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Easier Left Unwritten

This morning, I plopped into my chair, eager to begin my writing practice. I had an amazing thread: students hate writing because they’re forced to write on topics they don’t care about. As I began my work, I couldn’t. With a blank screen before me, I thought about possible hooks, but none seemed solid. Other […]

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The Guidelines

I need to practice writing, and all of that will appear here for everyone to read and critique. Now, I intend to update this twice a day. Typically, I will put an idea up in an evening post, then write the rough draft in the morning. The piece will then go through rewrites, depending on […]

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Rock and Hard Place

“As far as prisons go, this isn’t bad at all.”Jenkins looked around, where his entire landing party sat, stood, and lay. He stood in a decently sized room with what he assumed was a connecting washroom behind it. The cots seemed clean, the food seemed unpoisoned, and his men seemed healthy. Things seemed okay.“Captain, doesn’t […]

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The World Today

Jenkins looked over a Fabius, who simply shrugged.He took a deep breath, then stood with confidence. No worse way to make an impression than look weak, he thought.“Honorable senators, please forgive me, but I was not warned in advance that I would need to talk. I will be down shortly.” He finished with a short […]

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Politics are for Losers

Jenkins snuck into the top row of the forum, far above any Senators.“That’s Senator Gaius Agrippa talking right now,” explained Publius Fabius. The Emperor had insisted that Jenkins have an escort around the city, and so Fabius found his way into an “important” ambassador position.Jenkins looked down at the man at the podium. Short, yet […]

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Gold, you say?

“Don’t worry about any of the proper formalities. The Emperor is a very pleasant man, and understands that your culture embraces matters like this differently,” Tiberius whispered into Jenkins’s ear. They stood in the waiting room of the apparent Capitol building, where, within, the Emperor reigned over the city-state.Presently, the guards gestured the party inside. […]

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Myths made real

Jenkins laughed. “Okay, I’ve heard every old pirate legend, and they’re all false, and I’ve heard a million old wives’ tales through the empire, but telling me that YOU’RE a real Roman, and that I’m on an island that Plato made up as complete horse manure…” He stopped laughing for a second, and took a […]

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Friendly Welcome

Jenkins had never seen an island quite like this. Then again, he lived his life at the sea, with an occasional trip to port. Privateers of this age had no time for finding and burying treasures on remote islands, or having a hidden fortress in the Caribbean.“So, what exactly are we looking for, Captain?” asked […]

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Nice Little Island, You’ve Got Here

“Captain, are you sure you want to send a landing party already? We haven’t even scouted out the size of this island, and barely the area.” McKidd struggled to keep up with Jenkins, who hastily ran about the ship, checking on preparations for the landing party.“Of course.” He grabbed an Enfield off the shelf, looking […]

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Great Blue Unknown

“I don’t like this, Captain. He sends us on an ambiguous journey into the middle of the ocean where ships have been lost, and expects a bunch of privateers to do his bidding. I think he’s trying to off us,” finished McKidd. He had been Jenkins’ first mate since the Hind had been in the […]