Author: Writopia LitMag

In the time of 1827, there were two soldiers who just came back from a furious war. They were in the Navy, but they ran away because they did not want to get injured, or worse, killed! They needed to find some shelter because there was a terrible storm going on. They found a little cabin in the country, which was the only shelter in sight.

The two soldiers went into the little cabin to spend the night. When they started to settle in the cabin, they heard something moaning in the kitchen cabinet. The two soldiers walked into the kitchen slowly without making any noise. They opened the kitchen cabinet and just like that –

“Ahhh!”

One of the soldiers was gone!

The soldier who was still there looked in the cabinet, and the only thing that he saw was a dead body in the hands of a creepy doll. He went to look out the window to see if the storm was still going on, but the only thing that he saw in the window was a witch. The soldier locked all the doors and all of the windows, locked himself in one room with a window, found a pitch black blanket, and hid under it.

Everything was quiet. The soldier pulled the covers off of him, and the window swung open. The soldier walked up to the window. He watched what he thought was a horse going into the bushes, but then he saw the creepy old witch go into the bushes! He watched the whole scene. The witch jumped into the bushes, and she came out with horse ribs. She put them on the water, and they floated away.

The soldier carefully put the blanket away, quietly walked out of the tiny haunted cabin, and followed the witch into the distance. When the witch reached her destination, it seemed like she was talking to a black shadow that was shaped like a bull, but it seemed like they got into a fight (it got physical).

The shadow dude started stabbing the creepy witch! The creepy witch pulled the shadow’s tongue out and walked away, but the storm was still going on. At the same place that they were, a tree got struck by lightning! The tree fell down and hit both of them. The witch got up and got really angry, and the witch pulled out the shadow’s heart and lungs and ate it.

THE END! HAVE A NICE DAY!  

It was Election Day, November 18, 3046, on a Tuesday. Millions of people were entering the building to vote. Security guard George Mudd was standing at the entrance, checking people’s bags and their election passes. He looked at his watch, there were two hours until the election started. An old woman with a childlike look ran towards the door. She was running towards the booths in the next room.

“Hey you, I need to see your pass!” She gave him the pass and was about to walk off until the security guard said, “Hey, don’t think you can fool me. You’re just dressed up as a…”

“I am not a girl!!!” she shouted in her most elderly voice.

“Yes you are,” he shouted back.

“No I’m not,” she shouted again.

“Okay, you can go in, but I’m going to send another guard to supervise.”

As George Mudd sat back into his chair he was doubting his decision. Should I have let her in? Will something go wrong? Who is she? Is she going to hurt the candidates?

Meanwhile, while they were arguing, another man named Bob the Builder, who was an old man, passed through the doors without being seen. He sneaked down the aisle and went into the room where Eve Vil was preparing her speech in front of Camila Higgins.

“I think everyone should learn the English language, people should have unity, and there should be the same human rights for everyone.”

“Great! I’ll be waiting for you in a hour.”

When she left, Eve Vil said to herself, “I don’t care about unity, everybody will worship me, and there will be no human rights. HAHAHA.”

Hearing that, Bob the Builder jumped out of his hiding spot and, with his knife, stabbed Eve Vil multiple times. She dropped to the floor, and blood was splattered everywhere. He dragged her quietly to the closet, quickly put on his costume, and walked through the back door that led to the voting room. He grabbed his walker and opened the doors of the voting room and was about to step out of the building when the security guard said, “The voting hasn’t begun yet.”  

“I know,” he said in his regular voice, forgetting that he was an old man, and walked out. Bob the Builder slowly started walking back to his house.

In the voting room, the two candidates were going to give their speeches.

“Hello, our presidents will be making their speeches. First, Nacho Cheese will speak.”

“I think that all nachos should be half price and nachos should be free to the poor to end hunger. I also think there should be unity and justice for the country.”

Camila Higgins came running over to the interviewer screaming, “Eve Vil is dead!”

George Mudd jumped up out of his seat and ran over to where Eve Vil was preparing. There was a knife in her body. Then, he knew who it probably was: it was the old man who left the voting room before it started. The security guard ran toward the exit. He looked around. He didn’t see anything. He ran down the block and saw the man enter a building. He dashed toward the building. Bob the Builder started running too. Bob the Builder made a sharp turn at the next block and hid in a restaurant. He ended up in a kitchen. No one saw him. After a few minutes, he quietly and quickly walked back to his house, taking another route.

George stopped running. He realized Bob the Builder wasn’t an old man. He was only dressed up as an old man. He had lost him.

He walked back to the election building. Just as he sat down, a girl came out of the voting booths, carried out by the two security guards.

“I knew she was a girl,” he said. “Call her mom and send her home.”

The two security guards grabbed a taxi to drive her home. When she got home she was grounded for two weeks. The guards came back to the voting room, sat on the couch, and fell asleep. George Mudd knew that he failed to do his job. His job was to protect people. He put his head down on the table and next time he knew had to be more vigilant.

In the voting room Nacho Cheese was screaming, “I won! I won! I’m the only candidate! I won!” People around him were miserable. People were booing. He didn’t care. He was just celebrating by shooting Nacho Cheese everywhere.

The End

In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit. Everyone feared him. Legends had been told that if you went in that hole, you would never come out. But not all legends are true…

“Hello, Samantha, how are you doing on this fine day?” John asked.

“I am doing very well, thank you,” Samantha replied. “Great day to take a walk. Would you like to come along with me?”

“I would love to go anywhere with you,” John said. “IAN!”

“Yes sir.”

“Do my job here at the front desk of the Italy Hotels here until I come back from taking a walk with my lovely lady, Samantha. You know her, don’t you?”

Ian nodded his head. Ian was a young man nobody cared about. Nobody believed in him. Samantha was the love of his life, and John knew that. John was always bragging that he got girls. Ian thought he was a failure.

So while John and Samantha were out on their little date, Ian had to work. He hated working, and John also knew that! John tortured Ian so much that sometimes he couldn’t even sleep.

John came in the door, with Samantha laughing, and John said, “We had such a great time. Tomorrow calls for good weather. Maybe we can go out again.”

“I would love to,” Samantha replied.  Ian’s heart sank.

***

About a month later, in the middle of June, Samantha and John were out on a walk, when John came running through the door of the hotel.

“HELP!” John shouted.

“What happened?” Ian said, rolling his eyes. He’s probably playing his trick on me again, he thought.

“It’s Samantha! She’s gone!”

“Don’t play your little tricks on me again.”

“I’m serious. Please believe me; it’s for Samantha’s sake. Please help me find her,” John pleaded.

“I’m done with your little tricks. Just stop,” Ian said seriously.

A tear rolled down John’s cheek. “Please.”

John never cries. This must be serious. If he is joking I’m going to get him… Ian thought. “Fine,” Ian agreed. “Let’s go.” John led Ian to the last spot he saw her.

“She was right here!” John said. “I just left to get her a present! I came back, and she was gone!”

“I’ve got a plan. But you need to be serious,” Ian said.

Ian took John to the apartment that he had rented, then got a notepad and pen. He offered John a seat. He made two cups of coffee, put them on the table, then took a sip. He was serious.

“Some of these questions will sound silly, but they have purpose,” Ian said. “Now, what was Samantha wearing at the time?”

What does this have to do with anything? John thought. “Umm, she was wearing a pink sequin dress. And the same colored hat with feathers,” he answered.

“Thank you. Second question. Did she say anything before you left?”

“Not really. She just said: ‘Wow, the moon looks so pretty. You know the jungle well, don’t you? Let’s go into the jungle.’ Then I said: ‘Not yet. I need you to stay here. You’ll be happy.’ Then I left, then she left.”

Ian’s face lit up. “Thank you so much.”

***

The next day, around 8:00 a.m., Ian called John, who was sleeping, and woke him up.

“What do you want?” John said in a drowsy voice. “I’m sleeping.”

“It’s Ian. I’m picking you up in my car. Get ready.”

“Ready for what?” John asked.

“Samantha.”

Ian got to John’s house. Of course, he wasn’t on his porch, waiting for Ian. Ian knew he wouldn’t be there, so he found parking, walked up to his door, and rang his doorbell. Brriinng! That’s how John’s doorbell sounded.

I should really move out of here, John thought. John came out with dark circles under his eyes. Ian looked at John from head to toe.

“You are wearing different shoes on different feet,” Ian said to John. John blushed.

“Well, umm, you know I wake up at 10:30 a.m.,” John said, “If I wake up before that time, I get cranky.”

“You can go back to sleep. I’ll just save Samantha by myself…”

“NOOO!” John shouted. He knew Ian couldn’t do it by himself. But even if he did, he would be lonely and Samantha would fall for Ian. And that couldn’t happen for John. “I’m coming with you.” John led Ian back to the last place he saw Samantha. “It was here. What are you going to do now, smarty-pants?”

Ian hated being called smarty-pants. “Well, look here, I just found a pink sequin trail.” Ian said, trying to outsmart him.

“What does that mean? Just some lousy metaphor again?”

“No, she was wearing a pink sequin dress, right? It’s a trail of her dress!”

“Yeah,” John was embarrassed that he hadn’t seen that. They followed the trail of sequins until it stopped. “Why did it stop?” John exclaimed. “It doesn’t make sense!”

“I remember she had a coat. That probably stopped the trail!” Ian realized. They kept going straight.

We are never going to find her. I wish we could have a real detective find her,and not just some amauter, John thought.

“Look here!” Ian shouted. “I found something!”

“What is it?” he said, groaning. “I am so tired, and hungry, and thirsty, and—”

“Stop complaining and come over here! I found something and it’s important,” Ian said. “I found a notebook. Here’s what it says: ‘In the jungle, always go straight, then two lefts and a right.’ Why would she write that?” Ian asked himself.

“Well, she did tell me that her father knew the jungle and used to take her when she was little, and always told her that in the jungle you always ‘go straight, then two lefts and a right’ and you’ll find something interesting. And we were going to go to the jungle after I came back, but as we know now, she went to the jungle before me.”

“That’s it! All we have to do now is follow what the note says!” They went straight, took two lefts and a right, and then stopped.

They came to a hole.

The hobbit’s hole. The one that everyone feared. Samantha went into that hole, and she would never be coming out. Even John was scared, and he was never scared. But Ian was brave and confident. He was going to go in that hole.

“You’re going to go in?”John said, laughing.

That was the time where the only confidence Ian had died down. The angel on his shoulder told him to stand up for himself, and the devil on his other shoulder told him to give it up. But always follow the angel, and that’s what he did.

“I’ve got a plan. We’ll go back to the—” Ian said. But before he finished that sentence, rain started pouring down on the two men. That meant they couldn’t go back to town. So they had to survive the night in the jungle. Since Ian was the clever one, he had a plan.

Ian created a path from the hole and a cave he found. John and Ian ran down that path, hoping to find food in the cave.

They got to the cave, which was dry and toasty. Sadly for them, there was no food.

Ian wished he had food, umbrellas, and all he needed to survive in the jungle right in front of him.  

“Perfect!” Ian shouted, “I can use an umbrella to get us food!”

“Ian, there aren’t any umbrella shops in the jungle. Don’t act stupid,” John told him.

“I know that! I can make an umbrella!” Ian said with a big smile on his face.

“How are you going to do that? Magic?”

“No! Nature! I can take sticks and a leaf. I will get food.”

“Oh, great, thanks. Now, go make the umbrella. I’ll wait here,” John said, yawning.

He is so lazy. Doesn’t he ever help out? Ian thought. Ian got sticks and a big leaf. He let the leaf dry but then realized something. How could he build an umbrella without glue?

He groaned. “Why didn’t I think about that?”

“What’s wrong, Buddy? Magic didn’t work?” John said, trying torture him.

“No, I don’t have glue. Never mind, there’s no food yet,” Ian replied.

“I wouldn’t do this in any other situation, but you’re getting me food, so I have something you can use. Sticky Glue, the superglue. I’d never do this any other time because I hate you, but you’re getting me food, and I’m really hungry, and —” John went on and on.

“Okay, thank you, but you are getting food soon, so STOP COMPLAINING!” Ian shouted. John rolled his eyes.

Ian put together the umbrella by getting one stick, then making a hole in the leaf, then putting glue around the top of the stick. He put the part of the stick with glue in the hole of the leaf. He broke small sticks and glued them to the bottom of the leaf so it had some structure. He went outside, and the umbrella worked!

