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Post by Made2LuvU on Jul 7, 2006 16:49:08 GMT -5
Hey, everybody! It's time for the first [glow=red,2,300]Ultimate Fan Fic Story Contest!!! [/glow] ;D
We voted, and the contest will be a book fanfic contest!
The only guidelines are these:
1) It has to be a fic from a book.
2) It needs to be a one-shot; or all the chapters need to be grouped together.
3) It's prefered to be in book format.
4) In your post, make sure you tell what book it is from.
If you don't have time to write a new fanfic, it's fine to post one you've already written; in fact, it's encouraged.
The deadline is [glow=red,2,300]July 21[/glow]!!!!
If you want to enter this contest, you have to post your submission by then.
Now, the story contest works a little differently than most you'll see on a forum. Instead of the admin choosing the winner, the members will get to vote on them. We'll start the poll for the winner on the deadline, [glow=red,2,300]JULY 21[/glow], and once we have 3 or more votes, the winner will be decided and will pick which category the next contest will take place in.
The only voting rule is this:
[glow=red,2,300]YOU CANNOT VOTE FOR YOUR OWN STORY.[/glow]
That's about it, so, happy writing, good luck!
--Lizzie B., Admin
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Post by T!mxthy on Jul 8, 2006 15:39:17 GMT -5
Question!!! where do we post the story? Oh and I doubt I have time to write everything I want to before the deadline. Would it be okay if I only wrote like a subplot?
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Post by Made2LuvU on Jul 9, 2006 8:27:41 GMT -5
That'd be fine. And just post your story right here on this thread.
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Post by Made2LuvU on Jul 17, 2006 15:28:40 GMT -5
Come on people, only five more days!!!!
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Post by Made2LuvU on Jul 17, 2006 19:50:01 GMT -5
Hey! I'm here (finally) with my entry. But just a reminder, deadline is the twenty-first...
OK, this story won a contest on a forum at one point, but this contest actually had guidelines, which are these:
The following items must be included: - A rose -A cupcake - A pair of tweezers - A harmonica
The following MUST be said: - "HOLY CRAP! Is it hot in here or what?" - "Kiss me, you fool!" - "I love...tacos."
So that's what's with all the wierd lines and such. You may have never heard of the trilogy this is coming from, but it should make sense! This is my entry to the first story contest! Enjoy!
[glow=red,2,300]"The Great Tree of Avalon" in She Loves Me...She Loves Me Not[/glow]
"I can't believe it..." Tamwyn jumped and gripped his staff tighter as he heard a soft voice behind him. He relaxed when he saw a young girl of about sixteen standing behind him. Her thick, curly hair blew wildly in the wind and her hazel green eyes sparkled wondrously. "You, the true heir of Merlin. And I told you over and over it was impossible..." Eyes twinkling merrily, she gazed into Tamwyn's dark ones.
Laughing slightly, Tamwyn said, "I guess I owe you an apology, Elli. You did say that I could be the Child of the Dark Prophecy and the True Heir of Merlin."
"Yes, next time you'll have to listen to me."
"Hmph!" came a small, grumpy voice from Elli's shoulder. A small sprite, purple at the moment, stood there. "You're hopeless without us!"
"Not completely," said Elli. "We weren't there to help when he stopped Kulwych from destroying Avalon."
The threesome stood in silence for several minutes. Tamwyn thought about what had happened to him in the past months, amazed about what he had learned and accomplished. He had discovered that he was the Child of the Dark Prophecy--the dreaded person destined to destroy the Great Tree of Avalon, as well as the One True Heir of Merlin the Wizard--the one destined to save Avalon. "They will be like brothers," he muttered, recalling a part of the old prophecy. Now he must wield Merlin's staff, caring for it carefully. It had great powers that should never be misused.
Besides finding out what his destiny was, he also found out that his father had descended from a long line of wizards that could change into a deer at will. Tamywn himself had that power. His mother had been a flamelon and he could now make fake fire. He had also been reunited with his adopted brother, Scree, an eagleman--he could turn into an eagle at will.
