Chatterbox: Inkwell

Hi. I'm Agent Winter (as you can probably see) and I'm writing a story. The main character is based on Poison's representation of me in the CB Picturings thread in the Chirp at Cricket section. Also, I just learned how to use Word, so I'm trying it out. My mom's an author, and she gives me awesome advice, but I kind of want some advice from someone outside of the family, y'know? So here's the first chapter of my open-for-critiquing story, "Clarity". 

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Chapter One: Clara

It
was a cold winter day. Snowy, cold but not bitter. Everyone downtown was
wearing furry coats and wearing mittens. Clouds of snow and ice melt were
following cars, bikes, and anything else moving. Everyone was doing Christmas
shopping, going out for lunch, or some other normal winter activity.

Except
for one girl.

She
looked like a normal person. She was college-age, with blue eyes and white
hair. She was wearing a blue sweater with a white coat trimmed with black fur, a
white stocking cap, and tall boots.

But
she was not normal.

She
turned a corner onto the street where she had stored her bike. She unlocked her
bike and began pedaling. She knew the route to her destination so well that
forgot to open her eyes until she was right in front of it.

After
she locked her bike up again, she ran up the stairs and down the hallway until
she reached her dorm room.

As
she opened the door, the snow from her coat spilled onto the floor. She
stretched out a hand as she hung up her coat, and the snow flew out the door and
down the stairs.

She
closed the door and threw the hat onto her bed, which she almost never did. She
always kept her room neat, and she only cluttered it when she was upset, like
she was now.

She
didn’t get upset very often. She didn't know why she was now. She began
thinking about what she liked about herself as she hung up her stocking cap. That
always made her feel better when she was upset.

I have amazing hair.

She
loved her white hair. It was attractive, at least she thought so, and it looked
like snow. She loved snow.

I have an amazing dorm.

She
loved her half of her dorm room (her roommate’s half, less so). It was painted
white and had decorations in her favorite color scheme (icy blue and white)

I have an amazing name.

She
was very proud of her name, Clara. It sounded like ice pattering against a
window when it was said, and ice pattering against a window was a wonderful
sound.

And my antlers.

Clara
subconsciously massaged the roots of her antlers. She had been born with them. She
didn't know why; neither of her parents had antlers. Obviously. No one but her
had antlers, as far as she knew.

Clara
turned her phone on, plugged in her earbuds, and began blasting her favorite song
over her earbuds.

“I heard them calling in the distance so I
packed my things and ran,” she sang along. “Away from all the trouble I caused with my own two ha—” She
stopped.

Someone
was at the door.

She
unplugged her earbuds, tugged her hat back on, and ran to the door. When she
opened it, she sighed. It was her roommate, Mia.

“Hey
Clara!” said Mia. She pushed her thick-rimmed glasses farther up on her nose as
she shoved back the paper screen that separated her side of the room from Clara’s.
Throwing her backpack down on her bed and unzipping her puffy winter coat to
reveal a turtleneck sweater, she said, “Have you seen the Christmas lights downtown?
They’re stringing them up today. I think they’re gonna light them up tomorrow.”
She threw her coat over her desk chair.

Clara
sighed.

What
was the point of having a room if you messed it up?

Mia
threw her scarf over the chair, then her hat.

Clara
sighed again.

There
was a coat hanger right next to the door, and there were three empty hooks on it! Mia was so hard to understand sometimes.

Clara
plugged her earbuds back in and turned her phone on. But she couldn't even tap on
iTunes before Mia said, “Hey, Clara! Clara Bryndís!”

Clara
took one earbud out. “What,” she said.

 “I forgot to tell you that you should start
shopping for presents,” said Mia. “Christmas is in, like, two weeks, and you
haven’t even started.”

Clara
sighed. She had never been very good at finding presents. Even with members of her
own family, she could never figure out what they wanted. Mia was harder. She hadn’t
known her for long enough to guess what she wanted, and every time she asked, Mia
said, “Just guess!” Mia was very exasperating.

“Yeah,
I’m on it,” she said.

Mia
rolled her eyes, kicking her boots off and bouncing onto her bed. She opened
her laptop. “Clara, you’re so weird,” she said, rapidly typing something into
her computer. “It’s Christmas, dude! Why don’t you, y’know, go enjoy the season?”

Clara
glared at Mia.

Mia
ignored her.

The
two roommates sat in silence, which was a rare gift. But Clara barely had time
to enjoy it.

Because
the second she plugged in her phone, a noise sounded from outside that made her
jump.

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