The Gifted Star

Warm wind pushed Estella’s hair away from her face as she ran frantically through the cobblestone streets of her village. Her little skirmish with Aaron had taken longer than she had wanted and she had had only a few precious minutes to do the essentials before she left her home. Out of those necessities, eating breakfast had not been one of them. Estella knew that not eating had been a mistake as she caught the slightly disgusted glances of her countrymen when they saw her with her skirts hiked up and an apple shoved into her mouth. It was most unladylike. In all honesty, Estella could care less about everyone staring at her. At that moment, her only thoughts were on counting down the minutes until the first bell rung and trying desperately to navigate the confusing maze of streets that was Greenwater.

The town had been structured on being easily accessible to fishing boats and merchants that came from the green tinted sea, which the city had been named after. A great sandstone wall surrounded the main center of Greenwater, with only a few farms and the docks lying outside of the gates. Those living outside of these boundaries did so at their own risk, for there was a good reason for the barrier. Estella and her family actually lived outside of the walled city on their farm, but only during the night did they have to fear the creatures that roamed the land.

Inside the walled village, wood homes and businesses with thatched rooftops lined the streets. Horse-drawn carts and carriages, along with pedestrians created the busy atmosphere that was the growing town. When a few extra improvements were made to the docks and trade routes leading to and from the town, Greenwater’s population had almost doubled in the last couple of years. This caused the mayor to quickly create extra streets and houses without thinking of a proper city plan and in effect the city grid barely had any order or direction at times.

Estella jumped over a barrel of ale that an innkeeper was rolling to their place, almost knocking herself and the other person over in the process. She yelled a food muffled apology as she paused to figure out where she was in the town. A single clear clang from a bell came from the left of her. A very inappropriate word almost escaped from Estella when she heard the sound that signaled the two minute mark until school started. Putting on an extra burst of speed, Estella continued to run through the blistering heat that was starting to radiate from the now fully risen sun.

The humid, hot weather stuck around Greenwater almost all year, only briefly pausing for the rain that came during the later seasons. Busy, complicated streets, uncomfortably warm weather, and the dangers that waited outside the gates were only a few of Estella’s complaints about her hometown. Nonetheless, as she caught sight of the whitewashed school building, she knew Greenwater was her home and she had the feeling that only the impossible could ever change that.