He had made many new friends. Like Nuic, the sprite, for example. He may seem rough around the edges (which he probably was), but all in all, he offered great advice and could be a wonderful, valuable friend. Then there was Brionna. An elf, this beautiful girl had just lost her grandfather to the evil wizard Kulwych, and was still greatly mourning her loss. However, when the time came, she was both cunning and a great shot with the arrow. Shim was the smallest giant in the world. When Merlin was in Avalon, he had made Shim a humongous giant, but recently, he had shrunk again. He had lost most of his hearing, so it was rather hard to carry on a conversation with him, but amusing as well. Then--he grimaced, chuckling at the same time--there was Henni. Henni was an annoying Hoolah (a creature that lived for nothing but causing trouble) that had taken a liking to tormenting Tamwyn from the start. Now, however, he seemed to have calmed a little bit and was something like a--although Tamwyn hated to admit it--something like a friend.
Tamwyn felt something shift in his pocket and smiled slightly. Batty Lad. This bat spirit was a great friend, and extremely entertaining. He loved to babble, and never left Tamwyn's side. Then Tamwyn lifted his gaze. Elli's green eyes stared back at him. He felt his face redden and his heart pound madly. Why he couldn't quite say. He remembered when he had met the priestess. They had gotten off on the wrong foot. Within the first thirty minutes that he knew her, she had given him two black eyes. They had bickered constantly after that. But then--things changed. Tamwyn didn't know exactly how or why. All he knew was that when Elli was on the verge of death, he had risked it all to save her...and they had been close friends ever since.
(A/N-That was my introduction. Now comes the actual plot.)
"So...are you ready for your journey?" It was several days after Tamwyn’s breathtaking encounter with Elli. His brother, Scree, smiled at him.
The seventeen year old frowned. "I don't know, Scree...I'm leaving today. I have to find a way to get to the stars...just like my father...but...I don't know...it just feels as if there is so much I'm leaving behind." He pushed his shoulder-lenghth black hair out of his face, frowning.
"Well, you are leaving a lot behind...and risking everything," said Scree slowly. He put a muscular arm around his brother's shoulder. "But you feel that it's the right thing to do...to pursue the dream that your father always had but was never able to accomplish. We will all miss you...but we understand."
Tamwyn sighed and heaved his heavy pack to his shoulders. "I guess...I guess you're right."
There was a small commotion behind him. He turned to see a small group of people heading toward him, no doubt meaning to say their goodbyes. He saw Brionna and Shim…Henni…and—his heart leapt, but he could not fathom why—Elli and Nuic. The group clustered around him, and he felt regret fill his heart. He didn’t want to leave his friends—but he had to.
Brionna smiled uncertainly as she neared Tamwyn. “Thank you for helping me,” she said softly. “And thank you for not giving up on me. I only tried to steal your staff to save my grandfather.” Tamwyn nodded. Then Shim stepped forward.
“Wellsy well, it’ll be mightsy hard seesin’ you goes, buts I’s sure that we’ll gets through its all,” the “giant” said.
Hiding a smile, Tamwyn gripped the old giant’s hand in farewell. “I am sorry to leave you. I wish you the best of luck in life.”
“Whats did yous say? You wish I would get a duck for a wife? That’s not very niceys, I’d say.”
Tamwyn shook his head. Henni bounced to his side, grinning a devilish grin. “Eee-hee-hee ho ha!” he giggled merrily. “You know I’d go with you, Clumsy-Man, but I’ve found that since the evil wizard is gone—eh-he-ho-hee-ha—there is even more veggy-tables to steal!” He pulled an apple from behind his back and hurled it at Tamwyn. It hit the boy’s head and he staggered back, dazed.
“Yeah, take real good care of him, feed him well,” he said, gesturing to Henni. “That way, there’ll be more of him to kill when I come back.”
Henni whistled. “HOLY CRAP! Is it hot in here or what?” he said, fanning himself. “Clumsy-man’s gotta big bad temper!” Chortling, he bounced off.
Elli then stepped forward, Nuic perched solemnly on her shoulder. Tamwyn looked down, stomach lurching uneasily. “I’m—er, really going to miss you,” he muttered, avoiding eye contact with the young girl.
“Miss me?” snorted Elli. “We’re coming with you!”
