Sand Castle

Eli Perhaps I just wasn't born for this. All the royal banquets and the flowing gowns and the bitter grape wines— I certainly would not want to be born for this. It tires me out, and while I’m grateful to not be living under the ground like my grandmother’s childhood, I want something more than this. My thoughts were halted after feeling my mother’s elbow on my waist after passing by me. My head automatically shot to look at her and she gave me the look— I know that look. Chin up, chest out, lips stretched. I frowned even more. My back is hurting from being a noble’s daughter and attending these dreadful banquets in hopes of catching anyone’s attention to be my potential husband. The mandatory marriageable age of those from noble families is 16-18, but tradition calls for women age 14 to 15 to be in the Harvest, where families look for potential pairs for their children when they reach 16 until 18. Once anyone passes that ag

Eli I wasn’t able to process everything at once. One minute I was being dragged out from the scene by Nikola, and the next minute I was in my room surrounded by my three elder sisters— Yula, Rebecca, and Margareth. They helped me undress out of my ball gown and back to my silky nightgown. Yula started to brush my hair while Margareth kept rubbing my back. Becca went downstairs to get me a glass of warm milk.  The room was filled with deafening silence. My sisters tried their best to make me comfortable, but earlier scenes just kept replaying inside my head. I punched a seat holder of The Council— that’s enough to put my whole family in trouble, not to mention a separate offense for me. And then Hade came to my rescue. My head ached at the thought. I don’t understand why he did that. The Vandenbergs and the Langstons have been good allies since both families took seats in The Council. What he did would jeopardize the good relation

Eli — THREE YEARS LATER — "C'mon El, get that last point!" The crowd was exploding with cheers, but I could hear Noah's voice erupting from the game. I glanced at the airband on my wrists. The score is 6-6 with only a minute remaining in the game. The stats are displayed on the big screen board at the very top of the stadium for the audience to track the game scores, but since it's too high for us players to see, the airband on our wrists serves as our monitor. I heard the game announcer broadcasting on the airsystem. —and the ring has now been passed on to Hale. Hale is blocked with two Vanguards from the Blue Ravens. Can she pass through and make the winning point for the Golden Crows? I clutched the ring I caught from Nissa, one of our team's Vanguards. I could still hear the announcer saying things but my mind continued to think for strategies. The pole is now 13 meters away from the aren

Eli There are so many three-word sentences in the English dictionary that bring meaning to life. I love you. I miss you. I admire you. Please be well. I have never really given it a thought. But those are the exact words that I have never really taken the time to truly mean something to me. And as much as I would want to hear those from someone, I believe being the one to tell those words to someone actually gives more meaning to one's life. I believe it makes life more beautiful, on top of being meaningful. But there are also three-word sentences that are the exact opposite. Words that you never wanna hear in your life, but you are also never ready to hear or even expecting to hear. It wasn't the three-word sentence I expect to ever hear in my life. But when it did, it broke my whole world apart. "Yula has died." I remember how the cold rushed from my stomach up to my head and spread through my body after hea

Hade   It's starting to feel like forever. Hade hovered his gaze from Alexei to his father, Jacob Vandenberg, who was sitting quietly from across the table. Alexei's mother, Jasmin, sits on the other far end while Alexei is on the seat facing him. His wife, Yula, died yesterday. Today, he feels completely nothing. "...they started a feud. It's a pretty solid ground to challenge Hade's hold to become the next family head," Jacob said. "But he's not head yet. You still are," Alexei said. "I'm nearing retirement. Whoever becomes the next head of the Vandenbergs takes my place as a seat holder. To be in the Council means power. Other Vandenberg families are fighting tooth and nail to take down Hade," Jacob explained. Hade remained silent. He's still trying to process what happened yesterday. How Yula endured the pain trying to deliver the child. How she died just seconds before the baby took its first and last