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@seekjustice @emgc @catwing Good job, guys! 🙂 I should end here for the day.

I haven’t done this yet, but the idea’s too fun to pass up. 🙂

I hit a new record today with 1140 words–not as much as a lot of people here, but good for where I’m at right now!

Favorite snippets (one from yesterday and one from today; apologies they’re so long!): Little explanation: Kedori is deaf (neither bit would make sense without knowing that). “Enn” and “Enna” are equivalent terms for Mr. and Mrs.; Enn Dera is their teacher; Enna Mezora is Kedori’s aunt (now in custody of him after his mother died); Enna Sora is the village healer, and Kiet and Grace (my MC) are learning from her. School in the village works on an alternate day basis (different kids coming to class on different days). The other characters speak Cresban from time to time (which Grace knows little of, since she just moved to the area), so that’s all the gibberish down there 😉 . If it strikes you as confusing/distracting, please let me know!

1. As we rounded a corner past the Deras’, we heard footsteps behind us. Gerik and his friend Haro, who went to school on the other day, followed us. Normally, I wouldn’t have been too concerned, as Gerik lived just past Tai’s, but something flipped a trigger in my brain. Haro snuck up behind Kedori and leaned next to his ear.
“Tei, seyano!” he shouted. Kedori tensed and turned, then jumped at Haro’s sudden appearance. The two boys laughed. I glanced at the others. Tai looked irritated, while Dari stood to the side and looked at the ground.
Kiet pressed his lips together firmly. “Jana ko,” he snapped.
Gerik laughed harshly. “Kido kowa?” Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed Kedori’s ears, giving them a twist. “Iro neye sezo!” he said as Kedori cried out.
Whether or not I knew what they were saying, enough was enough. My face burning, I stepped forward and opened my mouth, but Kiet was faster. In one smooth motion, he closed the distance between him and Gerik and gave him a solid smack on the cheek.
Everyone froze for a silent moment. Gerik stared down at the smaller boy, speechless. But only for a moment. His eyes narrowing, Gerik took a threatening step toward Kiet. Kiet, his fists still clenched, involuntarily stumbled backward.
“Tei, mekuri, yanske,” Gerik said in such a low voice I could hardly make out the Cresban words. “Shiko ji payan ko!”
Kiet’s eyes, filled with a mix of anger and fear, flickered like flames. Suddenly, he turned to run, but Gerik was too quick. Grabbing his wrist, he twisted it and forced Kiet to the ground.
Tai and Kedori tried to wrench Gerik off while Haro jumped in against them. Dari stood nearby shouting and waving his hands uselessly. As I rushed forward to help, a larger pair of arms reached into the mass of boys and yanked them apart.
“Kido sewiro kowa?” Enn Dera barked, his sharp eyes darting from one boy to the next.
Each glanced—well, more like glowered—at the others, not saying a word. Enn Dera snapped several more sentences in relentless Cresban at them before finally turning to me.
“I was originally just coming this way to give you a book you forgot,” he said, handing me Enna Sora’s medical book. He glared at the boys. “I wasn’t expecting to come across my students fighting like animals in the street. I’d better not see this again. Understood?” No one responded. “Understood?” he said louder.
“Yes,” a few voices said quietly.
As the group dispersed, I watched Gerik and Kiet. Once more, I saw that gleam in Gerik’s eye that sent a shiver down my spine, and I knew this fight wasn’t finished. Not even close.

2. The yelling smacked our ears at full volume as we swung the door open. Enna Mezora was out of bed for the first time in days, her hand like a steel trap on Kedori’s arm. She pounded his ears and shouted unheard words in Cresban. Enna Sora marched over and pulled her off the boy with stern words. Enna Mezora grudgingly returned to bed, but not without a venomous look at Kedori.
Kedori returned the look to Kiet and started signing with huge motions through tears. Although I barely knew any of his sign language, I could understand what he was saying now. Why did you tell her I was fighting? You know I didn’t do anything!
Kiet tried to interject, but Kedori wasn’t done. He signed even faster, bewildering all of us. He noticed this and, with a clenched jaw, grabbed his slate and scribbled across it so hard the chalk snapped. Shoving the board into Kiet’s hand, he stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind him.
As Kiet read the note, his eyes widened. He glanced up at the door several times, then finally tossed the slate down and rushed outside after him. I picked it up and tried to decipher the wildly written words.
I thought we could become friends. No, I thought we were friends. I’ve never had any before. I thought you and the others were my first. But if that’s what you think friends are, I don’t want any of it!
I chased them outside and saw Kiet following Kedori down the street, the opposite direction from Kiet’s house. He tried desperately to sign to Kedori, but he wouldn’t even give Kiet a sideways glance.
Kedori eventually headed down a side path to a lonely looking house sitting in a clearing. Opening the front door, he stepped inside and shut the door in Kiet’s face.
Kiet stood there for a full minute, not moving a muscle as rattling and banging sounded from inside the house. As things quieted down, he slowly turned away, not even meeting my gaze as he passed me.