Young Writers Society

captain.classy and Elinor Brynn are running this Storybook.

Plot:

Adults have put together several 'camps' around the United States. They send their children to these camps to learn manners, how to behave in modern day society, and learn their place in the world.

You've been in West Oak Division, one of the camps on the west coast of the United States, since you were a child. Occasionally you've left to meet your parents for a small day trip, but other than a small stretch of countryside and your home, you haven't seen much of the world. After seeing your friends trying to rebel only to be taken away by one of the 'brothers,' workers of the camp, to a sound proof room, returning with bruises, you decide to just go with it and follow the rules.

It's a normal day at camp, starting with the usual routine: waking up at 5 in the morning to eat a small breakfast of oatmeal, milk and an apple. You head out to the fields after breakfast and start planting for this years harvest. Other children are talking, and a rumor starts drifting among your friends. They're saying that there's a girl from a far off camp who escaped and is coming to convince you all to break out with her. Most children say that it's absurd. Others don't even want to escape. Some, a very few amount, agree that it's time to leave the camp.

You have to choose: will you go with her when and if she arrives? When she arrives, will there already be an army waiting? Will you be the leader? What path will you take when everything you know and hate changes?


Profile:

Code: Select all

[b]Full Name:[/b]
[b]Age (18 or under):[/b]
[b]Appearance (Written and/or Picture):[/b]
[b]Personality[/b]
[b]History:[/b]

Rules

-- Standard Storybooking Rules apply
-- No God-modding, of course
-- Please respect the other members of the storybook
-- Nothing 18+ will be allowed
-- Love can occur, however understand it's not the purpose of this storybook, and absolutely no graphic sex/intense love scenes


Characters

captain.classy --
Elinor Brynn -- Emily Alden
VussyCat -- Serenity Lake
icebender28 -- Stella Abbigail Brian
Ladyofthedeathroses -- Antonina Giovanni

DT can be found here.

Full Name: Emily Anne Alden

Age (18 or under) 16

Appearance (Written and/or Picture)


Emily is 5'3 but only weighs about 100 pounds due to the meager supply of food that they receive; she is pale and gaunt after four years in the camp, but still has a pretty, almost childlike face. Her long and straight hair, once so blonde it was almost white, is now more of a sand color. Her eyes are wide and gray and her eyelashes are long and full, but there are dark circles under them. Her eyebrows are thick and about a shade darker then her hair, but they are still shaped. Her lips are full and tinted pink, although they are more cracked and dry then they used to be. She has bruises in several areas of her body and her veins are visible in several places throughout her skin. Even though she is sixteen, she is often mistaken to be much younger -- around thirteen or fourteen.

Personality:

Emily is somewhat quiet and shy. She doesn't speak much, and has a temper. She can be quite impatient, and she doesn't trust many people. Her thoughts are rarely optimistic, but rarely pessimistic either. She simply has a harsh view of how the world works, but still holds on to hope that one day things will change for the better. She cares very deeply about the people close to her and loves to laugh and see people happy.

History:

Emily was born in relative comfort in California suburb, living with her two caring parents. She lived a very normal childhood; going to school and making average grades, playing with her friends and hanging out at various public locales. However, when Emily turned eleven, things started to change. Her brother Michael was born, and Emily was often made to stay with him and care for him, while her parents took a back seat, which often made her upset. As she was beginning to hit puberty, she was often moody and confused and had developed a rather quick temper. Finally her parents had had enough, and sent her to West Oak the following year, when Michael had just turned one and Emily was twelve. They lived there for three years, just barely putting up with it. One day, when Michael was four, he strayed far from the activity he was engaged in and wandered to the fence, curious to get a better view of the surrounding area. To do this, he started to climb the fence. A guard saw him, and mistaking him for wanting him to escape, tried to shoot him in the leg just to stun him. However, he missed and Michael took a single bullet to the head, killing him instantly. When Emily found out, she was both furious and very sad and developed a strong hatred for the camp. She told herself that one day she would rebel, try to break free.

Okay, I've only done this once, so tell me if I am doing anything wrong.

