The Weaver

Bryn Brentari. 

The name woven onto the bracelet in a vivid, strong vermilion glittered in the mellow lighting. Bryn slipped the bracelet off the desk, the beads glistening as he fastened it on his wrist. The workshop was empty for the moment aside from the scattered tools on the benches, the neighborhood tranquil and unmoving. Bryn tugged the clip from his hair, his chestnut bangs brushing sweeping against his eyes. 

The church bell pealed in the distance, the ringing echoing throughout the town. A man's voice yelled out something muffled and inaudible, and at that moment the doors of the villagers swung open and families, people and animals alike streamed out of the houses. Another day had begun.

Bryn bounded down the stairs with his sketchbook under his lanky arm, swinging around the banister. His mother's head tilted towards the thundering sound and mumbled a 'Morning, Bryn,' to which he jovially responded. He slipped into his seat, his knee bobbing up and down beneath the dinner table. The comfortable silence ensued, apart from the gentle sizzling coming from the kitchen. Bryn's mother plodded into the dining room and slid the eggs onto his plate, slumping into her own chair. She sat there quietly, watching her son wolf down the eggs. Bryn's father burst through the door, his portly figure huffing as the sound of muffled thumping grew closer. His head peered around the door at his family. 

'Mornin' Bryn,' he grunted.

'Morning dad!'

He shuffled into the kitchen and heartily commenced his meal. Bryn threw over a coat and was heading towards the door when his father called his name, smearing his oily hands on his trousers. 

'And where are you going this early?' he said, belching heartily. Bryn's hand froze on the doorknob, his freckled skin slightly paling. 

'Just back to the castle again,' he murmured. His mother looked up with a cocked eyebrow, her weary expression one that Bryn had seen quite a few times lately. 'No wandering around for too long,' she said as Bryn mentally groaned. 'and come back early to weave some more bracelets for the shop.'

Bryn chirped a 'Of course' before rushing out the door. The Brentari parents sighed, exchanging glances as their son's footsteps pitter-pattered in the distance.

Bryn bolted down the cobbled pathway, the yelling of shop owners and gleeful titters of the children thick in the air. His breath hitched as he dodged a horse and cart, the driver scowling at his retreating back. Bryn turned the corner, heaving as his pace slackened. The castle nestled in the very middle of the city, its striking height making it loom over the villagers. Bryn glowered at the flag billowing in the wind. Stupid rich people, he sneered internally as he trudged towards the castle, his fingers tightening around his sketchbook. 

The guards in front of the gate parted as Bryn walked through, greeting him monotonously.

'Welcome to Grey Castle, happy Royals' Day,' they boomed as Bryn disappeared into the hall. What a pig, thinking he's saved the world by letting locals in for Royals' Day when he can't even tell the proper truth about the history.

Bryn had walked through the halls many times, in fact he had visited every year for Royals' Day but the sight rendered him speechless every time. The colossal rooms could house the whole town with room to spare-in their sprauncy, aristocratic decorations. Every room was swathed in some velvet or fine fabric with jewels adorning the walls, along with depictions of dumpy cupids and sculptures of who-knows-what. The architecture was intricate and refined, and a complete opposite to the dilapidated shacks the citizens lived in. 

Bryn scoffed at the paintings of the royals with their upturned noses and poodle-like hair. Having an interest in history didn't stop him from despising royalty. Especially when he knew what had happened. 

Bryn scrutinised the empty halls, took a deep breath, and reached up to one particularly hideous cupid. He tugged on the marble arrow, and the statue toppled over, the bricks shifting and turning magically as they revealed a doorway. Cheering under his breath, Bryn slunk inside as the doorway realigned itself. The brunette glided down the secret path, shuddering as a drop of water ran down the back of his neck. Bryn jogged towards the gate, prying it open gently. He winced at the creaking sound it made, but his features relaxed when he saw the figure inside. 

Bryn beamed, tugging a bracelet out of his apron and crept eagerly forward. The curled up dragon slunk out from the darkness, its scaly face looking down fondly at the boy.

'Ah, welcome back, Bryn.' it rumbled.

Why sexism should be abolished for women in science (and everywhere else)

Gender inequality has been a popular topic since men and women were often split into two with different stereotypes-women were expected to work and be housewives, dedicated to only their home life, whereas men could do pretty much anything else and had obvious privilege (it's quite obvious, too, which gender had enforced these stereotypes). These days those ancient stereotypes are falling apart and women have achieved more freedom and been able to prove their skills-especially in the controversial topic of science. However, not everything has been smoothed over. Injustice and sexism still heavily burdens women in science and everywhere else for that matter. But why would only gender, something you are born with, affect you so much? Females have so much potential and have already contributed so much to the science world, and it can even be scientifically proved that they are able to do just as well, maybe even better, than men. So if you are adamant that women can't contribute incredibly to science, think again.

