Never look back

Julkalendern 2011

2011-12-03T18:26:00.001+01:00

Jag tittade just på julkalendern. Den är ju bra. o.O
Ska det vara nåt, tänker du kanske, men julkalendern har varit så fruktansvärt dålig de senaste åren att jag inte kan bli annat än förvånad. Egentligen så har det nog inte varit bra sen 'Mysteriet på Greveholm' och 'Pelle Svanslös' från 96 och 97. Men i år, i år ser det ljust ut. 'Tjuvarnas Jul' har börjat med att ge oss personligheter som visserligen inte är originella men i alla fall intressanta och trovärdiga. Oliver Twist temat funkar verkligen bra också, särskilt med lilla Charlie i fokus.

Med diskussioner bland mina vänner i åtanke så håller jag nu med om att 1800 talets Sverige är en riktigt bra scen för 'Tjuvarnas Jul'. Och jag som är näst intill besatt av kläder och stil kan inte annat än att älska scenkläderna. De sätter, precis som språket och kulisserna, den perfekta stämningen. Jag tänker fortsätta titta och korsa fingrarna för att 'Tjuvarnas Jul' fortsätter som den börjat.

2011-11-25T20:38:00.001+01:00

I just want to draw some attention to the list of webcomics I have here to the left. It's been there for, well, quite some time but now it's been updated! They are all very good. Some are goofy, some are serious, some are sexy, some are just awesome. If you are at all interested in comics then take a look, most likely there will be a few you like in that bundle.

Some of them, like 'Freak Angels', are finished while others are still in their baby stage like 'Minor Acts of Heroism'. Which btw was an excellent tip from a friend of mine.

Also a quick warning, 'Teahouse' have a lot of graphical sex scenes and if your not into that then just leave it be, 'The less than epic adventures of Tj and Amal' and 'Artifice' also have smex. So far though it's been on a pretty harmless level.

But like I mentioned, there are many different kinds of stories and styles in this list, and I love them all. Take a look.

Skyrim ramblings, or mini review

2011-11-21T14:09:00.001+01:00

I've been playing Skyrim like a crazy woman. I don't even dare look at the time-stamp... =P
It is such an awesome game! I'm killing dragons with my bare hands (no, not really)!

My estimate on how many hours I've played is somewhere between 60 and 70 hours and I feel as if I have barely begun exploring. There are huge chunks on my worldmap that are empty and I have purposely been avoiding the main quests. There are so many things to do in this game, it never ends. I don't think I have ever played such a big game before.

School is suffering a bit because of this, but I can't seem to care. This is a bad thing... right? =P I will however work this in as a positive thing in my final judgment though.

There have been a few oddities with the game so far. Sometimes the dragons take on their far away textures (which, oddly, makes them look happy and somewhat cuddly) in close combat. It looks ridiculous and obviously it turns the scene into something far less than epic. And I am not a big fan of the worldmap either. Why cant I see the roads on it? I mean, sure the thing looks very cool and pretty but it's not practical whatsoever if you don't want to fast-travel all the time. My friends have experienced other oddities when playing, but I have only found issues with the textures so far, this could be because I am playing on the PS3 and they play on PC, or just random chance. I wouldn't know. I'm not an expert.

The good exceeds the bad, by far. And I would at least want to give this game an 8 out of 10. I would want to give it a 10 but frankly that would have to include a great storyline and as I have mentioned I have been avoiding the main quests so far, so I wouldn't know if the story is any good. Skyrim will in any case give many, many hours of fun. Go buy it.... now. Hurry.

New legislation: PROTECT IP

2011-11-20T14:37:00.001+01:00

New brilliantly stupid idea of how to stop illegal download. Just watch this video about the PROTECT IP Act.

Like the video says if this legislation comes through then posting any video with music, a film or video game in the background would be illegal and you could go to jail for it. Companies would get free range to censor any video or site that contain copyrighted material, such as your baby drooling in rhythm to Lady Gaga...

A wish upon a star?

2011-10-03T00:48:00.001+02:00

I want to learn how to focus. I guess that might be a strange thing to want, but if only I knew how to do it. The things I would learn, the stories I would write. I have fantasized about finishing one of my stories and being proud of the outcome. I write a lot. More then you might have know or thought, more then I let on. I don't talk about it because I can never finish a story. Well, at least not to my liking.

I would want to write an exam or hand in an assignment and secretly hope for the highest grade. I've never done that, not since kiddy school anyway. Instead, I'm secretly hoping that I won't fail spectacularly, because I always know I haven't learnt enough.

If only I could focus...

100 movies

2011-09-16T01:21:00.000+02:00

I guess Rik inspired me further to take Iceye's challenge (as he put it) as well. I tried putting them in some sort of order, but I gave up. There are too many movies, and they are way too different from each other for that to work.

So, here are the movies that I thought of during an hour or so of thinking and researching. Tomorrow I will likely remember other movies which should have been on this list, but I will just have to not care about those. Först till kvarn?

A hundred movies. All of them, I feel, are worth watching. Some more than others...

1. Memoirsof a Geisha: It is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen.

2. BigFish: This movie might be my all time favorite movie.

3. Thecurious case of Benjamin Button: This was one of those movies where I felt likeclapping my hands together and cheering when the curtains fell. It’s unique.

