“I just wanna start over,” I wrote in my notebook, the little world I controlled.

I looked up at the board. Today's assignment was to build and add more to our stories, the ones we created in our notebooks. All around me, the other kids were putting their hands flat into their notebooks, lighting up, being transported into worlds they had created with their mind.

That’s how it was. The moment you were born, a special pencil is made from a special seasoning to channel the inner magic within you to write out that special story only you can tell. If you spread your hand out on a written page in your notebook, you could go into the world you created, talk with your characters, play with the setting, move things with your mind, kind of like godmode in a video game. The only downside was that once you wrote that first page, you had to finish that story before you could move onto the next one. I had written a dumb story as a child and now I was stuck with it.

In my brother's notebook, his main character was a Wolf named Jack who was an expert basketball player, and he had made it to the playoffs. My best friend’s main character was a viking who had just decided to go on a journey sailing the seven seas. I couldn't think of anything half as good, so my character was just some girl named Dyan. She liked to write… like me. That was it.

“How do I get a good idea, like you!?” I had asked Rina. “Dyan is so boring! She does nothing all day!

“You have to make your characters do something. Really flesh out their life. Akel didn’t start out wanting to sail the seven seas, but then his father got sick and needs medicine, and Akel will search the whole world to get it,” Rina explained.

I huffed. Well, no use lying around in the real world. Might as well mope around with Dyan in my world. In a moment after a white flash whales wailed above me and light strings of light flowed down my skin from the water above.

“I hate this place.” I said aloud.

“Tell me about it.” Dyan said, sitting at a school desk not too far away from me.

I walked up to her. “I feel like I barely give my characters any room to breathe and be themselves.”

“Yeah, we're not that free, but I mean, you’re keeping us safe from bad things happening to us right? Like falling off a cliff or being snatched by monsters, right? So I don’t really have a problem with the lack of freedom.”

This made me turn to Dyan. “Don’t you ever wonder what’s beyond the box though?”

She glanced at her notebook, and then back to me. “Sometimes.”

“Then let’s tear it. The box,” I went.

“What!? I mean, do we have to?” Dyan’s breathing quickened.

“Yes. We. do! We have to move on with life, even though we’re at different points in life!”

I ran to the blue wall, the square of it that was closest to me. Should I tear it down? Should I knock it down!?

“No! Don’t! Stop!” Dyan ran after me and tackled me, making me fall to the ground.

“Hey!” I yelled, while trying to push her off. I had never seen this side of Dyan. She’d fight me just to keep the wall up, her little known box of safety was enough to fight over, but the unknown wasn’t!?

“Stop it!” said Dyan. “sSop it or I’ll…”

“What! You'll do what!?” I asked. I really wanted to see what she would do.

I had given Dyan a spark, as well as ignited my own. I made trees grow in fast motion around us. I made the whales in the sky wail once more. Time to see what we both could do.

END

Here are the pictures I used to make the thumbnail:
https://unsplash.com/photos/uXchDIKs4qI
https://unsplash.com/photos/8eSrC43qdro

My name is Shila Williams. I am 16 years old and I have been passionate about writing and drawing since I knew how to spell. I grew up in North Carolina, as well as living and traveling abroad. I write to inspire children's minds to imagine and take them on a fun and adventurous journey.

I'm now a published author! Please support my debut book! Check it out here on Amazon! Imagination By Shila Willams

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Meet the girls of Algo Green! Love for the planet and all its inhabitants, big or small. There will only be 50 green girls: https://t.co/yrwWL9ZJZI

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