Sneak Peek · 5:38pm Dec 16th, 2018
Over the past two to three weeks, I have been working on an all-new story entitled With Celestia as My Witness. I am pleased to report that it is almost done, and I will soon unleash my creation upon the world.
But in the meantime, here's a little preview for you to enjoy. 
“So, Stone, you moved here from Baltimare?” Miss Cinch repeated. All traces of her faux friendliness disappeared in an instant, and Stone gulped when confronted with the full power of her glower.
“Yes, ma'am. My Dad was an actuary, but he got laid off.” Stone decided to keep his father's rather colorful and brutally honest opinion of his former employer to himself. He did not wish to set the ears of his fellow prisoners on fire. “We moved here when he got a new job as an accountant. I bet he makes it six months before we move again.”
“Well, we're glad to have you here,” Miss Cinch replied with a tone that indicated she hadn't heard a word of what he'd said. “Why don't you go take that seat by Juniper over there, and we'll get on with our lesson.”
Stone slunk his way over to the empty desk without making eye contact with any of his new classmates, and he pulled out a paper and pencil from his bags without a sound. Miss Cinch had already launched back into her lecture, and it took Stone several minutes to figure out what she was attempting to ‘teach.’
A minor victory came when Stone realized he had already learned about the order of operations, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. If he already knew this, he might already know about everything else that Miss Cinch would be teaching. It would then be easier to acclimate to his new school this way, and maybe it would be easier to make a new friend.
Miss Cinch promptly provided a worksheet for her pupils to complete once she finished with her explanation, and Stone attacked it as soon as the paper hit his desk. The math problems were not especially difficult, and Stone was on the verge of an actual smile while he wrote answer after answer in quick succession.
The worksheet was unexpectedly snatched away from him with three problems remaining, and Stone's frown matched Miss Cinch's while she clicked her tongue.
“These are all incorrect, Stone.”
“No they're not,” he retorted, and he pointed to the last problem he'd completed. “That's thirty-six.”
“You didn't show your work.”
Stone gave the old hag the best glare that he could. “So? It's right. Who cares how I got there?”
“Mister Stone, do not take that tone of voice with me,” Cinch threatened. “I don't know what those chowderheads down in Baltimare told you, but in my class, you show your work, or the answer will automatically be wrong. Now, correct these, and you will be staying in from first recess as punishment for your little outburst.”
Stone stared at the returned worksheet like it was a poisonous snake, and for a moment, he considered tearing it up and then making a daring escape out the window while Cinch was busy fainting from such a disrespectful destruction of her assignment. He fought back the tears that were surging at the back of his eyes, and his teeth began to grind.
Stone Spring hated this new school.
I'm intrigued...
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I think you'll like it.
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I'll be waiting then!