4. Inception:It was refreshing to see something so original.

5. Améliefrom Montmarte: I think it was Amélie’s wild imagination that spellbound me inthis movie.

6. SpiritedAway: This is a Hayao Miyazaki flick, which should speak for itself.

7. Cloverfield:I practically shouted BRILLIANT! when I exited the cinemas.

8. A.IArtificial Intelligence: This story is very cute, but also makes you think,which I value highly in a movie.

9. PrettyWoman: Julia Roberts is simply brilliant in this movie.

10. DirtyDancing: Well, who wouldn’t have this one on their list!

11. Juno:Definitely the soundtrack!

12. Titanic:Oh, come on! You know why…

13. Legendsof the Fall: This story is mysterious and intriguing with many, many interestingcharacters.

14. DeadPoets Society: Inspires independence!

15. Catchme if you can: It’s simple yet incredibly funny.

16. GreenMile: The, without a doubt, best movie adaptation of any of King’s books.

17. BrokebackMountain: The acting… It felt honest and real.

18. Coraline:Wacky! But very intriguing.

19. Vfor Vendetta: I like the characters in this one. Especially Evey.

20. TheLovely Bones: This movie challenges your imagination and brings a slightly differentperspective on things.

21. Howl’smoving Castle: Another Hayao Miyazaki flick. This one, though, I like becauseof the book it is based on.

22. Alicein Wonderland: Well, leave it to Burton to make a wacky wonderland.

23. Pleasantville:Two teenagers who are swept into a tv-series… What could go wrong?

24. JurassicPark: The dinosaurs still look real to me.

25. FightClub: It’s like a web of clues you have to unravel.

26. TheMatrix: Brought a turning point in action movies.

27. Piratesof the Caribbean: I laughed so f***ing the first time I saw it!

28. IronMan: Oh, Downey Jr…

29. TheBourne Identity: A very realistic action hero.

30. Hook:IT’S PETER PAN!!

31. Thenever ending story: I’d love to be able to just jump into a book like Bastiandoes.

32. Lordof the Rings: This includes all three of them. Art…

33. Wall-E:How can a movie with a lead character that can’t speak be so… so revealing?

34. Trollhunter:Well, it wasn’t a… brilliant… movie. But it was original and had a badass Norwegianin it.

35. SweetHome Alabama: One of the better so called “chick” flicks.

36. Tangled:Best Disney movie in a long while.

37. TheLion king: Best Disney movie… ever.

38. TheNightmare before Christmas: I love Jack.

39. Thelittle mermaid: I could identify with Ariel when I was a kid.

40. Phenomenon:Bring on the aliens! Well, at least if they will give me a superbrain.

41. IndianaJones: My hero!

42. Ocean’sEleven: Quirky and hilarious.

43. TheTime Traveler’s wife: A very sad story.

44. LethalWeapon: Hehe, well my parents liked these movies a lot. And well, I sort ofgrew up with them.

45. Chocolate:Johnny Depp is dreamy in this one.

46. ForrestGump: Shit happens? Yeah…

47. Charlieand the chocolate factory: Anything that will bring you to some othermysterious world is intriguing to me. Also Willy Wonka.

48. P.SI love you: A really good love story.

49. 9:Cute and kind of deep.

50. Changeling:Frustrating! But the most striking thing about this one is Angelina Jolie. Inever thought I’d see her in a movie like this one.

51. JamesBond: I’ve seen many maaaaaaany Bond movies. And well, I like him.

52. TheSanta Clause: Makes me feel the Christmas spirit.

53. Interviewwith a vampire: Angst and vampires at its best.

54. Inglourious bastards: FUNNY!

55. Hard Candy: Hardcore kid..

56. Jumanji:Haha, I don’t know why I like this one. Maybe a game like that would be fun toplay. I don’t know.

57. TheShawshank Redemption: Another very good adaptation of one of King’s work.

58. Face/off:I suppose I like the gory identity theft. Simple as that.

59. E.T:Aaaw! I love this movie.

60. Theboondock saints: Hm…

61. BatmanBegins: Second best Batman movie ever.

62. TheDark Night: THE best Batman movie ever.

63. Thebutterfly effect: Yeah… the alternate reality thing is something I have alwaysfound interesting.

64. Sixthsense: I did not see that coming.

65. Twister:It’s a little goofy but I have to admire the stupidity of chasing twisters.

66. Whatwomen want: Speaking of goofy…

67. Såsom i himmelen: I was pleasantly surprised by this one, considering it is aSwedish movie.

68. Låtden rätte komma in: A really cool vampire story, plus it’s Swedish.

69. TheChildren: I thought when popping it in to my dvd that it would be a secondclass horror movie. Oh, was I wrong.

70. Theimaginarium of doctor parnasus: Weird… Simply weird.

71. Hancock:Smirk, drunk superhero.

72. Eternalsunshine of the spotless mind: Again with the crazy imagination. I just loveit.

73. Divinesecrets of the Ya-Ya sisterhood: I saw it when I was a kid and I loved thegoofiness of the old ladies.

74. Whileyou were sleeping: I’m a fan of Sandra Bullock. And this is a pretty decentlove story.

75. MoulinRouge: The clothes! And the lights! And the Music!

76. Practicalmagic: I like anything that has to do with cute harmless magic.

77. Theothers: What is going on!

78. MeetJoe Black: Really cool movie. Brilliant Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt.

79. TwelveMonkeys: Wtf

80. CastAway: This movie features pretty much only one character. All the praise to TomHanks!

81. Sleeplessin Seattle: Lovely love story with Tom Hanks.

82. TheParent Trap: Lol. I just like their pranks… a lot.

83. Thefifth element: Strangely unique still. At least in regards to the clothes.

84. Luckynumber Slevin: I don’t know… But I’ve seen it too many times already.

85. Armageddon:Cute

86. TheAmityville Horror: It’s only on this list because of Ryan Reynolds.

87. Gremlins:Hahaha! I had nightmares for years, YEARS, after this one.

88. SherlockHolmes: Quirky, quirky Downey.

89. Poltergeist:Scary with capital S.

90. TheBrothers Grimm: Mostly because of Heath Ledger.

91. Donnie Darko: Time traveling is fun to try andmake sense of.

92. Princeof Persia: I honestly thought it would be terrible. I was surprised.

93. TheNotebook: Sad and very lovely.

94. Annaand the King: Features a strong independent woman.

95. Memento:Puzzle?

96. Limitless:I want magic smart pills.

97. BucketList: I think it’s cute.

98. Stardust:Pretty. I also like the Captain. =D

99. Leon– the professional: Respect to Natalie Portman.

100. District 9: A different alien movie. It was aninteresting view of society.

And there you have it! I hope I didn't bore you. =)

Oooh cool chinese woman

2011-02-18T13:34:00.000+01:00

There's this really cool Chinese (I think?) woman sitting at the table next to me and studying Swedish with her private tutor. They use English to communicate. It's crazy interesting since I'm studying the same thing at Professional Swedish only on a much higher level. In any case back to the cool Chinese woman, whenever she understands something new, like how to pronounce a word or a new grammatical rule she waves her hands in the air and whispers "yay!". ^^ And then writes down her new knowledge in her notebook looking incredibly happy all the while.

Galenpanna...

2011-02-18T12:47:00.000+01:00

Det måste ha varit nån föreläsning av intresse här på engelska parken idag, det var i alla fall mycket folk här som nog lämnat studierna bakom sig sen flera år ... I vilket fall så var cafeterian överfull och jag fick vänta i 20 min innan det var min tur, medan jag väntar händer något riktigt oväntat och konstigt. En dam springer förbi kön och jag tänker att hon måste vara sen till en föreläsning eller seminarium. Men icke, hon springer fram till en medelålders man och rent utsagt tacklar honom, slår på honom en gång, och sparkar honom sen tre fyra gånger på smalbenen. Ingen reagerar, knappt ens mannen som blir misshandlad. Den största reaktionen är höjda ögonbryn och blickar som far hit och dit för att se om nån annan sett samma sak. Efter "episoden" går damen med raska steg tillbaka till sin plats i kön, muttrar något till mig då hon upptäckte att jag stirrade på henne, och ställer sig sen där som om inget hade hänt.

Man undrar vad det var som gjort henne så fly förbannad att hon kände sig tvungen att puckla på en gubbe ...

2011-02-17T11:50:00.001+01:00

I found the most beautiful webcomic today. It's called The Wormworld Saga and the artwork in it is simply mesmerizing. The story has introduced a little boy on his first day of summer vacation, it seems to be told from the boys grownup self and it is indicated at several occasions that the storyteller isn't quite sure if his adventures as a boy was real or not.

Again, the artwork is wonderful and you should click the link and read it.

What is Santa Clause?

2010-12-27T23:34:00.000+01:00

24 december

Little Felicia and Joel both gasped when they saw what their uncle Josh was doing. He was hunching at the dining room table in front of the candles, maybe he didn’t think anyone was looking, and they saw him blow fire on them. They hadn’t seen anything like it before, and if uncle Josh could do that, then the other things in the story must be true, which means that their mom could fly! And their dad could use tele.. telekene… move things with his mind! They whispered to each other excitedly and the old man had to stop his storytelling for a while to let them calm down. William was still bothering Alex about his mom walking through the wall in the kitchen and Mandy and Reese were sure that they had seen the old man turn into their uncle Riley, they all wondered if they should tell the other kids about it all or not. They wanted the story to be true! How wonderful it would be if their parents could to all those amazing things the old man had been talking about, but it was strange that they had never seen anything before.

