Snippet #1793145

Leia milled about on the outskirts of the crowd of girls, blowing a sigh. She really didn't want to be here. She idly flicked at the ends of her bangs and wondered if she would actually let it grow out this time. It wasn't that she disliked having long hair... it was being told that she must wear it a certain length and a certain color that really irked her. Maybe she'd let it grow all year to show what a good girl she was and then chop it all off at the end of the year just to spite the system. The whole thing was frighteningly similar to George Orwell's 1984. The only things missing were the little TVs playing tinny national anthems and the 'Thought Police.' Science fiction? Or mis-dated prediction of the future? Leia wondered if the president had read this book in school and decided it would be the model for his 'perfect world.'

Someone bumping into the girl next to her snapped her back into the present and she stiffened, expecting a shiv to fly and the screaming to start. Fortunately the only thing that flew was an apology and a bit of cloth with some strings attached to it. She exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding and took a step further away from the crowd. That's when she realized the girl was bleeding... from her eye? It was rolled up into her head as though trying to look at something behind her and seemed to have a mind of its own. Nuclear firestorm doth not mutate equally, she guessed.

Eyes darting from side to side, she pulled a handkerchief from the hidden pocket she'd sewn into her skirt and snapped it in the air a couple times casually as if to smooth out the folds. She forced the ambient humidity into the cloth to moisten it as it was flicked, and then brought it to her lips. She took a deep breath and blew frost until the cloth was chilled and approached Corinth cautiously.

"Um... here," she said timidly, holding out the cloth. "That one is already dirty."