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esperosisdoeswriting · 10 months

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I have done an audio reading of the Prologue of Nobody's Fool, so if you're interested in listening to me read my story, feel free to listen. I'll also post the text in case you want to read along. This is the final draft, so this is what will be in the book once it's published.

Also, voice reveal, I guess?

Prologue, Word Count: 2,088

The clouds began to darken bit by bit as they rolled over the wheat fields and gentle mountains. The blue sky slowly retreated behind the deep gray clouds that swelled with the promise of rain.

Victoria pouted as she stared out the classroom window, her chin resting on her palm, light brown fingers curled against her face, as her other hand idly twirled her black hair. She hadn't brought her umbrella today. She didn't think she would need it. When her mom shooed her and her brothers out the door that morning, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. But harsh winds had blown storm clouds overhead as she sat in class all day.

She really wished school wasn't so boring, considering it was where she spent a lot of her time. She wished they taught magic, even just the basics or history of it, or something. Victoria knew she couldn't use magic, no matter how badly she wanted to, no matter how unfair it was that she couldn't. But it would be nice to just learn about it! Plus, it was way more interesting than math, English, and-

"Victoria," Mrs. Lance called out to her, snapping the girl's attention back to her teacher. "Do you know the answer?"

Victoria blinked as the rest of the class turned and stared at her. "Uhh… Yeah! It's… um…" she wracked her brain, desperate to try and remember what the question was.

Mrs. Lance sighed in annoyance as Victoria stalled, "Victoria. You're in 5th grade. You should know how old the Empress is."

"Oh!" Victoria perked up, "She's 743 years old, right?"

Mrs. Lance's annoyed expression melted into a smile, "That's correct, Victoria. Our wise and powerful Empress is 743 years old, having been born in the year 1257. Now, can anyone tell me when she founded the great American Empire?"

A hand shot straight up into the air from across the room, the owner of the pale arm hidden from Victoria's view by the other children.

"Yes, Samantha?"

"The American Empire was founded in the year 1282 after the fall of the British Isles 718 years ago," the little girl announced.

"Very good!" Mrs. Lance praised her as she wrote the dates down on the chalkboard, some of the children scribbling in their notebooks while others, like Victoria, kept their eyes trained on the clock above Mrs. Lance's head, counting the seconds until class was over for the day. A flash of yellow caught the corner of Victoria's eye and she turned to look. The girl from before, Samantha, was leaning back in her chair to peer at her.

Waves of blonde hair cascaded off her shoulders as she smiled at Victoria, peeking her head behind the back of another student to catch her eye. Victoria blinked at her, and Samantha smiled brighter.

The school bell rang shrilly, cutting Mrs. Lance off mid-sentence as her classmates began to launch themselves out of their seats.

"Remember to do your math homework! I want to see the whole worksheet done by school tomorrow!" Mrs. Lance called out to them as a small group of boys practically ran out of the room, their feet pounding on the wooden boards. Victoria gathered up her own things and glanced back toward Samantha, only catching a glimpse of her blonde hair and bright pink dress as she disappeared out the door.

She shrugged and threw her bag over her shoulder, following another group of her classmates towards the door.

"Victoria," Mrs. Lance stopped her.

Victoria frowned and looked at her teacher, "Yeah?"

"Try to pay more attention in class, ok?"

"I got the answer right," she pouted.

"Only after I reminded you what the question was," Mrs. Lance pointed out.

"Then just ask me the question again," she shrugged.

"That's not the point-"

"I gotta help mama with the chickens. It's gonna rain," Victoria cut her off as she hurried out the door, ignoring the annoyed sound Mrs. Lance made as she left.

She made her way down the short hallway towards the main entrance as the other classes began to funnel out as well, filling the hallways with chatter and excited laughter. Victoria glanced at the window and scowled as water droplets began to splash against the glass. She was hoping she could make it home before it began to rain, but it was just her luck that it started right as she was leaving.

She heard squeals and giggles from the other kids as they zipped up their brightly colored raincoats and pulled out their umbrellas before jumping out the door. A few even changed into rain boots before running outside just as the rain began to fall properly.

Victoria's scowl deepened as she stepped to the side, letting the other children pass her by, watching her classmates laugh and play in the rain as they began the long trek down the mountain. She looked down at her own clothes, old sneakers, jean shorts, and her favorite white T-shirt with flowers on it. Not exactly the best clothes to brave the oncoming downpour.

She let out a sigh and braced herself for the chill. It was still early autumn, so it shouldn't be too cold, and she could always have a bath when she got home to warm up. Although mom would take her back outside when she got home to help with the chickens, so probably best to take her bath after that. But she definitely needed to take it before dinner, or dad would be furious.

But she could worry about that after she got home.

She knew if she took the forest path, the trees would shield her from the majority of the rain as she made her way down the hill to town, but she also knew that the rain would turn the path slick with mud, and if she tracked mud into the house, mom would rip her ear off while screaming bloody murder at her.

The other option was the winding road leading down the hill, safer but with less tree coverage, meaning she would definitely get completely soaked before she made it back home. Not that she was planning on staying dry anyway, but it was a lot longer of a trek.

She didn't really like either option, but she couldn't exactly spend the night at school, and she knew her parents weren't gonna bring the car around for her.

"Quit being a baby, Viccy," Xavier, her older brother, swatted her on the back of the head before walking out into the rain.