Of course, no two people on this Earth are the exact same and that rule definitely applies to gender too. To categorise people that way would be an inefficient system-especially in science, where knowledge, passion and education are the most important traits. Not a lot of people recognise this simple fact, though. Because of cliches for men and women, girls with potential often don't have the chance to recieve the education they need as people think the education would be wasted on them, intellectual women can't get good jobs in science because people can think a man would do it better, and females with plenty of potential can be discouraged from the start because of the ideas that society forces on them.  You may think these are just situations that I've come up with, but millions of females everywhere face these situations daily and it happens pretty much everywhere you can think of. Even if it's a small change, if we collectively try to end these generalisations then you could unknowingly turn around the life of a girl somewhere, or even the future history of science. And one change could turn into something even bigger. Never underestimate the potential one idea has-even if it fails, it could inspire someone else. Letting women contribute to science as freely as men do creates huge opportunities as they can use their voices. And having being able to use your voice, no matter how quiet it is, will always allow you to be heard.

Even with all these toxic stereotypes and cliches, women have still managed to make staggering contributions to science (imagine what it would be like if they could be at their full potential!). Men are often credited for the largest contributions to science, but they would have been nothing without the help of women. Rebecca Saunders and Muriel Wheldales' work contributed to the foundation of modern genetics, there are many women who worked for NASA that were the only ones the astronauts trusted, and Marie Curie's studies pioneered science and the study of radioactivity, including her discovery of two new elements (radium and polonium). But a majority of women who have been able to contribute to science have been overshadowed by men, who took all the glory. Lise Meitner calculated the energy released by splitting a certain type of atom, but a male colleague won a Nobel prize for the discovery and she was only credited 22 years later. James Watson and Francis Crick may be familiar names to you because of their discovery of how DNA was structured, but Rosalind Franklin was the one to be able to acquire the x-ray image for them. These are just a few of the hundreds of forgotten stories and there have been far worse events, but with the injustice that women suffer in science, those stories might never be heard unless something is done about it. It's such a trivial and meaningless problem with a simple solution, yet it's affected women so much over the course of history. If you don't do something about this and just stand and watch, you are part of the problem. This is why it's essential for you to do anything, no matter how small it is and perhaps these situations will become a thing of the past.

And if you still aren't convinced, even scientific reasoning sides with girls. A recent research found out that a nerve in the left side of the brain grows faster in girls than in boys. This nerve makes girls more intelligent in the earlier years of their lives (hence girls often being seen as more mature than boys). At 7, the average IQ for girls is 100.6 while it's is 99.4 for boys.  At the age of 11, these results still remain true. Scientists from University of Missouri and the University of Glasgow studied the the educational level of 1.5 million students who were 15 from around the world using studies from 2000-2010. David Geary, a professor at The University of Missouri, says girls are surpassing boys in reading, mathematics and science literacy even in places where rights for women are the worst in the world. Girls outperform boys in almost much every country or region there is, and students in girls schools do significantly better in general academics and even have better mindsets than those who don't attend those types of schools. Modern scientific evidence simply shows more than ancient stereotypes ever will, and it's obvious that those facts can be proved in daily life. Even significantly less education compared to boys, societies with an obvious bias towards men, or the early stages of life doesn't stop women from showing that can be are able to achieve more than boys and are just as capable.

In the end, gender means simply nothing to what a person can achieve. Women are just as capable as men and it's obvious, no matter who wants to deny it and it's likely that they can even do more than the latter. Females in science not only are inspirations to other girls and women, but they can also pave the way for others and change the mindsets of future generations-no matter what gender they are. But if this change doesn't happen now, when will it happen? Are you just going to wait until someone else does it for you? If you can at least bring awareness to the topic, you're doing far more than nothing at all and that's enough.

The Magic Cafe

Genevieve flitted out of the kitchen, the metal tray on her forearm jangling as the contents bounced on it. With a wave of the fingers from her free hand, the sign magically flipped around and the door swung open, the bell pealing canorously as she met the faces of her customers.

"Welcome to Magic Bakery!"

She turned around promptly and left as the customers rushed in. When she was back in the kitchen, she swallowed thickly and looked at the moving ingredients pouring over one another into a drifting bowl, the jars and bags swooping around the room. "You're managing perfectly fine , especially with your magic, okay?" she chastised herself. At that moment, the bag of flour jerked violently and sent the white powder flying into the air, just as the bell on the counter rang. Genevieve sighed in exasperation, darting through the door to greet the customer as she pinned her unruly hair up.

When she returned, eyes already heavy with exhaustion (a customer had loudly reproached her for one of the growing spells she put in her blueberry muffins as their 8 foot child crouched behind them) she dashed over to the potion cabinet and rummaged through the glasses. They clinked together as she snatched out a potion reading 'growing potion for plants', her eyes widening as she scrutinised the smaller text. 