“They all smiled for the picture holding their prize high up above their heads. All your parents were there, except for your mom.” The old man said and looked at Alex and her brother Peter, their mom hadn’t met their dad a lot later. “Or your dad Jay.” He said and patted the boy next to him on the head. “But everyone else were there they all looked mighty proud on that picture.” He looked like he had just remembered something and then he pulled out a picture from his jacket pocket and showed it to all of them. They giggled at how funny their parents looked, and they called out names when they suddenly recognized their faces.

“What was the prize?” A boy said with a lisp. The old man smiled at his son. “Oh, it was a great prize.” He said and started telling the story again…

After the picture had been taken they all felt a little nervous. The check was just a symbolic gesture; the real prize was to meet S.C. Danny was perhaps the only one who didn’t feel nervous, since she didn’t know about the real prize. Blake certainly looked like he was calm, but you never knew with him, Sierra was practically flickering with excitement and Maggie couldn’t stay on the ground for more than a few seconds at a time. Soon, soon they would be allowed to go in. First they had to listen to the boring old speech that they hear every year. The headmaster talked about previous tournaments and the very first ones that got to talk to S.C and how exciting it was. He had been one of them, you see. Before his time this special treat had not been a part of the prize, oh no, then the check and a medal was all you got! He said and tapped the big check that Josh was now holding proudly. Near the end of the speech even Dawson looked a little restless. And then, finally, they heard their headmaster say his last line: ‘Step into the fireplace boys and girls. They are waiting for you’. And so they did, there was big open fireplace behind them and they all turned around and proudly walked into it. They stood there for a few seconds looking at all the people in the hall and then it started to fade. It was as if looking through water and fog at the same time, their few got distorted and suddenly disappeared. So this is what it felt like. They all thought, they had seen it happen before to the previous winners of the tournament and now they finally got to experience it themselves. After a while their vision cleared. There was a door there now. “This is it.” Riley said and smiled. “Open it!” He said sounding like a kid on Christmas and so they did. On the other side were coloured lights in various shapes and sizes and the prettiest Christmas tree you could ever imagine, reaching all the way up to the ceiling. The room was filled with people, some were wrapping gifts and others were decorating the tree. Blake was the first one who walked into the room and he was trying to look at everything at once, twisting and turning while doing it.

“There you are!” Said one of the women sitting next to the tree. She had been drinking hot chocolate and offered them all a cup. “So, you are the lucky ones this year huh? Well, come along, we don’t have all day.” She said cheerily and hurried them along. She led them through the hall to a big door at the other end. “In you go!” She laughed a little at them when they hesitated. “You were invited you know.”

“And so your aunt Sonya was the brave one and opened the door.” The old man said and smiled at her when she walked by them.

“Do you all know what Santa Clause is?” Was the very first they heard upon entering. Danny thought it was an odd question, of course she thought of a whitebeared old man in a red suit, but somehow she figured that wasn’t the right answer. Inside was a round table with perhaps 10 people sitting around it, the one who had spoken was standing in front of a large shining globe. He smiled at them all. “Yes, I know. It is a strange question.” He said and nodded towards some empty chairs around the table. While they sat down he continued. “We are Santa Clause.” He said and gestured to the other people around the table. They all smiled and some waved shyly. “You may think of a plump old man with white beard and a red suit and flying reindeers, but this, this is what Santa really is.” He poked the globe and it cracked opened to reveal an envelope. “What we do is to help people; Santa Clause is active all year round even if it is only under that name during Christmas.” He winked at them and smiled again. “We help wherever we are needed, be it small or big; we use our abilities to make life easier for those in trouble.” He picked up the envelope and held it for a while. “You have proven yourselves in your tournament, it has become a tradition to ask those who win to be a part of Santa Clause. We want you to join us. Just sign up and you will be trained here to reach your full potential and finally you will be sent out there to give and to help.” He unfolded the envelope and put it on the table; it had many signatures on it and looked very old. León was the first to grab the pen and sign the paper it was followed by cheers and the man patted him on back. “Good, son, good.” He said and then Josh took the pen from León and scribbled on the paper.

“They all signed up. And let me tell you a secret.” He waved for them to come closer. “They are the ones running Santa Clause now.” He whispered to them. They looked over their shoulders to look at their parents and then they quickly turned back when Keith waved at them. “Do they give the Christmas presents to all the children on… on Christmas?”Mandy asked and she looked very excited. The old man nodded. “And much, much more. Do you know why I have told you this story?” He asked them. Some chook their heads but most remained still. “Because all of what I have said is true. All of it. Your parents can do all of the things I have told you. Your aunt Maggie can really fly and Josh have terrible habit of setting everything on fire when he sneezes.” They all laughed at that. “Very soon,” he said and looked at them all. “we, your parents, will give you your own powers.” He said and now they noticed that the old man was changing. They gasped and giggled when his stomach popped away and when his nose seemed to sink into his face. Soon they were all looking at their uncle Riley. “Go open your presents!” And so they did. These were very special gifts; each and every one of the children had one silver wrapped present. As they opened them the children started glowing until they all were covered in sparkling lights. Their parents stood by watching and remembered when they had done this long ago.

The torch has been passed, now it was their turn to shine.

The End

The Tournament

2010-12-23T22:30:00.000+01:00

23 december

“Three days had passed since they had had the addiction incident, which they all would call it here on after; Emma had left campus no one knew any details but the common belief was that she had been admitted. Neither teams had been especially psyched about the tournament; it seemed strange that it was to be held this afternoon.”

“Danny!” Riley hollered when he saw her across the cafeteria. Danny turned around and saw Riley waving at her to sit down so she bought her lunch and went over there.

“Sit down. I want to finally give you my offer.” He said and stirred his chocolate. Danny smiled and sat down. “I’ve already joined Dawson’s team, I can’t change plans now in the last minute.”

Riley pointed at her with the spoon from his cup. “But you should hear me out; it might turn out to be the best thing for both teams. We need something to motivate us, I know you and the others haven’t been doing so well either.” He leaned over. “I want Dawson and the others to form a new team with me and mine.”

Danny was surprised; she had expected him to offer a bigger room or some other team privileges. This was unexpected. “Interesting… But why talk to me about this?” She asked after a moment’s consideration. Riley leaned back again trying to look casual, but failing a little. “Well, Dawson wouldn’t want to lose you and your ability so close to the tournament; he would most likely follow your lead on this. So, if I can convince you that this is a good idea, than I have in turn convinced the entire team.”

“Alright, I’ll talk to him.”

