The mysterious"
Sophia slumped over the kitchen table, her eyes fixed on the scattered papers and textbooks in front of her. Her parents, Mama Nneoma and Papa Uche, stood opposite her, their faces stern and disapproving.
"Sophia, what is wrong with you?" Papa Uche thundered, his voice echoing off the walls. "Your brothers, Chidi and Obinna, they always pass with flying colors! Even your friends, Amaka and Chinaza, they're doing well. But you...you're always bringing us disappointment!"
Mama Nneoma shook her head, her braids clicking softly. "Your father is right, Sophia. You're not living up to your potential. You need to focus on your studies, stop wasting time with unnecessary things."
Sophia felt a familiar knot in her stomach, the weight of her parents' expectations crushing her. She tried to speak, to explain, but the words caught in her throat.
"Why can't you be more like your siblings?" Papa Uche continued, his voice rising. "They're making us proud, while you...you're just coasting through life!"
The room fell silent, the only sound Sophia's quiet sobs. She felt like she was drowning in her parents' disappointment.
As the night wore on, Sophia's thoughts turned to the whispered rumors of a witch doctor who could help with her academic struggles. Desperation crept in, and she made a decision that would change everything...
After some days
.
Sophia poured over her textbooks, notes, and study guides, determined to turn her academic fortunes around. She spent long hours each day studying, seeking help from her teachers, and attending extra tuition classes. Despite her efforts, she couldn't shake off the feeling of inadequacy that lingered long after her parents' words.
As the exam dates approached, Sophia's anxiety grew. She had done everything she could, but the fear of failure still lingered. She wrote her exams, her hand shaking slightly as she filled in the answer sheets.
***WINNER of the "BREATHTAKING: A FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL WRITING COMPETITION!"
"You are a secret kept from the world, but not from me." So begins the peculiar message found slipped under a bedroom door on the morning of May first.
Theo is the heir to a powerful dictatorship. The number of people allowed to know he exists is few. He has spent his entire life walled up in the Tower, the looming stone monolith from which his father rules over the Land.
Merryn is the daughter of political prisoners. She's known who Theo is longer than he would think possible, and she is taking a great risk contacting him via handwritten notes in order to convince him he deserves more than the fate his father has designed for him.
She has one month to exchange daily messages with him, to answer his questions and open his eyes to the realities of a world he has never been allowed to see. A revolution is coming to the Land at the end of the month, and if Merryn's notes fail to get their point across, Theo may never live to see the sunrise on June first.
A/N: The following letters were originally published each day from May 1st-31st, 2014. As you will see,Theo is allowed to write down a question for Merryn each evening, but you, the reader, won't see these within the body of the story. It may or may not be obvious from Merryn's response what Theo is asking. Part of the fun is guessing what his questions might be, but if you really want to know what they are, a list of those questions is at the end of the story.
This story is a re-imagining of Rapunzel.
Now, without further ado-I believe a young heir is about to unfold a slip of paper found on the tile floor near his door... Let's see what it says!