I groaned in frustration as I stomped towards my dorm. Once I’d succeeded in opening the door after minutes of struggling with the key, I threw it open, dropped my bag on the floor, and sprinted to my bed. With one great leap, I landed on my white sheets face first and screamed into my mattress. I was mentally exasperated from my Intro to Psychology class. On top of that, I’d only gotten two hours of sleep the night before. I’d been rushing to complete the copious amount of homework I’d been assigned in my economic class. It escaped me why I ever chose to listen to my dad’s suggestion and take the class. The only sliver of relief I had to comfort me was the knowledge that my roommate wouldn’t be back from her Intro to Ancient Greek Mythology class for another hour, so she wouldn’t be here to see me cry. I still didn’t understand why she took Greek Mythology, but that was the least of my concerns. I never was going to survive college, I knew it.

I grasped my pillow and laid my head on it as I let out one long sob. Teardrops dripped down my face and blotted my vision. I blinked repeatedly to clear my eyesight. Through the haze of my peripheral vision, I spotted my journal laying on my night stand. An idea popped into my mind. After pulling myself up into a sitting position, I leaned forward and grabbed the legend. I flipped it open to a blank page. Lucky for me, I’d remembered to leave a pen tucked into the front cover the last time I’d written in it. I hadn’t used the legend to create anything, just to journal. School had been stressful and I’d needed some kind of outlet to release tension. Now, I needed something else. I grasped the pen and started writing. It baffled me that I’d never thought to do this before. All the tools I needed to relieve my stress and anxiety were right before me, I just needed to pick them up and build something.

November 11, 2013

There was once a wireless printer that could easily connect to any computer and scan blank homework assignments; including worksheets and essays, and reprint them as worksheets with all of the right answers and completed and factual essays in MLA format with my name, Lydia Hamilton, on them.

The legend suddenly became five pounds heavier as soon as I wrote a period. Startled, I nearly dropped it on the ground. I composed myself and turned the journal over. I shook it gently and watched as a full-sized printer fell from the pages of the legend and plopped down on my bed. I grinned as I admired my creation. To the naked eye, it looked like any standard printer one would find in any public library. I could just tell Natasha that I picked up a printer for the dorm. I lugged the printer from my bed to my desk and set it down. I snatched my laptop from my bag on the floor and quickly pulled up my economics assignment and sent it to print from the new printer. Within seconds, I had printed a completed five page essay on the causes of the great depression. I read through it wide eyed. It was brilliant.

“Lydia?”

Natasha’s voice startled me. I looked up to see her in the middle of the doorway.

“Hey!” I said nonchalantly. “How was class?” Natasha entered and set down her backpack. “Interesting,” She replied, “We’re on a chapter about hell and today we learned about Hecate, goddess of magic.” I anxiously flinched at the mention of magic, but tried to cover it up with a laugh. “What’s that?” She asked. Her question caught me off guard. “What’s what?” I replied. Natasha pointed to my counter. “Did you pick up a new printer today?” “Oh!” I nodded. “Yeah, I was tired of having to rely on the one in the library.” That wasn’t a lie. She squinted at it inquisitively. “What brand is it?” She asked. I stifled a yelp. “Um…” I tried my best to think up a cover story to explain the printer, “It’s one of those fancy Japanese printers.” I regretted the words as soon as they came out of my mouth. There was no way Natasha would believe me. To my surprise, she shrugged and walked to her bed. “I’m exhausted, Lyd. Mind if I nap?” I sighed in relief. “Yeah, I got homework to do anyway.” I responded.
To be continued…