The Path Less Travelled

[Richard Stone]

Richard Stone was probably a little more excited then he should be that it was the first day of classes, but that was just him. He loved his job, and today would be the day he would get to meet his new students and welcome back those who were returning from the year before.

Placing his briefcase down on the desk at the front of the room, he opened the case and took out a stack of booklets. He then walked around the room and placed a booklet on each of the tables. The previous year he had the desks sitting in single lines. This year though, he had put the desks in pairs, making it easier for the students to sit beside their friend and share ideas quietly should they feel the need - though he would move people if he felt that they would work better sitting apart.

Once there was something on each of the desks, he walked to the front and took the box that held his collection of whiteboard markers and walked over to the boards. Sliding the white board across so that it covered the blackboard, he opened the box and took out the blue pen and wrote Mr Stone in the top left corner in large block letters. Putting that pen away, he pulled out the black pen and wrote Creative Writing in a neat - yet large - cursive script. Putting the cap back on the pen, he left the box on the tray at the bottom of the board and walked over to sit at his desk.

He welcomed each student as they entered the room and invited them to find a seat, not having a problem if any of them needed to approach him and talk about something. When the tardy bell sounded he rose to his feet, walked to stand in front of the board and address the class. "First of all, welcome to English Lit, I am Mr Stone. I'm not going to make you play silly games to get to know each other's names, I am however going to go over the rules: Only one person is to speak at a time. There are no stupid questions or answers. If you disagree with what someone else says, I'm open for debates, but you will not talk over anyone else." He raised his eyebrows as he looked around. "If I ask you to move seats, you will do so without argument. If there is an argument, you will not be allowed to sit with the person you are being moved from."

He held up a booklet like what was on their tables. "If you haven't already, please have a look through the booklet on your table. You will find that it is filled with pictures of pathways. Mysteriously beautiful paths can be made of cobblestone, brick, dirt, flowers, or just about anything. What makes a path uniquely special has nothing to do with its makeup or location, instead it’s a mixture of ingredients that create the most magical pathways you can walk.

"When you find the path of your dreams, it might lead to something magnificent, or something rather frightening as well. A pretty pathway can inspire thought provoking ideas, or simply let your mind rest and relax, away from the nonstop beeping computers and cell phones." He paused to allow his words to sink in. "Your job today is to look through those pictures and to choose a path that you would like to walk down. And then you're going to spend the next couple of weeks writing a short story that will be between 1,000 and 7,500 words long." He waited for any comments and then continued. "You don't have to share your completed story with anyone but me, and we'll use class time to jot down ideas and things like that. Are there any questions?" Again he paused. "You can get started, feel free to bounce ideas off the person beside you, but please keep the noise level down to what you would use in a library."

Roll Call:
@anna
Cassian F. De Fiore
Elizabeth Phillips
@elliotdean
Fionn Paquet
Jacey Taylor Davison
Marguerite Girardeau
@ronan
Stefan Eder

OOC: The pictures came from here

[Fionn Paquet]

Finn didn't know how he felt about it being the first day of classes. Sure, he should be a little excited, but he wasn't looking forward to being stuck inside for an entire morning. Pulling on his bomber jacket he grabbed his school bag and left the Blue House.

Walking across to the academic building, he made his down to the English department and down to his classroom. "Hey Mr Stone." He greeted as he walked through the door, surveyed the classroom and walked to sit in one of the tables in the middle of the room and began to leaf through the booklet that he'd found on the table. He arched his eyebrows at the pictures but figured that it would all be explained in due time.

As the bell sounded Mr Stone started the class. Finn shuddered at the idea of playing those stupid getting to know everyone games - he had no respect for high-school teachers who thought they were still acceptable for anyone above elementary-school level to play - and groaned when the teacher mentioned rules, but he had kind of expected those.

He leaned forward as the teacher began to talk about the topic and he was excited to get started. While the man was still talking, Finn pulled his folder and pencil case out of his bag and then turned his attention back to the booklet. Mr Stone hadn't said they couldn't write in the booklets, so he quickly started to number the photos, studying each one as he went, and nodded his head as he finally reached the picture he was going to use for his story; The sun shining through the trees gave it an ethereal look and he could imagine the twisted branches of the trees being arms reaching toward the unsuspecting person walking under them... he would just need to work out why anyone would be following this path.

Opening his folder, he picked up and pen and hastily began to jot down ideas.

[Stefan Eder]

Another year, another set of classes. Kai found himself heading through the now-familiar halls of the school, heading towards English class. As he entered, he smiled at the teacher and greeted him with a simple, "Good morning, Mr. Stone." After that, he glanced around and spotted Finn, the only other student that had arrived yet, apparently. He walked over to his fellow gymnast and nodded at the boy, "Morning."

