"Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd little waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like." -Lemony Snicket

Merida stared at the blinking line on her screen. It was mocking her.

She rubbed her eyes and took a few seconds to blink, surprised that she even still could. Two hours and twenty two minutes had been spent at her desk, and she didn't have a single word on her page. Writing history essays somehow seemed to be easier than this. It wasn't a hard assignment whatsoever, all she had to do was write a hundred emails in six months. Which, when you think about it, isn't too far-fetched of a number to accomplish in that time.

And it was so incredibly simple, yet she found her mind completely and utterly blank.

Merida pushed her chair back and it rolled across the floor. A break from staring blankly at a computer screen was much needed. She went downstairs and grabbed a slightly bruised, red apple from a bowl in the kitchen. Her mother was up still, rather surprsingly given the fact that it was nearly ten o'clock at night, and was seated in the dining room, reading a book. She entered, apple still in her hand.

"Mum?"

Her mother didn't look up as she spoke. "Yer up late."

"Ah'm doing some last minute homework. Thought maybe ye could help." She took a bite out of her apple and waited for a response. None came, so she took that to mean 'of course, proceed'. "what do ye say to a complete stranger?"

"Are ye single?"

"Muuuum."

"Sorry, dear. What kind of homework has ye talkin' to strangers?"

Merida stared down at her apple as though it was the most interesting thing in the world. "Just a project. Ah have to send emails to a pen pal, that's all."

Elinor set down her book. "Well, talk about yer interests. Surely ye have somethin' in common? Maybe he or she is just as stubborn and tempermental as ye are. Though I doubt that..." Merida shot her an unamused glare.

"Yer not bein' very helpful."

"Sorry. Finish up and get to bed, lass. It's late." She picked her book back up and continued reading.

Merida took her half-eaten apple back up to her room with her and settled back into her desk chair. Common interests...hm. She thought it over in her head, and figured she didn't want to start talking about her hobbies right away. Perhaps just a slightly formal introduction? She shrugged and started typing.

Hello. My name's Merida, and I'm a twelth year. It's nice to meet you.

She leaned back to look it over and bit her lip. It wasn't too bad, there was just the slight problem that it was supposed to be a different language. Grumbling all the while, she opened up a translator in another tab and entered her text.

Halló. Mitt nafn er Merida, og ég er í tólfta ári. Það er gaman að hitta þig. Ég vona að þetta er nokkuð læsileg.

(Hello. My name's Merida, and I'm in twelfth year. It's nice to meet you. I hope this is somewhat readable.)

Merida scrutinzed it and frowned slightly. It wasn't anything spetacular, but it would have to do.

She pressed send.