Tamwyn protested at once. “No, you can’t! Do you realize how dangerous that could be?”
Elli laughed. “Right…and our earlier quest wasn’t?”
Tamwyn opened his mouth to protest once more, but then closed it, realizing that she was right. Come to think of it, he would rather enjoy her company. But still…could he allow her to put herself into anymore danger? He struggled within himself, trying to decide what to do. “Well…I mean, Elli…are you sure you want to…?”
She moved closer. His heart skipped a beat. “Yes,” she whispered, face inches from his own. He could feel her breath on his face.
He knew why he felt like this…he knew what this meant. He looked right into Elli’s green eyes and said, “Elli…I love…” He broke off, feeling foolish.
“What?” she whispered. They were blissfully unaware of all the eyes on them. “What do you love?”
“I love…” He couldn’t do this. No, not now. It wasn’t the right time. "I love…tacos."
A wave of disappointment swept over her face, but despite that, a snort of laughter escaped from her mouth. “Tacos?” she giggled. “You really are crazy…Shim was right…you’ll end up just like Merlin…a bit mad.” Still chortling, she turned to say her goodbyes to the group, Nuic doing likewise.
“Tacos,” he muttered to himself. “The nerve…” He was now a bright shade of pink.
Seconds later, there was a disturbance in Tamwyn’s pocket. A small, batlike creature stuck his head out, blinking his eyes blearily in the sun.
“Ooosy-woosy!” he babbled. “Is its timesy-wimesy to say bye-byie?”
“Yes,” answered Tamwyn, smiling.
The creature said his goodbyes (“Bysie-wisey, friend”, or “Sees yous later, buddy-boo”, or even an occasional, “I hopes to sees you ‘gin vewy soony-soon, buddy wuddy!”). It was several minutes after that before Tamwyn, Elli, Batty Lad, and Nuic left. (The bat had retreated back into Tamwyn’s pocket.)
Soon they were on their way through Woodroot, heading towards the North portal that could take them to Stoneroot. They planned to take the trail that went deep into the mountains, a legendary one, one that they had only traveled along once. But in that instance, Henni had pulled Tamwyn in head first with himself, and they had no time to see if there was another trail that might actually lead up the trunk of the Great Tree and to the stars.
They walked all day. Tamwyn couldn’t keep his eyes off of Elli. She walked along merrily, humming to herself, occasionally skipping ahead. He smiled, watching Nuic buzz along beside her. What a faithful Maryth he was. And a faithful friend as well.
Two days later, after much traveling under perfect conditions, the weary group finally stopped for the night. As they sat at their newly made camp, they gazed up at the stars, wondering if the stars in the Wizard’s Staff would ever be relit. As if he was confirming an unspoken understanding, Tamwyn said (after glancing at Batty Lad and Nuic, who were both asleep near the fire), “Yeah, I’ve got to do this.”
“You will…” said Elli, smiling at him. He felt a rush of excitement.
“Elli…about earlier…I didn’t mean it. About the tacos. I mean, I do like tacos, but what I meant to say was…erm…” He faltered, wondering how he could have been so brave, even after being captured by Kulwych, but was so afraid to tell Elli how he really felt.
He cleared his throat and said, “Remember when we first met? How I…erm…crushed your harp?”
Elli’s face darkened momentarily. Tamwyn knew she was thinking about the harp, the only thing she had left of her parents before they were murdered, and how he had accidentally stepped on it, shattering it. He winced, fearing he had said the wrong thing. But after a second, the shadow passed, and she said, “Yes, I do.”
“Well, I wasn’t able to get you another harp; however, would this work? I know it’s not the same at all…but I mean, I just thought you might like it.”
Out of his pocket he pulled a harmonica. It was beautifully fashioned, with amazingly detailed carvings etched all over it. Elli took a sharp breath. “It’s beautiful…” she breathed. “Where…?”
“My little secret…okay, okay…it was an heirloom of my own…it belonged to my mother.”
“But surely you want to keep it.”
“No…it’s yours. Of course, you’re the only one I would ever even consider giving this to.”
“Why’s that?”
