Nightime Naughtiness (FF#5)

Xenia Foxtrot and three friends at her university get up to some mischief in the middle of the night. (For Friday Fictioneers Week 5 of short stories 100 words or less)

The student glanced furtively over her shoulder for the third time. She needed to make sure nobody saw her up here at the top of the staircase beneath the dormitory's storage attic, a place students weren't allowed. Nobody was there.    Thank goodness. Xenia jiggled the doorknob harder than ever. When nothing happened, she removed one of her hairpins and stuck it in the keyhole.

 

 "Squee! Squee! Squee!" 

    Finally, the alarm some unknown wizard or sorcerer had placed on the door of the dormitory began to sound The short, brief squeaks sounded like the noise mice made, only amplified a hundred times.  Xenia sprinted from the door down the torch-illuminated corridor to her room.

    Minutes later, she went downstairs. "The alarm's going off. It woke me."

     When the grumbling Nightguard disappeared, she raised her left arm. Antonia, Hannah and Henrietta emerged from the nearby study room.The hobbit smiled. It was done.

    "You sure you won't come?" queried Antonia. "It'll be fun."
    
    "Nah. I'd only come if certain I wouldn't get caught."

    "Your loss. Thanks for being our decoy!"

Author's Note

The events of this story take place when Xenia is 22, a year before she's expelled from Hamilton University and almost a year and a half prior to when her homeland Dremeadow is converted to a monarchy. I need to eventually get a map posted to give you folks visuals, but Hamilton University, for those who have read "Democracy's End", "Fallen Ones" or "Traitor Princess" is in the land of Rheeding, which is south of Dremeadow and north of Cancalia.

Reviews

[Mila]

Nice very well written! Love the wording and it flowed really well.

[NoelHC]

An interesting tidbit. The line " Finally, the alarm some unknown wizard " may flow better if it began with "Suddenly, ..."

[Spaceman26]

Interesting but was I supposed to read something before this? I would like to read more. Thanks

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

This little story is a standalone about my character Xenia during her years in a university for kids of royalty, nobility and other rich people, but she and some of her siblings show up in a bunch of my writing (= Democracy's End takes place about a year or two after this and features a massive change in her homeland that has an extreme effect on her family. The central character is her youngest brother. Xenia is central in Traitor Princess (about 6-7 years after this)

[jjwilbourne]

I couldn't help but wonder if you intended innuendo here.
Either way, it was funny.
the " Xenia sprinted from the forbidden door down the torch-illuminated to her room." sentence felt weird to read.

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

Did some slight tweaking. And yeah, definitely intended slight innuendo, and it's something Xenia would definitely find amusing, given her quirky personality.

[Mysana]

Nice! It is short, concise, and slightly humorous. I particularly like the fact that you can, but you don't need to read the rest of the series.

[SpeedyHobbit Armstrong]

Thanks so much! Yeah, I like these 100-word stories to help showcase various random events and personality traits in my characters. Like how Xenia's mischievous and cautious at the same time.