“I am getting food,” he said. But just as he was about to step outside into the pouring rain of the Hawaiian rainforests, he realized something. Where was the food? He had to find it! He didn’t know where the food was!  So there was a 54% chance he would get lost. But he had to risk it. He was hungry, and so was John. Especially John. He wouldn’t stop complaining! But something in Ian told him he had to save Samantha. And he wouldn’t stop.

Ian was running, searching for food. He found some berries but wanted to keep looking. Then, Ian heard something growl. He stood behind a bush. It was a bear! Ian opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. The bear growled at him again. This is when the sound came out. “AHHHHHH!” he screamed. “HELP!”

That’s when somebody came running to Ian.

“Here, Jenny, girl, come on; go back to your cave. This is a friend.”

And the bear listened to the man!
Ian didn’t know exactly who this man was, but for some reason he recognized that voice.

“Hey, Ian! What are you doing in the jungle?” the man said.

“Dan!” Ian finally recognized him. “What are you doing in the jungle?”

“I go every summer for a week. What are you doing here?” Dan said.

“It’s a long story,” Ian sighed.

Dan was Samantha’s crazy uncle. He always had liked Ian and wanted him to marry Samantha, but he knew about John and how Samantha liked him. He didn’t like John. He thought he was irresponsible and lazy. Dan trusted Ian, and Dan would have liked to have a nephew.

“Why are you out here in the rain?” Ian asked.

“I have to survive here, so I go out in the rain,” he said proudly.

“You can make an umbrella,” Ian told him. “It’s easy. I can make one for you if you’d like.”

“I would like that; thank you,” Dan said.

“I need help finding food. I got a few berries, but I need more. I also need to feed John. And if I don’t bring back food he’s going to bully me again,” Ian told him.

“Oh, John is with you. He is so mean to you. I don’t trust him,” Dan replied with a stern face. “I’ll help you find food. I don’t want John torturing you again. Come with me. We are going hunting.”

As Dan led Ian to a fish pond, they started talking.

“How did you get that bear to listen to you?” Ian asked.

“Oh, that was Jenny, my brown bear friend. She didn’t want to hurt you. She just thought you were an enemy.”

Wow. That’s so cool! I wish I had a friend who couldn’t bully me, Ian thought.

“Where is Samantha? She didn’t come to say goodbye to me yesterday when I came here.” Dan was starting to get worried.

“She went into the hobbit’s hole. I’m are going to get her out.”

“Oh, I know I want you to believe in yourself, but here I can’t tell you that now. She’s never coming out.” Tears rolled down Dan’s cheek. “The last time I saw her…”

“We need to keep going. I am starving, and so is John,” Ian said, trying to keep Dan’s mind off Samantha.

“Okay.”

They got to the pond, and Dan went in. He felt for fish, trying to grab some. He grabbed four pieces of fish. Ian went back to cook the fish.

“FOOD!” John was so happy.

“We have to cook first,” Ian said. John rolled his eyes. They cooked the fish then ate it.

Yum, they thought.

It stopped raining. They needed to get back to town, so they got ready. Ian went to see Dan. He was going to save her!  

It was about an hour walk from town. They were both really tired. John wanted to stop, but Ian wouldn’t stop. He had to complete his mission.

They got back, and Ian drove John back home. Then, went back home. They both collapsed on their beds.

The next day, Ian woke up early, around the same time as the day before. He was about to call John, but thought: Why? Why should I bring him along? He is my enemy, and he is no help. I’ll do this on my own.

He left to go to the hardware store to buy a rope ladder to go into the cave and to come out. He got to the hole. He was really tired, but he wouldn’t give up. He put the ladder down and climbed in. He was scared, but that wouldn’t stop him.

“Samantha!” he called out.

“Ian? Is that you?”

It was her!

“Yes. I’ve come to get you,” Ian was really excited inside.

“Oh, thank you! I want you to meet someone,” she said, smiling. She led him deeper in the hole.  “This is Hayley the hobbit,” she said. “She’s really nice.”

“The hobbit is nice? That’s great!” Ian smiled. “Let’s go.”

They got out, and Ian said one more thing before they left. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes!” she answered. “Thank you for saving me.” They went to tell everyone and then John, who was very jealous. And then they told Dan, who was holding tobacco-filled jars. He got out of the forest earlier because of Samantha.

“I brought Samantha back. And we are getting married,” Ian said, with a big smile on his face.

“Thank goodness!” said Dan, laughing, and handed him a tobacco-filled jar.

THE END

“Do we have to go mom? I really don’t want to go to Hawaii,” I said to my mom. She was taking us to the cruise ship. We were in New York and the pier was full of people. And somewhere in that crowd was my worst enemy, Ali. She was going to Hawaii, too. She was even staying in the same hotel as us. It was going to be horrible. Our parents knew each other from high school. They were in the same classes. They didn’t know that Ali was mean to me.

She would always shout down from her room, “WE’RE OKAY! WE’RE GETTING ALONG AWESOMELY!” when really she was punching me and giving a black eye. Of course my parents noticed the black eye. But they always thought I was the one who deserved the black eye, because she was just defending herself, because I’m a boy so they thought I started it. I wish I wasn’t a boy. Once I even made that wish on a star.

I had packed some books, some clothing, everything I needed. It was going to be horrible. I’d always wanted to go to Hawaii, but now I wanted to go home and eat some chocolate chip cookies. I love chocolate chip cookies. We got on the cruise ship and it was just my luck that Ali’s family was right down the hall. I went to sleep, but it was very hard to. I read for some time, then I got sleepy. But I couldn’t get to sleep. I just kept thinking, Ali could come in and punch me anytime because my parents think she’s nice and I have my own room.

The next day, I went up to the top of the cruise ship. There they had a bunch of pools, ice cream, a buffet, and an arcade. I went to the water slide. I heard the captain’s voice calling over the loudspeaker, “Get on the lifeboats! We’re sinking!!!”

I grabbed some food and hopped onto a boat. (Of course I brought chocolate chip cookies.)

Ali was in the boat.

No one else was.

Help me!!!! I thought.

We called to our parents to toss us a rope, but they couldn’t hear us. None of them could hear us. The boats paddled in the opposite direction. We didn’t have any paddles. We had our hands. And soon they were specks on the horizon.

What felt like a million hours later, we’d finished all the food, even the chocolate chip cookies. We’d finished all the water. We were getting close to land. It wasn’t Hawaii, maybe it was one of those distant islands out there, but still, it was land. We paddled toward it. When we got close enough we jumped out and swam out towards the land. When we finally got there we flopped onto land and just lay there for a while. The island looked like a perfect beach — zero seagulls, zero dead fish, zero pollution, and uninhabited. The water was clear and the sand was speckled with pink. There were pieces of coral and beautiful shells scattered around. There was a big forest of beautiful greens, and we could hear thousands of parakeets and parrots squawking like crazy.

“I wonder why they’re all squawking like crazy,” I said.

Ali was walking towards the forest. Ali said, “Do you hear that rustle?”

I listened closely and said, “Yeah.”

I want my mommy! I thought.

We started running into the forest, which is one of the stupidest decisions I’ve ever made. Suddenly, a giant figure rose above the trees. It was probably ten stories high, maybe more, and it had teeth that were as big as the biggest daggers. It had eyes the size of dinner plates and I don’t want to explain the rest! It started chasing us. We ran through the forest as quickly as we could, but it was too fast for us. I tripped over something. It was a dagger. I stashed it in my pocket hoping the monster was just trying to play tag. It wasn’t. We were the first source of human meat that it had ever seen in thousands of years, and he wasn’t going to let us get away.

“Turn this way,” Ali screamed.

“No, this way!” I responded.

We kept arguing for thirty seconds.

Then I said, “How about we go the middle way?” BIG. MISTAKE.

We were running through the middle path and we tripped over a trip wire and got caught in a trap.

“If I could punch you, I would!” Ali said.

“Jeez Ali, why do you have to be so mean all the time?” I said.

“Why do you have to be such a dweeb all the time?” Ali retorted.

“Bully.”

“Dweeb”

“Bully.”

“Dweeb.”

“… Monster,” I said.

“HEY,” Ali said

“Noooo, really, a monster!” I yelled.

Ali screamed. We struggled and struggled to get out, but it didn’t work. The material was too strong. Then it went dark.

Ali was still screaming. So was I. Then I remembered.

The dagger! I thought.

“ALI, I’ve got a dagger. We can cut our way out.” I made a really big hole in the stomach, big enough for both of us to get out. It started shrinking rapidly.

“Okay Ali, c’mon,” I said.

Ali looked really pale, like a ghost. She fell down and fainted. I tried to drag her through the hole. She summoned enough strength to say, “Go on… without me.”

I said, “NO.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“YESSS.”

Then she was gone.

Wow Ali’s not such a bad person after all, I thought. I rushed back to the beach part of the the island and I saw a rescue boat. My parents were on it. So were Ali’s. I told them the whole story and to my surprise, they believed me. They said that everyone in Hawaii believed that this island was cursed, so everyone stayed away from it. They guessed because they saw me floating off in that direction, that I was stranded there. After they got to Hawaii, they got a rescue boat and sailed over here. Ali’s parents were very sad, and my parents promised me double dessert for a month for the way that Ali treated me. They mourned with Ali’s parents, though. I went to the funeral. It was very sad, but they didn’t have Ali’s body to bury, so someone made a body in a very similar way, like hers. I placed chocolate chip cookies on the grave afterwards.

THE END.

          

“Kayla, dinner’s ready!” My mom says.

“Okay, be there in a sec,” I reply. I love dinner. It’s my favorite meal of the day. After a long and hard day of school and then a walk to my favorite neighbor, Margaret’s house, I get to come home to a yummy plate of mac ’n cheese, or mashed potatoes with some fried chicken, maybe even lasagna!

I race downstairs after finishing my last problem of my algebra homework to find on the table vegetables with potatoes that are not mashed! “Uh, what’s this?!”

“Well, your stepdad told me that the foods we were eating were not the healthiest, and he said we should try something new and healthier.”

“WHAT!?” I say with attitude.

“Be respectful to your mother Kayla,” My stepdad Eric says.

“Uh, great.” I murmur angrily. We sit down at the table. I grab some potatoes and try to mash them with my fork so they would at least look a little like the perfect meals I used to have. I take a bite. “YUCK! What is this? Where’s the salt?!” I say while chewing this disgusting piece of unsalted potato.

“Eric said salt is way too bad for you and can cause life problems when you are older,” my mother says.

“Well, I can’t eat this without salt,” I reply angrily.

“Eric says-”

“Enough with Eric already!” I storm up the stairs and stomp into my room. I slam the door behind me. Tears start to fill my eyes. I can no longer hold them in. I turn to my pillow and let the tears stream down my face and absorb into the pillow.

After my face is completely dry, I think to myself, Everything was fine before Eric. I used to come to dinner with a smile on my face and with a mouth full of delicious food. Everything is changing and I hate it. With those last few words, I get into my pajamas and hop into bed. I dream that my dad is still alive, and Eric never met my mother.

BEEP BEEP! I hear my alarm go off. I get up and change into my uniform, which is a beige shirt with a logo that says, “Williams Charter School” or WCS for short. I also slip on my black skirt with buttons on the side. I run down the stairs and get myself some Chex Mix and milk. I sit down at the shiny brown table and eat my breakfast. When I’m done, I skip to the bathroom and brush my hair and my teeth. Then, I grab my pink bookbag with sparkles on it and walk to the curb to wait for the school bus.

When the bus arrives I am about to step on when I hear Eric scream, “Kayla! You forgot your lunch. I made some sandwiches. Here’s your lunch.” He hands me my lunch bag.

Oh no! He gave me my old lunch bag from first grade that has Barbies on it! I’m now in sixth grade and hate Barbies! When I get on the bus I try to hide my lunchbox but it falls on to the floor and everyone sees the Barbies on it. I get so much laughter. IT WAS HORRIBLE. I walk to the seat I share with my best friend Melanie and sit down.

“You like Barbies?!” she asks.

“No. Eric packed my lunch in the wrong lunchbox. I’m telling you, he’s ruining everything!” I say with anger.

“It’s not that bad. I have a stepdad and once you get to know them, they are fine. Believe me, I was exactly like you when I first met my stepdad. It takes time,” she says.

“I sure hope you’re right, but nothing can replace my old dad. He was PERFECT.”

For an hour and a half people keep on asking me if I like Barbies. I always tell them, “NO!”

But they always say, “OKAY!” or “SURE.”

Finally, we arrive at school. I first have drama with the most annoying teacher in the universe, Ms. Den. All we do is warming up exercises. When I walk into the classroom I see all of the kids have already sat down at their tables and they have their idea journals out. I sit down next to my other friend, not best friend, Layla.