Full Name: Serenity Lake

Age (18 or under): 17

Appearance (Written and/or Picture): Serenity is small, her body built for speed, not for fighting. But over the years, she has gained strength and is now one of the fastest and strongest members of the camp. Serenity is about 5 1/2 feet tall, and is pretty skinny, no matter what she eats. She has brown hair with a little bit of blonde mixed in. She has big, bright blues eyes and rosy cheeks.

Personality Contrary to her name, Serenity is a fighter. She has never been happy with the camp. She has more then once been taken away to one of the sound proof rooms, and so has finally decided to bide her time, which she is also pretty good at. Serenity is clever and usually has a plan, although if it involves wasting time, she would prefer to just run in and do the job. She's a leader and a hardworker. She is not one to keep her opinions to herself, but knows when to shut up. Serenity is very, very protective of the people close to her and would easily give her life to save a friend.

History: Serenity was sent to the camps when she was about eight after she refused to listen to her parents. Since then, she has hated them. Her parents have only taken her on one vacation, but after it ended badly, resulting in her first trip to the sound proof room, they considered her a lost cause. Serenity hasn't had very many friends, and has only ever loved one guy, who was moved to another camp the minute the "brothers" saw the connection. Of course, she tried to stop them taking him away, and that resulted in her second trip to the sound proof room.

Full Name: Stella Abbigail Brian

Age (18 or under): 15

Appearance (Written and/or Picture):
About 5'4, bright red hair and black eyes. Strong and fast, but built more for the speed.

Personality
Keeps to rules until the oportune moment, and even when she does brake a rule, she gets off easier than most. She doesn't mind waiting for awhile, but when things get exciting, she can't sit behind the lines. She knows almost everything that happens at the camp, and is usually friendly.

History:
Stella has been at the camp since she was 6, after her parents had another child and they didn't want two. After only a few years at the camp, she was looked up to by almost everybody else. Even with her popularity, though, she still hates the camp and will take the first opening to leave.

Full Name: Antonina Giovanni
Age (18 or under): 17
Appearance (Written and/or Picture): Dark brown hair to the middle of her back, thinner then most, naturally tan skin and high cheekbones, dark grey doe eyes with dark circles underneath her eyes.
Personality She is very quiet around the guards but once they are out of sight she starts talking, she is aloof at times, she's a fighter and a rebel, she often mutters in Italian mostly swears about the camp, she is quick to help those who need it and asks for no thanks, and she will often share her food.
History: If you can't tell from the name she is Italian and can speak the language fluently. She came to the camp when she was 5 when her parents had a baby girl and didn't want two girls so they dropped her off at the camp. She has a grandmother whom she loves deary and also comes to visit her from time to time.
Other: Ok as much as I would love to go searching for a translator from english to Italian I'm kind've busy if it's in italics it's Italian

Full Name: Nathaniel Lewis
Age (18 or under): 17
Appearance (Written and/or Picture): Dark hair, dark green eyes, olive toned skin
Personality He's quiet, and has gotten away with things because he's so quiet no one notices him. He uses his head to get out of situations before he uses his fists. He's not a leader, but can be if he has to. Even though he doesn't speak often, he's a very good listener.
History: His father died before he was born and his mother died in child birth. His uncle didn't want him and sent him to the school as fast as possible. So he's been at the school since before he was a month old, and has never left it. Ever.

Hey, would it be okay if we started writing while we waited for anyone else to join? I really want to use Serenity! and get into the story!

This sounds cool, is this going?

Full Name: Aiden Lockhart
Age (18 or under): 17
Appearance (Written and/or Picture): Not very tall, but strong despite his looks. He has red-brown hair and dark green eyes.
Personality: Despite it all, he's a happy person and likes to keep a positive attitude. He's open about his opinions and has been beaten plenty of times for that reason, and yet his belief in a better future is stubbornly (maybe stupidly) unwavering.
History: He was born on a ranch, where he spent a lot of his time riding horses and doing hard farm work. Unfortunately, his father was more or less a drunk who beat him and his younger sister Ayla constantly. It was so bad that Aiden found more comfort in his sister going to the West Oak Division. Unfortunately, it was not long after they arrived that his sister was moved to a separate camp, when their father packed up their ranch and moved to the other side of the country in moment's notice. He has left Aiden on the west coast, believing the distance won't matter at his age. Ayla, on the other hand, is at a camp many miles from here, and he has lost contact with her.

