Punctuation--Chapter 1

*My apologies, but it won't let me save a PDF now. So, the story is down a few paragraphs*

So here's little taste of the storyline I have in mind for my punctuation characters. Honestly, I'm just using this as a way to keep me writing during the summer since the story's going to be pretty big in scale.

I am considering trying to do this as a manga just for the heck of it, but I can't start until I redesign Asterisk and decide on Ampersand and Annat's detailed designs.

For now, think of Ampersand as looking a bit like Lewis Carrol's Alice...Annat's an enigma as of yet, but he'll have a American football linebacker sort of build and a goofy smile.

I apologize for any typos or confusing parts--let me know and I'll fix them. Oh, and bless your soul if you read the whole thing. Without further ado, the first part of the story.




All they knew was that Dot had adopted them early on. Even Ex, the eldest of the five, couldn’t remember much before meeting her. She described to the children the horrible situations they had been rescued from with such detail that even the boys shivered to think of it. No one minded the amnesia—they would rather it be that way.

The story was the same for all of them—even Comma, who was perched in the family’s loft like a nervous bird. He seemed to constantly be preening himself, as if he would be thrust from the everyday life of a university student into that of the Imperial Guard. But even the classiest of orphans is still an orphan at day’s end. He knew that although Dot had taken the children in, she wasn’t their mother. They weren’t true siblings, either.

Dot understood this and gave them related nicknames so they would remember they were all family now, by blood or not. Years ago, she returned from giving a linguistics lecture only to start calling each child by a punctuation mark’s name. None of them minded, but she had told them to use their legal names outside the house so other children wouldn’t mock them. Over the years, though, these strange labels became much more personal than any normal name, even capturing entire personalities in one term.

“Sharp,” Comma called over the balcony to his brother below.

“Yeah, I’m almost done with the report.”

“Wonderful. Tonight’s that concert of yours, you know.”

“Of course I know!” He smirked at his older brother’s comment. Obviously, he remembered he a concert he would be singing in, not to mention it was biggest one of the year.

“Mother bought you a new jacket for tonight, too. She said something about you needing to match the other choir boys…was your other one worn?”

“Oh yeah, it wasn’t even white anymore. Geez, a new one must’ve cost a fortune. Then again, how much does a professor make?” Sharp waited for a response. After a second, he realized Comma was finished talking for a while. It was his nature to speak in short bursts then return to whatever he was doing before—in this case, he was staring out the window.

Sharp returned to his lengthy report on the rhythm of a musical composition, the type of writing that would bore a normal person to death. He found himself hurrying to finish because once the others arrived home, the quiet would disappear, and his focus would be lost. First would come Ampersand, racing up the stairs as she always did, nearly tripping over her shoes to get to the door, only to drop her book sack and play with the dog. Ah, children. A few minutes later, Ex (short for Exclamation Point) would be crashing through the entrance to the former library’s fourth floor. Given half a second, he would commence ranting about his day. Perhaps such a racket would distract Sharp for a second, but it was nothing compared to what would happen when Asterisk got home.

She never made much noise, preferring instead to pour everyone a cup of tea. The problem came when she would seat herself across from Sharp and ask him about his day. During the ensuing discussion, he never let his favorite sibling know she was distracting him. After all, no one else was more willing to listen to and help with his problems.

He inked the last period and triumphantly awaited Ampersand’s noisy stomping. To his surprise, the footsteps came slowly, and the three remaining siblings entered together, chattering excitedly.

“ ‘Ey, Sharp! Ready for tonight? Gonna sing for that special lady in the audience?” Everyone laughed as Ex gestured melodramatically at his brother. Sharp rolled his eyes and nodded in agreement to the first question. As Ex moved to clap him on the head, Sharp noticed a twinkle on Ex’s ear lobe.

“You—you did it?” He pulled away to stare at the ear rings.

“What? Oh, the ear thing?” He fingered half a dozen piercings on his left ear, and then he pointed to the one on his eyebrow.

“Didja miss this one?”

“Ex! How could you? Dot’ll be furious.”

“ ‘Ey, now. Comma’s got one, too. She won’t fuss too much.” After Ex finished, Ampersand decided it was her turn to argue.

“Well, I think they’re pretty!” She crossed her arms and Ex seated her on his back as they prepared to stare down Sharp. Sharp submitted by not arguing back: reason would be lost on a ten-year-old and a ne’er-do-well.

“I agree with Miss Ampersand. They are quite lovely. I feel vain for having one, though.” Comma leaned back in his bay window seat, musing as he touched his ear.

“You’ve had the thing forever! Dot even said she found you with it.”

“No. I think Ex’s is fine, but Comma is evil for having his.”

“I don’t follow…” Comma stood up and looked over the balcony to address Asterisk.

“It’s just not fair. You’re already prettier than most girls, and you even have a ruby set in your ear! How am I supposed to compare?” As they laughed, Dot entered the room.





After donning the new jacket his adoptive mother had given him, Sharp led the others down four flights of stairs and made the short walk to the Chamber.

A marvelous structure carved from wood and stone, tangled with flying buttresses and tuned to acoustic perfection, the Chamber was central to any major performance at the Imperial University. Even though the group had seen it many times, it halted at the entrance trying to see the massive room with fresh eyes. Sharp had to cut his admiration short as he needed to rehearse before the show. With a kiss to his mother, he began to navigate the aisles in effort to reach the stage.

