Another rumble and flicker of lights forced my attention from my computer. The decorative lights began to sway. I saw electricity crackle along the sides of the neon sign. One of the patrons gasped as a crack started to form along the wall. My breath quickened and my heart raced.

"Here you go," said one of the diner workers, sliding a cup of hot chocolate complete with mini-marshmallows. She smiled and went back to her rounds, serving everyone—even if she got some dirty looks and dirty comments from some of the patrons. She looked a lot like my mother.

I knew these next few chapters wouldn't be easy; I was thankful for the soothing hot chocolate.

I positioned my fingers over the keyboard and...nope, can't do it. I'll just have to write another chapter first. What chapter though? I rested my back against the booth's chair. A sound like a fusion of a horse and a motor boat puttered out from me. What could I talk about other than the time the bullies tripped me in the hall or when they threw a snake at me? Or what about the time I was riding the school bus home; and just as I bent over to pick up my backpack, a bottle whizzed by my head?

I just couldn't talk about the bullies yet.

I closed my eyes. Soon, I found myself starting to drift off to sleep. I jerked awake, rubbed my eyes while trying to wake up, and faced the laptop screen. But instead of a blank word processor page, I found text. I leaned towards the laptop, my nose a few inches from the screen.

"Max had finally defeated the Wizard. The land was once again free and safe. Unfortunately, he and his friends could not return to their realms. Max was the new Wizard of New Town—he had responsibilities. One such responsibility was to investigate the strange reports of ghosts..."

Islowly leaned back to a straight position. I hadn't written that. There was awhole chapter, possibly more, that I did not write.

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Words: 346