EPTA number of people have told me I have a nice style of writing and I was just wondering on your guys' opinions.
Thanks for reading. I spoilered it due to length. Its a few pages long
+ Show Spoiler +
The morning of the 15th was breathtaking. Peter awoke from his bed in an excited rush. His hands immediately searched for the light on his wall and locating it, switched it on in a hurried frenzy. He tore off the covers and jumped out of bed, grabbed his flashlight and set off down the stairs. Peter did not realize it then, but he was making a very important step in his life, one that there was no turning back from.
Max had always wanted a dog. His parents continually told him that he was not responsible enough, and that he wouldn't be able to care for one properly. They told him that due to his lack of responsibility they would end up having to take care of the dog, which was something they were not willing to do. Max knew that he needed to prove that he was up to the task he just didn't quite know how. He started to volunteer at community service centers, helping those in need. He volunteered at animal shelters, helping to show some love to ones who had never received it before. Over a series of months he quietly proved to his parents that he was ready for the responsibility of taking care of another living thing. On October 15, 2025 his parents finally gave in. They took him to a local animal shelter, one that Max had spent many hours volunteering at. There was a dog in there that had always stood apart from the rest. His name was Arthur and he was a rescue dog. Max had always been intrigued by the dogs quiet intensity. Arthur was a german shepherd and he had recently turned four years old. Whenever someone had come in looking to buy a dog Max had always prayed that they wouldn't take Arthur. His prayers had been answered, because the day had finally come when Max could get his own dog. When his father signed the last paper, an enormous grin lit up on Max's face, Max eagerly started walking Arthur to the door. One thing that Max had found a little odd, was the fact that Arthur had incredibly bright green eyes. After the first day Max had spent with him, he no longer noticed it as odd. What he did not know was that this seemingly small attribute would end up being very important in the upcoming months.
Chief Sato did not like rain. His life had been very full of it during the last six months. At first the promotion had seemed incredible. A significant raise in pay, a private apartment on the top of a skyscraper. All he ever needed was now available to him at his beck and call. The world appeared to be in his fingertips. However, the weather had recently gotten him into a very foul mood. Frequent power outages, thunderstorms that ranged for days, and even a tropical hurricane had all accumulated to make for a very frustrating life for Sato. To make things even worse, his teams efforts to track down Subject 937 remained fruitless. Subject 937 had broken out of his cell a year and a half ago, and ditched his tracking tag soon after. The CIA had long since called in all available resources to find Subject 937. But he remained lost. The CIA had no idea what his effects on the population would be but they wanted to minimize them. Sato's thoughts often wandered to the possibilities of what had become of Subject 937, but he always came out of them exactly the same. He had no idea.
Peter could not believe his eyes. For years he had heard of the legend surrounding The Fountain of Youth but he had never really believed it, not until he had been reached by his old friend and professor, Wayne Johnson. Wayne had been an archaeologist for around a decade, before he decided that his family needed him in a job where he was around more often. He had become a professor of history at Berkeley where he had been admired by many, and respected by all. His classes were some of the most popular in the entire school. His philosophies on some of the ancient legends were not to be unexpected of an archaeologist of his stature, but they were still mildly surprising. Wayne strongly believed that many of the legends were completely real, but had been falsified to protect their identity and over time, the knowledge that these places actually existed became limited to a select few. Four years ago Wayne had gone inexplicably missing. One day he had left his home and never showed up to school, and he hadn't been heard from since. Until exactly one week ago, when Peter received a message telling him to meet with him at a local diner. Over Wayne's many years teaching he had truly connected with only a few students. One of these was Peter. Peter had appeared very special to Wayne, and his interest in archaeology was unprecedented from students that came before or after him. This had led to a very special kind of bond between teacher and student, one that only a small percentage of people have felt between them.
Peter had gone to the diner very worried and somewhat apprehensive. He hoped that his former teacher had not lost his sanity, but as he always had, he believed that Wayne was absolutely fine. One thing that set Peter away from the rest of the crowd is his ability to hope. Many people have trouble truly believing in others or themselves, but Peter always knew that everything would turn out alright, as long as there was hope. Peter arrived, walked through the door and immediately spotted his old teacher. Wayne was sitting in a booth wearing his favorite sweatshirt, a tethered and worn sentiment to one of his favorite sports teams, The Oakland Athletics. Wayne had worn that sweatshirt into his class just about every single day. It was one of the things that made him who he was. His students came to not only expect but also to like his routines. For example every monday he would come to class with a muffin from one of the local bakeries. It was always blueberry, and it was always freshly baked. On wednesdays he would buy a few dozen donuts and give them out to students who answered his questions correctly. He also had a habit of telling utterly outrageous and completely false stories to get across a point. All in all he was a great teacher who everyone loved and felt deep gratitude towards.
