The Concrete City

Emerson looked out into the horizon, the concrete cities obscuring the river on the other side. He huffed out, scratching his stiff collar. What is this material made out of, steel? He cursed his overly extravagant father as he adjusted his glass helmet. Considering this is the 31st century and the only outfits here are made of glass, metal, or some fabric that could cut your neck, that's likely. 

"Something the matter, sir?" Emerson tore his eyes away from the disappointing view to look at his butler. The mechanical servant whizzed quietly as it darted over to him, its artificial eyes darting around to look for a threat. "Your father has suggested you might not like looking at the poor, you are allowed to come inside." Emerson's eyes narrowed and he gritted his teeth at his his father's 'suggestion'. 

"You fool, being in your presence is far worse than innocent people!" he snapped, whipping around. A few moments passed as he stubbornly looked over the balcony, ignoring the whirring behind him. A few cogs could be heard silently clicking behind him, and guilt rose up in his chest. Emerson reluctantly spun back around, a surly expression pulling at his face. 

"I apologise sir, my fault for upsetting the son of a baron. I'll leave you alone." The butler said, hints of sadness lacing his electronic voice. 

"No, come back." Emerson mumbled, shifting his feet. "Sorry Blaine, I'm just in a bad mood." 

Blaine swiveled around, his screen displaying a more upbeat face. "I'm not programmed to cheer sir up, but perhaps we could go visit your friends?" 

Emerson visibly brightened up, beaming at the robot as he nodded and sprinted back inside his house with a "Hurry up, you're a little slow for a robot", as Blaine sighed and trailed after him. Emerson scrambled up into teleporter, sprinting into his room as his footsteps thundered on the floor. He shoved a cereal bar into his mouth, practically inhaling it as he yanked off his glass helmet and tugged on another one with some steel covering. Emerson was chewing the remainders of the cereal bar as he yanked a hoverboard from his wall when his father stepped out of the teleporter in his fancy-pants royal meeting suit, clearing his throat.

"Where are you going, son?" he queried monotonously, his voice a little strained. Emerson licked his lips and looked up at his father wearily as he buckled his shoes. 

"Out."

His father, looked to the side, twiddling his thumbs as if he wanted to say something. He glanced at Emerson's outside clothing, then his eyes traveled to his son's hoverboard. 

"I have a meeting with the king soon, don't get yourself into trouble." he mused, moving back towards the teleporter. "And I'm sorry, Emerson." Emerson's eyes widened at the last statement, but his father had already vanished. He stared stiffly where his father was once standing, his hoverboard subconsciously sliding out of his grip.

Then he shook his head, his shaggy black hair falling over his eyes as he dismissed the situation. He darted out to meet Blaine again, and shot out onto the balcony. Blaine once more followed behind Emerson, as he hurled his hoverboard into the air and leapt onto it, bobbing in the air. He shot an impish grin at Blaine, who seemed to be regularly involved in his master's shenanigans. A pair of propellers entered out of Blaine's steel skull, twirling around as Blaine's wheel folded into his body. The pair whizzed off into the city together, fading into the dense smoke as Emerson's exuberant whoops echoed into the distance.

Emerson waved the smoke away from his eyes. Lord, the city really is doing worse every day. He thought, his eyes wandering around as he observed the unfamiliar area. He and Blaine had passed the thriving, streamlined buildings where the rich lived in contentment and had just entered the worse off areas-rather, the majority of the population. People swarmed the streets like ants around a tasty morsel of food, with barely enough room to even stretch one's arms out. The grey smoke that typically billowed out from every corner of the Earth was extra dense, but there was plenty of sound suffocating the area that a local could easily find their way around. The streets were filled with chatter and the yelling of shop owners and beggars, while bells tinkled around on little carts and the wailing of hungry children pierced Emerson's ears. He had heard the streets were once white, but the mass of dirty, suffering people obliterated any view of it and the pavement was littered with piling trash and filth. The smell was as appalling as Emerson imagined the sight to be-human or animal waste, along with rotting food and some smells he had never even smelled before. Emerson shut the flap on his glass helmet, his nostrils rejoicing as oxygen from the helmet poured into the glass bubble. He squinted, craning his neck out as he tried to see the buildings in the area. The buildings were surely not sleek and streamlined. He could make out the graffiti on the walls and the tattered rags that were likely the curtains, along with chunks of the walls missing and even a whole roof demolished, the rubble still there. 

Emerson could see children pouring out and gaping him through the windows (more like the holes in the wall). "Posh kid!" A voice rang out faintly, the owner of the voice jumping out and down. Emerson looked the other way, his cheeks burning as he regretted showing up in such a dramatic fashion.