Genevieve's antagonised groan resonated throughout the bakery, a few customer's heads turning towards the swaying kitchen door.

You'll never be able to take care of your mother like this, her mind derided. I'm not even a full-blood witch, forgive me for trying, she sourly retorted.

Genevieve's mother, the previous owner of the bakery, lay upstairs. Often Genevieve would look at her immobile body, almost expecting it to leap up and lift Genevieve back up on her back, her ringing laugh echoing around the shop as she did when her daughter was younger, but as time went on and her condition worsened, rendering her almost unable to even move her face, Genevieve's hopes grew less and less. Her face had barely aged-her eyes grew softer, Genevieve could see on the occasion that she opened them, and her solemn, unmoving face seemed to add a few years, but she looked so healthy that Genevieve's heart melted just a little every time she laid eyes on her mother and eventually realised she wasn't going to recover soon.

Curse her being a half-blood witch. Not only was she considerably weaker and clumsier, but her mother could have been alive if she was more powerful. Now she had to run a whole shop, selling her attempts at potions and spells in the form of baked goods to others to buy medicine for her mother at the age of only sixteen. 

Genevieve's hand trembled as she pressed the buttons on the till, her eyes tearing up. We'll never survive like this. The suspiciously customer glanced at the girl who was almost in tears, but grabbed their healing spell cookies and left swiftly. 

Genevieve closed for the day, somberly rolling down the curtains.  She was cleaning up the flour disaster in the kitchen, humming softly as she swayed around. The light had dimmed, the bakery once more becoming tranquil and still. She smoothed down her pink frilly apron, and set down her baker's cap.

Until a series of clashing rubbish bins and a yelp thundered across the kitchen. Genevieve tiredly raised an eyebrow, shuffling over towards the back door and peering around it. A flash of red hair appeared near the spilled garbage, and then the head of hair appeared again, in front of Genevieve. She looked down to see a boy, with his head sheepishly tilted down. He has antlers, must be a hybrid, she mused as she peered at him. The boy flushed in embarrassment. 

"I'msosorryyouseeIwasn'tspyingIwasjustcuriousandIneedworkand my- you see- antlers-"

"That's fine," Genevieve said warmly. "Just clean it up with me." 

She felt his wide, doe-like eyes examining her fearfully as she picked up all the old milk cartons, and chuckled quietly. "So, you said you need work?" Genevieve said, turning to the scrawny hybrid. He nodded enthusiastically, his eyes wide with a rubbish bag dangling dumbly from his antlers. She grinned at him, her hand outstretching.

"Well I need help, so you're temporarily hired for Magic Bakery by me, Genevieve!" 

His face brightened, and he beamed so brightly Genevieve was slightly stunned in the dark lighting. He bounded over, eagerly grabbing her hand and shaking it roughly. "I'm Mitsu, you don't need to worry about a single thing if I'm working for you!" He yelled joyfully, springing up and down. Genevieve smiled back at the suddenly energetic boy, leading him inside as the back door swung back shut, the small amount of sunlight left slowly ebbing away.

It had turned out, in fact, that Genevieve would have to worry about a considerable amount of things with Mitsu around. A test baking session had resulted in simple 'hair colour change' cookies turning out to be more of a.. batter? Genevieve had just stopped the fervent assistant from putting the sludge into the oven, and she silently decided he would just have to do other tasks as the boy bashfully scraped the mixture into the bin. A potion task decided Mitsu wasn't exactly built to be a wizard. 

Genevieve looked pityingly down at the redhead as he shamefully cleaned up. Perhaps he was just nervous-he didn't seem like he had a place to go to, and after all such he was such a young kid looking for work, and didn't seem too fortunate. She paced over to him and crouched down, her hand resting on his shoulder. Mitsu's face turned towards her, his expression one of mingled glumness and disappointment. 

"I'm sorry for bothering you, I'll go now." He mumbled, picking himself up. Genevieve watched him, and then burst into peals of laughter, her golden hair bouncing on her shoulders. Mitsu swiveled around, his head tilting in confusion as his scarlet hair swayed in the wind. 

"I haven't even fired you yet! Come with me." Genevieve quipped, grabbing his arm and dragging him back in. 

The next day, Genevieve was whistling merrily as she slid a tray of dough into the oven, the clanking noise slightly muffled as it settled inside, the girl rushing over to prepare lemon tarts. And Mitsu? Word goes around that the witch who owns the cafe near the town square has a new assistant-a sprightly reindeer mascot, who is a tad clumsy, yet just as lovable. They're doing incredibly well! But we'll leave the two to their own adventures from now own, as they'll figure out how to work things out. Pleasure doing business with you!