“Now class, today we are going to perform a play for each other. You can do it solo or in pairs of no more than three.” Ms. Den says in her annoying accent.

Everyone pairs up and I turn around to ask Layla if she wants to be my partner and I see Layla has already partnered up with her best friends Alexis, Carly and Kyle, so of course, I am all alone. I decide to go solo.

“Choose a topic to act about now and then start writing your script down.” Ms.Den says.

I write about my life. After twenty minutes, Ms. Den says it’s time to perform. I decide to go first to get it over with.  

“Make sure everything is appropriate and respectful,” she says.

I start to perform. “My life was great. I had amazing meal every night for dinner and I was so happy. But then, an evil monster named Eric came into my life and ruined everything!” I notice Ms. Den’s face goes from a smile to a frown as I keep on performing.

In the middle of one of my sentences, Ms. Den says, “Okay Kayla, that’s enough. I would like to have a talk with you outside please.” We walk outside and chat.

“You wanted to see me,” I say.

“Yes, I said to perform something respectful, and that was not respectful at all! Now I need you to apologize to the class for that disrespectful piece, please.”

“What! I’m not doing that. That is my play, and I’m not apologizing for doing it. I said what I had to say and it’s true. Eric is ruining my life!”

“If you don’t apologize I will have to email your parents.” Ms. Den says.

“Parent,” I remind her. “Eric is not my father and never will be!” With that, I storm back into the class and sit down. As I sit down, I see Ms. Den walk angrily to the principal’s office right across the hallway. I think to myself, Maybe I should have just apologized. But whatever. I said what I had to say.

At the end of the class, I go to lunch. After I have my sandwich, I throw away my Barbie lunch bag. After lunch I have two more classes, which are math and English. At the end of the day, I walk out the door, glad I finally get some peace and quiet while walking home.

“Honk Honk!”

I turn to see my mom and Eric in our car. GREAT! I hop in and put my seatbelt on.

“We got an email from Ms. Den saying you had a disrespectful play in drama about Eric. Would you like to explain?” My mom says impatiently.

“I’ll pass,” I say sarcastically.

“Kayla Rose Smith!” my mom says.

“Fine. All I said was that I hate my life now ever since Eric arrived. That’s it,” I say, annoyed that I have to explain everything I do.

“Well, when you get home you are punished, so no television even though it’s a Friday, and no snacks,” My mom says furiously.

After that, there is silence for the whole ride back home. When we arrive at home, I get out of the car and slam the door. I walk up to the house and unlock the door with my emergency pair of house keys. I stomp upstairs to my room and stand there. While I am up there, I write all about Eric in my diary.

I miss my dad more than anything. It was a year ago. I wish he wouldn’t have smoked. I wish he didn’t get lung cancer. I wish he never had died. After writing about Eric and thinking about my dad, I sit down on my bed and cry. I miss my dad so much, and I can’t believe mom could even try to replace him.

“Kayla, dinner’s ready!” My mom says. I wipe the tears in my face away, walk down the stairs, and sit at the dinner table. I grab a plate and put some of the strawberries from the salad onto my plate. There is silence.

Finally, my mom says, “Listen Kayla, I know getting a new dad is tough, but you at least have to give it a try.” I ignore her and continue eating the strawberries that are sitting in front of me. My mom lets out a sigh. After I finish my strawberries, I put my plate in the sink and walk back upstairs without saying anything.

I start to do my English homework, which is to read chapter ten of A Mango Shaped Space. After ten minutes, I finally finish the eight page chapter. After reading, I get out my algebra homework and finish all of my homework for the weekend.

Tomorrow, I’m getting out of the house to have some alone time and think about what has happened. With that, I hop into my pajamas that have hearts on them and I go to sleep.

The next morning, I wake up and I check the clock. It’s 10:30! I’ve never slept in for that long. I get into a pink top and some jeans, and I run down the stairs. I grab some frozen waffles and put them into the toaster. Then, I grab some syrup and eat my warm, crusty waffles. After I eat, I run down the hall to the bathroom and brush my hair and teeth.

As I am walking out the door my mom says, “Honey,” “Where are you going?”

“For a long walk.” With those words I race down the block and stop at a red light. When the light is green, I walk all around the neighborhood.

Then Margaret, my neighbor, walks up to me and says, “Hi Kayla.”

“Hi Margaret.”

“Last night you looked pretty angry when you slammed your car door and stomped up to your house. I wanted to ask you something.”

“Like?” I say curiously.

“Well, I have a ton of spells and you look like you are unhappy with your life, and I happen to have a potion to change someone’s life. Would you like it?” she asks.

“Sure.”

“Follow me.” We walk down the block and into her house. In her house, she has tons of potions. She grabs one and gives it to me. She tells me to say what I want my life to be like and then, I have to take a sip of the potion.

“I wish my life was all different right now and none of this happened.” I say. As I sip the potion, I see everything disappear.

Then I wake up on the sidewalk. I walk back to the house and walk through the open door.

“Awww look at you! Eric check her out.”

I wonder what they are talking about.

“Adorable! Let’s keep her.” I am so confused. I walk up to my room and it is so weird. It is like I am crawling on the floor. My face was so low to the ground. I also am not feeling so good. I go to the bathroom in my room, and I am smaller than the toilet! Then I walk to the mirror on my room floor and I take peek. I am a Yorkie with a bow! I freak out and scream. But when I scream, all I really do is bark!

I wanted to change my life, but I didn’t mean like this! All I wanted was Eric to not have met my mom and my dad was still alive and we got him cured! I didn’t want to be a dog!

I have to fix this. I run back down the stairs and to the door. I can’t reach the doorknob so I start scratching the door.

“Aww, you want to go out and play? Alright,” my mom says as she opens the door for me.

I sprint out and race to Margaret’s house. I bark at the door until Margaret opens it.

“Oh, hi. I have something to tell you about the spell, Kayla.” She says in her raspy voice.

“Bark! Bark.” I try to say, “Look what you did to me,” but all that comes out is “Bark.”

“Um, I can’t really understand you. How about we play Charades, and I can figure out what you are saying. Okay?”

“Bark! Bark!” I wag my tail, and that’s how she knows I say “Yes.”

We walk to her living room and start to play. I start to act. I pretend I am walking just like yesterday, and I get stopped because of Margaret.

“Oh. You were walking and looking for a place to do your business.” I put my tail down so she knows that she guessed wrong. “Uh, you were walking down the street when, uh..” I wag my tail showing her she is going in the right direction. “Oh, and then you stopped to talk to me yesterday!”

I jump in the air with happiness filling my heart, and I start to bark.

“What’s next?”

I start to pretend we are talking, so I start to bark and wag my tail.

“Um, Oh! That’s us talking, isn’t it?” I bark and wag my tail again. Next I walk all the way to the door and finally pretend like I’m walking inside.

“I get it! You are talking about yesterday and how I gave you the potion. Yeah, um about that, I remembered about three years ago I had a mean friend, so I mixed the dog potion with the life potion so she would turn into a dog forever. I forgot to make a new life potion! I’m sorry.” She says with a frown.

My tail droops down and I whine. “Oh! But I do know how you can become a human again! By tomorrow morning, you have to convince your parents that you are Kayla, or you will turn into a dog forever.” I bark at her to try to tell her that she can tell them.

“Oh, but the trick is, I can’t tell them, only you can. I can help but I can’t directly tell them. Oh Kayla, I’m so sorry.” Magaret says with tears filling her eyes and a frown on her face. My tail goes between my legs and I walk slowly home.

When I get there, I bark at the door until someone opens it, and I walk slowly up to my room. “Where’s Kayla?” I hear Eric say.

“I don’t know, but she should be back by this time. It’s almost dinner.” I hear mom say. She sounds really worried. I walk back down the stairs and go up to my mom and start to bark.

“Quiet, Lily.” My mother says. They already came up with a name for me?! I give up. I slowly walk to a bowl that is lying on the floor, and I pick it up and show it to Eric. He drops some of the chicken that he is cutting up for dinner, and I eat it. After I’m done I go up to my room and lay on my bed.

I think to myself, what will convince my mom that I am Kayla and not Lily? Tomorrow I better come up with a way, or I will be stuck in this short and furry body forever!  After a moment of silence I hear my mom crying in the other room.

“It’s okay, she can handle herself. I bet tomorrow morning she will be here and waiting for breakfast.” Eric says. That doesn’t help.  She keeps on crying. I go into her room and sit beside her and rest my head on her lap. After thirty minutes or so, she finally stops crying and goes to bed. I start to whine but after ten minutes, I go to my bed and go to sleep on my pillow.

In the morning, I wake up and see that my mom inserted a dog door, so I go out of the dog door and go to Margaret’s house.

“Bark, bark.” I scream at the top of my lungs.

“Coming,” Magaret says. When she opens the door she says, “Oh Kayla, it’s so nice to see you. Is there anything I could do for you?”

I try to do Charades. I pretend I am Margaret and I slip Margaret’s business card into my house to give my mom and Eric a note that I’m Kayla. Margaret does not understand. I try twelve more times and she still doesn’t get it.

On my thirteenth time Margaret says, “I can’t understand what you are doing, but I have an idea. How about today in the afternoon, I go by your house and slip in my business card. It says that I can turn people into dogs or change their lives or something like that. They might get the idea that I changed you into a dog!” I drop onto the floor and then get back up and show her I agree by wagging my tail. I walk back home and go to my room and wait for my parents to get a business card. Hours pass, and I am getting worried, but then I hear something.

“What’s this? A business card? It says, ‘Try my potions like a dog, changing life, or love potions. They really do work!’ Oh, it’s from Margaret, our crazy magical neighbor. Kayla always likes to go over there to check out or even try her potions. I can’t believe she’s still not home. What if a bad guy took her or something?” Mom says in a worried voice.

“Wait a sec. You said Kayla likes to try her potions, right? So maybe she tried her potion and now she is something else.” They sit at the dinner table and think for over thirty minutes until Eric says, “Maybe she drank a potion and now something happened to her.” I walk down to grab the card out of mom’s hand and sit it down next to me. I pray that she will notice that Eric’s completely right and that she should listen to him. “No, that’s probably not it.”

“I don’t know, let’s see. If she doesn’t show up by dinner, we will start thinking that idea, okay?” My mom says.

“Alright.” Eric says.

I slowly walk back up to my room with my tail between my legs. Once I get to my room, I sit on my pillow. I think, what could I possibly do to convince mom that I’m Kayla?

It is noon, and my mom gave up. I can’t give up. I run down the stairs and bark at my mom.

“What is it, Lily?” She asks. I grab her sleeve and go out the door. She comes out the real door. Then I race down to Margaret’s house and bark at the door. After five minutes, Magaret comes. She was making tea, she explains. I bark and bark.

“Hi Margaret.” My mom says.

“Hi, is there a reason you came to visit?” Margaret asks.

“Uh,no.” My mom replies. This conversation is not working out, so I run inside, go to the potions, grab the dog potion and put it in front of my mom. Then I grab the life change potion and put it in front of her also.

“Wait a minute,” my mom says. “Lily, are you Kayla? No, that’s crazy. But Eric said something like this could happen, and now I kind of believe it.” Mom says to Margaret.

“Follow what you believe in.” Magaret says. My mom bends down and says.

“Kayla, is that you?” With those words yellow dust starts sparkling around me and before I know it, I am human again!

“Mom!” I say happily.

“Oh Kayla! I missed you so much. Eric was right! Oh my goodness.” My mom says with tears streaming down her face.

We walk home and when I get home, I go to Eric and give him a big hug and say, “Thank you.” My mom joins the hug and we live happily ever after.

THE END!!

“Stop, wait!” I screamed. The spaceship door was closing, and I could see the pilot getting ready for takeoff. I saw my mother’s panicked look when she noticed I hadn’t boarded the ship with her. But before she could do anything about it, the spaceship was already hurling through space.

***

I opened my eyes. My shirt was drenched with sweat. I pushed my long brown matted hair out of my eyes.  I always dreaded going to sleep because I’d get dreams, bad dreams. I’d dream of ghosts or vampires, but now I dream of reality, which is much more horrifying than any monster.

I climbed out of my tattered tent to watch the sunrise. As many times as I watched it, it was always breathtaking. The beautiful burst of color in contrast to the dark sky made the forest glow. It was magical. This wasn’t actually a forest; it used to be Central Park.