"We're here," Blaine declared, his wheel folding out as he landed gently on the ground. Emerson clambered off of his hoverboard, ducking into the alleyway. The bustle of the city streets grew more tranquil as he scurried into the alleyway, jumping a little when he already saw all his friends bunched together.

"And here's Emerson, the star of the show." A girl snapped, her voice slightly muffled through her medical mask. Emerson rolled his eyes, but elation flowed through his body to see his friends. He bounded over towards them, embracing them tightly.  "Shush Elaine, hoverboarding is pretty much the only way I can get to see you guys." 

"Not the only way, I'm sure." A tall, freckled boy mused as he his chin bumped against Emerson's helmet. "His darling daddy could surely order a magic carpet?" Emerson smiled gently as he pulled away from the hug, almost as if he could see his friend's smirk even if half of his face was concealed behind a mask. 

"Come on guys, he doesn't even like me that much," Emerson whined. "We got into a fight about my plans for this area. But too bad, they're already almost in motion." 

The group rolled their eyes at his first statement, but hearing what he had said after, their faces burst into firey anticipation. Even Emerson's tall, sarcastic friend was lost for words as he stared aghast at the boy currently full of obstinacy. 

"We're changing this city for the better!"

Why people should practice their writing

 Writing is a subject that is essential in school, as almost every school internationally has writing as a main subject. You may hate writing with all your soul or you may really enjoy the subject. However, even outside of school writing should also be practiced. Teachers and adults value writing so much because it has so much more use than you think and will benefit you more than any other subject. Daily lives, job opportunities, your mindset, your imagination and all your studies are just a few things that can be affected by practicing writing without you even knowing. One thing is for sure-practicing your writing will surely change your life.

In education, the main purpose of writing is to prepare you for future jobs and to have prepared writing skills for when you need them. Even if writing isn't your most favourite thing in the world, it's still crucial to have those skills. Writing is one of the most ancient school subjects and the written word is one of the most developed subjects, educating generations and passing on vital knowledge. In places such as Ancient Egypt, those who knew how to write were valued because of their knowledge and often lived good lives. Facts like those still ring true to this day. If you need to seem intelligent for a job interview, or in an email to your boss, good writing skills can showcase that you know what you are doing and you can use it to your advantage to seem like a good person. Things like this can even decide whether you keep that job or not. There are also hundreds of jobs that require excellent writing skills. To start with, being an author would be a very beneficial, well-paid job and if you like writing then it would simply be a hobby-however, you would need to outshine all the other authors and have books everyone would want to have, and that requires good writing. But it doesn't just stop at being an author-magazine writers, script writers, scientists, journalists and almost every job out there requires writing skills of some sort. Every job that you have, if you look close enough, will eventually involve writing. Practicing your writing outside of school therefore helps further improve your skills and get ahead of others, and even help you greatly in getting your ideal job. So the next time you have to write something, don't complain-writing will always help you in some shape or form.

However, practicing your writing doesn't help you in just getting jobs and your future life-even your school life can be improved. Of course, your growth and grades in writing subjects are enhanced. But did you know that many other subjects can be improved when you practice your writing? When you write a lot and familiarise yourself with words a lot more, your spelling subconsciously improves. Writing good science reports are essential for getting good science grades, as you'll need to categorise your data properly and write good conclusions. Food studies, drama, and physical education are all subjects that may seem like they don't require writing but often you may get essays about those tasks (such as writing about a dish you made, a performance you did, or about the history of a certain sport). Humanities is also a subject that heavily relies on good writing, because taking notes and writing essays about things such as historical events takes place all the time in that subject. Language studies also rely on you to be very familiar with your own language and understand it fully in order to compare it with another language-writing in either language (e.g. your own, or the one you're learning) will improve your understanding of it. Ancient civilisations understood how important it was and students often only had writing and maths as their only subjects, which sometimes was more than enough. Practicing your writing doesn't only improve just your writing grades and future life, you'll see it affecting so many other things in your daily life.

