Month: November 2019

Arstina was an evil doll. She had long since escaped the nursery and now roamed the underworld where she lived looking for something. She didn’t know what it was. Her hair was rough and knotted. Her eyes had splotches of paint on them. Her crippled body was stained with all sorts of things. Suddenly one day she knew what it meant.

She felt the rough spot on her stomach. She rubbed it, and it came off in flakes. She bent down and licked it off the hot floor of the underworld. Ice cream. In that moment, Arstina felt something odd. Desire. She longed for another taste. Sadly, though, that would be hard. 

There was no ice cream in the underworld. The shadow king ruled it all. And he did not give out sugary treats. He was very greedy. Arstina decided to beg the shadow king. Maybe he would show compassion.

She walked over to his palace. She rapped on the tall, black door. A guard answered. Arstina explained why she was there. The guard growled something and went to get the shadow king. Arstina hoped he would listen.

Soon, two guards came out. They both grabbed one of her arms and carried her in.

“What’s happening?” Arstina asked.

“The king is not pleased with you,” one guard responded in a gruff voice. “He thinks you are inconsiderate, horrible, lazy, annoying, and an overall nuisance. He wishes to kill you.”

Arstina gulped. Then she snapped back into reality. She started to yell at the guards.

“You are horrible people, and you should let me go! All I wanted was some ice cream!” Four words into her sentence, though, one guard stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth.

Six minutes later, she arrived in a courtyard out back. There was a big pile of wood in the middle. The shadow king walked up to Arstina and smiled. 

He said, “Hello, Arstina. I expect we’ll have some fun together. Simply jump on that pile of wood and allow us to tie you up.”

Arstina gulped and decided against it. The shadow king was holding a bunch of matches.

“Do you not want to?” Pause. “We can do this the hard way or the easy way.” Another pause. Arstina still stood firm. “All right, the hard way.”

The shadow king grabbed a rope and tied her up before she could respond. Then he forced her to march to the wood pile. He then tied her down. The shadow king struck a match and smiled devilishly. He gingerly placed it on the pile and then stopped for a second to watch Arstina burst into flames.

She cried out in pain. “I just wanted some ice cream!”

The king paused for a moment, as if he was thinking of something. Then he ran into the castle to get something.

The last thing Arstina ever saw was the shadow king laughing maniacally as he licked an ice cream cone. 

Chapter One    

Once there was a girl named Emilly. Her sister’s name was Julie. And they always played. They had nicknames for each other but they were never that mean. One day, Emilly and Julie had a big fight. Emilly had a very mean, mean name to call her little sister Julie. It was “Stinkbreath.” Julie’s name for Emilly was “Meanie.” They kept on calling each other that and they never stopped the fight until their mom came home.

The mom said, “Why is this place is a mess?”

They both said at the same time, “She did it!”

The mom said, “Well, you two are grounded for a whole week! You’re going to pick up all this stuff and clean it up, and tidy my room AND yours. And your dad’s room.”

And then their dad came home. “What is this whole big mess?”

They both said at the same time, “She did it!”

Their dad made another punishment. “You two both have to do ten chores a week until September! Every day I’ll write you a list.”

They both said, We’re sorry,” and got to work. They didn’t have much time to go to school but their mom said, “I want this place tidied up by the time that I get home tomorrow.”

The mom picked up Julie’s stuffed bunny and said “Throw this in the garbage.”

Julie said, “No! That’s my only stuffed bunny!”

“Then why did I find this whole stack of stuffed bunnies in your candy jar?”

She said, “Ummmm….” She was speechless!

Her mom said, “Now! And you can save one if you want, but I want you to throw all of the rest out.”

Julie did as she was told, but secretly she kept all her bunnies in another place… in her lollipop drawer!

Her mom said, “I found these in your lollipop drawer! You’re grounded til November!”

Julie said, “Do you have anything for me to do?”

“No, what did you ever do?”

“Really? Thanks, you guys.” 

“Julie was the one who started the fight, not me,” said Emilly.

The parents believed this, so they called “Julie! Stop watching a show, give the phone to Emilly and start doing this now! No more discussions, now! Go to your room and pack. I’m sending you to your friend’s home to tell her about what you’ve done. Just this once. But I’m not going to pack for you this time.”

“Oh my god. Seriously? I really really have to get to work. Can you please pack for me?”

“Fine. Only because you’re doing work.”

By the time mom was finished, Julie was finished with everything. But secretly, she put it all in the backyard. 

Her dad said, “You cleaned up very quickly! I’m going to go and get my car from the backyard.”

“Julie!! I have a surprise for you!” said Dad.

“What is it?”

“The smashing robot that I made out of all of your very cool and fun things.”

“Dad!! I didn’t think that you’d be so mad at me! I thought only Mom would be, cuz you’re nicer than mom!”

“I am? I mean, yes, I am. Okay, I’m sorry, I’ll take all of the stuff out.”

She cleaned up very quickly, but this time, she actually did it. Julie was a very quick cleaner, so she finished, and her dad took her for a ride. 

“When you said that I was nicer than your mom, I’m going to take you for a little ride, just for fun. But it’s going to be a short ride and it’s going to go very quickly. This is where I go when I pretend to ride my bike. I go to this tractor, and nobody is here right now because it is night time. This is my real work. I used to work in a gas station, so everyone is feeling bad for me. But I’m a racecar driver now, so I get paid a lot of money!”

“You should tell that to the whole family.”

“I don’t know about that.”

Chapter Two

When they reached the tractor, Julie said, “This is the coolest thing ever! I wish Emilly was here!” 

“Well, I don’t really want to bring Emilly. She knows how to drive a car, soo… and then your mom will be the only person who doesn’t know what my job is. So I don’t really want to tell her that I have this. You have to keep my secret though. If you don’t, you’re going to get a humongous punishment,” said their dad.

“Sometimes, I tell Emilly some of my secrets, and she tells me some of hers, and we both keep them secret.”

“Emilly tells me all of your secrets.”

“What!! That’s so mean, I kept all of hers in!”

“That’s so mean.”

“Well, not really, you told me all of yours, too. I told Emilly I read your diary.”

“Emilly didn’t tell me! I don’t want you to drop me off. Emilly actually taught me how to drive a car, so hop on, I’m going to take you back home and tell mom that I want her to drive me.”

Then dad says, “Whee! Emilly sure knows how to drive.”

“I’m not Emilly.”

“I know, but I’m just saying that Emilly really knows how to drive.”

“But I’m better than her, right?”

“Ummm… no.”

“Now I especially don’t want you take me. You’re being very un-good at parenting right now. But Mom is nicer, and you are not nicer than mom! You are the meanest dad in the whole entire world!”

“Well then why did I pack you rice krispies for all of this?”

“You did?”

“Well, not anymore.”

“Uh oh, let’s go back to the tractor. I’ll drive.”

So then dad says, “Who’s nicer now, me or Mom?”

“Ummm… you.”

“Really? Am I actually, or are you pretending?”

“No, you are, actually, for real! Now can I have the rice krispies?”

“No, you get to share your rice krispies with your friends. Let’s go there. Mom’s probably wondering where you are and probably so is my friend.”

Chapter Three

They finally reached Coco’s house. 

“Coco! I’m so happy to see you!”

“Me too,” said Coco. 

Julie said, “I’m starving! I should have ate them before?”

“What?”

“The yummy yummy dumplings. At least I have some in my bag.”

“Julie? You have dumplings in your bag?”

“No.”

“Let me check your bag.”

“Oh, no dumplings.”

“Bye, dad!”

“Bye! Hope you have a good time!” 

At the sleepover, Julie’s like, “So, I started a fight with my sister Emilly, and I lied to my parents about not starting the fight, but then Emilly told them and they believed Emilly, and then I told the truth, and then they felt bad for me so they told me that I could come to your house just for one time. And she said it like this: just for ONCE! And I was like ahh, and then I said, okay, deal.”

They had lots of yummy rice krispies and the yummy yummy dumplings, which Julie hid in her bag, and they slept. 

Her dad was there to pick her up.

“Dad, can we go to your tractor, please?”

“Okay, we can go to the tractor. But just this once. And I mean just this once!”

“Okay. Yippee! Bye, Coco!” She gave Coco a big hug.

Coco gave Julie a big hug too. “Woohee!”

Chapter Four

They went to the tractor. They finally got there. “Whee! This is so much fun,” said Julie. And then they left. “Already, dad? Please can we get just one more?”

“Okay, but just one more.”

“Wheee! This is so much fun,” said Julie. 

Then they left. “Emilly, it was so much fun at the tractor!”

“What tractor?”

“Dad’s job tractor!”

“Julie!” said the Dad. “I told you not to tell them!”

“Tell us what?”

“Julie, stop. Be quiet and get to your chores. Otherwise you’re never going to go there again.”

“Okay, I’m just going to talk to her for one second.”

“Julie, you cannot do that ever again. It’s so, so, so bad. And then they’re going to know what my job is.”

“Why don’t you tell them what your job is?”

“Because your mom hates racecar drivers. The only one she likes is Derek.” And Derek is the dad’s name. “And I am Derek, the one that she likes.”

“Then why don’t you tell her?”

“I suppose so.”

Then they came out.

“Dad has something to say!” said Julie.

“What is it, Dad?” said Emilly.

“Go on, dad, tell them!”

“Ummmm… I sort of have a new job that’s a racecar driver and I’m Derek the driver!”

“You are? Is that why when you go the bathroom when we all see racecar drivers and you are Derek?”

“Yes.”

“Well now we know, so you can always get prepared earlier. Why wouldn’t you tell us that before?”

“Well… so I took Julie to the tractor and we raced so much and it was so much fun, because Emilly taught Julie how to drive a car. So we raced and raced and raced, and then we left. Julie was like really? Do we have to leave already? And I was having so much fun so I said maybe not already, and then I probably should not have taken the grounded girl to the tractor, but I really wanted to go there myself, and I didn’t want to get in trouble by anybody, so I always had to keep it secret.”

“Emilly knows about this!”

“Dad! You lied to me?”

“Maybe sorta kinda…” Then her dad said, “Yes.”

“But Emilly and you would have kept it a secret, but then I had to tell the whole family. And now I’m happy that I told the whole family.”

The mom made the decision that “You both do not have to be grounded. Your dad and I will clean all of this up.”

“We’ll help! Do we have to do the chores until November?”

“No!”

“Yay!! Let’s get to cleaning!”

The End. 

1. Dolls
2. Cars
3. Legos
4. Pizza
5. Fish
6. Meat
7. Ice cream
8. Chocolate
9. Art
10. Ice cream cone

Bep-Bop wants all of these things on the list above because if he doesn’t get them, he might die from starvation and be bored for the rest of his short life.

He goes to the mall called Dean’s Mall and buys the things on the list above. 

There is a problem though: the mall is crowded with people, so it is hard to find the store that he needs to go to to get the things on the list above.

 He finds his way to the store that has everything he needs, apparently. It is called Dean’s Happy Store. The name means, everything you need to buy is in this store. So, he gets the things he needs, and then another problem happens. It is still crowded! So, he needs to find his way to the register.

He finally pays for the stuff, and then he gets distracted by another store that has games for the Switch that he had bought for another time. He tries to resist it, but he can’t. He gets one game, at least one, and it is called Super Mario Maker 2 + Online.

Then, he gets to his car. This time it is not crowded. Then, he drives home and has a happy day.

“Carter! The school bus is here!”

“Coming!” I shouted.

“Don’t forget to bring your lunch bag!”

“Yeah, I know, whatever.”

I rushed to the bus just in time to see the fat bus driver wave his chubby, fat hand goodbye. Carrying my lunch bag, I trudged along the path to go to school. I was half a subject late just because the bus driver drove off without picking me up!

Fast forward, and we’re in my classroom after staying an eternity in the principal’s office to explain why I was late, which delayed even more of my time. When I entered my classroom, everyone looked at me, and half of them stared straight at my lunch. I looked down and saw water leaking through the paper bag. Like seriously, why do parents give their own child’s lunch in a paper bag?! No? Only me? Okay then, I guess only my parents are harassing their child even though I don’t even know what that word means or does, but it sounds like “spilling.”

Anyways, I sat down in my seat, and when I put my lunch down next to me, it went plofltp! My classmate made a disgusted face at me and quickly whipped her cube head back to the teacher and snickered under her putrid breath.

Fast forward again, and I finally made it to lunch with just a soggy sandwich. Long story short, everything else fell out. We went to the lunchroom, and I sat down with my only friend, Andy, who people also made fun of for being really short. 

Andy and I first became friends in first grade. One day at recess, Andy was being bullied by the school bully, Barter. I walked over and told Barter to stop.

He said, “No!”

Then he started kicking my leg and I fell over.

Then the teacher came over and said, “What’s going on?” 

Barter lied and said, “He tried to kick me.”

“But he’s on the ground,” the teacher replied. Then the teacher said, “Come with me, you’re going to the principal’s office.”

Then Barter started bawling, and Andy and I became friends at that moment. 

Every time Andy had even a little problem, Barter would come over and bully him for no reason at all and I thought, Please don’t bully me because my lunch is gone. Then, Barter came over and started bullying me. Barter snatched the lunch away.

Then, he realized the bag was wet and soggy, and he was like, “Ew, what did you do?” And he threw the lunch bag across the lunchroom, and it landed on a teacher’s foot.

The teacher hobbled over and shouted at Barter, “What happened here?”

I started to say, “He threw my lunch across… ”

And then Barter interrupted me and said, “He threw the lunch across the room, and it landed on you.”

And then the teacher said, “That doesn’t sound like a thing Carter would do.” 

Then Barter ran out of the lunchroom.

I whispered to Andy, “What’s up with him?” 

A classmate walked over and whispered in my ear, “How’s your lunch?” 

I bit my tongue to prevent the words I hate you! from coming out. So instead, I said, “Go away.” 

“No!”

“I am going to stay right here and watch you eat your lunch of air with a side of air and air for a drink!” She walked away, sneering and snickering to her friends. By the way, like half the class was her friend and the other half wanted to be her friend.

Andy said, “Why is it always us that gets bullied?!”

“Well… for one you are quite short for your age, no offense, and I am just bullied for my downsides.”

“I am talking to myself,” Andy replied.

The teacher came over and said, “I’m sorry for all the trouble about Barter and Victoria.”

Victoria was the second bully that came over to bully us. She was never nice to anyone except to her friends who actually didn’t support her bullying, but kept it a secret. Don’t ask me how I know, like please don’t. So now school just ended, and guess what?! I missed the bus to drive the students back home! That fat bus driver!

When I got home, I told my mom about the absolutely horrid day I had in school with my lunch bag.

“Call the principal, now!”

“I will… tomorrow…” Mom replied.

“What?! Why not right now?!”

“Ohhh… alright, I will call them in a second.”

(She started casually phone calling some stranger, while tapping random numbers.)

“Ahem? Where’d the call go?¨

“Didn’t you hear the phone? I just called them.”

“You cannot fool me, Mom. I know you were just tapping numbers and calling a random person.” Then I put on my I am disappointed at you for not calling my principal because two bullies bullied me because of my lunch on a Friday face.

I bet you’re out of breath from reading that, right? Well, to make it easier for you, it was my pouting face.

“Well, maybe you should change schools then,” Mom shot back at me.

“This was all my lunch’s fault because water started leaking from the bag. If it was Victoria, everyone in the class would go and help her in any way possible and would give her unnecessary amounts of towels. See how hard my life is?”

The very next day… 

We were driving to somewhere I wasn’t familiar with, and usually at this time we’d be pulling up to the school’s parking lot.

I asked my mom, “Where are we going?”

“To your new school…”

THE END

I run around in my backyard, playing a fun game called Red Light, Green Light. I am playing with my four best friends: Morgan, Miranda, Miriam, Mira, and me, Madison. 

“Caught you!” Miranda shouts in glee at me as I wobble over. Suddenly, I fall to the ground, clutching my side. It feels like a side stitch, just worse; a million times worse. I scream in agony and I can barely stand up. 

After staying there for a while, the pain finally begins to subside and I slowly get up. My tear-streaked face looks around. All of my friends are staring at me oddly. Finally, Miriam takes me by my arm back into my house. Then, all my friends leave. 

My mother knows that something is wrong with me. However, she doesn’t know what. She thinks that I’ll be alright, I probably just got a cramp. She was wrong, and not doing anything was the biggest mistake she has ever made. 

The next day is my 14th birthday. Little do I know that it is my last. The pain gets so bad that we go to the hospital, but the doctors can’t find out what is wrong with me. I don’t know what is wrong with me. I keep getting sudden pains all over my body. Once, my heart stops beating. Luckily, there is a nurse in the room and she rushes for help. 

Everyone comes into my hospital room to give me get-well cards and presents. They know that I will be alright. After all, I am only an eighth grader, I’m not going to die or anything. They are horribly wrong. The pains get worse and I begin having a hard time breathing. The doctors put an oxygen mask over me while I sleep or else I might suffocate. 

The next day, things start getting out of control. I wake up in excruciating pain. There are doctors and nurses shouting “Code blue in 4-8.” 

I already know that my room is 4-8. I wish that someone would take me out of this misery. There are sirens going off of my heart monitor and all the other fancy machines around my bed. Soon, those sirens began to fade away. I know what this means. When the sirens fade away, I fade away too. My whole body is in agony, every muscle tense and screaming. I want to curl up into a tiny ball and melt into a puddle on my bed. 

I see a helpless doctor that is standing right next to my bed. He doesn’t know what to do and is staring at me as I slowly die. I let out a strangled gasp and that is my last breath. I close my eyes, see a bright flash, and leave this world.

***

It is a dark and stormy day when I see Courtney Quinn walking down the sidewalk. I jump back in surprise, for she died three years ago from cancer! Then, I realize that it is probably Miriam Quinn, her daughter, and also one of my best friends. She is walking around in the rain without an umbrella or a care that I am staring at her. I get a closer look and know, this can not be Miriam. She is way too old and looks exactly like Courtney did before she died, even with the same exact clothes on. 

I turn around and I don’t know where I am. It looks like a hotel, or a very fancy apartment. The room is very decorated and doesn’t look like anything that I have ever seen before. I search through my memory, looking for some kind of information that would tell me how I got in this mysterious place. However, I draw a blank. I can’t seem to remember anything except the fact that I belong here. Still, I know I remember some things because I remember Courtney and Miriam.

I wander out of my room and spot someone else in the hallway. There is someone that has their head down, slowly counting some kind of currency. When that person lifts his head, I see his face. It is my great-grandfather. My great-grandfather had died before I was born, but the pictures that we had were a spitting image of the man in front of me right now. 

I am starting to get freaked out. I see a group of girls pass by me who look suspiciously like the group of girls in the newspaper that had died in a forest fire. 

I don’t know where I am, and I am starting to get creeped out by the fact that there are a bunch of people walking around that are supposed to be dead. 

Everyone in town has an odd look about them. Some people are wearing very old-fashioned clothes, clothes that I have never seen someone wear before. There are girls and women wearing really uncomfortable-looking dresses, very old-fashioned dresses. Others are wearing headdresses made of feathers. Then, realization hits me. Those girls and women wearing those dresses are from a long time ago, from the pioneer times! And those people wearing headdresses. Those are probably Native American chiefs. How are they still alive, and what are they doing here?

I am so confused, and I don’t even know how I got here! No one even talks here! Over half of this town looks like they are going to a costume party! I open my mouth to say something, anything to myself. 

Hello, I mouth to myself. I want to scream, and I probably would if I could make any sound. I am like everyone else! I can’t talk! I feel so confined, so limited and it makes me feel claustrophobic in some kind of weird way. And then, that’s when I figure it all out. Why I am here, how I came here, and what all these people are doing here: I am dead, just like the rest of the people around me. And my room…

I lean outside to confirm my suspicions. On the exterior wall, there it says, 

M.L.M 

R.I.P

My room is a gravestone. This place is a graveyard. And I will never be able to escape. 

As I figure this out, bits and pieces of my past return. I see myself leaning over on the ground, holding my side. Then, I see it. Nurses calling “code blue,” then me. Myself dying. My sight is blurred by tears and I wipe away the tears. I never got to say goodbye to my parents. Not to my friends. Now, I am stuck in this wretched place where only dead people are. I want to go back. I want to return back home. 

I realize that I can leave my grave and go out on the street. When I do, I look down and realize that I can see down on Earth! I see people at a funeral and realize it is my funeral! I spot Morgan, Miriam, Miranda, and Mira huddled together with tears streaking across their face. Then, I see my parents crying together. I wish that I could go down into my funeral and comfort them. I wonder if I can! 

In this place, life is not fun. In this place, life is a void of emptiness and nothingness.  There is nothing fun to do here. My theory behind this reasoning is that most people that go to the graveyard are very old. Many people all over the world die from old age and infirmity. Usually, people that die from sickness are older as well, around my parents’ age. However, there aren’t many children in this place. In fact, I haven’t seen a single person my age. 

When I go to the graveyard manager, I write down a question for him.

How do I go back to Earth and get my life back?

“One second,” the manager says while flipping through a book. It feels relieving to hear at least one person talk in this silent and horrible world. “Here, found it! You must find the Flower of Cator and crush it along with some Amberse Water. Then, you must spread the poultice on your head and temples to rejuvenate the life there in your brain, for it is believed that your soul is actually in your brain. The only thing that I can help you with is this.” And with that, the manager leaves, leaving only a glass vial and a piece of paper behind. 

I pick up the vial, wondering what it is. Then, I realize that it contains that Amberse Water, which I needed to mix with the Flower of Cator! Then, I pick up the paper and see that they are directions on how to find the Flower of Cator. I read the first instruction. 

1. Find the Master of Meditation. After doing this, ask him for help finding what you seek. No one has succeeded in doing this before, so the rest of the instructions are unknown.

Okay, so I know that I need to find this ‘Master of Meditation’ person. I see an old man that is sitting down with his legs crossed and arms in front of him. He is meditating. He will probably know how to find this Master of Meditation person. I walk up to him and show him the paper and Amberse Water. 

“You are looking for the Flower of Cator?” the man rumbles. I jump back in surprise, both because of the fact that he can talk and also that he already knows what I need. The man taps me on the throat and I fight the urge to run away. What is this creep doing? Then, I realize. This man is the Master of Meditation. “Speak!” the man announces. I look at him oddly. After all, shouldn’t he know that I can’t talk?

I clear my throat and attempt anyway. “H-hello?” I mutter under my breath. “Hello!” I exclaim in excitement. “My voice! It’s back!”

“Wow, I totally couldn’t tell,” the Master of Meditation groans. “Call me Mac. That was my name before…” his voice trails off. I decide not to question him because it’s obvious he doesn’t want to talk about it. “Now, you seem to be pretty confident about this Flower of Cator.”

“Yes,” I agree. “I really need to find this Flower so that I can get my life back and return back to Earth. I really miss my family and friends.”

“Well, I don’t think I can help you with that,” the man says to me, beginning to leave. 

“Wait! Please! I’ll do anything!” I plead to the man.

“Anything,” the man says with a smile beginning to creep up on his face. “You say? Well, then, I will help you. However, you must do everything I ask of you.”

By now, I am so desperate to get back to Earth, I accept. If I don’t get back to Earth, I’ll be stuck in this place forever! I don’t think I can survive with so much boredom in this place! We agree to meet at Dead Man Hill the next day. 

When I wake up the next day, I stretch and get ready to head for Dead Man Hill. When I get there, I see Mac already standing there underneath the hill. He seems impatient and irritated that I am late, but we never even had a certain meeting time. He just said, morning. Technically, if he is annoyed that I am so “late”, he is to blame for not telling me when we were going to meet up. After all, he was pretty vague on the time for meeting.

“Finally, you’ve come here,” Mac grumbles softly. “And don’t talk too loudly. After all, we don’t want those old grumps to be suspicious at you.”

I want to tell him that he has no right to call those old people old grumps because he is one himself, but I bite my tongue. I don’t want to annoy Mac because he is the only chance of me ever returning back to Earth with my family and friends! 

Mac has a lot of drills for me to do, and they are all puzzles. Puzzles to test my logical ability and other things like that. Here is one of my puzzles:

If

34+5=36

56+2=39

27+6=45

47+5=48

28+1=33

then

41+5=?

I don’t understand what help this will be to me. All I need is directions that lead to the Flower of Cator. However, I don’t want to question his way of thinking. 

After all of those puzzles, Mac makes me do all of his housework. He makes me mow his lawn and do his laundry. After I finish cleaning two extremely large windows, I realize now I’ve been bamboozled. 

“You’re not really the Master of Meditation, are you?” I accuse to Mac.

He shrugs. “I never said I was,” he replies. “You always just assumed it. Anyway, I got a lot of good things out of this. Thanks Mad.”

And I am very mad. Just like my nickname. In fact, I am furious. I storm out of Mac’s house, making a point to spill dirty water all over his floor and windows, then toss the dirty sponge and towel at his chest. 

I can’t believe that he tricked me into believing that he was actually the Master of Meditation. I was so stupid. 

The next day, I set out to look for the real Master of Meditation. And then, I realize something. How did Mac return my voice if he wasn’t the real Master of Meditation. It hits me like a car. The real Mac was at the place two days ago. However, yesterday, the real Mac didn’t show up. Meaning Mac was probably locked somewhere, or was taken somewhere! I have to find him, now! 

I head to the place where I first met Mac, in the lobby of my graveyard apartment. I don’t see anyone there, but I suddenly hear some muffled screams. I hear them coming from the janitor’s closet, so I rush over there. 

The door is locked. Luckily, I have a bobby pin with me because I need to hold back my long hair while playing soccer. I quickly pick the lock and open the door. I see Mac in there all tied up with a gag over his mouth. 

“Mac!” I cry out in horror. I quickly untie the ropes that are holding him back. 

“Uh oh,” Mac mutters. “Look behind you.”

I slowly turn around and see that every single person in the lobby is staring at me with disbelief as if I had grown another arm. Then, I realize why they are staring at me! I cried out ‘Mac’ really loudly and other people must have heard me. I want to run away but my legs aren’t functioning properly right now. 

The crowd closes in on us. It’s like a zombie apocalypse is attacking us, millions of people. Finally, my instincts return and I grab Mac’s arm and we run out of the building. 

“Are you crazy?” Mac asks me. “What are you thinking, talking that loud in front of all those people out there!” 

“I’m sorry, okay?” I retort. “I’m still trying to get used to the fact that I can’t speak with freedom.”

“Well, it’s a good thing that you found me. I thought I was going to suffocate if I had to stay there any longer. Luckily, oxygen was coming through the bottom of the door. I’m very claustrophobic, you know. What took you so long?” Mac rapidly asks. I am so annoyed. 

“You’re lucky I even came to save you. Instead of complaining, you might want to thank me for saving your butt right there!” I yell at Mac. 

“Geez, I’m sorry,” Mac mutters. 

We head off in silence. We can’t hear the crowd of people anymore, but we couldn’t hear them in the first place anyway. After we travel a long way, Mac stops me to talk. 

“Look, it’s time that I tell you how you’re going to get the Flower of Cator,” Mac tells me. “I can’t come with you because if I come in a one-mile radius of the flower, you and I will get trapped forever. This flower is very heavily guarded. There are only two. There used to be three, but I took one of them. The reason why I’m not on Earth is because I only had time to put a little on my head before they caught me. Don’t ask me who they are. There is a certain scent that will knock out the guards. You must carefully pluck the flower with its roots as well, for it must thrive or it will disintegrate if it dies.”

I process all the information that I have learned. Then I ask a question to Mac. “Where will I get this scent from?”

“I have it,” Mac takes it out of a heavily padded container. Then, he takes out two sets of nose plugs. “Here, open it after putting on the nose plugs.”

I open the container and I can smell it, even through the nose plugs! It smells horrible! I feel like I’m going to hurl. If it weren’t for the nose plugs, I probably would have passed out from the smell. I quickly close the container. Then, I reach to pull out my nose plugs, but Mac stops me. 

“Don’t,” he warns me. “The smell stills lingers for a couple hours. Leave them in until we go to bed.”

It is a couple hours ‘til it was time for me to sleep, so I decided that decision to be wise. We head over the hill and soon, the sun sets. I can see a faint blue glow very far in the distance. 

“That’s the natural glow of the Flower of Cator,” Mac explains after seeing me looking. “When the glow begins to fade, the flower is dying. This species of flowers used to be invasive, but soon, they began to die out. Rangers tried to destroy these flowers with acid and poison but it didn’t work. In the end, they destroyed it with fire. However, the chemicals from the acid and poison caused the flowers to become supernatural. They got a blue glow to it and possessed supernatural healing and rejuvenating powers.”

We set up camp and I remove my nose plugs. I can just barely smell the scent of the liquid in the vial. 

“It’s Aceart Water,” Mac explains to me. “It’s sucked from the Aceart plant.”

I nod in interest. This world turns out to be a lot more interesting than I thought it would have been when I had first died. 

The next morning, Mac tells me his whole story. Mac isn’t dead; he is very different from everyone else in this world. In fact, Mac is in the real world right now, but he’s also in this world. The reason is that Mac got into a really bad accident and he fell into a coma. When he fell into a coma, the doctors tried really hard to wake him from that coma. However, for the past nine years, Mac had never woken from his coma. Mac came very close to death many different times. Because of this, he became a part of this world. However, Mac says that he is kind of in between this world and the world where he is in a coma. 

