Spring Month: 3 
Day 
Flood
Hartley Russel Barn| Rider | 15 | Male | M: Mircea
Hartley Russel Barn was currently outside in a little cart pulled by a horse that looked like it knew that it was too handsome for such demeaning work. The driver didn’t seem to notice the animal’s sour expression, that is, one as sour as a horse can make. Although the driver introduced himself as Mr. McLee, they decided that a good chauffeur name was Antonio and called him by it. So far the man did not show any signs of approval or disapproval. Antonio was a professional hand that they hired with saved money. Well, partial saved money. Twenty-three percent was a generous, unknown donation from their parents. Right, ‘they’ is plural. Hart wasn’t riding alone. Beside him was his cousin, Mircea. They were close and Hart considered him more of a brother than his actual biological brother.
After a few bumps and a couple turns, the horse-and-cart ride wasn’t as interesting. Bored and knowing that his cousin could always talk to Antonio, Hart gave Cea an apologetic look and pulled out a book from his bulging bag. By the rectangular shape, one could only assume that other books were stuffed inside. From the ride on, it was all theories, equations, geometric sketches, and a fictional mystery book.
———
When they were only a few minutes away from their destination, Hart was hidden away behind a thin book. It contained drawings of the stars and copies of mathematical equations. Astrology and astronomy were the new things going on in every scientist’s mind and Hart considered himself a scientist. After all, he dabbled a bit in the field. His main curiosity was the answer to what made humans, and other alive things, tick. However, he had not found a solution to his question. He hadn’t even started on an experiment for it, mainly because he wasn’t sure on how he would test his several hypotheses for it. The thought of it overwhelmed him and recently he found himself retreating into other subjects because of it. That’s how he got hooked on astrology and astronomy. The current book he was reading was about Ptolemy’s works in both fields. Sure, it was ancient knowledge, but it was new news to him. Apparently the earth was at the center of the universe. This book promoted the idea that the sun, moon, and planets revolved around the earth. He recognized this idea from another book about Aristotle’s work. It was a curious thought and it made sense. After all, they saw the sun stroll across the sky each day, and the moon seemed transfixed around them, too. The sources seemed legit, as both of them were well-known names in science community.
However, Hart was aware that famous did not mean correct, so he was currently keeping records about the moon. The sun would be too difficult to draw. Hart was a firm believer that drawings were just as important as the words when taking notes. He flipped the page where there were signs and symbols of what seemed like algebra. It all looked like chicken scratch to him. He hadn’t gotten to extensively learn algebra yet. He was just beginning the course and so far things made sense. This did not. What did sin stand for? At least he was sure that it didn’t mean the religious immoral act of someone. Or maybe it did, he second-guessed himself. After all, people were all about thinking and morals back then. He wasn’t sure and decided that he’d look through his algebra book and search for the troubling three-lettered word. Rats. He had left that one back in his room.
The day was absolutely beautiful, the clear skies, the perfect temperature and humidity. It was as if the dragons blessed the weather. Could they do that? He shut his eyes tightly in concentration. He was trying to remember the information from his more dragon-nerd days. No, they could not control the weather. Just the temperature of the environments they inflict their abilities upon.
He reopened his eyes. Oh wow. We're were already here. He recognized the spot from a drawing that he found in a book. It matched the picture almost exactly. The grass, the mountains, the woods, even the lake. From one look, he made up his mind that he was not going to go near that lake. It was bottomless. Of course, he tried to discredit the absurd notion, it can’t possibly be bottomless because that is, well, impossible. After a brief pause, his mind started up again. I wonder how many water dragons can fit in that lake. He decided to revert his thoughts to something similar to the subject, but more…educational? He felt a jolt from the cart and Mircea had already jumped off calling back an insult behind him. This brought Hart out of the deep thinking that he had been in from almost the beginning of their ride.
“I’ll gonna draw on my face!” He screamed after Mircea, his curly hair bouncing in a taunting way.
Hart wouldn’t actually draw on himself. What if he was chosen and had a chalk mustache and unibrow? That would be embarrassing. Instead, he undid the neat braid that Cea had carefully fishtailed into his hair during their ride. Then he flipped his hair around so that it would look untidy. It was the most he was willing to do. Not that he actually believed that Cea would disown him, but because he didn’t want to look like a fool if he did get picked. His tailored-to-fit suit was a bit too nice. It would be difficult to crinkle up now, but he could wear the jacket in an absurd way. He decided to tie the sleeves together around his throat as if it was a cape. That should do it.
“Thank you, Antonio.” He spoke to the driver as he heaved his bag out of the cart. “I’ll see you later!”
He did not get a response, so he turned towards the horse and whispered to it, “you really are too pretty for this job.”
The animal smugly shook its head and Hart turned around wondering if horses could understand what people were telling them. After all, dragons could.