When Peter sat down across from Wayne, he noticed a deep scar running from the middle of his forehead, the scar went around his right eye and circled down to the middle of his cheek. Peter got the feeling that Wayne had not left town four years ago because he wanted to go on vacation.
"How's life treating you Peter?" acknowledged Wayne in his deep rumbling voice. Peter noticed that the cheerful edge was gone from his voice.
"Well, I've been pretty busy since you left. I graduated last year and I started med school at Princeton this last fall. Besides my life being absolutely consumed by school, I've been attempting to find a girlfriend, with much more failure than success. But more importantly Mr. Johnson, how's life been treating you?"
"Well, as you know four years ago I disappeared without notice, never to be heard from since. As you also know, I have always believed that there is truth in many of the popular legends that are known to most people, but are not believed to be true. Most importantly, I believed in The Fountain of Youth. This was well known to all of my students as I would share my beliefs with them on a fairly regular basis. Well one student in particular also believed in The Fountain of Youth. His name was Alexander Bell and he came from a very wealthy family. His father passed away two years ago, leaving hims a vast fund of money. The fund was so fast that Alexander dropped out of school, realizing he would never have to work again in his life. Having always had an interest in legends, such as The Fountain of Youth, he came to the realization that I also knew and believed in them. So he hired three full time guards/thugs and told them to kidnap me. That day I got out of my car after arriving at school, and got immediately hit in the head. I lost consciousness and when I regained it, noticed that I was in the backseat of a car with a blindfold over my eyes. I started to question where I was being taken but they just told me to shut up and shoved a gag in my mouth. Eventually I felt the car pull over into what seemed like a driveway. The car stopped and I heard the opening and closing of doors. I was grabbed and shoved into a standing position on the sidewalk, where they dragged me towards a house. After some more movement I was pushed into a chair in a room, and the blindfold was removed. I then noticed that I was sitting across the table from Alexander, my old student. He explained to me what I just told you, and informed me that he wanted me to help him find The Fountain of Youth, and that he was willing to go to any means necessary to achieve that goal. All I wanted from him was to tell my family that I was okay, which he agreed to do. Although he said that if they said anything to the police or other authorities then he would kill me on the spot. He and I then started discussing the Fountain of Youth. I told him that although I believed in the legend my efforts to locate the actual fountain itself had proved fruitless and had stopped at a dead end. As you know, I told everyone that I had been an archaeologist for ten years. That remains true, however I spent three of those ten years searching for clue around the Fountain of Youth. For the first year I was mostly interviewing locals in over seven different countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Argentina.
Max had always wanted a dog. His parents continually told him that he was not responsible enough, and that he wouldn't be able to care for one properly. They told him that due to his lack of responsibility they would end up having to take care of the dog, which was something they were not willing to do. Max knew that he needed to prove that he was up to the task he just didn't quite know how. He started to volunteer at community service centers, helping those in need. He volunteered at animal shelters, helping to show some love to ones who had never received it before. Over a series of months he quietly proved to his parents that he was ready for the responsibility of taking care of another living thing. On October 15, 2025 his parents finally gave in. They took him to a local animal shelter, one that Max had spent many hours volunteering at. There was a dog in there that had always stood apart from the rest. His name was Arthur and he was a rescue dog. Max had always been intrigued by the dogs quiet intensity. Arthur was a german shepherd and he had recently turned four years old. Whenever someone had come in looking to buy a dog Max had always prayed that they wouldn't take Arthur. His prayers had been answered, because the day had finally come when Max could get his own dog. When his father signed the last paper, an enormous grin lit up on Max's face, Max eagerly started walking Arthur to the door. One thing that Max had found a little odd, was the fact that Arthur had incredibly bright green eyes. After the first day Max had spent with him, he no longer noticed it as odd. What he did not know was that this seemingly small attribute would end up being very important in the upcoming months.
Chief Sato did not like rain. His life had been very full of it during the last six months. At first the promotion had seemed incredible. A significant raise in pay, a private apartment on the top of a skyscraper. All he ever needed was now available to him at his beck and call. The world appeared to be in his fingertips. However, the weather had recently gotten him into a very foul mood. Frequent power outages, thunderstorms that ranged for days, and even a tropical hurricane had all accumulated to make for a very frustrating life for Sato. To make things even worse, his teams efforts to track down Subject 937 remained fruitless. Subject 937 had broken out of his cell a year and a half ago, and ditched his tracking tag soon after. The CIA had long since called in all available resources to find Subject 937. But he remained lost. The CIA had no idea what his effects on the population would be but they wanted to minimize them. Sato's thoughts often wandered to the possibilities of what had become of Subject 937, but he always came out of them exactly the same. He had no idea.
