"Concentrate!!"

"I'm doing it as much as I can" 

" Look, you are new here so I'm going easy this time. I'm your mentor. You do as I say if you want to live, or you leave this room and never come back. Your choice."

He nodded. Although he hated it, he knew she was right. It was do or die. 

"Good. Now concentrate!! Focus your mind on the task at hand. Think about nothing else. Let's try again."

He did as he was told. He forgot about everything but the task at hand. After a few minutes, it seemed to work. The birds stopped flying, the leaves stopped rustling. Though it was only for a few seconds, he'd finally done it. 

He'd stopped time.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mark was a normal kid. He thought he had the best life ever. He had everything. Loving grandparents who treated him as their own. Friends who were there for him wherever he needed. He never wished for anything more than what he had. He was happy.

All that changed when he met Claire. She was the kinda person who grows on you. She opened the path for him to a life he never knew was destined to have and he discovered that he was so much more than merely normal.

But now his secret is out and his life and the lives of those he loves are in danger. Now he has to choose between his family and his destiny and the fate of the world depends upon his choice.

Timeless Teenagers

Looking at Mark talk to his friends from outside the café, Claire felt a twinge of envy. She wondered what it must be like to have that camaraderie with other people, to know who to reach out to when something big happened instead of solving it yourself and hoping no one finds out. 


She’d always wanted that but knew it was only a dream. She felt pity that Mark would have to realize it soon enough too. The organization doesn’t foster love or friendships, it only recognized talent. 


She knew she was being a bit unfair. After all, everyone had been their best to her and helped her in ways she could never repay. She did have people to call family, in her own way. 


The thought of family always led her to her father. It didn’t matter that he was long gone, he still permeated her thoughts like a looming presence she could never be rid of, reminding her she’d never be good enough, that the world would chew her up and spit her out without a blink. 


The end of an era, the start of another