From Ashe Vol. 4: From Ashe, #4

By Joshua Piedra

Ashe takes on a brand-new challenge in the form of her very first writing competition! As she gears up for the competition, life continues to pound away on her without any remorse. Through it all, Ashe discovers that she has a knack for problem solving... whether it is trying to patch things up between Kelsey and her son, or playing cupid between two of her competition rivals! Ashe's journey is far from over as she soon learns that a path to becoming an author isn't a simple, straight line. Here, she will have to navigate the many turns her path throws her way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joshua Piedra
• Release date: May 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223742692

Book preview

Preface

The fourth volume of From Ashe is here and, as always, I am very appreciative that you decided to pick up a copy!

This volume has a ton of stuff packed into it as we have both contuining and brand-new storylines to explore! Some of these storylines even have a couple of branches that take them in all-new directions!

Hopefully, as your read through this volume, you will come to see just how expansive the world is becoming and how you might need a roadmap to keep track of all of the stuff that’s going on!

In any event, this volume begins Ashe’s first writing competition which fulfills one of the goals I had with this series... to be able to test the waters with light novel ideas that I have stockpiled in a Google Doc. I was looking for a way to incorporate these ideas into the series and through Ashe’s Novel Notes account, the Stories From Ashe bonus chapters, and now the writing competitions, I am able to do just that.

The competitions; however, allow me to give you an expanded form of these story ideas all while adding a cross-genre aspect to the series! Hopefully you enjoy this approach and I’ll see you on the other side of the book!

PAGE 22

The Next Chapter

After the events that shook Ashe to her core, she needed a bit of positivity in her life. That came in the form of a kind gesture on behalf of her best friend, Saraya Riley. What made it even better was the fact that it was a kind gesture that Ashe had never expected. Saraya used her credit card and purchased a brand-new computer for her. While it wasn’t a top-of-the-line model, it didn’t need to be. Ashe wasn’t much of a gamer nor did she use any high-end software. She mainly used her computer for writing and listening to music… most of which served as inspiration for said writing. 

While Ashe was taken aback by Saraya’s gesture, she was equally excited to pull the computer out and hook it up. Before she did the honors and peeled the tape off of the box, she stepped in and embraced Saraya with another hug, squeezing her tightly.

Two hugs in one day! Maybe you should save some of that for your little stud muffin over there? remarked Saraya.

Renji blushed as he looked away, hoping neither one of them would notice that his cheeks were filling up with a nice shade of red. Luckily, Ashe was too focused on getting her new machine hooked up. With one mighty rip, Ashe removed the main piece of tape as if it were nothing. Renji couldn’t help but notice Ashe’s strength and technique and silently prayed that he never did anything to make her angry… otherwise, he might suffer the same fate.

Ashe lifted the tower out of the box and headed toward her desk. With Renji in the way, he didn’t need to be told to scoot as it was clear that he was about to get run over. As he side-stepped, Ashe plopped the tower down on the desk and plugged it in. She then connected her keyboard, mouse, and monitors and pushed the power button. After the electronics lit up, Ashe’s face followed suit.

Sweet! This thing even boots up faster than my old one!

Well, it is a newer model than your current pile of circuits. But, what about the stuff you had on the old hard drive?

There wasn’t anything on there, to be honest. Just some music from a few CDs I ripped. All of my writing was stored on my cloud account so I didn’t lose a single character! I can probably just rip some of the CDs onto here later and…

Ashe paused in her words when she looked at the front of the computer. Something struck her oddly about it to the point where she tilted her head in confusion. She slowly turned her head back to Saraya while pointing at the front of the case with her index finger.

Say… uh… where’s the CD drive on this thing?

Yeah… being a newer model, it doesn’t have one. With so many music streaming services out there, burning CDs has become a thing of the past. Heck, all software is stored in the cloud now. Most of the stuff we sell at the store is just a digital code to unlock the program once you download it from the manufacturer’s website. Everything’s digital so CD drives kinda went away.

Well, that sucks. I guess I could find the music online and buy it but why should I have to buy music that I already own? Seems like a janky system to me.

You could always get an external CD burner and plug it into a USB port. They’re pretty cheap… maybe twenty bucks at most? Heck, I think we even had one on sale for sixteen. Shit, the CDs cost more than the drives these days.

Guess I’ll add that to my list of things to get after I pay you back for this. In any event, I’ll worry about what to do with my jams later. Right now, I should probably use this computer for what you got it for… registering for that writing competition!

Ashe went to pull up the picture of the flyer that Saraya sent her; however, Saraya was one step ahead of her. She reached into her back pocket and pulled a piece of paper out, handing it over to Ashe. Rather than post the flyer up at the store at Sebastian’s request, she ended up pocketing it and bringing it along with her.

