Being a Freshling wasn’t an easy thing to be. Cider knew this to be absolute fact, though it seemed that this was not the overall feeling shared with others…most older people she talked to always said that being a Freshling was super easy and that she had her whole life ahead of her and limitless possibilities out there as well.

And that was the whole problem! There were too many choices. Too many paths that she could take, and there wasn’t that much help to be found…or rather there weren’t the people around at this time that she wanted to talk about those choices with. Even if one of her mothers or siblings were around…she wasn’t sure she’d be able to open up about this anyway. She still found it so frustratingly hard to use her words for anything other than pleasantries, and she knew that that wasn’t a good way to go about living her life…what if that was going to be the state of her future? Cider the hybrid who couldn’t do anything but say hello and talking nervously about the weather.

The thought made tears begin to pool in her eyes and she quickly shoved the heel of her hands in them to get rid of the useless tears.

There were thoughts, good ones, that were trapped in her mind, stuck there by overwhelming shyness and the inability to really make her mouth say all the things her mind thought…but she did have thoughts and ideas…and she wanted to share them…

If only there were some way to share thoughts and ideas without talking and…

…and…

The tears dried up and Cider let out a little gasp, her eyes growing wide as this new idea filled her mind with hope and wonder. How had she not seen this before?

…Maybe it was because she kept focusing on all of the choices that Freshlings got to make that she forgot the important thing was her life was her own…and nobody could choose for her…she did have a way to communicate everything she wanted to communicate, and it was a lot easier than talking, that much was for sure.

Writing. She loved writing stories and making up stories…and it was so, so easy to translate all of her thoughts to words when she didn’t have to say them…She could be a writer and maybe even become…become famous or something! The hybrid let out a rather nervous sounding giggle at that thought…not that she didn’t sometimes have fantasies about becoming someone who was really special…but…but she never thought that could actually become a possibility…

Quickly, Cider moved to her desk and brought out a small stack of paper and a few pens and after looking out of her dormitory window, she began to write. This was going to be it. Her first written story…the first of many, she hoped…

Perhaps she would have to go and talk to the language arts teacher to get some advice…or maybe one of her moms would know how to advise her…

Regardless…she had picked a path now, and she was excited for the future.

Maybe being a Freshling wasn’t so hard after all.