“Good luck, darling!”

“Thank you, Dot.”

Behind the curtain, lay a scene of confusion that any performer would know well. Was this jacket the right shade? Would the harpsichord even work tonight? And were was Josephine? With everyone fluttering around, Sharp found himself anxious—would anyone fret this much over a minor show? No. This was the year-end event before the High Holy Days, and he needed to be at his best. All he could imagine was getting on stage and messing up the biggest show of the year.

“Nagy, chin up. You’re going to be fine!” One of the tenors playfully slapped him on the back of the head.

“That hurt! Oh, it’s you. Anyways, my name’s not Nagy. See him? He’s Nagy. I’m Barlett.”

“Oh! Gosh, I’m sorry. You’re the wonderful Mr. Dory
Barlett! How could I forget?” Sharp’s real name was definitely not Dory, but he didn’t have the heart to correct the tenor any more. Everyone at the school knew Cornelius Annat IV as the heir to the Annat estate, an excellent student, a devoted worshipper, a noted sportsman, even as a motivational speaker—he did everything. Students and professors loved him for all he was, in spite of his embarrassing tendency to confuse people’s names. It’s very difficult to stay angry with a truly happy man, they say. In following that line of thinking, Sharp changed the subject.

“Annat, how in Our Master’s name did you make time for this? Isn’t your schedule full?”

“Haha! It’s busy but not full. Of course I’d make time to come and sing with you, Barley. What are you doing for the Holy Days?”

“Nothing much. Going to the Church, spending time with the family, the usual.”

“Oh, that’s sounds like fun. I’m heading out to Burana to do work with orphans. When the Master calls, you know.”

“Ah…You have to answer, right?” Sharp laughed nervously. This was the reason for his reputation—every minute of Annat’s waking life was spent pleasing others. He seemed too good to be true, and Sharp liked to imagine him spending his time off as a spy or rebel soldier rather than the straight-laced man he was. It was fun to think of him fighting with someone outside the world of sports.

“We should warm up, huh? Let’s practice the scales.” All practice did was make Sharp more nervous—Annat’s golden voice rang out effortlessly. When he tried to make Sharp sing with him, both of them realized this would be a long night.

They just didn’t understand how long.





Sharp woke up early the next morning, his back aching, his mind racing and his new jacket tinged with blood. As his thoughts slowed, he realized he had been sleeping on cool sand far different than the soil around the University. He watched the stars fade from view while he wondered why he had slept outside.

“AH! The concert! What happened?!” During his confusion, a person sat down next to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Sharp turned slowly , hoping he would find a family member there to explain everything. Instead he saw a figure cloaked from top to bottom in sheets of various blues, its eyes the only sign of life amidst all the cloth. The spark in those eyes reminded Sharp of the pictures he had seen in the newspaper.

“Oh! You’re a…a….rebel soldier! Oh my Master—what happened?”

“Memory loss? Hmm. Naz did get you on the head pretty good with his hilt.”

“What? Who’s Naz?”

“A comrade of mine. Ya, Naz!” The soldier yelled to her right, and a man exceeding even Annat’s sturdy size quietly approached. The two talked for a moment in hushed tones, and the woman’s voice became loud enough for Sharp to hear some parts of the conversation.

“…can’t have hostages in such conditions…”

“…the army left early…generals coming soon and maybe some mercenaries…”

“Whoa. Hostages? Should you guys really be discussing your plans around me, seeing as you hate the Empire? You realize I’m a student at the IMPERIAL University, right?” Sharp grabbed at his jacket’s collar, showing the soldiers the unmistakable emblem of saturated black and red. It represented both the school and the Empire, and was known to anyone in any land. Sharp’s hope of instilling fear in the rebels evaporated as the two guffawed at him.

“Shaduc, you’re a hostage. And I hate to tell you, but your short term memory must have run away.”

“WHAT?! How am I a hostage?”

“Enough talking.” Naz ended the conversation as his ally rose, and then they began to walk towards a dusty tent a few yards away.

“WAIT! At least… tell me what shaduc means!” He leapt to his feet and yelled after the duo.

“Listen, you need to learn to watch your mouth around us,” Naz said.

“Yes. You had the fortune of talking to the more sane soldiers of our squad. We will let you rant and ask questions of us--if you’re sly, you may even get a few answers. However, some of the others are extremists looking to exterminate everyone loyal to the Empire as if they are common vermin. Give them the chance, and they will kill you. Plus, you aren’t all that valuable to us.” The female rebel shrugged as she finished.

“I see…Thank you for your kindness, then.”

“Get some rest, shaduc. We’ll be riding to Burana soon.” Sharp had a hard time believing his ears— did she say Burana? That town was on the edge of the Empire and far from the confines of the University. Had they really travelled that far so fast? He looked around him to see how they had gotten here, but he was quickly distracted by the bodies on his left: every one of the group wore the white dress uniform of the school, confirming his earlier hypothesis that something had gone wrong at the concert.

He searched the group of scattered sleeping bags to find someone he knew, and his fear turned to joy when he saw Ampersand using Ex as a pillow. With Comma and Asterisk laying a few feet away, his family was united, and he felt he could make it through whatever the rebels wanted to put him through. The whole family was right he—

“Dot. She’s….not here. Oh no.”