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“Let’s hurry up! There’s only five more minutes before class and you know that those are more like thirty seconds.” A girl with violet hair looked up from her book and smiled up at her classmates, raising her hand that was covered in a glove to curl a strand of hair around her fingers.

“Oh is it? I didn’t know.. Thank you.” She smiled and stood up, closing her book before slipping it into her bag. On the cover it read Animal Farm in small, golden letters. Quickly she closed the bag over the book and hung her bag over her shoulder. Then she followed the other children back into the grey building that seemed small for a school. One should take in mind that it was a small village.

The girl who sat down by a window that could be seen easily from the outside was named Ramona. Around eightteen months earlier she had moved into the village, Shedville. Nothing much had changed. Nothing much ever changed in the small place and though her hair was violet, nothing was that special about the girl nor her family. Her father was the owner of a small grocery shop. No, nothing about the family was outstanding, just like everything in the village. That was part of why she had been so welcome in the village.

Outside it was getting darker. The students were getting rowdy. Ramona sat by the window, mainly quiet. Every now and then she glanced outside to notice the dark. Her hazel eyes were deep as the ocean and seemed to be looking for something in the falling darkness. These were the only moments where she didn’t seem normal, the moments where she looked into the distance.

“Be quiet! You will all read chapter fifteen on the teachings of Seneca and look over the translation for tomorrow. I expect you all to do it because this will be on your next test.” The words seemed to slip past Ramona but her fingers wrote down the words as if her fingers had ears of their own. Her gaze had turned outside. Something was out there. The bell rung and she rose from her chair at the same moment as everyone else did. Usually she was a little slower than the others with packing her books, sometimes because she was interested and wanted to ask a few questions, sometimes because she didn’t want to leave the classroom at the same time as everyone else. This day she was slower for another reason. She had to leave later because something out there was looking. Her red scarf wrapped around her neck added a sense of colour to the classroom that seemed to be drained from all colour. The walls had originally been yellow but it was clear the painter had done that almost thirty years ago.

“Ramona?” The girl lifted her head and showed a soft smile. From the door opening a boy was looking at her. He seemed to be around half her age. With a gentle smile she walked towards him.

“You don’t have to walk me home Anthony, I know my way around town.”

“My name is Tony.. Why do I have to keep telling you?” Ramona chuckled as she followed the boy. She was aware that he was trying to be grown up but it somewhat irked her that he insisted on spending time with her. Her business was only her own. Then she stopped. Outside something was going on. The students were still gathered on the school ground despite the darkness and cold outside, and a bright light had appeared in between them. Ramona could see the top of the half formed sphere and knew what it was instantly. It was a charm, cast by someone to prevent damage from reaching outside. A layer of what seemed like crystal separated the people she knew to be inside from the outer world. In that layer of crystal there seemed to be threads, golden, silver threads and a special kind that seemed to have every colour inside itself. The crystal was radiating light. Ramona didn’t want to look at the sphere much longer but if she didn’t stop to look she would seem suspicious. So he had come here. But he hadn’t found her yet.

“What is that light? Ramona let’s go look!” Slightly annoyed though it didn’t show Ramona looked at Anthony whose eyes shimmered brightly with excitement.

“I’d rather not but you can look.” It seemed he hadn’t even heard her. Good. Ramona turned and headed for the edge of the grounds where the light didn’t reveal her presence. She heard shocked screams. It had begun, so she had to hurry home. It never took him very long. With some effort she repressed the thoughts and walked off the school grounds, onto the long road home.

There was a bus that would have taken her a part of the route she was now walking but Ramona didn’t want to explain anything to the bus driver so she just kept walking. Walking helped her clear her head. The lights on the side of the road flickered but that wasn’t anything new. Outside from the strange even in front of the school nothing was different, not yet. It wouldn’t be very long. She wondered if he knew she was there. It was possible that he did because he would have reasons not to find her immediately. Nothing he ever did was predictable.

“I’m home.” Nothing out of the usual at home. Ramona turned on the light and headed upstairs to her room. It was cold in her room since it was in the attic but it didn’t bother her. Once she got upstairs she turned on the heat and put her schoolbag beside her desk. From her window she saw nothing but darkness outside but she could still hear the wind. Yes, he knew she was there..