Excerpt from a Book I’ll Never Finish

“Ella stepped out into the crisp October air, quickly passing through the vibrant scarlet and orange leaves that lined the ivory window sills and showered the sleek gray streets of Glenbrook. The murky, overcast sky illuminated the yellow and flowers down below, scattered among each lawn. Fall seemed to decorate the dark houses in the neighborhood with dark plum and cardinal trees that formed a sort of bridge down each lane. Always in a frenzied rush, the dark haired senior of Lynndale High began to run, each stride making a thump, thump on the cracked sidewalk that lead to her school. The rush of cool air to her brain and lungs felt piercing, but soon washed away as she continued to run four blocks to school. Her feet pushed off the concrete street with each stride, hair wild flying behind her as she felt all of the morning’s stress subside. It was just her and her breathing, the pounding in her head that subdued the outside noise of gardeners and construction workers on the busy streets. She came to her favorite part of her route, the forest.The silent forest was her escape, the only noise that could be heard was a pine cone falling next to her left foot. She quickly glanced at it, appreciating the flat layers that reminded her of stacked pancakes.”