Hello! I have a book I’ve been writing for a very long time. It has been in the works for a little over a half a year, and it is important to me! I can’t write it very much in between class, so it only has six chapters. But those are six very long chapters! It’s been my passion to write a book, so here I am doing it! I’m also writing with a good friend of mine; Adrianna! We’ve known each other for a few years. Adrianna is a very talented writer too! We decided on a topic and a person, so here is an excerpt from my book, Forest Dawn.
The dogwood arrowhead thudded into the dirt, and Ca’labri groaned in frustration. “What’s wrong, Ca’labri?” Sagera teased. “Yeah, what happened?” Said Chabril. “You’re usually best shot!” “Somethings off,” She muttered. “Ok, lazybones!” Sagera said. “Maybe you’re still tired from sleeping in!” Ca’labri set her jaw. She hadn’t meant to get here late; it wasn’t her fault. Ca’labri took aim, and finally the arrow thudded into the middle of the target. “Nice shot,” jeered Chabril.
Ca’labri ignored him. She shouldn’t get worked up about someone like Chabril. Sagera said “Oh, I bet she’s probably just tired, right Ca’labri?”
“Yeah, I am.”
She hated getting up late and being jeered at for being late. It never sat right with her. She liked being best shot, all the time. But this wasn’t her first or last time not hitting the target, and it was fine. She drew back her draw arm and prepared to shoot again.
∞∗∗∗∞
Back at camp, little Acorn, her puppy, yipped, bolted up to her, stood on her hind legs, and licked Ca’labri’s nose. She laughed and pushed the fluffy pup away from her. She looked around camp. People were eating and laughing as the sunset light washed the camp. A child was arguing with his mother.
“I will not be tired!”
“If you don’t sleep now, you will be.”
“No, I won’t!”
“Yes, you will.”
“No, I won’t!”
Ca’labri sighed. That was her little cousin, Aki, and he was very persistent, usually with bedtime. Poor Niquil had her work cut out for her.
Ca’labri glanced around the camp again. They moved a lot. Almost every moon, in fact. They had just moved here, and it was the perfect location. The streams weren’t far off, but they were far enough away to avoid predators. The ocean was also within a daywalk away from the camp so they could fish for crabs and lobsters. Big fish were a rare find, but not impossible to find. Squid were also an uncommon find. She liked squid…
Ca’labri was broken from thought by Sagera’s whisper. “Are you getting anything to eat?” Ca’labri nodded and walked over to get in the line for the kill pile, where all the prey was. There, kills ranged from lobster to deer to catfish to rabbit. It was first come, first serve.
By the time she had gotten to the pile, there was only yesterday’s kills left. She chose a plump finch Then she sat down next to the longfire to roast them. It was a cold night, and the fire was leisurely warm. She found a long stick and absentmindedly started cooking her purple finch.
Sagera plopped down next to her at the longfire. “Have you heard? Aki is trying to extend his bedtime to middle-night!” “Middle night?” Ca’labri asked, shocked. “Does he know just how tired he’s going to be?” “I don’t think so!” Ca’labri laughed. They shared hunting stories and jokes. Suddenly, Sagera looked at the fire. “Ca’labri… Your finch!” Now, Ca’labri too glanced at the fire. She had forgotten to pluck it, and now the feathers were on fire. She quickly pulled it out of the fire and blew out the still-glowing feathers. Dimly, she heard a boy announce that he was going to go out and hunt his own prey. Ca’labri plucked off the feathers, holding her breath. It was ash black and burnt. She felt a rush of disappointment, but felt better when Sagera gave her a bit of her lobster.
Today had been peaceful, but that was how it was every day since the dinosaurs. Her mother had told her about them. “Some were taller than trees, some were fiercer than the Deer Clan. But all were dangerous. They were like giant scaly lizards that walked on their hind legs. Unlike lizards, they had teeth bigger than your hand, and they were all sorts of different colors. Some were blessed with wings but cursed with only stubby back legs. Like a hawk!” Ca’labri’s eyes had been stretched wide as she heard the tale. She still believed her mother had been telling the truth, but she wasn’t scared anymore. That had been a long, long time ago. She relaxed by the fire.
The boy burst into camp, wild-eyed. A dripping puncture mark was on his arm, already oozing yellow puss. The boy’s words came in strangled gasps. “It... it…”
“What?” someone shouted from the crowd of eyes watching. The boy’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he staggered and fell.
That was the end of the first chapter of my book, Forest Dawn! I have big ideas for it, so I am very excited to continue writing! This first chapter and this book couldn’t be possible without Adrianna. She contributed a lot to this book. That concludes this talk about my book. Goodbye and happy reading!