Why Travelling is Good For You

Travelling is often one of the most popular things to do for leisure-adults often talk about travelling when they imply they need a break, and people who often travel to exotic places in movies and books are seen as 'cool' and as role models. No wonder travelling is so well liked-however, along with not being burdened by work, travelling provides more benefits than you think. It's also changed the world, revolutionised cultures, history and our society for the better and you'll find it helping your own state of mind and your future before you even know it. Yes, even something as easy and fun as travelling can help you that much! So when you have any sort of break, just try going anywhere you want or anywhere you can, and you'll see how much good exploring brings you. 

Travelling is sure to improve your mood and gives you a well deserved breather-but even after your holiday you can still benefit greatly. Anywhere you travel, as long as there is something new to learn, you can be rewarded in the long term. Wherever you go, you bring along your own experiences and your own way of life as well as getting to see others'. Something 'normal' that you may be accustomed to, whether it be your environment or your food, can be seen as amazing and inspiring to others and vice versa. Even trivial things such as beauty standards can vary all around the world and there is always something fascinating and new to learn in every corner of the world, whether it be big or small. Learning about other people, cultures and environments can reward you in different ways-a job that requires knowledge of a certain country, an essay about a place you've visited before, learning a new language, writing a fiction book set in a certain city or even trying to come up with a new dish (and many more situations) can all be aided with travel experience. However, travelling can also do so much more than that. The beliefs and life lessons that you can learn from people who grow up in different places can remain with you for eternity, and you can compare different people to yourself and start to value parts of your life more when you see how others live. Reading a website about a certain dish or watching travel vlogs are far more different than going and experiencing it yourself. Even your own imagination can be stimulated by what you see, hear, smell and feel in an unfamiliar place. You might even be able to see or experience more than others, or notice more than they do. And that is one of the best parts of travelling that can stick with people for the longest of times, even when they forget their own name.

Not only does it significantly help yourself, but it's helped society and the human race ever since mere cavemen moved out from Africa into all different parts of the world millions of years ago. So many different parts of our daily life, politics, our cultures, and pretty much anything you can name has been influenced by travel. Inventions, animal breeds and foods, even fruits you find in your local supermarket such as bananas and pineapples, have spread all around the world and been developed and changed thanks to people who explored unfamiliar places and countries. The most important scientists who have made staggering contributions to things like biology or medicine did this by going to different places with different environments. Charles Darwin's evolution theory was supported by his research of animals on exotic islands, the useless and harmful cures of England from centuries ago were revolutionised thanks to travelling and meeting experienced Arab doctors, and different diseases have vaccines now because of scientists travelling and seeing how other people in other countries had cures-these are just a few of the uses travelling has brought to the world, and they have prevented so many possible deaths. Even Roald Dahl who traveled for work and eventually fought in the second world war in Africa has been able to write a successful book on his unusual experiences and the beauty of the country. Most of the time, even the scientists, doctors and biologists who did this for their work enjoyed the travels because of the new experiences they had and all the new sights they got to see. They were affected they same way travelling might affect you. Even you could change history just by seeing something new-it just takes a bit of exploration.

Of course, you might say it would be easy to just state this. "This is from your experience-what if I have a different mindset?" However, even scientific evidence supports the idea that travelling does you infinitely more good than bad, especially to your personality and to your mindset. A study from Rice University (along with Columbia and North Carolina University) revealed that people who live overseas for a long time develop 'self-concept clarity' who are more self aware and understand themselves better than others who have always lived in the same situation and can't see their growth as a human being. You don't have to be a university-level student to understand this. Anyone at all who's lived in two significantly different places for a long time can see this themselves developing this self-concept clarity as they can compare the two different places and be able to gain empathy for others. I've also experienced this, as I moved between two different places where the communities were made up of two completely different cultures-Vietnamese people and migrants to a more fortunate community made up of mainly Jewish and western people-and I could see how much I changed in different societies, and how others who had lived in both communities for their whole lives didn't have as much experience and awareness. I've also traveled far more than other people in my year group-my Maths class took a survey on how many countries out of Australia we had been in, and no one had surpassed 10 countries apart from me-who had answered around 21. In turn, I have more knowledge and background information on history and different cultures, and I know about different landmarks and cities more than the average. But this doesn't require incredible analyzing skills and to study for ages about other countries. Simply going someplace else and absorbing the information subconsciously does this to you, no matter who you are.

So in the end, travelling proves itself to be more than it seems and its rewards have surprisingly helped in all sorts of ways. Next time, try going to an unfamiliar country or a new city even within your own country and just relaxing and exploring the new surroundings. There is new potential wherever you can find new experiences, and who knows what you can be capable of? It just takes a bit of curiousness and interest, and a simple vacation will be able to change so much before you even know it.