Stroud 1 Chapter 1
The leaves are slowly beginning to turn from a gorgeous green to a raging red. They fall from the tall, towering trees like rain from the sky during a spring shower. The what-used-to-be clear and easily navigable concrete path around the city park was now buried in the leaves, like dirt over a grave. With every step you took, what was under the leaves was unknown. The dangers were hidden. Being a city park, Amber always felt it was safe to do her daily running here. She had no reason not to. The place was normally watched over by local police and there was never a history of crime or other bad things occurring here. However, when weather changes, perhaps everything does. It was a normal day for Amber. She woke up ten minutes late, as usual. Thumping down the stairs to snatch something for breakfast, she felt uneasy. She thought nothing of it though. Every day before she got into her old and unreliable clunker and headed out for school, she would say the same “Good morning! Have a good day, and I love y’all.” to her mother and father. It was already 7:30 and she still hadn’t left. The panic began. “Where are my keys?!,” she shouted frantically throughout the house. “Oh, never mind. They’re in my hand,” Amber mumbled, slightly embarrassed. Stress does crazy things to people. She grabbed her backpack and was headed out the door. “Rrrr-rrrr-rrrr-rrrrr,” the car coughed as it started, slowly but surely. The piece of trash on wheels was now alive. She hated driving it. However, she always reminded herself that it may not be the best ever, but at least she had one! She was thankful for that. About halfway to school, a black cat ran out in front of her. She had always heard that was a symbol of bad luck; however, she wasn’t the supernatural kind of girl. She continued on her way to her not-so-favorite place. Amber arrived, three minutes before the tardy bell rang. She went to pull into her parking spot to find it was taken. “Why would somebody do that?! EVERYBODY knows that is MY spot!!!” Amber shouted angrily. She finally found a spot, far away from the school. However, she was still very determined to make it to class on time. Being one of the fastest runners on the school’s track team, she took advantage of her God given athletic ability, grabbed her backpack and sprinted for the door. She turned the corner and as soon as she grabbed Mrs. Horn’s, her first period teacher’s, classroom door knob, the tardy bell yelled throughout the halls, announcing Amber’s failure to make it on time. Maybe black cats really were bad luck. “Well, well, well. Lookie who’s late. Class, it looks like Amber will be enjoying her lunch in d-hall today!” Mrs. Horn wasn’t Amber’s favorite teacher, far from it actually. And, obviously, the feeling was a mutual one. “Oh, and you caught me on a bad day so here is some extra homework due first thing tomorrow, just because. Disrupt my class, and I will disrupt your free time.” Amber swore this lady was possessed by the devil.

Chapter 2 Like most runners, Amber ran to relieve the stress that came with a terrible day. So, of course, she was already looking forward to this evening, considering she ran at the park every evening. It was hardly 8p.m. and she was already wishing she could go back home, get in bed, and start the whole day over. “I wonder if this day could possibly get any worse…,” Amber thought to herself. The answer was yes. Lunch was chili cheese pie. She loved eating it, but wearing it… not so much! Her arch enemy, Sarah, thought it would look good on her apparently though.
“Hey Mrs. Tardy Pants!!” As soon as Amber turned around, Sarah completely dumped her chili cheese pie all over her chest and Amber was wearing a white shirt!!!
“Oh my gosh, Sarah! You’re such a….mmmm.,” Amber said as she took off her white shirt, revealing her red tank top underneath.
“Look who’s talking. Get a life, loser.” Amber was beyond ready for the day to speed up and for it