No, I didn't have any weird dreams. I had a nightmare about the Witherstorm, but that was about it.

I woke, but I kept my eyes closed.

"...Can't stay here for long. You never know what you might find in a swamp!" That was Ivor.

"Never fear, Mr.Ivor, Rory is here!" Rory announced.

There was a grunt. "Yeah, that makes me feel so much better."

I slowly opened my eyes. At first it was so bright that I had to squint. I rubbed my eyes as they got used to the light. It was day, that was good.

Lukas was the first one to notice that I was awake. Then Rory noticed that I wasn't leaning on him and turned to look at me.

"Hey, sleepyhead." He gave me his goofy grin.

"Not sleepy anymore." I told him.

Though I wasn't tired, I felt like there was a massive weight on my shoulders and chest. My jaw felt funny. I took in deep breaths and the weight eased.

The swamp around me was a bit gloomy. It didn't brighten my mood.

This was the one with the witch's hut, right?

"We're stopping so we can finally eat." Rory said.

"Yeah," I nodded, "while I'm not sleepy anymore, I'm as hungry as heck."

"Ditto." Olivia sighed.

"I double that." Lukas spoke up.

"Hopefully there's food here." Jesse said 'food' like 'fooood'.

We stopped our horses, and I slid off mine. 

------------

The tear is getting stronger. The children are being hunted.

Imagine what will happen when they have defeated the foe of the land they are in, when the creatures have nothing else that will destroy the children.

Is it possible that...that...we must call on them for help?

Not now. Not for months. We can hold off until then. If it gets too bad, we will remove them-

You can't!

From the world they are in. The creatures will die if they try to go into our most beloved world. The human world on Earth.

Remember we we planted the idea of Harry Potter into the great writer's mind?

Personally, I like The Hunger Games better. It taught their young, oblivious children lots. It is good that they do not know that this is a real world that they are seeing as words.

We did fail to plant the Twilight idea properly, though. Ugh, that went badly. The real Twilight world is not as bad as the book turned out to be.

Hush! There are still people who like the book.

Remember The Maze Runner and Percy Jackson? Percy Jackson's world is forever in peril, but the children do like these 'stories'. Ah, if only Apollo knew that we created all of the gods.

Hah, he would scowl at us. We let the new series, Trials of Apollo, happen.

It is quite hilarious, though. He doesn't know that there must be a balance of good and evil. Atheists and Christians, you know? Water and fire. An Oshawott versus a Turtwig versus a Cyndaquil.

You do like your references, don't you?

Always.

...Ugh...alright, I'm going to see if I can get the tear to be better.

-----------

Jesse and I went to go see if there was food. Lukas and Rory tended to the horses. Petra and Olivia sat down...feeling hungry.

At least I snagged three potatoes.

When I got back to the group, Jesse wasn't back yet.

"I have potatoes!" I shouted triumphantly.

"A potato. Wonderful." Olivia said dryly.

I glared at her. "So you don't want it?"

Olivia said something, but I wasn't listening. I handed a potato to Petra, who smiled at me gratefully, then to Rory, then to Lukas.

Olivia glared at me.

I sat down next to Rory. Well, when I say that, I mean we leaned on each other, back to back, like we did at school lunch times.

"You gotten sassy lately?" Rory asked me, not looking at me. It was the way we talked at lunch, we wouldn't look at each other, but rather looked for the school bullies. 

Sometimes they got tired of picking on Jesse Blackwood, and Tessa, and Fawn, and Kajit, and Jay, and Carlos...

"You mean 'you've gotten sassy'."

"Spare me the grammar lessons." Rory chuckled, then lowered his voice. "Dammit, there's no school here! You gonna be a relief teacher?"

"I could torture you with endless detention." I suggested.

"No way," Rory said in feigned horror, "I am too good looking! Plus, I'm your best friend!"

I chuckled.

Jesse came back.

"Got any food?" Olivia asked her.

"Three potatoes." Jesse replied, showing her a potato proudly.

Her eyes slid over to me.

"I got three potatoes, too," I admitted, "Rory, Petra and Lukas got one."

Jesse nodded.

Three potatoes? From what I remembered, Jesse could only get two...

Then again, the Witherstorm didn't speak and people didn't fall into the game by...

Magic?

God? I was an atheist, but heck, maybe this was a punishment?

No, there were atheists who hated God more than I did.

Jesse handed a potato to me, then to Olivia, then to Soren.

Then she went wandering in the direction of the witch's hut.

Petra eyed Olivia's potato hungrily.

"Can I have...your potato?" Petra asked, eyes wide and innocent.

"You had the last one!"

"Right, sorry Axel."

"I'm Olivia."

"Right, sorry Olivia."

I looked at Petra for awhile, my head tilted sideways slightly.

I got up and walked over to her.

"You can have my potato..." I held out the potato to Petra.

Petra took the potato from my hand. "Thanks!"

I ignored my stomach's feeble cry for food and sat down next to Rory again.

"I can't believe you just did that." Rory muttered.

Then I heard a cackle nearby.

---------

McKay I updated because I'm in a really good mood. I showed my parents a story I'm writing on my iPad and they said that it was phenomenal, that my vocabulary was that of an adult's. There was a short one page Roman gladiator story that I did for school, and Mum wanted me to print it off so she could show the English teacher at the school she works at.

So yeah. 

(I'm still sorting other OCs into fandoms...)