"The essay question is so redundant!"
Sarah pursed her lips and twisted the end of her frayed braid, glowering at the worksheet in front of her. History had never been her strongest subject and Mr. Sithers was definitely trying his hardest to bump her down to a B this semester. He had, after all, assigned the best student in his class to work with two complete idiots for no apparent reason. Other than to make her miserable.
Sarah sighed. Neither of her group members looked up from their worksheets which, she noted with annoyance, weren't even halfway complete. She glanced at each of them in turn, checking one last time for even the slightest sign of intelligent life, before pushing herself away from the table. This is stupid. You morons can just fail this on your own.
"Sorry guys." Sarah stood up and stuffed her work into her backpack.
"I have to be home by dinner. If there's anything you don't understand, please feel free to text me." If you have the mental capacity to use your phones, that is. And with that, Sarah tucked her chair back into position, taking care to adjust both of her backpack's straps before walking out of the library. As soon as she stepped outside, Sarah ditched her bright smile for a flat glance about the library entrance. There weren't very many people out in the streets; it was already growing dark despite the cloudless sky.
She began the walk home. One foot in front of the other. Then the next, and another after that...When she reached the outskirts of town, Sarah blinked in surprise and looked owlishly about her. Despite the dimness of the streetlights a while away from where she stood, Sarah quickly deduced her location from the simple fact that there weren't many open fields immediately outside of the town. Yet another benefit of such a small town; she could locate where she was as easily as finding a paperclip in her cluttered bedroom. Very easily.
The real question Sarah was wondering was why she'd happened to wander so far past her house. Look, there were the mines. Way, way back from where she'd been was her home, and her dinner which by now was probably clammy and cold. Oh, and there, right then, was a searingly bright flash of a light from the largest mine's entrance. And as soon as it had happened, it was dark again.
Sarah scowled, turning away from the dark silhouettes of the mines. That's right, her mind said. It was but a trick of the light, nothing more.
But what if it wasn't an illusion? Sarah stopped again at the edge of the town, just where the sidewalk emerged from the flattened earth.
It's not your problem.
She turned, slowly, and watched the mines that sat like lonely giants silently watching the last of the sunset as it melted away in the horizon.
Don't forget about dinner. And you need to finish that history project.
Scrunching her face up in determination, Sarah took two steps towards the mines.
It could be...dangerous.
At that, Sarah broke into a run. Whomever, or whatever, was in the mines would be far more interesting than cold manicotti.