From what I recall, last fall semester there were close to 50 or 60 pages of writing for various essays at New College. This semester I've had virtually nothing so far, and now comes this essay. The classwork is tremendously easy, and then suddenly we're producing a research paper on an environmental problem, with more detailed specs than anything at NCF I wrote. I virtually guarantee that out of 25 or 30 students in the class, at least 15 to 20 of them won't get higher than a 50% on the assignment.

What's weird is, I know I managed to pull off quite a few last-minute saves last year, cranking out essays until 6 in the morning and doing well on them. But it's like the Engine isn't kicking in. It's left me, and I can't find it, and things are closing in. If not for that bloody paper, life would be pretty good, but the only thing I can think about is a clock ticking away.