The reason why Mac has the ability to return my voice and do many other things is because he messed up. Mac wanted to return back to the regular world, all rejuvenated, but he failed to do so. Like me, he attempted to get the Flower of Cator. He did get the flower, but he didn’t get Amberse Water. Mac thought that it was Amberse Water, but it was more of a copycat, a type of liquid that would give supernatural powers. This was called Ravenkint water. He spread the poultice over his head and temple, but only had enough time to use a little bit of it before he was caught. Mac only got small bits of abilities, but he used them to his advantage. Unfortunately, due to this mishap, being caught anywhere close to the Flower of Cator will be big trouble for Mac if anyone finds out. 

After he tells me the story, we begin traveling once again. I can tell that we are close to the flower; I can feel it. It is like a sixth sense to me. After long, hard traveling, we finally reach the botanical garden where the two flowers are being kept. 

“I’ll be waiting for you,” Mac tells me. “Blow this if you need help, and make sure to use that Aceart Water,” and hands me a whistle. It kind of looks like a dog whistle, and I wonder if it works like one too. I decide not to attempt blowing into it unless I got into a lot of trouble. 

Mac slips away and I slowly creep towards the flower. At the last second before I enter the building, I remember to put on my nose plugs. I rummage through my bag for the nose plugs, but I can’t find them! I realize that I must have left them with Mac! Uh oh! I’m in big trouble now. What am I going to do without the nose plugs! Suddenly, I spot some really nasty smelling plant. I form a plan in my head. 

I walk towards the group of guards surrounding the plant with those smelly plants stuffed up my nose. I must look really weird with those plants up my nose because one of the guards stare at me as if I’m mentally ill. Before any of the guards get the chance to ask me something, I open the vial of Aceart Water and one by one, the guards topple over like dominos. 

After they are on the floor, I reach over to pick one of the flowers. There are two, one seeming younger than the other. I pick the older one and quickly flee the place. 

Outside, Mac is waiting for me. “Did you get it?” he whisper-shouts. 

“Yes,” I reply. I am about to take the Amberse Water out of my backpack when suddenly Mac reaches for the flower. My reflexes kick in and I jerk the flower away from the reaching hands of Mac. “What are you doing?” I demand. 

“Madison, you are such a gullible child,” Mac laughs. “Don’t you know that I tricked you? That I wasn’t actually helping you?” All the pieces come together. Of course! Mac had played me. He just tricked me. He needed the flower to heal himself! 

“So all my hard work was for nothing!” I shout at Mac. I am livid. 

“Of course not!” Mac protests. “I need you to do all the manual work and get the flower for me, for I couldn’t get it myself after the last mishap.”

I am furious at Mac for tricking me, and myself for falling for it. I run away, trying to escape from Mac. All my hard work had gotten me this flower and Mac hadn’t done a thing! Unfortunately, Mac was unusually speedy for someone his age. However, I knew that Mac would never be strong enough to climb a tree.

I never climbed a tree, not even when I was a little girl. I hated getting dirt on my hands and also, my hands were really soft and it hurt when I even tried to do the monkey bars. Climbing trees was never my type of thing. Although this crisis was just hitting me, I tried to channel my inner monkey and grabbed a branch and began to climb. When I was close to the top, the branch broke and I almost went tumbling down 15 feet, but a stray branch broke my fall and also knocked the wind out of me. 

I was right about Mac being unable to climb the tree. He lingered at the bottom shouting, “You can’t stay up there forever! You’ll come down eventually for the Amberse Water!” However, he didn’t know that I had the Amberse Water in my backpack. 

I slowly pulled it out of my backpack and yelled back at Mac, “I have the Amberse Water right here!” and waved the vial. That was it. That’s all it took to set off Mac with shouts of anger. 

I took out the flower and I remembered that I had to crush it. However, I didn’t have a rock or anything to crush it with, so I knew that I only had one choice. 

I popped the flower in my mouth and began chewing on it. I pleaded that this flower wasn’t poisonous. The Flower of Cator actually had a fruity taste to it! After the poultice seemed pretty chewed up, I spit it out on my hand and poured in some of the Amberse Water. After mixing it together, I spread all of it over my forehead and temple. I even put some on my scalp. 

After this, I could still hear the faint shouting of Mac as my skin began to glow. I was going back home. 

Part One

My name is Chester. I am a cat of high society. I share a home with a human named Angela Lansbury. My life is simple yet exquisite and luxurious. 

Like most cats, I like sticking to a routine. This is my routine:

1. Wake Angela up
2. Meow until Angela feeds me
3. Eat 
4. Let Angela dress me
5. Dress Angela
6. Groom myself
7. Get in the “kitty carrier”
8. Go to tea with Angela

So naturally, I am stressed to death when I hear a knock at the door at approximately 7:13 A.M. just as I am eating my tuna and caviar salad. Angela (still dressed in her bathrobe) shuffles over to the door and cautiously peers through the eyepiece. Then she attempts to open the door. It takes her a minute to get the latch undone, but when she does, a tall, broad, important-looking man flanked by two police officers step into the foyer.

“Officer Lincoln!” exclaims Angela. “What brings you to my penthouse so early in the morning?”

“Official business.” 

“Official business?” she asks, taking a seat on an antique sofa. “What sort of official business would concern me?”

“Your safety of course, Mrs. Lansbury,” he replies in a most casual tone. “Someone, you see, has been targeting renowned Broadway actors and actresses.”

At this, Angela lets out a small shriek. She opens her mouth to speak, but no sound comes out. A moment passes.

In a small, shaky voice she manages to say, “You mean to say, Officer Lincoln, that I am in danger of being assassinated?”

“Yes, I do,” he replies. “I hope you understand, Mrs. Lansbury, but you are not safe here, so you must go into hiding.”

“Hiding?! But who will take care of my darling Chester?” 

“I’m afraid I don’t know the details, just that a caretaker has been arranged and that you must come with us immediately. Your cat will be dropped off with the sitter shortly after we leave.”

A sitter? They’re leaving me with a sitter?

“Can’t I at least meet the sitter?” Angela begs.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but we’ve got orders to follow!” says one of the officers who is standing around in the background.

Angela, Officer Lincoln, and I shoot him a look. The officer blushes and trains his small, watery eyes on his shoes. 

“Well,” Angela declares, “I must get packing for wherever it is that you are taking me.” 

“I’m afraid we were given strict instructions to leave your apartment untouched. It would look suspicious to anyone who set foot here if you took many of your things with you,” says Officer Linclon.

So, still dressed in a bathrobe, Angela, the two police officers, and Officer Lincoln ‘discreetly’ leave the building. It’s hard to be discreet when you have a celebrity with you. I climb to the top of the ‘cat castle,’ which actually is a fairly large structure that is carpeted in a soft, furry fabric that smells lovely. Ahh… I think. Unfortunately the smell isn’t enough to distract me from the dark cloud on the horizon in the shape of a cat-sitter. Also, there is the fact that Angela is in potential danger. My stomach knots itself. I am not used to being so nervous right after breakfast. I wonder to myself: what will this sitter be like? Would she even feed me?

 Then, all of a sudden, I hear keys in the lock. Could it be? The new sitter? I curl myself into a tight ball and watch, concealed from my castle, as a tall, thin woman wearing all leather steps inside the room. She opens a large, leather cat carrier and from it emerges a particularly malevolent-seeming pair of leather gloves which she pulls on as she scans the room for me. I hope she will have to check all 21 rooms of the penthouse before finding me. She tosses her blonde hair over her shoulder. I shrink back to the corner of the cat castle, hoping she won’t find me. But then the worst thing happens. I step on a squeaky toy. The sitter whips around, her pale blue eyes fixed on mine. 

“There you are, kitty.” She smiles, and I notice for the first time since I had met her that she has a long scar that runs from one corner of her mouth down to the base of her neck. “You and I are going to have a lot of fun together.” She is grinning now.

Then before I know what is happening, she is aiming what I recognize as a tranquilizer gun from watching soap operas with Angela right at me. The room starts to spin. I take one last glance at the sitter, her icy eyes bear right into mine, and then she is gone. And I am alone.

Part Two

I shiver awake and find myself in a freezing cold room. I long to go out and explore or possibly escape the clutches of the evil cat-sitter who tranquilized me who knows how long ago. As I start to get up, however, my face squishes against what seems to be a metal grate. Of course, I am in a cage. I can’t just expect her to let me walk around doing whatever I feel like. My ears perk up at a noise in the background. It is like lots of glass beads clinking together. The door swings open, and I recognize the police officer who had snapped at Angela earlier, followed by the dreaded evil cat-sitter.

“Where do you want the arsenic, Ms. A?” asks the officer.

Arsenic?! They have arsenic? I knew they were evil, but what do they need arsenic for? They’re not planning to kill anyone, are they?

“Right there is fine, Robert,” replies the cat-sitter, aka Ms. A.

“Well, who’s it going to be tonight, Ms. A?” asks Robert. 

“Lansbury.” My eyes bulge. I can’t believe my ears! “A little bird told me… ” Ms. A continues, “that you know exactly where Angela Lansbury is hiding.” 

“On 128th St in Luke’s Donut Shop,” mumbles the officer.

I gulp. I know saving Angela is entirely up to me. So when Robert comes to feed me some crumbly brown balls, I bite him so hard he lets loose a shriek, and I manage to scamper out of the freezing cold room, which turns out to be a huge refrigerator. I turn a corner into a room filled with tables and chairs, which I instantly recognize as a restaurant. I spot the doorway, which very conveniently has a catflap at the bottom which means this had to be the place Angela liked to go to with me when I was a kitten. Also, I am two blocks away from home! I am not quite sure what I will do what I get there. Whew. I need to stop talking so fast. All this sprinting is getting to me. 

As soon as I get home, I jump on the doorman’s desk, pumped full of adrenaline. Henry, the lonely doorman, would do just about anything for me. I pounce onto his keyboard, and after a series of pokes and prods, I manage to type in the address. He is so surprised that he doesn’t even notice that I am not accompanied by a human. 

“You want to go get some donuts, buddy?” he asks me. I nod my head like I’ve seen many other humans do. “Okay!” he says, abandoning his post. He is a good friend but not a very good doorman. He hails a cab, and we clamber aboard. The driver doesn’t even notice I am there. “Luke’s Donut Shop, please,” requests Henry.

The cab smells like incense. It is a long ride. Finally, we arrive. I leap out of the cab and swiftly race into the donut shop. I dash around the cashier counter and into the back room. 

“Chester!” cries Angela. “What are you doing here! Where’s the sitter?”

I let out a pained meow. Officer Lincoln seems to get the message. 

“We need to move!” he barks. “Now!” Angela, an officer that I don’t recognize, and I sprint out of the store, pursued by the lady behind the counter who tears off her apron to reveal a crisp, blue uniform. On the corner, we run into Ms. A and Robert dressed up as business people carrying briefcases. I hiss as an indication that these are the evil ones.

“Hands up!” chime all three of the police officers, brandishing pistols at them.

Ms. A and Robert, who are not expecting to be caught, drop their briefcases and bolt in the other direction. What happens next is so bewildering I myself can’t believe it is happening. Angela takes a tranquilizer from who knows where and shoots them both square in the bottom. They drop to the floor. As the officer cuffs Robert and Ms. A and pries open the briefcases to reveal a syringe loaded with arsenic and two pistols, Angela engulfs me in kisses. It feels good after what I have just been through.

Epilogue

I am perched on top of a soft, furry stool made of the same material of my cat castle back home.

A news reporter squishes her powder-caked face against mine for a photo. When I agreed to have a news feature done about me, I didn’t know that people would be invading my personal space and rubbing their grubby little fingers on my sleek, glossy fur. I am so relieved when it’s time to go home to all my new friends. Officer Lincoln, the other two officers, Henry, and Angela are throwing me a ‘surprise’ party. Henry let it slip, and now I know. Life is good.

Nia’s mom suddenly collapsed on the floor. Nia knew what this meant; her mom was dead. This maybe happened because her mom had a serious disease. Nia rushed to the hospital with her mom immediately and asked her mom’s doctor if her mom was officially dead.

The doctor checked if she was breathing and said, “She is officially dead because of a rare heart attack.”

Nia burst into tears. 

Later that day, her dad gave Nia a Ouija board. Nia didn’t know what was this was, so she asked. 

Her dad responded, “It’s used to summon dead people, like your mom, at three o’clock in the morning.”

Nia knew exactly what to do: summon her mom. It was already nine, and Nia’s dad told her that if she wanted to summon her mom, she needed to wake up at three in the morning. 

Nia was thinking how strange it was that her dad gave her a free gift, but after she thought that, her dad said, “And after you summon your mom, do the chores.”

Nia went straight to sleep and set an alarm for two in the morning. 

Ring ring ring! The sound of the alarm woke up Nia, and she went straight to her computer and searched up how to use a Ouija board. There were lots of suggestions, and they were all the same, so Nia picked a random one. She followed the instructions and prepared the Ouija board, and when she heard another timer, she knew it was time to summon her mom.

She said the old and un-understandable words, and she said, “Mom, come alive.”

Nia saw the lights flickering, and she heard a soft breeze. It started smelling weird, like yogurt with perfume in it. The windows were opening and shutting closed, along with the door. Suddenly, she heard a voice, and she saw a strange shadow come out of the Ouija board. She knew it was her mom. 

Her mom said, “Why did you wake me from my peaceful sleep?” in a low, dark voice. 

It was spooky, but Nia answered, “Because I want you to come back.”

Nia’s mom asked her, “How are you going to do that?”

Nia responded back, saying, “Well, I’ll just keep you a ghost, and you’ll just stay with me forever. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.” 

Her mom said back, ”You’re such a child! Of course you can’t do that, silly.” Nia noticed her mom’s voice was cranky. Maybe that was because she had a hard fall. Her mom suddenly said, “I want to go back to sleep. Bye bye.” 

Nia followed the steps and said bye to her mom. Her mom disappeared, and all the creepy things suddenly stopped. Nia thought that the Ouija board wasn’t as scary as she thought. It was sort of like FaceTime. Nia knew she was going to look at her mom every day, but now she needed to do the chores.

After she was done with the chores, she plopped down on the sofa and took the remote and put on Birdbox. Since Nia was only 12, she felt really brave facing her fears of the Ouija board. When the movie was on, she was thinking about why her dad gave her the gift of the Ouija board. She paused the TV and went to her dad. 

Her dad said, “Shoo away little fly, I’m trying to focus!”

He was playing Fortnite on a video game console. She felt okay because she was used to her dad saying this to her. 

Nia asked her dad why did he gave the Ouija board to her. 

The dad answered by saying, “Well, it’s been in the family for generations, and now I’m passing it on to you. My mom also died, and my mom’s mom also died, and so on and so forth. And this time your mom died, so I’m giving the board to you.” Nia understood and went back to the TV. Nia’s dad said right after that, “Well, I think you missed a spot. A big one.” 

Nia went back to work and when she was finished, she went back to the sofa. But before her eyes, she saw her dad watching his favorite movie on Netflix called Shine. Nia was used to this, but she always thought to herself, What a creepy movie. But she also thought to herself, What a creepy family I have. Nia suddenly heard in the movie that a girl lost her mom and summoned her on the Ouija board. That girl sounded like Nia. She wondered if the story was based on her, but she was sure it wasn’t. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, she thought to herself. She plopped on the sofa again with her dad, but this time she was slouching. She started watching the show with her dad. The dad looked at her with sad and fierce eyes combined. Nia thought that maybe her dad was scared, so she grabbed the remote and paused it.

But Nia’s dad said, “Hey, don’t pause it. I want to keep on watching!” 

Nia asked, “Then why do you have fierce and sad eyes all at once?”

“You know how this story is kind of based on our family?”

”Yeah,” Nia said.

“In the movie the dad dies, so I’m worried that I will die like the dad in the movie scene, since it might be based on our family.” 

“I don’t want you to die,” said Nia. 

The dad said, “It’s fine if I die. At least I won’t need to be with you. If I die, you will need to stay home by yourself and cook and sleep and make the beds, but at least you will have the whole apartment to yourself.”

The next day when the dad was calmly eating breakfast, he dramatically collapsed on the floor, just like Nia’s mom. Nia was still sleeping. When she heard her alarm, she woke up. She had forgotten to call her mom. When Nia woke up and saw her dad, she put her knees on the floor and started crying as loud as she could. Tears were flowing down her cheeks like a waterfall. Nia decided that if her whole family was dead, then why couldn’t she be dead? Nia planned to kill herself with the sharpest knife she could find in the kitchen, but right before she was going to go on the Ouija board and summon the ghosts of her parents. She got her computer and the Ouija board, but it was not three o’clock yet, so she went to her bed and started dreaming about how Shine was correct about how her dad died. She woke up at exactly three and started saying the words on the Ouija board. Then the creepy things happened again, like the windows opened and shut, and it smelled weird, and this time she heard lightning outside. Two shadows now appeared, coming out of the board, and this time it was her mom and her dad.

She heard voices saying, “Hello.” 

She saw her parents on the board and said, “Hello,” back. 

The mom said, “I miss you so much.” 

Nia said, “I’m seeing you every day.”

The mom said back, “Well, it’s not like I can actually see you in real life. Now, I just remembered that today, your grandparents are going to move to Hawaii so they can see you. The Philippines is having some trouble with politics and your grandparents lived in the Philippines. Maybe you can go live with Grandpa and Grandma.”

Nia said to her mom, “That’s a much better idea than killing myself.”

The mom said, “You were gonna kill yourself?” Her eyes and mouth were wide open. 

Nia said back, “Yes I was going to plan to kill myself, but now since you gave me the idea to go live with Grandma and Grandpa, I can finally have a happy ending! When are they coming?”

Mom said, “Today!” 

“What time?” Nia said. 

“Right now!”

Nia said, for the last time, “Do you think that they’re here right now? What house are they gonna move to?”

The mom said, “They’re going to move to the open apartment on our apartment floor.”

“Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad,” said Nia. 

The dad ignored her, but the mom said, “Bye.”

Nia followed the steps to pause the Ouija board, and then she took the keys and unlocked the door. She ran to the apartment on her floor. She saw her grandma and grandpa waiting for her, and they looked surprisingly young.

They said that they were only 44 years old and Nia said, “Hey, that’s just as old as my parents, and they’re dead already!” 

They looked at Nia, surprised and shocked, and they said at the same time, “What? They’re dead? We’re their parents!”

“Yep. They’re dead.”

Then the grandparents pulled out a surprise for Nia. Nia had forgotten that it was her birthday. Their present was an iPhone X Super and a picture with Nia’s grandparents that had more than a billion dollars. 

Nia lived happily ever after with her grandparents. 

The End

One day in the middle of summer, Mummy Dragon was sitting on the top of the mountain in her dark and narrow cave, sitting on her eggs. Then she was hungry, so she flew off to the top of the woods to find food. As she flew off, her feet pushed one of the eggs down the mountain. The mummy dragon didn’t notice that one of her spotty eggs slipped out of the cave. 

Meanwhile, Lucy was in the house of her stepmother because her real mother got stuck in a car crash. Her stepmother had just kicked her out of the house. She went to the mountain to think about her lovely mom by the bushy bushes. Suddenly, the egg rolled out of the bush. Lucy was shocked. Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. She ran back home with the egg in her arms. When she got there, her stepmother shouted at Lucy and said, “Get that smelly egg out of the house!”

Lucy then walked up a hill and found a palace. The palace had big cones at the top and had soldiers guarding the gate with big, fluffy hats. I think this is because the queen wanted to be mean by making them hot. It was so hot that the soldiers felt like it was cold, so they didn’t really mind.

So, back to the story. Lucy went into the palace and met a queen that was very wicked. She would always trick people with her nasty tricks. Lucy told the queen that she found this egg near the mountain of dragons.

The queen made a wicked smile and said, “Come here, my dear, and I’ll show you a cozy bed for your eggs to stay in.” Lucy followed her into a dark room. She said, “Bye, have fun!”

But as she closed the door, Lucy fell into something’s mouth. What could it be…?

It was a dragon! It was actually the egg’s mom that the queen’s servants had caught before. Lucy kicked and shouted, but the dragon wouldn’t let her out. Then, Lucy had an idea! She could rub the dragon’s tummy and make her sneeze, and then she shot out of the dragon’s mouth. That’s when the dragon noticed that the egg Lucy was holding was one of her babies because the egg just hatched. The mummy dragon got mad at Lucy and thought Lucy was trying to steal her babies, but the egg didn’t call her Mummy. She called Lucy Mummy, so she knew that Lucy had taken care of her babies and thanked her. So, she decided to fly Lucy back home. 

When they got there, Mummy Dragon noticed that Lucy’s face fell, so she asked Lucy, “Why are you looking so sad?

Lucy sadly told Mummy Dragon the story of her stepmother. 

Mummy Dragon decided to secretly burn the stepmother. So, they made a plan to burn the wicked stepmother. So, when the stepmother went out to call Lucy to do her chores, Mummy Dragon blew fire at the stepmother, and the stepmother turned black. 

So right now, Lucy lives with the mummy dragon, and the mummy dragon teaches her how to be a dragon. So she turns into a human dragon.

The End

Once upon a time, there was a girl dog named Molly, and she could run super fast. Molly was very energetic. All Molly wanted was to go to explore the galaxy.

Molly’s mom was a cat, and her dad was a dinosaur. She also had a little brother named Austin, who was also a dog. In two days Molly was going to turn 13 years old. So, her family started to plan a trip to explore the galaxy, just like Molly wanted. The dad was trying to get some rocket fuel for their rocket so they could have enough energy for the rocket to see everything in outer space.

On the day of Molly’s birthday, her parents told her about the trip they were going to have for her birthday. When everything was ready, the mom started the engine for the rocket and they blasted off into space. They saw all the stars twinkle in the sky.

But, there was a hole in their rocket, and fuel started to fall, well, float away. Molly was trying to think about how she could block the hole. She saw that her brother was chewing on mega-stretchy gum. She got a stick of gum, and she started to stretch it out. When the candy was big enough, she was able to block the hole, and no more fuel was coming out. 

Molly’s mom started the engine of the rocket again, and they were off. Molly saw so many different planets she had never seen. She saw Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune so far. Austin, the brother, took some photos on his camera. The dad was feeling a bit hot, so he opened a big window.

There was a big turn up ahead, however. When the mom turned the wheel, Molly fell out the window. Luckily, she had her space helmet on. She was floating away from the rocket. The family was freaking out. They went to go stop at a gas station, and they saw her getting farther and farther. Near the gas station was a shop. So, the dad bought some rope to swing the rope like a lasso.

Meanwhile, Molly saw herself getting away from her family. She started to relax, and she saw more planets, like Jupiter, Mars, and Earth. Earth was Molly’s favorite planet. She saw her family going to the shops, and they bought rope. Molly was very confused. Then she realized that her family was trying to save her. So, Molly tried to float closer to her family. 

The dad swung the rope, and Molly caught it, and they went back to their rocket. They saw the last and final planets. They saw Venus and Mercury. Then Molly saw… the sun!

Molly had the best birthday ever, and she would never forget this day.

It was a bright and sunny day outside on the planet Pluto, and Molly was in her house and had her favorite yellow hat on (she couldn’t put on a shirt or pants because she was a dog). She was also taking out the photos from her birthday, which was yesterday. Molly was thinking that she could go back to space. However, from what happened on her birthday, Molly’s parents wouldn’t want to go back out there. Her mom and dad did not want her to go and lose her again. But, Molly remembered she had a telescope, so now she could always see the stars and planets in space. 

Deep in the Amazon rainforest, my team and I, an elite group of ninjas, sat in our protective tent and did a final run-through of our plan. 

“Okay, first step?” asked August. August was a trained dancer who used to work in the circus. Just like all of us girls, she’s a GEM (Genetically Engineered Mutant). August’s DNA was mixed with a feather, so she had the ability to become weightless at will. August was thirteen years old.

“Sneak up to Dr. Penski’s secret lab,” replied May. Dr. Penski was the mad scientist who created us. He mutated animal life as a hobby, and we are all sworn to stop his evil plots. May’s DNA was mixed with coral. She could communicate with sea animals.

“Next step?” questioned June. June’s DNA was created with glass. She could turn invisible whenever she wanted.

“Take out the guards and sneak in,” said December. December’s DNA was mixed in with clouds. She could control the weather with her feelings. December was 16. 

“Final step?” quizzed January. January’s DNA had a piece of a dead person’s brain in it (yes, I know, sounds kind of creepy, but if you see it, it’s really cool). She could summon and control the undead. January was 17.

“Crush Dr. Penski!” I exclaimed, pounding my fist into my hand. I was 18. My name is April. My DNA is mutated with a bit of all animals. Don’t ask me how, but Dr. Penski is more powerful than you think. I was supposed to be his ultimate weapon, able to morph into any animal. But for an IQ of 300, he’s pretty clueless in keeping ‘henchmen’ in his favor. Because if you ask me, if you want people to stay with you, don’t leave them in tiny, cramped cages with barely enough food or water. And now look at us, escaped mutated beings out to kill him. Nice move, Dr. Penski! Anyways, lesson of the day, kids: Don’t imprison genetically engineered beings and expect them to work for you.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” yelled December, jumping up to her feet as a burst of brilliant sunlight illuminated her face. 

“Um, it’s that way,” said January, a rotting hand reaching out of the ground and pointing.

We swiftly jumped into the trees and ran quickly towards the secret lab, pulling up our masks and carefully sticking to the shadows.

Finally, we reached the secret lab. The entrance was hidden behind a curtain of moss, and the lab was disguised as an enormous stone. The lab was surrounded by guards.

Step one, complete, I thought. Now for step two.

“Now!” yelled May. 

“So much for a covert mission,” I said to myself.

Then all hell broke loose. Literally. Because January yelled and zombies rose from the ground and started attacking the guards and dragging them underground. 

August started floating around and kicking guards’ heads. She whirled around, kicking up, down, left, right, and around. Unconscious guards littered the ground.

June turned invisible and started pranking the guards, pulling down pants, yanking ears and noses, giving wedgies, and generally having a great time. She was just seven, after all.

December summoned a tornado that swept up the guards. She also made lightning strike the guards and fried them till they were crispy — the way I like my toast.

May just kicked and punched since she couldn’t really summon sea animals on land, but I wouldn’t be worried because man that six-year-old can hit.

I morphed into different animals and slashed, scratched, bit, and tackled until I felt like collapsing.

Finally, all the guards were either unconscious, dizzy, fried, pranked, or sucked to hell never to be seen again. Your average day in the life of a genetically engineered mutant. Pretty simple stuff.

“Okay, guys, be careful when you go in. We haven’t taken out all of the guards yet,” reminded June, turning visible and looking slightly out of breath from all of her vicious pranking. She turned invisible again, and we heard her say, “Let’s move!” 

Step three initiate! I thought excitedly as we crept stealthily inside. 

I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the dark, gloomy atmosphere of Dr. Penski’s laboratory.

“Brings back bad memories, doesn’t it?” June said, shuddering as she turned visible.

I shivered as I remembered being trapped in a tiny cage, unable to shapeshift or move.

“Let’s get this over with quickly,” said May, whimpering and grabbing hold of my hand. 

“Yeah,” I agreed, squeezing her hand gently.

We moved through the dark hallway, silent as a group of ninjas. Which I guess we were. 

We reached the end of the hall and peeked past the wall. We saw the hunched back of Dr. Penski, who was leaning over another one of his poor test subjects. He was chuckling evilly.

“A drop of spider DNA, a scorpion’s tail, ten strands of monkey fur… Complete!” he cackled. “Behold my latest creation: the spider-monkey!” A hulking monkey rose from the mist. But this wasn’t just some ordinary monkey. The monkey had eight long, hairy legs and a scorpion’s tail. The guards cheered and clapped. Dr. Penski stood proudly and admired his creation. “Beautiful!” he bragged. He clapped his hands, and the guards dragged the creature into a cage alongside the many other cages filled with mutant beasts, then exited the room.

The beasts were truly, well, gross. They snarled and clawed at the bars of the cages. Honestly, they had a speck of my sympathy. Technically, they were like us: genetically engineered mutants trapped in cages.

Come to Dr. Penski’s Mutant Emporium! (At your own risk)

• A whale/shark
• A donkey/monkey/snake
• A snake/scorpion/spider
• A zebra/lion/tiger/leopard
• A wolf/lion/cheetah
• And much more!

Entry fee: Your life

“He’s been at work since three years ago,” June muttered, flickering in anxiety. 

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get him,” said May.

  But something was wrong. My senses tingled as I scanned the room. The target was easy. Too easy.

A second too late I realized, “Wait, why did the guards leave?”

But it was too late. May, June, January, December, and August were already rushing into battle. 

Dr. Penski turned around and smirked. “E for effort, girls! Nice try. But you can’t scream ‘now’, annihilate my guards, and not expect me to notice! Guards, get em’!”

Guards rushed into the room, swarming around them. I knew we should have gone with covert, I thought, charging into battle.

The guards outnumbered us 20 to one. And no matter how amazing our powers were, we couldn’t defeat them. Eventually, they tied us up with rope and dragged us before Dr. Penski.

“Nice to see you again, daughters!” he cackled.

“Call us that one more time, and I swear, I will rip you apart piece by piece, you [this part was taken out by the editor]!” said January.

“I’d like to see you try!” Dr. Penski sneered. He clapped his hands, and the guards dragged us together. “I have a proposition for you. Work for me, and I’ll set you free!”

“No way!” we all declared simultaneously.

He started pacing around and muttering under his breath. Then he brightened.

“What if I told you that I would feed you to my mutants?”

We glanced at each other. “Still no,” we said.

He sagged.

“It’ll be painful… ”

“Nope.”

“Please?”