I stayed away from the city because the White Masks targeted New York City. So I stayed in the woods. The White Masks came out of nowhere. First, they bombed major places all over the world: The Eiffel Tower, The Statue of Liberty, the Great Sphinx, the Big Ben, the Great wall of China, and even Disney World. Then, they, promising safety, rounded up civilians, but those who believed the White Masks were never seen again. I shuddered, thinking about what they had done to those poor people. I didn’t know who these White Masks were, all I knew was that they wore white masks that only revealed their eyes. They wore suits and were tall and skinny.  I didn’t even know if they were human, but they must’ve had a lot of power to bomb and corrupt our world.

I rummaged through my backpack. I realized I only had a small amount of food left. So I decided to go back to the city to get food.

***

I walked to the nearest grocery store: Trader Joe’s. I climbed under a fallen tree and past the burnt playground, always keeping a low profile, even though I was probably the only human left or even living thing left on this planet. The thought of that made me shiver. I, a 13 year-old girl was all alone on a great big planet.

***

It was 2 days before I turned 13. My sister, Octavia, ran ahead of me into the Trader Joe’s. “Kristina, come on! You are so slow!” Octavia teased me.

“Oh, really?” I said, and I started to run but my sister had long legs and she always beat me when we raced. My sister distracted me, making up games and taking me to the sample station, so I wouldn’t realize my dad was buying me a cake. I acted as if I didn’t know but I knew exactly what cake they were getting me. Buttermilk cake with chocolate frosting.

***

I sighed. I didn’t cry anymore. The first month I cried until there were no more tears left. I loved my sister so much, but I couldn’t save her. I shook my head and remembered what I came for. “Water, food. Water, food, water, food, water, food,” I repeated to myself. Sometimes I wondered what kept me from going crazy. Some nights, I’d stay awake until morning, repeating to myself that somebody would come for me.

***

I walked into the Trader Joe’s. It was nearly empty. I grabbed the last protein bar, beans, rice, and Poland Spring water bottles. I started walking out the door when, suddenly, there was a soft thumping. It was faint, but I could hear it. I walked closer. At the back of my head, something was telling me to run for my life. But, curiosity got the best of me. As I followed the sound, I realized it was coming from the men’s bathroom. I wiped my sweaty hands on my brown shorts that used to be pants but that I cut because it was way too hot. I opened the door, ready to fight, but there was nobody there. Instead, in the corner, there was a box. And this box was moving.

I lifted the cardboard box’s lid, my heart thumping, and inside was a brown shepherd puppy almost as big as the box. I was so relieved it wasn’t somebody trying to kill me. But then I put my attention back to the dog. Why was the dog here in the middle of a Trader Joe’s? I touched the dog gingerly. I loved dogs but, hey, you never know. The dog winced in pain. I realized it was covered in blood, but it wasn’t the dog’s blood. Next to the dog was a man, under the sink. I panicked and backed away, but the man didn’t move. I moved closer and realized he was dead; there was a bullet embedded in his chest. I felt nauseous, and, suddenly, I fell to my knees. I mean, sure, I’d seen deaths before, but this was sickening. I grabbed the box with the dog in it and ran. I didn’t know where I was running to, but I kept on running, past a parking lot, and into Central Park. I kept on running until I was as far away as I could be from the dead man. I thought I was the only person left on the planet. Who was that man? Who killed him? And where is this dog from?

I sat down on a rock and looked at the dog. I almost felt like smiling when I looked at him. “Don’t worry; other humans will come and get us like they took my mom and dad. They’ll take us far from here. To another planet where we can start a new life. Where we can live life easily without worrying about surviving.” I lied to the dog, because there was a .0001% chance of that happening.

Now I’d really done it. Now, I was talking to a dog. However, I guessed I’d have to name him. “I’ll name you Argos.” I said.

There once was an old, cranky man. He did not enjoy his job where he would sit at the base of Mauna Loa and sell soda. He had learned all the languages of the world, as he met customers that would climb up to the top and look at the volcano. His whole life he spent sitting at the soda stand. He had been sitting there since he was old enough to talk. He never attended school, never had friends, and never had a passport. He never left this area of 10 by 10 feet.

He had a small house at the back of the stand where his entire family lived including his aunts, cousins, and great-grandchildren. They always had water to drink and mush to eat. Never did they eat or drink anything else, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They were very poor.  

One day, his family grew rich and moved out into a penthouse in New York. The poor man asked to live with his family and get a share of the money.

The family replied, “Never in a million years. Not if you were the last person alive.”

He was still the old poor man at the soda stand.

One day he felt so sorry for himself, he opened a soda and it made the hissing sound soda always made. The old man never heard this sound, which is why he jumped with fright from the soda. The sound eventually stopped like it always did.

He took a sip of Sprite and it sizzled in his mouth. This was the best minute in the old man’s life. He finally felt happy. With this happiness, he climbed up to the top of the volcano. He was amazed in that moment. He decided to travel the world. To travel the world, he would need a passport. Having no money, he could not buy a passport. He swam over to New York to ask his family to lend him 100 dollars to buy a passport. Of course his family was a little crazy during the move, so he felt he had a good chance.

The family said, “No way!” and told him they did not want anything to do with him.

Sadly the old man walked home kicking a stone along the path. Going through his head was, why would his family be so rude to him? He had supported them till they got all rich, making them food and all.

Once he arrived home, he sat down and counted his money. He had only twenty dollars saved up. He decided to tell the tourists his story and hopefully they would donate extra money. He tried this plan the next day.

The next day he told a French tourist, “Bonjour voulez-vous un soda? Et voulez-vous faire don de l’argent supplémentaire pour moi afin que je puisse voyager dans le monde et obtenir un passeport s’il vous plaît. Je suis allé dans ce domaine toute ma vie entière,” which translates to, “Hello would you like a soda? Would you care to donate extra money to me so I can travel the world and get a passport, please? I have been in this area my whole entire life.”

The tourist replied, “Sûr pourquoi pas et j’espère que vous obtenez de parcourir le monde,” which means, “Sure, why not? I hope you get to travel the world.”

The old man was happy once again. He jumped up as high as his old man legs would let him, which was only like 3 inches high, but it was still a jump of joy. He gave a high pitched squeal like one of a little girl — the first one of his entire life.

The old man continued to ask the tourists, but not all people gave him money, especially not the New Yorkers. They said he was just a regular hobo selling soda. He was just cleaner and had a lot more clothing.

Over a long time, he gained up enough money for a passport and a boat. He traveled all over the world all from North America, South America,  Africa, Europe, Australia, Asia, across the Great Wall of China, and finally, Antarctica. He felt his life was complete. His heart was settled. He thought he would want to do more, but he felt happy. He forgot completely about his awful family. He missed his stand and wanted to go back to his customers, so he went back to his little old soda stand and continued selling soda at the volcano, feeling happy and telling all the customers his story and recommendations of where to go.

He is still at the base of Mauna Loa Volcano. If you go to Hawaii, you can still see him sitting there at the volcano, and he will tell you the story of his life.

Maila Eliss

I was in Ms. Letterman’s classroom for double english (blah) “trying” to learn about the use of pronouns in speech, whatever that means. Honestly, I was more focused on the classrooms big, open windows and high ceilings with big lights. I was completely zoned out when I heard Ms. Letterman say briskly, “Maila, Sara Ann, and Emilia please come up to my desk after class. The rest of you are dismissed.”

Wait, what! Class was over already!? I must have done a better job zoning out than usual. Anyway, I headed up to her desk, along with Sara and Emilia. I thought they were afraid they were going to get in trouble, but not nearly as much as I was.

“Girls, first things first, you are not in trouble. You have been chosen for the district speech writing contest.” Oh great. More English class. Wait a second, this could make people at school respect me. “I have chosen you for a variety of reasons, that I will not get into right now. The team is not only composed of you girls, but of-”

“Well, who are they?” cut in Sara. Sara could be a little sharp around the edges, and really competitive. She’s really tall and blonde, but I might just think that because I’m one of the shortest kids in the grade.

“Sara. I was getting to that.” Ms. Letterman sighed. “The other two are Kalliope Howard, and Emilia’s sister Katlin, but I believe she goes by Katie.”

I had to admit, I was a little surprised by the addition of Kalliope and Katie, but Emilia seemed both highly surprised and completely livid.

“So you too now!” she cried, “Oh, look at the little twins. Let’s put them together for everything.”

Clearly this was not why Ms. Letterman put them both into the project because she sighed and softly replied, “No Emilia. That’s not why I put you together. I put you together because you have gifts that complement each other. My five choices will meet in my room at lunch.”

Katlin “Katie” McQuinn

People say I’m hyper, but I just try to have a positive attitude about life. Like the speech writing contest. Even people’s attitude about the first meeting. We all arrived early, though when Emilia arrived and saw me she started crying, then ran out and didn’t come back until just in time. When she got back she started being Little Miss Teach.

“Does anyone have any topic ideas?” she simpered.

“Basketball!” crowed Sara.

“Cheerleading or gymnastics!” I exclaimed, my thick, curly hair bouncing as I hopped from side to side. Emilia and I looked almost identical, except for one thing; my hair was curly and hers was straight. Okay, fine, I did curl mine and she did straighten hers when we stopped hanging out, but who really cares. Oh, yeah, she was a half inch taller than I was.

Maila was really quiet the whole time. All she said was, “Interactions with nature.” Sara and Kalliope said it was real smart. Maila blushed like crazy. Not to be rude, but it was really unlike Maila to make a suggestion that really hit off. But it was Kalliope who shocked us the most.

“Love and Loss,” was all she said. This was a very sweet statement for a girl who looked like Kalliope. She was fairly tall. But her hair, which pointed straight up, added a couple of inches. So I was like whaaa?? Then she gave a little cough and returned to her usual icy tones, and informed us that she was going to get lunch, so good-bye.

Meanwhile, Miss Teach was saying, “If we alter that a bit, we could use it. I like that theme!”

“Yeah it also applies to a bunch of stuff.” Sara said. Sara also said that she was going to go eat.

“Not yet,” Miss Teach said. “To work together requires some group cooperation. We should talk a little about ourselves.”

“‘Kay” Maila said sweetly, “What’s up with Kalliope?”

The response she got wasn’t pretty.

Kalliope Howard

If you’re wondering about that meeting, don’t. All I can say is my dad is dead. That’s why I was icy towards people, and why my topic idea was love and loss. A couple days later I got a text from Sara. I liked Sara. Sara was cool. Anyway, Sara asked if I wanted to come over to work on the speech because everyone else was already there. I said ok, where. I got her address and went over.

“We are electing officials and positions,” Emilia said. I was like ok.

“Sara’s the writer because she writes the fastest and Maila’s doing format and I’m the captain.”

“Excuse me,” said Katie, “I’m delivering the speech.” Emilia completely ignored Katie. There was something going on between those two. They were twins, but before that project, I had never seen them together.

“You want to be the typist?” Emilia asked.

“Sure, why not” I replied softly. I really hated the way they didn’t know that every moment you don’t spend with someone is a moment wasted. I know that oh-too-well. After the meeting Maila held me back.

“Do you want some chocolate?” How does she know chocolate is my weak spot? “I know where Sara hides it from her parents. I also know you’ve got something hidden.” She said. “Whats wrong?” I wanted to tell her, but I didn’t know why.

Don’t tell her.

She’s a good person.

I barely know her.

She seems to care.

I don’t know what she’ll do.

I wanted to trust her.  

I told her most of it. I still kept a little bit to myself.  Maila just seemed easy to open up to. I didn’t really know why. Maybe it was the way that she didn’t confront you. Or maybe the way that she seemed to care. Or maybe I just needed someone to talk to. Then she took her turn.

It felt good to tell someone.

Sara Ann Jones

Our next meeting was at Maila’s house. I got there early, and guess what! She had an older brother in college who played basketball, and they had a hoop! I asked if I could play. She rolled her eyes and said, “Be my guest.”

So I shot hoops for a bit. I could use all the practice time I could get, with the championships coming up in March, just a month away. Eventually, Maila stuck her head out and called to me, “Emilia just texted me and told me that she and Katie are on their way. You should probably come in now.”

“Okay, fine,” I grumbled. “Where does the ball go?”

“Eh, I don’t care. Just dump it somewhere,” came Maila’s soft response. I couldn’t believe it! Maila, who treats every plant like a like a living thing (yeah, plants are living things, but who’s counting) didn’t care about where a precious basketball went! Apparently I was saying this aloud, because Maila hollered, “You know, not everyone cares about basketball. You’re kind of biased. I already told you. Emilia and Katie are on their way, and Kalliope probably is too.”