"I'm not being a baby!" Victoria shouted after him as Lamar, her younger brother, followed quickly behind him, sticking his tongue out at her. "I'm just weighing my options!"

Xavier rolled his brown eyes, "You're in your own head way too much. Stop thinking so hard. You're gonna fry your brain."

"Not that there's much to fry!" Lamar giggled before Xaiver swatted him in the back of the head, causing him to whine.

"Be nice to your older sister, squirt."

"She's only a year older than me!" he whined.

"That means you're seven years younger than me in dog years!" Victoria called back to them as they continued to walk away.

"Shut up!" he yelled back at her, "You're ugly!"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever," Victoria muttered under her breath. She didn’t even consider walking home with her brothers. She learned her lesson the last time when Lamar stomped his feet in the muddy water, splashing it all over the backs of her legs. Xavier wasn’t happy about Lamar getting mud all over the both of them, but was less happy when Victoria had shoved Lamar into a puddle.

Well, she had told him to stop, and it was only fair they were all dirty.

"Um, excuse me?" came a familiar voice from behind Victoria. She turned, finding almost all of the other kids had left, leaving only herself, the other girl, and a few others quietly mingling about.

Samantha smiled at her, "You're Victoria, Victoria Carter, right?"

"Yeah, that's me?" Victoria blinked at her, "What's up?"

The girl's smile brightened as her vibrant golden eyes seemed to sparkle. Victoria had never seen eyes quite like her's before. Almost everyone's eyes were the same deep brown as Victoria's around Spring Haven. But Samantha's eyes seemed to almost glow as she looked at Victoria.

"My name is Samantha! And I was wondering if you wanted to walk home with me?" She beamed, "I brought an extra umbrella. Blue is your favorite color, right?"

"It is…" Victoria looked down at the offered umbrella, "How did you know that?" Victoria asked, her eyes narrowed. "You only arrived at school today, didn't you? Were you asking around about me or something?"

Samantha's face flushed pink as she mumbled out, "Oh no! I wasn't! It's not like that!" She continued to flush pink, "This is way harder than I thought it would be!"

"Thought what would be?" Victoria asked.

"Well, it's… You see… I actually have a superpower," Samantha explained, "I'm an oracle!"

Victoria's jaw dropped as she stared at Samantha in shock, "You can see the future?"

"Yup!" Samantha beamed, "That's how I knew your favorite color is blue! I looked into the future and saw it was going to rain, then I saw you reacted happily to a blue umbrella, so I brought one!"

"That's so cool," Victoria smiled back at her. "But wait, why are you helping me out?"

"Well, I was thinking we could talk about it on our way home?" she offered.

"Hmmm," Victoria loudly hummed to herself, Samantha squirming a bit as she anticipated her answer. "Will you tell me more about your superpowers?"

"Yes!" Samantha eagerly agreed.

"Then you've got a deal," Victoria grinned as she took the blue umbrella from Samantha's hand, leaving the bright pink umbrella to the blonde girl. She continued to grin to herself as she took a step outside, the rain drumming against her umbrella, but not a drop reaching her body as Samantha joined her in the chilly autumn air.

Raindrops splashed on fallen leaves and slid down green grass blades. Already formed puddles wetted their shoes as they walked down the path to the school gate. Other children gleefully jumped into larger puddles, and kicked water at each other as Victoria and Samantha walked past them.

Rays of light parted the heavens and lazily drew lines across the farmlands surrounding their school, the fields glistening as the light caught the raindrops clinging to the leaves.

Once they were past the mouth of the school gate, Samantha began to speak once more, "So you know I can see the future, but I can also see people's emotions."

"Really?" Victoria stared at her as they walked the winding path down the mountain.

"Yeah!"

"Oh wow…" Victoria thought for a moment before asking, "What do emotions look like?"

"Well," Samantha hummed, "good emotions look bright and happy, kind of like sunshine. While bad emotions look thick and black, like a rain cloud hovering around someone," she replied, her eyes staring up at the sky.

Victoria also looked up, her eyes trained on the rain clouds as the water fell around them. They walked in silence for a moment before Victoria asked, "What do I look like?"

Samantha looked at her and hummed in consideration for a moment before smiling, "You look like the sun. Warm and bright, like there's a halo around her head."

Victoria smiled at that, pleased. "You said you could see the future. Does that mean you can see people's emotions in the future too? Or, is it like a separate thing?"

"That's mostly all I can see," Samantha replied, "just clumps of colors and feelings that get more muddled the more in the future it gets. Sometimes, I can see pictures, like the rain or someone's face, but usually, it's just feelings."

"Did you see me in the future?" Victoria asked, and Samantha smiled as she nodded. "Does that mean we're destined to be friends or something?"

Samantha stopped in her tracks for a moment, Victoria continuing for a few steps before stopping and turning to look at her. Samantha's eyes were closed, golden light spilling from beneath her eyelids as she smiled. She stood silently like that for a few moments before she opened her eyes once more, the glow fading as she looked at Victoria.

Victoria opened her mouth to speak, but Samantha spoke first.

"Yes, Victoria. I foresee a very bright future together."

Victoria looked at Samantha in surprise for a moment before grinning. "Sounds like fun! Let's make sure that happens then, 'kay?"

#heroes and villains #superpowers #book #nobody's fool #writing #writblr #esper writing #not a prompt #magic #audio book #audio #Youtube

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