SHARED WORLDS 2014 SHARED WORLDS 2014 STUDENT WRITINGS Cheeky Frawg Books Tallahassee, Florida SHARED WORLDS 2014 STUDENT WRITINGS Shared Worlds Summer Writing Camp Wofford College, Spartanburg, South Carolina Sponsored in part by a grant from Amazon.com With thanks to Cheeky Frawg Books for making the printing of this anthology possible The Shared Worlds Student Writing Book Copyright ©2014, Shared Worlds and Wofford College All stories and bestiary text copyright © 2014 to the individual students Compiled and edited by Jackie Gitlin Proofreading/copyediting by Val Grimm & Ann VanderMeer Direct all queries to: Wofford College Shared Worlds c/o Cathy Conner 429 North Church Street, Spartanburg, SC 29303-3663 The Shared Worlds concept is a creation of Jeremy L.C. Jones with Jeff VanderMeer and sponsored by Wofford College For registration and donation information, visit our website: http://www.wofford.edu/sharedworlds ISBN 978-0-9857904-7-9 Dedicated to Tim Schmitz and to Cathy Conner, for all they do behind the scenes, and to Jeremy Zerfoss, designer extraordinaire. TABLE OF CONTENTS MOTU’ TAO 13 Marianna Allen 16 Lauren Bell 19 Aaron Dianda 21 Kaitlyn Dubey 24 Seth Etchells 27 Meredith Jones 29 Kas Kramer 33 Tara Games 37 Zachary Saddow 39 Rhyan Paul 42 Jacob Walter THE CRADLE 47 Mia Balingrud 50 Marcus Bamberger 54 Audric Donald 56 Taylor Feld 60 Amy Gardiener-Parks 63 Rilee Horowitz 68 Jake Keim 72 Chris Kunin 76 Maddy Lee 78 Blake Osborne 81 Anderson Scull 84 Lindsay Ward TALÖN 91 Emma Antonio 95 Caitlin Childers 99 Nick D’Onofrio 102 Allison Haswell 105 Robin Holcomb 108 Morgan Jones 111 Elizabeth Lifsey 115 Austin McDuffie 119 Indigo Surka 121 Jessie T. Watts 123 Ariana Winkle SUEVAT PRIME / KONA 131 Pearse Anderson 135 Phoenix Baur 138 Zoe Cloud 140 Frazier Crawford 143 Jasper Ferehawk 146 Unity Haq 150 Maya Homziak 153 Jeff Katz 157 Alyssa Mazzoli 177 Harrison Tandy 161 Anya Regnier 165 Laini Sohn SCINDO 169 Mary Hope Ballou 171 Priya Chokshi 175 Jonah Crosby 178 Sarah Donnelly 181 Ariana Gnas 185 Savannah Hall 188 Carter Liebman 190 Rileigh Pack 192 Nittu Patel 194 Kat Sokol 197 Krissa Stewart 200 Garai Torrence 202 Shared Worlds Student Bestiary 213 2014 Shared Worlds Staff 215 Acknowledgments 215 Sponsors 216 About Shared Worlds Thanks to the 2014 students for expressing such great creativity both on and off the page. This book is a testament to your imagination and drive. We hope you enjoy your fellow students’ stories and we expect to hear great things from all of you in the coming years. – The Shared Worlds staff 9 MOTU’TAO Motu’Tao used to be an Earth-like planet with an abundance of land. One day, the Flux, a radiation-like magic, became somewhat reactive, changing the gravitational mass of the planet and causing it to gain 7 new moons. This cataclysmic event caused a mass extinction and only a few life forms survived. The remaining organisms, many living near the new coastlines, had to adapt quickly to avoid extinction. These primitive life forms evolved into fantastical creatures, some more sentient than others. The three main life forms that emerged to dominate much of the planet were the Aqara, the Kohatu, and the Wakari. The Aqara are a highly advanced species of humanoid underwater dwellers. They live in large cities built upon geothermic vents and are governed through a hereditary aristocratic oligarchy. Their society is marked by deep class divisions. The Flux powers the Aqaran cities, and advanced Flux- fueled technology is present in everything from war machines to creature comforts. The Kohatu are a species of humanoid land dwellers. They live in small city-states, but there is a high council that exerts some central authority over them when unity is called for. The individual city-states tend to be governed by ruling families, and many have strict codes of etiquette that their citizens must follow. The Wakari are an amphibious species of humanoids that are a hybrid of the other two races. Thousands of years ago, the Aqara and the Kohatu lived in relative harmony, and cross-breeds were not uncommon. When war broke out between the two dominant races, the hybrids were driven out by both sides. Today, their descendants form a seafaring nomadic race that live on ships and practice piracy. Ships are populated by family units, and the oldest Wakari on each ship is the captain. 