Maybe I am biased. Maybe I care too much about a sport.

Emilia McQuinn

I walked over to the meeting at Maila’s place, trailing ten steps behind Katie, because she refused to walk next to me. It was really annoying. I remembered the day she stopped talking to me.

It was the first day of junior high. Katie and I were headed to our new school. Katie started doing cartwheels and backflips. One of the superficial girls on Katie’s gymnastics team, named Cassidy, came over and started animatedly chatting and giggling. Then, the girl looked at me with disdain in her eyes.

“Why are you hanging out with the nerd?” That was what did it. Katie looked really uncomfortable.

“Well it’s be- she’s my sist- I don’t know,” Katie grumbled.

“You’ve come to the right place, girl. We’ll help you out,” Cassidy said. And with that they walked off.

I really miss having her as a sister. I don’t know why. We reached Maila’s house, and just as I turned onto Maila’s driveway, I heard Kalliope yelling.

“Hey, Emilia and Katie! Wait up!” I looked up and saw Kalliope sprinting towards us as fast as she could.

“Let’s go in, I’m frozen.” Katie whined. We all raced in and walked in on Maila and Sara having a little scream fest which they abruptly stopped when they saw us walk in.

“Just because you love something doesn’t mean that everyone does,” said Kalliope in a voice like ice. “I’ve learned that the hard way.” Wow. There was certainly more to Kalliope Howard than met the eye.

We didn’t do much that meeting. Sara jotted down what we said. Partway through, I got an email from Ms. Letterman. Talk about awkward! I read it aloud.

“She says, ‘I received word that the contest is being held at the town hall-’”

“WHAT!” yelled Maila and Sara.

“-at 3 p.m on Sunday, March 3rd. However the rough draft should be ready in about a week.’ Guys, we really need to bust a move.”

It was now a race against time.

Maila Eliss

The next five days were a flurry of activity. We had two hour meetings practically every day. But it still felt as though we wouldn’t be done in time. Sara and Katie both reassured us that no matter what activity you did, you always felt really rushed.

Finally, on the day of Ms. Letterman’s deadline, we finished. Emilia was freaking out. She thought that we didn’t do our best because we kept disagreeing on fairly important topics, but everyone else told her we were fine. Sara insisted throwing a party to celebrate. Emilia and Katie volunteered their house. No one objected. We heard a knock, and the door swung open.

Katie’s friends were here, and not for the party.

Katlin “Katie” McQuinn

I had never been more ashamed of myself. They were my friends. At least the people I called my friends. It was Cassidy and her group. The group that until this project, I hung out with every day. Let me back up a little bit.

In  5th grade gymnastics class, Cassidy was a little snarky, but she was always nice to me. Well, fairly nice. Then in 6th, when she tried to pull me away from Emilia, I let her. It wasn’t all her. Emilia and I had a huge fall-out that day, but we had been slipping for a little while. I had been waiting for a chance to break the chain holding us together. Just because I had a sister didn’t mean I had to spend all my time with her. In fact, Emilia and I had complained together about how people associate us together. So I guess I understood why she was upset. But she never made an effort to talk to me. I regretted it now.

Anyway, Cassidy was here now.

I don’t know what to do.

Sara Ann Jones

We all exchanged glances and nodded towards Katie.

“What are you doing with them?” Cassidy asked Katie snarkily.

“What do you mean, them?” countered Katie. At those words, Emilia stood up and stood with her sister.

“No matter how we’ve been acting towards each other, we are still sisters, and sisters stick together.” she said, softly to Katie. I glanced at Kalliope who had tears running down her cheeks and Maila who was sitting next to Kalliope in silence. I looked at her in surprise, but she didn’t seem to notice. Maila made eye contact and mouthed,

“Let them be.” I nodded. As we walked out of the room, We overheard Katie tell Cassidy off.

“None of my friends talk to me and my sister that way.” Cassidy responded, in mock surprise.

“But Katie, I thought that you were our friend?”

“Maybe you were. This is our house. Go,” Emilia said. And, as surprising as it seems, they did.

We all were hiding something. And I wanted to know why.

Kalliope Howard

We all assembled in Emilia and Katie’s bedroom.

“We’re all hiding something” Sara said sternly, “even me. Somebody, talk.” When nobody responded, Sara drew in a sharp breath.

“Fine. then I’ll start. Maila might know this, but not because I told her. Basketball is my life. With two older brothers, sports are just what you do. The basketball tournament is really important to me.” she finished.

“These past two years all I’ve wanted is to have my sister back. That’s why I joined student government and became active in school. I don’t know how you only children stand it. But now that I have her, I don’t have anything bothering me. Except the fact that the contest is next week and I’m so freaking nervous!” Emilia said the last bit quickly, and we all laughed until Maila took a turn.

“When you’re small like me -I’m 5’1”- you get looked over a lot. Athletically, and uhh… other ways.” she said quietly. “Kalliope, it’s your turn.” I really didn’t want to talk about it but it warmed my heart to see the rest of them open up to each other and me. So I did.

“My father died right before the start of 6th grade,” I began. “That’s why I ice people out sometimes, and act like a snob. Emilia- I admire your ability to cope with something that bothers you without turning on other people. That’s what I’ve been hiding.” Katie was the first to speak.

“And we all thought you were a self-centered brat!” she exclaimed.

“Katieeee,” Sara groaned, softly punching Katie in the shoulder.

For once since dad passed away, I felt good. Like I belonged. It felt good.

The feeling you belong is one of the best feelings ever.

Emilia McQuinn

I had a sister again, and it was more wonderful than I remembered. I told the gang about us, as did Sara, Malia and Kalliope. Kalliope’s story was so sad. We all were sitting there quietly when Sara called,

“Guys, do any of you remember why we were here to begin with!? Let’s party!” We all laughed. Leave it to Sara to think about partying at a time like this. Our party was great. We all hung out and had the time of our lives.

But in the back of my mind I had the constant reminder that in just ten more days until the contest began.

Maila Eliss

The next seven days were like the calm before the storm. Kalliope went back to her group. Sara and I went back to our friends at tables right next to each other. The only change was Katie. She sat with Emilia and the other student government kids.

On the eighth day, the storm hit.

Katlin “Katie” McQuinn

Two days before the contest Ms. Letterman called us in during yard. She told us a lot of stuff about the contest. It pretty much all went over my head, but Emilia claimed that she knew I wouldn’t be paying attention, and took notes for me. Here they were:

• We all will go out and bow, but only the performer (you/Katie) will deliver the speech.

 

• DRESS NICELY

 

• The actual contest is at 3 p.m., but we should get there at 11:30 a.m.
• There are going to be hundreds of people there

The next day, we got called up to rehearse.

Throughout rehearsal I thought about how I fear tomorrow.

Sara Ann Jones

Kalliope and I arrived first. Her usually colorful hair was black as night. She was wearing tall brown boots and a black dress. Dangling from her ears were long silver chains. She looked even more fearless and intimidating than usual. How could that be?! Me, you ask? I was wearing a denim dress with tiny white polka dots. I actually brushed my hair that morning. Can you believe it! Maila came in next.

“Oh my God! You look amazing, Maila” Kalliope gushed. Maila blushed a little. I completely agreed with Kalliope. Maila looked stunning, and nothing like the shy little girl we began the project with.

“Thank you. You guys look great as well,” Maila replied sweetly. Then Emilia and Katie entered the auditorium. They didn’t dress the same, or do their hair the same, but that was what made them look so at ease. Just as they reached us, Ms. Letterman bustled out of one of the doors.

“Ready, girls?” she said. We all nodded.

“Well then, let’s go.”

I was more terrified that I had ever been, and more thrilled than I had ever been.

Kalliope Howard

We walked into a huge room filled with other teams. I was so scared! Ms. Letterman told us that teams would be called out one at a time to rehearse, and then perform. It all happened so quickly. We sat around for a bit, then until they called Katie. She went in and out quickly. We sat for a little while longer.

“The Stoneybrook Superstars,” called the announcer. This was it. We stood up.

I was so afraid.

Emilia McQuinn

It was our turn. Katie walked to the mic nervously. Her shoulders were hunched and her fists were clenched. She began to read and recite. I hadn’t heard the speech before; only Kalliope and Katie had seen the complete and published thing.

It was beautiful.

Katlin “Katie” McQuinn

“Good afternoon, all. When I was a really little kid, I had a gerbil. I really loved that gerbil. But it being a rodent and all, it died, and I lost it. I was really upset, but life went on and I stopped mourning the loss. But it was hard anyway. My friend Kalliope lost her father and had a hard time with it. I don’t blame her. She was close to her father. She adjusted, and while it was hard, she has done it. She dealt with it bravely. This is something that I hadn’t learned to do then, when I was a little. I wish I had. Thank you.” I said.

We went back to the waiting room after giving our bow. As soon as we got there, Sara took of her shoes, and groaned softly, “These things are medival torture devices” she grumbled.

We sat there for what seemed like hours, but it probably was like 20 minutes. During that time, we all did one of the following;

• Bit our nails
• Talked A TON
• Sat and ignored everyone
• etc..

Then someone said,

“All teams report to the stage. We are announcing the winner.

What if we weren’t the champions?

Emilia McQuinn

I couldn’t breathe. I was petrified onstage. I wanted to be chosen so badly. I wasn’t listening to the announcers. Until I heard the words, “In third place, the Fairfield Falcons!” There was a loud whoop from the back of the stage. The Falcons went up for their medal.

“In second place, the Hartford Heroes!” More cheering. Why couldn’t they just get to first place. The auditorium felt strangely claustrophobic.

“And in first place, for the gold is……… the Stoneybrook Superstars!” Oh my God. I couldn’t believe it. That was us! We all turned towards each other. Only Sara could speak. She let out an ear-splitting whistle. The rest of us regained ourselves, and started cheering.

“And that’s all for today, folks! Superstars, Heroes, Falcons, see you in Boston!” the announcer hollered into his microphone over the noise.

We were going to Boston for round two!

Epilogue

After the contest, things mostly got back to normal, but the experience changed them all a bit. Obviously, Emilia and Katie were together a lot, but Maila could be found playing basketball with Sara, and not against Maila’s will! Kalliope was a little more relaxed around people, and got rid of her dumb haircut. She was able to recognize that her dad would never come back, and accept it. Sara’s team made it to the championships, but didn’t win them. She took it surprisingly well, at least after cursing at the opposing team loudly for five minutes. After the contest, Maila got the recognition she anticipated. All was well. Until the Boston contest…

Every day, Jack would look out the window of his room and watch the trains. He also saw something not that common every day. Each day, a man would pass by Jack’s building, get out of his car, and stare for hours at one of Jack’s windows. Jack had three windows in his room. Jack would look out of the opposite window that the man was staring at and watch the man. Jack thought this was a very odd action to perform. But, the man still did it.

Jack had foster parents. He used to live with his grandmother because his parents died in a car crash, but there was a tragic fire in the building that Jack and his grandmother lived in. Only Jack had a chance to escape it.

Jack did not like his foster-parents. They were very mean to him. Every time Jack did not eat his dinner, they would send him to his room and not even say, “Goodnight”. Those nights, Jack was very hungry.

Since he didn’t like his foster parents, this caused him to run away.

Jack’s foster parents’ names were Bob and Claire. Bob and Claire made a lot of money. They let Jack go to school by himself because they had to leave for work very early in the morning. Jack did not like his school. Kids were mean to him and called him names. And his teacher was mean. Jack refused to go to school. He would not get good grades because the rare times he went to school, he did rubbish. Not because he did not know the answers, but because he didn’t want to answer them. Jack was actually very smart. He skipped a grade because he was so smart. He was only ten and in sixth grade.

One day, Jack decided to run away from his foster parents. He made the decision to use all his saved money for a bus trip to San Francisco, California.

It was July 13th when Jack was waiting in the line to the bus for a trip to California. When he stepped on the bus, he felt glory to be free.

The bus was going up a bumpy hill, and Jack was going up and down. He was hungry. He forgot to bring extra money to stop and eat food. While everybody went outside and ate food, Jack had to stay inside the bus and not eat food at all. Even the bus driver was outside. Fortunately, he had packed a sandwich and applesauce in a zip-lock for the trip.

He said, “Wow! Aren’t I smart?” He started to eat his sandwich. It was a ham, cheese, and mayonnaise sandwich. When he finished his sandwich, he ate the applesauce with a spoon. When everybody came back in the bus, the bus finally moved. He fell asleep in the bus because of the good meal.