Ashe cracked a smile and took note of the website. She opened her browser and typed in the address. She noticed a couple of links at the top of the page, one of which was to register; however, she wasn’t about to rush head-first into uncharted waters. She wanted to make sure she knew what she was getting herself into. Therefore, she clicked the link next to it which brought up the rules for the competition. Ashe began to read them silently to herself.

This writing competition is open to all participants ages 13 and older. If you are under 18 years of age, you will need parental consent including a signature on an official registration document.

The competition will select four participants based on entries submitted by approved registrants. The registration deadline is Monday, December 6. You will need to submit your application along with a sample story for us to look over. The story does not have to be freshly written. If you have a sample that best exemplifies your writing, you are free to submit it.

We will review all entries over the course of the next two weeks with the four participants we select being announced after the holidays in early January. If you are selected, you will be contacted by both the phone number and email address provided on your application. Once contacted, you will be given instructions on where to report for the actual competition.

This competition will be elimination style. We will start with four participants and after a round of judging, it will become three, then two, and then we will declare a winner. Each round will present you with a genre in which you are free to write without restriction. Each round will add more genres to really test your writing skills. 

The competition will be split over three weekends with each weekend consisting of a single round on a Saturday. Once a winner is declared, a monetary prize of $5,000 will be presented to them along with a special bonus prize to be revealed to the winner of the competition!

If you understand these guidelines and rules, please proceed to the registration page to submit your application!

Good luck!

Ashe sat back in her chair and looked a bit perplexed. Noticing that she wasn’t clicking on the link to register, Saraya became a bit concerned.

Was there something in the rules that you didn’t like?

No… it’s just that… I don’t really know what to submit for a writing sample. I mean, I could write something but the deadline is almost here. I’m just scared that if I attempt to write something new, it’s going to be filled with errors and not be my best work. That leaves me with the only option of submitting something I’ve already written and… well…

You’re scared it’s not going to be good enough because of the feedback you’ve gotten online, huh?

Yeah… muttered Ashe in defeat as Saraya had hit the nail right on the head.

Well, what about Shadow Wing? You’ve been working on revising that story and it’s been getting some pretty positive feedback, right? Why not submit that?

It’s not finished, though. Can I really get away with submitting an incomplete story?

Did the rules say anything about it having to be complete?

No. It just said that it had to be something that exemplified…

As Ashe recited the rules to herself, she realized that it was only asking for a sample. The rules, indeed, did not say anything about it having to be a complete story. Besides, it was probably for the better. With the number of applications that they would likely receive, they would want to keep the submissions as short and sweet as possible. They were mainly looking for an overview of what a writer was capable of… not something that would take them a week each to read. When Ashe realized that, she seemed to calm down a bit and cracked a smile.

It’s just a sample they need. I’ll submit Shadow Wing after all. I guess I’ll send them the first couple of chapters so they can get as much of the story as possible. Hopefully, it’ll be enough for me to secure a spot.

Ashe opened up the registration link and filled out all of the pertinent information. Once that was done, she compiled all of her selected chapters into a single document and attached it. With one big deep breath later, she pressed the submit button and the deed had been done. All that was left to do was wait. 

Ashe leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Suddenly, she felt a slight wet sensation on her forehead followed by a little bit of pressure. When she opened her eyes, she saw Renji kissing her.

I’m proud of you, said Renji.

Why? I haven’t won anything yet…

You took a step forward. It seems we’re both taking them these days.

Yeah… I suppose we are, aren’t we?

As the two of them stared each other in the eyes, Saraya cleared her throat to make sure that they were aware that she was still there.

I’ll just take that as my cue to leave! After all, I’m sure you two are going to want to be alone… especially after what I just witnessed. Give it to her good, Ren Ren!

Ren Ren? he thought to himself.

Saraya stepped through the front door and was on her way. As Ashe watched Saraya go through her brand-new front door, complete with the new framework, it suddenly dawned on her that she still needed to file an insurance claim for all of the damage that was done to her house. Ashe let out a low, guttural groan as she wasn’t looking forward to this. Luckily, the claims could be filed online but since this was the first time she ever had to do something such as this, she was a bit lost.

She figured the best place to start would be to bring up their website. Conveniently, they had a large  File a Claim button front and center which made Ashe feel a bit insulted. Shrugging it off, she clicked the button and was brought to a login page.

Ah, crap… What was my login?

At this point, Renji wasn’t about to get wrapped up in any insurance snafus and sauntered back into his room where Minew awaited him on his bed. Ashe had remembered that she stored all of her passwords in the cloud and went searching for it. After scrolling down her extensive list, she found the credentials for her insurance company.