“The tournament was about to start, the entire city must have been there you could feel the excitement in the air. ‘The first challenge is the obstacle course. Four teams, one person from each team, will go through an obstacle course and along the way they will put their insignia on billboards. These will be placed in paces difficult to reach and easy to miss entirely. The first one coming out on the other side with all of their insignias placed correctly will move on to the next stage with an advantage, while the last one in is out entirely…” This was Dawson’s version of a pep talk, explaining the rules over and over again. “I’ve signed us up, no turning back now. This was a great idea Danny, Riley truly great.” He said with a smile on his face. They were all there with him waiting for the games to begin. “The next challenge is the riddle, and that is where you come in Danny. The rules are simple, you will get one riddle which you are supposed to answer correctly within the minute and you have only one try. Fail and we lose the advantaged gained in the previous challenge.” He walked back and forth in front of them when speaking with an everlasting smile on his face. “You Danny will be able to pick any riddle you like or even persuade the questioner that your answer is the right one. This is why I wanted you to join. Your gift will allow us to finally get past that challenge and win the tournament.”

“The obstacle course went like a charm! Maggie and Keith even beat the record. They had worked as a team when running through the course; Maggie put the insignias on the high points and Keith on the low. Next up was Danny and the riddle…”

Danny walked out on the podium to receive her riddle. The other representatives had already gotten theirs, two had failed and one had succeeded. Danny felt a little nervous, there were so many people here to watch her, but she decided not to care, this was going to be easy. She would do as Dawson had said and use her powers to win this. Once she had reached the podium the lights focused on her and a great voice spoke her riddle.

I talk, but I do not speak my mind

I hear words, but I do not listen to thoughts

When I wake, all see me

When I sleep, all hear me

Many heads are on my shoulders

Many hands are at my feet

The strongest steel cannot break my visage

But the softest whisper can destroy me

What am I?

Danny couldn’t help but laugh. This was the riddle? She knew this one. There was no need for her powers. “You are an actor.” She said still laughing a little-

“Danny had secured their lead and even without using powers. Sonya and Caroline made it through the labyrinth with their handy ability to walk right through the puzzle. They had only to worry about not being detected by the various scouts placed along the way. They had gotten the head start the others had acquired. They were allowed to be detected once without being disqualified, which turned out to be very useful. Next up was Sierra, Riley and Dawson and the very last challenge of the tournament.

“All we have to do is get the flag from over there to over here. Remember what we practiced.” Dawson said to them right before it started. Upon entering Dawson and Sierra turned invisible while Riley shape-shifted into one of the members on the opposing team. The other team had tricks up their sleeves to, but they didn’t have two invisible people and a shape-shifter. Dawson’s and Riley’s combined teams won the tournament without any setbacks.

“The crowd roared when they beat the all-time record. It was an amazing victory. No one had seen such a successful team on the tournament. In a little while I will tell you about your parents’ winnings and the offer made by a certain S.C…”

Addicted

2010-12-22T16:01:00.000+01:00

22 december

“Oh, no you don’t.” Dawson said to her and pushed her back mentally. “This should be settled without that.” She had been taken by surprise; he could see that she hadn’t expected him to be able to fight back this time. “I want to us talk. I will listen to whatever you have to say and do my best to make everything right.” He said and sat down on the scrawny little table. The girl was still looking hostile, but the glow in her eyes was fading. “Sit down with me Emma, and tell me why you are so angry.” He moved over so that she could sit down. She hesitated and looked around for another way out; Dawson was successfully blocking the door. “Did Riley set you up to this?” He asked after a while. The girl surprised him by laughing. “Riley? He couldn’t make me do anything.” She said still laughing. “Also… You should have come alone.” Keith threw himself on Dawson and they tumbled down on the floor, his eyes had a grayish tint and he was laughing along with the girl. Dawson could keep Keith away as long as he was holding Keith’s own power, but he needed to take Emma’s. Dawson pushed Keith away so he slammed into the other wall, making the entire shed tremble, and then he drew on Emma’s power. He smiled then. It was not unlike Danny’s power, he found that he could control both Emma and Keith without trouble; they didn’t have the slightest chance of avoiding him. It felt… good. He wanted to find out just how many he could keep on the leash. It was almost perverse but this was probably the greats feeling he had ever felt. How had Emma kept this as secret from him? He walked towards the school with Emma and Keith obediently following him.

“This was not the best moment of your uncle Dawson’s life he would come to regret it up until this day. Caroline, Danny and Riley were on their way to find Emma after Caroline had told them what she had done to León and they met Dawson outside the gymnasium…”

“Dawson! You’re okay.” Caroline said when she saw him walking towards them. “And you found that-“ She stopped mid sentence and her face went blank. Danny looked at Riley then and saw that he was the same. They all had that eerie grey tint to their eye’s… and then she felt something. Someone was trying to get into her head, she was sure of it. Learn from your experience… She thought and pushed as hard as she could towards that odd felling. “Release them” Dawson stumble from the impact and that was all that was needed, they were free. “D… don’t let her get away.” He said to Danny. “Emma..” Danny sent out a command to the Asian girl and she stopped dead in her tracks. “Now, please tell me what is going on.” Her legs trembled and she lowered herself to the ground to not fall over.

“It was all a big mistake. Emma had gotten tired of being the ghost, of not being noticed so she decided to do something about it, but she hadn’t expected it to feel so good to use her powers on others. She had lost control, like Dawson, and hadn’t been able to stop. The next few days were spent helping Emma get back to normal. They had almost forgotten about the tournament, almost.

Calm down

2010-12-21T23:53:00.000+01:00

21 december

“Keith and Dawson are on their way to find the one person who could be behind the strange things happening lately, Dawson and Josh suddenly trying to hurt their friends and what about that other Sierra?”

They were running towards the little shed as fast as they could, she might still be there. “I can’t see why she would do this to me.” Dawson said while running. They jumped between houses and up into the trees. “Beats me, you’ll have to ask her yourself.” They reached the shed after a few minutes and Dawson quickly opened the door and walked inside, he wasn’t as careful as Keith had been and he accidently triggered the trap. “Great… a classic.” Dawson said when a net fell down from the ceiling; he did manage to dodge it though. “Is she still in there?” He heard Keith ask from outside. Dawson looked around and yes there she was, but she wasn’t knocked out…

“I saw something!” William whispered to Alex who sat next to him. She turned around and hushed at him because the old man was still talking.

“Please! It was my mom!” He became desperate and started pulling her sweater to make her listen to him.

“Stop it William! I’m trying to listen.” She said and pushed him away slightly. But then he looked like he was going to cry so she quickly hugged him instead and promised to listen. “What did you see?” She asked and William stopped sobbing.

“My mom… She walked through the wall.” He said and pointed at the kitchen. Alex laughed a little at that. “Are you sure? Maybe you imagined it… We’ll figure it out later. Ok? I want to listen now.” She said and he nodded. The old man had moved on to Riley and Danny…

“There is clearly something fishy about all this.”Riley said when Josh had gone to lock himself up in his room. “Who could do that to him?”

Danny stood up and walked to the elevator. “Aren’t you coming?” She asked.

Riley frowned. “Where are you going?”

“To find Caroline. She must know something…” And so they went up to the library to try and find her. They would try the cafeteria first since that is where Josh remember being right before things got weird, but they didn’t have to go that far. Caroline was quickly coming towards them.

“Good. We were just about to look for you.” Riley said loudly to her.

“What the hell have you done to León!?” She shouted at him. She looked incredibly angry and her stare where very intense now, Riley was more than intimidate. He hid behind Danny. “I haven’t done anything.”He said.