The next morning, an old lady woke him up. She said, “Little boy! Move! The bus is in danger!”

Jack said, “Wait, my stuff!”

The old lady said, “Your stuff doesn’t matter right now. We’re all gonna die!”

Jack replied, “Yes, it does. I have my special teddy bear in there.”

The old lady answered, “There’s an earthquake coming near!!!” The old lady stopped talking and picked up Jack and his suitcase out of the bus and jumped over a small crack. The bus had fallen in a big crack. She walked quickly to where all the other people were.

Jack said, “Holy cow! There’s been an earthquake and I didn’t know! Why didn’t anybody tell me?”

The old lady said, “Mhhm-hmm.”

Jack saw that there was a whole bunch of wood and sticks on the ground. And not too far away in the distance, everybody could see a hardware store. They spent at least fifteen minutes walking to the hardware store. No one really talked while they were walking. They did not talk because of the situation that they were in. After the old lady saved him, Jack thought they were friends. He was only talking to her.

Everybody asked Jack, “Why are we walking there?”

Jack answered, “Because we could build a wagon to carry everybody to San Francisco. And if no one cooperates, then I will do it all by myself. And you guys will stay here.”

Everybody said, “Ok! We will help.”

This wagon had a hole in it so people could steer with their feet. It was something very old-fashioned, but nobody cared. All everybody wanted to do was get to San Francisco. It took two hours to get to San Francisco.

When they got there, they were all very excited, especially Jack. Jack walked to his grandfather’s apartment at 1950 Val Street Apartment 1B. There were three people who wore beautiful clothes sitting outside his grandfather’s apartment. They were some of the richest people in the apartment. These people recognized Jack as the grandson of the owner of the building, which was Jack’s grandfather, John.

Jack said, “Excuse me,” to those people. They moved quickly. Jack said, “Thank you”. They replied, “You’re welcome.”

Jack did not have to go up any stairs because his Grandpa’s apartment was on the first floor.

He knocked on the door, excited. His grandfather answered the door and said, “Oh… my grandson. Long time no see.”

Jack said, “Grandpa!” and hugged him.

His grandfather asked, “What are you doing here, Jack?”

Jack answered, “Um… I came here to visit. Like you said, long time no see.”

“Oh. I have had no one visit me here. I’m very happy you came to visit.” Jack knew why no one visited his grandfather. It was because he was always grumpy, or he always looked grumpy.

Two days later, Jack and John were watching the news. There were two adults on the news saying that their foster child ran away. And then there was a picture of Jack. John looked at Jack.

“Is that you?” he asked.

Jack replied, “Um… maybe. Actually! No! That’s my twin brother.” (wink, wink).

John said, “Twin brother? Your mom was my daughter. She would have told me if she had two kids.”

Jack knew he was lying but he did not want to go back to New York. And from the stories that his mom used to tell him about his grandfather, he did not want to deal with him. When Jack’s mother went to her friend’s house after school without asking permission, she got in trouble, and was grounded for a week. She tried to talk to him about it, but he was very stubborn and would not listen.

That night, John packed Jack’s things and put them in his car. In the morning, when Jack woke up, John gave him breakfast and told him to get in the car. Jack realized that John was driving out of town.

“What are you doing?” asked Jack.

“I am bringing you to your foster parents,” answered John.

“What? But they’re mean to me! Do you want me to suffer? Or be happy here with you?”

“I want you to be happy with your foster parents. Why would you run away? Now everybody is going to think I stole you, but you, instead of being a responsible ten-year-old, wasted all your saved money to get here on a bus. That was a very dumb thing to do.”

Jack said, “I know it was. But I will never be happy with them. So I do not know what you’re talking about.”

After arguing for the whole ride to New York, they finally got there. John carried Jack out of the car, because Jack refused to get out. John told Jack to stay right there on the sidewalk while John grabbed his suitcase. But Jack did not cooperate. He went back in the car and held on to the seat because John tried to pull him out. After an hour or two, Jack finally got persuaded out of the car. He went up the stairs to Claire and Bob, his foster parents’ house. John knocked on the door just like when Jack knocked on his door in California and lied to him.

When Claire opened the door, she said, “Jack!” and hugged him and kissed him. “Why did you run away?”

Jack answered, “Because you guys were mean to me.”

Claire and Bob both were saying, “We’re sorry. We’ll never be mean again.”

Jack said, “It’s fine. It’s just that I want my mom and dad back.”

That night, they all watched a movie, except for John, because he had to go back home to his job. Claire and Bob let Jack have popcorn and pizza. They had a mini-party. Jack decided to never disobey or leave Claire and Bob again. And he always thought that his mom and dad were happy for him, that he had a family to love and take care of him.

Once someone had figured out what was happening, it was too late. An earthquake hit London at precisely the wrong time. Panic filled the streets as people hurried towards the port, hoping to be lucky enough to be able to sail away on a ship. But Mother Nature said no. Unluckily enough, the earthquake had caused a tsunami, and the tsunami had destroyed all ships but one.

Hurriedly, the Griffiths family ran towards the last remaining ship; they were running their hearts out, but it wasn’t enough. The deadly combo of the earthquake and the tsunami were going to hit and kill them any second now. The last boat was rocking side to side, aggressively in the furious waves. The desperate family had given up all hope; they started their prayers silently to themselves. Then, with no warning, the last ship was hit hard by the waves and was knocked onto the port and fell on top of the Griffiths, enclosing them with no escape. At first, the family thought this would be the end, so they closed their eyes to not see the horror taking place. When they woke up, it was complete silence.

They crept out of the ship and took a step onto the rocky foot path. Janine, who was age eleven and the only girl sibling in the family, immediately pulled her foot back when she discovered that she had been standing on a dead body covered in blood. Jacob, ten, was checking his phone for any tweets or texts (he was addicted to his phone.) Then, as ridiculous as it sounds, he decided to take a selfie. Kevin, thirteen, was a high-achieving, popular person. He had all the “spotlight” according to Jamie, who was only eight. Their mother and father were hard-working people and had earned more money than you can ever imagine. Their mother was named Lucy and was forty-one; their father, Lucas, was two years older than their mother and was a brave and courageous man. Sadly, their grandparents (Lucy’s parents) had gone missing the day before the earthquake, which was also the day they lost the knife.

The knife was a precious item that was one of the major money-earning items their parents had made. It was a razor-sharp weapon combined with some of the strongest materials ever discovered. The knife could easily cut off your hand with no problem at all. It could also slice a door in half as if it were a piece of paper. It was so extraordinary, that someone had even offered the price of three billion dollars (!!) for the knife. But the Griffiths knew that if it belonged in the wrong hands, it could seriously cause some trouble, so they kept it to themselves… until now… The Griffiths were on a holiday in Hawaii, but when they came back, the first thing they did was check on the knife. As they did the secret combination, they opened the safe and found that the knife was missing! Their mother was so mad because of this theft, she refused to talk about it for the rest of the day. Everything was silent.

Now, back to the present. The Griffiths sprinted back to their home to check on all their precious belongings. They were all shattered to pieces in an unusual way; it seemed like it was man-made. A few things were left though, like clothes, food, etc. The family gathered the remaining belongings and went off to find shelter someplace else. On the way, a heavy storm took place. Rain poured from the skies above onto the Griffiths, but they continued on with their journey nevertheless with great courage. Jacob stopped suddenly and requested the whole family to wait for him. He then got out his phone and took a selfie and posted it on Facebook saying, “Check out this storm!” Annoyed, his father pulled Jacob’s hand and made Jacob drop his phone, which broke in the fall.

“Now look what you’ve done!” exclaimed Jacob angrily at his father.

“This is about survival! Not your useless, little phone!” replied Lucas.

With an offended look, Jacob stuttered, “M-my phone is n-not u-useless…”

“Oh, shut up!” shouted Lucas.

Caught off-guard, Jacob was surprised at how angry his father was, so he took a step back, tripped on a stick, and fell on the floor. When he was getting up, the floor formed a sinkhole, and Jacob fell right through and landed on his face. He got a scar from that twenty-feet drop. His face was bleeding, and he was screaming desperately for help, but he could not be heard due to the sound of the pouring rain and the raging storms. Then, out of nowhere, there was a sound of a stick cracking behind the Griffiths. They all turned to where the sound had occurred; there was no one. When they turned back, Jacob was gone, and there was not a soul to be seen.

Frightened, the Griffiths pelted away from the sinkhole and tried to find some shelter. That night, they all sent their prayers to Jacob and hoped he was well. They made a hut out of sticks, wood, and leaves…

Jacob’s eyes burst open, or should I say “eye” since his other eye was bruised and battered and could not be opened. He looked around the room. It was a small-sized cave. The cave was quite cold though, and had mold on the walls.

“Ah, I knew you were awake,” said a rough voice coming from nowhere.

“W-who are you?” squeaked Jacob.

Then, out came a man in an iron suit with scratches and holes in it. “I’m the one who took you away when you fell into that sinkhole. Did you know that sinkhole wasn’t actually a sinkhole? It was a trap I laid for your family. I was hoping that your parents would fall in though, but you fell instead. You’re quite useful actually… You could help me attract your family.”

Jacob shuddered at the thought of his family falling into this trap set up by this despicable villain.

“By the way, remember how your grandparents disappeared the day before the earthquake? Well, here they are…” Then, he stepped aside to reveal Jacob’s grandparents, bruised and covered in blood and locked in a cage. They were whimpering until they saw Jacob.

His grandmother exclaimed, “Oh, dearest Jacob! You’re so big now! Not when you were four, you were tiny back then! You’ve grown so much! I’m so glad to…”

But she was cut off by the villain. “Silence!”

But he was not to be heard. Jacob’s grandparents kept talking to him and ignoring everything else happening around them; they were extremely glad to see Jacob.

“That’s it. Say goodbye, you fossils.” The villain then opened the cage door and whipped out a weapon.

At first, Jacob didn’t recognize the item he was holding, but then he peered a bit closer and noticed the villain was holding the knife! His grandparents seemed to know it as well and were frightened at first. They knew that if they didn’t fight, they were going to die for sure. If they did fight, they might actually survive. No matter how desperate Jacob was to join the fight, he couldn’t do it due to the fact that there were chains holding him back.

The two elderlies jumped from their cage floor and pounced on the villain at high speed. The villain didn’t expect the grandparents to be so quick and was knocked over in surprise. The villain muttered something under his breath and elbowed Grandmother in the solar plexus. She fell down onto the floor in pain. He raised the knife above his head and steadied himself. Then, he swung at Grandmother, but he was disrupted when Grandfather tackled the villain. But the villain was ready for an attack and swung the knife randomly at Grandfather. Sadly, the knife sliced Grandfather and killed him. Grandmother immediately stopped and became very mad due to the death of her husband. She pounced on the villain like a tiger, but missed ever so slightly and accidently dived on the end of the knife. This left the married couple both dead…

At this point, Jacob thought there was no more hope: the despicable man was going to murder him any second now.

“W-who are you?” questioned Jacob while holding back tears.

“Me?” the man asked, then laughed an evil laugh. “I… I am the Stranger…”

“I don’t… I don’t believe you… ” gasped Jacob. The Stranger had been known for over twenty years for some of the worst crimes ever committed, and this one might be one of the worst. And with that, the Stranger stormed out of the room.

***

In the forest, Jamie moaned, “How long more do we have to keep searching?”  

“Until we find Jacob,” replied his father.

The Griffiths were using one of their first inventions, DNA tracker 2000, to find Jacob. The DNA tracker 2000 was a device that could track someone by putting in something like their blood, hair, etc. into the machine. It would beep when you were near the person you were trying to find. They had been searching for hours and hours for Jacob, but they had no result. Then, with no warning, it started beeping.

Beep, beep, beep.

Anyone could hear it. The Stranger mumbled quietly to Jacob, “Move, move. Follow me.” Jacob obeyed. They ran to a different room full of potions and liquids that nobody had ever heard of. “Sit down on this seat,” ordered the Stranger.

“But… ”

“Now.”

So Jacob did. The Stranger got out a jar of gooey, purple liquid and took out a handful. He spread it over Jacob like sunscreen, and then said, “Finished. Now they can’t track us with the DNA tracker.”

Jacob couldn’t believe how stupid he’d been to follow the Stranger and do what he said. He then decided to plan an escape plan to get out of the cave and be in the safe arms of his family.