“Nuh-uh.”

He slumped. “Fine!” he declared. “The beasts it is.”

The guards pulled us towards the cages. I tried to shapeshift, but I couldn’t. The ground shook with the undead trying to surface. Thunder rumbled outside. June… hold on, where was June?

“Where’s June?” I whispered to January. 

“Uh… hold on, where is June?” she whisper-shouted.

“That’s what I asked you,” I pointed out.

“Do you think… ?” she trailed off.

“Just maybe… ?” We grinned at each other.

“Prepare to meet your doom!” screamed Dr. Penski. His robots started dancing. 

“D-O-O-M!” his robots chanted, standing on each others’ shoulders and waving pink sparkly pom poms in the air. “Your doom!”

“O-kay?” said August. “I’m not pretending that wasn’t terrible coordination and flips back there. They were. Now, I really thought you could have added a backflip at the end followed by a front handspring. The choreography was not too shabby, but you had too much transition time. Now, remember if your velocity downwards reaches over six miles per hour, you need to go down head first and tuck into a shoulder-roll 4.009 seconds before you make contact with the ground, and — ”

“Enough!” thundered Dr. Penski. “No one messes with my beautiful choreography and gets away with it! I will release my — !” He reached down to press the button to open the cage doors. 

“Not so fast!” An invisible hand reached over and plucked the remote control out of his hands and threw it to the side.

June turned visible, and we all cheered. She planted her hands on her hips and smiled triumphantly. She began working on our ropes, using a shard of glass. Finally, I was free! I shook myself out of the ropes, morphed into a jaguar, and used my sharp claws to free the rest of our GEMs. But just as I turned to smile at June, a shadow lurked behind May, grabbed her, and pressed a dagger to her neck. 

“May!” we all screamed.

“Stop attacking, and move silently into that cage, no funny business — or the girl dies!” snarled Dr. Penski.

“How could you?! She’s only six years old!” I screamed at Penski.

“The more reason to threaten you!”

“Leave her alone!” yelled January. 

“Ten, nine, eight!” He pressed harder, and May gave a stifled scream. 

Maybe… I thought.

The other GEMs moved into the cage, but I stood my ground, hatching a plan. 

“Seven, six, five!” he glared at me.

“April, please! What are you thinking?!” shrieked December.

Rain splattered the ground outside.

I didn’t move or respond, pursing my lips and steeling my nerves. If we wanted to be free, I had to take this chance. 

“April! Don’t be selfish!” yelled June.

“Four, three, two — ”

I kicked into action. I morphed into a cheetah and charged into Penski at lightning speed. Everything slowed down.

“No!” he shrieked. 

“Yes!” cheered May.

I rammed into Dr. Penski at full speed.

“Oof!” he grunted.

I let the GEMs out of their cages. June hugged May so fiercely that May’s face turned blue. 

“You had us worried sick!” she scolded. 

But in all the excitement, Dr. Penski reached the remote control! He grabbed it. “Mwa ha ha ha,” he cackled. “Prepare for the end of your worthless little lives — my worst monster! Meet Cerberus!” He slammed his hand on a button, releasing a cage door. An enormous three-headed dog leaped out. 

The beast had a scorpion’s tail, three sets of dripping poison jaws, and monstrous wings. The GEMs and I gaped in horror. 

“Attack!” yelled Penski. The monster lunged for us.

“Dodge under!” commanded January.

We slid under the giant dog and joined together behind him. 

“Okay, guys, you know the drill,” January sighed.

We assumed a fighting stance and gathered all our power. Zombies rose from the ground. Electricity crackled in the air. I morphed into a dragon. June turned invisible. August became weightless. The sea animals sloshed around in their tanks.

Cerberus turned around and roared. August and June jumped and climbed on top of the dog as a distraction. They pulled at his dark, grisly fur and screamed in his ears. The confused beast lumbered around and looked for the annoyance, leaving the coast clear for the rest of us. January’s zombies clambered on top of him. The sea animals churned up water and engulfed him. Lightning struck the water and electrocuted him. We had him pinned down… or so we thought.

Suddenly, Penski’s creation rose up and shook off the attacks. 

“Ha ha ha! Well done, my baby!” yelled Penski.

Cerberus struck down my sisters and hooked them up with his claws, choking them. My blood boiled. No one harms my siblings and gets away with it! I roared with fury as I spread my scaly wings. Rushing towards the monster, I struck him with my foot. He stumbled back and slashed me painfully on the face. I slapped him with my tail and pinned him to the ground. I raised my claws for the kill. But just as I brought my hand down, I hesitated. 

This beast is like us, I thought. Maybe it doesn’t deserve to die. Maybe it’s like another GEM, a mutant designed to kill. Maybe if I just let it go… Hold on, April, what are you thinking?! It hurt my sisters! But also… 

“April… I can’t breathe… ” choked May. 

“What are you waiting for?” gasped August.

That set me off. Once again, I brought my claw down, this time harder. I shuddered and closed my eyes when I heard the beast’s pitiful whimper as it took its final breath and went limp under me. I turned back to a human and closed my eyes in sorrow. A single tear slid down my cheek as I sank to my knees. I let out a sob and squeezed my eyes shut.

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“You did the right thing,” January said. “I know it’s hard, but you did.”

“I know how it feels,” August said. “Remember the Chicago Mission?” I nodded, remembering Penski’s snake/bird.

May walked up to me, her big brown eyes shining with tears. “Thank you, April,” she whispered.

“Wow, that was beautiful! But I’m going to destroy you!” declared Penski half-heartedly.

“Face it, Penski! It’s over for you!” December said, planting her hands on her hips.

“Fine, but if it is, it’s over for you too! Guards, initiate self-destruct!” 

The GEMs and I stared at each other in shock.

“He wouldn’t do that, would he?” January asked.

“I think he just did,” I replied.

“Let’s go!” yelled June.

We rushed towards the exit.

“Blocked!” screamed December.

A hole in the roof blew up, and I had an idea. I morphed into a dragon.

“Get on my back!” I yelled over the sound of crumbling debris. They obeyed, and I soared into the starry night sky, seconds before the lab blew up. 

Then everything was quiet. A light breeze ruffled the GEMs’ hair as we soared above the clouds. We shared an understanding moment of silence. 

“Wow,” January murmured.

“Yeah,” June agreed.

And that summed it all up. Our dad commited suicide, I killed a sibling, May almost died. But it was all okay. Because being there, flying with my sisters on a beautiful night, I knew that I didn’t need anything else in the world as long as I had them. And I did. I had my GEMs. My beautiful gems.

Hi, I’m Lilah! I’m an ant. I hope you know a lot about ants, otherwise this story is going to make no sense. In my humble opinion, it’s pretty cool. FYI, ants are mostly girls. The males kind of just sit around the anthill until they go on a mating flight. Then they die. Anyway, the queen of this hill is all our moms. She gave birth to us. My job as a worker ant is to find food. But I’d rather watch the humans. They are really interesting. And I can actually understand their language.

We live right next to the house of Tony Relez. He recently divorced Elena W. His daughter is named Lucy. Now I’m hearing something really interesting.

“But Daddy, I want an ant farm!”

Wait — what?

“Yes, Lucy, but where would we get the ants?”

Oh, good. They can’t have one now. They won’t find us.

“There’s an anthill out back!”

Oh no. She knows! This is bad news. I need to tell mom! What? The queen is my mom.

I run in and to the queen’s private chamber.

“Mom! The people outside are going to capture us and put us in an ant farm!”

“Really?” Mom says skeptically. “I don’t remember that the humans know we exist.”

“Yes, it’s true! I heard them! Come see for yourself!”

“Very well,” Mom says.

We crawl out, and I show her.

Tony was just saying, “Okay, I’ll order the ant farm today.”

“See?” I say, annoyed.

“Oh no!!!” Mom says, ignoring me.

“We have to run away!” I sigh.

She never notices me.

Mom starts yelling to everybody. “We need to start packing up! Everybody, gather your things! Food! Don’t forget food! Carry as much food as you can!”

See? She never notices me. The bad part of this is, our anthill is so big. It can sometimes take days to notify everyone. I hope the ant farm takes a long time to deliver. 

It doesn’t. After three days, a package arrives. I can read human language. It’s the ant farm. The problem is, we are still packing up. Oh! Good news! We’re almost done. Uh-oh. The people are coming over with the ant farm. I get a lurching feeling in my stomach. They’re putting sand in. Tony has a funnel in his hand, Lucy a shovel. They take sand from the sandbox and fill up the ant farm. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. This is my fate, and I’m just sitting and watching it? I guess I just love to watch humans. That will never go away.

Mom yells, “Okay, we’re ready!”

“Wait no!” I yell.

Tony has finished filling up the ant farm. They’re ready to look for ants now.

Lucy yells, “Look!”

The whole population of the anthill is streaming out. Blast it! Blast, blast, blast it. Talk about bad timing! They’re definitely going to capture us now. Tony grabs an index card and holds it on the ground. The other ants are walking up to the card and checking it out.

“No!” I yell, but it’s too late.

In one quick movement, Tony picks up the card, opens the ant farm, and taps in the card. I feel like I’m next, and I’m right.

Tony puts the card in front of me, his hands blocking the sides. I have no escape. Sighing, I step onto the card. He puts the card on the hole to the ant farm. I’m doomed! I’m slipping… I can’t hold on much longer. Finally I give up and let go of the card. I fall in. 

“Ow!!!” It hurts. A lot. Instead of moist soil like I’m used to, I land on hard-packed sand. I see lots of ants here, too. Ella, Mya, Lou, and others. But not Mom. That’s good, I guess, but without her we can’t reproduce. We’ll all die here eventually.

Old woman Lina speaks first. “The humans have sealed our fates. We will… ” Her voice drifts off.

“Can I just be the one to say it?” I ask. I don’t wait for an answer. “We’re going to die here.” They all stare at me with did-you-really-have-to-say-that-we’re-already-in-a-bad-situation looks on their faces. I’m like, “Jeez, someone had to say it.” Now they have seriously-you’re-so-dark looks on their faces. I tune out then. These people are too much. I’m watching the humans now. 

Tony says, “I think that’s enough ants. Let’s go back inside and water the ants.”

I take this as a big insult. We’re animals, not plants! We don’t need to be watered! But soon I see what he meant. He takes a dropper and squeezes water into the sand. Now the sand is nice and moist. I lick some of the drops of water. It tastes delicious. I’ve been thirsty for a few days. There’s only so much water on the front porch, where our anthill used to be. I don’t know. I could get used to this. 

One month later… 

Living in an ant farm is actually not bad. We get water every day and food every week. And not bad food, either. Yummy stuff like pizza cheese that’s still melty and honey nut granola. The water is always nice. There’s only been one crisis. 

Okay so — about a week into when we got into the ant farm Lucy said, “Daddy, they’re not tunnelling… I don’t like them!”

“Okay,” said Tony, “We can get new ants.”

I gasped — what were they going to do? My question was answered soon enough.

Tony said, “Let’s dump these out where we got them.”

“Okay!” said Lucy.

Luckily I heard them.

“Guys, start tunnelling!” I yelled.

“Why?” asked Mya.

“Because, trust me, the humans are going to dump us out if you don’t.”

“Okay whatever,” they said.

“It’ll be something to do. We’re getting kind of bored.”

We started tunnelling as fast as we could. Actually, I was the only one really tunnelling because I was the only one that really cared. Fortunately our hard work paid off.

Lucy said, “Daddy, look! They’re tunnelling.”

Tony said, “Okay then, sweetheart, we don’t have to dump them out.”

Well, that was pretty much it for the crisis.

 Anyway, everything continued normally, pretty much. That is, until that one fateful day.

That day Lucy came downstairs from her bedroom crying. I wondered what had happened. Maybe Tony was getting remarried? But those weren’t happy tears.

“But Daddy, I want to keep them!”

Uh-oh. Is she talking about us?

“Honey, we’re moving.”

Wait — what?

“Your ants couldn’t possibly survive the drive.”

Wait — what? They’re moving and leaving us behind? This is horrible. 

“Like I said, we can leave them on a stoop sale and some other kid could take them.”

“But Daddy, I don’t want to move,” said Lucy.

“Yes, but we have to go today,” said Tony. “The rent is going up.” I’m devastated. Are they just going to leave us behind? This is horrible. “And we have to go today. I already ordered a moving truck.” Even worse! 

Even worse! I can’t leave her. It’s embarrassing to say, but I’ve really gotten attached to Lucy. And she’s gotten attached to us. I need to think. I really like Lucy. I can’t go with another kid. They might not give me pizza and granola. I’ve made up my mind. I’m going with them. But by now they’re getting in the truck. There’s nothing I can do… is there?

“Guys!” I say. “We have to go with them! We have to get out of here!”

“Why?” they ask.

“Because!” I sigh.

They will never understand me. I climb up and to the top of the ant farm, leaving them behind. In all the rush, Tony left the hatch open. I scamper out. By now the truck is pulling away. I can still make it! I run as fast as I can. It pays off. I grab onto a wheel and run up to the top. I jump up. I’m now on the big part of the truck. I run over to the window. It takes a long time. But thankfully Tony left it open. I climb in, unnoticed. I’m with Lucy, finally. 

The End

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Helen. She was married to a prince named Connor. They had lived a happy life together, but they wished for something more. A child. They had a child but couldn’t agree on a name. Princess Helen wanted to name her Ella. Prince Connor wanted to name her Rose. But the prince gave in, and so they named her Ella, but then decided her middle name would be Rose. Though, the prince and princess drifted apart over the years. Connor thought the princess was too selfish, his reasoning always being that they had chosen Ella as their daughter’s name instead of Rose. Princess Helen always said that Connor gave in in the end, and he agreed so it was fair. And, she said they had given her the middle name he wanted.

By the time Ella was two, Princess Helen and Prince Connor couldn’t stand each other. They would do everything separately. They also would fight over who would get to take Ella somewhere. For example, if Princess Helen went shopping, she would want to take Ella with her, but then Prince Connor would want to take Ella to an amusement park. Of course, he did this so that Ella would want to be with him instead of her mother. Ella would’ve wanted to go to the amusement park with her dad, because that would be fun, but she wouldn’t want to disappoint her mom. Even though she was little, she was very smart. Ella understood why her parents were fighting, but she didn’t understand why they got together in the first place. Why would they decide to marry each other in the first place, she thought, if they’re constantly fighting? She didn’t really remember anything from when she was little, so she didn’t remember how her parents acted before they started fighting. 

It was the day before Ella’s fourth birthday, and she was super excited. She was playing with her dolls in her room when she heard her parents fighting. She peeked into the living room where her mom was yelling at her dad.

“You can’t just walk out before Ella’s fourth birthday!” Princess Helen looked furious. 

“It’ll be better for Ella if I leave! How do you think Ella feels about us fighting all the time?”

Princess Helen paused. Ella held her breath. Prince Connor picked up a suitcase from the floor and walked to the door. He opened it. Ella ran out of her room and went to where her father was standing.

“Y-you can’t leave!” she cried.

Her father looked back at her with his watery blue eyes. He didn’t say anything at first. 

He gave her a hug and said, ”I love you. I will never forget you.”

And with that, he walked out and shut the door behind them. Ella stared at the door for a moment, tears in her eyes. Then she ran past her mother and into her bedroom. She flopped onto her bed and pushed her face into the pillow. She started to cry. Why did he have to leave? she thought. At least he understood what it was like for me to be in this situation, but there were other ways to solve the problem!

Princess Helen came into Ella’s room and sat on her bed.

Her face pale, she said, almost in a whisper, “I’m sorry.”

She couldn’t think of any words to comfort Ella, so she just sat on her bed for a while, until it was time for dinner. It was a very grim night that night. Neither Ella nor her mother said much. Princess Helen asked Ella if she wanted to sleep with her that night, but Ella refused. She didn’t want to think about what happened. She hugged her bear stuffed animal and tried to fall asleep. Why did he have to walk out like that? she thought as a tear rolled down her cheek. Why? After a while, Ella fell asleep, and the darkness of night fell upon the town.

December 28, 2006

It was Ella’s first day of sixth grade. Ella sat at her desk in class. She was taking a math test. Even though Ella had just started going to this school, at her elementary school, a few people recognized her and would follow her around and try to be her friend. But of course, none of her “admirers” understood what she was going through. It was also hard for her to make real friends because people might just want her for her fame. She had had a “friend” the year before at the beginning of fifth grade named Ashley who had seemed nice enough, but then one day, Ella saw Ashley on her phone. Here, let’s rewind. It was the end of the day, and Ella and Ashley were walking home together. 

“What are you doing?” asked Ella. 

“Just posting pictures on my story,” said Ashley. 

“Your story?” Ella asked. 

“On Instagram,” Ashley explained. 

Ashley showed Ella her phone. She was posting a picture of her and Ella.

“Don’t post those on your story!” Ella said.

“Why not?” said Ashley.

She paused and thought for a moment. 

“Actually, good point. They only stay for 24 hours. I’ll just post it regularly.”

Ashley tapped something on her phone. Then Ella realized something.

“Why do you need to post those on your story?” asked Ella.

“Uhhhh… ” said Ashley. “‘Cause we’re friends?”

“Let me see your phone!” Ella demanded.

They stopped walking. Ella scrolled through Ashley’s Instagram posts. Almost all of them were of her and Ella. Ella quickly scrolled down to the bottom where the first picture Ashley had posted was. Ashley looked worried. The first picture Ashley had posted was a selfie of her and Ella. It was also the day she had started the account. Ella knew this because Ella had asked Ashley what she was doing on her phone and Ashley had said she was setting up an Instagram account. And Ella also remembered that that picture was taken on the first day of fifth grade, which was when Ashley started the account. When Ashley had asked to take a picture with Ella, Ella had just thought, Eh, whatever, it can’t hurt. I’ll let her take a picture with me. But after seeing Ashley’s Instagram posts, Ella knew that Ashley had only been using her for her fame and popularity. Ella handed back Ashley’s phone and walked over to her limo driver’s car. Because of people like Ashley, Ella moved to a new school to get a fresh start. There she met Hannah. Hannah became Ella’s real and true friend. She was always there for Ella when she needed her. Coincidently, they got into the same middle school. But anyway, back to the math test. Ella looked at her paper. X=15-10. Solve for X. Ugh, what’s the point of these tests? Ella thought. She answered the question, then moved on to the next.

When Ella and the class was done with the test, everyone filed out of the classroom. They had a free period. 

As Ella walked out, a girl named Jessica from her class caught up to her and said, hurriedly, “Are you Ella Rose Welton?” 

“Umm, yes?” answered Ella awkwardly.

Jessica gasped and ran over to her friends, Elizabeth and Bridget. “It’s true!” she said excitedly.

Elizabeth and Bridget squealed. 

“Eeeeeeeee!!!” they screeched.

What the heck is wrong with them? thought Ella. They sound like dying pigs!

Jessica, Elizabeth, and Bridget talked together for a few seconds and then came over. 

Elizabeth asked, “Want to be friends with us?”

“Oops, I’m late for class, gotta go,” said Ella, pretending to check her watch.

She quickly walked away. 

“But it’s free period!” said Bridget, but it was too late.

Ella was gone.

When Ella was walking with Hannah to have lunch later that day, Jessica, Elizabeth, and Bridget walked over.

“Hey, want to have lunch with us?” asked Bridget, looking hopeful. 

“Sorry, I’m having lunch with Hannah,” said Ella, trying to be polite. 

“Ugh, whatever,” said Jessica. “Let’s go, girls.”

They walked away.

“What is up with them?” said Hannah.

“They asked me if I wanted to be their friend after the math test was over,” said Ella. “I said I had to go to class.”

“Ha,” said Hannah.

Ella and Hannah could tell that Jessica, Elizabeth, and Bridget were not the types of girls they would want to be friends with. They started to walk towards Pizza Hut together.

Then, another girl from Ella’s class (Emily) walked up to Ella and Hannah and said, “Can I eat lunch with you guys?”

She seemed nice enough, so Ella said, “Sure! We’re going to Pizza Hut!”

Hannah smiled. Ella and Hannah looked at each other and nodded.

Ella, Hannah, and Emily walked into pizza hut together. They had lunch together and had a really good time. As they walked back to school, Emily skipped ahead. 

“Want to come over for dinner?” asked Hannah. 

“Sure!” said Ella excitedly.

One and a half hours later… 

It was the end of school, and Ella and Hannah were walking home together.

“Hey, want to stop at the pastry shop?” asked Hannah. 

“Sure!”

They walked to the pastry shop and got their pastries.

“Oh my gosh, these are so good!!” said Ella, eating her pastry. 

“I know, right?” said Hannah.

They stayed in the pastry shop for a while and then headed to Hannah’s house.

“Will your mom be mad that we’re a bit late?” asked Ella.

“Nah, I texted her, it’s fine.”

Ella and Hannah turned the corner and walked up the steps to Hannah’s house. Hannah walked in first, then held the door open for Ella. 

“What are we having for dinner?” asked Ella.

“Probably spaghetti and meatballs again,” said Hannah, chuckling.

 “If we keep having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, I’m going to stop coming over,” Ella joked as she walked in.

Hannah rolled her eyes, smiling. 

“I’ll have to — ” Ella stopped mid-sentence. 

“What is it?” asked Hannah.

Ella ran out of the house as fast as she could and went down the road.

 “Ella!!” yelled Hannah. “What the heck?!”

Hannah slammed the door behind her and ran to where Ella was crouching at the end of the street. She sat down next to her. 

“What happened, Ella?”

 “M-my dad,” said Ella quietly.

 “What about your dad?” said Hannah. 

“He was there,” said Ella even more quietly than she had before. 

“I’m so sorry,” said Hannah. 

“What?” said Ella, looking up at Hannah. 

“Well, I… I kind of… knew before… ” Hannah trailed off.

Ella stood up, anger in her eyes. 

“You knew?!”

 “I… I couldn’t tell you!” said Hannah, backing away slowly. “It’s just… he’s my mom and dad’s friend, and… ”

Dark clouds came into the sky. It became dark out. It started to rain. Hannah could see tears in her friend’s eyes. Hannah had never seen Ella cry before. Hannah met Ella after her father had left, and after her father left, Ella didn’t believe that there was anything else worth crying for. Ella started to cry, and she crouched down on the ground again. Hannah crouched down too.

“Ella, let’s sit on my stoop, and I’ll tell you what happened,” said Hannah gently. They walked over and sat on the front steps of Hannah’s house. Hannah started to explain. “Okay, so my parents have a lot of money, right? They’re pretty wealthy. So, my mom and dad were invited to this cocktail party. My mom’s friend hosted it and invited her and my dad to it. At the party, my mom and dad met your dad, Prince Connor. They quickly became friends. And this was when you and me were already friends. 

“Go on,” said Ella. 

“The night my parents came home from the party, they didn’t say anything to me about meeting your dad there. But, when I was in bed, I heard them talking in their room, and I heard my mom say ‘Connor.’ I ignored it and went to bed thinking that it couldn’t possibly be your dad. But the next day my mom told me how she and my dad met your dad at the cocktail party. Now I understood why she had said ‘Connor’ the night before. I guess my parents were talking about how they met your dad.”

“Oh,” said Ella. She wiped her tears. “How come you didn’t tell me?” 

“Well,” said Hannah. “It’s complicated.”

“Tell me about it,” said Ella.

“Okay,” said Hannah. “For one thing, I didn’t really see why you had to know. But, also, one day, your dad came over for dinner like he did tonight, and my mom told him I was friends with you. I guess she hadn’t told him before, because he had no idea. Just like you had no idea that my mom and dad knew your dad. Well, anyway, after my mom told him that, he told me not to tell you. He said it was because he knew if you knew, you would tell your mom and she would be mad at him for leaving, or something like that.”

“Oh,” said Ella. “Well, does my dad even want to see me now if he didn’t want you to tell me that he was here? And did he see me when I started to walk in?”

“Relax,” said Hannah. “I’m sure he’ll want to see you. Are you sure you’re not mad at me for not telling you?”

“It’s complicated,” said Ella.

She smiled. Hannah could tell Ella was back to her old self.

“Actually, Ella, I asked my mom and dad to invite your dad over for dinner tonight so that I could bring you over and you could see him.”

“Aww, Hannah, that’s so sweet,” said Ella. “I haven’t seen my dad in seven years.”

Her eyes brimmed with tears. She smiled, but it was a sad smile.

“Well, enough sitting around,” said Hannah. “Go in and see your dad.”

Ella got up from where she was sitting, walked up the rest of the steps, and put her hand on the doorknob. She hesitated for a moment. 

“Go on,” said Hannah.

Ella twisted the doorknob and opened the door. Her dad was sitting at the table. He got up. Ella and Prince Connor looked at each other.

THE END

Traxon Laxon is a 24-year-old person from Neptune. In his world, he is a person who is worth a lot of money because everyone wants his special powers. Those powers are flight and fire. People want these powers, so they send their soldiers to capture him, and he always has to hide, and he feels sad because that’s all he does every day. One day his friend told him about a mysterious place called earth. His friend said that nobody ever went to earth and it was a safe place to hide. So one day, he took a spaceship and went off, and nobody has seen him since.

When he got to earth, he didn’t want to be seen because people were going to think that he was from another planet trying to kill them. But then he remembered that he has the ability to transform into anything he touches and so he did. He transformed into a human and was walking around safely.

Three days had passed, and Traxon Laxon had a job as a police officer and friends that were called Zack, John, and Ben. But one day, Traxon Laxon was at his apartment building in Manhattan, and someone rang his doorbell. Traxon Laxon was confused because it was so early in the morning. So he got up to get the door and saw something he never wanted to see. It was the people that were trying to kill him. He knew it was them, because they were holding all kinds of weapons. So Traxon Laxon punched the first two guys with a fist of fire, the next person got hit by a chair, and the last person got hit with a pan in his face.

When he finished fighting, he thought he was done but, no… 

A giant one-eyed monster came into the room and grabbed Traxon Laxon and threw him out the window of the building. So Traxon Laxon flew up to the giant monster and gave him a fist of fire. The one-eyed monster was hurt, so he sent his minions to take care of Traxon Laxon. All of the minions were on top of him, even the one-eyed monster.

There are too many of them, he said in his mind as he looked at the damage he did. He realized he put these people in danger, and his friends. He told himself, I never wanted people to get hurt, especially my friends. But then Traxon Laxon realized if he won the fight, they would still keep looking for him, and he would start hiding all over again. So he did what he had to do and grabbed all the people that were trying to kill him and brought them up to the sky and self-destructed, which killed himself and the people who were trying to kill him. 

One day later, after the big fight, Traxon Laxon was dead, and people were having a funeral. Everyone cried, but they knew it was the best for the city.

Once, there was a young boy from the realm of magic. He was a young wizard and an apprentice of the greatest wizard in all of the realm. His name was Golgemort. And the apprentice’s name was Leo. And in the Earth realm, there was a girl named Rose who knew of the realm of magic in her grandmother’s stories. 

One day, Rose discovered a door covered in symbols in a different language. She tried to open the door, but it didn’t budge. But then, she found a small chest hidden in the snow. And inside was a key with strange handwriting on it. She assumed it was the key to the door. And it was. She opened the door and there was a hall of blue, glowing crystals. And at the other end of the hall there was another door. She walked down the hall and on her way down to the other door, there were little fairies flying around. She opened the door and she saw something beyond her imagination… a young boy… 

A few weeks earlier…

Leo was walking in the woods when he stumbled upon a little hut. Inside it he saw glowing lights. He looked inside and saw an old man. The man looked like the great wizard Golgemort. He tried to enter the house quietly without the man seeing him, but he tripped on a magic wand lying on the ground.

Then, Golgemort turned around and saw the boy lying on the ground. 

“What are you doing in my house?” Golgemort said, his eyes full of rage.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to invade your privacy, I was just curious,” Leo said hurriedly as he took a few steps backward. Not seeing where he was going, he slipped on a puddle of spilled water. As he plummeted towards the floor, he reached out towards the ceiling. Suddenly, his descent slowed to a halt. He was levitating.

Golgemort was shocked. “How are you doing that, boy? I thought I was the only wizard left…”

“The only wizard? I thought there were many wizards.”

“Well, a long time ago, there was a war between the magic realm and the Trolls. We won, but the Trolls kidnapped all the other wizards, but I escaped and I thought I was the only one left.”

“The only what?”

“Were you not listening to me, boy?”

“Not really, no,” Leo replied glumly, looking down at his worn boots. 

“What’s your name, boy?”

“Leo,” he whispered. 

“Speak up, boy!”

“My name’s Leo!” he yelled. 

“Calm down,” Golgemort said. “What is it you want?”

Leo looked up excitedly. “If you truly are the great mage, Golgemort, then you could train me to be a real wizard! Please, oh great and mighty sorcerer, be my teacher!”

“No, child, I can’t. I’m not a real wizard anymore. I’m far too old. You’re better off going somewhere else.” 

He looked up excitedly. “Could you please teach me?”

“Fine!” the old wizard snapped. “5:00 a.m. Your training starts then. Don’t be late or you shall suffer. Now get out of my house.“

Leo nearly jumped five feet into the air. “I won’t let you down, master!”

“Alright, alright. Now go! Don’t tell anyone about my existence! Everybody thinks the wizards are all dead.”

Leo quickly stepped out of the ramshackle house and ran with excitement towards his village. 

He was so tempted to tell all his friends about Golgemort, but he remembered his promise to the great wizard. He couldn’t let anyone know that magic still existed…

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Earth Realm…

“Let me tell you a story, my child… about the realm of magic…”

“Grandma, I’ve heard this story a million times already!”