I think we have more than enough people to start. Vussy cat, if you'd like to start us off that'd be great! Just post something and I'll PM you if it needs changing and all that.

Nathaniel:
I was listening in on a conversation. It was the most interesting thing I'd heard in years. Someone had escaped? At first, I'd marked it off as one of the many fantastic and completely made up rumors that I often heard. But this one was different. There was something about it, maybe the lack of detail, maybe the unchangingness of it, I don't know. But it just felt like truth.
"When?" one of the speakers asked.
"I don't know," the other replied.
"Quiet in the hall," a "Brother" snapped.

We just want you to know that we love you and miss you. We can't wait to see you again after you are done with this rebellious stage.
We love you,
Your parents

I smiled as I read the letter from my parents. I stood up and ripped the page in half. Liars. They don't miss me, and they don't love me. I laughed at the thought of finishing my "rebellious stage". Nine years of my life I had been in this "rebellious stage." What in the world would give them the idea I would ever be done with it. I'll prove them wrong. I left my room, leaving the torn pages on the ground. That'll irritate the brothers. I turned down the hall and walked two rooms down to Stella's room. She opened the door before I knocked.

"Did you hear?" she asked in excitement. "Someone escaped a school!" she whispered in a hushed voice.

Stella:

I flew open my door, about to go tell Serenity about the girl who had escaped, to find her already outside my door.
"Did you hear? Someone escaped!" I said, trying to contain my excitment.
"Thanks for saying hi." She said sarcastically, then smiled and walked inside.
We sat down on my bed and began to talk about the newfound news.
"I found out a little while ago, right after visiting time was over, so I had to wait for another 2 hours!" I smiled. "It was torture."
"So, somebody finally had the guts." Ren said. (Ren is my nickname for her, permission of Vuzzycat.) I nodded.
"This is so exciting! I mean, I heard she was coming to all the camps, to try and get us out too! We might be able to leave!" My smile grew bigger, and i could tell that she was getting excited too.


(Hope it's okay that i made visiting time! It sounded like something they would have.)

I won't be able to post until Saturday, so don't expect me to post and freak out if I don't, because I'm camping and no electricity allowed! Talk to you later!!

Nathaniel:
Visiting hours. Not really my thing, because I didn't have any friends to visit. I kept to myself and faded into the background. It's not as boring as it sounds. There are plenty of interesting things to see if you close your mouth and open your ears. I usually sat on an old, forgotten, wrought iron bench outside and just listened. Staring ahead at nothing.
Crickets.
Grass in wind.
Bird over head.
Footsteps on rocks. I gave a quick glance in the direction of the footsteps to make sure it wasn't a brother. Then I went back to listening. I heard the footsteps getting slightly louder as they got closer. When they reached me, they didn't start fading away as I'd expected, passing me by. The feet stopped.
"Someone escaped," a voice said. I glanced at the speaker. Someone was talking. To me. This was new.

Serenity

"We might be able to leave!"

"Shh!" I whisper, still smiling. The thought of freedom echoes through my mind. Freedom! We were quiet for a few minutes before I spoke up. "Where will we go?" I think out loud. "We can't go home, they'll just send us back."

Stella bites her lip and shakes her head. "I don't know," she whispers.

I stand up and start to head out. "We'll figure something out, I guess." I mutter and leave. I walk out to the gardens and enjoy a nice stroll. Technically, I'm not supposed to be out here, but at the moment, I don't care. I see Nathaniel talking to someone. That's new. I walk over to them and listen.

"Someone escaped," the other person says. I turn around and walk away with a chuckle. New travels fast around here. I walk back to my room and see a notice on my door.

The brothers have noticed that you had an untidy room this morning. If this habbit of mess is not fixed, then... blah blah blah...

I don't finish reading the letter. Instead I rip it off the door and through it on the ground.

"Untidy my butt," I mutter, almost tempted to cuss. But irritating the brothers four times in one day would be pushing my luck. I open my door, walk in and fall on my bed, kicking the door closed with my foot.

"What now?" I ask alloud. I guess I just wait for her to come and help us break out. Now that someone has escaped, the brothers will be more cautious. If I want to break out by myself, I should have already done it. I get off my bed and pack my few belongings into a small bag. The letter from my parents is already picked off the floor and folded neatly on my small desk. I leave it out.

"Might as well be prepared."