Meanwhile, the Griffiths noticed the beeping suddenly stopped, and a confused look appeared on their faces. On one hand, they were relieved that Jacob was still alive and was close. On the other hand, they were annoyed that Jacob had disappeared when they had finally tracked him down. They decided to go back to their newly made home and roasted some dead animal body parts, which they had hunted down earlier, on top of a fire. That day, they ate roasted pig and cow meat, which was surprisingly tasty. Afterwards, the Griffiths settled themselves in their own sleeping bags and slept a heavenly sleep.

In the cave, Jacob was thinking up a risky plan. He first thought about stealing the knife from the Stranger while he was sleeping, and then slicing the door to get out (there was a lock on the door), but it was too risky and had a low chance of success. Then, he thought about stealing one of the Stranger’s potions — surely he had an acid potion — then, using it to melt a hole in the wall to climb out because using it on the door would cause too much noise. Finally, Jacob decided the best plan would be to go to the Stranger’s stash of items that he had stolen (he must have had a phone in there), and then he would contact his parents with a quick text about where he was.

So Jacob got up from his rock-hard bed, given to him by the Stranger, and cautiously crept over to a room labeled “Weapons.” Jacob shook his head while thinking, Nope. Wrong room, because he was already too obsessed by the idea of getting another phone. He then crawled over to another room, this time labeled “Storage room.” Jacob thought this must be the right room, so he slowly opened the door. The door creaked a little, so he slowed it down even more. Then, before his eyes, Jacob saw a large room full of precious and important goods and items. Jacob scrambled around the room, hoping for a discovery of a phone. After a few minutes of searching, the desperate child finally found a slightly cracked Apple iPhone. Silently celebrating, Jacob turned on the iPhone to discover it had run out of battery! Cursing under his breath, Jacob continued to seek for a working phone. Sadly, even after an hour of searching, Jacob had no result. Giving up all hope of finding a phone, Jacob walked out of the room with a long face, but tripped over something and fell with a surprise. But luckily, Jacob managed to save himself from the fall by landing in a push-up position. Angry, Jacob tried to find what he fell on and found out he tripped over a phone! Excitedly, Jacob turned on the phone, and to his surprise, it was on! But Jacob’s happiness was quickly interrupted by the footsteps of the Stranger, so he immediately ran to his bed and hid the phone in his shirt.

The next morning, Jacob woke up with a sense of elation. The Stranger was in his secret room, which he basically never came out of, doing God-knows-what while having no idea what Jacob was secretly up to. The ten-year-old got out the phone and pulled the blanket over his head, preventing himself from being seen. He then put in his father’s phone number and sent a text saying, “Hey dad. It’s Jacob. I’m fine. I’m in a cave underground where u found me with the DNA tracker. The Stranger captured me.” Jacob thought they’d understand, so he hid the phone in a specific spot in the storage room where it would be easy to find next time.

Back in the forest, Lucas Griffiths’ phone started rumbling. Mr. Griffiths fished his hand in his pocket and brought out his phone, which had a text from an unknown phone number. But the text was in the style Jacob wrote in, so he knew Jacob was alive and well and hoping for help. Mr. Griffiths then decided it would be best to show every other family member, so he did.

“Well, what are you waiting for?!” exclaimed Mrs. Griffiths. “Let’s go!”

“Hold on,” said Kevin. “Shouldn’t we be prepared when we break into the cave? Isn’t it a bad idea to run into the cave of the Stranger?”

Embarrassed, the mother of the Griffiths family replied, “Oh, yeah… Um… You’re right. We should be prepared… Um…”

***

1 month later…

The Griffiths family were armed and prepared to break into the cave that the stranger was living in. They had weapons and wore armour. They stood in front of the door to the cave with a rock to throw onto the door as a distraction.

Meanwhile, Jacob was lying on his bed while he daydreamed about futuristic computers. Suddenly, something hit the door. The Stranger stomped over and slammed the door open impatiently, but there was no one there. But as the Stranger turned around and was about to walk back in, the Griffiths family ambushed him and knocked him over aggressively.

“Augh!” screamed the Stranger. But he quickly recovered and swiped at Kevin.

Kevin managed to dodge it, swipe back, and scrape the villain’s armor slightly with his knife. The Stranger was annoyed he was losing a sword fight to a thirteen-year-old, but he was impressed. He then moved on to attack Jamie, since he was a small boy who was short for his age. The evil man tried to kick hard at Jamie, but missed due to the size of the boy and slipped on the rocky floor. Then, Janine, who was a shy girl, jumped on top of the Stranger and swung at his face with her fist and hit him hard in the nose. The villain’s nose had started bleeding atrociously and covered his face in blood. His nose was probably broken.

The family celebrated their victory over the greatest villain of all time, and everyone was glad to have Jacob back. As they were leaving, Jacob suddenly said, “Guys. Can you wait here for a second? I need to go to get this phone I stole from the Stranger.”

Everyone sighed except for Mr. Griffiths, who just grinned and said, “Classic Jacob” under his breath so no one would hear. Then, he replied, “Sure.”

Jacob then raced back to the cave. But when he ran into the storage room, he thought for a minute about what would have happened if he wasn’t so obsessed with his phone. All this probably never would have happened, but his thoughts were interrupted by a cold voice from behind him that said, “Ah. There you are.”

Jacob whipped around, and there stood the Stranger alive and (not) well. “H-how did you survive?” questioned Jacob, frightened.

“Did you really think a punch from a puny little girl would kill me?” laughed the Stranger evilly. “Now, say goodbye, Jacob,” whispered the cold-hearted villain.

But as he was about to swipe at Jacob, a dagger went through the villain, and the Stranger screamed, “Nooooooo!! I’ll be baaaaack…” Then, he was gone. When the Stranger fell to the floor, there stood Mr. Griffiths.

***

2 years later…

The Griffiths family moved to New York City shortly after the death of the Stranger. Mr. and Mrs. Griffiths remained the same. Kevin started playing hockey, and Janine became warrior-boy-like. Many thought she’s a tomboy. Last of all, Jacob despised phones and computers; instead, he fell in love with TVs…

But meanwhile, in the streets of London, there was a baby ready to be taken from its mother’s stomach. It was kicking desperately to break out into the free world. Then, once it was finally taken out, it was as joyful as you can imagine. After the married couple and the newborn baby left the hospital, they spent quite some trying to find which name would be most suitable for the child. Finally, when they decided on what name they should give, the mother delivered the news.

“Hey there little guy, you know what your name is?” asked the mother sweetly. “Well, your name will be Jacob. Jacob Griffiths.”

And the little Jacob Griffiths will soon discover his obsession with phones that will nearly end his life…

Bad luck never ends…

The end (Or is it…)

 

Prologue – 1936

Introductions

Part 1 – Johan Volkhardt

War… Death… Disappearance… Economy…These are all the difficulties that young Johan Volkhardt faces every day of his life. It’s World War II, a time of great danger for many, but that’s just one of the main worries that Johan faces. Not only has the war started, but he also has lost his father, leaving his family in a poor state. Young Johan has to learn to help his family and cope with this horrible situation. But he has one hope: the war could soon end…

Part 2 – Prison

Far away from the city of Munich where he once lived, Johan’s father is full of despair. He was forcibly taken from his home after he refused to join the war and fight. Now he’s in a concentration camp with no hope of escape… just wishing that his family is alright….

Chapter 1 – 1938

Two Sides of A Coin

Part 1 – Heads

“Johan! Get up from that bed now or you won’t get any breakfast!” called Gertrude Volkhardt, his mother.

It was late into the day and he had overslept after such a hard day’s work the day before. “Coming!” he shouted back. He got off of the creaky bed and went down the thin, narrow staircase. As he got downstairs, he saw his younger sister, Ann, at the table with a bowl of small green vegetables and wearing a look of disgust. Cabbage soup again… he thought. Although he truly didn’t like it, he already knew he had to eat it or he wouldn’t get anything at all for the rest of the day. After eating the disgusting soup, which he thought barely had any flavor, he got to work. He went to the back of the house and got his old, battered bicycle from two years before. People often said that he hadn’t grown much during that time. Maybe it’s the bad nutrition, he thought.

Part 2 – Tails

“Get up you foul beasts! And get to work,” called an officer. Wilhelm Volkhardt opened his eyes just a crack. The room was dark with little air passage through it, and the strong smell of sweat was stagnant. Several others were there, but he could barely see them. Wilhelm tiredly and slowly got up; he was starving. After a while, the sealed door was opened, and all the prisoners came out. In the sunlight, it was a lot easier to see him. He had an appearance similar to that of his son: blond hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and extremely thin.

Chapter 2 -1938

The Usual Routine

Part 1 – Delivery

Johan mounted his old, rusted bicycle and went off. He was off to deliver resources to the church about ten blocks away. Most times he was paid $1 for going on the trip. It wasn’t much, but even in such a poor state, it seemed like a miracle. $1, he thought, each time; every bit helps. He pedaled back home and gave his mother the money, then he went back out to try and help others and to try and earn more money. On his way around, he saw his friend, Olaf Bechtholdt, on the road. He was a blond haired boy, with brown eyes and a thin smile. It seemed like he didn’t want to be bothered: he had his head lowered and a serious expression on his face, but he came up to him anyway. “Hallo, Olaf,” he shouted as he passed by.

He didn’t respond. Just when he was about to round the corner, “Hans, get over here…” he whispered. Johan always hated that nickname, but he knew that it must be something serious.

“What is it, Olaf?” Johan asked.

Part 2 – Horror

Tiredly walking to the eating area, Wilhelm looked around. Several dead bodies were being pulled out of the room where he was just in. Officers quickly pulled them out looking disgusted. He shivered—that has happened many times and he still hadn’t gotten used to it. He slowly made his way to get food. There was barely anything to eat. He would usually only get a piece of bread (approximately weighing 300 grams), and if he was lucky, he would get a bit of cheese and potato skins. The bread was supposed to last for a whole day and the next morning, but that seemed impossible with all the hunger they had. Sometimes, prisoners had to steal pieces of bread from the deceased to live.

Chapter 3 – 1939

WAR!

Part 1 – Departure

Two years have passed since his father was taken away. They hadn’t heard anything from him. It seemed like just yesterday that his father was taken away to Johan. A few days after he refused to join the war, a bunch of Nazi officers came into their home and carried him out forcibly. One year had passed since Olaf had told him that his father died. He expected it would happen at some point. Their family was starving. Then one day, in the middle of the winter season, Johan Volkhardt received news. It wasn’t from his father, but it wasn’t good news either.

To whomever this corresponds,

You have been drafted to the

war. Depart your home in a week and

make your way to the army.

Johan, who turned sixteen years old this year, was being drafted to war.

“Remember, Ann, I’m leaving and you must do your best to help Mama,” Johan reminded his younger sister.

She broke into tears. “Do you… do you really have to leave?” she whimpered. “If I don’t go, the same thing that happened to Papa will happen to me,” he solemnly responded.

Part 2 – A Form of Escape

“Volkhardt!” called the officer. “Get over here!”

“Yes, sir…” Wilhelm groaned. Slowly walking up to him, he thought, What could it be? Am I going to die today? Once he got there, the officer started talking.

“We’ve heard news, Volkhardt…” Please tell me I’m not going to die… “Today, you’re going to be…” Killed? “..drafted to war.” I knew it, I knew…

“What did you say sir?” Wilhelm asked.

“Are you deaf, Volkhardt? I said, you’re going to war!” That’s just as bad…

Chapter 4 – 1939

Struggle

Part 1 – Survival

The next week, Johan left his head lowered, breaking through the wind and snow, wondering what would happen. He didn’t bring much, just the clothes he was wearing. It has a long way to go, so there was plenty of time to ponder over events. It was finally time to leave his home. Now it would be much harder for his family to survive, with only his younger sister and Mama there to earn money. Both men had left. He hoped they’d be ok and he could come back soon…

Part 2 – Into The Unknown

Guess I’ll have to leave now… Wilhelm thought. At least I could escape this horror for a few days, but war is just as bad… Wilhelm left the day after he heard the news. He had nothing so he wouldn’t really need anything to bring.

Silence on the road, away to war…..

What will happen to Johan and his father? Will they die at war? Will they be able to escape?

 

Bonus:

Ann’s Story – A First Person Story

Ann was a minor character in this book, but she has her own story to tell…

I was just 7 years old when my father was taken by the Nazi army. After that, I was only left with my caring older brother and mother. The house was pretty empty without him. It left us all extremely sad. I don’t know what would have happened if I didn’t have a brother like Johan. As soon as Papa was gone, he helped us as much as he could: taking care of me as a brother should and helping Mama earn money to help us survive. Now, 3 years have passed and it’s his turn to leave. I don’t know what we’re going to do, but I sure will miss him….