“Fine, if you don’t want to hear my story again, go play outside,” Rose’s grandmother said, leading her to the door of her room. 

Rose sat in her bedroom, thinking about the classic tale that her grandmother would not shut up about. A long time ago, there was a war between the wizards of the Magic Realm and the Trolls. The great wizard, Golgemort, led an army of the greatest wizards against the Trolls.

“Nasty creatures,” her grandmother would always say. 

After thinking for a while, she elected to go outside. There was a thick layer of snow covering her backyard: perfect for building a snowman. 

“I’m going out, Grandma!” she called up to the half-deaf woman. 

Her grandmother grinned. “Alright, just don’t be too long now.” She knew Rose would find the door eventually.

Rose went out into the snow. She walked until she came upon a door with strange gold handwriting. She tried to open the door but it didn’t budge!

It was 5 a.m. Leo had been waiting outside for 5 minutes. When the old man came out, it was 5:06. The man said to Leo, “You’re here,“ the man said, surprised.  

“Yes,“ Leo said. “Alright, I’m ready to get into it, what kind of powerful, Troll-killing spells do you know?”

Then Golgemort said in his face, “Why do you want to learn any Troll-killing spells?”

Then Leo said, without thinking, “We never know when the Trolls are going to attack!”

Golgemort sighed. “You have a lot to learn.”

“Okay, then. What’s the first step of sorcery?”

“Well, the first step is using your wand. We have to get you one first.”

Then, Golgemort took him down into a dimly-lit cave with a gold door at the back. 

“So, I can choose any wand I want?” Leo asked. 

“No, no, no, child. The wand chooses you.”

“How do I know that it chooses me?”

“Well, if the wand doesn’t blow up in your face, it’s the one for you.”

“It blows up in my face?!” Leo exclaimed, horrified. 

“Yep!” Golgemort said excitedly. 

Leo gulped. “O-okay… ”

Golgemort unlocked the golden door, revealing a room with shelves upon shelves of different wands. Then, Leo picked up a wand and it exploded in his face. Golgemort stood in the corner, a smirk on his face, as Leo pushed himself up from the ground, his hair charred and ruined.

“Not the one,” Golgemort said. “Try another one.”

Leo gulped, even more terrified than he was before. He went over to another wand and picked it up. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Leo looked back to his master with a grin on his face.

“Hey, master, I think– ”

BOOM!

“… never mind.”

Golgemort looked around for a moment. “Maybe we should try a different type of wand,” he said, bringing the ashen boy a beautiful golden box, with only the tiniest hint of wear. “Maybe this one will do it,” Golgemort said, opening up the box to reveal a wand inlaid with phoenix feather, with gold and silver vines wrapping around the base. 

“Try it out,” Golgemort said. Leo took it, holding it gingerly away from his face.

“Please don’t explode, please don’t explode, please don’t explode… ”

After a few seconds, it didn’t explode. Nothing happened.

“Well, it didn’t explode within five seconds. I guess this is your wand.”

“Really?” Leo asked, a look of utter joy crossing his face. He jumped up and hugged his master.

“Get off me, boy!” Golgemort said, pushing him off. Leo was too ecstatic to even care

about his master’s hostility. 

“Well, we better get to training, then,” Golgemort said. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Leo said, still thinking about his wand. 

Then, Rose found a small chest with a key inside. She assumed it was the key to the door and it was! 

Inside the door was a blue crystal hallway with small fairies flying around. And at the end of the hallway, there was another door. She opened it. And she saw something beyond her imagination. A boy, wielding a small stick with multi-colored lights coming out of it. The boy appeared to be in battle with a dirty old man. She realized that the boy was fending the old man off, and needed help. She quickly jumped on the old man’s back and pulled him to the ground. 

The man grunted. “What are you doing, child. Didn’t you see that we were practicing?!” 

Rose looked at him quizzically. “Practicing? It looked like you were fighting!” Golgemort saw the girl’s clothes. She wore a strange skirt lined with stripes and odd buttons. Not the traditional robes of the realm.

“What are you wearing?!” Golgemort exclaimed. 

“You’re really asking me that?” Rose said, irritated. “I’d like to know where I am!”

“You are in the Realm of Magic,” Golgemort said. “Don’t you know that?”

“No, not really,” Rose responded. “Although…I have heard about a world like this from my

grandmother’s stories…”

“Where are you from?” Golgemort asked. 

“Um… Earth?”

“Ah, yes, the Earth Realm,” Golgemort said, looking off into the distance. “And how did you get here?”

“Well, I was playing around in the snow, and I found this door in the tree. I tried to open it but it wouldn’t open. Then I looked around for a key somewhere and I found a small chest with a key inside.”  

“I see,“ Golgemort said. “You can come to my house.” Then he yelled, “LEO, LET’S GO!”  

“Okay!” Leo responded. 

“Um, sure,” Rose said hesitantly.

So they set off to Golgemort’s house. Rose turned to the strange boy. “So what’s your name?”

“Leo,” he replied, looking down at his feet. “What’s yours?”

“Rose,” she said energetically. “So what’s the deal with–”

“We’ve arrived,” Golgemort interrupted. Rose laid her eyes upon the filthy shack that sat within the middle of a green swamp. 

“Really? This is your home?” Rose said incredulously. “This looks horrible!” 

Golgemort chuckled. “That’s what they all say.” He opened the splintered door, revealing a gorgeous home. The ceiling was a diverse array of different colors, all blending into each other, making everything seem infinite. Tiny fairies buzzed about the room, serenading Rose with an ethereal melody. Invisible maids were doing the dishes and cleaning the floors and cooking one of the most wonderful meals Rose had ever seen. 

Golgemort turned to Rose, a cocky smirk on his face. “Is it really that horrible?”

Rose looked down, filled with embarrassment. “No, not really, I guess.”

“Anywho, welcome to my humble abode,” Golgemort gestured to the space. A filthy grey dog popped out of its hiding space in the corner.

“What is that!“ Rose said.

“That’s just a dog,”  he said.

“Oh,”  she said. “This place is a bit strange. Are you sure that was a dog? It didn’t look like a dog.”

“Yes, I’m sure it was a dog. Now we have to find a way for you to get back home,” Golgemort said firmly, because he was getting a bit irritated with her and her billion questions.

“Easy, I just go back through that door and go home.”  

“Ha! The door doesn’t stay in one place for too long. It could be anywhere now. The dragon realm, the giant realm, even the realm of the mermaids, and that’s under the sea.”

“Then how do I get home?” she said a bit nervously, thinking she would be stuck in the realm of magic forever.

“Well, the door stays here for at least two days before it leaves for a different realm. And you came here a few minutes ago. So there’s a good chance we can still find it. But it’s dangerous, since in some parts there are dark wizards.” 

Rose gulped. 

“You know, The Cave of Wizards, where I got my wand, I saw some armor and a protection spellbook and we can give Rose a wand,” Leo said.

“You’re right, but she doesn’t know anything about magic,” Golgemort said.

“So what?” Leo said. “I learned magic and I knew nothing about it.”

“Yes, but it took you at least a few weeks to master it, and we only have two days to find the door.”

“Then we’ll only teach her the basic spells, to protect herself,” Leo said.

Golgemort was getting a bit annoyed with the back and forth and finally he said, “All right. Let’s go.”

“Where exactly are we going?” said Rose. 

“The Cave of Wizards!” said Leo. “We’re going to get you a wand and teach you how to protect yourself from the dark wizards.”

“But I don’t know anything about magic!”

“Well, it’s easy. All you have to do is–”

“We’re here!” Golgemort said, standing in front of two big gold doors. 

“Wow,” Rose said.

“This is where we’re going to get you a wand,” said Leo. Golgemort was looking for a wand while Leo told Rose how it works. “But you’d better hold it away from your face, because it’s the wand that chooses you, not you who chooses the wand. So you should be prepared for it to explode in your face if it’s not your wand.”

“Do I have to have a wand?” Rose said.

“Do you want to get killed looking for the door?” Leo said.

“No,” Rose said, a bit frightened.

All of a sudden, Golgemort said, “Try this.” It was a wand in a box, made out of wood with golden feathers wrapping around the bottom.

Leo yelled, “Remember to hold it away from your face if it explodes!”

“If it doesn’t explode within five seconds, it’s your wand,” Golgemort said.

Then Rose said in her head, five… four… three… two… one… Nothing happened, and Golgemort said, “Well done, this is your wand! It took Leo at least three tries to get his. Now we need to teach you spells. The first step is knowing how to hold your wand.”

“Like this?” she asked, holding the wand firmly.

“Yes, but you need to hold it a bit looser.”

“Like this?” she asked.

“Perfect.”

They spent all evening practicing. “Well, it’s getting late, and I think you’ve mastered all the basic spells. I think you should go to bed. Tomorrow morning we can start looking for the door,” Golgemort said.

The next day, when the sun rose, Rose woke up. Golgemort and Leo were already up.

Golgemort asked, “Are you ready to go?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Rose all of a sudden said, “Oh yeah! I forgot my wand!” 

“And?” Golgemort said.

“And I have to get dressed.”

Five minutes later, Rose said, “Now I’m ready to go.” 

“Then let’s go,” Leo said, very excited to go on his first adventure using magic. 

So they set out into the dark part of the woods, where Golgemort assumed it would be, since he had gone into different realms before, and he knew the pattern of the door.

“We’re entering the dark part of the woods,” Golgemort said. “Everybody should get their wands out. Leo, do you have yours?”

“Yes.”
“Rose, do you have yours?”

“Yes.”

“Now we have to enter very quietly,” Golgemort said. “The dark wizards could be watching us.”

They walked for at least an hour. Nothing happened.

Rose said, “We have been walking forever. Are you sure there are dark wizards in the woods?”

Then all of a sudden, the dark wizards knocked them out with a magic spell. 

When they woke up, they were sitting in a small throne room in front of the leader of the dark wizards, Azulon. He had white hair, and one eye looked like it was blind. It was very creepy.

Azulon said, “Golgemort.”

Golgemort said, “Azulon.”

“Whaaaat?” Rose said. 

“I guess I haven’t introduced myself,” said Azulon. “I am Azulon, commander of the dark army, ruler of death, king of the dark wizards.”

“I guess you’re really into darkness,” Rose said. 

“Never mind,” said Azulon. “Why are you in the dark parts of the woods, Golgemort? You know that we are here and you know we kidnap anybody who trespasses.”

“We’re only looking for the door,” Golgemort said.

“So the door is here,” Azulon said, fascinated.

“Yes, why do you want to know?”

“Uh, I don’t know,” Azulon said. “To conquer all of the realms!” 

“I should have known,” Golgemort said. “You still have that desire to conquer all the realms.”

“Of course I do. I am the greatest wizard in all of the realms.”

“Wrong!” Leo said. “Golgemort is!”

“Shush! Child,” Azulon said, and put him back to sleep with a spell.

“Why do you want to conquer all the realms so badly?” Rose asked.

“To prove I am the greatest wizard of all time!” Azulon said.

“Won’t that just terrorize people?” Rose said. 

“No! They will think that I am the greatest wizard ever!”

“Enough with saying you’re the greatest wizard! We get it!” Rose said.

Golgemort said, “Just let us pass. It’ll be easier this way.”

“No! I need to keep you here so you don’t find the door before I do.”

“Okay,” Golgemort said, knowing that they had their wands so they could escape.

When Azulon and his guards left, Golgemort used a spell to get him out of the chair. Then he said, “Leo! Wake up!”

“What? What?” Leo said. “How are you out of your chair?”

“Are you blinded, child? I used a spell!”

“Get me out of this chair if you got out of your chair using a spell,” Rose said.

And soon, they were all free. “Now we have to find a way to get out of this building. There are the dark army guards everywhere.”

“What about through the window?” Leo said.

“We can’t do that. The guards are surrounding the building.”

“What if we used a spell to make us invisible?” Leo said. 

“Yes, but we would need a rope, and we would have to make that rope invisible too.”
“Simple. The invisible spells last up to an hour,” Leo said.
“Okay,” Golgemort said, “But first we need to find a rope.”

“Good point.”

“We can only look for one in here, because there are guards outside the door,” Golgemort said. 

“There’s one!” Rose said, pointing to a rope on the wall. 

“Good spotting,” Golgemort said to her. 

“Now we’ve got to make this rope invisible,” Rose said to both Leo and Golgemort. “Could one of you do that?”

“Sure,” Leo said, taking out his wand and making the rope invisible. “Now we have to make ourselves invisible.” 

Golgemort said, “I’ll make you two invisible, but Leo will have to make me invisible.”

Golgemort made Leo and Rose invisible. Leo and Rose put their hands in front of their faces, but they couldn’t see them.

“Where are you guys?” Golgemort said.

“Right here,” they said. 

“Well, you guys shouldn’t move, otherwise you could get lost because I can’t see you. Leo, I’m right in front of you, you can now cast the spell with your wand.”

“You are now invisible,” Leo said.

“I already knew that! Now we have to find a place to put the rope where the guards aren’t.”

“Right here,” Rose said, while pointing. 

“Great spotting,” Golgemort said again. 

So they opened the window, placed the rope in between the guards, and climbed down the rope as silently and quickly as possible. When they were all down, they started running into the woods, as silently and quickly as possible.

They ran for twenty-five minutes and at least two miles away from the secret lair. Then they had been running for an hour, and wouldn’t stop, knowing that they might get caught. Then, they collapsed. They couldn’t even see the secret lair anymore, so they knew that the dark army hadn’t caught up with them. 

When they woke up, they saw the door in the distance. But then, they realized that there was a big river with crocodiles. They had to figure out a way across it. 

Then, they realized they had forgotten their wands back at the secret lair. 

Then Golgemort said, “It’s all right, I can do magic with my hands.” Then he did a spell that created a very high bridge across the river. 

They crossed the bridge, but then they realized that the door was moving slowly, so it was farther away than it was before. So they kept walking, and walking, and walking, and walking, and walking, and walking, until they saw flying books in the air.

“Careful, they’re really dangerous,” Golgemort said. 

“How dangerous can flying books be?” said Leo, so he walked up to them and they started flying around him and hitting him on the head. “Yep, they’re definitely–” he collapsed. 

“We better wake him up,” Golgemort said. “Azulon could come into the room where we were kidnapped and find out we escaped any minute. Leo! Leo! Wake up!”

Rose yelled, “Look! The door is moving again! We have to wake him up!”

“Okay, I’ll use my spell to wake him up.” Golgemort woke him up. 

Leo said, “Ugh, what happened?”

Then Rose said, “The door is moving quickly! We gotta go!”

Leo stood up and said, “But we’re going to need a protection spell to get past the books.”

“Good idea,” said Golgemort.

“Great,” said Rose.

“How do we cast that spell?” Leo said. “All our wands are in the secret lair.”
“Golgemort can do hand magic,” said Rose. “That’s how we got across the river, remember?”

“No, not really,” Leo said. “And can’t you remember I was hit by a bunch of books so I don’t remember stuff?”

“Oh, right,” Rose said. “Either way, the door is moving faster and faster. It looks like it’s going to go into another realm. We have to catch up with it.” 

So they started running towards the door, but then they stumbled upon the flying books.

“Now we need to protect ourselves,” said Rose. “Golgemort, can you make a protection spell?”

“I can try,” Golgemort said. “Aluminos devatos!” He said. And when they walked by the books, they didn’t get hit by any. 

“It worked!” Rose said. 

“I know,” Leo said.

“I told you,” Golgemort said.

Then Rose yelled, “Look! The door is moving even faster than before! We’ve got to move!” 

So they started to run and run and run. They couldn’t catch up to the door, so they decided to run even faster. Then, Leo spotted Azulon and his dark army behind them. 

“Um, I think we’ve got company,” Leo said. 

“Oh, no,” Golgemort said.

“Not them,” Rose said. “How are we gonna get away from them?”

“I don’t know,” Leo said.

“I think I might have a way,” Golgemort said. “If we keep running, we’ll tire them out. The Dark Army can’t stay alive for long, they’re from the dead.” They kept running and running and finally caught up to the door when the door stopped. 

Then, all of a sudden, a voice said, “We’ve got you!” They turned around and it was Azulon, holding up his wand. “Surrender now!” Azulon said. 

Golgemort and Leo yelled at the same time, “Rose, go!”

“No!” Rose said.

“Just go!” yelled Golgemort.

“No! I’m not going to just leave you to die with Azulon!”

“It’s fine! I’ve dealt with him before!”

“I’ll come back to help you!” Rose said, a bit sad. And she went through the door.

So once there was a beautiful raisin with beautiful hair. Her name was Berniece. She was going to the supermarket to get more salt and sugar to make salty sugary water. Berniece put on her sun hat and stepped outside. When she got outside, Berniece burned her wrinkly skin and got a rain jacket to not get burned. Once again, she got outside with her beautiful sun hat, rain jacket, and taco bag.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” a random stranger yelled. “I’m having a — I need a taco bag. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Berniece was very annoyed by this random guy’s tantrum. Luckily she had a 30-inch sized megaphone in her taco bag.

“Stop throwing a tantrum! Jeez!” yelled Berniece.

So the random stranger rolled away. He had no gender, so it was just trying to get lots of attention like the song “Attention.” A very good song. It also wanted lots of tacos because it was broken and also wanted a taco bag. After all that commotion, Berniece was only 120 centimeters away from the supermarket and her salt and sugar. She was walking and walking, but then a giant wrecking ball came out of nowhere and blocked the pass to the supermarket. The only way to get to the supermarket was to be Miley Cyrus and swing on the wrecking ball.

“Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Berniece screamed with joy.

After the new Berniece Cyrus was done with her musical number, she dropped, stopped, and rolled right into the supermarket into the salt and sugar aisle. She put her salt and sugar in her taco bag and got them for free. So she got outside with her free groceries, but then Miley Cyrus popped out of nowhere and swung away with her wrecking ball.

So Berniece was driving her beautiful Lamborghini home after she finished swimming in 300,000 gallons of cranberry juice. When she went to go park her Lamborghini, she saw her jam jar of mail, and there was a magical golden letter that said… 

Congratulations! You are invited to the most fancy clancy lunch ever.

Berniece was flattered that she was going to eat fancy lunch in a fancy house. So she got her most fancy taco suit with her matching taco purse, not a bag. After she got her outfit done, she put sugar in her hair so she could be sweet. (Cringy.) Berniece was all ready for her fancy lunch. At the fancy clancy lunch there were 1,000,000,000 pizzas. There was also a guy with bunny slippers and french fries as a hat and 100,000,000,000,000,000 tacos. The host of the fancy clancy lunch was wearing a pink, fluffy unicorn outfit with 100,000,000,000,000,000 Chipotle sandwiches. It was a beautiful fancy clancy lunch. So Berniece left the fancy clancy lunch with 300 gallons of cranberry juice and 50,000,000 chipotle sandwiches.

So, after Berniece left her fancy clancy lunch, she went to her muffin house and made 300 gallons worth of cranberry gelatin in her house to last her 69 weeks of pure gelatin. She would leave the leftovers for when Russia and America start a feud.

Berniece is very stubborn because she keeps on getting invitations to important missions that just randomly happen. Very, very suspenseful… so, Berniece went to her jam jar of mail and saw… (suspense)… another letter to join the Russia Government Corporation. Berniece got her 300 gallons of cranberry gelatin for the one year in Russia. After she got to Russia, she got a computer and exploded McDonald’s, Chipotle, Wendy’s, and Burger King by exploding all the food and tables and chairs.

After Berniece finished exploding food and furniture, the Russian government wanted Berniece to destroy Taco Bell with boom boom explosion. So Berniece was very disappointed that she needed to destroy Taco Bell. Berniece didn’t explode Taco Bell, but she exploded Russia instead. So, at the end, Berniece left Russia with new, cool hacking skills and secrets. She went home with her gelatin and new computer from Russia. And her brand new car from Russia. So Berniece went to go drive in her new car all the way to the Los Angeles beach. And she got her tan on.

Berniece was burning in the sun. She was in raisin form, so she saw the sun burned a hole in her muffin house. So, Berniece got her pool noodle and 50,000 beach chairs and her Dora towel and (temporary) boyfriend Barney and her DJ set. Barney went to wrinkly beach because they are raisins. The beach was in a sandbox. So, they put down their stuff and music. Berniece put on the song “Señorita.”

So, Berniece was the new Jesus because she separated the water with her pool noodle because she dropped her spoon. So, she washed her spoon and ate her Taco Bell taco and fed the birds tacos and put some in jail because they attacked her. Then after the birds attacked Berniece, she got all the sand and her 1,000,000 meter shovel and dug a hole all the way to her muffin house because she forgot her sunscreen. She also needed her Berniece limited edition figure. Barney got lost at sea on a cruise. So, Berniece left the beach single.

There was once a man named Lefty. Nobody knew his real name. He lived in the woods. He also loved flowers. Red flowers, blue flowers, and yellow flowers. But he always did everything with his left hand. 

But one night, he was heading to bed when two motorcycle people came in.

“MY GARDENS!” Lefty screamed. 

  The motorcycle dude did a trick with the stick that sent the knife flying and cut his left hand off.

“MY HAND, MY HAND!” Lefty screamed. He ran back to his cabin, but by then, it was too late. He had already bled out.

***
About a year later, a few kids came into the camp. They were staying up late when one of them went into Lefty’s cabin. But he did not come out, so the others went in to get him. They heard a scream. The kid’s head came rolling out of the room. They went inside the room. They all gaped in horror at what they saw. Not someone but something. Nobody ever heard from the kids again!

Once upon a time there was a cupcake. A wise old tree had once told him his fortune was to have jelly. This wise tree was his mother. You should listen to your parents.

So he went to McDonalds because there was food there and said, “Hi. I’d like some jelly please.” The McDonalds waiters were very rude and instead of giving it to him, they threw the jelly in his face. Then the cupcake cried and his tears washed it off. 

He then walked to a laundry place. He walked in and asked, “Do you have any jelly?” 

“No,” said the person at the front desk. “You should try that jelly store across the street.”

So cupcake went over to the jelly store. “Hello. Do you have any jelly?”

“No.”

“But this is a jelly store.”

“It’s a jam store.”

“What’s jam?”

“Jelly.”

“I’ll take some jam then.”

“We don’t sell cars.”

“I did not ask for a car! I want Jelly!”

“I thought you said you wanted a traffic jam.”

“I’m leaving,” said the cupcake. So he left. He then arrived at a strange creepy door. It screeched when he opened it. Inside was a giant. He was holding a bat.

“Do you have jelly?”

The giant grunted, “Try that store.” He was pointing at the jam store.

“That’s a jam store.”

The giant shouted and hit the cupcake with his bat.

The cupcake woke up in a hospital cot. His mother, the wise old tree was leaning over him. She said, “I did not tell you your fortune was to have jelly. I told you that you had a fat belly.”

The cupcake turned red.

The End.

Lloyd is in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. He has always loved the ocean and is amazed by all the creatures in it. He swims to the bottom of the ocean in a submarine and sees a six gill shark. He sees a reef octopus, a great reef shark, a luminescent jellyfish, and anglerfish. 

Inside his submarine, Lloyd is always prepared. He has water, food, and tools to protect him in case an octopus attacks the submarine. One of Lloyd’s tools is a mask, so he can swim in the ocean when he leaves the submarine. He also has a suit with air tanks so he can breathe. In his submarine, Lloyd travels to the Arctic and he sees Arctic krill. Arctic krill can grow only up to two inches.

Lloyd came to the Arctic to learn about the ocean because he is a marine scientist. Lloyd loves the ocean because he wants to learn about how it changes over time. 

He is always angry that people were harming the ocean by throwing trash into it. The ocean is dying because of the trash being thrown in it every year and global warming. This makes it a hard place to learn about. This is because the fish, bottlenose dolphins, grey reef sharks, and all the other animals are dying.

Lloyd wants to save the ocean by building a special machine that sucks up trash from the ocean. When he gets back to shore, he puts back his submarine, and then he goes to his lab. He starts building his machine. To start building he needs metal, a screwdriver, screws, and all his other materials. Lloyd works by himself at the lab because he is a private marine scientist. But he does have a crew that works with him. Only tonight, Lloyd comes into his lab late and the rest of his crew is sleeping. Lloyd is best friends with his crew. 

A few hours later, he goes to bed, and then wakes up at 12pm. He goes out of bed and goes back to his lab to keep working on his machine. He works on his machine for seven days. After one week, Lloyd is super happy that he finished his machine. 

Before he puts it in the ocean, Lloyd has to do a test run. He sets up the experiment in his bathroom, and pretends the bathtub is the ocean. The test is a success! Now Lloyd knows that the machine works and he is ready to bring it to the ocean. 

The next morning he wakes up very early, and goes into the ocean in his submarine. He brings the machine to the ocean and turns it on. 8,000,000,000,000,000 pounds of trash are sucked up by the machine. Lloyd did it!  The ocean is saved. 

But he forgets one thing. Today is his birthday. He puts all the trash in his trash can and goes to the store to buy supplies for his birthday. 

He sets everything up and even bakes a cake. He looks at his watch and wonders why no one has arrived. Then he realizes that he forgot to send invitations. He decides to send invitations to his crew. A few hours later, his crew arrives, and he has his birthday party. They play bob the apple, spin the bottle, catch the cannonball. They split up into teams and play cannonball, which is when you throw an 1,800 pound bowling ball into the air and have to catch it. And then they play basketball for 18 hours. 

After their game, Lloyd heads to the ocean to discover more about it. He goes back to Australia’s Great Barrier reef and sees an electrical eel and a wedgehog shark. 

At first he doesn’t see the wedgehog shark because it blends into the environment. Out of nowhere, the shark jumps out at Lloyd’s submarine and starts chomping on the side of the submarine.

The wedgehog shark loses its teeth because the submarine is metal. The shark travels back to his friends to search for clams with them.

After the shark leaves, Lloyd goes to the Pacific Ocean. He sees a blue whale. It is the biggest animal that ever lived. It’s two times bigger than the biggest dinosaur. Its cub drinks 200 gallons of milk from its mother each day. 

Lloyd travels to the Atlantic Ocean. He sees a giant squid, which is called Caribbean Reef octopus. The giant squid has eight arms, one eye, and can eat two crabs at a time. He also sees a horseshoe crab. The horseshoe crab has ten legs and they can be many colors, like black and brown. He travels to the bottom of the ocean and sees a cookie cutter shark. The cookie cutter shark is bioluminescent, which means that it glows in the dark. The baby cookie cutter sharks stick onto whales and make cookie shaped bites. The adult cookie cutter sharks make large cookie shaped bites. Cookie cutter sharks eat squid, dolphins, and baby whales. 

The last ocean Lloyd goes to is the Indian Ocean. Lloyd goes there to learn about the sea creatures living there. The Indian Ocean is the youngest ocean. It was formed 64 million years ago. Lloyd sees a spinner dolphin and a dusky dolphin. Lloyd also sees a Great Reef Shark, which mostly eats fish. The biggest dolphin is an orca. Another name for the orca is killer whale. The reason why people call this killer whale is because it looks like a whale, but it is really a dolphin. An orca is the biggest kind of dolphin on earth. The Indian Ocean has the least amount of creatures of all the oceans. 

Lloyd goes back to the Atlantic Ocean and sees a lionfish. He also goes to the Coastal Waters of South Australia. There are whale sharks, which have spots and eat plankton. Cookie cutter sharks also feed on them. He also sees a manta ray. Manta rays are the size of three king sized beds. Manta rays can jump as high as 7ft outside the water, so they can jump over a seven foot wall. They eat mainly plankton. Phytoplankton use the sun as their food. Phytoplankton are 2 millimeters.

Then, Lloyd visits an American Coral Reef. At the American Coral Reef, Lloyd sees a family of wedgehog sharks. One of the shark’s dorsal fins slaps the side of the submarine. Lloyd quickly turns the submarine the other direction and travels for eight days. 

After eight days, Lloyd goes back home. It’s about time that he goes back to the lab. When he gets there, his crew his ready to work. 

Once he gets to the lab, Lloyd starts making statues of the animals he saw. He wants to put them in the museum and show all the people what he saw. The first animal Lloyd starts working on is the Caribbean Reef octopus. 

One animal Lloyd didn’t look for was the Great White Shark, but he still makes a statue of one. He remembers what it looks like from when he saw one when he was six at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. When he went there all those years ago, Lloyd also saw a bull shark.

Lloyd keeps making statues and starts working on the one of a blue whale. Lloyd works on his statues for eight months straight without sleeping. He only sleeps for 5 minutes each day. 

After eight months, Lloyd is finally finished with his project. After he puts them into the museum, everyone gets to see them and learn about the oceans and reefs. Lloyd gets a million dollars from the museum manager. 

THE END

One day a cow named Lucas is playing at the park with Nobey, and then he wants to pee, so he does, but instead he is playing in the bathroom. He’s playing with the toilet and stuffing toilet paper inside the toilet. The toilet starts to gurgle and it explodes, making all the other toilets explode too. And then, he explodes the whole bathroom. The cow throws the bricks into the park, and the park starts exploding too. The cow then explodes the whole city by throwing bricks everywhere. There’s only one person left on earth, and the only person is the cow. The cow wants to take over the world and explode the world. He is going to make his own cows. He will have an army of cows so no one will come. The cow lays eggs to make more cows to fill the whole city. They build new buildings and doors shaped like cows. All types of food in the world are shaped like a cow, even poop. They make more cow-shaped things like cups, dishes, rugs, chairs, and boxes. Then, pigs from space come to take over the cows. Other animals that come from space come to make teams to battle to take the city. The winners get the city. The other animals have to go home to space.

