This week, you will take the outline and opening scene that you created in Week 1 and construct the first draft of your short story, using free writing as a tool to get you started. Once you have generated and organized the ideas for your story, you will begin to develop a setting, plot, and time frame that you will build upon as you continue to write your story. In this story, you will turn your outline and opening scene into a first draft of your short story that applies the development techniques of setting, plot, and time. The assignm ent:

make a 2- to 3-pg first draft of your short story, demonstrating the development techniques of plot, setting, and time.

Formatting Expectations:

Indent the first sentence of each paragraph. Block paragraphs are not acceptable for this assignment.

Your final document should: Be in a 10- or 12-point font, such as Times Ne w Roman or Verdana.

Be double-spaced throughout. Have 1-inch margins for top, bottom, left, and right. This is my week 1 opening seen ..Opening Scene:

Long shadows were cast over the charming village tucked away in the valley below as the sun sank behind the craggy cliffs. Elena's heartbeat with a mixture of excitement and nervousness as the evening breeze whispered down the tiny streets. In search of answers that had escaped her for years, she had gone back to the land she had once called home.

"Welcome back, Elena!" Maria's voice cut through the crowd, her smile a beacon of familiarity in a sea of strangers. Elena embraced her childhood friend, grateful for the familiar embrace amid uncertainty. Elena's gaze ran over well-known locations that had faded with time but stayed etched in her memory as she got off the bus. The people in the hamlet went about their evening routines in the bustling square, their friendly greetings a sharp contrast to the cold that seeped into Elena's bone "Thank you, Maria. It's been too long," Elena replied, her gaze lingering on the village that held both her happiest memories and her deepest secrets.

Maria guided Elena through narrow alleyways dotted with stone houses that date back hundreds of years; the wind whispered the stories of these buildings, their faade worn with age. Maria's demeanor clouded as they got closer to the local library, suggesting that there were problems within their formerly idyllic hamlet. "There have been strange happenings in the village lately, Elena," Maria confided, her voice barely above a whisper. "Whispers of shadows lurking in the night, and a stranger who arrived just as mysteriously."

The thought of the stranger made Elena's heart race, and she could still hear her father's words ringing in her head like a lost song. She could feel the past pressing down on her with every step, pushing her to find the truth hidden beneath layers of falsehoods. As they reached the library, Maria hesitated before turning to Elena with a pleading look in her eyes. "Be careful, Elena. Some secrets are best left undisturbed." But Elena realized that there was no going back now. She nodded resolutely and entered the library, the aroma of ancient books blending with the hope of answers that had been waiting for a long time.

As Elena set off on a quest that would test her bravery and reveal the mysteries hiding beneath the surface of her childhood home, the shadows of the past started to stir, lowering their menacing curtain over Hamlet once more.