Mogtober 2022

Day 19: The Living Map

Owain Binks rolled his eyes as Ezra and Elodie discussed an idea for a Tricksy Lane. "And then, there'd be this giant wave crashing down on them!" Ezra cried, gesticulating wildly. Elodie nodded enthusiastically. Owain sighed and sketched out the alleyway. He frowned and tried to find the exact shade of gray that Jakyll Lane's cobblestones were. Was it slate-gray, or stormcloud-gray? 

"Will you two shut up, please?" He snapped. The two of them shared a look. 

"Geeze, Owain. Why are you so touchy about this?" 

"Yeah, Owain. Live a little!" Elodie added.

Owain adjusted a brick in his drawing. "Because, I am determined to create the most accurate map of Nevermoor in existence. This.... Is the last..... Street....."

The two friends sighed as Owain trailed off again and made a few more careful pencil marks in his sketchpad. 

"Owain!"

"What?"

"Come on, it's time to get back to school."

He sighed. "Very well." He dragged his feet all the way back to Sub-Nine. 

Owain obsessively worked on his model of the city, Weaving each and every piece carefully to exact proportions on a one-to-one scale with the actual city. Finally, after two solid years of work, he was almost done. Now, all that was left was...

"Animation." He whispered, staring at his map. Excitement lit his gaze, and he closed his eyes and summoned the wunder. Finally, finally, he had achieved his greatest feat yet. 

A Living Map of Nevermoor.

He smiled as the tiny populace began to move about, living their lives in the miniature just like their counterparts in the city. 

"Look, Ma'am!" He called to Rook. 

She came and looked at his model. "Hm? Oh, that's nice, Owain." She wandered off.

Probably to go marvel at something that Ezra did. Owain seethed. Ezra was always everyone's favorite. 

Well, not for long.

This casual brush-off of two long years of work was the straw that broke the camel's back. 

He was not going to stand for it any more.