And this is where the story begins to go downhill. Actually, it started in the last chapter, but it only gets worse in this chapter. The story begins to become deadly serious when it should have stayed light and fluffy. Frankly, this story doesn't have the type of storyline that can support this type of seriousness. If I do end up going back and rewriting this story, I will probably have to cut everything from this point on.

Chapter 3

An auspicious-looking announcement, printed on paper with red borders, made its appearance on the bulletin board in the town square the next morning. It read:

Teenage Writings to be Burned

A public burning will be held Thursday in the town square at 7pm. All works of fiction authored by teenagers that have not been previously destroyed must be burned at that time. If any person is discovered possessing such works after 7pm on Thursday will be arrested as a common criminal.

Thursday. Tomorrow. Jamie read the announcement and scowled at the cruel words. How could the king order something like this to be done?

Jamie turned and walked across the square, thinking about the bonfire that would be held there tomorrow night. So many precious manuscripts, destroyed! What a horrible thought! Good thing she wasn’t going to be there. She smiled as she thought of the hiding place she had found for her manuscript, underneath the floorboards in her room. It turned out that there were two layers of boards that made up her floor, the bottom one serving as a ceiling for the room below. Between the two layers was a space just big enough for her book. She had had to pry up the floorboards with her dad’s help to hide it, but now it was safe from the law.

Jamie made her way towards Derek’s house, two blocks from the town square. Derek was a fellow novelist, her writing buddy. She had to tell him about her idea.

Jamie knocked on the door of the stately townhouse that was like the one she lived in and waited for someone to answer. She thought about how her life had changed since she had known Derek. They weren’t ‘together’, even though everyone thought they must be. Their relationship had never been like that. It had always been a pure, honest friendship, right from the very first. Their mutual love of writing had drawn them together. Jamie reflected that if it wasn’t for Derek, she might never have started the work that had become her precious novel. They encouraged each other on, and both of them had grown as a result.

Derek’s mom answered the door. “Oh, Jamie!” she said. “Good to see you.” Her face looked tired and sad, probably the result of the recent announcement. “I know Derek will be glad to see you, especially after...well, he’s in the back.”

Jamie nodded, thanked Derek’s mother, and stepped into the house. She walked through it quickly to the back door, and went out onto the little plot of grass that was behind each of the town houses. Derek was in the one corner where there was only dirt instead of grass, and he was bent over something that Jamie couldn’t see. He didn’t seem to notice her.

Jamie strode over to him and punched him gently in the shoulder, as she always did. “What’s up with you, Derek?”

Derek didn’t look up. Jamie bent over his shoulder and saw that the manuscripts to his stories were lying in front of him.

“Hullo, Jamie,” he said finally. His voice was completely deflated, not at all like him. “You’ve arrived just in time to witness the cremation.”

To Jamie’s horror, Derek pulled a match out of his pocket, struck it against his shoe, and held it to the corner of the stack of papers. Slowly, the flame began to spread over the page.

“No!” Jamie screamed. She hurriedly stamped out the fire with her boot. “Don’t do this!”

Derek looked up at Jamie standing on his work, and she saw that his face was streaming with tears. “You have to let me,” he said. “I have no other choice. I’m not going to wait until the bonfire tomorrow to make such a show in front of everyone else.” He wiped at his face with muddy hands, leaving it streaked. “I don’t even know why I’m crying, it’s not like this is a big deal.” He lowered his face again.

“Stop trying to be tough,” Jamie said. “You know this is a big deal: you can’t pretend it’s not. I know how you feel. And I’m saying that you just can’t do this.”

“Oh, so you’re saying that you’re going to wait until everyone’s watching to destroy your story?” Derek asked cynically.

Jamie bent down. “I’m not going to destroy my story,” she whispered.

Derek looked up at Jamie, shocked. “And disobey the law?”

“Yes,” Jamie whispered. “And you should do the same. You know your work is too good to destroy. If I can do it, you can do it to. This is an unjust law anyway.”

Derek nodded slowly. “Yes,” he said. “But have you seen the penalties they impose if they find you? Jamie, I don’t think I could bear two years in prison!”

“They won’t catch us,” Jamie said.

“That’s what they all say,” Derek said. “We need to think about this more before we do this, Jamie.”

“We don’t have time, Derek. The burning is tomorrow night. Side with me or lose your story forever. You’ve got to.”

Derek shook his head. “If only the king could see that this law is wrong and unfair!”

Jamie smiled. “That’s exactly what I’m thinking, Derek.”

Derek looked at her sharply. “You don’t have another crazy idea, do you?”

Jamie nodded. “I do,” she said. “And I think it’s going to work.”