What the story is about: An Edwardian gothic, following the main protagonist in his moral quandaries through the ideas of wealth and indulgence. Along with a twist of vampirism, exploring the themes of morality, love, and limerence. 

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“Are you waiting for someone?” She asked. I was startled and looked up to meet her eyes, kind and lustrous; radiant in the same way of deer eyes, like marbles. Ms. Dalvere held a charming presence to the way she smiled to the front-ward leaning posture she held. 

“No, no,” I replied, fixing my eyes back to the ground. “Would you like me to offer up my seat?” I asked, bitterly. She made an unsatisfied noise, a sharp breath.

“There is no need for that, I only wanted to speak with you.” Ms. Dalvere took a seat next to me, crossing her gloved hands in her lap. “May I have one?” She asked. 

“What?” I replied, dumbly. 

“A cigarette, my husband can't stand them, so I'm afraid this is my only chance.” I gave her one of course, they were these dreadful cheap cigarettes. I was sure she would have been shocked with how horrible the quality was, but she never commented and continued to talk. 

“Now,” She took a drag, “you must tell me, why are you out here all by yourself if you aren't waiting for someone?”  There was a certain conviction in her voice, something that felt as if this wasn't the first time she had done this to someone, seemingly playful. In the moment it was friendly, as if we had known each other for years. Her curiosity was something of a childlike nature, she seemed too interested, like she had gotten entertainment from my existence.

“Have you been watching me?” I asked, her eyes on mine were piercing, staring straight through me. Until her face shifted into a grin and she laughed, a honeyed laugh. 

“To put it simply, yes. I told myself that if you were still here after circling the block a few times I'd talk to you.” In all honesty my inquiry of her observing me like an exotic bird was in a way a joke that came out in a serious tone. 

“So talk to me.” I replied. 

“So answer my question.” When I did not respond, she turned away, until her smile returned and we locked eyes again. 

“I've seen you around here, haven't I?”

“Not likely.”

“No, no, I have. It must have been down by the train station,” Ms. Dalvere looked up, humming as she tried to remember, “Perhaps a week or so back.” Of course those were my whereabouts in the time frame she had given. Vinmire is small, I assumed Ms. Dalvere knew everyone and it was only in her nature for her to know me. So I didn't think much of it, to me it was only a coincidence. 

I furrowed my brow, “Was I with someone?” 

“Yes! A woman, short”–-she made a signal with her hand—“blonde, well dressed.” 

I stared at her for a moment, smiling, “that's quite the memory you've got.” 

“So I'm not mistaken?” She asked, not to clarify but only for me to repeat it, Ms. Dalvere knew she was right. “How long have you known each other?”

“A few years, we met in medical apprenticeship, we’re married.”

“Medicine,” Her face lit up, “You're a doctor.” 

“No, I was a doctor.”

Ms. Dalvere tilted her head and furrowed her brow, “Whatever do you mean?’ 

“Oh nothing.”

School Events

Blood Drive

Save Lives at the Harbor City International School Blood Drive on Wednesday, October 11th! Reserve a time slot with an NHS member at the table in the 3rd-floor cafe. 

Halloween Dance

GSA (Gender and Sexual Alliance) Club sponsors the annual Halloween Dance! Dress up in your costume and boogie the night away with all your favorite Harbor Citizens! Friday, October 27 from 8 to 11 pm! 

Beach Sweep

Join Action Club Team on September 21st after school to help clean up our gorgeous lake. If you miss this one, don’t worry. Action Club Team is planning several more; watch your email! 

Knowledge Bowl

Get ready to sharpen your wits and flex those brain muscles because our next Knowledge Bowl practice is right around the corner! Whether you're a seasoned Knowledge Bowl pro or just curious to learn something new, everyone is welcome! Join us for a fun and educational session that will leave you feeling both informed and inspired. See you there, and let's get quizzical! Every Friday after school in Ms. Boman’s room. Email kboman@harborcityschool.org with questions.

Action Club Team

Help plan service projects and sustainable initiatives! Additionally, you can help with work in the Youth Eco Solutions program and the Youth in Action program. All are welcome! Every Tuesday during CP in Mr. Scott’s room. Email bscott@harborcityschool.org with questions.

Student Forum 

Noticing a lack in school events? Join Student Forum to help plan exciting events, including dances, socials, and even Prom! Student Forum aims to strengthen the Harbor City Community by bringing us together for fun activities. If you have an idea for 

an event or just want a say in the prom theme, join Student Forum every Monday after school in the 4th floor cafe. Email kpowless@harborcityschool.org with questions.