They use their whole body to fight each other. The cows, lions, jaguars, and the elephants win. Everyone else goes back to space. They change the city and break it all up into fourths. They make the shapes of what they are in the cities. Cows make cow-shaped things, jaguars make jaguar-shaped things, lions make lion-shaped things, and elephants make elephant-shaped things. And then they all battle each other to see who will take the whole city.

And everything explodes. It was too much of a racket! It is now a pile of dust and stones. It blows away into the ocean. Most of the sea creatures die because of the pollution. Only squids survive.

Mr. Eel is 15 and wants to go to Eel World for freedom. He has been trying to go to Eel World for eight years. He first started going when he was seven. Every time he tries to go to Eel World, Mr. Shark chases him away. Mr. Shark chases him away because eels are sharks’ dinner. Mr. Shark is never able to eat Mr. Eel because he runs away. But Mr. Eel is a weirdo eel because he never uses his electrical powers on Mr. Shark.

Mr. Eel doesn’t like Mr. Shark because he ate Mr. Eel’s brother. Mr. Eel’s brother wasn’t a weirdo eel, so he was going to use his electrical powers, but Mr. Shark was too fast. Mr. Eel and his brother were both 13 when Mr. Shark ate him. They were twins.

Mr. Eel wants to get revenge for his brother. He wants to kill Mr. Shark, but he’s too dumb to use his electric powers. He thinks he’s a normal eel. He doesn’t know he’s an electric eel.

In the beginning, Mr. Eel’s brother killed Mr. Shark’s brother. And then Mr. Shark killed Mr. Eel’s brother.

The first thing he does is think of a way to kill Mr. Shark. He thinks of a trap. He’s going to pretend he’s swimming near a pretend fish so that Mr. Shark will chase both of them. The real Mr. Eel and the real Mr. Fish are friends. After Mr. Shark chases both of them, he licks his lips. But they’re both really fast. Then they stop, and he tries to eat them. But then the spike comes out and traps him, but he gets away using his fins to stop the spikes. He’s quite injured and goes to the shark hospital.

While Mr. Shark is in the hospital, Mr. Shark’s sister comes along. Mr. Eel notices Mrs. Shark. So then he notices that he has a yellow spot and thinks that it is a strong spot and uses it, and then electricity start shooting everywhere. He points it at Mrs. Shark, and Mrs. Shark dies. 

Mr. Shark finds out in the hospital, and he gets really angry. He gets a lot of lollipops, and he eats them. Then he gets really strong. He plays some soccer. He finds out that his fins are fine. He looks around for Mr. Eel and Mr. Fish. Mr. Eel spots him and goes toward him. He presses the yellow spot that shoots electricity. He misses on the first shot. He misses on the second shot. He misses on the third shot. He misses on the fourth shot. He misses every shot until the 1,000th shot.

Mr. Eel celebrates by throwing a party with all of his friends: Mr. Fish, Mr. Seahorse, Mr. Starfish, Mr. Frog, and Mr. Dolphin and Mr. Whale. Then they go on a cruise, but the cruise sinks, so they jump off of the ship and get on a speedboat and go all around the world. And then they come back to their ocean, go home, and get some rest.

The End.

There was a girl who owned a cat, and that cat had baby kittens. The girl was named Lulu, and she wanted to keep Cardinal, her favorite kitten.

Cardinal was orangey and had black all around its eyes and mouth, and that’s what made her look like a Cardinal.

But her mom said, “Lulu, you have to sell them.”

Lulu felt very mad. She tried to hide the kittens—she put them in her bedroom and locked the bedroom door. But she thought her mom would make her unlock the door, so she hid them under the covers in her bed. Her mom found out where she hid them because Lulu’s brother told the mom. 

Next, a kid walking along the street with their mom asked to buy Cardinal. The kid’s mom had told her that Lulu’s family was selling kittens and her kid was looking for a pet. Cardinal the kitten wanted to stay with Lulu. She tried to run away and hide, but Lulu’s mom caught Cardinal. The kid was named Mary.

Mary loved cats. Cardinal squirmed in the cage. Mary walked to her home holding the cage. She looked very, very happy. When she got inside, she opened the cage and hugged Cardinal. Cardinal was happy but still missed Lulu. Meanwhile, Lulu was sitting on her bed thinking about Cardinal. She wondered if Cardinal escaped from the cage and was coming to her house. She wondered if Cardinal loved her new owner, but Lulu hoped Cardinal would come back. Cardinal was having a happy life with Mary, but she was hungry.

She walked towards Mary and said, “Meow,” and Mary wondered if Cardinal was hungry.

So she got a kitty bowl and filled it with cat food. Cardinal gobbled it up. It was delicious! She never had wet cat food before, only dry cat food. But now that she tried wet cat food, she really liked it. She drank some water and went to the couch to take a nap. Lulu, on the other hand, thought Cardinal was having a happy life. She knew Mary was a nice girl and that she knew how to take care of Cardinal because Mary had a pet cat before her, and Lulu came to Mary’s house to see the cat. The next day, Cardinal woke up to a fresh new day. Cardinal looked around and noticed Mary was still asleep in bed. She walked to Mary’s bedroom, pushed the door open, and jumped on Mary’s bed. She licked Mary’s face and laid down on her floor. Mary got out of bed and walked to her mom and dad’s room. 

“Mom, can I go outside?”

“Yes,” she replied.

Mary walked outside, and with her chalk, she drew a picture of Cardinal and thought about activities she could do with Cardinal. She came back inside and got breakfast ready for the family. She poured cat food into Cardinal’s food bowl. Cardinal smelled the food and ate it while Mary’s family ate breakfast. Cardinal wondered what to play with Mary now that she got used to the new home. Mary walked to Cardinal. She told Cardinal she was going to the pet store to get a collar for her because she wanted to play with Cardinal in her backyard. Mary’s mom walked with Mary to the pet store. Mary got a collar that was Cardinal’s size, and it was red. She wrote Cardinal’s name on the collar and the address of the house. When Mary and her mom entered the house, Cardinal came to Mary. Mary put the collar on Cardinal. Cardinal tried to look at it but couldn’t. She still loved the collar!

Mary took Cardinal outside to play. Mary drew with chalk. She drew a picture of her and Cardinal. Cardinal, on the other hand, ran around in the backyard chasing a rubber ball. Mary told Cardinal that she was really good at soccer. Cardinal scored another goal in the soccer net. Mary’s mom weaved the soccer net before. The next day Mary’s mom was on the phone calling Lulu for a playdate at Mary’s house. Mary was excited because she hadn’t seen Lulu in a long time.

When Lulu came, she asked, “How is Cardinal doing?”

“Cardinal is doing great!” Mary replied.

“Awesome,” Lulu told Mary. Lulu told Mary that she could take care of Cardinal for the rest of Cardinal’s life until Cardinal had babies just like her mom. Cardinal licked Lulu, and Lulu hugged Cardinal. Lulu and Mary played for a little while until the playdate ended. The two girls and Cardinal had happy lives.

The End.

Once there was a dolphin coming from school. Then there was a hurricane. It pushed her away from going home. It pushed her deep in the ocean where there was a giant squid who blocked her way. He pushed her from leaving home. The squid was as big as a ten story building. When the squid wasn’t looking, the dolphin went right past its arms. But then the squid caught him again. The squid held him and squeezed him. The dolphin was stuck with the squid until somebody saw him.

A seahorse saw them and tried to help the dolphin. It tried to distract the squid while the dolphin went out. It worked, but then it didn’t work. The seahorse got captured by the squid too. The seahorse and dolphin grabbed the squid’s arms and escaped. And then they finally got out and become friends. But the squid tried to chase them! And they ran around in circles five times. And then the squid trapped them with the net. But the dolphin and the seahorse found scissors buried in the ground, and they cut a hole in the net. And then they swam away.

They were going to go play in the park without getting seen by the squid. They played on the swings and on the slide and then they played tag. Then they went to meet the seahorse family and played until it was time to go. On the way home the dolphin saw the squid, and the squid saw the dolphin, and the dolphin was surprised because the dolphin thought that the squid would not come back. The squid grabbed the dolphin, who screamed for help. It didn’t work, so he screamed again. And then the seahorse came, and he saw what was going on, so he tried to help. He grabbed the dolphin from the squid, and they swam away. The squid followed them and tried to get them. But the dolphin and the seahorse were too fast. And then they hid, and the squid couldn’t find them. And then they said goodbye, and the dolphin went home, and they never saw the squid again. 

The End.

“Steven, will you please come up here and show everyone how to draw a cake?” Ms. Clinton asked me.

I stood up and slowly walked to the whiteboard, hoping the bell would ring. I grabbed a marker and tried drawing a cake. Oliver, the school bully, teased me, saying that my ‘cake’ looked like a broken down house. I tried again. And again. And again. I came up with a circle with a few dots in the middle. I told everyone that it was a bird’s eye view to a cake. Luckily, that’s when the bell rang. Art is my last class, and Eddy and I grabbed our backpacks and walked home. Eddy is my best friend and also my neighbor.

Since it was a Monday, I luckily had my allowance from Sunday. We stopped by Sydney’s Sweets and walked in.

“Two Tinker bars and a large bag of chips, please,” I told Sydney, the manager. 

“That will be $3.50,” Sydney said, handing me the treats.

I gave her a five-dollar bill and collected my change. I handed Eddy a Tinker and stuffed the chips in my bag.

After a few seconds of walking and a few minutes of talking, Eddy and I stopped in our tracks. We saw my parents standing in front of my house, putting everything into a truck that said MOVING MASTERS on the sides. My parents were talking to someone who was helping them put the suitcases and furniture in the truck. I ran to my parents and asked them what was happening. My mom told me to pack my stuff and that she’ll explain it to me later.

Eddy came upstairs with me and helped me pack. I took my suitcase out of the shelf and stuffed my clothes in it. Eddy asked me if I knew what was happening. I shook my head and finished packing. Eddy said that he should go home now. My mom came upstairs and sat on the bed. She told me to sit down.

“Steven, your father was promoted to Vice President of his company. His new office is on the other side of the state. We are moving to Oaktown.”

I froze. That was three hours away! A lot of thoughts rushed through my head. Which school will I go to? Will I make friends? Is our house going to be big? Are my teachers going to be nice?

That night, I couldn’t sleep. I lay in bed, thinking about what my mother said. Tossing and turning, I looked at my full suitcase next to the door. All of my furniture except my bed was inside of the truck, including my reading chair and my desk. Even my closet! I still didn’t know when we were leaving.

“Steve, wake up!” That was my dad. “We are leaving on Friday. I’ll pick you up from school, and Mom and Molly will be waiting in the car outside.”

Dad made me pancakes—my favorite—for breakfast. The maple syrup was dripping down my chin as the puffy pancakes melted in my mouth.

It was a normal school day; I had epic fails in art class but crushed PE. At the end of the day, we had an announcement. The principal, Mr. Mikelly, told us that a tennis tournament was coming up. Tennis was my favorite sport! He showed us the trophy, and I started jumping with joy. It was a golden man in trophy position. On the side of the stand, it said Tennis Tournament 2019 – Awarded to 

I imagined it saying my name, Steven Trenton. I was the first one to sign up for the tournament.

The next day was tournament day. I was playing Hudson Matts. It was my serve. I served and won the point. Soon the game. Soon the set. And then the match. Time for the quarter finals. Won. Semifinals. Won. Finals time. I was playing Oliver Frenzy. I lifted my racquet and smashed the ball. He hit it back to me. Slice! After a few sets, I looked up at the scoreboard. It was a deuce. The match point for both of us. Oliver served, and I played a backhand. Unfortunately, he smashed it, and it was his point. Advantage for Frenzy. Then it was deuce again. Advantage for Trenton. Deuce. My advantage again. I hit a powerful forehand with the win. I received my trophy and medal. I spotted Oliver on the bench, with sweat all over his face. I walked over to him.

“Tough game.”

He didn’t reply. Eddy ran over to me. 

“Great job, dude!” he said. “Nobody here is as good as you!”

Friday was the day before I moved. That morning when I went to school, the day flew by. In the afternoon, we had another announcement. But this time, Mr. Mikelly called me up on stage. The last time I went up there was my play in second grade! I was kind of nervous when I went up there. 

“Today, we have a very special announcement. One of our students, Steven Trent, is moving to Oaktown today. He is also our tennis champion. We will miss him.”

My dad came into the room. I gave Eddy a hug, and Dad and I left.

In the car, I stared out the window. I saw the trees and suddenly the big city. The tall buildings were gleaming in the sunlight, and the cars zoomed through town. People wearing suits and ties walked from one building to another. This must Oaktown, the big city. Finally, I saw a big apartment building. It had a swimming pool and a playground. I was astonished. I read a big sign. Now, I lived in Pretcot Towers. Awesome!

Pilla and Pimilla were sisters who lived in a small town by a great big mountain called Mount Zilla. There had always been a town legend of an evil queen of snakes, Quilla, who lived atop the mountain. After their parents died in a “mysterious accident,” Pimilla and Pilla were each other’s only family. As they grew older, they noticed that they had strange powers to transform into animals. One day, the two girls went to their favorite restaurant, and Pilla suddenly disappeared. 

***

“Pimilla! Wake up sleepy head! Come outside with me and get some lunch! It’s 1:00! You have been sleeping for 16 hours,” she said.

“Just five more minutes,” she replied.

Five minutes later, they were on the path to Bear Burger.

“What am I going to eat? When I get to lunch, I’m going to have a turkey sandwich with a brioche bun and avocado on the side,” she sang.

“Pilla! Stop singing that annoying song!” Pimilla roared.

When they got there, they sat down, and it took over an hour for the waitress to deliver their food. They both fell asleep at the same time. Then Pimilla was so bored that she went to the bathroom and transformed into a beetle, then a horse, and back to a human. Then she finally walked back to their booth. She realized that Pilla was not there!

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, she thought. Maybe she was kidnapped… hold on.

There was no time to lose, and she set off to the waitress, and even though she was just nineteen, Pimilla had a credit card.

“Hurry up!” she said… People were like sloths.

“Sign this, please,” the waitress asked patiently.

She held up her screen and Pimilla signed it very quickly, and the waitress gave Pimilla her card. Since Pimilla was 10 years older than Pilla, she could drive a car and she had a license. However, she was too hurried and forgot all about her car. Instead, she ran. Since the cement was still wet, she made out straight lines where something had been. She could also make out Pilla’s footprints, and she followed them for an hour until she found a mountain where the footsteps stopped. Pimilla transformed into a horse, and she galloped to the mountain. She knew all about the stories, so she predicted that Pilla was hidden there. The mountain itself looked pretty scary. On top was a big stone snake, and it looked very old, and then it came alive! 

“What do you want?” it asked.

Pimilla was too shocked to speak. Was she really seeing a stone animal speak to her? 

“Answer!” the stone snake said.

“I came here for my sister,” Pimilla answered.

“Ahh. Well, that’s not going to happen. If you want your sister, you will have to get yourself and whatever-her-name-is out of prison.”

Before Pimilla could answer, there was a rumbling sound, and she could feel herself being dragged into the mountain! Then she heard a high-pitched squeal. She turned, and she saw Pilla. Then a huge snake pushed Pimilla into her cell and closed the door behind her. Pimilla pushed with all her might, but the door didn’t budge. Then she looked around the cell to find a way out. Instead, she found an old silver dagger.

“Don’t worry, Pilla,” Pimilla said. 

“I am never worried,” Pilla said.

Not paying attention to what her sister said, Pimilla freed herself from the cell by digging into the metal with the dagger. Then she freed Pilla next. Pimilla hugged her very tightly.

“Oh, Pilla! We will escape together! I just know it! As long as there’s magic and hope in the air, we know we can escape from these brutal, scary, and mad snakes! Now, let’s get a move on!”

They started to run away when one of the snakes stopped their path and the twins skidded to a stop.

“Oh! You are not going anywhere. I’ve heard that you can transform into a horse and beetle just like your mom! We captured your dad and your mommy who traveled to Mount Zilla. Lucky for us, our God Villa day is tomorrow, and on God Villa day we will murder you. This is because Quilla will awake for a sacrifice. And if we don’t feed you to Quilla, she will destroy Mount Zilla!” said the snake, seeing the confused looks on their faces.

Then he took a deep breath. These words struck Pimilla. What did the snake mean when it said that her parents had been here? Had the snakes killed her parents?

“Did you really say all of that in one sentence?” asked Pilla.

Pimilla jumped as she had forgotten that Pilla was even there, and she shrieked.

“What?” asked Pilla

“I’m sorry, I forgot all about you. You scared me half to death, also,” she added.

Pimilla cut the snake in half with the dagger and cut out the door. Over 1,000 snakes came chasing them, and they were poisonous too! It was turning dark, and Pimilla knew that in the morning the snakes would try to feed them to Quilla. There was a door at the base of the mountain and a button to close the door to the outside. The snakes pressed it, and the door slowly started to close. Pilla and Pimilla ran at full speed and slid under it just as started to close.

“We made it,” Pimilla spluttered.

They started to go back Bear Burger, and none of the snakes followed them because they were dueling Quilla. Quilla had awoken and was eating the snakes because she was angry that she hadn’t received a sacrifice. Now the snakes were defeated! When they got back to Bear Burger, there were two ghosts sitting in their booth. They were the sisters’ mom and dad. 

“I was so worried, so your father and I thought we should come and visit, so here we are. We also want you to know that no one else can see us except you both,” said their ghost moma.

Pimilla told them about their adventures, and they believed every single word of it. They were so glad that their daughters had defeated the evils of Mount Zilla once and for all. Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!

My homeschool teacher kept rattling off about algebra and other math facts, but I was paying no attention whatsoever. I was busy daydreaming. I was on a grand stage with thousands of eyes on me. I danced like an elegant swan as people cheered for me. I could hear my teacher’s faded voice outside my fantasy.

“Margaret!” my teacher yelled.

I suddenly popped back into reality.

I hate being homeschooled, but children like me aren’t able to go to normal school. I got very sick when I was little. My whole family was disgusted by me. They all vanished except for my mother. Although I was really young when that happened, young enough to forget, I still felt devastated. Because of my sickness, I lost my ability to talk and walk, but my mother is very strict about it. She would always scream at me if she couldn’t understand my sign language. Though I think dancing and painting are the best ways to communicate my feelings, my mother discourages it.

After homeschooling, I picked up my pen and wheeled to my mother’s room. I slowly placed my pen on the wall with unsteady hands and drew a beautiful dancer elegantly dancing as if she were a dove. This can prove to my mother that I have a passion for painting and that I would love to dance, even though I’m in a wheelchair. While I was painting peacefully, I could hear my mother’s loud stomps come nearer. The door swung open, and I could tell just by looking at her eyes that she was anything but happy. She stomped towards me and grabbed the handle of my wheelchair forcefully. She dragged me up the ramp with one hand and jerked me into the attic. She didn’t say a word to me. Then she slammed the door shut and left, fuming. The silence was chilling. I could have heard a pin drop on the floor. It hurt when my mother didn’t understand my way of expressing myself. As tears ran down my cheeks and dripped into my shirt, while I was wheeling back across the room, I noticed something weird. In the corner of the room there was something glowing behind a bunch of boxes. I came closer to this shiny object and picked it up as if I were holding one of my dirty socks. It was an ordinary looking paintbrush. It felt like an ordinary paintbrush as well.I carefully lowered it in a tin of paint and dipped a bit of it onto the paintbrush. I slowly but steadily placed the paintbrush on the wall and painted a small puppy about as tiny as my hands. My painting was good enough to look like a real dog, at least. Suddenly, out of the blue, my painting started to glow. If I could have screamed, I would have. The warm glow of the painting was glowing brighter and brighter until I had to look away. Finally, the light dimmed, and when I turned back around, a silky, soft puppy lay in my arms.

Chapter One

There was a Gingerbread Man. There was a Gingerbread Girl. The Gingerbread Girl and the Gingerbread Man got into a fight. The Gingerbread Man was evil. The Gingerbread Girl was evil too. The Gingerbread Girl and the Gingerbread Man wanted to kill each other because they’re evil. The Gingerbread Girl met a new Gingerbread Girl. The Gingerbread Girls fought and tried to roast the Gingerbread Man. They threw him into the wall and threw him into the air conditioning to cool him off. Then they threw him into the microwave to blow him up. The Gingerbread Man didn’t blow up yet. The Gingerbread Girl had a cute Gingerbread Dog. It was not even close to Christmas for the Gingerbread people to fight, but they still got out of bed, and they tried to roast him. Then the Gingerbread Girl got an axe. The Gingerbread Girls were named Eileen and Maxi. With the axe they chopped his arm, but it came back to life.

Chapter Two

The Gingerbread Man decided to be good.

The Gingerbread Man said sorry to the girls, and the girls said, “We’re sorry too. We don’t want to be bad anymore.”

They put away all the bad tools, and they all said sorry, and then the princess said, “No more fighting in this town.”

And they were so happy!

The End

Once upon a time, there was a cheetah named Max. He loved Coca-Cola. Each meal he drank five Coca-Colas. One day, he was drinking Coca-Cola and read the news. He read to stay fit. The next day in the newspaper, the cheetah saw there was going to be a race. Then he packed a Coca-Cola for the race and once he got there, it was about to start. When it did, he was stuck in last place because of all the Coca-Colas he drank. He felt like he was about to burp and then once he did, he still ran slow because he drank too much Coca-Cola and he couldn’t keep up with everybody. He kept on burping until he had to stop and burp and then once he started running again, his stomach started to hurt. Max’s stomach pain got so bad he quit the race. He felt ashamed of himself. 

The next day, Max was by himself at home. He read the newspaper again and saw there was a race tomorrow. This time he didn’t drink any Coca-Cola. Instead he went and got vegetables from the store and he only ate them for dinner, lunch, and breakfast. The next day, he was ready for the race. When the race started, the cheetah was in the first place. Max felt really good and then he won the race! The moral of the story is not to drink too much Coca-Cola. 

The End

Let me tell you, there is nothing better than the smell of bacon in the morning.  Even if it isn’t coming from your apartment. The neighbors were having a better breakfast than me again.  I looked down at my bowl of Kibble in a Can and sulked. 

“Kibble in a Can, the world’s chewiest dog food, yuck!” 

Would you eat dog food?  If you’re reading this, you’re likely a human, so I don’t think you would. If you’re a dog who has managed to read this, you are probably too advanced to eat dog food. So, naturally I had to get some bacon. 

What else was I supposed to do other than jump from fire escape to fire escape until I found someone cooking bacon?  After five fire escapes, nearly falling twice, and five minutes of barking at a particularly annoying cat, I found the bacon apartment. Now, I just had to get through one window, three people, and another dog to get to the bacon. You know what they say: take it one step at a time!

First thing’s first, the window. Maybe if it gets hot enough, they will open the window. The air conditioner was right next to the window! All I had to do was break the AC! This was starting to be easier than expected! Little did I know how hard it is to break an AC without hands. Have you ever tried turning off an AC from inside the house without your hands? (I don’t recommend it).  Well imagine that, but from the outside of the house, the side without the off button. As I got closer to the AC, I could feel hot air shooting out at me. I had to tear off the panel with my mouth so I could rip the wire. Have you ever seen those cartoons where the character turns black when they get electrocuted. That’s how I felt. Turns out I wasn’t electrocuted, I was just shocked. The good news was that I ripped the wire and I’m pretty sure it turned off because hot air stopped shooting at me. (I know this seems a little extreme, but anything for bacon).

As the cold air stopped going into the apartment, the people inside seemed to notice. A woman walked over to the window. As this was happening, I had a daunting thought: what would she do when she saw a dog on her fire escape? I needed to hide. I used the basic thought that if I can’t see her she can’t see me. I covered my eyes with my paws, but somehow she managed to find me! It’s crazy! She must be a witch who can see through walls! When she found me, she took me inside and showed me to the other humans. There was a small female human and a large male human. Due to the fact that I jumped out the window, I didn’t have my collar on. The worst time to forget. Once I was in the apartment, the small female started making a high pitched squealing noise. This really hurt my ears, so what else was I supposed to do other than start running wildly around their apartment? Big mistake! Remember earlier when I mentioned that other dog? Well he started chasing me around the apartment and this guy was big! Big dog means big legs and big legs means fast. Soon the large dog started to catch up with me. If only I could find the kitchen, then I could get the bacon and get out of here. 

After a bit longer, I ducked under the sofa where the big dog couldn’t get me. If my owner was here, he would call me a good boy! After looking around the apartment (from under the sofa), I had a strong sense of where the bacon was. Again, I’m such a good boy! I made a mad dash for the what I thought was the kitchen. I was right! I was in the kitchen, with a big dog, a large female human, and a small female human on my tail. I jumped onto the counter, where was the bacon?  I saw it! Right there in front of me waiting to be eaten, so I ate it. Not all of it, but most of it. After that, I didn’t know what to do. I had my bacon, but how do I get out? I had no idea. Oh, oh, I know! I can just go back home using the fire escapes. I am such a good dog.         

One day, a cow named Grass was eating grass. He liked grass because of his name.

Mmmmmmmmmmm. He said, “Grass is good.”

Then he sang his song. It was: grass grass grass grass grass-grass-grass grass-grass-grass grass grass grass grass grassy grassy grass grass. He liked his song. But one day, Grass woke up. There was no grass!!! Grass looked around. The cows ate the grass! It was like a cow-pocolips! Oh no! Grass was the only thing cows ate!

Suddenly, all the cows said, “Moooooooooooo!”

Then the farmer walked out the door and heard… “Moooooooooooo!”

All the cows stopped because he said, “Shh, I’m trying to have tea!”

Then, right when he was walking in the door… he stopped!

Grass was hoping the farmer would notice the grass, but instead he just said, “Oh, I forgot to say bye.”

Grass was disappointed because he wanted more grass.

He ran towards the farmer and said, “Wait,” but all the farmer heard was moo.

The farmer went into the barn and closed the door. Grass walked up to the door and picked up his hoof and opened the door.

He went in and said, “Um, farmer, I think that we need more grass.”

The farmer actually understood. Grass was surprised. Well, at least Grass thought he understood because the farmer was going out with planting seeds. Grass thought it was grass seeds. But, instead, he saw the labels on the packages, and it was sunflower seeds and corn!! Grass was allergic to corn. How dare that farmer!!!

Grass said, “Farmer! I will get revenge.”

So he walked back, away from the farmer. Grass was not very happy. So he fell asleep. 

Grass dreamed about having so much fun in the grass. For a second, when he woke up, he thought it was real, but it was all a dream. He looked around him, and as if things could not get any worse… he was surrounded by corn! 

He yelled out his cousin’s name, “Banana!”

And Banana loved corn so much. So Banana came over and noticed Grass surrounded by corn. He ate all the corn. Grass was finally free! Grass went along, trying to pretend that he was in the grass, but it didn’t really work out. He wanted his precious grass back. He imagined being in tall, tall grass. Taller than him. He could eat all he wanted and poke his head out and act like a cool cow. He really wished that dream wasn’t real. And he was glad that the corn did not grow as high as an elephant’s eye. And he thought when the farmer came back, he should say, How dare you not give me that grass. I need that grass. Now I am starving and so thin. That could be his revenge. 

Today was not a moo-tastic day for grass. He sang his song sadly. He was too sad to sing it. He was super sad. So instead he sang this: Moo.

Grass was very sad, so he went to Banana, hopped on Banana’s back, and said, “Giddy up, horsey!”

Grass was talking in his sleep.

Banana suddenly woke up and said, “I’m not your horse, Grass.”

Grass woke up and said, “Why am I on you? Oh, are you my horsey? I’m sorry, Banana! I’m just very sad about the grass.”

Banana said, “Well, just keep your hooves off me! Anyway, I have an idea. How about you just go sneak into the dude’s office and just steal those grass seeds and say, ‘um thank you. I stole your grass seeds.’ It’ll just come out as a moo, so you’re good. So yeah, just sneak in there tonight and say, ‘I stole your grass, so bye now!’”

“Okay…” said Grass, “But am I not too big? I think I’m a little too big.”

“So what? Just steal those away. But just think of how you would hold them—okay, Banana? Well anyway, I need to go to sleep even though it’s midday.”

When Grass woke up, he wanted more grass. But then he saw Banana was standing right in front of him with a little teensy pack.

“Could it be? Is it Grass?” Grass whispered.

Then Grass spotted a quokka.

“Hi,” he said. “I’m Phredd (fr-ehd).”

Grass was was like, “Say what? How do you spell your name?” 

“P-h-r-e-d-d.”

“Seriously?” Grass said. 

“Yeah. My name is Phredd, and it’s spelled like that. And I am a party animal. I’ve high-fived a camera before and just said hi to this person who was facing this camera thingy-majiggy at me. So yeah,” said Phredd.

“Um, well, we kind of have a problem with this grass,” said Grass. “So could you help us? Just distract the farmer with your party thingy-majiggies while I go sneak in, get the grass seeds, and grow some grass for me to eat. So could you just sneak in there and sing your song thingy-majiggy-thingies?”

“Okie dokie,” said Phredd.

So the next morning, they snuck in there. Grass asked Phredd to go in first and wake up the farmer and say, “Howdy dowdy, how are ya, dude?” 

“So then I can just sneak in there, get my grass, and sing my song once again!”

“So let’s go!” said Phredd.

“La la, loo loo,” they sang as they went to the farm.

“This is very fun. Now it’s time to sneak in,” said Grass. “So you go in first.”