And when you practice your writing regularly and express yourself in your writing more and more, you'll inevitably find yourself enjoying writing. You don't even have to be the best writer or instantly write best-selling pieces of writing every time you sit down, if you're enjoying yourself you'll be more motivated to practice and improve and that passion will genuinely show in your writing. Someone who can't be bothered to check their writing or change the way they write will clearly show it without knowing to the readers. Writing also gives you a sense of freedom and this is how people can express themselves-they have the power. They can choose what to write about, what universe, symbolism or style of writing they want to use. They can write about what makes them happy. Even writing terrible pieces can benefit you. From then on, you know what not to do and you can look back on it and see how far you've come and how much you've changed. Your imagination can also be improved, as the more you write, the more you can envision what you are trying to describe. If you really enjoy writing, you can easily describe your surroundings when you are writing something and submerge yourself into the world you have created with no problem. This is important for good writing as well, especially creative. Many passionate writers are celebrated because of their dedication to writing and their talent even if they existed centuries, or even millennia ago. Words are so powerful that you don't even need the presence of the author to make them count. They live on forever. And if you practice enough and use your passion for writing to your advantage, what you write can affect people for the rest of time.

As you can see, writing is extremely beneficial in so many ways and practicing it helps you more than you think. You can improve your studies, and even your future if you practice writing and at the same time you can even enjoy it and make a hobby out of it. You can always do this by starting a blog where you post, share writing with people you know, write on social media, in an exercise book, with a friend, or on a website where people can write together. There are so many options, with so many benefits and you can start at any time, even right this second. The possibilities are endless, but there is only one question. What use will writing have for you?

The Runaway Royal

Based off of Howl's Moving Castle

Lloyd bunched up her petticoat with the berries rustling around in her pockets, her bare feet scrambling over to the hot air balloon. She crawled up the basket, blueberries tumbling out as she leapt over swiftly and jerked the rope confining the grand balloon to the tree. Lloyd huffed out as she leaned over the basket, the balloon swaying as it ascended sumptuously into the sky. She slumped back into the basket, her braids swaying in the breeze.

She picked herself up, almost tripping over her lace garments, and grinned mirthfully down at the possessions in the basket. Lloyd then waved a hand over the ground before her, and a fire split out, crackling serenely as it hovered above the floor.

"Let's do this!"

Waving a hand towards her knapsack, it magically flipped open and its contents rose and floated over to her. Lloyd yawned as packets of flour and milk poured themselves into a mixing bowl behind her. She glanced towards the horizon. Lloyd squinted into the distance as her pancakes gently sizzled in the background, the pan jerking upwards every few minutes to flip them over. She flipped a switch above her head, and the hot air balloon soared up into the clouds. Lloyd sighed as her atlas drifted over to her. She snatched it and began flipping through the pages sluggishly. The fire seemed to stretch up, the pancakes sliding in the pan, as a mouth appeared and yawned comically.

"Told you you should have brought cards," the fire drawled as a hand shot out from it and shifted the pan.

"Shut it," Lloyd jeered as she eyed it from her atlas. "It's not like you've ever played Go Fish before. Are the pancakes done, Marion? I'm famished."

Two fiery eyes appeared, seeming to smile up at her. "Done."

Marion stretched up, the pan flying up as the pancakes perfectly stacked up on a hovering plate. Lloyd licked her lips as she grabbed the plate and sprinkled the blueberries over it. Marion coolly watched Lloyd inhale the pancakes noisily, crumbs flying everywhere. She wiped her mouth on her embroidered sleeve and belched heartily.

"Even eating like this is so freeing, after being holed up in that pathetic castle." Lloyd commented, playing with her ebony braids. Marion crackled quietly, studying the girl.

"Don't forget you're quite lucky, young lady. I mean your parents used their magic quite sensibly and didn't curse you into something only useful to cook an escaped princess's pancakes."

Lloyd chortled as she stood up, clutching a rope in her hands.

"It was suffocating in there, though. I had my magic restricted to 'not cause trouble' and I was going to marry some old tramp from another kingdom to keep the bloodline. You were a maid, don't you even remember how awful my supposed parents were?" 

Marion furrowed her eyebrows at the young princess's blatant disrespect towards the royals she had served. However, she could barely argue with her favourite master. 

"Okay, Miss 'my life is so hard'. Where are we headed now?"

Lloyd rolled her eyes at the remark, but responded as she flung the rope over the balloon.

"Wherever this balloon takes us."

"Also, don't call me a young lady. You're, like, only a year older." the young royal mused as she slipped down the rope, her feet dangling in the air. Marion huffed quietly, and vanished into the air as the last few sparks drifted upwards. 

Lloyd grunted as she fastened the rope to a stray tree, and sauntered through the forest with her bag swaying on her back. She picked up the occasional flower, and tucked it behind her ear as she searched for fruits and animals. Her bow and arrow was in her tight grip, she would be safe.

A rustle of plants behind her made her ears perk up. Lloyd spun around, her calculating eyes searching the flora. An animal shaped shadow slipped through the trees. The gentle winds seemed to still as Lloyd stretched her arrow back. The shadow appeared again and Lloyd's hand released the string, the sound making a crack through the forest air as the arrow shot out.

