Here's a little short story I wrote a few weeks ago, I hope you enjoy it and feel free to leave any comments or questions you have!! 

Emerald’s Path

Kai set down his blown out torch beside him as he sat in the small cave. He had noticed the hidden spot while trotting through the forest on his way back to the family cottage. It seemed to have been created by fallen rocks from the mountain that it was at the base of. Trying to stay as silent as possible, he sat, waited and listened. The birds were quite. There was a slight rustle of the leaves as the brisk, autumn wind blew against the trees. All the elves had seemed to find their way home for there was none, other then Kai, roaming about. 

  Kai took  advantage of the rare privacy he had found for himself and emptied out his pockets and to organize his new treasures. While most elves coveted all things shiny, beautiful and valuable, Kai was exceptionally at awe with such possessions. On the cave floor he placed a coin, a small gem with a chain attached to it, and a shell from the lake shore. He picked up each treasure individually to observe them more closely. The emerald with the silver chain dangling beneath it was right in front of his nose. His eyes crossed marveling at its beauty. 

“Beneath the stone, you find my path,” Kai whispered as he read the engraving on the chain in beautiful, delicate letters. 

       The light outside the cave was growing dim, warning Kai that he should continue on his way home. Kai didn't want to make his family worry because then they would come in search for him. He filled his pockets back up and crawled out of the cave and as he did so, the emerald seem to grow cooler in his pocket. Kai carried on, assuming it was just the brisk air. He headed for the quaint cabin right on the edge of the forest. The garden in front of the house normally bloomed with brilliant, bold colors from the flowers, but as night came along they had closed up to preserve their petals. Inside, Kai hung up his tattered green hat along with the seven others and sat down in his chair for what was left of the family’s dinner.  

Morning came and Lima’s first chore was to poke her brother until he got up to help with breakfast.

“Kai. Kai! Get up! Mama said to wake up!” Kai swung his feet off the edge of the bed as he raised his arms above his head to stretch and then made his way to the stove to stir the eggs. 

“Well, well, that girl must be gettin’ better everyday. Only took her five minutes to wake you up this mornin’,” Mama said jokingly.

“No. I’ve just reached such a point of complete laziness that I can’t even argue with her about it,” he replied returning the smile. 

After breakfast was served and eaten, Kai went foraging for wood in the forest to stock up for the coming winter. With his hat on his head and his coat pocket still occupied by the gem he had found on the forest floor the day before, he gathered all the logs he had already cut into a neat pile and then added the newer pieces he found today. Since his morning chores were completed he decided to search for the cave. In the cave, Kai emptied his pocket and held the emerald in his hands, which were gritted with dirt. The gem grew hot in his hands, not painful, but noticeable. He stared at it with curious eyes and it then gained a slight glow. The dim glow grew brighter and eventually filled the cave with a mystical, green light. Upon the cave ceiling, Kai noticed more writing, similar to the engravings on the chain.

“Follow the path, 

meet me at the end.

Come quickly,

my friend, 

and meet me at

the end” 

Engraved in the stone right above Kai’s head were these words. He read them over and when he looked back down, he saw that the cave was no longer small. It had opened up into a long narrow passage that glowed with the same green light of the emerald.

“How could I have missed this before?” he whispered to himself. He looked down at the engraved message in the chain once more. “Could this have been meant for someone else? Possibly a message…,” he thought. 

Kai eyed the passage skeptically. He loved exploring, but he hadn't come across something this strange before. The green light was inviting, however. Kai took a step forward, then another, and continued taking larger and larger steps into the passage. 

The passage slowly began to vanish as he ventured farther down the path. The green light dimmed and the cave grew smaller, but Kai walked on, mesmerized by the path, the gem and the light. He continued to disappear along with the passage, until he was no longer there and seem to never have been there.  The cave was a small space hidden beneath fallen rock at the base of the mountain. The elfish cottage resided right on the edge of the forest, where Lima followed Mama about the small garden. And the emerald gem with the silver engraved chain lied harmlessly upon the forest floor, waiting for another.

New Books!!

So, I was given couple books for Easter this year and I just bought two more that I'm pretty excited about and I wanted to share the news and thoughts on these new (to me) books.

From Easter:

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

In The Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Recent Purchase:

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

I'm currently reading Red Queen, which I started today, and am absolutely in love with the writing style. It is captivating from the very beginning and I highly recommend it. I became aware to the novel through several youtubers. (I also recommend for people to check out the channels Katytastic, polandbananasbooks, and abookutopia if you are interested in the book tube world.)

Afterworlds, Snow Like Ashes, and Throne of Glass were also recommended through people on youtube and I am really looking forward to these as well.

In The Afterlight is the last book in The Darkest Minds trilogy. I adored the first two books in this series so much. The writing style is beautiful and the characters are really interesting. Another highly recommended trilogy!

