down on it. The walls where angled outwards, making a comfortable backrest. Light came in through several narrow gaps high above her head.

The villagers had seized her hours ago and brought her here, She'd been too shocked to resist at the time, besides that Hanna girl looked like she knew how to use a spear, and was willing to do her serious harm.

Jane's first week as a girl passed in something of a Blur. Her mother delighted in having a daughter. She filled Jane's days with lessons in cooking, sewing and the other skills of hearth and home. By week's end they had sewed an entire set of everyday clothes including a shift, dress and kirtle. They were plain for the moment but her mum was already talking of embroidery, just as soon as she had a second set sewn.

After their greeting Father was silent as they walked through the forest, heading hubwards towards the Mill Road. Wilting under his disapproval Jane took the tiara off and stowed it in her sack. She didn't need it in the daylight. She kept the ring on. It was yet another thing to set her apart, after all villagers didn't wear rings, but the stamina boost it gave was worth her father's glares.

The passage was damp. Lychen covered the walls and matts of drying green scum covered the floor. The air was heavy with the earthy smells of rot and mildew.

Jane wend around the worst of it until she caught up to Paul. He stood at a junction. The corridor they were in continued to the right, but the left wall had been breached, opening the way into a natural cave. "Which way, oh fearless leader?"

The well was large as far as wells went. Almost a yard across with a foot high rim. There wasn't even a road nearby just miles of forest in all directions. Yet the well had been there as long as anybody could remember. A solid structure of dressed grey stone, fitted together so precisely that the mortar was not visible between the interlocked courses. The problem, however was not the wells construction but the sudden lack of water.

Somewhere a branch cracked, the sound of tearing wood reverberating through Karl's brain. He rolled onto his back, groping the furs for Solacia, but found them empty. He cracked open one eyelid, to search further.

The meadow was bright, the grass rimmed with frost so thick, that the blades of grass looked like fingers. The black coals of the fire likewise rimmed in white. The pool where he had first seen his wife, was as still as silvered glass, reflecting a sapphire sky.

Darvel High, Darvel Washington
"Are you sure you're ready for this Leigh?" Mom said.

She'd pulled up right outside the front gate of Darvel High. It was a warm day, and many of the students where still sitting on the front lawn, waiting for the bell to ring.