CRYSTALLUM LOST DREAMS | Fantasy Novel |

Chapter 1 - Part 1

A beam of light penetrated through the wooden window cracks and lit up his face. Meanwhile, the sound of Mrs. Flint's footsteps down the stairs became heavier.

"Another five minutes..." he whispered. He cursed the annoying noises with a grumble.

The door crashed open. He turned the other way.

"For the umpteenth time, Cora! You're late! Wake up or you can forget your summer vacation!" the woman shouted in the darkness of the room. Without waiting for a response, she picked up the pace to the window and threw it open. "Elidana is already waiting for you!" She approached the bed and ripped the blanket away in one swift motion.

Cora sighed indolently and covered his eyes with his hand. "Mrs. Flint! You can't come in like this!" he barked, his face still puffy. He sat on the bed, ran his fingers through the hair mussed from the night and looked at her with a scowl.

"You must be punctual even on the last day!" argued back the woman. She lifted up his crumpled pants and shirt from the chair and threw them at him. Finally, she grasped the door handle. "You're skipping breakfast today. See you in class!" And she disappeared.

Cora stared at the wall in front of him, gave himself two slaps on the face and got up to put on his clothes. He straightened his red suspenders and went to the bathroom to wash his face. As soon as he was ready, he grabbed a handful of pebbles from the desk and put them in his pocket. Some, however, slipped inside his pants and tinkled on the floor.

He grimaced. "When will she finally buy me some new clothes, I'll already be out of this place," he muttered.

He went to the desk and took a greenish, dented pencil case from the drawer. He held it with both hands and opened the lid carefully; inside was a rectangular iron plate that reflected the light back to him. He smiled unconsciously. It was the only gift that Mrs. Flint had given him for his fourteenth birthday. He gave it a quick polish with his thumb and hid it in the pocket of his shirt. He went down the creaky stairs and walked past, lost in thought, the hallway covered all over with drawings.

He paused for a moment at the door that he had passed through every morning and that he would finally no longer see for a while. The engraving, carved with a knife, read "Classroom." "Sure, classroom..." whispered Cora: it was little more than a storage room. It barely fit the old Teacher desk, the two half-broken desk and the wobbly cabinet that was standing only because they had nailed it to the wall. And they had really nailed it well. He himself had made sure it held up, and then added a few more nails for safety. He was convinced that not even an earthquake could knock it down now.

Mrs. Flint was waiting in front of the board; her long hooked nose was buried in the pages of the register.

"Finally," said the young woman who occupied one of the two desk. Brilliant blue eyes glared at Cora, but he took his seat in silence. His hands began to sweat.

She sat calmly, with her back straight and, after shaking her head in disappointment, adjusted the flowery hair clasp.

"Elidana, please..." Cora leaned on the desk with one arm and rested his cheek on it while he observed the countryside outside.

"You could have made a little effort, at least today..." she went on. Elidana's complexion was light and fair, but when she was angry, her cheeks took on a feverish color. With elegance, she removed the amber tuft from her shoulder and took three books from under the desk. "I hope you didn't do anything last night." She opened one titled "History of Lamia: from the Kharzanian Wars to the Unification of the Republic" and began to flip through it.

"Stop with these fake scoldings," he whispered. "Instead, at the end of the lesson, I'll go to Fez..."

Elidana shook her head again. "I'll stay here, Marmorel is coming to see me, she has to tell me some things, but I'm sure she'll talk about Aran," she sighed. "She always talks about Aran... and she'll keep doing it even more in these three months..."