Once logged in, she found that there was an idiot-proof guide for submitting a claim. She filled out all of the basic information and then found the section where it asked to check off the type of claim. Once she did that, it asked for her to submit records of estimates for damages. Suddenly, Ashe realized that all of her records were physical.

Defeated, Ashe gave up for now.

Guess I’ll just bring these with me to work tomorrow and use the copier there to scan them. Note to self… get a better printer with a scanner in it.

Without anything left to do, she turned to Renji to ask for advice but she noticed that he had suddenly disappeared. Perturbed that he just walked away without saying anything, she got up and stomped over to his bedroom where she cracked the door open.

You better not have walked away to come in here to jerk off…

Renji, who had been sitting there on the floor playing video games, turned his head and gave Ashe a seriously!? look. Ashe cracked a smile as she knew that things had begun to have some semblance of returning to normal.

***

A couple of weeks had passed and the Christmas holiday was drawing near. It was nothing more than just standard fare for Ashe at work. During that time, Ashe had brought her documents to work and scanned them for her insurance claim. She ended up getting everything filed without too much trouble. She was pretty surprised at how smooth and easy the process was. Much like with her writing competition application, she could only play the waiting game with her insurance company to review her claim. 

She still couldn’t believe how relatively calm things had been with Kelsey. Ever since she stepped in and helped her with Jase, she seemed as if she had become an entirely different person. When it came to Jase, nothing ever materialized after the incident with 7EVEN nor Chase. Things had truly returned to normal and since they had, Ashe began to think about what to do for the Christmas holiday.

It was Saturday, December 18. When she woke up that morning, she stumbled out into her living room where she spied Renji in his usual spot… in front of the stove cooking Ashe some breakfast. She thought about sneaking up behind him as per her tradition but she decided to have some fun with him in a more festive manner.

Say, Renji… you know that Christmas is just a week away, right? Now that we’re a couple, do you think I should go out and buy some mistletoes and ravage you underneath them? I figure if one mistletoe is good for a kiss, a whole bunch of them might mean I get to play with your jingle bells!

At that moment, Renji completely halted his preparation of Ashe’s breakfast and let out an exhaustive sigh. Thinking that it would coax her to change the subject, he turned his attention to her and gave her quite the disgusted look. Unfortunately for Renji, it only added fuel to Ashe’s fire.

Oh, come on, Renji. We’ve waited so long to become a couple! Aren’t you at least turned on by the thought of ripping my clothes from my body like a kid tearing into the biggest gift under the tree on Christmas morning? Surely you must have SOME desires locked away inside of you?

Even though Ashe was being as forward as ever, Renji thought it over and, oddly enough, Ashe was making some sense. After all, Renji wanted nothing more than to be with Ashe his entire life. Now that he moved past his haunting memories, he had everything he could ever want right in front of him.

Sorry, I just… don’t know.

Huh!? How could you not know? I thought you were a guy, Renji? Don’t guys think about this sort of stuff all the time? Hell, you’d think with how often they think about sex, they’d have pubic hair growing out of their heads!

Not all guys are like that…

Well, I must admit that you’re not a typical guy. Most men are physically strong, outgoing, a little caustic, always willing to do stupid stuff to impress a girl, hang out at the club, and possibly keep a scorecard of how much they get laid. The only things you usually do are play video games and eat kale chips in your room. Then, there’s the whole meek and timid thing about you. It’s not the kind of persona that depicts you in a lion-skinned loin cloth with rippling muscles ready to beat the crap out of anything that’s standing in your way with intense savagery.

Uh…

And on top of that, you get annoyed by the littlest things. Most men have thick skin or they’ll return the sarcasm whenever it’s dished out at them. Granted, you did make that corny joke about the midget which was unlike you but that’s the first time I ever heard you do something like that. I mean, I know you have balls because I snuck that peek at them at the hospital and all but it’s not like you’re making them protrude through your pants for the world to see as most real men do.

You know I’m right here, right?

Then, there’s this whole thing with the way you dress! I mean it’s all black everything with you… except for your shirt. It kind of goes well with your eye but still… you could stand to be a little less emo. Wear some blue jeans, put on a wifebeater, grow some facial hair, get a tattoo… maybe not bathe for a week so you stink of manly sweat and funky cheese rather than whatever scented soap I’ve got lying around in the bathroom. Men aren’t supposed to smell like flowers, Renji!

So, about breakfast…

On a scale of a delicate effeminate flower boy to a savage barbarian, I’d probably rate you along the lines of a wannabe twink fuckboi. When it comes to your man game, you gotta step it up and the first thing that you can do is give me the gift of Renji this Christmas! Ho Ho Ho it up by letting me light your yule log on fire and other sexual holiday euphemisms! So… whaddya say?

Eat your eggs before they get cold.

Renji plated up Ashe’s breakfast and left it on the counter near the stove, not even