“Okay, I’ll throw my party and have so much fun and high-five cameras and say hello to farmers.”

“La, la, la,” Phredd sang.

Grass could hear Phredd and the farmer screaming, saying, “Ah! What is this?”

He could also hear Phredd putting on a party. Grass knew now that he could go in and do it. So he did and he went in and thought, Where would the grass seeds be? This was very frustrating for him. But finally, he found them. He planted the seeds when he got out and got Phredd. He told Phredd to come back sometime soon. And a few weeks later, the grass grew. But now he needed to deal with the cow-pocolips.

He said, “You will leave. Now leave.”

And now there were only a few more cows: him, his cousins, and a few others. And he met another cow. He figured out that cow was his sister. She had a big bow and was black and white. And we will talk about that in the next story.

The End

Once there was a calf who lost its mom, and he needed to pass an obstacle full of lava. It was a river, and the calf thought he would have to swim through to get to the other side. 

But the lava was actually water that lights up. The calf stayed at a hotel to sleep for the night. The next day, the calf was ready. He was ready for the challenge up ahead. He was going across the world to the ex-lava river.

He went to the ex-lava river, and it felt comfortable and warm. He swam across, but he didn’t know he was starting to drown. And then he sank down under the ex-lava river. He could still see the water, and then he walked under water and spotted a ramp at the end. He climbed up the ramp then got to his mom.

Chapter One: The War

In a village called Lightling, people were living in peace. They would buy food from the markets, they would get their milk from cows, and they would have their toothbrushes made of horses’ tails. And in this village there was a woman and a man, and the woman was having a baby. But that was bad. Because when she got pregnant a war was starting. And the father was in the war. Luckily, she had the baby. The baby’s name was Spy. Spy was weird and funny. He also wore a ninja suit a lot. Spy was very tall because his father was tall. When Spy grew up, he got to go to the pool. When he was twelve, he went to the pool one day and he saw people leaving the pool and he was thinking something was wrong. But he stayed in. Then he heard a bang! Lightling was under attack! He got out of the pool and dried off and quickly got all his protection and went out. He saw thousands of buildings down and a lot of banging. Then he heard a rumble. It was so loud it cut out all of the sound. Then he saw what it was: it was a tank! And it was coming right for him! He ran as fast as he could. He turned around. But to his surprise the tank did not move. He thought it was a Shadow Spy (one of the most powerful people) and Shadow Spies were on the bad side. But it was not. 

It was his dad!!!

Spy’s mouth dropped. He ran to him so fast that he was out of breath when he got to him. But when he stood up he hugged his dad.

“I brought you something,” his dad said. “Spy, I brought you a navigation system.” 

“Thank you so much!!!” Spy yelled back. “But why will I need this?” said Spy.

“Because if you have to be in the war you can find targets. To see where bases are and roads,” his father explained. 

Then Spy went into the house and when he went to bed he saw something coming toward him. It was small and had big black letters all over it. When it got there it stopped in mid-air. 

“Do you want to join the war???” it said.

Spy was so surprised when he heard that he jumped out of bed. He looked at the plane and said “Yes!”

“Hop aboard!” the driver said. But he remembered to bring the map. When he got it he jumped out of his window and onto the plane. The plane was cozy, and it had beds. He asked where they were going. The driver said they were going to a castle. Then Spy went to lay down. When he woke up he was in a castle. The castle was big, sturdy, and had cannons. He looked around.

Someone came in and said, “Hello new air force commander. Would you like your uniform?”

Spy said yes. So the nice man came back with a uniform. It was nice and soft. He put it on. It was cozy. 

“Would you like a tour?” the man said.

Spy said yes. So the man gave him a tour. He told him where the tanks were and airplanes and other stuff. Then he went to the Great Hall and ate. After he went to his room and he took the map.

Chapter Two: The Person in the Castle

When he went out, he saw something turning a corner. Spy wanted to see what it was, so he followed it. First he was quiet. 

“Who are you?” Spy said. The person turned around.

“I am Dare,” he said. “My dad is in the war too. I am Spy’s brother. He doesn’t know that I’m his brother.”

“But he does,” Spy said angrily.

“How does he?” Dare said. 

 “Because I am a Spy,” Spy said.

Dare looked at Spy and paused. They had some quiet until Dare said “Now you know me.”

“But why did Mom and Dad not tell me?” Spy said, crying.

“Because I was once a Shadow Spy, and if Mom and Dad showed you then you would probably get mad,” Dare answered.

“But still probably I would cool down after that and I would like you,” Spy said. 

“No you would not. I did not like people on your side. Because I made the army of the Shadow Spies. Think. I made the Shadow Spies,” Dare said, emotionless. 

Dare suddenly began to cry. “I’m sorry,” Dare finally said. “Let’s be friends.” Spy hugged Dare. 

All of the sudden Spy heard lights flashing in the castle. 

The castle was under attack!!! He saw what it was. It was boats with Shadow Spies on them and they were shooting the castle! He saw a knife on the ground. He picked it up. He went outside. He dodged nineteen bullets.

He aimed at the leader of the spies. He threw the knife at the bottom of the boat. The boat sank. Just five more boats. He saw Dare shooting down more. He saw a watch-tower. He went in it and started shooting the boats down. He saw more and more coming, but he got those too. And finally they had victory!!! And partied all night long!  

But they didn’t know that the Shadow Spies were getting sleep. The Shadow Spies were ready to get revenge! So when they were asleep they dropped heavy balls and almost knocked them down. Then Spy woke up from sleep and saw even more Shadow Spies. He defeated all of them, working together. And then Dare and Spy traveled back to their parents in Lightling.

Then they had a turkey and mashed potato dinner and were all happy. 

Then they went to bed. His brother tucked him to bed, got him water, got toothpaste on his toothbrush, and he went to bed. The next morning the mom had a surprise for them: french toast, pancakes, and waffles with whipped cream. They even had a chocolate milkshake with hot chocolate!!! They ate the whole thing of pancakes, french toast, and waffles!! After they had to lay down. They laid down so long they fell asleep for an hour!!! After they called the jet that started how they got to the castle. And when Spy and Dare got there they were elected leaders. They told everyone that they can go to their beds and rest. After they told them to get in their planes and go to do tricks and have an air show.

Chapter One

Hi, I’m Rayan, and my family is going to Puerto Rico.

“Hurry up, and get your bag. We have to go,” said my mom.

“Okay,” I said.

I love Puerto Rico. I go at least once a year, and I have so much fun! 

When we got to the security checkpoint at the airport, we were so sloppy we couldn’t even walk. We had to get up so early after we stayed up all night packing our bags, and we were tired! 

When we got on the plane, it was so hot. The flight attendant told me that my bag was too heavy and that it would have to go under the plane. I felt fine with that because I didn’t want to deal with my bag on the plane anyway.

When the plane was up in the air, the beverage cart came around. I had a Sprite, but it made me want to go to the bathroom. So I got up to go to the bathroom.

Chapter Two

When I got inside, the whole bathroom was shaking! At first I thought someone was playing a trick, but when I got out, I realized the whole plane was shaking.

“The turbulence has broken down the beverage cart,” the flight attendant said.

“Hey, folks, we just hit a patch of bumpy air,” the pilot said.

That did not seem right to me.

Chapter Three

The turbulence lasted for about two minutes more, but before you knew it, we landed. We were so tired.

When we were in Puerto Rico, we went to our summer home. Our summer home is big. It was dark, so I just went to bed.

Chapter Four: Pool Party

The next day, we went to my cousin Gabrel’s pool party. When we saw my cousins, we went to get a hot dog.

“Umm,” I said. “This is good.”

Chapter Five

I didn’t go in the pool. Last time, I fell in the pool with my normal clothes, and that was not fun. After five days, we had to leave for our flight. We left Puerto Rico, and we got on the plane to go back home. It was a great trip, and I had lots of fun!

THE END

Once there lived a donut, and her name was Sprinkles. She had chocolate icing and rainbow sprinkles.

Sprinkles really wanted to take a bite out of a muffin, but they were far away from where she was. She tried to roll, but the glass was blocking her. She was in a bakery. She was also next to one mean cupcake who did not let her move. The cupcake was too busy teasing her about being a donut and saying that they were better than her. She sometimes cried, but she learned to ignore them. Sometimes she wished she was a cupcake.

And then someone picked her up and put her in a brown bag. She was happy that she was leaving the cupcakes. But she was wondering where she was going. Sprinkles was a bit nervous but happy at the same time. Then she thought that she was moving for a long time. She was not happy anymore—she was scared.

Sprinkles didn’t know where she was going. Until she got put on a plate. She looked around and saw that she wasn’t in the bakery anymore. She didn’t recognize this place at all… until she realized that someone was making coffee. She didn’t know what they were doing. So she started rolling off the table, and then she saw a dog under the table. It looked like it was a bulldog. She froze. The bulldog chased her. The guy looked at Sprinkles and picked her up and… put her in the trash can. Ahh!

Sprinkles landed in a big pile of brown stuff. She sniffed it to see if it was a muffin. It smelled terrible. She didn’t know what it was… until she remembered that she had poked a hole in the brown bag before she was on the plate and saw the bulldog pooping. She screamed.

Sprinkles went to the opposite side of the trash can. She tried to climb out. She failed the first time, but after she tried a few more times, she did it. She pushed on the lid, and it worked! Sprinkles got out of the trash can so she hopped upstairs, making sure the bulldog didn’t see her or smell her to go take a shower.

She was thinking that the bulldog would find her any minute now, but no one came in the bathroom. When she saw the sink dripping, she went on the toilet, on the toilet paper, and then hopped on the sink. And she took her little shower. 

After she took a shower, she went to the edge of the sink and rolled to the other edge of the sink and jumped through the nearest window. She wouldn’t dream of living with a bulldog! She was terrified of it! She landed on a soft pile of grass. Then she saw the Bulldog sitting behind the back door screen—she didn’t care because he couldn’t get out.

“Do you want to go outside, Pumpkin?” someone said.

She quickly hid in a bush. The screen door opened and… Pumpkin ran outside and started chasing a butterfly. It was beautiful—it was purple with black swirls. She wanted the Bulldog to leave because she wanted to go back to the bakery and find the muffin. The dog stopped chasing the butterfly and started sniffing the floor. Sprinkles suddenly felt scared. When the dog came to the bush, she got very nervous too. So she backed up. The dog went around the bush and saw a little, tiny brown spot, and he went closer and saw Sprinkles. 

Sprinkles ran out of the bush and started going to the bakery. The person in the house started chasing after Pumpkin and brought him back to the house. She slowed down her pace. She didn’t know where she was going, though. So she tried to retrace her steps. When she got back to the house, she remembered the way to the bakery. So she went to the bakery. She had a problem when she reached the bakery. The door said, “Closed.” When she tried to open the door, it was locked. So she found a tree and climbed it. It was a small tree, so she jumped into one of the bakery’s windows. She landed where she remembered she was made. She thought it must be the kitchen. She went out the door and looked for the muffin. The muffin was sleeping, so she was very quiet so that the muffin wouldn’t wake up and get mad at her. She was about to take a big bite out of the muffin when the muffin woke up and looked at her. 

The muffin asked, “What are you doing?”

So she told the muffin the truth. The muffin wasn’t very upset, but the muffin said not to do it again. So Sprinkles said okay. Sprinkles could see that they were starting to make friends. She liked the muffin very much, so she asked if they could be friends. The muffin said yes, and she was very happy because now she really liked the muffin. The muffin asked if she could go back to sleep, and Sprinkles said yes because she didn’t want to lose a friend. She was very tired, so she fell asleep too. In the morning, she saw the bulldog and the man. The muffin was still sleeping, but she hid behind the muffin. The man was picking cupcakes next to him, and Sprinkles was glad that he didn’t like the cupcake because she knew what would happen to the cupcake. The muffin finally woke up, and he said that he should’ve introduced himself, so he said his name was Blueberry because he was a blueberry muffin. Sprinkles said that her name was Sprinkles. Now she realized that she didn’t want to eat a muffin but that she wanted to make friends with a muffin.

Chapter One

Once upon a time, there was a cupcake named Sophie. She lived in a bakery in New York. Sophie had everything but cake. Sophie really liked cake. When she was four years old, she started eating lots of cake. She would sneak into the kitchen in her house and grab a piece of cake and eat it in her room in a cabinet.

She had heard lots of people saying, “Can we have that piece of cake for a birthday party?”

That made her decide that maybe she could have a birthday party and have some cake. 

One night, when everybody was gone at the bakery, Sophie went out of her little house, out of the bakery, and went to go find a piece of cake.

On the news it had said, “Whoever gets this strawberry cake can have it for the rest of their life, and it is in Queens.” But Sophie had arms and legs made out of cupcakes. She started heading toward Queens on foot. She had to walk down the sidewalk, and when she was heading for Queens, a fox came by. It was a fox with a sword to block Sophie. 

The fox was getting ready to chop Sophie in half. The fox didn’t want Sophie to get the cake because he wanted it. Sophie was holding a basket of cherries just in case there was something blocking her, so she could just throw it at it. And then, when Sophie got to the fox, she threw the cherries at the floor, so the fox could catch them. So, the fox started catching the cherries with his sword, and after a couple of cherries, Sophie ran right past him.

When Sophie got past the fox, she was getting close to the bridge. She could see the bridge over the buildings. Sophie started to feel something really hot on her. Then, she looked up to the sky, and she saw red spots coming down from the sky.

“What in the world is going on?!”

It was raining hot sauce!!! Sophie tried to dodge the hot sauce. But, when the hot sauce started coming down hard, she still had to go under things so she could make it to the bridge. She saw an icy stand across the street. I think I should run super fast across the street to get to the icy stand to hide under! Then she climbed up a tree and jumped onto another tree, and there was a very long branch, and since there was a very long branch, she could balance on it and go the next tree on the other side of the street. When she dropped down from the other tree, she quickly ran to the icy stand, and she wanted a cup from the icy stand, so she could hide under. She saw it next to an icy bin and while the customer was ordering, Sophie quickly took a cup and hid under it. She got close to the bridge, the raining hot sauce stopped, and then she started walking towards the bridge.

Then a lion quickly ran in front of her and blocked her.

Sophie said, “Uh oh, why is there a lion in front of me??”

The lion heard her, and the lion said, “You’re not going to get to that cake because I want to get that cake also!”

And then Sophie said, “Well, I’m going to get that cake before you!” 

And then Sophie said, “Well, I will be able to sneak behind you and get that cake before you.” 

He said, “Are you sure? But I’m definitely going to block you.”

And then Sophie started hiding behind a rock right next to her. And the lion looked at the sky, and the sun started to rise up. So then, when Sophie was behind the rock, the lion looked back, and he was really confused where Sophie was. The lion looked where Sophie was standing, and the lion thought that Sophie just quickly went invisible. It was the lion’s first time seeing a real cupcake in his life that could move, so then the lion wouldn’t eat the cupcake because the lion didn’t like cupcakes, but the lion could smell the cupcake like animals. So then the lion looked for the cupcake, and then Sophie started to go on the bridge and walk.

The bridge had vines to swing on for fun. Sophie looked very confused. She never saw a bridge with vines. She saw points from the road and wondered why. 

Next, there were swords sticking up, and Sophie had to swing on vines and not fall on the swords. Since Sophie had arms and legs, she took her arms and hung on the vines, and she pumped her legs so she could swing. When Sophie was swinging on the vines, she could feel the breeze. When she swung onto the last vine, her hands almost slipped, and she almost fell. She quickly jumped on the other side of the swords. 

“Phew! I can’t believe I almost fell. I can’t wait to enter Queens!”

Queens seemed so close. In Queens, it looked so much different than in New York. There were no big people. There were only tiny people. All the buildings were are also tiny. She continued walking. She was heading to a park where a birthday party was. Sophie was really excited to go get the cake.

Chapter Two

Sophie saw the park and knew where to go. She was about to walk off the bridge, but then   there was a gorilla! The gorilla had an axe to block Sophie. When the gorilla blocked Sophie, the gorilla thought he could have the cake all to himself. 

“I’m going to go get that cake before you do!”

“Well, since I’m tinier than you, I can get it first!”

The gorilla saw the cherries that Sophie had in her basket.

“Those cherries look yummy.”

“Do you want these cherries?”

The gorilla said, “I’d love to take your cherries for dinner.”

“You can have all of these cherries for your dinner.”

Sophie brought the cherries for the gorilla to eat for dinner. When Sophie put the cherries to the gorilla to chop up, Sophie started tiptoeing past the gorilla until she got to the cake. It was strawberry cake with two levels, lots of vanilla frosting on the top, with rainbow sprinkles, and a cherry on top. Sophie was really surprised at how big the cake was.

“This strawberry cake looks very yummy!”

She licked her lips and made a delicious face. She thought she could share with her friends if she had enough to eat by herself. Sophie promised her friends that she would give some of the strawberry cake, and now Sophie was thinking, Should I keep it all to myself?

Meanwhile, the gorilla was thinking. After the gorilla chopped all the cherries into small pieces, the gorilla walked over to Sophie and said, “Can we trade these really small pieces of cherries for the whole cake?”

Sophie said, “No because I’m sharing it with my friends.” 

“Okay, fine, but one day I’ll get that cake!”

Then, the gorilla left and had his cherries for his dinner. 

Sophie decided to share with her friends because she promised them that she would share a piece of cake with them. And if she didn’t share with her friends, she thought that her friends wouldn’t want to be friends with her anymore and tell a lie to her friends. 

She called with her very tiny phone. Her phone had cat ears with strawberries. It has sprinkles all over it.

She said, “Do you want to have some cake with me?”

And then one of her friends, Emily, said, “Okay.”

She said, “I’m at a birthday party! Take a tiny car, and drive it to the Queens.”

And when Emily came, they had cake together.

Sophie said, “But, the thing is, I don’t know how to cut this cake!”

So then Emily quickly ran to the bakery and got a knife to cut the cake. Sophie and Emily cut the cake together, so they could share the cake. The cake was really good!

Sophie called her next friend with her tiny phone. She called her friend Lucy.

And Sophie told Lucy how to get to the birthday party. “So first you take a tiny car and you take it to the Queen’s. First when you get off the bridge, and you look to your right, the birthday party’s right there.”

And then when Lucy came to the birthday party, they shared one piece of cake together.

“Another day we’ll share the cake again.”

The next day, when they went back to the birthday party, they ate the rest of the piece of cake, and it took about nine hours. They felt hyper, and then at night they all went back to their homes in New York with their tiny cars and went to sleep.

Part One: The Great Museum

One day in the Met, all the Greek mythology and royal statues and animals wanted to be free and move around, so all of the statues and animals came up with a plan to sneak out in the night and move around. But then they remembered that the museum had guards to defend the outside, and inside, the watchers would see them move. Then they took a risk to just move around inside, and when the watchers pointed their flashlights, they would stand still. So at 2:00AM, they started to get out their bases and started playing tag and running, but then the night watchers started searching around. Once they heard a flick of the flashlight, they all needed to go to their base, and when they went away, they could start moving again. But one time when the watchers went away and the people started moving, one of the statues fell! He broke off a piece of him! The watchers turned around, and all the statues were moving but were too slow. They got caught! They ran to try to make a run for it towards the door, and once they got out, they jumped into the water in the fountains to hide. Once the watchers left, they moved to the back of the museum, so they would trick the watchers, but they didn’t because they stayed in the back. But instead of the watchers pulling them to their base, they screamed like girls and ran to the front of the museum. They didn’t pay attention to where they were running and ran their head right into a fountain. While that happened, all the statues went to the park and played more tag, but right before they knew it, it was 7:00AM.

Part Two: The Running Statues

At 7:00AM, they could have been seen, so they stayed up in a place where they were covered. Well… not really. They stayed up in a closed playground on 13th Street, and they said they would move to places and act like the thing they were. A statue or animal. They all split up. Some people went to the Empire State Building, Freedom Tower, Madison Square Garden, and more. When they got to their places, they even did some pranks. They split up, so one of the knights went to a playground, and he stood on a rock and stayed there. Once, he stayed still when people came and they actually thought he was a statue! They walked past him and touched him, and he stayed as still as a statue. After a few minutes, The Knight was ready to do a prank. He was right next to a bench that a dad put out a bag next to him. So first, he was starting out easy. The Knight tapped the dad on the bench. He tapped him and then went back to his pose. Tap pose tap pose. The dad was so confused! The dad was so scared that when The Knight tapped him, he jumped eight feet! It was so funny! Then The Knight took it to the next level. He kicked the dad in the butt and made him fly. He then grabbed the bag, put it in his pocket, and went back to his position. This time, the dad flew 50 feet! Then The Knight left on a car he snuck into. 

Meanwhile, the Greek Lady in a robe went to the Freedom Tower and stood on the street and waddled around the city. She went to the 9/11 Memorial and she stood there, looked down the hole and up to the Freedom Tower. She looked at all the names that died. She felt kind of sad and also kind of happy for the things that happened when she was made. It reminded her of her mom and dad and the memories they had, but they got destroyed. She also felt curious. Why would they destroy a cool building like this? Then, she waddled closer to the thing and looked deeper into the hole. More people came and it would be easier to be visible by more people, so she waddled backwards and went back to her normal statue position. 

While Greek Lady statue went to the Freedom Tower, the Baby Royal Horse statue went to the Natural History Museum. He was one foot tall and two feet wide. But, the Horse wondered how he would get in. Then, he saw a bag a little bigger than him and he thought he could sneak in that. So, he tapped the owner of the bag on the back. That made him look somewhere else, and then the Baby Royal Horse snuck into the bag and the owner of the bag didn’t notice. The owner of the bag went into the Natural History Museum and talked to the ticket people. After that, he knew he snuck in. The owner of the bag went into the marine animals exhibit to see the great blue whale. A lot of people adored the whale and some people were watching the TV. The guy who was carrying him went under the blue whale and looked around. He walked around for about two minutes. After he checked out the blue whale, he went back to the space area, where there’s also a big TV to watch about all the eors, shapes, stars, and planets. He didn’t go first to the TV. He went to the chunks of rocks from eors. He went to read about the different planets. The Baby Royal Horse was thinking, What’s is space? What are eors? What are planets? While the Baby Royal Horse was thinking that, the man went to the TVs. A lot of people were on the benches looking at the TV. They were very focused. The TV had a man on it saying things about stars and how fast they go. He thought, What are stars? After the man watched the video about eors, stars, and planets. He went to the land animals exhibit. There were rhinos, monkeys, elephants, tigers, bisons, and way more. The Royal Baby Horse had so many things in his mind. What are these animals? Are they alive? What is that background?

While the Royal Horse was in the Natural History Museum, Hercules went to the Guggenheim Museum and snuck in at night, but of course, there was a guard. So he snuck in very silently and quietly. He got caught one minute after, but the guard was dumb. The guard ran up the spiral, stood next to Hercules, and said something nobody could understand. Something like, “Yutiderawn cooooew!!!” Then Hercules punched him in the stomach, and the guard flew off the staircase and said something like, “Futfdssjsbnvjbhsaj!”  The guard flew 200 feet in the air and smashed through the wall. Then Hercules looked at the paintings and thought, Wow they look so colorful and bright and cool. Then he thought, I get why people love looking at things like me and these paintings. I want to get the attention again and respect. I’m going to tell the other statues and animals ‘Hey guys when I went to the Guggenheim Museum, I was amazed by the paintings and I thought I want respect, like how I liked the paintings. We’re cool and I bet people would like us.’ And he said, “I’m going to tell them how I want to go back!”

Part Three: The Lazy Guard

They were up in Central Park at 9:45PM, and Hercules told the Horse, Knight, and Greek Lady about the things he thought in his mind, and also the part when he punched the guard through`the wall. He got them pretty convinced to go back to the museum, so they agreed to go back and sneak into a car/truck and break the car with the mighty Hercules!!! So they saw a truck. It was a Whole Foods truck, and they jumped on it. Hercules winded up his arm and threw his best punch!!! Pow!!! And all of the truck parts broke in half like a knife through a piece of meat. Then they ran away because it was their last prank. They didn’t know where the Met was and they didn’t know where they were going.

They all went running in weird ways! They only knew the street the Met was on was 86th street, but they didn’t know which way went to 86th. Then they looked up and noticed the street signs. The number was 44th, and then they went to the next street 45th, next street 46th. They wondered, If we keep on going this way, will we go higher and get to 86th street? And then they said out loud the same thing they wondered. They agreed that they would go the way they thought was right. They got tired when they got to 54th street, so they took a break. They stole a drink and a bag of Cheetos from a pharmacy.

They waited for about five minutes and continued on their journey on getting to 86th street. Then they took a break at 70th street, and they were almost there! This time, they stole a big bottle of coke from a grocery store. Then they took a break at 81st street! They were so close this time, they stole a cake from a bakery for celebration, but when they thought they got out safely, they didn’t notice the camera caught them. They got caught!!! They ran out of the building like The Flash, while eating the chocolate cake, but they didn’t even get seen by anybody because the security guard was sleeping, so no need to worry. They celebrated with cake and walked to 86th. The guard screamed like a girl again, while they went to their bases and went to their poses.

Part Four: The Security Tapes

When they got to the Met, they thought they got back safely, and they didn’t think they got caught by the security camera. But the person controlling the security at night would check the tapes because he knew he fell asleep, and he would see the statues steal the cake and he would see the way they went. And so in the morning, the security guard checked the tapes and saw the statues. He wondered, Where did the statues go when they left? Then he thought, Wait… statues live in the museum and the Met is close to here so… they should be in the Met, right? So he went to the Met at 7AM, but it was closed, so he could not come in. So at 9AM, he went in. The statues were very scared, but when he went in, he got distracted. He looked at everything. He stayed at the water animals exhibit for 15 minutes and at the land animal exhibit for 20 minutes. He even stayed at the mummy exhibit for one hour!

He forgot about the statues, and the statues were not worried about him anymore, but then he remembered about the statues. He first went to the royal exhibit to find The Knight and Baby Royal Horse. When he got there, The Horse and Knight were scared when they saw him. They stood really still. The guard tried to touch one of the knights, but instead the guard for the museum tackled him like a football player. Unluckily, he broke his ankle and could not get up. There was one person that could look through walls and he looked through the bakery, where the security guard would be while it was closed because it opens at 2:00 for some reason.

The guy looked and saw nothing in the seat and screamed “Free cakes!” One million people came running at the bakery. The security guard tried to get back outside, but he just rested on the street, and the statues lived happily ever after.

The End

Chapter One

Once upon a time, there was a flying cow that breathed fire, but only when she wanted to. Her name was Agatha. She lived in a cave in the Netherlands. Her life was good, but she just wanted cake. 

The only things that were in Agatha’s way were a bat with a sword and a giant tarantula fish. The cake was guarded by the bat and the giant tarantula fish, and there was quicksand at the bottom of the cave that the fish and bat lived in! And there were rumors, ranging from a village boy in a shop to a knight-in-armor, that whoever went in there, no one came out alive.

Agatha had tried once, and almost got her head chopped off! But she was willing to do anything to get that cake. Over dinner, Agatha decided to go and get the cake, even if she did get her head cut off. She would even die just to get a bite out of the untouched cake she had heard about so much about from the newspaper bear. She started her journey.  

Chapter Two

When Agatha was halfway there, a sudden thought hit her brain with a bang. She felt worried. What if I fall in the quicksand before I get a taste of the cake? What if the bat kills me? Suddenly, she tripped on a rock and fell flat on her face! 

“Aah,” she said, and then giggled a long snorty giggle. Ignoring all her worries, she still kept going.

When she got there she eyed the quicksand, the giant tarantula fish, the bat with the sword, and the slightest hint of cake. It also smelled horrible in there. Since she was a cow, she didn’t have awesome athletic skills, so even with thoughts racing in her head she still shouted out, “Hey! I want cake! You’ve been keeping me from cake. I’m going to get that cake!” 

Suddenly everything was silent, then the bat flew at her from behind, and scratched the tip of her tail, not her body, but it hurt a lot. When they started the battle, the bat seemed to have the upper hand. He was slashing her with the sword, almost hitting her. It did get a few hard blows on her, on her black spot. Then Agatha got the upper hand. She tried to get the sword and held onto it with hooves and it did not cut her hooves. Then she was able to swing the bat around because the bat wasn’t supposed to let go of the sword. It threw it and then the giant tarantula fish caught it. 

Chapter Three

Agatha was triumphant!!! She went to the glass box that housed the cake, and looked at the keyhole. “Rats, darn it,” she said. 

But then she noticed the key. It was right next to the keyhole, just hanging from a peg! She giggled that snorty giggle of hers, and then the giant tarantula knocked her off her hooves! She got ready to cut off the creature’s head, the sword in aiming position, but as soon as the creature saw the sword, it squealed in horror at having its partner dead.

Then, it suddenly shrunk down to the size of a kitten and grew a tabby cats fur. Then its fins became a red collar, and it became a tabby kitten with a red collar that said, “My name is Sunny!!!” So Tabitha picked up Sunny, got the key, and unlocked the glass case. She reached inside, got the cake and then, to her horror, she found out it was soooo heavy! 

She couldn’t even fly because of the weight of the cake! But Sunny meowed along the way, even getting her clean paws dirty! So finally, she asked Sunny, “Would you be my pet?”

Chapter Four

Sunny meowed and it sounded like a yes kind of meow, and that gave Agatha the cow confidence. So she finally got home after a few stumbles and the occasional tripping on rocks and small animals. When she got home, she finally got to share it with her friends and family and she ate the biggest helping of cake. She also toasted s’mores with her breath and gave some to her friends, but ate the most s’mores Hadn’t she deserved it?