Tamwyn cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable. “You know, it’s getting pretty late. Why don’t we—” he yawned, “—turn in for tonight? If we get a good start tomorrow, we should get to the portal before sunset.” Disappointment showed briefly on Elli’s fair face, but it was gone in an instant, and replaced with a slight smile. “Okay, Tamwyn,” she said. “See you tomorrow.”
The next morning, the group set out bright and early, with Batty Lad flitting alongside Tamwyn and Nuic buzzing beside Elli’s head. “We should get to the portal by evening,” said Tamwyn.
“I know, you said so last night.” Tamwyn looked back at Elli, embarrassed. Unfortunately, he wasn’t looking where he was going, and he stepped into something very painful. They had been traveling through the woods, and he had noticed everything. All the beautiful flowers, the trees, the life. But the one thing Tamwyn had failed to notice was the rosebush he had just stepped into.
He yelped in pain, struggling to free himself, all the while driving thorns deeper into his skin. “Tamwyn! Stop struggling! I would think as a wilderness guide you would know that,” said Elli gently, placing a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“Right,” gasped Tamwyn, pain searing through his bleeding foot. “I’ll remember next time.”
It took several minutes to untangle him from the bush. When they finally succeeded, Tamwyn still had several thorns lodged in his foot. He sat down next to the bush, panting. His foot was covered in blood. “Ohhh…” he groaned. Reaching into a pocket, he pulled out a pair of tweezers.
Despite the situation, Elli found herself laughing slightly. “Why do you carry tweezers around?”
Tamwyn grimaced as he wrenched a thorn out from the depths of his foot, drawing a new flow of blood. “It’s part of being a wilderness guide. You have to be prepared for anything…rosebushes being one of them.”
Finally he had cleaned up his foot enough so that they would be able to move on, despite Elli insisting that they rest some more. Before they continued on, however, he picked up one of the roses that had fallen to the ground when he had thrashed around—the only perfect one left. “My lady,” he said, bowing slightly. He gave the rose to a smiling Elli. Nuic grimaced as usual. Batty Lad continued to flit about. But Tamwyn’s heart bubbled up inside of him and he led the group on with more zeal than before, despite his injuries.
Later that night, they stopped for dinner right before they came to the portal. As a special treat, Tamwyn had gotten some berries along the way…enough to make at least one very special cupcake. For one very special person, he added in his head.
After dinner, he and Elli sat on a log together, looking at the portal, no more than twenty feet away. “You know, we’re taking a big plunge,” said Tamwyn slowly. Elli nodded, brown curls bouncing. Tamwyn loved her curls.
“Elli…” he said, moving closer. Hope shown in her eyes as she took both of his hands in her own.
“Tamwyn…” she muttered, looking deeply into the boy’s dark eyes.
Tamwyn suddenly felt overwhelmed. She moved closer. She was about to close in. He didn’t know if he was ready for this yet. Just as her lips were about to touch his, he pulled the cupcake from behind his back.
“Cupcake?”
Elli blinked in surprise. She took the cupcake calmly and tossed it to Batty Lad, who was poking about nosily, trying to get in on the conversation. When he received the food, however, he flew off to consume it.
“For goodness’ sake!” snapped Elli, eyes shining. “Kiss me, you fool!”
At last. He knew for a solid fact that he loved her as well. And he did as she said. She was very persuasive.
Half an hour later, the group got ready to enter the portal. Tamwyn took Elli’s hand. This time, there was no hesitation.
They were not afraid of what lie ahead of them. They knew that no matter what happened, they would have each other. Together they stepped into the portal. The last thing to be heard before everyone disappeared into the portal was Batty Lad’s eager voice. “Are we there yet?”
--So that was my entry! Remember, voting starts on the 21st!--
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Post by T!mxthy on Jul 18, 2006 11:48:36 GMT -5
This fanfic is from 'The Goldan Compass.' enjoy!