“Oh, sure as hell you haven’t!” She said and proceeded to pull Danny out of the way. “You sent your people after him.”

“I have done no such thing!” He said and dodged Caroline once again.

“Calm down”

Doors are for silly people

2010-12-20T17:57:00.002+01:00

20 december

“We don’t have much time. I think she’s up to more trouble.”Keith said and hurried back to the school. Dawson stood on the branch for a while trying to make sense of what Keith had said, but he decided that it didn’t matter. He followed Keith with great ease even though he was stiff from the cold. All he hoped was that Keith was leading him to someplace warm…

The children had finished their dinner and were now hurrying out to the couches again. The old man had been waiting for them and he gave them a great smile when they came rushing in. “Sit down everyone, have a cookie why don’t you.” He said to them and so they did except for little William who ran back to the kitchen to fetch his glass of milk. Caroline was in there and tiding up. William watched her for a while forgetting about his milk, she reached through the cabinets to put clean plates back where they belonged. William stared because he didn’t believe what he was seeing and at that moment Caroline, his mom, walked right through the wall. William gasped and then ran in panic into the living room where the old man was continuing his story.

Dawson and Keith were making their way back to the school which turned out to be, embarrassingly enough, not very far. “Who is up to more trouble?” Dawson asked when they both landed on the roof of their house. “You really don’t remember.” Keith stated and then climbed down to a window and jumped in. Dawson frowned and did the same; at least it was warm in there. Maggie and Andrew had been waiting for Keith to return but they weren’t sure how to act when Dawson climbed in through the window after him. “He had nothing to do with it.” Keith said and shoved Dawson towards the fireplace. “Sit down; you’ve been out there for a while. I imagine you’re pretty cold.” Dawson sat down and soaked in the warmth until he felt nice and warm again then he turned around and seemed his old self again. “Now, tell me what has happened.” He said to them and Maggie started telling him about his strange behavior towards Danny and then how he had pushed Keith across the room. She told him that León and Caroline had gone after Keith thinking he was on his way to Riley. They hadn’t heard from them in while. Dawson’s reactions were subtle and composed, but he felt sick. He had sworn not to use his powers on anyone on this team. That was the number one rule. He then started listing all the people on the school and their powers; he came down to three or four that could have been capable of some form of mind control. He ruled out Danny, he had taken care of that possible threat as soon as he had met her. Keith had said that ‘she’ might be up to more trouble, and that left only one. He stood up and nodded at Keith. “We’re going to deal with this here and now.” He said and they both climbed out the window again.

“You’d think doors are more practical.” Maggie said to Andrew and they were once again left behind.

Rescued at last

2010-12-19T23:27:00.002+01:00

19 december

The old man had walked out into the living room and Riley rose to meet him. “I’d say they bought it.” The old man said and changed back into Dawson in a blink of an eye. “I’ll always be jealous of you doing that.” Riley said and slowly changed into the old man. Dawson laughed at that. “You better get back in there and tell our story. Lily wants to know what happened to her Dad.”

“He is waking up.” Danny said in the general direction of Riley. She didn’t want to leave him, since she couldn’t be sure if he was going to start with the fire again. Riley and Sonya appeared to have put out the fire in the bedroom. “I said, he is waking up!”

Riley came out of the room and crouched next to Josh. “Hey there buddy, how are you feeling?” Josh murmured something about his head and tried to sit up. “Best stay down.” Riley said and held him down. “You are going to tell me why you tried to set everything on fire down here.”

“And then Josh told him everything. What he remembered of it anyways…”

Josh had lured León and Caroline away from the library and now he was trying to get rid of them without being rude. He had led them to the cafeteria but Riley was clearly not there and he could sense Caroline getting frustrated. “Well, I guess he left.” He said as a rather lame excuse. Caroline sighed and gave him that ice cold stare. “Alright, alright he’s at the library.” He said and lowered his head.

“Well, that’s just great!” León suddenly got very angry, he grabbed Josh and before Caroline could do anything about it they were gone.

“And that was as much as he could remembered, when Riley told him about the fire he didn’t believe it. He would never do anything like that, especially not to Sonya. Not even after showing him the burnt bed did he believe it. He decided to stay locked up in the room until he could figure things out. If there was something wrong with him he wanted to stay away from people.”

“This is bad.” Dawson told himself. “I have apparently been walking in circles…” He was looking down on his own tracks from, he guessed, about half an hour a go. He was shivering from the cold and exhausted from trying to keep warm and he decided to sit down for a while, even though it would make him even colder. He sat like that for maybe ten minutes before he noticed it. Someone was out there! He tried pulling the power and immediately recognized Keith. “Keith!” He shouted. “I’m over here!” And then he climbed up the tree he had been leaning against and met him halfway.

Carebear

2010-12-18T23:45:00.000+01:00

18 december

“What happened to my dad?” The old man was interrupted by a little girl. He turned around to look at her. “Don’t you worry carebear, he’ll be just fine.” He said and smiled at her. “But before I tell you that story let’s get back to Danny and Riley…”

“How old is it? It looks ancient…” Danny asked and took some crackers and a soda.

“It’s from the same year as the first tournament, which was held not long after the school was founded. And that was in 1584.” He said and popped open the other soda can.

“Really… If I don’t misremember the camera hadn’t been invented in 1584.” She took a closer look at one of the pictures in the book, and it certainly looked like a photograph.

“It’s not an actual photograph, one of the students at the time made those. What I’ve heard is that the camera was invented as an experiment; it was supposed to mimic the power that created those pictures.” Danny looked up from the book and stared at him in surprise.

“You are telling me that this school was responsible for the camera?”

Riley laughed at that. “Didn’t you do your research before coming here? People like us have always been behind the technological progress in the world. Telephones, internet, airplanes were all inspired by people like us.”

“I guess I’m a little behind on the research…” She ate another cracker and continued to flicker through the scrap book. “This tournament, what is it all about? What does the winner get?”

“Since you’re new here, I won’t tell you.” He said with a big grin. “Speaking of the tournament… Tell me Dawson’s offer and I’ll do my best to top it.”

They were then interrupted by a girl who suddenly came running out from one of the locked rooms screaming. Something was on fire and embarrassingly, Danny’s first reaction was to lie down on the floor. “Josh! What are you doing?!” She heard Riley yell. “Sonya! Get close to him and knock him out!” Danny peeked up from behind the couch and saw the blond little girl run up to a cloud of fire flailing a big book, and then it suddenly stopped. I guess she knocked him out, Danny thought.

“Jeez! What the hell happened?” Riley asked the girl.

“I don’t know! I don’t even know where he came from. Suddenly he was there and the next thing I knew my bed was on fire!” And then she rushed into her room to, presumably, put out the fire.

“Watch him.” Riley said to Danny while he ran to the kitchen to fetch a fire extinguisher. Danny sat down next to the guy and checked if he was still breathing. Luckily he was. She decided to use her powers if he woke up, she could make his powers useless or make him fall asleep if needed.

“How did uncle Josh get there?” Alex asked. “Wasn’t he with aunt Caroline and uncle León?” Similar questions were asked and the old man raised his arms to quiet them down. “I’ll tell you after dinner.” He said and walked out the room.

Scrapbook

2010-12-17T23:50:00.000+01:00

17 december

“No, no deal.” Danny said and kept looking at the books. “Tell me why it is so important for you to win this tournament and I might reconsider.”

