I am starting to do some writing exercises, and this is my first one. If you have any thoughts on how I can improve as a writer I would love to hear them! Enjoy! “Land…land…land…not as much as I was hoping for, but it’ll do.” “Brandon hurry up! You go first!” “Shut up! I know I do.” I respond while playing down one of my green lands with the picture of a misty forest. “One more land and I will be able to get my first monster out on the field.” I think to myself. My best friend Cory and I sit in my parents’ minivan as my dad drives us down a windy road. We were about halfway to our destination which was at a cabin our boy scout troop stayed at almost every fall. Usually, we went around October or so before the snow started to fall in the Sierra Mountains. When my dad drove it usually took us about 5ish hours to get there. He grew up driving dirt roads in the back country and mountains, so it wasn’t that big of a deal for him. While driving, my friends and I would entertain ourselves by playing Magic the Gathering, telling stories, or listening to music on our MP3 players. Mine was red, and I got it for Christmas a while back. Cory had just played his first land, so I played mine and ended my turn. In the game Magic (I have always been too lazy to say the whole name) monster and spell cards require mana to be played. Lands possess that mana but require a turn before they can be used. “Next turn,” I think, “and you are going down.” “2/2 wolf,” announces Cory with a joyful glee, “and it has hast, so 2 damage to you!” Cory jumps in his seat a little as I ticked off two points from my life counter. “I’ll get you for that, Cory,” I say while tapping my lands to play my first monster. “a 1/3 spider with reach. I know your flying monsters are coming soon. Now I am protected.” “We’ll see,” he replies while drawing his card. “I will play another land, and another wolf. Both attacking.” “Drat!” I say louder than I expect as I motion which wolf my spider was going to block. The game went on like this for another ten minutes before he won, and we gave up trying to continue playing. The bumpiness of the road plus the slant of the seat made it very difficult to play. “There will be plenty of time to play once we are there.” I think as I grab my headphones so that I can listen to some music while I watch the scenery fly by. “2 more hours.” I hear my dad announce before my world narrowed to the bass thumping as my first song starts to play. “Numb, Lincoln Park. Nice.”