Community Events 

Fall Warbler Walk

There’s a chill in the air, and the amount of sunlight wanes daily. Join the Duluth Audubon Society for Fall Warbler Walks on Tuesday, September 26 at 7:00 AM. The walk will start in the Park Point main parking lot, and participants will search the park and beach for migrants. Email duluthaudubonpresident@gmail.com with questions.

Weekly Open Studio

Duluth Art Institute members are invited to bring supplies and artistic visions to the Lincoln Park facility from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesdays to connect with other creative people and experiment with their medium of choice. Each session includes time to create and optional end-of-session group critiques. Non-members can attend one free session of open studio before becoming a member. Members receive three free sessions. The ongoing cost is $5 per session. 

Visit Perfect Duluth Day at www.perfectduluthday.com for more community events.

Do you have folders for all your classes? Do you choose the colors at random? Of course not. I did a survey to ask students which colors correspond with which subjects.  I’m going to start off with the least controversial first, and work my way up to the more controversial of the subjects. 

Almost everyone agreed that science is green with 70% of the responses saying that, and the next most agreed upon color being blue with 14%. 

After science comes math with 51% saying that it is red, and not too far of 33% saying that it is Blue. 

Then there is Spanish/other foreign languages where the consensus is that it is orange with 33%, and the runner up is purple with 26%. 

Then there is history with yellow with 35%, and the runner up being purple with 17%. 

Next people agree more or less that Art/Music is purple with 30.3%, and the second most agreed upon is pink with 21.2%. 

And finally the most divisive of all subjects is English with the largest consensus being that it is blue with 29.3%, and the next most agreed upon color being yellow with 25.3% third most agreed upon color being red with 21.2%. 

Video games have been a pastime loved by many people for years. Currently, video games have a 100 billion dollar industry globally, and around 2 thirds of American households have members who regularly play them. 

The first video game was created in 1952 by A.S. Douglas, who was a British Professor. The game was called OXO, and it was a tic-tac-toe simulator. In 1958 another game was created, this time by William Hignbotham, and was called Tennis for Two. In 1962, Spacewar! was made by Steve Russel, and was created for a PDP-1, also known as the Programed Data Processor-1. The name Spacewar! pretty much sums up the game as it was a space combat game. Spacewar! was also the first video game that was able to be played on multiple computers. In 1971 the first arcade game, called Computer Space, was developed. Computer Space was a combat video game similar to Spacewar! as the names suggest, and was the first commercially available video game. The creators of Computer Space, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney later went on to found Atari in 1972. The same year Atari was founded, a company called Magnavox made the first at-home video game console, the Odyssey. The Odyssey didn’t have a very long run though, as over the next few years it began to be replaced by newer consoles. The same year Atari became inspired by an Odyssey game and created Pong, which was a simple arcade tennis game. In 1975 Atari released a version of Pong that could be played at home. Atari was sued for Pong by Magnavox for copyright infringement. When the argument was settled Atari was able to become a licensee of the Odyssey. In 1977 Atari released the Atari 2600, which was another home video game console. The Atari 2600 had joysticks, swappable game cartridges, and was able to play multi-colored games. 

In 1983, North American video game companies had a crash because of computer gaming competition, an over full console market, and low quality hyped up games that ended up being huge disappointments. One of these overhyped games was the E.T. game (based off the movie) that was created for Atari. Apparently some people consider the E.T. game to be the worst video game ever made. In 1985 the game market started to recover from the crash when the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) was introduced to the U.S. Games like Super Mario Bros., and The Legend of Zelda became extremely popular. Nintendo still is an extremely successful gaming company, although initially they weren't even a video game company. Nintendo had originally manufactured playing cards when they started in 1889. The creation of the NES had successfully launched Nintendo into the video game market, and they went on to create various successful gaming systems, and eventually began to create handheld gaming systems. In 1989 the Game Boy was released, followed by the Game Boy Color in 1998. They released the Nintendo DS in 2004, and the Nintendo 3DS in 2011. During the 1980’s and 1990’s Sega also became a pretty popular company for games, creating things like Sonic the Hedgehog. Sega and Nintendo ended up in a console war trying to create the superior system. Eventually both companies had to compete with yet another company, Sony. In 2000, Sony made the Playstation 2 which was the first ever console to use DVD’s, and became the number one selling console ever created. Online games also had become popular during the 1990’s as internet access increased. Today people have access to video games everywhere, whether it’s on your phone, a computer, or a gaming console.