anigames01

Collin swung his head from side to side, taking in at least two dozen trees on the left and another two dozen on the right. They looked like mirror images of each other, and a lot like mirror images of all the trees he’d walked through for the last twenty minutes. He picked up his pace, almost stumbling on a well-disguised moss-covered rock. “Are you sure you know where we’re going?” he asked as he caught up to Anush, his gray and white tokota, who was padding serenely through the forest, weaving this way and that to avoid tree after identical tree. She gave Collin a warm glance over her shoulder and pressed onward. Collin gave the forest another once-over. It was a nice day, oddly warm for winter, with sunlight pouring down from a clear sky and filtering through the weave of needled conifer branches above. The dapples of sunlight flickered over Anush’s back and Collin’s coat as they continued forward.  A warm wind slid through the trees and circled the two of them. Collin breathed

BOOM - BOOM Collin winced as the truck hit another bump in the road, the trailer behind bouncing heavily over it soon after. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and took a deep breath. “Easy, man,” Kaya said from the passenger seat. “It’s not a race.” “I’m trying,” Collin mumbled between clenched teeth. “This road is a freaking nightmare.” He pressed the brake as he spotted another bump and the truck lurched to a near stop. “Okay, that was overcompensating, I think.” “I told you that you should be the one to drive.” “And I told you I won’t always be here and you need to learn.” Collin’s jaw clenched so tight his teeth scraped against each other. He tapped on the gas and eased the truck over the next bump. “You couldn’t have picked a smoother road for me to learn on?” Kaya shrugged. “You’re the one who picked the show. How was I supposed to know it was this way?” Collin sighed sharply. He glanced in the mirror and eyed the trailer. “I hope Anush is okay.” Kaya waved a

Collin closed his laptop, pulled his earbuds from his ears, then closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead vigorously, like doing so would massage the barrage of new information Dr. Rubold had thrown at him into his brain. He stared down at his notebook, at the three new pages of scribbles he had to study now. The lectures were only fifty minutes long. How in the world did his professor manage to pack this much into less than an hour? Attempted brain-massaging finished, Collin stood from his desk and set the notebook on top of the closed laptop. He could do with a break before launching into a study session. Breaks were just as important as work; that’s what Kaya said anyway. He went for the door. The hallways of the Hazel View Manor were so much bigger than Collin’s old home that he was sure he would never get used to them. He eyed the paintings of various landscapes that covered the walls as he made his way to the stairs. There was still much of the place he hadn’t explored, and he’d