"W-what was that? Who's there? Show yourselves, thieves!" A timid male voice squeaked out, as two figures on a horse stumbled out into Lloyd's view. The horse bucked around nervously, but she could see a scrawny guard of some sort waving his sword around, with a girl glowering at him as she held onto the horse. Lloyd ran up, pulling on the horse's fine leather reigns as she steered it back, cooing at it as it calmed down and stumbled around as it regained its balance. The guard hissed at her, placing his sword underneath her chin so he could see this thief's face. Lloyd examined their faces, specifically the girl, not the useless guard. Her eyes widened as she noticed the braids adorning the girl's hair-a sign of royalty. Was she from a neighboring kingdom-or even a replacement Lloyd's parents had chosen?

"Put the sword down, Greg." The girl said smoothly. "You're scaring no one, let's see what she has to say."

The guard spluttered, but obeyed her orders, dropping the sword. He looked at Lloyd once more, gasping as he finally noticed the braids in her hair. Lloyd raised an eyebrow mockingly, smirking as she tucked her bow and arrow back into her back. 

"Go." 

"B-but I have to guar-" the guard stuttered.

"Go back. I shall talk with her in private."

The guard lowered his head in a defeated bow. Even though it was his job to protect her, an order was an order. He sluggishly slid off the horse and trudged back. Lloyd and the girl studied each others' faces.

"A royal, huh?" They said in unison. Lloyd chuckled slightly, liking this girl.

"Ex-princess Lloyd of the Petor dynasty. I'm a runaway, I don't care if you tell anyone." She introduced, holding out a hand.

"Ah, the current talk of the town." The royal replied, smirking as she shook Lloyd's rough hand. "New  princess Akihiko Petor. Runaway in progress."

Why you should give away to charity

Ever since the start of time, no one's ever been an equal in society. Some people have always been born into instant privilege, while on the other hand others are stuck in the loop of poverty and a terrible life ahead of them. However, things have changed and improved over the years-these days, people now have the chance to help others who suffer thanks to charity. They can now give life-changing help and not even lift a finger because of these charities. But charities still struggle all around the world due to the lack of help they receive. Even if a charity supports a child, at the end of the day they can only scrape a few dollars to barely survive on while the rich people of the world bask in their unnecessarily large wealth. This selfishness easily explains why the world is still so corrupt-everyone's too focused on themselves and what they can gain, instead of the thousands of people dying and suffering each day. Are you going to join them? Are you simply going to become so self absorbed you can't even spare something that won't even affect you?

We may all be human, but society divides us so much that people on two sides of the spectrum might as well be two different species. Some people have more money than they know what to do with-such as Elon Musk, who went from rich to rich (his parents giving him plenty of money to start his career) to people who are born in such poverty that they have to eat dirt and beg for basic personal needs such as food. Behind all the news stories and ads on Youtube, these people all have hopes and dreams and their lives are wasted as they have to focus on merely surviving. Yet people such as Bill Gates (with a staggering net worth of 125 billion dollars) could give away 1% of their wealth and change the lives of even decently rich people. These people can afford pretty much anything they want and live lavishly, with plenty of money to spare yet they can't be bothered to give a few dollars away to, for example, keep a family eating for one more week in India. Rich people can gamble their lives away and buy their children designer bags, but why is it so hard for them to donate even half of that money to a homeless organisation. If you let things like this pass by, you are part of the problem. You are part of the problem if you don't see how unacceptable this treatment is.

There are so many examples of this issue all around the world-including around you. One example is the Baluch people in the south of Kerman, Iran. A report from only two days ago show that these people have been suffering so much that they have moved to Kerman, which is already one of the poorest areas in Iran. They live in tents of wood, bark and ripped fabric if they can find any, and have to acquire their own water in the sweltering heat. Children themselves struggle to find food and eat from any garbage dumps they can find, and even simply retrieving water can result in lost hands or legs, or even death from marsh crocodiles. In India, 3,000 children can die every day from hunger and almost a third of the population is forced to live on less than $1.90 per day. Now think about yourself-you probably can easily, safely retrieve water by simply turning on a tap. You have the privilege to complain about how expensive strawberries are, without knowing that in the first place you are so lucky to even just safely be in reach of food and afford it. Perhaps you even dislike how small your living space is-but people with shelter and food are already in the 20% richest category. The average American can use around $101 per day on basic necessities and not think twice about it. You may not be filthy rich yourself, but you are so lucky to be surviving each day and not need to rely heavily on other people.

