Shale Athego's Story

Yellow light was shining. It seemed to radiate from her body... Moths were attracted to her... Blankness followed. With a cough Neren woke up. She had dreamed again. The dreams were less in both frequency and content these days. Sitting up, she found herself in her back yard. Quickly she stood up and went inside. After putting on clothes she ate breakfast. While she was getting ready for school her family started coming down.

At least I didn't sleep walk far this time. That would of been bad, considering it is a school day. The end of school was around the corner and Neren couldn't wait for it to be over. It was the Monday of the week of finals. Today and the Tuesday were mostly for review and studying for the large tests.

After packing Neren walked to the bus stop. Her house was a couple miles away from the school, definitely not close enough to walk. When on the bus she took her book out of her back pack and began to read. The outside world seemed to fade around her as she was immersed in the world of the novel. The dry winds of the desert planet Arrakis blew across the land... A web of betrayal, decit, and loyalty subtly wove the story together, entrancing her.

The hiss of the bus door sounded and students started standing up. They had arrived at the school. Shoving her book in her bag, Neren stood up and walked out of the bus with the rest of the students.

It wasn't that bad. Her first three classes went well. Relief flooded through her when lunch came. Although she wasn't too worried about the finals herself, the other people's tension was contagious. Plus, they were finals. They had a legendary reputation for being tough. Lunch was a time to eat and read. Neren sat at a table to herself, ate, and opened her book. The struggles of the Fremen and the remaining Atreides family swept her up again. She was almost done with the book, and wanted to finish it soon. Although it was good it wasn't her favorite book. As someone who once was her friend put it, "I tried reading Dune, but it was a bit dry for me."

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"Shale! Get up! You don't want to be late for school!" With a groan Shale rolled over in his bed, eyeing the clock. Yawning, he got up. After showering he put on his worn clothes. Breakfast was toast with butter and jelly. He liked the bread with nuts in it, it didn't seem as good without the heartier texture. Hastily shoving yesterday's homework into a folder here, packing a lunch there, he prepared for school.

Finals were almost here, and once they were finished, school would be over. He was excited! Walking with a bounce in his step, he arrived at the bus stop. As he rode he watched out the window. When they passed a lake he almost laughed at the beauty of the sunrise. The light reflected red-orange off the water, glittering. The lake is my favorite part of the ride, he decided.

At school there was the usual early morning banter going on as Shale got ready for the first class. People were so alive at this time despite the fact that 45 minutes earlier they had been in bed. Well, maybe not 45 minutes, Shale was just guessing.

Classes seemed to go by slower than molasses, but it was worth it. He realized studying was important for success in the finals, so he was going to take advantage of all the time he had. In Shale's opinion how well one did on the finals was partly luck. One never knew how a teacher would word a question. There could be a way to ask a question that would click in your mind and unlock the door to the answer. There could be another question that asked essentialy the same thing, but didn't have that vital word or part needed to make you remember the answer or understand the question.

When it came time for lunch Shale walked around, looking for his friend, Mitchel. Keeping an eye out for his friend's skinny body, Shale saw him and sat down. "How have you been doing? Thing you're ready for the finals?" he asked.

Clouds swirled around him as he rose through the sky, moving at unimaginable speeds. The very stars seemed to dance about as he broke through the the sea of whiteness, expanding as far as the eye could see. Something was there. It felt so close. Where...

"How have you been doing?"

Sound suddenly came into existence around Mitchel, snapping him out of his thoughts. Color rushed before his deep blue eyes, no doubt from having the palms of his hands resting before his eyes for who knows how long. He shoke himself, attempting to get his vision in the right order and to clear his hearing abit. Napping always seemed to have that effect on him lately. Rubbing his temples gently, Mitchel greeted Shale, his friend, who had sat down next to him.

"Oh...hey Shale. I've been doing fine. Blasted dreams bug me even when I decide to take a nap." Mitchel said doggedly, still feeling the after effects of his unusual nap. Though they weren't the full blown experiences from every night, they still bugged the heck out of him. Again this morning, Mitchel hand found himself along the creek of a forest behind his home, still in his t-shirt and boxers, leaves clinging to his hair and a trail of ants crawling across his stomach. Just a normal day for Mitchel Gen Jowec.

Shale replyed again,"Think you're ready for the finals?"

"Ah yes. The bane of every high school student's existence. I'll feel much more ready if I wasn't seeing things everytime I close my eyes. But, yes, indeed I am, Shale." With that, Mitchel turned himself in his seat and rested his elbows against the table, sighing softely,"I swear, you're the only thing keeping me sane with these dreams, the finals, and being considered an unsolvable math equation by scientists and therapists everywhere."