Frankenstein and Outlander are two books I just picked up at Barnes and noble because I saw them and thought why not. both the books have been in a couple discussions in my A.P. European History class, especially Frankenstein, and I became really eager to read them. Outlander was first brought to my attention by abookutopia on Youtube as it is one of her favorite book and television series.

Dismissed

Sixty-two dollars occupied my right coat pocket. Thirty-three dollars were given to me by my father to purchase my lunch for the day, the other twenty-nine dollars were from my own personal account. I hopped onto the bus and rode it for twelve miles. When it reached my desired stop, I walked over to the door and waited for the bus to lower unit it was hovering just a foot off the ground. After my departure, it then rose once more to about fifteen feet in the air and flew off. I continued my journey to buy my lunch by walking another two blocks to reach The Corner Cafe and five minutes later I exited with two sandwiches and a bottle of water; there was two dollars left in change.

I would tell my father that I had spent twenty dollars on my sandwich, which consisted of turkey, american cheese, and lettuce on Italian bread, and eight dollars on a bottle of pop. And when he would ask me what happened to the change, he would receive a sheepish smile along with an “I’m sorry”in response and he would automatically know that I was referring to how I had lost the other five dollars on the way home to which he would pat my head and mess up my hair while laughing. He would be informed that I had taken the bus, went to the cafe, and came home also by the bus. He would ask how my sandwich was and I would respond by saying that it was still my favorite. I wouldn't tell him, however, that I had purchased two sandwiches and a bottle of water, not pop. My father would also be unaware that on my way home, I stopped by the corner on 21^st street by the bagel shop and tattoo parlor, to check on Ms. Welton and her son.

Ms. Welton was sitting with her back against the metal wall of the bagel shop with her arm around Andrew’s small nine year old frame. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a high messy bun with the clip I had given her three weeks ago, while Andy’s hair, of the exact same hue, just sat in an unkept mess upon his head and a few strand hung down into his freckled face.

“Good morning Emma, Andy, I brought some sandwiches if you would like them,” I greeted as I walked over to fix Andy’s hair. 

“You treat us far to well Annabelle, but I do appreciate every last bit of your kindness,” Emma responded as she stood up to hug me. For a women in her late twenties she had a lot to handle, while many were out on these streets, not many had the added burden of a kid. Even those who became pregnant were often to weak to even carry the baby to labor. Emma, however had been strong enough, and while she love Andy more then anything, she had a hard enough time taking care of herself. I’ve always admired that strength she had down to her very core.

“How are you doing?” I asked even knowing perfectly well that i would receive the same response that I always got.

“Still floating,” she said. “Still floating.” She always referred to her struggle for survival as floating, a metaphor I have yet to understand, but don't ask about because I believe the mystery is part of the importance. I’ll know when the time comes. After eating the meal I had brought, I waved them goodbye and reminded them that would see them again in two days, on my way back from Sunday brunch. I hopped on another bus and arrived at home just ten minutes later, where I walked up to the gate and waited for to be buzzed in.

When Sunday rolled around the corner of my long weekend filled with piano and dance lessons, I was relieved to receive a break out to brunch with my mother and, more importantly, visit Emma and Andy. I know they shouldn't be my responsibility, really what seventeen year old would willingly accept more responsibility than is required, but I care about them. Ever since she helped me pick up the books that I had dropped when I was walking through the park I knew she was a caring person. I gained even more respect for her after we got talking and she revealed to me how she lived and about her darling son.

After brunch at The Saucer, I parted paths with my mother by convincing her that I wanted to stop by the library and made my way for the bagel shop. to my complete shock, however, the Weltons were not lounging in their usual spot. I looked around and found no sight of them. They would never have left without informing me. I sat and waited for several hours, worried out of my mind, but they never showed.

Just after a quarter to three, an old man with a tangled grey beard and tattered clothes approached me and gave heart wrenching news.

“They were dismissed last night,” he signed. “I know you cared for them, I’ve noticed you stopping by over the past few months, they were good people.”

“How— how do you know? Are you sure?” I uttered breathlessly. “They were taken away in an unmarked van along with a few others. That may not be enough to convince you, but I’ve been around long enough to recognize that black van. I’m sorry.” 

My father would never hear of any of this from me. I would not speak of the lunches, the blankets, the pillows, or the games. He would not be informed by me of the friendship I had made or the lives that had been unfairly taken just for the sake of overcrowded streets. He would not hear it from me, but he would know. The governor is the one paid to make the decision after all.

Welcome!

Hello everyone! 
        I just wanted to welcome you to my page and thank you for giving it a look! I hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave any comments of suggestions you feel, as long as they are kind and/or constructive. 
        So to start off, I plan on posting interesting books that I have come across, as well as reviews for some books I enjoyed, and occasionally those rotten tomatoes... I may also do the same for movies I enjoyed. I hope to post some of my artwork and writing pieces as well, but those wouldn't be as often. I hope to develop a consistent amount of posts, however I believe that may be unlikely for the first few weeks and I apologize for that.
         But once again, thank you so much and I hope you find it worth a look!