[nnwm15] Ryan sat there, painfully aware that things were changing for the worse. For the past few weeks, as he snuck off to the light valley, he had found something that could bring out the best in him, and with that so weak now, his demons were returning.
Chapter 18: Torment and Resent
[nnwm15] The next day the mountains turned red once more, and the cycle repeated itself. The following day, however, they lit up sporadically, but no flash of red appeared, and no pain or despair came upon the group. Ryan had stood up early that morning and decided to go for a walk, shrugging off …
Chapter 17: Pain
[nnwm15] When Mara turned 13, she decided that she was entitled to at least one night free of torment, so she decided to sneak out around 7 PM and go see a movie with her friend Jessica. Her dad didn’t like her out after dark, so generally she didn’t sneak out until after he …
Chapter 16: Lows and Highs
[nnwm15] Sara Beth knew she couldn’t tell Mara’s secret to the rest of the group, but at the same time, she also thought it was something Mara might want to mention at some point since it would, likely, get the others to stop wondering so much about her. Sara Beth reasoned that it must …
Chapter 15: The Sins of the Father
[nnwm15] They’re all staring at me Mara sat about 20 feet away from the rest of the group. It had been a tiring few hours with them. She’d learned all about their past, while successfully keeping them away from her’s. The boy had come back, and she learned his name was Ryan. He looked …
Chapter 14: Contact
[nnwm15] If I go out there, there is no coming back. The girl sat alone in the park. It was near dusk, and the birds were beginning to fly up into the trees for the night. They didn’t like intruders mulling around below them, making a terrible racket whenever they sensed a disturbance. The …
Chapter 12: Occupation and Preoccupation
[nnwm15] Mrs. Corum’s mind was working frantically. She needed to complete 6 more before she stopped. Sara Beth dutifully called them out. “Uh, 32” Mrs. Corum thought for a few moments. “1024” “33?” “1089. Make them farther apart, it’s more challenging” “OK… 98” “Ooo….. 9604” “73” “Hmm… 5329” And so it went for at …
Chapter 11: The Mountains
[nnwm15] Mrs. Corum had a nagging thought about an area of the landscape they’d yet explored. Weeks earlier they’d thought of heading toward the tiny dot of difference on the horizon, perpendicular to hers and G-ma’s spots, heading away from the light valley. They’d started that direction but, upon realizing that it was farther …
Chapter 10: Repression
[nnwm15] After that dim, the core group spent much of the next day trying to regain their composure. Ryan and Jamie basically ignored each other, with Sara Beth, G-ma, and Mrs. Corum wishing they could go back to a time before such tension existed in their group. On one hand, they all felt bad …
Chapter 9: Escape
[nnwm15] “Come over here” “Why are you whispering” “Just follow me” “I don’t want to” “Just do it” “Fine” “We’re gonna get out of here.” “How?” “I have a plan.” “It will never work.” “Sure it will – just because they think it won’t you’re gonna believe them? They don’t know everything. They think …