Peter could not believe his eyes. For years he had heard of the legend surrounding The Fountain of Youth but he had never really believed it, not until he had been reached by his old friend and professor, Wayne Johnson. Wayne had been an archaeologist for around a decade, before he decided that his family needed him in a job where he was around more often. He had become a professor of history at Berkeley where he had been admired by many, and respected by all. His classes were some of the most popular in the entire school. His philosophies on some of the ancient legends were not to be unexpected of an archaeologist of his stature, but they were still mildly surprising. Wayne strongly believed that many of the legends were completely real, but had been falsified to protect their identity and over time, the knowledge that these places actually existed became limited to a select few. Four years ago Wayne had gone inexplicably missing. One day he had left his home and never showed up to school, and he hadn't been heard from since. Until exactly one week ago, when Peter received a message telling him to meet with him at a local diner. Over Wayne's many years teaching he had truly connected with only a few students. One of these was Peter. Peter had appeared very special to Wayne, and his interest in archaeology was unprecedented from students that came before or after him. This had led to a very special kind of bond between teacher and student, one that only a small percentage of people have felt between them.
Peter had gone to the diner very worried and somewhat apprehensive. He hoped that his former teacher had not lost his sanity, but as he always had, he believed that Wayne was absolutely fine. One thing that set Peter away from the rest of the crowd is his ability to hope. Many people have trouble truly believing in others or themselves, but Peter always knew that everything would turn out alright, as long as there was hope. Peter arrived, walked through the door and immediately spotted his old teacher. Wayne was sitting in a booth wearing his favorite sweatshirt, a tethered and worn sentiment to one of his favorite sports teams, The Oakland Athletics. Wayne had worn that sweatshirt into his class just about every single day. It was one of the things that made him who he was. His students came to not only expect but also to like his routines. For example every monday he would come to class with a muffin from one of the local bakeries. It was always blueberry, and it was always freshly baked. On wednesdays he would buy a few dozen donuts and give them out to students who answered his questions correctly. He also had a habit of telling utterly outrageous and completely false stories to get across a point. All in all he was a great teacher who everyone loved and felt deep gratitude towards.
When Peter sat down across from Wayne, he noticed a deep scar running from the middle of his forehead, the scar went around his right eye and circled down to the middle of his cheek. Peter got the feeling that Wayne had not left town four years ago because he wanted to go on vacation.
"How's life treating you Peter?" acknowledged Wayne in his deep rumbling voice. Peter noticed that the cheerful edge was gone from his voice.
"Well, I've been pretty busy since you left. I graduated last year and I started med school at Princeton this last fall. Besides my life being absolutely consumed by school, I've been attempting to find a girlfriend, with much more failure than success. But more importantly Mr. Johnson, how's life been treating you?"
"Well, as you know four years ago I disappeared without notice, never to be heard from since. As you also know, I have always believed that there is truth in many of the popular legends that are known to most people, but are not believed to be true. Most importantly, I believed in The Fountain of Youth. This was well known to all of my students as I would share my beliefs with them on a fairly regular basis. Well one student in particular also believed in The Fountain of Youth. His name was Alexander Bell and he came from a very wealthy family. His father passed away two years ago, leaving hims a vast fund of money. The fund was so fast that Alexander dropped out of school, realizing he would never have to work again in his life. Having always had an interest in legends, such as The Fountain of Youth, he came to the realization that I also knew and believed in them. So he hired three full time guards/thugs and told them to kidnap me. That day I got out of my car after arriving at school, and got immediately hit in the head. I lost consciousness and when I regained it, noticed that I was in the backseat of a car with a blindfold over my eyes. I started to question where I was being taken but they just told me to shut up and shoved a gag in my mouth. Eventually I felt the car pull over into what seemed like a driveway. The car stopped and I heard the opening and closing of doors. I was grabbed and shoved into a standing position on the sidewalk, where they dragged me towards a house. After some more movement I was pushed into a chair in a room, and the blindfold was removed. I then noticed that I was sitting across the table from Alexander, my old student. He explained to me what I just told you, and informed me that he wanted me to help him find The Fountain of Youth, and that he was willing to go to any means necessary to achieve that goal. All I wanted from him was to tell my family that I was okay, which he agreed to do. Although he said that if they said anything to the police or other authorities then he would kill me on the spot. He and I then started discussing the Fountain of Youth. I told him that although I believed in the legend my efforts to locate the actual fountain itself had proved fruitless and had stopped at a dead end. As you know, I told everyone that I had been an archaeologist for ten years. That remains true, however I spent three of those ten years searching for clue around the Fountain of Youth. For the first year I was mostly interviewing locals in over seven different countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Argentina.
