Stealthily looking around,
(even though you know there's nobody but you) you sneak over to the chest and
lift the lid. You reach in and take out the book, opening it to one of the first
pages. Yep, it's a diary, all right.
It's surprising to see that these first
entries are written in the scribbling drawl of a child. Clearly, she's had this
book for a while, and probably only records important events in it.
"Mommy and Daddy brought
this book today. They said it's a die-er-ry, and I should rite down my thoughts
in it. I dont have anything to rite now, but I will rite again soon. "
"I
saw my first dragon today! It was flying in the air over our house and Mommy
took me outside to see it and it was big! Bigger than a wherry even, and it was
a pretty blue color. Mommy said there are even bigger dragons and I was amazed I
wanted to stay out longer, but Mommy made me go inside and do my chores then.
"
"Daddy brought home a canine yesterday, it was just a little one and
Daddy said it was still a baby. I tried to hold it, but I got itchy and it made
me sneez so Daddy had to give it away then. I was sorry but Daddy said it was
okay, he'd find anuther home for it. Then he hugged me and started tickling me
and I laughed. "
"Mommy and Daddy arent coming home for a long, long
time. There was an accident and theyre cart fell off the road and the runners
ran off. I have to go live with Uncle Marnus now. He has a son my age though,
maybe we can be friends. "
(After that entry the writing showed a dramatic
improvement. Apparently, it was a few years later.)
"Kayus took me to a gather today. Uncle Marnus couldn't
come, he had customers for his woodworks coming by, but he gave each of us a few
marks and told us to enjoy ourselves. Kayus may be my cousin, but ever since I
came to live with him and Uncle Marnus, we've been very close, more like good
friends or brother and sister. There was a harper and several traders were
showing off goods. There were even a couple of dragonriders, I think they had
family in the area and were using the gather as an excuse to visit. I didn't see
any sign of their dragons after they first landed, however. Kayus said they'd
probably found an out-of-the-way spot to sit without people staring at them.
That's not all that happened, though. Kayus introduced me to one of his
friends, Terrys. He works with runners, but he seems like a pretty nice guy.
Kind of handsome, too. Sort of. It's just that he has these big, soulful brown
eyes, and I'm sure all kinds of girls practically drool at him, but...Oh, never
mind, I don't even know what I'm talking about. "
"Terrys kissed me
today. I'm not even sure what to think about it. I mean, sure, we've become good
friends, and I do like him, but do I really like him like that? I'm not
sure where to go from here. I wish my mother was alive. She'd be someone I'd be
able to talk to. (There's no way I'm
mentioning this to Uncle Marnus or Kayus!) I wish Uncle Marnus' wife was still
alive, for that matter. I never knew her personally, but I've seen the way Uncle
Marnus talks about her, it's obvious they were always close. I wish I could have
met her myself, I'll bet she was just like Mom. Oh well...Uncle Marnus has a
saying, 'if wishes were runnerbeasts, beggars would ride'. "
"Well, this
is it. I'm going to the Weyr. I'm going to be a candidate. I've been searched.
Wow, I never thought this day would really come. I just want to relive the
experiance over and over again.
I was helping Uncle Marnus finish up a table
for one of our neighbors. Kayus was off with one of his friends, probably. He
never had much interest in woodworking. Anyway, we were both working when one of
our neighbors came by, (not the one we were making the table for) and told us
that dragons were in the hold. Apparently, they were searching for a clutch. I
was excited, but I felt bad about leaving Uncle Marnus to finish the table on
his own. He just laughed and told me to go. Actually, he said, "Better if I do
the job right, even if it takes longer, than for you to rush and risk making a
mistake." So I left.
I met Kayus and Terrys by the dragons. We were all
excited, of course, but there were a lot of excited hopefuls clustering around
the two dragons, and we had to wait our turns. The green dragons didn't seem
interested in Kayus or Terrys, but when they came to me, they brought their
riders over to me, who told me I'd been selected for the clutch. Even more
amazing, they said I should stand as a queen candidate! I couldn't believe it,
it took Kayus prodding me to get an answer out of my mouth.
Which was yes,
obviously.
Terrys...wasn't as excited about it as me. He tried to put on a
brave front, smiling and congratulating me along with everyone else, but I could
see he didn't want me to leave. Sure, we were 'together' now, and I like him a
lot, but honestly? I'm only seventeen, realistically, I can't be in love
already. Maybe I won't Impress, and if that happens, and I'll go back home and
probably marry Terrys, and I'd be happy. But if I denied myself a chance at
being just a little bit happier, if I do Impress; I'd
never forgive myself for refusing the oppurtunity."
The diary is suddenly snatched out of your
hands by a furious-looking Mahri. You flinch and stammer an apology, but Mahri
either isn't listening or ignores it. She clutches the diary to her chest and
turns away. "It's rude to look in another person's diary, you know. I don't keep
it so anyone can just walk in and look through it or snoop through my things."
"I sorry-" You apologize again, but she interrupts.
"I think it's time
you leave." She says, turning her back on you. You hurry to do so, not wanting
to upset her any
more.