Teen-Writers-United

Dear Charlotte, It's September 1st today. It's weird, isn't it? The way most kids associate the start of September with brand new backpacks, pencil shavings and the panicked beating of their hearts as they get on the bus, pretending all the while to be perfectly collected, not even a little nervous? I guess that's one thing this whole thing has given me to be grateful for. Dr. Spence says it would be a good idea for me to write a list every day of things I'm grateful for. You'd like him. He also told me I should try writing you a few letters telling you how I feel, even if I would never send them, and it's not like you'd open them even if I

Llorrin watched the corpses hanging from the yardarm, swaying gently in the wind. By this time they had become so badly decomposed that the men’s faces were almost completely unrecognizable, yet he remembered every name. Llorrin had forced himself to learn the names of the mutineers and look at them every day. He muttered them softly at the beginning of the day while most of the crew was still asleep. The wind blew the stench of the corpses in his direction, but he didn’t even flinch. Several of the men were begging for the mutineers to be cut down and thrown into the sea, but Llorrin had refused every request. The grisly reminder

Chapter 5 Uncharted Waters There was a gale brewing and churning in the sea the night Thatcher Demins learned the real intentions of The Freeman’s captain.  The murky black waters were rolling the ship tumultuously over the sea, tossing The Freeman around like a toy.  Frothy waves crashed against the ship’s hull on either side, and the rain started pouring down from the heavens like an unstopped waterfall. Thatcher was blinking the rain out of his eyes every other second as he strained to draw up the sails against the furious wind. It was more than a week after the ship had left port from Theon.  Thatcher was finding his place am

Chapter 4 Lightning “Felicia Amber Tayle,” Thatcher murmured, as though he couldn’t believe it.  The Tayle family had employed his mother long before she had sent James off for a better future and long before their father died.  Thatcher couldn’t believe he had forgotten his best friend. After Anemone had lost her job with the local herbalist, she had stumbled upon the Tayle family’s home without anywhere else to go.  The elderly couple and their expectant daughter and son-in-law lived together in a large home deep into the city where they had plenty of space and enough room for many trees.  Anemone spent time r

Chapter 3 In the Garden "You're a girl?!" Thatcher exclaimed, his nose scrunching up in a scowl.  This particular girl standing before him seemed very indignant at his reaction to her, and crossed her arms as he was doing. "Yes, a girl.  What's the matter?  You've never seen one before?" Her voice was so beautiful, like water flowing over a babbling brook, caressing the soft earth beneath it. She was a beautiful girl, in fact.  Her hair was long and pulled back in a single braid, as crimson red as blood.  Her eyes were large and round and a soft hazel shade.  She couldn't have been older than Thatcher, and was thin and lithe but obviousl

Chapter 2 The Open Sea However strange it was to him, Thatcher Demins couldn't stop thinking about that flash of red he had seen.  It was only for a moment, simply a brief blur in his peripheral vision that was quick enough to avoid his full attention yet lingering just long enough to keep him wondering.  It was a coppery, auburn red, and as the young man continued to play back that moment over and over in his mind, he came to the realization that it was hair.  Yes, long hair. As soon as he smiled at his next thought, he shook his head, laughing at himself. "A girl could never be on board The Freeman, " he whispered to himself.  Many men h

Chapter 1 The Freeman With a wild, alert look, the young boy standing on the wooden boardwalk promptly stepped forward, closer and closer to the unknown.  He was alone now.  His brother's sword was all he had left to his name, and he treasured it so greatly that he held it there with his left hand even as it rested in its sheath.  The warm summer breeze played with his dark hair as he bit his lip in contemplation. Before him were three great ships, all making port in the city he was forced to call home.  The last one in the row he had his sights on; it was the cleanest, newest ship on the waters.  With three tall masts and painted in purpl

I've seen the sky turn black. I've seen a grown man cry. I've seen my fate change. I've felt the winds of time. I've danced in the dark. Where no one would care. The thing I haven't seen? Someone ask themselves if they would dare.