Riley smiled and nodded. “Alright, but then I will most definitely fetch something to eat and drink. You make yourself comfortable or look around. I’ll be back in just a minute.” He said and walked out of the room. Danny took the opportunity to sneak around a little, she wondered about this place and what the original usage of it had been. Most of the doors were locked, not that it matters; they were most likely dorm rooms anyway. She turned back to the books and after a while she found a scrapbook about the very first tournament held here at Tingvalla. She was mesmerized by the old pictures and the people in them, they had such serious faces. On some of the pictures she could see the various challenges of the tournament, a labyrinth with several players trying to reach the other side without being spotted by the judges or stopped by the other team. The rules of the tournament seemed to be easy; the first team to reach the other side without being spotted wins.

“Aah, I see you’ve found the oldest scrapbook in the world…” Riley had returned with some snacks and drinks.

“Meanwhile…”

“Be wise, and let my friend go.” Keith said upon entering the shed. He skillfully dodged the silly trap inside and took hold of the person in there. “I don’t want to play games. I’ve let you run yours without interrupting so far, but now you have gone too far.” His grip around the girl’s throat hardened when she didn’t answer him. “You know I can make you do it anyways, better do as I say or you’ll get bruised.” The girl’s eyes lit up with a grey light and she smiled at Keith. “There” she said and the light in her eyes faded away “good luck finding him.” Keith quickly covered his eyes to not let her get a hold of him and then pushed her into the back wall. Hopefully it would knock her out for a while, at least long enough for him to find Dawson.

It was really cold now. The lights had disappeared suddenly and after that Dawson had gotten disoriented and was probably walking in circles. He still didn’t understand how he had gotten here. The reasonable thing to do would probably be to stay put and wait for someone to find him, but it was so cold…

Magic button

2010-12-16T22:38:00.000+01:00

16 december

“What do we do?” Reese whispered, although it was a lousy whisper Mandy thought. Uncle Riley had surely heard it. She put her finger across her lips and shook her head.

“So, tell me… Do you have a twin?” Danny asked and the sarcasm was loud and clear. “Please tell me what is going on; I don’t want to play this game anymore.” She was tempted to use her power but the latest encounter with Dawson had made her at bit wary about using it. She had agreed to follow Josh into the library and it looked just like any other school library until he had leaned over the counter and pushed a button. On doing this one of the bookshelves was pulled aside and revealed a door. “After you.” Josh said and gestured towards the door. “Okay, I guess I’ll go first then…” he said when Danny didn’t respond and walked through the door. It appeared to be an elevator, intrigued she decided to follow, what was the worst that could happen? That you are walking into a trap and will deeply regret ever walking through that door? Her mind suggested. Or perhaps I’ll actually get some questions answered. It tried again when the first suggestion was ignored. Danny took a deep breath and stepped into the elevator.

Mandy and Reese looked at each other in astonishment, was that the old man talking? It couldn’t be mistaken; the old man was in the kitchen continuing his story. They quickly looked at uncle Riley who was still sitting in the armchair. “Shouldn’t you two hurry up? The food will get cold and you’ll miss the story.” He said suddenly. They both jumped in surprise at that. “What about you uncle Riley? Don’t you want any food?” Mandy said after abandoning their not so secret hideout. “Sure, sweetie, in a little bit.” He said and smiled at her. “Run along now, kiddo.” And so she did with Reese not far behind.

The elevator went down for a minute or so and then it stopped. “This is our place, my team and I practice here. Just like Dawson has his little house over by the woods I have this.” When he stepped out of the elevator he changed his appearance. Danny laughed a little at that. “I knew something was up.” She muttered. “Who are you really?” She said then speaking up. He just smiled at that and then showed her into the living room. It had its own little library in there with bookshelves reaching all the way to the ceiling on all four walls. There were several couches and armchairs in the room and a fireplace. “Are you hungry? I’m sure we have something edible down here…” he asked and sat down in the armchair next to the fire. Danny chose to walk around a little in the room. “I will assume that you are Riley.” She said and picked down a book from one of the shelves ‘The Founders of Tingvalla School for the super gifted’ it said and she frowned at the title. “My number one question for you is why you have been following me around. Disguise or no, you’ve been around me ever since I got here. There is no point in denying it.”

“I need you for the tournament.” He simply said. “I’m sure Dawson has made you his offer already. Let’s talk. I’m sure I can give you a better one.”

Mandy and Reese entered the kitchen and there he was, sitting on the kitchen couch and telling his story. What was going on? Hadn’t they seen the old man turn into uncle Riley just a minute ago? Something was up, and Reese was determined to find out more about this, but for now he settled with eating and listening.

Is he Santa or a Ghost?

2010-12-15T22:52:00.000+01:00

15 december

“I think that was your aunt Caroline calling, and that means food.” The old man said and the kids hurried to the kitchen, except for Mandy, her brother and Reese who were hiding behind the couch. They had a plan… No one knew who the old man really was, he didn’t have name or a house or a bed. But now they would find out, if they could just be really quiet they might be able to follow him or at least see where he went. Mandy thought that he might be Santa, but that seemed silly to Reese. It couldn’t be Santa, he would have way too much to do over at the North Pole to be able to come here and tell a silly story. Not that the story was in any way silly. Mandy’s brother had a theory about the old man being a ghost, on account of him never eating anything or even sleeping, which sounded reasonable to Reese. Whichever it turned out to be, they would figure it out.

Once all the kids had let the room, the old man sighed and sat down heavily in the armchair and they immediately ruled out the ghost theory. Mandy was brave enough to take a peek and she saw something that made her quickly pull her head back down. “His nose!” she whispered to the others. “Look!” Three little heads popped out from behind the couch and looked intently at the old man’s nose. It had changed. It seemed… smaller now. As they watched his hair turned less grey and his face seemed to get less wrinkly… The children watched how the old man turned into their uncle Riley. They stared at him in disbelief. Was everything in the story real?!

Lonely little shed

2010-12-14T00:07:00.000+01:00

14 december

Keith ran across the roof of the school building and he made it look very easy. It was the fastest way for him to get to where he was going, when he reached the end of the roof he seamlessly jumped to the flagpole a few yards away, spun around it and jumped to the roof of the gymnasium. He didn’t stop until he had reached a small shed in the outskirts of campus. He jumped down from a tree and landed, without a sound, outside of its door. Keith was a really sweet guy, he always had a smile on his face, but now, now he looked intimidating. Standing there in front of the lonely little shed, slightly hunched with his entire body tensed up he smiled a different kind of smile. “I know you’re in there.” He whispered. “Better stop playing games.” As if he had been waiting for a signal he suddenly rushed in through the door and slammed it shut behind him.