He waited (somewhat) patiently for the class to start, playing idly with the pages of the booklet on his desk. Finally, the day could start, and Kai listened to Mr. Stone's introduction. When they finally got to the meat of the day's work, Kai listened, then turned to the booklet they'd been pointed to. He started flipping through the pages, trying to pick between the many beautiful pictures until he finally decided on one that he thought would be easy to write about. The trees looked similar to what they had at home, and Kai wouldn't be surprised to learn that it was from a similar location.

He opened his notebook and then pulled out his fountain pen, starting to write down ideas for his story. Perhaps it was the path that a hero needed to follow to get to the villain, or for a daring escape from the law... He would come up with something!

[Richard Stone]

Richard was surprised when silence descended on the room as the students began to look through the pictures. He had hoped that they would create at least a little conversation between the students, but he was happy for them to work in silence as well. He then wondered if he should have music playing in the back ground - just softly mind you - so that they weren't working in silence, and nothing too loud that he would have to shout over the top of it. He would look at that for the next class though, perhaps put out a poll for the students, so they could have a say in the kind of music that was played?

When there were no questions on the assignment he arched an eyebrow and wondered if the students were even awake an listening to him. "Alright, I am hoping that you have at least picked a picture by now? You have until the end of this class to work on what you want to write about, and before you arrive for the next class, I at least want you to have the background of the story in process." He paused to allowed the words to sink in. "I realise that everyone write differently, an no everyone will know how their story is going to end before they start, but you will have some idea of the direction you want the story to go in, and that's what I want you to work out." He held his hands up in a peace offering. "Ok, ok, I'm going to be quiet now. If you have any questions though, I am here." He walked up to the board and began to write up everything the students needed to remember:

Length of story: 1,000 - 7,500 words
Must be G-rated (something you'd let your grandmother read)
Write up an outline of the story before the next class

[Fionn Paquet]

"Hey!" Finn replied to his fellow gymnast. He had been unsure about having other people sitting with him, but Kai wasn't just another person, and he was happy to have a little company.

He listened to what the teacher wanted by the end of class, and before the next class. He pulled a face, but was sure that he could at least get an outline written out, though he was sure the story was going to be rubbish - he wasn't that into the whole writing thing, as he'd been more interested in the more recreational side of things before he'd come to the academy, and after camp over the summer, he was thinking that the direction he had been heading in hadn't been so bad after all.

Releasing a breath, trying to keep his head in the game, he directed his attention back toward the picture he had chosen to write about. He studied the picture and it looked like the silhouette of a person and decided that his story was going to be along the lines of the dreams you hear people having where they are running toward someone they know and no matter how fast or far they run, they never get any closer, just in his story, the trees were going to come to life, the branches reaching out toward the main person of his story, trying to stop their passage. Now, all he had to do was write all this down and for an outline.

[Stefan Eder]

Kai listened to Mr. Stone as the man went over what he expected of them by the end of class, and by the next class. It didn't seem like he was asking too much, at least to the boy, and Kai hoped that he could finish the outline pretty quickly. It shouldn't take that long, he figured. And the sooner he finished it, the sooner he could work on the story, and then he wouldn't have to worry about it at all.

After noting down the requirements for the essay and the timeline, Kai turned back to his photo, considering the scene. The soft light made him think of dawn or dusk, not full day yet, and with that... He could see it being the starting point to a voyage, or even the warning that it was time to hide from what the day or night could bring.

So many options! Kai jotted them all down as he worked, but when he looked up at the clock, it seemed like his time was trickling away. Frowning, he looked down, trying to pick out what he wanted to do, and then putting them together in a coherent form. The sun seeping through the branches of the trees overhead were a warning to the character, letting them know that it was time to find a place to hide, away from the wide road. Travelling so openly, even in the dark of night, had been a risk, but it was one that they had chosen to take, for the ease of faster movement.

Now... What were they running from?

[Elizabeth Phillips]

Elba was a complete bundle of nerves, her very first day of school! She could hardly contain her excitement. She walked briskly down the halls towards her English class, not necessarily eager to get there but not wanting to get there late either. 

As she stepped into the classroom she smiled at the teacher before finding her seat. He seemed nice enough. She looked around at the other students in the room, she hoped they were nice too. As class started she reached into her backpack, pulling out her notebook and a freshly sharpened pencil before waiting for the teacher to start. 

She listened quietly as he listed off the classroom rules she thought they sounded reasonable enough. As Mr. Stone began talking about the assignment she wrote it down, glancing at the packet on the table. Once her teacher had finished she looked through the packet, trying to decide which path 'spoke to her'. She really liked the autumn paths, and decided on the one with the winding path through the tall trees. With that all the way, all she had to do was come up with a story. She sighed, she wasn't really all that creative sometimes. Writing down the path she'd chosen, she hoped something would come to her before the story was due.