#overdramatization

“But Martha! You can’t start a soap opera in the middle! People will never watch!”

“Oh Peter, you idiot. They do it all the time! They turn on the television one afternoon and they sit down with their glass of scotch and they’re hooked!”

“They do?”

“Of course they do. Do you think everyone who watches an afternoon serial started at the beginning? For God’s sake, Peter! Most of the shows are older…

Silaeda sat on a bridge over a rushing river, rhythmically hitting her shoes on the archway. Her face was sad and conflicted, her ever present frown deeper than ever. Something was wrong with Yva, she knew it. She just couldn’t figure out what.

Since he’d been back, Vik had been taking up a lot of Silaeda’s time, but that was to be expected. There was no reason why Yva would have gotten upset about that, unless things had changed since they last talked. Or rather, exchanged stoic facial expressions in lieu of words. Same thing.

Sighing, Silaeda stood up and brushed off her pants. She should probably go find Yva and talk to her. Sitting here and stewing over it wasn’t going to fix anything, and she was tired of trying to process.

-

Alyx sat on a fallen tree beside the soon-to-be campfire, writing diligently in her journal. It was the only place she could be truly honest about her emotions. Especially when she couldn’t be honest about them herself.

She looked up from the lines of scribbled goo, and watched Kraan dance around the unlit logs while Krayola chased after him. They really were the best of friends. What Alyx wouldn’t give to have that… But she never had, and most likely never would. Besides, what would happen if she flipped and went all Chaotic Evil again? In those days she could have killed her own sister if she’d had one. No, it was much better to be alone.

Kraan looked up, laughing, and caught Alyx’s eye. Why was she staring at him? He grinned widely at her and waved, hoping that maybe she would come join this thrilling game of tag, but she just raised her eyebrows at him before going back to her journal. His shoulders slumped a little before Krayola bopped him on the head and started running again. “Come on, pig nose! I dare you to catch me! Dare you!”

Kraan laughed, any unhappiness forgotten, and chased the little dragon with all the speed he could muster. “I swear to god, acid breath, I’m gonna catch you eventually!”

-

Yva wandered through the woods, just far enough from the campsite that no one would find her unless they were looking for her. She didn’t much feel like company right now, but there was one person she’d make an exception for. Only, Silaeda was nowhere to be seen.

She frowned at the twig she’d just stepped on, moving it to the side with the toe of her boot. Yva had been walking in circles for a while, and she was growing tired of it. She wandered over to a large tree with climbable branches and nimbly made her way to the top. It was nicer up here; she could feel the wind on her face, and pretend like nothing was eating away at her.

-

Aleyne sat in a sunny meadow just outside of where they had set up camp. She’d wanted to take advantage of this time to get some reading done, but she had a nagging feeling that something was wrong with Father Meryn. He’d told her he was recovering well, but the dream she had last night led her to believe differently.

She sat in the middle of the meadow and meditated for a moment, grounding herself, and cast “send message.”

“Just checking up on you. Is everything alright? Had a worrisome dream last night. Felt I needed to ask.” And send.

She desperately hoped nothing was the matter, and that it was indeed just a nightmare, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was more than that. It had been too vivid. It felt more like a visual message from another cleric at the temple than her fanciful brain telling scary stories.

I was relieved a few weeks after my suspension by my best friend that everyone who knew what happened had stood up for me. I literally just sat down and had to just get my head together for a minute. I just wanted to hug him so much for telling me that.

I had to hold back my tears when I got to go to an after school event and my friends all ran over to see me. I felt like people care about each other.

I felt so guilty that I couldn't be there for my band director, one of the closest people I knew, who passed away suddenly, and I couldn't be there for him on his last few days.

I feel happier. Things are looking up for me. I've been able to spend time with friends, I got some pretty cool stuff for Christmas, I'm getting a part time job at a music store 5 minutes away from my school, I'm not so stressed out, and I even have someone I like, who actually enjoys my company, and even asked me to come have lunch with her.