“Meanwhile, León and Caroline have met up outside of the library, but they can’t find Keith anywhere. They decide to talk to Riley anyways; perhaps he would know something they didn’t…”

“Mind telling me why you wanted me here?” Caroline asked and you could tell she was annoyed. She had this way of staring at you with those ice cold blue eyes that made you feel like you were five years old again and had just been caught stealing from the cookie jar. León met that stare head on and smiled. “Well, Caroline. Dawson threw Keith across the room and then he ran away like a coward. We are here in case Keith needs back-up. I, like Keith, don’t think it was the real Dawson in that room. Hence, we are here, waiting for Riley to show up.” Caroline sighed and walked over to the boy standing just outside the entrance of the library; León shook his head but followed her anyways. “Have you seen Riley.” She asked the boy without a fuss. The boy, who happened to be Josh, was distracted by Caroline and didn’t see Danny or that she had waved at him. “Oh, ah well, I can’t say I have.” He said and tried to turn away from her. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m waiting for someone.” He looked around in hope of spotting Danny, and so he did. She was with… himself. Josh frowned at this and felt a little hurt; he had wanted to introduce her to Riley himself. “Now that you mention it, I have seen him. I’ll take you to him.” He said and walked in the opposite direction of the library and Riley.

Lost in the woods

2010-12-13T00:05:00.000+01:00

13 december

“What is going on with Josh? Why did Dawson break his own rules? And why is Keith angry with Riley and not Dawson? Well, let’s start with Dawson…”

‘What is happening…? I can’t fight it! Please, anyone, help me. I can’t stop.’

Dawson was running through the woods, blinded by desperate panic. His heart was racing and his head felt clogged up. His actions didn’t feel his own. He used telekinesis to push away branches as he went, not that he cared much but it made it easier to run. He wanted to be far away, it was all he could think about. The further away from the school he got the easier it became to think. When the panic left he slowed down and came to a stop about 3 kilometers away from the school. He spun around a little trying to figure out where he was; finally he sat down on a rock to think. He tried thinking back on what had happened, had he really pushed Keith across the room? He remembered practicing with Maggie and showing her how to improve her flying, then… Danny? She had been there, he was sure of it. Been where? And where was he now? It was like trying to remember a dream, the more you think about it the more you forget. The panic returned and he stood up again. ‘Where am I?!’ He had no idea how he had gotten here, or where here was. He tried to remember, but all that came to him was flying with Maggie. He was sure he had done that… But that must have been several hours ago, they had started early in the morning and now it was dark outside. “Hello!” he tried but there was no answer. “Is anyone there?” He checked his pockets and cursed when he couldn’t find his cell phone. “If this is prank…” He muttered and looked around. He could see faint light coming from up ahead, and decided to walk towards them. It didn’t look far.

Not again...

2010-12-12T12:24:00.002+01:00

12 december

Danny was sitting outside a classroom thinking about everything that had happened since she got here. She was tired and angry and she didn’t understand the people here, she didn’t understand Dawson.

A boy walked over to her and sat dawn beside her on the bench. Maybe she looked lonely. “You’re the new girl, aren’t you?” he said and reached over to shake her hand. “I’m Josh.” He had dark hair, probably coloured, and he was wearing a black t-shirt with an angel embroidered on the back; it was neat. “Yeah, I guess I am. My name is Danny.”

“So, Danny, what do you think of this school so far?” He asked and seated himself more comfortably. Danny frowned and exhaled while leaning back. “I’m not sure. People here are different. I’m not sure where I fit in.”

Josh grunted and sat up again. “I know what you should do. Meet me outside the library after your class. Do you know where it is?” Danny nodded at this. “I’ll show you how to fit in. That’s a promise.” He said and smiled at her. He stayed until her class started and then repeated his offer before leaving for his own. He seemed nice she decided and would go to the library and meet him later. Class was just like any other class, in this case maths. When class ended she navigated to the library and saw Josh standing there with some other people. She waved at him, but he didn’t wave back, maybe he hadn’t seen her. “Danny! I’m glad you came.” Danny turned around and saw Josh walking towards her. She quickly turned to look at the group of people outside the library, and yes there he was talking and laughing with his friends. “How was your class?” Josh asked and pulled her arm slightly to make her follow him into the library.

The number one rule

2010-12-11T11:31:00.000+01:00

11 december

Andrew picked up Keith and quickly walked out the room. The others followed, leaving Dawson alone. They put Keith on his bed and checked if he had any injuries. It didn’t look like it, and he was waking up now. “Rest, we’ll take care of this.” León said to him and then teleported away.

“Follow him! Don’t let him do anything stupid.” Maggie said to Andrew. “I’ll stay here and make sure Keith hasn’t got a concussion.”

The kids woke up really early and found that the old man was already there. They ate their cereals and hurried back to the living room to continue the story. “Andrew found León in the practice area. ‘We don’t use our powers on each other here… wasn’t that his number one rule?’ León said bitterly...

“Let’s not break that rule any further. Dawson will have to explain himself when he comes back. If he doesn’t then he’s out.” Andrew said and they walked back to the others. Keith was awake and fine, although a little bruised. “Are you ok buddy?” León asked.

“Where is he?” Keith’s eyes seemed to darken.

“He bailed…“ Keith threw himself out of bed and dodged every attempt to keep him in the room. Andrew reached out to push him back down, but Keith was way faster than Andrew and slipped right by him. He dodged León by running up the wall and climbing out the window. They all hurried to it and watched him land on the ground after a two storey drop without a scratch, he stopped to look up at them and then he ran across the lawn towards the main building.

“Damn it! He’s going after Riley. Tell Caroline to meet me at the library.” León said and teleported away. Andrew and Maggie stood silent, starring out the window for a while. “Why would he go after Riley?”

Nostalgia

2010-12-10T18:27:00.000+01:00

10december

“Stop!”

Dawson let her go and suddenly the world was back. All the noise coming from the other people in the room was, for a split second, almost unbearable. Danny sat down on the floor to catch her breath and to give herself some time to think. What had happened? Her powers didn’t work, was there something wrong with her? Maybe the reason for the bump in her forehead had something to do with it… And then she remembered. “You made me swear to never use my powers on you.” She looked up at Dawson and he was indeed laughing. “Yes, I’m sorry. I should have warned you, but now you know how it feels to try and work against your own power, you should learn from this and use it to fully understand your own capabilities.” He reached out to help her get up, but she refused.

“Bastard.” She said to him and walked out.

“Well done.” The boy who threw balls at León said after Danny had left. “That was an excellent plan.” Dawson could look really scary when mad, and now he was furious. He gritted his teeth, pulled in Andrew’s power and pushed the boy so hard with it that he slid across the room and slammed into wall.

“Keith!” Maggie rushed over to him to check if he was ok and then turned to Dawson. “What the hell are you doing?!”

Many of the children were yawning and struggling to stay awake at this point. It was time to go to bed for real this time. He told them to sneak back inside again. They put on their shoes and slowly dragged themselves across the lawn. Once in bed, they fell asleep before their heads hit the pillows. The old man tucked them in, turned off the lights and went into the kitchen. One of the women sat at the table in there and smiled at him when he entered. “Hey there, old man.” She said and stressed ‘old man’. “Hey yourself.” He answered and when he sat down next to her, his hair was thicker. “They’re sleeping now. I think they had a good time.” His nose changed shape and size.

“How far did you get?” She asked and watch his eyes turn from brown to grayish-blue.

