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There was once a girl who loved the outdoors, and yet she always stayed glued to a phone or screen. She said she didn't like the heat very much and would rather relax. Her friends call her mature, and yet at home she acted childish and put her wants before her needs. She constantly had got distracted, all of which distracting her from the main task. Her life went on fine, unlucky but fine.

One day, she visited her grandfather who lived in a village. She enjoyed his company, as long as he didn't pry into her personal life. They both had a love for messing around, as grampa always got in trouble when he was young. 'Grandpa How are you?' Shay asked.

'Haha, Shay! Good to see you again. Come here, I want to show you something.' Grandpa said, pulling out a small wooden box with smaller engravings on it.

Shay walked over, curious. He opened it slowly, and sitting inside on a bed of soft blue velvet was a locket. It was small, about the size of a six year old's palm. Made out of silver, it was shaped like a diamond, with pictures of a blue serpentine dragon curling around the face of a ruby fox. Shay took it from his palm, and opened it. Inside, a tiny picture of the ruins of a manor was placed. She had to squint to really look at the picture. 'Do you like it? It was supposed to be for your seventeenth birthday but I couldn't wait another month so here you go. Happy early birthday, kid.' Grandpa said.

I raced along the side of the river, Will hot on my tail. My new necklace bounced on my chest, glinting in the evening sun. The river was clear and I could see the fish swimming underneath. Birds, ravens maybe, flew across the sky, moving from one place to another. Soon I got tired, and bent over to catch my breath. Will caught up and laughed. 'Ha! Tired again, Shay?' he mocked playfully.

'No fair, Will! I haven't ran this much since... well, a long time ago.'

Will grinned at my reply. He hopped up and down, warming up for another lap, while I, headed to a tall tree and rested underneath its shade. God, running with Will was very tiring, challenging him would be like racing with a cheetah. I remember a few years back, he won every yrack competition in school and the coach had to make him participate in the competition for juniors instead of sophomores. He had blonde hair and tanned skin with sparkly blue eyes that light up in the sun. It was so unfair, my brother got my mom's blue eyes, whereas I got stuck with plain eyes a shade darker than by dark hair, which I actually liked.

Once I caught my breath, I turned aroung and ran back to the house as fast as I could. Will looked up, shocked and ran after me. He laughed, and shouted, 'Hey! Cheater, I wasn't ready!'

His words caused me to laugh, as he quickly caught up to me. We raced along side each other, and grandpa greeted us from the front porch of his house. We headed inside, chests heaving. Dad brought us cups of water and I drank thirstily. Will, though, put his water down and grabbed some ice for his drink, though he very well knew he couldn't have cold drinks after exercising. He gulped his water down, and went upstairs to change. 'Shay, why don't you go change too? Your luggage is in your room.' I agreed with my father, nodding my head so I didnt spill my water.

Even though me and Will were twins I was thankful for the fact we didn't share a room. I changed into a comfy blue t-shirt and shorts, tossing my dirty clothes into the small laundry basket provided. On my way downstaairs, I noticed a painting I never noticed before. It was of a large castle on a hill overlooking a small village, with sturdy, stone brick walls and black roofs. It looked less like a castle and more like a solitary manor of an unliked man. I saw a small figure painted in front of the manor, and I guessed it must've been the owner of it. I peer at the title. "The Manor Of No Life". Huh. A fitting name, I supposed, as the only life in the manor seemed to be the grumpy man.

'Shay! Are you coming? Dad said we could go hunting, with a proper gun and everything!' Will called out, obviously excited.

I ran down hurriedly, grabbing a small gun and hopping into dad's jeep. He started up the engine, and drove down the road. After a couple hours, we turned right and saw the forest, but dad just drove farther down the road, towards a hill near the forest. Dad slammed on the brakes, and I was suddenly thankful I held on to the car seat. As we climbed up the hill, Will asked, 'Why are we here and not at the forest?'

Dad just smiled and asked him to wait and see. I gasped. On top of the hill I saw tumbling ruins of what must've been a magnificent building. The patch of ground it was on was covered in ash and the bricks were charred. Walking over, I inspected the ruins, marveling and the brickwork. I fumbled for my locket, and inside it was the picture of the exact same ruins we came to.

'Dad, what are these ruins?' I asked.

'These are the ruins of a manor-like castle. I found these while I was exploring the area a few months ago and thought you would like it.' he said, clearly proud that he was right.

That was when I made a realization. These are the ruins of the manor from the painting, The Manor of No Life. Parts of the crumbling roofs lay nearby, resembling the black slate that once covered a man's home.