There are so many ways you can help others-it just takes a bit of thinking. You'll never know how much your help can affect someone. Even just the smallest donation can end up into a person who can finally afford a house and a steady supply of food. Help can stretch out of charities too-giving help in person is also possible. The world has become so degenerate that you could even easily find people in need in your neighbourhood. Giving a few dollars, food, or just inspiration could change a life anywhere. Living Goods, Oxfam, Village Enterprise and Red Cross are just a few of the thousands of charities out there. So many people have benefited due to those charities and have managed to get their lives on track and finally support themselves and their loved ones, but this only means that they have only been able to receive food, clothing and shelter-they still haven't been able to find their passions and interests. If you were in their place, would you have been furious at those who wasted their money while you struggled to survive? There is always a possibility that you could have been born into their position-helplessly fighting for your life, day by day, until you'd die and all your descendants would have to follow the same path. Sometimes, your sympathy is enough-spreading the message and bringing an awareness to this motivates other people and can help change the mindset of everyone, especially those who can help.

You always have the power to help, to change lives and that can start with charities. If you don't start now, when will you start? You don't need to be someone wealthy who can throw their money around to charities, or a poor person who understands the daily struggles of trying to make money, but if you know how much people are suffering and you are willing to spread the message and do what you can, you should be more than proud of yourself for doing so much already. Any help, after all, is a step forward.

Why people should be following the COVID-19 restrictions

 In 2020, it's no surprise that the corona virus has become the biggest issue and change in our lives so far. Most of us have never been in a situation like this, and some of us have never even worn masks. However, even with all the news of cases and the dangers of passing around some people choose not to respect the guidelines and still go on as if there was no virus-just because of things like their own selfishness, because they don't see the virus as something that should affect their daily life. But this is why you and everyone out there should respect the guidelines set out for us, so we can fight the virus as a whole.

When you perhaps saw the virus first trending, you might have not thought that much about it-as medicine and technology these days is powerful and thanks to scientists, if anything somehow did spread, they could take care of it. However, from then on the virus got worse and society saw the virus spreading internationally quicker than ever. The more people were sure the virus wouldn't reach their city, the more careless they got. When it got too far and the government finally started enforcing COVID-19 restrictions, at first people didn't think too much of it-there were still plenty of people hanging out in groups, huddled together as if there were no virus. Simple things like such as meeting a friend can turn out to be fatal for others, especially with a virus that is airborne and can easily creep up on you when you least expect it. The virus may be dangerous, but one of the biggest reasons it spread so much is because people didn't take it seriously enough and take measures to stay away from others. The restrictions are also there for a reason-to keep you safe. Protesting and being angry about wearing masks doesn't make the virus stop, it's doing your bit to stay safe that helps. Sometimes putting others before yourself isn't that hard-staying at home and wearing masks is the least you could do, and could save a life. 

Out of all the viruses that have plagued this earth, corona is not that much different, and we have it much easier than perhaps people in older times, or people in other countries or situations. The fact that you likely have shelter, the internet and medical help shows that you will be able to survive this better than the Londoners of the Victorian Era who lived in dirty, diseased slums, or homeless people who have suffered more than ever without the help of others in this time, or even in ancient civilisations, where cures to even simple ailments would be of no help whatsoever and likely kill you. It is almost certain we'll be able to make it through the virus if we all try to fight it together-so it's no reason to get too worried about it (although you should be worried enough to follow the restrictions). It also means it doesn't even take that much to do your part in helping. The bare minimum is to social distance, wear masks, and stay home as much as possible. Implementing those habits into your daily routine takes no effort.

If the restrictions do somehow stop you from living your fullest and 2020 has been a disappointing year no matter how you approach it, be reminded you can still have a wonderful year, if not the best, while in isolation and following the guidelines. Even if you're a morning person who likes going outside and being active, you can still make your year fun. Depending on your restrictions, going outside and exercising is most likely permitted, and you can probably enjoy nature even more as the restrictions have benefited to the environment-carbon emissions in China have decreased by a quarter, and Venice canals have thrived so much due to the loss of boats that creatures have been returning to live in the waters. Even as the cases have grown, it costs nothing to keep your head up and enjoy the positives, whatever they might be and look forward to how much more you'll value life after we all recover. No one is alone in this, and we're all working together instead of against each other.

2020 may have not gone the way we all planned it to, especially with all the new careers, travel plans and friendships that might have been waiting for us. However if you be grateful for what you have, find happiness in your daily life and follow the restrictions without complain, 2020 won't have to be seen as a year of burden, but instead a year of growth and change. And that is what we need to find in a time like this.