The End

December, 15, 1587

Dear Diary,

Daddy said he’ll be back soon. But I want to go with him just so bad. In England, here, there are not many opportunities for women. Hardly any, really. In what daddy calls ‘The New World,” people must farm. They must work. Even women. So maybe I’ll get a break from laundry, cooking, and cleaning all day. Maybe I can help build with my hands. Maybe I can learn how to fish! Here in England I did a task as simple as walking into a store in which they sold wood. The seller looked at me and said, “Hello, there. Um, the fabric store is just one avenue down. I can walk you if you’re afraid you’ll get lost.”  The man had a thin beard, just as thin as the ice he was standing on if he said anything like that to me again. No one will be on the land Daddy and I will venture to. Last night, Daddy had a man named Walter over for dinner. I call him Sir Rohlly, though. He wore a rugged blue coat and white shirt. He wore brown pants and shoes. The land will be called Roanoke, after my grandfather. I am begging my father, John White, to come along.

December, 15, 1804

Dear Diary,

Lewis just bosses me around. He knows of my many tongues, several skills, and connections so I can’t be too angry he is scared. Clark is no help, either. He simply buries his head in his hat. Sometimes they can be nice to each other, but most of the time, they fight like cats and dogs! “No, North is this way, Clark!” “No, Lewis.” And I sit there with the compass and laugh, because neither is right. But I breathe in and smell the trees, hear the hum of birds, see all the color, and most of all, wish I was back home, with my people. Instead of on the Lewis and Clark expedition. At home, they would include every one. We would share everything we had. I remember lending countless items to neighbors because they said please. “Please, Sacagewea, may we borrow your fishtrap?” We were all so polite. Ahhh, how I miss that.

December, 15, 1853

Dear Diary,

Tonight was a bigger group. Thirty, thirty-five, maybe. They all may be scared, but that sure doesn’t stop most of them. They travel through with me fast. Whenever they’re scared I tell them to think about the South. They start whispering with their neighbor when they’re scared, or they start to slump. They cross their arms at any sign of sound to think about how badly they were treated there. They quiver more thinking about the South than when they’re scared following me. Usually, it gets them going. Ten of the ones I rescued tonight were from my own plantation. Back when I left, the idea was next to insane. But now, people are flocking to hitch a ride on my railroad, with the best conductor. I must keep going back because I can’t think about those people I left behind. Even if they’re strangers, because of this, we’ve become friends. My brother is a Tubman, too. I wonder when he’ll want to leave. When I left, he wouldn’t leave. He would rather stay there, in the South, than travel to the North. He said he would rather be oppressed than get caught by people who approve of slavery. 

December, 15, 1903

Dear Diary, 

Not to brag, but I just won the Nobel Prize! For the second time! I recently discovered a green rock. It glows. I can turn it into liquid and find more. I call it Radium. Here, I’ll use it in a sentence; I discovered a new element: Radium. How about a song? Or a poem? You know what? I have to go to dinner soon, but maybe next time. This new element could do so much! It could save lives! Well, maybe. I’m worried about my husband. Ever since we started this project, he’s been very weak. But, as I’m sure you know, Curies are strong. He’ll recover.

December, 15, 1921

Dear Diary, 

Robert Abbot gave me a place to go. I want to fly so bad. And I will. In France. Not many will teach a black girl to fly in this era. I guess that means I’m ahead of my time. In France, I fly on a small plane. There are more buttons than there were sharecroppers on my field back in Texas. But I eventually learned what they all meant. As soon as the plane’s wheels start turning, I see the path growing shorter and shorter until I could no longer see the rock-filled road. Until I could see that very same road grow into nothing but one line amongst greenery so lush, it looked like second clouds. Until I could no longer see the road anymore, just a quilt of green. Until finally I could see the faint line of the road, then it grew bigger, and bigger and bigger, until the wheels of my plane smoothly touched the road. I remember the dirt roads in Texas. How when I walked my heels kicked up red dirt. It took me a while to get used to the city.  After many days of being up in that plane, I am handed my flying license. It has a picture of me and next to my picture the index card says “Bessie Coleman”.

December, 15, 1921

Dear Diary,

My father says that no woman should be in the cockpit. That they shouldn’t even be in the passenger’s seat. Well, to all those who think that, I will prove you wrong. It’s my third week flying on The Canary. It’s bright yellow and has an upgrade: cup holders. But I am fully focused on the air, the sky, and the cockpit when I am flying. When I was small, my father took me to an airshow. The male pilots did amazing things that took real courage and moxie. They did figure eights and loop-de-loops! I was absolutely marveled as they spun round and round. I told my father, right there, “Daddy, I want to do that. I want to fly.” My father told me to just see what happens. And now, fifteen years later, I am in the cockpit. First, the heat is so hot it’s like I am in a desert in the summertime. But I still climb into the tiny plane and flick up some switches. Then I start to move. When the wheels take off I feel like I’m on top of the world, though by this point I’m only 50 or 60 feet in the air. I have nothing to worry about. The blue goes on forever. And when I’m up in the clouds, I leave behind every one who thinks women shouldn’t fly. And I just do. I just fly. But what comes up, must come down. The plane’s wheels hit the ground again. And I get ready to re-enter reality. Because flying  in that plane up there seems almost to good to be true.

December, 15, 1935

Dear Diary,

It’s my husband’s second year serving as the president of the United States. And it’s my second year serving as the first lady. I drive the car to grab groceries, cook dinner, clean, and give speeches about civil rights in the very same day! Of course our maid, Mary, helps with chores, too. Living in the whithouse does have its perks. I am to speak tomorrow as well. I have it all prepared. When Franklin was campaigning, he would practice each of his speeches at least fifty times. And he would speak them to me. So I present my speeches to Franklin. Every night. He gives me terrific feedback. Our goals are different, yes, but Franklin supports me a whole lot. I am grateful to have such a wonderful husband and think we make a wonderful team. 

December, 15, 1872

Dear Diary,

I went through the streets today. Seventy-five women followed me, holding up signs saying “RIGHTS FOR ALL” and “EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN”. I held up a sign that said both. A couple of months ago I voted. They said it was illegal, but ,no, it was right. Three women came with me. Everyone stared, but we put in our ballots and walked out of there like we owned the place. I had dinner last night in my apartment. I cut out the words in articles that all citizens are supposed to trust. Usually, I love seeing my name in print, but not in these articles. They say things like Susan B. Anthony voted illegally for the U.S. president. She will be questioned.

December, 15, 2000

Dear Diary,

I know that everyone deserves a fair trial, so I give them one. I am the second female Supreme Court Justice. I don’t have much to write about. Yesterday I argued a murder case. It’s really quite exhilarating. Looking at evidence, hearing both sides, (it makes it easier when my kids are fighting) and getting to decide the fate of these people. I am working on a case for a woman named Mrs. Boji. She says while she, her husband, daughter, son, and sister were on the beach for ‘Splash Saturday,’ there car was stolen. In the car, there was a necklace of diamond and gold. I am writing now, but Ms. Boji, Mrs. Boji’s sister, is supposed to come by and talk so we can figure out more about this case. I must look over some documents and papers before she arrives.

December, 15, 4012

Dear Diary,

This is the first time I’m writing. I thought it might be a good time to write considering I am going on an adventure. I am in my space pod right now traveling back in time about 3000 years to meet Elizabeth White. Then I will keep recruiting influential women from the past. Why? Oh. Because an evil man named Xoron Zomm is trying, and succeeding, to destroy planet earth. He wants to put us back in the dark ages. My name is Quinn Quile. My father is… well… our version of a president. So, he chose his only daughter to save the world. I’ll write back soon, but I think I just landed In England. December, 15, 1587.

***

Alright, Elizabeth’s on my ship. I was so brave! Elizabeth was sewing on a rocking chair when I walked in. I told her of the future. She was actually looking for adventure. Of course, it took me an hour to get Elizabeth to that state. At first she held her needle up like I was an intruder. But she wanted more. She knew coming with me would give her that. So, she followed me onto my pod.  She gladly followed me on my ship with her needle and thread. She is now looking all around like she’s never seen an intergalactic starship before! Daddy taught me of each of these times and constantly, up to the moment my pod left 4012, to not tell of these women’s individual futures. So I couldn’t tell Elizabeth that Roanoke disappears and that she could not venture there with her father. But I could venture myself to retrieve the next woman on my list. Sacagewea. 

Sacagewea is now on my ship. I found her three hours ago sharpening a wood knife. She pushed another sharp object away from her. She didn’t look up from her task until I said. “Ma’am…” I mean, sure, ma’am might not have been the best thing to call Sacagewea. You call a Prodfert ma’am. 

Prodfert: Noun

Meaning 1: A 4000 century version of a president.

(The Prodfert in 4012 is Zomp Quile)

Meaning 2: A small water bug that is green and microscopic.

(That atom is as small as a Prodfert) 

Or

(Another name for a female Prodfert is ma’am.)

But, I mean, I was super nervous! Even in my time Sacagewea is a legend. Anyway, she looked up from her knife, and she said, “Hello…”

I took a deep breath. I was talking to the Sacagewea. Deep breath. But before I could say anything else, she said something. “Why are you wearing such funny clothes?” I looked down, forgetting for a moment that the clothes I was wearing Sacagewea did not know of. I was wearing a Jupingoe.

Jupingoe: Noun.

Meaning 1; A garment of silk cloth that important people of 4012 wear.

(I saw Quin Quile wear a Jupingoe on Sunday.)

Now, before I continue I would like to alert that I am only writing explanations of these words because Daddy says we might get this book published. They will sell my book in every year in every place. Anyway, I told Sacagewea I was of a different world, which was more or less true. I could tell her everything as soon as she was looking around my pod like Elizabeth, like she had never seen one before. Sacagewea wore Shoshone clothing and her long black hair was in two braids. I recognized the two men behind squabbling about something. Sacagewea looked at me. Sacagewea wasn’t going to come with me by will, but maybe by fear. “I am a Nimerigar. Go pack.” Sacagewea looked quite scared. But she listened. I know it was cruel, but daddy told me to use any tactic necessary in order to get the women we sought to cooperate. I will tell her the truth in the pod.

Nimerigar: Noun

Meaning 1: A Shoshone myth of a person that eats people.

Sacagawea followed me, brown bag slung over her shoulder, knife in hand. When I showed her my pod she put her knife in her bag.

“You are no Nimerigar! This is not a Nimerigar home!” Sacagewea turned to go back.

“Wait!” I screamed after her. She turned back.

“Yes?” She said harshly. “I know you do not like Lewis and Clark. But you are talented. I need your help. Please.”

“How?” she answered skeptically.

“The future is in peril. And we need you to save it.”

“Why would I help a liar?”

I sighed. “Because if you stay, you, yes you, will be a legend.” Then realizing what my father had said I added, “Maybe. But, you can change the world if you come with me.”

And she said “Okay.” And that is how I got Sacagewea on my pod. Next stop; 1853.

***

So…that was hard. Harriet came after many attempts, but eventually, I knew just what to say. Three down, six to go. Marie Curie. I got out my radiation suit.

***

Marie Curie was easy to persuade.

I found her where she spends most of her time. In her lab. She swirled the glowing liquid with a spoon. “Marie Curie…” She wasn’t as surprised as I’d expected.

“Hello. I always have time for fans.” 

“No, no” I stammered. “Well, yes, I am a fan, but that’s not why I came. The future is in peril. We need your help.”

“Sure,” said Marie. “Really? Just… just like that?”

“Well, yeah. I think it’s a great opportunity. Besides, I’m quite curious.” Curious Curie down. Five more to go.

***

Both Bessie Coleman and Amelia Earhart jumped at the chance to come to the future and fly. They became great friends when I brought them back to my pod.

“I think we deserve a nickname.” Amelia said.

“I agree.” Bessie found a spot next to Amelia who found a spot next to Marie. “How about…. The Future Flyers!”

“Brilliant, Bessie!” Amelia cried.

***

Eleanor Rooesvelt I found cooking smoked salmon with her maid for dinner.

“Mary, will you give us a minute?” I smiled a little. So did Elanor.

“So, how’d you get in? Through the front door?” The truth is, I used my flantro.

Flantro: Noun

Meaning 1: A device that makes you shapeshift.

I turned into a ma’am. But of course I didn’t tell Eleanor that. I told her the same thing I told Marie. It’s just getting easier and easier.

***

I now have seven women on my pod. I just retrieved one more. I found Susan eating alone in her house. She wasn’t all that scared to see me.

“Susan—” but before I could go on Susan interrupted me.

“I prefer Ms. Anthony,” she said sternly.

“Ms. Anthony.”

“Oh, yes.”

“The future needs you.”She looked down. “I must stay here. Women need me.” “Exactly. In the future. No time will pass.” Ms. Anthony nodded.

***

One more. Ruth was in a courtroom. She was alone. “Ruth.” She looked up from the paper she was reading.

“Ahhh. You must be Ms. Boji, sister of well, Mrs. Boji.”

“No, sorry.”

“Oh. Then why are you here?”

“The future is in great peril. We need your help.”

“We?”

“Everyone in 4012.”

Ruth studied my face. “I am a judge,” she said. “I can tell if you’re lying or not. And my conclusion: I believe you.”

Nine down.

December, 16, 4012

Dear Diary,

Alright, I have nine women who are strapped in. Elizabeth has had eight… incidents… if you know what I mean. About to be ten. Of course I’ve only traveled this far through time once. And that was to England to meet Elizabeth. Ms. Anthony still seems a bit confused. But this is not a problem. She will soon see the peril the earth is in. I still have pictures in my head. Xoron wears his hair back slick, and says I am his niece. By blood, I am. But I do not love Xoron in the slightest. He says he is trying to cure the world of a terrible illness and only three stand against him. I stand against him and so do my parents. The visuals give me nightmares. Silly. Big twelve-year olds like me don’t get nightmares. The women are growing to be impatient now. So, I climb in the cockpit, turn on The Super Lukspower 3000, and start the engine.

The Super Lukspower 3000: Noun and Proper noun

Meaning 1: a super time travel thing that me, Fomal Cruston, the writer of this dictionary, does not understand. It helps with time travel. I think.

Meaning 2: An amazing futuristic cereal that I, Fomal Cruston, the writer of this dictionary, invented. Try it!

Not really my first choice to include a dictionary, but everyone from everywhere and whenever may read this book, so I kind of have to include one.

The engine revved and then I saw black. In the back I heard nine groaning noises. What a mess that must have made. I thought, too afraid to look back. Such a shame these women left their journals and diaries back in their time zones. That was three hours ago.

When I landed in an intergalactic port, one which we call, Intergalactic Port #14. (I think it’s got a nice ring to it). No one realized my return or that I brought nine women out of my pod or the different cultures each came from. Why? Xoron. Xoron’s view on how to “cure this wretched planet” (his words, not mine) was to absorb everyone into their phones, holograms, TV’s and video games. So, as I, and my nine recruits walked up the cobblestone road, only Ruth and I recognized the oldest of the technology that someone was holding to their face. An iphone x. There was a big building and in front of it were the words “You will be processed for weaponry and other security needs, but welcome to earth. Or welcome to 4012.” Elanore Roosevelt and Marie Curie took great lengths of time feeling the walls of the building. I don’t know why. I’m sure even in 1903 and 1935  they had extra-condensed-super-absorbing-foamy-incredibly soft metal that looked and smelled and felt like vanilla cake (ECSAFISM), but if they didn’t, I suppose I understand why they had their noses glued to the wall. I let the girls sniff the wall while I tried to get us Country Enter Forms. The accountant was clicking his mouse furiously. He clearly had had that computer for a very long time if it still had a mouse.

“Excuse me?” I asked in the most polite way I could considering everything with Xoron. 

“I’m on my break,” said the man not looking up. “Try Sarah.” He then groaned and started clicking again.

“The thing is,” I tried again, “We need Country Enter Forms… now.” I said this in  a very harsh, stern voice. The man playing video games kept his right hand to the mouse and his eyes locked on Pac Man, but with his left hand he grabbed a box of Country Enter Forms from under his desk. 

“Man! You messed me up!” The man looked up at me. His pupils glowed… blue. “If you ever mess me up again I… oohh! A new round’s starting!”

Country Entrance Forms: Noun

Meaning: A form which you need in order to legally be on Earth in the 4000 century.

The girls followed me outside. Several people, kids and adults, sat cross-legged in the shrubbery behind Intergalactic Port #14’s parking lot. I took the biggest flying van. Sure, you could call it theft…

Then, I drove home, situated my recruits, greeted my parents, and am now writing to you back in 4012 in my nice bed. I need something to call my recruits. The Recruits. No. The Maybees. Nuh-uh. The Time Capsule. Yes. I made a small… index I guess you could call it that. Here it is;

The Time Capsule:

A cool team of heroes

Elizabeth White

Their Supername: A Braver Snow White

What They’re Good At: taking on risks

What They’ll Do: they’ll work in the field

Sacagewea

Their Supername: Mother Nature

What They’re Good At: many tongues, is one with nature, and is brave

What They’ll Do: they’ll work both in the field and as a detective

Harriet Tubman

Their Supername: The Conductor

What They’re Good At: brave and daring

What They’ll Do: they’ll work in the field

Bessie Coleman

Their Supername: The Perfect Pilot

What They’re Good At: adventures

What They’ll Do: they’ll work in field and specialize in flight

Amelia Earheart

Their Supername: The Amazing Aviator

What They’re Good At: adventures

What They’ll Do: they’ll work in the field and specialize in flight

Marie Curie

Their Supername: The Mad Scientist or Curious Curie

What They’re Good At: curiosity

What They’ll Do: at home base

Susan B. Anthony

Their Supername: Superb Suffragette

What They’re Good At: determined

What They’ll Do: both

Eleanore Roosevelt

Their Supername: The Revving Roosevelt

What They’re Good At: persistent

What They’ll Do: both

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Their Supername: The Judge

What They’re Good At: fair

What They’ll Do: at home base

Quinn Quile

Their Supername: The Leader

What They’re Good At: brave

What They’ll Do: both

 I  have a plan on how to defeat Xoron.

December, 17, 4012

Dear Diary,

I met with my father and The Time Capsule after breakfast. The room we were in was dark and dank with only one computer. We had to keep our plans secret. I gave each Capsule a Jupingoe to fit in. They still don’t. Not like anyone is paying attention.

“My father and I believe Xoron has the control of all technology wherever he is. So we find that, turn it off, and then, the electricity in all technology shorts out worldwide. No more tech, no more zombies.” The women nodded reassuringly. I read aloud the chart I wrote last night and they all seemed pretty pleased, so I was pleased.

“Well, you know your uncle, where would he go?” asked Ms. Anthony. I knew my uncle not, but my father grew up with Xoron.

“Dad?” I asked.

He looked ahead. “Syshy Valley,” my dad said, snapping back. “We used to go there for summers. But then one summer, Ma’ams had infected the place. It took years to rid them, so we bought another house during those years. We never went back to Syshy.” I nodded. “Thanks.” The seven women who were out in the field with me followed me. Bessie and Amelia flew for backup.

When we arrived in Syshy Valley, I could tell there used to be houses; plots of land were bare without the grass, but only one house remained, well, if you could call it a house. Wood panels were torn from the base and I could only see the faintest bit of teal paint that was once oh so bright.

“Ready yourselves,” I told my girls. We easily broke the rotting door down. Empty. Well, except for a striped couch that had so many holes, you could call it swiss cheese.

“Dad,” I said through the intercom, “it’s empty.” There was silence for a moment, but then my dad said. “The boathouse.” We walked another mile to a smaller house with similar appearance as the last. Again we knocked down the door smoothly and with ease. There was indeed a man hunched over a table and a ball-type thing which I assumed was the tech controller. Beakers with blue liquid and pastry dishes with red filled the table, cluttering it beyond my belief. The butterflies in my stomach would not stop flapping, but I walked forward.

“Oh, my niece,” said Xoron, not turning around, “you brought friends. How quaint.”

“Go,” I whispered. Eleanor was punched in the eye by Xoron. Girl down. “The ball thingy. Get the ball thingy.”

“I can hear you, you know. Now, before I punch anyone else, I’ve prepared a speech. A villain speech.” The walls were rotting like those zombified people. “Good.” Xoron smiled. “The blue light that shines off of tech is great! For every year you look at it, you live an extra five years. It’s great! And the pupils glow a pretty blue. Always was your father’s favorite color.”

“No, Xoron!”

“Ahh, so uncle is a thing of the past. Last chance. Does no one not want to be punched?” Elizabeth put up her fists. “Start punching.” Each writhed in pain for 20 minutes. Harriet knocked her head on the wall. Xoron punched Sacagewea three times in the stomach and Elizabeth five times. But I led Xoron outside. This gave Bessie and Amelia time to sneak in and grab the ball. 

“Sorry, unc.” And I threw metal cuffs over Xorons hands.

“You’ve stopped me, but you will never stop the world I created!” I’ve been working on the police force since my tenth birthday. My father always taught me to never listen to a freshly arrested criminal.

“You’ll never stop me…” That’s mostly what they say. So, I walked back to my van with Xoron and put him in shotgun.

December, 17,  4012

Dear Diary,

I think each of these women brings different things to the team. Marie is a scientist, Ruth is a judge, so she can get the truth out of people, and all of them are just so brave; they’re perfect for the field. Almost everyone in 4012 is zombified by their tech. I’m with Marie working on how to work the ball so we can turn off all the phones everywhere. Ruth is questioning Xoron. She came out with no definitive expression on her face.

“He’s telling the truth,” Ruth said as she came out of the prisoner wing. “The ball is what controls the tech.”

“Can’t we just… cut it,” Suggested Harriet.

“Cut it. Cut it!” Marie said sarcastically. “Wait… ” she said, “that could work.”

“Bessie. Amelia. Do you have… a wrench or something? For your plane?”

“Yeah. I was helping Amelia work on the fuselage last night!” Everyone except Amelia stared at her blankly. “I’ll go get it,” she said. I think she was embarrassed.

Seven minutes later she came back. Marie took it from her and pounded. It didn’t budge. After several more tries, it split. It split! Marie took out the important wires. We had done it! Our one computer screen turned off. We really had done it. All nine of us have saved the human race! 

December, 18, 4012

Dear Diary, 

Every rose has its thorn; every cloud rains; every up has its down. Today I must return all of the women back to their respective time zones. 

***

Alright. I’ve returned them all. I cried at every one. But each of them said if there’s anything that ever happens to call them. That it was super fun working with everyone. I also told them to tell no one of this adventure. No time had passed. I had completed my mission and made a few friends on the way. I kind of hope another peril happens. I could assemble The Time Capsule again.

Epilogue

May, 11, 4013

Dear Diary,

When I awoke this morning I heard a loud, blaring alarm. My father ran in and shook me. He looked worried. I’ve never seen him this worried before.

“Xoron’s escaped,” he said, painting, “and so has every other villain in our cells.” I knew that I could assemble The Time Capsule again! Time for another adventure.

Once a upon a time, there was a giant named Sugar. She lived on top of the clouds. Sugar had very curly hair. She was 53 years old. Her favorite color was dark blue. Her whole life she had been looking for a dark blue sandal. The sandal was special because her great-grandmother wore it everywhere. Her great-grandmother lived far, far, far away in a different part of the sky.

One day, she decided to look for it. So she went into her closet and pulled out the box that her great-grandmother left for her, and then she found the map. She also found a note that said, “Go down to Earth, and make a left, and you will find the guy who sells the sandals.” Then, she packed her bag with something to trade with the guy who was going to give her the sandal. She also packed food just in case.

Just then, a wind blew past. Then the map flew away! She also was only a quarter of the way down the ladder! She felt stuck. She was thinking about the dark blue sandals and missed wearing them.

Then she saw bluebirds. Sugar knew how to speak bird language.

She asked the birds, “Can you help me?”

The birds said, [tweet translation] “Yes, do you have any food?”

“Yes I do.”

Sugar gave them the food. So they went on. They helped her get down from the ladder. Sugar said bye and thank you to the birds, and they flew away.

She looked around and saw a bunch of small people. Even though she was born on Earth many years ago, she was confused. All of a sudden, she shrunk. She felt like one of her toy dolls. Sugar knew that she was smaller because even though she was a giant who lived on the clouds, now she was on Earth. So now, she started to look for the sandals salesman. Then she saw the man who sold them to the left of the ladder. She went up to him.

She asked him, “Can I have those sandals?” 

The man said, “Yes, do you have something to trade?”

“Yes, I have a pair of white shoes that make you fly.”

The man said, “I’ll take them.”

Sugar gave the man shoes, and she felt upset because she was going to use those shoes to fly back up to the clouds. The man gave Sugar the sandals, and she put them on, and she started to fly. She thought, Wow! I’m flying! These are even better than my rocket shoes!

Sugar got back to her home in the clouds happy and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

“Pack your stuff, Blobby! We’re going soon,” says Blobby’s mom, Blobba.

His sister, Blooba, says, “I’m finished packing!”

“I’ll be there in just a sec!” says Blobby.

He’s bringing clothes and a suit that can fly, and if he falls out of the thing that goes, he can fly. He’s feeling like he doesn’t want to go, and that’s why he isn’t finished packing and everybody is. He brings the stuff downstairs, and he sees all the seals waiting in the car for him. There is his father, Blapa, his grandpa, Bloopa, and his grandma named Blocka. And he sees his brother, and his name is Bloobo. They’re in a limousine, but it’s called Bloopausine. 

As they drive, they play slug bug. So first, Blobby sees a bug and picks Blooba. He hits Blooba. The first person to find the bug does it. Blooba starts looking, and then everyone does. Then, Blooba finds a bug and hits Blobby, and then Blobby’s mad at Blooba.

He says, “You hit me harder than I hit you!”

And then Blooba and Blobby keep on hitting each other until the car stops at the Cliff of Doom. Then they all go out, but they need a flying car! Luckily their Bloopausine has a thing where it drops the wheels and it brings up jets. So they fly their Bloopausine off the cliff, the Cliff of Doom, and it falls through the Hole of Doom and it goes through a pathway, the Pathway of Doom. Then it falls through another hole, and it crashes at a store, but the Bloopausine starts failing, so they have to walk with flashlights. 

Blooba says, “Where are we?”

Blobba says, “The pathway to the forbidden world.”

Bloopa says, “How long will this be?”

Blapa says, “It will take about a blobuy year.”

The floor starts rumbling, and then this huge tentacle comes out of the floor, and it grabs everybody except Blobby. And then Blobby is scared, so he tries to get back on Bloopausine and fly back out of the Cliff of Doom. When he flies out of the Cliff of the Doom, the Bloopausine is way too fast, and it goes all the way around to the North Pole. That is where he builds his house. 

Twenty years later… 

Blobby wants to eat his stomach.

Blobby is mad at himself because he can’t find the forbidden world. Blobby goes to a store in Tennessee with lots of sweets, but he forgets his wallet, so he has to go way back to the North Pole to get his wallet but has to get back before all the sweets run out at the store. He’s blobbing by, bouncing up and down on his belly. He finds the Tennessee store, but they ran out of everything, so he goes to another galaxy named Blobby-Bloo-Bloo.

He takes this magical train that can transport him to the other galaxy. The train looks like a normal subway 2 train, but it has sparkles around it.

It says, “Blobby-Bloo-Bloo Express.”

It goes 20 million miles per hour. Blobby is shaking really fast, and then it stops at a sudden point, and it booms him to the back of the train. That’s when he gets there.

Blobby walks off the train, and there are magical stairs going down to North Blobbie. He’s in Blobby-Bloo-Bloo, and instead of countries, there are bobbies. Bobbies are like countries, but they’re a different name.

Blobby goes to a bobbie, and this bobbie is named North Bobbie, and he goes to this place to find more sweets. North Bobbie has Bobbie Chocolate, Bobbie Popsicles, and a famous sweet called Blobbies Blue. Blobby goes to find it because it’s the most unhealthy, so it can make his stomach much bigger and faster. It’s made of seal stomach and dots of chocolate and vanilla and milkshake poured in and made of dough. He finds it, but it’s 22 billion dollars! Right now he has 22 million, and he needs 100 times more money than he has now to get that. So he tries to find a job in North Bobbie. He gets a job bloobing, which is like cleaning but it’s called bloobing on North Bobbie. He’s cleaning a window in a top house with his paw, but he has a problem. For every year he gets $10,999, at the end of the year he has $22,010,999, but it’s still not enough. So he has a solution of running for president! Then he realizes that in this country there are already two other seals running for president. So he tries to protest that there can be three seals running for president, and he wins the protest with other seals. Blobby gives a speech.

He says, “Blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah bloo blah blah blah blah.” I will make so many sweets in North Blobby that everybody will be happy!

They all clap for him and cheer!

Then, the professional Blobbie that used to be president counts up all the votes that the other seals did and says, “Blobby wins!”

Then, Blobby throws the microphone up in the air like how you would throw your hat up in the air if you won something. He gets elected! He makes lots and lots of sweets and gets lots and lots of money! One year passes with him as president, and he gets lots of money, and now he has a really good life. He realizes he doesn’t want to eat his stomach anymore because he’s president of this galaxy, and his life is so good, and he doesn’t want to die anymore. 

So, maybe Blobby thinks he doesn’t have to always eat his stomach. Instead he thinks he could just eat his hand!

