Jessica swept the thin doona off her legs and stood up, the bed creaking. Her ears rang with the screech of the morning bell. As soon as the worn, cotten doona was gone, a chill crept into Jessica’s bones, despite the meagre warmth enclosed in her pants and jumper. The boy next to her, Mark, has swollen eyes and a pillow wet with tears. Jessica smiled grimly at him and they slumped to the eating h...

The water glistened in the few spots sunlight reached. Droplets of water sprayed in a heavenly mist away from the cascading waterfall.

Esther ran her hand down the stallion’s mane, relishing the silky feeling. Her armour weighed down on her slender frame, but she bore it heroically, sitting tall.

With a hand on her sword hilt, she galloped away, settling into a rough rhythm.

Hours passed and...

The skin wrinkled around his mouth as his lips widened in a grin. He took my hand firmly and shook it with the enthusiasm of a maniac. I smiled back hesitantly, shirking from his twinkling blue eyes. He plonked down on the skeleton of a chair and launched into a story about his daughter and a cat. He chattered so fast I had trouble keeping up, but I could tell it wasn’t a very interesting or parti...