This is a piece of writing for a project I've experimented with on and off. Please leave a comment below:
The library: a place of academia. A place of black and white
text, sometimes colorful pictures from oversized reference books. It was a
place where the greatest minds on Earth would leave what information they had
to share for the next generation, which was, at this point, drinking plenty of
coffee to go through the long hours of study and education at Ignatius college.
They were flipping through monotone pages, blasting music from their smart
phones in their ears, and hammering away at the keys on their laptops. There
was one desk, hidden in the depths of the library shelves, at which one
student, a female with long, silvery-white hair, was doing some studying of her
own.
She focused
her Japanese eyes intensely on her right hand. Its nails were painted a wasabi
green. She concentrated all her energy, attempting to block everything else out
from her mind: her computer science homework, her daddy issues—don't get her
started about her daddy issues—anything and everything.
“Come on,”
she muttered to herself. “Come on, work.”
Slowly, her
fingers began to shorten. Tiny tufts of white hair began to sprout on her hand.
A roughly triangular shape with rounded corners elevated from her palm, as it
began to mold and condense itself. The
thing that was once her hand was shifting spasmodically back and forth between
its original form, and its newer, wilder form.
“Focus,
June, focus.”
Beads of
sweat were dripping from her brow. She wanted so badly to give up, but the
power inside of her yearned to be released.
Gritting
her teeth, with her silvery braces gleaming in the florescent lighting, she
bombarded her hand with one last burst of mental energy.
Her hand
was gone. Replacing it was a paw: a singular, snowy white, canine paw. The paw
of her fox form.
“Yes,” she
shouted, pounding her left fist into the air.
Her victory
celebration was by the ringing of an 8-bit chip tune from her smart phone. It
was Max. Perfect timing.
She reached
for the phone with her left hand, and picked it up, only to have it slip from
her grip, and fall onto the floor. Impulsively, she reached out with both her
hand and her paw, only to tuck the paw underneath her armpit. She performed
this act while she was still leaning off the side of her chair, causing her to
tumble over, and roll onto her stomach. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a
student in skinny jeans raising a bushy eyebrow at her. The phone was still
ringing. Another second longer, and the librarian would be sure to hear it and
kick her out of the library—again. She straightened herself up. Her
waist-length hair fell in a disheveled mess over her eyes. She used her hand to
quickly brush it aside, and then quickly pick up the phone, and turned away
from the student who gave her funny looks.
“Hello?”
She whispered.
“June-dog!
How's it going?”
June
hissed, “I'm in the library.”
“Crunching
computer code or chasing your tail?”
“Oh, very
funny, Max.”
June got
herself up, then swiftly walked over to the women's restroom, while still
hiding her paw underneath the armpit of her open denim jacket, revealing an
image of a grinning, yellow star. She fumbled for the door handle while holding
onto the phone at the same time. She dashed inside, and quickly slammed the
door behind her. She gave herself a seat on one of the recliners in the waiting
room. Yes, there is a waiting room in the girl's bathroom.
“What the
hell do you want?” continued June.
“Sorry for
how rude I was. They're serving tacos in McFarland.”
“I'm
actually a little busy right now.” June's voice quivered as she looked down at
her paw.
“You didn't
say you would be too busy earlier. Juno, you're not messing with your powers,
are you?”
“Uh, no. Of
course not.”
“Juno, do
you remember the last time your powers went bizerk? I still have the scars, if
I may remind you.”
“I wasn't
myself at the time, may I remind you?”
“Juno, it's
like your father said. These new abilities of yours: it'll take time to--”
“Don't
mention my father.” Her voice went ghastly cold.
“Juno . .
.”
She heard
Max take a frustrated breath. “He never meant for any of this to happen. He was
just trying to protect you.”
“By lying
to me about the woman that gave birth to me?” She slammed her paw into the
adjacent wall, leaving behind a fierce dent.
“How was he
supposed to—you know something, forget it. You can be filled with bitterness
and hatred all you want. All I know is, I'm getting in line for tacos now,
before it gets too long. Are you joining me or not?”
“After I
take care of what it is that I'm working on.”
“Are you
able to go out in public?”
“Let's just
say my hands will be full.” Juno rolled her eyes. How corny can you get?
“Alright,
Juno. Meet me in front of the dining hall, and I'll see if I can help you.”