Prologue
Thomas Parry was an unusual thirteen-year-old boy. He disliked the company of others and seldom ventured outdoors, save for the occasional outing with his mother, Lyra Parry. Instead, he would spend hours in his bedroom, reading or gazing sadly down upon the busy city street, his grey fox daemon sitting quietly beside him. That was another matter that added to Thomas’s oddness---his daemon. Feralds had never once changed forms, unlike all the other children’s daemons, who continually changed shapes up until their humans reached puberty. Then there was the fact thatThomas liked to spend his time reading papers his mother had written. She was a well-known aletheometerist and had published several important articles on topics such as the nature of Dust (an elementary particle) and the highly debated possibility of other worlds. His mother didn’t mind. Surely, she thought, he would lose interest in boring scientific papers and go find something else to do. This, however, was not the case; the more Thomas read the more his curiosity grew. One night while Thomas was digging through a stack of papers he found an article that interested him greatly. It was titled ‘The Disappearance of the Aurora.’ It dated back thirty years and was written not by his mother but by a scientist named Henry Alden. The article spoke of something called ‘The Northern Lights’ and how they had one day simply vanished. It was around the same time that the earths polarity and weather conditions had been irregular, causing severe flooding and a mysterious mist that drifted down from the north. According to the article, the weather and polarity returned to normal after the Aurora vanished. This puzzled Thomas. Had the Northern Lights been causing the abnormalities? Surely not; the Aurora had been around a long time before the irregularities started. What, then, had caused these happenings? “’Ralds, what do you think of this?” said Thomas laying the paper down beside her. She quickly scanned the paper, her large brown eyes darting about the page. Finally, she said, “I dunno what this means. Perhaps your mother might--” “No!” snapped Thomas, grabbing the paper and shoving it in his pocket, “she’d think we were silly! Or worse, she might tell us not to read her papers anymore!” He ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair. Feralds curled up beside him. She said, “Then we’ll just have to figure this out ourselves.” Thus saying, the two set off on their quest for knowledge of the disappearance of the Aurora, unaware of the multitudes of invisible particles swirling around them.
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Post by Made2LuvU on Jul 18, 2006 13:25:31 GMT -5
Wow, it's getting really good, Tim!
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Post by T!mxthy on Jul 18, 2006 16:01:51 GMT -5
thanx! this is only the begining!
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Post by Made2LuvU on Jul 18, 2006 16:03:59 GMT -5
That's awesome! But I do have a ?. Are you wanting to post the whole thing for the contest or just the first few chapters, because either one is fine. I just need to know so that I can know whether or not to extend the deadline a few days.
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Post by T!mxthy on Jul 18, 2006 16:06:24 GMT -5
Just the first chapter(s) I should be able to do it in time.
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Post by Made2LuvU on Jul 18, 2006 17:46:00 GMT -5
Kewlness. Okay, just wanted to make sure.
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Post by T!mxthy on Jul 22, 2006 17:45:29 GMT -5
One
The Society
Thomas spent the next day at the library, searching for information on the aurora. He couldn’t explain his profound curiosity on the subject but something had stirred his consciousness that night, something strangely familiar…he couldn’t quite place the feeling but it was as if he knew he was tied to the Aurora somehow. His destiny and it’s were somehow linked. Thomas and Feralds found a pitiful amount of information on the Northern Lights. The rejoined their mother and were about to leave when they were approached by a man in a black suit. He introduced himself as Douglas Smith. After some idle banter Mr. Smith asked if he might take them out to lunch. “I’m sorry, I can’t,” said Thomas’ mother. “Then perhaps,” said the man politely, “Thomas could come?” “May I, mother?” asked Thomas. He was getting the same feeling about this man that he had about the paper the other night. Mrs. Parry looked unsure, but in the end she relented. “Do you have a preference as to where we eat?” asked Mr. Smith politely, opening the door to his car. “No, anywhere’s fine.” Thomas was looking at the man’s raven daemon, which seemed to be observing them closely. Feralds shivered from within Thomas’ coat pocket. Soon they were at a fancy diner. Mr. Smith requested a table