The sound of snapping twigs and the rustle of underbrush was what woke Felicia up. Grumbling to herself quietly, she rolled over. Immediately, she realized the texture of what she was lying upon was NOT her bed. She shot straight up, standing in the forest in her pajamas, a silk (and rather skimpy) dark green tank top with matching shorts. Which was currently covered forest debris.

Registering the fading sounds which woke up, Lici scanned her surroundings. Just before she gave up, she caught a glimpse of what might have been green hair before it disappeared. Green hair? It must have just been a trick of the forest... Except that the color was too light, and familiar. Jeez, this was going to bug her all day.

Sighing, she turned towards her house. These woods were long familiar to her, though she hadn't come here in years. She'd gone through a nature phase with her drawing a few years back. While searching for a subject worthy of her attention, she'd scoured these woods. It was easy for her to simply walk out of the forest and into the backyard of her house. As she closed the sliding glass door behind her, Lici paused, listening to the house. Satisfied that no one else was up and about, she headed up the stairs to her room.

She made quick work of changing into her normal clothes, a simple white tank top, jeans, and her favorite denim jacket, before getting ready to head out. As she reached for her doorknob, she remembered. She had no school today. Her college finals were scheduled on Wednesday and Thursday, so she had two free days. Unfortunately, one of those finals was turning in a huge research paper and being ready to present and discuss said paper... The paper which wasn't quite finished.

Grumbling to herself, Lici pulled out her laptop and set it up on her desk. Glancing at the clock on her bedside table, she decided that she'd work until the high school's last period, then head over. She hadn't visited in a while. Her final procrastination was to pull out her cell phone and text a couple of her friends.

To Shale:

Hey! I'm headin' to the high school today. Any of the group up to hangin' out? I'm borrowing the van, so we can all go do something. I'll be there, either way. Might be bringing Nancy, too. :)

With a second thought, she sent the same text to Mitchel. If one didn't see their phone, the other should, and they were always around each other. Hopefully they'd let the other know what was up.

One more text before gettin' down to business.

To Nancy:

I'm going to the high school to hang out with peoples. Wanna come? I can pick you up!

With no more excuses to delay her paper, Lici turned on her music and started working on the final draft of her assignment, grumbling to herself the whole time.

"Ya look a bit shaken there Mitchy." Of course, with that heavy Hawaiian accent, it could only be Dova Hope Stapleton, or "Dove" as most of their little group called her. She took a look around the cafeteria, taking in all the stressed looking students, obviously studying for the finals. "Why does everyone get so stressed 'bout these stup'd tests?"

"Well, I can tell you that me and Shale are NOT one of those people," Mitchel said with an air of pride, then pointed to his temple,"I've just been having trouble sleeping lately. Only a few minutes ago I was tryig to take a nap and I STILL started seeing things. And I have no idea wha..."

Beep!

Before he could finish, Mitchel was interupted by a signal from his phone, pulling it out quickly to see what it was beeping about. It seemed he had a message:



Felicia, also known as Lici, was who most people considered "the girl next door". She was pretty cool though, and she was the only one in their group who could drive (as far as Mitchel knew). Showing his phone to Dove and Shale, he frowned slightly. "Seems Lici's gonna grab- urm..."borrow" the van so we can go do something after school. You guys can go, but I need to work on stuff after school, alright?" In truth, he had absolutley nothing to work on, but he didn't need some time to himself.

Dove laughed at Mitchel. "Well, I'm glad I'm friends wit' some of the only people NOT stressed 'bout these stup'd things."

Dove looked excitedly at the phone in Mitchel's hand but her smile turned to a frown as he told them he had something to do after school. Dove shook her head, seeing right through him. "No you don't," she said simply and looked down at her painted nails. They were already chipping after she had painted them the other night.

Dove quickly snatched Mitchel's phone from his hand and her fingers flew over the keys as she texted Lici back, "We'll all be there, ya can count on it." Dove placed the phone back down on the table and leaned closer to both Shale and Mitchel. "We're all goin' even if I gotta drag ya into that van." Dove leaned back and raised an eyebrow at herself. "I didn't mean that like it sounded."

"...ecm!" Mitchel pretended to clear his throat, fingering his collar nervously. He really did need sometime to himself, and it seemed now was the only time to get away...

"Well then...I guess theres only one thing I can do..." And in one single motion, swiped his phone from the table, his bag from his chair and was heading for the cafeteria exit before they could make a move. "Sorry guys! I'll try to meet up with ya'll later! I promise!" With that, he was out the door and among the facilites of the school.

Ah...free at last. They'll get over it, I'm sure. I just need to think... Mitchel was making his way into the woods when he snapped a twig underfoot, causing his head to look around to see if anyone was nearby to hear. And there was! Nearby was the same girl he had locked eyes with during lunch. Again, they locked eyes for a moment. Then the girl turned walking away towards the library. Taking the chance, Mitchel bolted between the trees, disappearing into the forest.