So Bloby is in the White House with his bandage around his hand. And he is in bed. The blood is dripping out of his bandage, and he decides to go to the hospital. So, he goes to the hospital, and they say that he should have another bandage to have protection over his hand. So, they give him another bandage to put around his hand, and they give him an extra one in case the blood comes dripping again. That night, it isn’t dripping, so that is good. During the day, he goes to see all of his money in the huge room that all of his money is in. When he opens the door, the money is gone. He blobs up and down in disapointment, and then he realizes he put all of his money in the bank. So, he blobs over to the bank. So, he goes to the bank, and one person is very, very, very mean and shoots Blobby. He is lying on the ground.

Blobby wakes up in the hospital. He finds himself wrapped all in bandages, and he looks like a mummy.

He asks the doctor, “When will I be back at the White House?”

“Never for the rest of your life,” he says.

And he says, “Do I have to pay for this?”

They say, “Yes, you have to pay two million dollars for this.”

But then, he realizes he forgot where all his money is and that somebody stole it. And payment is due on Monday. He has two days. So, he races out of the hospital before anybody can catch him. With all bandages around, he can’t blob anymore, so he’s just rolling around the street. He thinks he should go to the jail to see about the guy who shot him to figure out where his money is.

So, he’s at the jail. The jail has bars that looked like a tic-tac-toe board. One person is in a room, and the bars are going up and down. Blobby is really small, so he is able to climb through a hole in the tic-tac-toe board. But, he decides not to because somebody could just smash him, and he’s already really hurt. He is just looking around to find the guy. 

He passes people, and randomly someone says in a hoarse voice, “Hey yo, help me!”

Blobby looks at the guy. This guy looks like a seal that has goose bumps all around him, and his hair is all crinkly and going down. He doesn’t have shoes. He does not look like the guy who shot him. Blobby is looking for the guy who has a black hat with the brim in the back and Tony Stark glasses.

He asks that guy, “Do you know where this seal is with a cap with the brim facing on the back of his head and Tony Stark glasses?”

He says, “I’ve seen him around at lunch, but I don’t know where his jail cell is.”

And then he coughs. He starts having a conversation about stuff that he was innocent of. So, Blobby just walks around looking for the guy who shot him. Then out comes a seal that actually looks like him. He has all the same things he remembers him wearing! 

So Blobby is talking to the seal who shot him, and he says, “Do you have any idea where the money is?”

The seal who shot him says, “I have no idea where the money is. I also didn’t know that I shot you. I might have been hypnotized by someone else to do that and the other seal might have your money, but I don’t know who that other seal is.” 

So Blobby rolls out of the jail, and he rolls to the White House, and a quarter of the money is at the White House, and he’s rolling towards it to jump in it, but a creepy, huge tarantula swoops up all the money and starts crawling away. Blobby is too frightened and just stands there and then faints. When Blobby wakes up, he’s in his North Pole bed, back at his home in the North Pole, and realized his whole journey had to be a dream!

Blobby says, “Blah bloo!!!”

THE END

Blobby’s problem… do todo da do Blobby’s problem… do todo da do 

Chapter One

One day, a long time ago, there was a big storm. Rain was pouring. Lightning was flashing. Thunder was rumbling. People were getting very sick because the rain went very hard on them. Stores were crashing because of the lightning, but the rain, lightning, and thunder loved this. They loved it because they wanted everything to go away so that then it would only be Rain, Lighting, and Thunder to rule. They were laughing very hard because they wanted the whole world to belong to them forever!

Chapter Two

But they didn’t know that sea creatures were watching them and trying to kill them! On the team, there was a dolphin, a whale, a shark, a stingray, and the last sea creatures were an alligator and crocodile, and they were twins. The team of the sea creatures wanted to defeat Rain, Lighting, and Thunder, because that team was the bad team and they were a good team.

Chapter Three

They both were fighting. The whale slapped the clouds until they went to dusk. The shark was biting into all of the clouds until they turned to dust. The dolphin was ridiculously thirsty, so it was sucking up all of the rain. The stingray was slapping the thunder. And the alligator and crocodile were stepping on the sky. Even though they got stepped on, they fought back against the feet. Rain, Lighting, and Thunder vs. the Sea Creature Team.

Chapter Four

They were all trying to fight the shark and stingray and the rest of the sea creatures. The Sea Creature Team was defeating them. The Sea Creature Team won!

My name is Shealia. Don’t be surprised when I tell you this, but I am not a person. My true identity is a printer. I work at the FBI. You may be thinking, That can’t be terribly interesting. But in my 24-year life, I have soaked up thousands of juicy secrets. Don’t get me started on them!! 

I looked at the clock on the wall. It was 5:21 am. Smash! Crash! The sound of broken

glass filled the empty floor. I heard frantic yelling, then, a man in a pitch black full body-suit raced down the hallway and dove under me. I was astonished! I knew the FBI held very important documents that any decent crime-committee would want, but not to brag, my building is probably the safest in the state, even the country. I wish I was allowed to move, but the still-object code requires that I (you guessed right) stay still.

All of a sudden, a whole police brigade broke into the building, adding to the chaotic environment. The head police officer accidentally bumped my print button. That was it! I printed out in my neatest font: Under me! 

The police spun around, looking extremely confused. The head police officer read my message carefully, then motioned to another police officer who checked me for booby traps. Of course I did not have any. Why would I in the first place? A third police officer shrugged and as quick as lightning, the head police officer got down on her knees and crawled under me where the robber still was. I could tell that he was petrified. The police officer neatly captured him in one swift, silent move.

Fifteen years later… 

My name is Shealia. I am the most famous printer in the world. (The only one for that matter too.) I have won the Purple Heart for my bravery and the Nobel Peace Prize for my peaceful approaches to robbery. I am the best friend to the head of police, an activist protesting against the still-object code, and a detective to the police, all thanks to that fateful night.

Once upon a time there was a fish, and this fish was destined to go on a journey somewhere unknown. Bem bem bem beeeem beeeeeeeem bem bem bem bem beeem beeeeem bem bem bem bem bem bem bem bem bem bem bem beeeem bem! So one day, a fish was swimming in an ocean, and it was very hungry, and just so you know this fish had no friends or parents, so he was all alone. Every fish in the sea would always make fun of him just because of how he looked, so he tried getting a haircut, but that made it worse, so he wore this hat forever to show that he was strong. But that didn’t work either, and one day the fish threw him out of the sea. Remember that hat he wore? Yeah, it had magical powers, so he was able to breathe out of water. All the fish in the sea were very surprised, and all the fish in the sea all of a sudden respected him. This fish finally got a name. Nogill. So anyway, Nogill set off to find his meaning in life. He saw lots of things and went on a great adventure. When he was walking through a dark aisle, he saw two men wearing black. The two men lunged at him, and right at that moment, a scar fell out of the sky, and that is when fishsticks fell in love. With guns, he head shot the two men wearing black, and they fell to the ground. Then another man appeared, but this man was wearing white. The man looked Nogill up and down. You will be fine.

To be continued…  

Anna

I inhale deeply. The noise of rich Overs listening to the lies their “leader” tells them makes me sick. I almost feel bad, but no, he deserves this. They deserve this. Even if they knew the truth, they would never help us. To them, we are nothing. There is no turning back now. If I do, they will catch me. I need the money for my family. 

While I may have a ruthless job, it is common among people like me. Poor people, Unders, I mean, the dirt on the bottom of the rich people’s shoes. Since all the jobs that are kindly provided for us are dangerous, have long hours, and very little pay, most able bodied people end up in the black market. Although my job may be common, no one in my family knows, not even my talented sister, especially not my talented sister. Everyone thinks I work in the factories, making the ornate decorations that adorn the halls of the castle.

I ready my crossbow. It is an odd weapon, fashioned from household items because I am too poor for anything else. Since I am the best shot in the black market, most people have heard of me and want me to do their dirty work. I can pick and choose which jobs I take. That is how I got this particular deal. My client is very mysterious and I still don’t know who it is. It must be some Over who’s going to run for King.

I take a deep breath and the world around me goes silent. I close one eye to get a closer look at the target. I take another breath and then steady my hands. This is by far the most impactful job that I have ever been hired for. My hand pulls back and the world slows as the arrow flies through the air and punctures my victim’s heart. 

I put my crossbow away and start to turn around. My eyes widen and my breath stops short. My eyes narrow as I grab a knife from my bag. I feel a hand close around my mouth to stifle a scream that I know would give my location away to the hundreds of people watching the speech. The hundreds of people who would just love to see a public execution right now. Realization dawning, I put my hands in the air and sigh.

Ella

I pull my hair back as I walk to school. I have a gift, or so my mother tells me and one day that will save me from my horrible fate of working in the factories like my boring sister. While I am only twelve, I am the smartest girl at my school and know that when the Inspectors come, they will take me with them. It is a stupid attempt at trying to show that Overs don’t actually hate Unders. I am really just an exception to the wretched fate of being born a lowly Under.

I will spend the rest of my days in fancy outfits, an always full belly, and riches unimaginable. I will leave this dump behind and never look back. 

At school, we get our math tests back. I got a perfect score of course, but it still makes me a little sad. This is the last time I will get a test back while I am still an Under. My teachers all act kind to me, even though I know they must hate me. They act as if I am already their better. 

I practice saying my new name over and over again. Aravella. I still don’t know why the Overs are making me change it. I don’t care why though. As long as I can get away from my Under parents and sister who still think that they can protect me even though they know that I am better in every way than them. 

Everybody practically worships me here. They hope that when I go Up, I will treat them with respect and kindness because I was once one of them. I laugh out loud in class. Some people turn and stare but quickly turn away. Like I said, I have them wrapped around my finger and soon they will have no choice but to worship me for the Over I am.

I have decided which Under I will take Up with me to become my personal servant. It will be my sister because she has no real skill and I do really love her. She deserves a reward for supporting me even though she knew all along that I was better than her. 

I decided to play a trick on my classmates. I started lifting everyone’s papers in the air and showing off all of the grades. I noticed that some students looked hurt and some looked angry. At that point, I knew that going Up would be fun. 

Anna

A million possibilities of who these people could be come to mind but only one makes sense. They must be part of a rebel organization, but why would they have come for me? Sure, I may be good at shooting, but that’s about it. They can’t have come for money because I have none. 

The heavily armed men take me to a car. Half an hour later, we arrive at a building that is shabby, even by Under standards. They take me to a room that is completely bare except for a table with three chairs. Only one of the men sits down. He gestures for me to do the same. I sit. A woman walks in. Somehow, she looks familiar, but how? 

“Anna, I am the leader of a secret organization called the Hidden Sword. You are here because of your sister’s current situation. And, we need to recruit you. You are the best Under shooter, even if you don’t have a proper weapon. Our situation is dire. The Overs must be defeated,” the woman said. 

I pondered her statement. Suddenly, I realized that I had never told her my name. Something very shady was going on here and I seemed to be the only person who didn’t know what it was. 

“Well, if you are going to harm a hair on my sister’s head, I will not do anything for you. If you are going to attack the Overs, make sure my sister is nowhere near. But, other than that, I think that I hate the Overs as much as you do, so I’m game on,” I responded. 

I hoped that this lady had some sense of mercy, because otherwise, my minutes were limited. That wasn’t exactly the most endearing thing I’ve ever said.

“Anna, this rebellion isn’t about revenge, or hating the Overs. It’s about justice for the Unders. If we just go around killing people, we will just make Overs Unders, and Unders Overs. That will get us nowhere,” the woman said. “And besides, we need to have a new kind of society.” 

Ella

I look around my room and silently say goodbye. It isn’t much, but it has been my home for twelve years. Last night had been my last night as a lowly Under. I will be leaving Ella Craft behind and entering into the world of Aravella Swift. 

I put on my nicest clothes, brush my hair, and prepare for the Turnover. While I know that the Inspectors have to choose me, there is still a small sliver of doubt in my mind. What if they aren’t looking for somebody like me?

At school, everyone is tense and on their best behavior. They know that the Inspectors, and soon me, can end their lives with the snap of a finger, for something as simple as talking back, with no questions asked. My sister has always said that it is one of many faults in our twisted world. I used to believe her until this “twisted world” offered me a chance. She will need to change her thinking if she expects me to take her Up. 

The Inspectors come in. They are three tall men in long, black trench coats and dark pants. One of them is carrying a clipboard. They look around at their surroundings with distaste. Obviously, they are used to better decorations than our measly carpet, desks, chairs, and belongings.

I turned around to look at my teacher. She is biting her nails and looks like she is trying to make herself as small as possible. Contrary to her usual attire, she is wearing a long, modest, brown dress that makes her look like a carpet. She appears to have bags underneath her eyes. If three people in my class fail, so will she. She will be shamed, her job taken away. She will be sent to the factories, or worse, the mines.

The Inspectors go to talk to our teacher. They ask her about her students. She hands over our legal files, the files that will say that I deserve to move Up. 

They look through the files, concentration on their faces. They put aside three files. My teacher sighs in relief. Her job is safe.

“Thomas Splint, Michael Sander, and Ella Craft please come to the front of the room. All three of you are done with this school,” the Inspectors said. 

Anna

I walk through the corridor with the woman who has said her name is Wil. She is taking me further into the maze of rooms, halls, and doors. I suppose that it is better for them to have the weapons room farther into the building than on the outside but still, this is crazy!

Once we get there, Wil shows me dozens of bows, arrows, and crossbows. She says to pick one and that I can keep it. I am drawn toward a navy and silver crossbow. I can tell that it is no weapon used by Unders. This weapon is from Up. 

“How did you get this?” I ask. “This must have been worth hundreds, maybe thousands!” 

“We have more power than you think, Anna. And it isn’t that hard to intercept an order of hunting weapons,” Wil responded. I am starting to get that this rebellion doesn’t exactly follow the rules. They’re my kind of people. But, something clicks in the back of my mind. What if this is nothing more than a luxurious bribe, to get me to do something for them?

It isn’t that hard to believe and I wouldn’t put it past them. Still, even if they are trying to bribe me, it seems like we want similar things and it isn’t like they have me at gunpoint.

“What do you want me to do?” I ask. Better get this over with. Hopefully it’s something easy like killing someone of importance or maybe even simply stealing something.

“Anna, we need you to be a spy. You need to get your sister to take you Up with her. Likely, it won’t be that hard. Then you will listen in on everything you can. Politics, battle plans, or demographics will work. We also have some people who are already stationed there and should be able to alert you if you ever need to do anything extra. Keep a close watch on your sister and don’t tell anyone that you are apart of this organization at all costs. The King still thinks that we are nothing to worry about and I would like it to stay that way. I trust your instincts, so do what you have to. I will give you a transmitter so you can report back to me,” Wil says.

I am shocked. This will be extremely dangerous. Even though I think that I can handle it, what if I’m wrong? What if someone finds out and I am executed? What if my sister doesn’t decide to take me Up and the whole mission is canceled?

A few minutes later, I say yes and gather my things. Wil walks me back to the room where I entered and hands me my transmitter. It is smaller than I expected, but it doesn’t seem that complicated. I head home just as the sun is setting.

Ella

I walk to the front of the room. Unlike Michael and Thomas, I am not scared and walk proudly. Someone else might have felt bad for the two boys, but not me. They have controlled their own fate by failing the year. 

The Inspectors tell Michael and Thomas that they are expelled. They will graciously be provided with jobs in the mines. There will be no opportunity to switch jobs when the dust gets into their lungs or if they are injured in an accident. They have dug themselves a grave by not doing well in school. 

The Inspectors turn to me. They tell me that because of the kind and loving King Rexano, I will be going Up and I will be able to take one person with me who will become my personal servant. I will be taught in math, science and the arts. They tell me to go home for the last time.

At home, I tell my parents and sister triumphantly that I am going Up. 

“Anna, since I am going to let you come Up with me to be my servant, I expect you to gather my belongings and pack them. We will be leaving at sundown,” I say.

Surprisingly, Anna seems relieved. She does as I say and scurries upstairs. I look around at my surroundings and decide that I will not miss my tiny home.

Anna comes downstairs and says a tearful and emotional goodbye to my parents. She hugs them one final time and finally comes over to me.

“Aren’t you going to say goodbye?” she asks.

“Why should I?” I reply. The quicker we go Up, the better. Besides, I am an Over now, I can do what I want.

Chapter One

I stood near the old maple tree my family planted about five years ago in our backyard. I was 13 years old, and it was 6:00 p.m. I had been standing there for hours. I finally sat down, and let the wind blow my hair around. It had been a week since my dad died, and I still couldn’t get over the fact that he was gone. Really, truly, gone. Since then, I felt off. I was broken, way beyond repair. He was gone with the wind. I just wish he could have told me. I wish I could see him, just feel his strong arms wrap around me. I wish he was still here most of all. I truly loved him.

I soon heard my mom call out, saying “Blair! Come back in! You know I hate it when you stay up too late! Plus, your first day of 8th grade is tomorrow!” I stood there with the maple tree, touched its gnarly bark, and went back in. That night, I laid in my bed, thinking about our tree in the backyard. It was the only thing that I could truly remember him by. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep. 

***

I woke up to sun streaming through my window and my new uniform laid neatly on my bed sheets. I groaned, and got out of bed. Just for a fact, I hate first days! My mom, she loves people being organized. Every time after summer break, she tells us to make goals for ourselves. Mine this year is to make at least one or two friends. The thing is, when you’re the new kid, you can choose who you are. For instance, you can be the doodler. The prankster. The mean girl. Or the oddball. I’m hoping I don’t have to be in that position. Everybody gives you these looks, and, well, they think you’re weird and that you aren’t good friend material and all that. So I shovel down my breakfast, brush my teeth, put on my uniform, grab my backpack, and get out the door. I walk across the street and try and think about how school will turn out. I walked along, and tried not to think about how embarrassed I could get or—and then I found myself at school.

Chapter Two

I gulped, and walked inside. I had prepared for any possible consequences or embarrassing situations that might have occurred at school. I finally felt like I was ready. I pushed open the door, and winced. Everybody was staring at me. I felt my face go hot. I did not expect this. Guess I was the oddball.

A girl suddenly asked, “We heard the news. Your parents?”

I replied, “W-well my mom is at work and…” I trailed off.

Then she asked, “Then what about your dad? Can’t he come?”

I paused, then said, “He… he died in the army. He was at war. Can we talk about this later? I have to get to class now.”

She then said, “Uh, sure, ok, but you never told me-” I walked away before she could finish her sentence.

I heard another girl say to the girl who asked about my dad say “Hey! She’s new! You shouldn’t pressure her like that.” Then she ran up to me and said, “hey sorry about my friend, Melissa. Can I talk to you at lunch maybe?” I then turned to her, and nodded slowly. Then I went back on my way to math class. I then thought, that right then was the most awkward first day of my life.

***

“So that’s it for that problem. Who knows what 122 to the power of 6 divided by 3 is? Blair? Are you paying attention?” Ms. Robins asked.

“Hm?” I answered. “Oh uh, yes ma’am.”

“Good. then can you participate next time?” she said.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I’ll try next time.” I said.

“Ok, bye people!” Ms. Robins yelled, not paying any attention to me. “Hurry along to your next class or you won’t be going to class at all!” 

***

The next few periods passed by quickly, and then it was lunch. Then I remembered how I promised that other girl I would sit with her today. I looked around, trying to find her through all the other people. When the crowd cleared up, I saw her in the corner of my eye. She was waving me over, so I decided to walk up to her table.

Once I sat down, she said, “Melissa, she thinks all the new kids are weird, because when she was the new girl, she got embarrassed. So now, well, she turned out like that.” Then she said, “I feel really bad for you, hearing how he died, in a war. It must have been unbearable.”

I then said, “it wasn’t just the war, actually. He was the one who couldn’t bear it. He-”

She then said, “I get it just… don’t say the word.” She then got up from the table and she said, “I don’t want us to miss class now. We should go.”

But before she walked away, I shouted, “Hey! Uh, I never got your name!”

“Oh!” she said, turning back to me. “The name’s Kara. can we hang out after school today?”

“Yeah, sure.” Then I smiled. She wasn’t as bad as I thought.

Chapter Three

“So you came,” Kara said. I shrugged. What else could I do? We waited awhile in silence. Soon we had to go home. I had never known silence could say everything. That one night, I realized I had never, ever, ever, heard nothing. Absolutely, truly, nothing. It was quiet that day, and I was tired. Maybe one day it could happen again. Just one more time.

A few months later

Chapter Four

It was Winter now, and I was going to meet up with Kara at the skating rink. I skated once, but it didn’t seem that hard. I clutched my bag with my ice skates a little harder. Yeah, it won’t be too hard, I thought.

***

Ok. I might have missed a little bit. Yes, I had skated once. Once as in, well, five years ago! Yep, so when I got onto the rink, my legs turned to jelly. Kara came over to me and laughed. Then she said, “Here, let me help. I can teach you. But didn’t you say-” This time I cut her off. 

“Ehhhh, let’s talk about that later.” Then I started to laugh, and Kara joined me.

She let go of me and said, “Here! Try It on your own!” I tried it, then found it, well, not so freaky. I laughed, then spun around. I remembered how it was like, five years before. I remembered how free I felt. I remember I was skating with—no. I opened my eyes. I felt a wave of nausea and fear wash over me. I started spiraling out of control. I screamed.

All I remember was Kara rushing over to me, yelling, “Hang on! I’m coming!” and me falling through thin ice.

I could hear muffled voices through the water, but I could make out Kara’s voice saying into her phone, “Hello, my friend just recently-” her voice muffled through the freezing cold water. It sliced right through me. I desperately tried to take a breath, but nothing came out. I felt nauseous. Yes, I wanted there to be absolute silence again, but not this way. I could feel my chest breaking apart. Then everything went black.

***

I woke up in the hospital, with Kara beside me. I was going to move my arm to get in a sitting position, but a nurse next to me and said, “Don’t move just yet. We have to run a few brief tests on you first.” My chest still burned, but I stayed still after I heard that.

Some men in white coats came in and said something to the nurse. After they left, the nurse said, “You’re one of the lucky ones.”

I then asked, “What do you mean the lucky ones?”

“Well, most of the others pass away, but you, you are a strong girl. But your friend…” the nurse said. I had wondered what she meant, but before I could ask, more men in white coats came in and then I was quiet again.

***

After a bit, I was done with my tests, and Kara was still what seemed to be sleeping at the moment. I got up and tried to walk over to the door to ask for something to drink. I fell down the first time, but then got to my feet, sort of waddled around the place, and then I waddled to the door. I was going to open the door when I stopped. There were people talking right outside my door. I stood there, trying to listen in on their conversation. I could hear two voices that I thought I knew. One belonged to the nurse, and one was my mom’s! I was overjoyed. I wondered If she came to visit me!

I was going to open the door when I heard the nurse say something. “Your, your daughter. While she was ice skating with her friend, she fell into freezing cold water that was about 70 degrees fahrenheit. Her breathing was indiscernible, but she’s ok now, but her friend, after she called 911 and they hadn’t come yet, she jumped in too. They came soon after that, and hauled her out before things got worse. Now, her friend is in a coma.” That was when I realized she hadn’t been sleeping. When we had a sleepover at my house two months ago, I woke her up just by me opening the door. She was never such a deep sleeper. I fell to the ground and started to cry. I was bawling like a two year old.

The nurse then said to my mom, “Sorry, give me a second.” she then rushed into the room and said, “Blair! Blair, honey, what happened?”

I then answered, trying not to cry, “No. You don’t have to lie anymore. I know the truth. The real truth.” Well, I had learned. Even if you weren’t superstitious, thirteen was still an unlucky number.

Chapter Five

After that, I just blurted out the rest to her, not thinking about it at the time. I went on and on about it, even the parts with my dad. Then, the nurse told me a bit about herself too. Her name was Parker Thworp, and she grew up in Minnesota. She then told me that my friend ( “Kara,” I corrected. “My friend’s name is Kara.” “Ok then, Kara” she said), she was in a coma (which I knew, but I didn’t want to be rude and interrupt), and that a coma can last for more than a year. More than a year?! A year seemed like a whole lifetime to me.

I then asked, “Parker, err, Ms. thworp, can I ever go visit her? Like ever?”

“Well,” Ms. Thworp responded with a hint of uncertainty in her voice. “It matters how she’s feeling. Maybe, If everything goes well.”

Well. I think hate is a strong word, but I hate the word well. It was the last word my dad said to me before he went off to war. I still remember his exact words. “Everything will go well, my dear Blair. Just remember, I will always be in your heart no matter where I go, no matter what happens.” 

***

So far, it’s been at least a year, and I have gotten out of the hospital. I sighed, then stared at the blank paper in front of me. Nothing had been going on since Kara had gone. I still visited her, but mostly I wrote to her. I couldn’t bear looking at her, so pale and thin. She looked like a ghost of her former self. I decided to leave the note paper there, and stayed there for the moment instead. It’s like I’ve been sending the notes for nothing. She was like Sleeping Beauty, but without the prince who heroically saves her by kissing her. It was not such a happily ever after at all, really. Another year without you has passed, and I can’t imagine another one like this.

***

A few days later, my mom got a phone call. I thought it was something about work for my mom, but then she said, “Blair? Yes she’s here. Why?” She then waited while the person at the other end of the line spoke.

Then she said, “Blair, hon, somebody wants to talk to you, this lady from the hospital.” I gasp, then grab it from my mom.

“Ms. Thworp? Is that you?”

I heard a few shuffling noises, then a female voice answered, “Hi, Blair! About Kara-” 

Then I said, “Oh, no.”

Then she quickly responded, “No! It-it’s not bad at all! It’s exactly the opposite! She’s coming out of her coma!”

I then quickly, almost yelling, said, “Oh my gosh! Thanks! Bye!” I then hung up, gave the phone back to my mom, then said, “Bye! I need to do something right now! Love you!” Then I slammed the door.

***

When I got to the hospital, I was out of breath, but I kept running. I ran all the way to where Kara’s room was, but before I could run to the door, more men in white suits came and one said, “Sorry, no visitors. We can’t risk-”

I shoved past them and ran into Kara’s room. I knelt near her bed and held one of her hands. I fished around in my pocket and then plucked out a bracelet. A friendship bracelet. I was hoping to give it to her when we were done ice skating, but, well, you know what happened. I slipped on her bracelet, and rolled up my sleeve to reveal one exactly the same.

I felt Kara’s hand tighten over mine, and then she whispered, “B-Blair?”

“Kara!” I yelled.

Chapter Six

Kara suddenly sat up, as if snapping out of some sort of spell. She then hugged me tight.

“I shouldn’t have let you go that day on the rink,” Kara said. “Look at me now, sitting in a hospital bed. That day-”

I then said, “No. That day we both messed up. It wasn’t just your fault, or just my fault. We’re in the same boat right now. Just hang on.”

***

I stood near the old maple tree my family planted six years ago. But this time, I wasn’t alone. We sat down in the grass, wet with dew that sparkled in the light, and Kara whispered something in my ear. something I can’t be sure if you won’t tell anyone, or if you will.

She whispered, “I couldn’t live a year without you.”

The End

Maria  

I live in Sydney, Australia with my parents. They own an animal clinic named Animals for Life! Yes, I don’t know why it’s called that. So, anyway it’s summer and I get to spend it all with the animals. Wait, I didn’t tell you who I am. Oops! My name is Maria Trier. My mother is Puerto Rican and my father is Australian. I was born in America so I’m Auserican. Yes, that’s not my joke it’s my mother’s. I am on my way to the horse pasture to see my favorite horse, Star. My mother has gone missing. She has been gone for the past few months since she came to see Luna, her horse.  Time passed in a blur since I noticed she was missing. One minute she was there and the next thing I knew I was being interviewed by the police. Annoying police. Don’t they get I just wanted to be alone? Of course I did. The mother I loved so much was gone and I might never see her again. I can’t think about it without crying. It’s so sad. And to make matters worse, Dad confiscated any picture with my mom in it. Anyway, Star was eating like usual. (What else is new?) That was the last usual thing of the day. 

Star

I’m a horse. At least, I am to Maria. To myself, and my mom, and my dad and my sister, and my cousin, and you get the point, I’m an Alicorn. I live in Maria’s home but also my world. I am the royal Alicorn of my world, and I was sent by the Queen to watch over Maria. I go to my world every night when the family is sleeping. The stars tell me if anyone disturbs Maria and her dad. I was not picked for this mission randomly, after all. I have control of the stars. I am named Star, my mother is named Luna, my father is named Sun, and my sister is named Celie, short for Celeste. As you can see, my family controls the times of day. To get to my world, you have to go into my favorite pasture and jump into the lake. Other horses don’t go into it because I made it invisible and put a force field around it. (Of course I can do that! I am an Alicorn after all. I’m  offended!) The Queen wanted to make sure no other normal animal could walk through the portal. That would be disastrous! Im guessing Maria wants the pen back because she looks like she’s going to explode.

Maria   

Excuse me! I am not going to explode!!! Don’t listen to her, she’s crazy!! So, where was I? Yes, that was the last normal thing that day. So, I was going to ride Star, so I straddled her. We started riding, and then Star’s mane started glowing red and a horn popped up. I wondered if I was hallucinating.

Star     

So ya, I might have hidden my horn and wings. Who cares? My horn started glowing red and that meant I was being called back to my world. Then I started being pulled by the horn toward the portal.

Maria 

Suddenly I saw a lake that hadn’t been there before. We fell through it and… “Star! What is the girl doing here?!”

“Where are we and who is that and why do you have wings and a horn and what?” I asked, looking at Star. “Okay, now that I got that out, why is that my mother’s voice?”

“Because it is my voice,” said a beautiful, musical, familiar voice.

“Mom!” I exclaimed, as a figure walked out into the clearing. It was my mother.