“Well, I started with Danny and when she first came to Tingvalla. I told them how Maggie and Keith climbed into her room and threw her out the window. Do you remember? Dawson did it to all of us.” He smiled at the woman and drifted off in thought for a while. He seemed to wipe away his wrinkles with his hands while talking. “I’ve introduced just about everyone, and I told the kids about the two Sierras. I haven’t said why Dawson and Riley were so interested in Danny yet. I’m saving that one for later, I want them to feel the suspense, you know.” He chuckled a little and his clothes changed from sweater to T-shirt and from slacks to Jeans. The woman laughed a little at the memories as well. “Dawson, Caroline, Maggie and Andrew, Keith, León and me, that was Dawson’s team back then. It was a long time ago wasn’t it?” She said and reached over to hold his hand. He squeezed it and smiled. “And my team, boy did we suck… Josh, Blake, Emma, Sonya and me.” They laughed for a while together until they remembered the children and stopped abruptly to not wake them up.

Dangerous hiccups

2010-12-09T00:00:00.000+01:00

9 december

“While Danny is practicing with Dawson, Sierra finally found Riley. The school was a lot bigger than it looked, and since Riley was famous for not answering his cell phone it took a while to find him…”

“I’ve been looking all over! Where have you been all day?” Sierra frowned at this; he had been looking for her too? Riley had walked out from a classroom and run into Sierra. He was kind of tall and skinny with his hair in wild disarray. “Tell me everything. Has she decided anything? What does she think of Dawson so far?” The questions kept on coming.

When Sierra gets surprised, sad or angry she loses control of her powers. She flashed between visible and invisible a few times before she calmed down. “Sorry, I can’t handle a million questions at once. Let’s get back to the dorm. I’ll probably have to repeat everything to the others anyway.” She said and settled somewhere near visible.

Riley’s dorm was located in the main building above the library, which was one of the reasons why he hung out there so much, he and Sierra headed over there and picked up the other members along the way. Once inside they sat down in the living room. One of them immediately started playing with the candle placed on the table and Blake sat down in the armchair and started sketching in his notebook. “What’s going on?” An Asian girl asked who for some reason sat on the floor, in the corner. “Just an update Emma, you don’t really have to be here, unless you want to.” Riley said to her and then turned to Sierra. “So tell us. What’s the new girl like?”

“She’s sweet, and a bit scary. It’s true that she can make you do things by just wanting you to.” Sierra said and sat down at the end of a couch. “We have an issue with that, actually. She told me to leave her alone, which means that I can’t get near her anymore.”

Riley scratched his chin. “Maybe you should talk to Dawson about that? Who knows, it might work in our favor.”

A flame burst out from the boy playing with the candle. “Sorry, better not be too close. I have hiccups.” He said and covered his mouth. Everyone stopped talking and Blake even stopped scribbling, until the new recruit, Sonya, spoke up. “Oh my god… That happens when you have hiccups?”

“Um, no. Only when I’ve eaten chilly.” He said, quite serious, but with a grin on his face. As sudden as the silence, everyone started laughing.

Dance

2010-12-08T00:00:00.000+01:00

8 december

“If you want to master your abilities then you have to trust me, let’s try it again.” Dawson said to Maggie when she once again flew into the obstacle instead of around it. “No! I’m sick of this. I’m sick of getting bruises all the time!” The others stopped what they were doing to look at them, Maggie had quite a temper and it was always amusing to watch. “You seem to have problems with counterbalancing. Calm down and I’ll show you how to fix it.” Dawson walked over to her and helped her up. “Ok? Just watch this time, see how I lean slightly to the left while flying around it on the right.” Dawson flew up into the air and made the whole thing look very easy and even elegant. Frustrated and embarrassed Maggie picked up the nearest object and threw it very hard at the nearest person. It happened to be a shoe and it hit a rather big guy, named Andrew. The look on Maggie’s face was priceless, it went from angry to shocked and finally to sad. “Sweetie, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to.” She whimpered and walked over to hug him.

“Is there anything you can’t do?”

Dawson turned around and located Danny who had just entered the hall. “I’ve been told that I’m not very good at dancing.” He answered while landing next to her. “Is something the matter?” There were four people in the room besides Dawson and herself. They were all practicing for the tournament, León was there. Balls were thrown at him, which he was supposed to dodge by teleporting away. A girl she remembered from her first day here at the school was flying through some complicated course set up in the ceiling. Finally there was a guy dressed in all black who was practicing his telekinesis by using it to throw objects at various targets. “I’ve had a weird day. I missed class, my head hurts and I have a funny feeling that I’m made a fool of.” She said while pulling of her backpack and taking of her outdoors clothes. “Can you by any chance mimic two powers at once?”

Dawson shook his head. “You being here, does that mean that you have considered my offer? Will you compete with us in the tournament?” He sounded hopeful. Why is this tournament so important to him, Danny thought. “It means that I want to try out the goods before buying.”

Dawson smiled at this and gestured for her to follow him; he went to the other side of the room, away from the others. “Make me dance.” He said to her.

Danny raised her eyebrows a little and said: “Dance.” Nothing happened. She had to struggle to even say the word. She tried again, this time it felt different, but Dawson still hadn’t moved an inch. “Come on Danny, try harder. Dance!” and then she started dancing. She didn’t even think it was strange that he had turned the game on her. Nothing else seemed to matter, the room faded away and the sounds around her got muffled and distorted. All that was left was the dancing… and Dawson. Was he laughing?

Mysterious motives

2010-12-07T00:01:00.000+01:00

7 december

“I’m getting ahead of myself; let’s get back to Danny. She was being dragged off to the school cafeteria by the mysterious other Sierra…”

Danny felt a little woozy from hitting her head and had trouble figuring out what had just happened. She figured it was best to go along with it; she was already late for class, a few minutes more wouldn’t make a difference. “I’m sorry for knocking you over. I was trying to get to class in time.” Danny said to the girl and sipped her chocolate. Sierra just waved it away. “No worries, at least no one got hurt, not seriously any way.” And then they sat there for a while in awkward silence, sipping their chocolate. Danny took advantage of this; she looked at the girl over her cup and tried to find something, anything, odd about her. But to no use, as far as she could tell this girl looked exactly like Sierra. “Have you made a decision yet?” Sierra suddenly asked. “About Dawson I mean.”

“Like I said before: no not yet. No one will tell me anything about him.” Danny answered.

“Right, well, you should know that you have options. I’ve heard Riley’s looking for people as well.” Sierra drank more from her cup and smiled like she had a secret. “I of course want you to join us, but look around first, perhaps you’ll come to appreciate Dawson’s offer when you hear the others.” She took one final sip and then rose to leave. “Riley usually hangs out in the library.”

The old man stopped talking and nodded towards the little girl who held her hand up. “What is it honey?”

“I need to pee…” she said with the last word fading into a whisper.

“We’ll wait for you Mandy, go on ahead. While we are at it, does anyone else need to use the bathroom?” Another five hands were raised. “Well, go on then.” He said to them and then they all ran towards the one bathroom. Reese was the winner, him being closest to it, and the others formed a neat line outside the door.

“Now dad’s in it to!” the girl who had stayed behind said to the boy next to her. “I don’t know Alex.” The boy said. “I still haven’t seen any invisible people… or any flying people. So I don’t think it’s the real aunt Danny or the real dad, just some made up ones.” He sounded very matter of fact. The girl admired her older brother, even though he had tried to hurt her pillow, and trusted him on the matter. “Do you think mom will be in it to?” she asked after a while.