Ashleigh, Esther, Monique and Jesse sat at their desks in the media office. The rain was pattering lightly on the windows. The energy in the room was nervous—after all, they were sending the magazine to their printer, Nigel, the next day.

“Jesse, have you written the editorial?” asked Monique suddenly.

Jesse blushed furiously. “Bloody hell,” he said. “I’ve forgotten!”

“You better write it now, then!” exclaimed Ashleigh.

“Yeah,” added Esther unnecessarily.

Jesse frowned. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to concentrate in the same room as the other editors. They were too noisy. He picked up his laptop and walked down the hall to the Radio Fodder studio. It was quiet in there.

When he sat down to write, he heard a tapping at the window. It was an owl! He opened the window and the owl hopped inside. A large snowy, it had a scroll attached to one of its legs. Jesse took the scroll and unrolled it. He read:

In this edition’s nonfiction section, Tessa Marshall writes about medical science through the lens of Harry Potter in a piece that defies a simple explanation. And Kaavya Jha writes thoughtfully and lucidly about cultural identity and the role of hip-hop.

“What’s this?” Jesse demanded, shaking the paper at the owl. “This is an editorial for edition two! Where did you get this?”

Getting nothing from the owl, he kept reading.

In the campus section, Conor Day goes on an adventure to the Grainger Museum, with surprising results, while Amelia Costigan and Lauren Sandeman look at the history of Farrago and the changing role of student media.

The owl, which had appeared to be reading over Jesse’s shoulder, was now staring at him disapprovingly.

“Do you think that’s a self-indulgent thing to have in our magazine, owl?” asked Jesse anxiously. “In our defence, if people are reading Farrago, they are, at least somehow, interested in student media, right?”

Still feeling judged by the owl, Jesse continued reading.

In the creative section, we have a comic by Edie Bush (page 44), poetry by Alston Chu, while Abigail Fisher documents a conversation about the writing process between herself and a judgemental Clippy.

“I’ve got it!” said Jesse. “A conversation about writing between myself and a judgemental anthropomorphised being. That’s perfect for my editorial!”

Without another word, he opened Google Docs on his laptop and started tapping away. The owl watched dispassionately.

“Do you think it’s clear that I’m trying to emulate J.K. Rowling’s style?” he said after a while. “Does the pastiche come through?”

The owl gave him a disappointed look.

Ashleigh, Esther, Jesse and Monique