where they could talk in privacy and, being an acquaintance of the manager, they were shown to a small table in the corner of the establishment. After the waiter had left with their orders, Mr. Smith said, “So what have you been doing recently, Thomas?” “Oh, just reading.” “Reading about what?” asked the man, sounding to Thomas a little to eager. So he lied, “where Dust comes from.” This answer seemed to satisfy Mr. Smith greatly and he was silent until after the waiter brought their food. Then he said, “Thomas, how much do you actually know about Dust?” “Not much, really. My mother says it’s attracted to human consciousness, but I don’t see how she could know that.” “What if she asked her alethiometer?” Thomas thought about this for a moment. Mr. Smith was probably right, the alethiometer told the truth when asked; she had probably asked it about Dust. “Thomas,” said the man, “do you know what I do for a living?” Thomas looked up from his soup and shook his head. “Well you could say I’m an observer of Dust. I watch it for a living.” “But I thought nobody could see Dust…” “Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong! I can see it, with this…” He held out a magnificent amber spyglass for Thomas to see. It was handcrafted and very valuable looking. Thomas reached out his hand to touch it but Mr. Smith pulled it away and slipped it into his pocket. “I’ll be right back,” he said getting up to pay the bill. After he was gone Thomas quickly switched bowls of soup with the man, making sure that everything looked the same as the man had left it. He was casually sipping his soup when Mr. Smith returned. He sat down and had a couple sthingyfuls of soup before he said, “This isn’t my soup.” “Your right,” said Thomas casually, “it’s mine. The one you poisoned.” The man smiled sweetly. “and how do you know about that.” “I overheard you telling the waiter to add something ’special’ to one of the soups.” “Ah, smart child. To smart, actually, because you were wrong about one little thing. You see, the soup I drugged was, in fact, my own.” Thomas looked down at the soup in front of him. He had been tricked! He pushed the bowl away in disgust and tried to stand, but his legs failed to support him. His vision blurred and the world seemed to spin around him. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was the still-smiling face of Mr. Smith. Then everything went black.
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Post by Made2LuvU on Jul 22, 2006 23:46:10 GMT -5
Wow--it's getting good. Just thought I'd make sure everyone knows that the deadline is...Monday, I think. XD
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Post by Captainsparrow 101 on Jul 24, 2006 15:57:10 GMT -5
Here's my entry! Enjoy! ;D
One day Hermione Granger and Harry Potter were in the Griffindor common room doing homework. When all of a sudden Harry clapped his hands over his scar. Hermione: Is it hurting again? Harry:Yes. But I bet it's nothing. Hermione: You should go to Dumbledore. Harry: I don't think so. Hermione: Why not- *RON WALKS IN * Ron: Hey does anyone want to hear a new song I learned? Hermione: Ron can't you see Harry and I are talking? Ron: Fine I sing it to myself. Hermione: You do that. Anyway Harry you need to go to Dumbledore. Harry: And what do you think he will say. He,like everyone else, will say that it's natural that my scar should be hurting. Hermione: (quietly) You don't know that- *BACKROUND* Ron: (sings) 1,2 buckle my shoe. 3,4 shut the door- Hermione: Oh honestly Ron, Cut it out! Ron:No I'm singing to myself. 5,6 pick up sticks. *Harry and Hermione decide to ignore him* Harry: I do know Hermione. Why won't he say that when Lupin,Hagrid, Mr. and Mrs. Weasly, and Sirius- (Harry stopped at the thought of thinking of Sirius) Hermione: If anyone can help you it would be Dumbledore. *BACKROUND* Ron: (still singing) 7,8 lay the straight. Hermione: Ron! Shut up. Ron: No! Hermione: Oh yeah. Guess what Ron? I'm a prefect. You know what that means? I can ban that song , or as a matter of fact , I could give you detention for singing it! Now be quiet! Ron: Oh well as it is Miss Granger I'm a prefect as well and I can get myself out of detention as easily as you can put me in. Hermione: You know I bet no one could tell that your a prefect. You know why that is? Ronald? It's because you don't act it! Ron: Yeah well- Harry: WILL YOU TWO CLOSE YOUR YAPS?PLEASE! Now I'm going to Dumbledore. And you two can continue your arguement when I leave. Ron: (to busy singing just to annoy Hermione) 9,10 A BIG FAT HEN! Harry: SHUT UP!!! Hermione: Stupify! Ron's hand snapped to his side. Harry walked out the door on his way to Dumbledore's office. Hermione went to the library to look up a countercurse for stupify.
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Post by arieona on Jul 24, 2006 19:19:10 GMT -5
Heres my terribly long entry.
