Alternate: A short story compilation

I. The sun will rise again tomorrow

This story revolves around a child named Erik whose life is about to change because of a simple notebook. He has to face the first day of school in a completely new class in which he doesn't know anyone. It explores the will of every child to have everything they want, and fast, without working for that certain thing. Enjoy :)

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The city of St. Louis was completely covered in snow. A common sight for the current period of the year. The view from Erik's room was astonishing. Living on the tenth floor of a block around the city center had its perks and the view was breathtaking. The commuters were just a show of colorful dots walking over a white carpet that covered the whole landscape.

All of a sudden a voice disturbed his silence.

"Erik honey, are you ready to go?". His mother's voice could be heard echoing from the hallway. No answer. "Erik?", his mother raised her voice again, while directing her steps towards her son's door. Upon entering his room, she noticed the eleven-year-old kid was just staring through the window that was facing the city's skyline.

"We need to hurry if you want to avoid the busy streets darling" whispered his mother.

"Can I skip it today?". The first day in a new school came quickly. He had spent the whole summer thinking of a way to make new friends but now the day was finally here and all his training went down the drain.

"Don't be silly, you'll be fine. You're not the only one who has no friends in that class, everyone goes through this in the fifth grade."

"But I don't know anyone..."

"Baby come on, I promise we will have some pizza after you finish your classes, what do you think?" whispered his mother. A slight smile appeared on both of their faces and stroking his hair, Vanessa gently turned Erik around and directed him towards the corridor.

The elevator ride to the ground floor felt like an eternity but the drive from their home to school passed in a blink of an eye. The front yard of the school was full of children. Four people were standing in front of the school doors, the principal and three other teachers, each waiting for the right time to call the groups they were assigned to overlook during the middle school period.

"Fifth A!" shouted a woman and the crowd started to mix and stir. All of a sudden a group of people started flowing towards the gates, elbowing their way through the packed crowd.

"Fifth A, this way!" shouted again the woman while turning around and going inside, followed by unsynchronized bouncing heads. At least that's what Erik could see. It was a school none of his friends chose to go to, and it felt like a betrayal to him but "life goes on, the sun will rise again tomorrow whether we like it or not". His da's words were the only ones he could hear in his head, despite the deafening noise around him.

"Fifth B!" another woman shouted. Shivers started going down his spine. The thought of meeting new people scared him. Seeing other children talking and making groups around made him think he probably was the only stranger.

 A stranger in his own city, the one he always admired from his window, up high, closer to the clouds than the ground itself. 

The crowd began to stir again. This time, the call was directed to him as well. A tall woman with short snow-white hair was standing in front of the school doors, glancing upon the sea of children.

Erik's body suddenly started moving, even though his mind wanted to stop, turn around and go back home, his legs kept going forward. He found himself in a smaller crowd among the ones he would later call classmates.