The Publisher: "Essence"

Note: this recurring segment will feature a piece of writing from an NSA student.

"Essence" by Issa Faria

Interview by Eduardo Encarnacion (at the end of the piece)

“Pan! It’s 11 in the morning, get up!” Pan’s head snaps up, the world around them still blurry. She rubs her eyes and reaches for her glasses only to realize she wasn’t in her room, she had somehow moved to the living room in her sleep… again. 

“Is something up with your room kiddo? This is the 4th time this week you’ve ended up here… on the floor.” 

“My room’s fine, great even! I’m just sleep walking, dad” she stands up and begins ascending the stairs so she could start getting ready for the day. Rubius lightly grabs her wrist 

“Are you hungry? I could make you a quick breakfast!” Pan smiles but continues up the stairs 

“James and I are meeting at the marketplace so I’ll just eat there, thank you though!” She enters her room and closes the door. Pan begins to change into an oversized green sweater with baggy blue jeans, she looks into the mirror and examines her messy brown hair 

“Eh, good enough.” She looks around her room for anything else she could possibly need, her eyes landing on an old picture from when she was on the archery team. Pan picks the photo up and smiles, noticing the lack of bullseyes in the background. She places the photo back on her desk and goes to leave the room, remembering last second that she was forgetting her satchel.  

… 

As Pan strolled through town she couldn’t help but notice that the marketplace was missing a good chunk of its usual stalls, she approaches one of the further stalls that was run by Mrs. Goolington, Jame’s mother.  

“Hi Mrs. Goolington! James and I were supposed to meet here around this time, any idea where he’d be?”  

“Unfortunately dear I do not.” Mrs. Goolington sighed “The town was attacked again last night so Jerome probably has him doing some guardsmen mumbo jumbo. It was a nasty raid, multiple people lost their lives” Pan had heard tales of these attacks, but they’ve never happened in her part of the town. It isn’t like she doesn’t see the damage done though, the destroyed buildings and missing people are evident enough that this is a real threat. 

“Another one?! Do we know who’s responsible?” Mrs. Goolington nodded 

“There’s this group, they call themselves The Essence, a horrible gang of people hellbent on looting and killing. For whatever reason though they’ve visited Wildmire more than once, like they’re looking for something.” Pan’s father tries to shield her from events like these, he wants her to have a stress-free childhood. She appreciates it, but at the same time she’s too nosy for her own good. 

“I’m… going to go look for James, I appreciate you filling me in on all of this!” Pan begins to walk past the stall, Mrs. Goolington nods and waves 

“Safe travels, dear!” Pan smiles and responds “Thank you!!” 

Pan continues her way through town, just like the market place it’s emptier than usual. With these attacks people have been closing themselves in their houses more and more, even her own father tries to get her to stay inside at times.  

… 

After about an hour of searching, Pan gives up on finding James. Wherever his dad was “training” him it must’ve been somewhere more private. Remembering she hadn’t eaten that morning Pan decided to head into the local cafe owned by one of her dads best friends. She walks in and is greeted by the stores owner, Tompson  

“Heyyy look who it is!” Tompson comes out from behind the counter to hug Pan, she reciprocates the hug and smiles  

“Hey Mr. Dunn! How have you been?” Tompson shrugs  

“Business has been pretty slow, these attacks are runnin’ people out of the area. Julia and I are considering taking Katie on a little vacation until things ‘round ‘ere calm down” Pan grimaces, Mr. Dunn fleeing town would really show how serious the issue is. This man kept his cafe open during a tornado and acted like nothing was wrong! 

“I mean, I wouldn’t blame you for leaving… Apparently we’re the only town these ‘Essense’ people have raided more than once, the other townsfolk think they’re looking for something”  

“Or someone…” Thompson adds, the conversation falls silent but Pan couldn’t help but feel like Mr. Dunn is onto something… 

“So..” Thompson clears his throat “Your father called just before you walked in, he told me to give you your medicine, apparently he knew you’d be here” Pan slams her face into the table, she KNEW she was forgetting something and it turns out to be one of the most important things. For as long as she can remember, Pan has had to take this weird purple medicine (as her dad calls it) she doesn’t entirely know why, something about being better safe than sorry, but she’d rather not question her father.  

As Thompson pours the purple liquid into a glass he asks 

“How is old Rubius doing? Him and I haven’t had much time to fully catch up” he hands her the glass; Pan takes a sip and hesitates for a moment, the bitter flavor making it difficult for her to swallow it.  

“He’s doing pretty good” Pan chokes out “he’s still trying to write that one book… I don’t entirely remember what it’s about, but apparently he’s almost done.” 

Thompson chuckles “He’s been workin’ on that old thing for years now. Him finishing it could be classified as a miracle.” Pan nods in agreement, still trying to stomach down the beverage. 

“He seems pretty passionate about it as of late, maybe we’ll finally see it be completed.” Pan pushes the now empty cup back, Thompson smiles and takes it into the establishment's kitchen leaving Pan alone with an actual sour taste in her mouth. 

------ 

Interview by Eduardo Encarnacion 

This story was written by senior Issa Faria whose pronouns are (she/they).

When asked what inspired them they said, "This piece is inspired by the multiple fictional works I've consumed (The Owl House, Amphibia, Steven Universe, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Beowulf)." 

The concept of this story took around 4 years to come together, but the piece itself will take multiple years to complete.

When asked, "Who or what made you pick up writing?" she stated, “I began to write back in 2021 to create stories that lined up with the events of a Minecraft world my friends and I would play on. Since then, my passion for writing has expanded so far past Minecraft, but I wouldn't be who I am today without it.” 

Issa wishes to create a televised world that encapsulates all of her characters and their fantastical adventures. Similar to the Marvel universe, everything would take place within the same universe, but each story would stand on its own.