The Book Returns A fanfiction from The Book of Sand by Jorge Luis Borges
The late evening sun had settled beyond the horizon as the last leaves of fall drifted slowly to the ground. They seemed to dance in the wind, fluttering to and fro before gently finding their way to the ground, only to be flattened under the foot of a passing youth. “The Argentine National Library,” said the boy to himself. “Who would have thought I would end up here?” He looked at a large building in front of him. “Nattie,” said a small girl who stood next to him, but the boy paid her no heed as he pushed open the huge doors and walked inside. Books were stacked everywhere in sight. “Well,” he mused to himself. “If anyone ever wanted to lose a book, this would be the place to go.” He calmly glanced from one shelf to another, hoping to find a book he had not read. “Nattie,” said the small girl again. “What’s this one?” She pulled a dust covered tome from under a stack of books. “Opps.” She said softly, her eyes widening as several books came crashing to the ground. She walked to a nearby table as if nothing had happened. “The Book of Sand,” she muttered, wiping the dust from the cover. “Maria,” said the boy, finally speaking the young girl.” Let me see that.” He took the book and looked at it. It was bound in cloth and looked very worn. On the spine it read “Holy Writ” and below it, “Bombay.” There were no marks or indication that the library owned the book as there always was on library books He opened the book to what seemed like the first page, but other pages slipped through his fingers that were not there before. “What?” said Nathaniel in shock, noticing the page number. “There is no way 5,826. I can’t even be on page twenty!” He turned the page. “Now this one says 53.” Maria watched Nathaniel amazed, she had never seen her brother so baffled before. “An infinite book,” said Nathaniel with a hint of admiration in his tone. “Like the sand, it has no beginning and no end.” “So much for that.” thought Maria with a sigh. Nathaniel brought the book to a spot near a chair and began to study it more. Maria hesitated for a moment, before she took a small pink backpack from her back, opened it, took out a small book, and began to draw. Nathaniel closed the book, bookmark in place, and reopened it to where he had marked, but the page number had changed, as well as the content. “I wonder,” said Nathaniel as he tore a page from the book the page seemed to dissolve in his hand and return to the book. “How bizarre.” He muttered blinking at the book. “I must unravel this mystery!” he declared as he set off in his newest mission of knowledge.
“Nattie,” whined Maria tugging on Nathaniel’s sleeve. “I’m sleepy, can we go back now?” “No, just a little long. This book-I need to find out how it works.” replied Nathaniel. “But, Nattie,” persisted Maria with a yawn. “I ran out of paper.” Maria held up her notebook, filled with many pictures of kittens, butterflies, and horses. “Very well we shall leave.” Nathaniel helped Maria pack away her things, picked up the book when no one was watching, and the two left. “Maria! Nathaniel!” called their mother upon their return to the United Stated, their home. “Did you enjoy your field trip?” she asked happily as she threw her arms around him. Nathaniel sighed, he didn’t like lying to his mother, but his father knew the truth and if his mother knew of his international jaunts with Maria, that would rob her of her last strands of sanity “Yes, we went to the library.” replied Nathaniel. ‘It’s not completely a lie.” He thought to himself. Maria now took over the story as Nathaniel quickly snuck away and looked himself in the study, alone with the book.
“Nattie,” called Nathaniel’s father kindly, “You’ve been in there for weeks, come out. Go to your bedroom and get some rest.” “No, Father. I must-” “I said, go to your room and rest, now.” his father repeated sternly. “Yes, Father.” Groaned Nathaniel as he slowly unlocked the door and left the study empty handed. Nathaniel’s father walked into the room and looked at the book. “This book, “ he began, glaring at it, “It is evil. Not evil in itself but largely consuming. So much so, that you forget your own life to discover its mystery, but it is not alive and nothing, living or otherwise, should go that far.” Nathaniel’s father picked up the book and looked it over. “It is very old, perhaps a museum would appreciate it.” He concluded before leaving the house to find a way to dispose of the strange tome.
The Book of Sand stood great and tall in its new glass case as the janitor finished his nights work. “These floors never stay clean.” He muttered looking up at the newest addition. “A book of sand, what a curious thing,” Dave said as he searched for the right key to open the case and discover the book’s secrets.
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