11 Today, at any given moment, the Kohatu and the Aqara are either actively at war with one another or preparing for the next conflict. The Wakari harass both sides with their constant raids, not knowing or caring which side might be winning. MARIANNA ALLEN Found Object: Hidden World Erik was killed last week. He was my everything but now he’s gone and I don’t know what to do with my life. There was no one else but Erik. I vowed to him that I would love him until my dying breath, and I always will no matter what happens. I just never expected that it would be a child; especially a child that was not mine. I first noticed that Erik was changing a few months after our marriage ceremony. He had started leaving the house at random times and would come home past midnight, and he would look better than he did when he left in the morning. I knew what was happening. I just did not want to admit it to myself. I kept ignoring the obvious symptoms, but after about a year I had to tell someone. The first person I could think of was my brother Karak. He started using the Lux when he was sixteen years old. The side effects appeared very quickly with him because he was so young. He started talking to people that were not there, he became very distant from us, and he also become beautifully bright. He glowed twice as bright compared to any other boy his age. We all could tell then that he was becoming a junkie. The only person who could get through to him was my mother and she convinced him to stop taking it before he completely turned into the monster that the Lux was making him. He still shows some side effects, but they will never be as bad as turning into a creature with bulbous eyes and a face like something from a nightmare. Today, Karak is pretty normal except when he gets angry he glows a dark purple which is not normal at all. I knew, because he had experience, my brother would help me make the right choice. He told me to plead with Erik, to explain to him what was going to happen to him and that I would never be able to live without him in 13 SHARED WORLDS my life. The words were useless. He did not hear me anymore. All he ever heard was his inner call which constantly needed more Lux. I tried to take care of him for a while, but it just made his transition even worse. There were brief periods where he was normal again and they were the best moments of my life. He would hold me and cry and tell me how much he loved me. He would tell me that everything he did, he did it because of the Lux and that he regretted ever taking it. And a second later his eyes would turn crazy again and he would start talking to someone he called “Polly.” It broke my heart. On a bad day, he came up to me and started pulling on my hand. I figured that I might as well follow him if it would make him feel better. He pulled me out of our house and toward the shore. At first I thought he was going to take me to the source of the Lux so he could fully transform, but instead we ended up on the beach. There was a woman waiting there with something in her arms. She had on a bright golden necklace that was shaped like a beetle. I recognized it immediately as a necklace that Erik had given to me at one point. It had gone missing a while ago, but now I knew where it was. She was holding it close to her chest and rocking it back and forth. She looked terrified when she saw Erik and me coming up on the shore. “Erik, can you at least try to hide?” the woman asked in a hushed voice. “Polly,” Erik said loudly and ran to her letting go of my hand. I almost died when he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. She pushed him away and wiped her lips. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him, he’s not himself lately,” she said to me rocking the thing up and down. I wanted to kill Polly. This . this land whore is the one who has been taking my husband away. But suddenly Erik’s words made sense. He told me that he was sorry for everything that he had done and would do because of the Lux. I guess whatever Polly was holding would be the answer to that. “There were times when he was not like this, and he told me that someone named Kida would know what to do. I’m guessing that’s you?” Polly asked looking around her to make sure we were alone. “My name is Kida. I’m Erik’s wife,” I said finally eyeing Polly up and down. 14 SHARED WORLDS “I know.