Young Writers Society

"Hey, Zhia," says Cat, ginning. "Nice job shutting 15253 up. Makes me glad I had a mug. And by the way, do you know who's been looking through my Kindle? To be honest, Catch has been acting... weird..."

She glances at Catch suspiciously, then selects her favorite Artemis Fowl book on her Kindle and continues reading before Zhia can answer.

Zhia shrugs. "I was outside while these... shenanigans happened... So I'm not quite sure. But you're not listening anyway, so.. Eh, I'm just going to sit down and drink my chocolate." She then sheaths her dual Japanese swords and sits down to sip at her warm melted chocolate in a water bottle.

"You know, I just happen to be reading the Emperor of Nihon-Ja, Zhia."

Catch slouches in his seat, obviously angered by Cat's comment. "YOU'RE acting weird..." He mutters.

There's a short silence, only to be broken by a shriek. Catch, along with the rest of the Tavern, turns towards the shriek to find it belonged to Cat. Catch peeks over Cat's shoulder, shocked to find the words "battery dead" in the center of Cat's Kindle.

"Cat! What-" Zhia rushes over to her friend, only to find that Catch had already reached her.

"What happened?" Zhia inquired of Catch. He replied, slightly dazed, "Her Kindle's dead. Oh God, her Kindle's dead." Zhia raised an eyebrow at Catch as he wandered around the room, obviously stressed.

"O...kay then. Really, r4? I just finished reading The Royal Ranger for the third time! I actually haven't read Book Ten in a long time... I should probably read it again..." Zhia rambles.

Cat stands up shaking with fury and hisses through gritted teeth in a dangerously quiet voice, "OK, seriously, whoever was reading this had better have a charger with them."

She spins suddenly to face Catch, who backs up warily. After giving a death glare that could very likely paralyze a charging rhino to him, she turns to face the rest of the Tavern's occupants.

"No one. No one. EVER interrupts me reading." She stops for a second and thinks. "Except homework. But that's not the point. I had better see some kind of Kindle charger on this table when I get back from the bathroom."

She places her Kindle down next to her drained mug of ice chocolate and walks out of the room.

I teleport back hom and then back into the tavern to give Cat a charger.

"Here you go Cat," I say with a smile.

"Oh, thanks so much!"

*stumbles to his feet*

I will not be..flabbergasted...in the nose of my...Korean barbeque

*flops face first back to the ground*

Relieved, Catch wipes cold sweat from his brow. The beast has been tamed! Catch lets out a hearty cheer. "Thank God for r4's teleportation power-"

He stops mid-sentence, coming to a horrid realization.

This realization has Catch frozen, has all of his body processes ceased. His heart stops beating, his lungs stop taking in air, his blood stops circulating.

The realization?

Zhia slashed the power outlets. The Kindle can't be charged.

My eyes open in shock and I gasp. I immediately teleport back to my house and grab a bunch of lamps.

Cat comes back from the restroom just before r4 returns and nonchalantly steps over 15253 lying unconscious on the floor. She smiles upon seeing the Kindle charger on her table.

"Thank you very much!" she calls out and scoops her Kindle and the charger into her arms.

She pushes an armchair from the wall, points a pink umbrella at the blank surface, and when she moves away, there is a brand new outlet there. She quickly plugs in her Kindle and continues to read.

When 15253 comes over to plug in his troll-speakers, she bears her teeth and lets out a primal roar like an adult male lion. The windows crack and 15253's hair is blown back from his face from the ferocity. He wisely backs away. Cat grins, exposing her incredibly sharp canine teeth. Then she swivels her head back into reading position.

A few minutes later, the novel is finished. Cat puts her Kindle down and leaves it to charge. She orders a decaf tea and sits down by the fire to rejoin the Tavern's human population in conversation.

Knowing that the beast has been tamed for good, Catch can finally relax and order a new glass of Coke. He does so, but seconds later, the beast lets out a tremendous roar that shatters his glass. Disgruntled, he orders a third Coke, this time in a plastic cup.

Some time passes. Catch still hasn't touched his Coke by the time Cat finishes her book and joins the rest of the group.

"Dang, Cat," Catch whistled. "You're a fast reader. So, how was Artemis Fowl?"

Cat smiles at Catch. Luckily, the cokes were free on account of roaring, so she doesn't have to give him any money.

"Awesome as always. I'm still worried about my homework, though," she mutters grimly. "I hope it's not coming back."

Catch cocks an eyebrow.

"Even if it does come back, I don't see why you couldn't just fight it. I mean, you were about to decapitate everybody in the Tavern a couple minutes ago. Just use that anger to kill--or, um, finish your homework!"

"Because it's..." Cat gives a long dramatic pause here, " busywork. There is nothing more pointless or boring. It's effortlessly easy but the sheer ridiculous amount of it makes my brain clog up. It's just to waste our time and keep us busy before winter break. I HATE IT."