 

Tooth Fairy Kate is in her house made out of teeth in the clouds. She is making a car out of teeth. Since she’s tiny, her house is small. It’s white because once the fairies get the teeth, they have to clean them so that they can use them. (They have a little factory where the teeth go on a conveyer belt, and they have little workers that brush the teeth.)

She goes to the store to get glue. Her glue is special because it is magical. Once she finishes getting the glue from the store, she goes to her house to put the last piece on the car: a little canine for the door.

She tries out her new car and drives around, but then, the bell in the cloud rings, and it tells her that there’s a kid named Angelina who lost her tooth. Tooth Fairy Kate needs to get Angelina’s tooth. So Tooth Fairy Kate takes her new car and drives to the child’s house.            

She creaks open the window and goes through and sees the bedroom. She finds a tooth in a cup covered with paper, so she takes the paper off, grabs the tooth, and drops off a five dollar bill. She brings her car and puts it on the desk so that she can take a break, but she needs to go to the bathroom. So she flies to the bathroom. She flushes the toilet, and she leaves to go back to the room. There’s a little paper on the desk that has questions for her.

It says, “What’s your last name?”

She writes that her last name is Daisy.

And then, she sees the next question which says, “How do you know when a kid loses teeth?”

She writes on the paper, “There’s a siren that tells you there’s a person who just lost a tooth. It is the child that you choose.”

There’s a little sign on the paper that says, “Here’s a present for you. It’s a purse.”

There’s a little toy purse there for the tooth fairy.

Kate takes her car and drives out, but it’s raining, and she tries to move her car, but the car isn’t working. She gets out of her car, and she dismantles the car. She takes all the teeth and puts it in her little purse that Angelina gave her, which she tries to use to cover her head, but her wings get wet .

She lands, gets on the ground, and tries walking, but there’s stomping feet everywhere. It’s hard for her because she might get stepped on, and the humans are 100 times her size.

She keeps walking, being cautious, and makes sure that she doesn’t stand right in front of somebody and get stepped on. She hangs onto the bottom of a man’s pants, and then he walks into a car, where it’s dry. Kate stays on his pants until her wings are dry.

She makes sure not to get wet and hides inside the ankle of the man’s pants. He goes into a nice building that’s white and big. And then she hears another man say, “Welcome back, Mr. President.”

In Kate’s head, she’s wondering what a president is. Then, she remembers they have President Toothhead back at home, and she’s thinking that maybe he’s this place’s President Toothhead. So she hops out and finds this nice blanket and stays there to go to sleep.

In the morning, Kate finds herself in a room where a little girl is sleeping on a bed, and she’s on a nightstand under a blanket. She hops out from under that blanket and tries to fix her car, but she still needs glue. She has to go see if there is a place where she could find some. She sees that there’s this furry thing under the bed, and it has a collar that says, “Missy.”

Kate says, “It might be a dog. President Toothhead says to always be careful of those things because they might blow your cover.”

She sees the dog, and she gets her wand and taps its head. Then, the dog starts to float because she put pixie dust on its head. The dog starts barking, and the little girl wakes up and says, “What happened, Missy?”

Then, the girl tries to jump on Missy’s back, but Missy is floating. Kate doesn’t want the dog to bark and let the little girl know she is there. She put the pixie dust on the dog’s head so that the dog would only bark because it is floating, not because she saw Kate. Kate knows that this is her chance to escape, so she tiptoes out of the room. But she is too late. The little girl sees Kate and picks her up!

Meanwhile, at Fairytopia, the other fairies are scared and worried if Kate is okay.

Kate is put in a cage, and the girl stares at her. Kate tries to talk to the girl, but since Kate is so small, all of the noise the girl can hear is ringing. Kate takes some paper to draw out what she means. She draws rain, herself with a frowny face because her wings are getting wet, and a cloud with fairies, and a house which is where she lives. Kate labels that, “Fairytopia.” The girl understands and lets Kate out of the cage.

“Hi, my name is Brittnie,” the girl says.

‘’I was wondering if you could let me out, please’’.

Brittnie leads Kate to the window. “Thank you for coming. You gave me an experience I will never forget,’’ Brittnie says.

Kate is happy, and her wings dry. She flies out the window, but before she does that, she reverses the spell she put on the dog.

When she gets outside, she realizes that she needs glue for her car to put it back together. Her wings are not that strong, and they won’t be able to fly all the way back home. She goes back through the window, but for some reason, the girl’s room is already a mess. She cannot find the glue because the room has toys everywhere.

But then, Kate remembers that the glue is in the dresser. She climbs the dresser and falls into one of the drawers. Then, it closes, and she needs to get out! She remembers that she has powers, so she pushes some of her powers against the front of the drawer, and it opens a little. And since Kate’s tiny, she can fit through. And so, she finds the glue, and she climbs down and starts gluing her car back together.

When she finishes gluing the car back together, she takes a test drive to see if it is working. She drives all the way back to Fairytopia. Everybody in Fairytopia is wondering if she is fine. They are worried about her.

Tooth Fairy Kate tells everybody, “I had a hard time bringing the tooth back! You don’t even want to know what happened.”

The end!

There are two 14-year-old boys, identical twins named Joe and James, who are complete polar opposites. They hate each other. They fight all day long, nonstop. They gab about each other’s faults to their friends. They both can’t stop making up stupid flaws about each other. These boys are both black-haired and six feet tall. They have black, square glasses. Being so tall, they are extremely clumsy. They trip over things 100 times a day. Being as skinny as sticks, their heads look huge.

They are locked inside a metal room, no place to go, no windows, no light. There is nothing in the room except matches and a piece of paper with a random riddle. They need to work together to find the matches and the paper, and to solve the riddle before ten minutes is up.

Groping through the dark, the two boys don’t find anything on the floor.

“Nothing!” they chorus.

“Hey, don’t bump into me!” cries Joe.

“You bumped into me! That’s your problem,” yells James.

“I don’t have any problems! You’re the one with the problems,” snaps Joe.

“Oh yeah, you bumped into me! Can’t you look where you’re going?!”

“Even if I did bump into you, it’s extremely dark in here. How do you expect me to see where you are? Now, shut up and continue our search for the match and the stupid piece of paper!” shouts Joe.

James is getting red in the face and is feeling around for Joe. He finds him.

“What on earth are you doing?”

Then, it hits him. Joe slaps James back. Soon, it becomes a terrible fight. Punches flying back and forth. They wrestle each other on the ground. The minutes tick by, one minute… two minutes… three minutes. Only four minutes left, and they’re still punching and slapping each other’s face.

They soon are up on their feet. Searching in the dark for the objects, James bumps his head on what he thinks is a wooden cabinet that they hadn’t noticed before. He looks inside. Nothing. He rams into it to see if anything falls off. Instead, it breaks, and he finds a concrete wall instead of metal. Oh, and he also finds the box of matches, which just fell onto his head. He lights one. The riddle is taped on the concrete wall. The wall has a keyboard near it. Joe comes over to the wall where James is standing.

“I guess this door needs a code, the answer to the riddle. Nice work, brother,” applauds Joe as he smiles.

“Thanks, Joe. Now, let’s get to work.”

The riddle says:

My first is often at the front door.

My second is found in the cereal family.

My third is what most people want.

My whole is one of the united states.

What am I?

“I can’t make heads or tails of it, but you’re the dumb one. You wouldn’t get it either,” says Joe.

“Oh really, I’m the dumb one? You were the first one to get an F on a test. In first grade!” erupts James.

They fight once more, now to determine who’s smarter. Only three minutes on the clock. They get up and stop fighting like babies.

“What is often at the front door? Mail? No, that can’t be it. Steps can’t be it either,” ponders James.

Two minutes left.

“A mat, there’s usually a welcome mat at the front door. We have one ourselves,” erupts Joe. “I just don’t get how that matters?”

“We’ll find out soon.”

“When it says ‘the cereal family,’ does it mean the company cereal brand, like Kellogg’s or General Mills, or does it mean the brand from those big companies, like Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops. You get what I mean, right?”

“I get what you mean, but you’re wrong. I think they mean the type of grain that makes the cereal. So it can be rye, barley, or oats. We’ll get back to that,” explains James.

“What most people want is a good education, but you can’t get that without money. Money, that’s what –”

“You’re right, Joe!” interrupts James.

One minute left.

“United States isn’t capitalized, so it can mean uniting together. Could it mean matrimony? Quick, type that in and see if it’s correct.”

James types it in. The door doesn’t open. Instead, written on the screen connected to the keyboard is:

How can you do this?

“What, we need to get married?!”

Second are ticking by. 20 seconds left.

“How on earth are we going to do this? This is the dumbest thing in the world!” erupts James.

Less and less time, ten… nine… eight… seven.

“We’re brothers though, why do we ne — ”

The building goes up in flames.

The flames lick the building to the ground. The fire department gets the warning and rushes to the sight. They warned the fire department that there are two boys stuck inside. The twins’ parents are told about the incident, and they jump in their car and race to the site. They are told that the reason why Joe and James went missing was because a mysterious man grabbed the boys from their rooms to this building. He set a bomb to ten minutes and started it as the boys were dropped in. They needed to find a way out of the building.

The fire department recovers the unconscious bodies from the building and puts them in the ambulance. The ambulance rushes to the hospital with the parents’ 2017 Mercedes E-350 tailing behind.

The boys’ hospital room has white walls with fluorescent lighting, which makes you blind when you first walk in. The boys wake up. They are blinded and can’t see each other. Joe is in agony. The doctor tells him he was fatally injured and might not live for long. They lie in their beds, thinking, thinking.

The last day for Joe has come, and he’s ready for it.

“James, I’ll miss you.”

“No, Joe! Why, Why, Why, Why?!”

James is in tears as Joe leaves the world forever.

One scorching, hot day, a little girl named Katie with beautiful, blonde hair, was wearing a blue dress with white polka dots. Her mother was wearing a striped shirt and a black skirt. Her mother took her on a walk to Central Park because they wanted to stretch their legs. On their way they passed an elegant shop that had all different kinds of things from different countries.

They noticed stuff like a chair from India, a chest from France, a vase from China, and a dress from Africa. Everything looked fragile. The door had a dusty, golden doorknob. They continued walking towards Central Park, but at the end of the window, there was a gap… Something was shining.

Katie’s mom stopped and said, “Katie come back.” Katie’s mother wanted to take a look inside because something caught her eye that she thought was really outstanding.

Katie wasn’t sure what it was, so she decided to take a look anyways. Inside the store, Katie’s mother saw a soft, pretty scarf, and on the scarf was a whole lot of animal patterns mixed up with jewelry.  

Katie’s mother decided to buy it, and she brought it to the counter. While she was paying, her daughter heard something calling to her. A whisper was coming from an old, mysterious, familiar box. The box was wooden and had two diamonds on each side. It was right by where the mixed up animal scarf was. She thought in her head that she’d seen it before.

When she was going to open it, the shopkeeper asked politely, “Please don’t open that box,” because he was scared. But Katie just ignored him because she was really curious what was inside. So she opened it…

But nothing was inside. It was 12:30 when they went out of the shop. Owls were hooting loudly. Katie and her mother went back to their fantastic home and went to sleep by themselves quietly. Everyone in the house was asleep except for one person: Katie. She couldn’t sleep because of the box.

She kept on thinking and thinking, What could be inside? She thought, It’s impossible to hear people calling your name when there’s no one there. Katie knew she had to go back to the shop. Katie was awake the whole night.

After that night, Katie asked her mother, “Can we go to that shop again?”

Her mother explained, “The shopkeeper doesn’t want you going there anymore.”

But Katie begged her. And eventually, her mother said, ’’Yes you can go,” because she was getting annoyed by her daughter asking this question every day and every second!      

They went off to the shop, and as soon as they arrived inside, Katie rushed right next to the mysterious box and opened it. This time, she fell inside the old, dusty box and found herself somewhere else. Katie felt really scared. She was trembling.

Katie found herself in a forest with rainbow trees and mixed-up animals where different parts of their bodies were switched. For example, a face of a dog, a body of a snake, hands of an elephant, and legs of an ant. All the animals were really surprised, and the trees looked very excited. The animals were all staring at Katie because the animals had an orb where they could see what was happening in the old, careless shop. The animals had had the orb since they were babies. In the beginning, when they were still babies, they would almost knock the orb down. But their parents caught them every single time. When they were older, they knew that they could see the inside of the shop, so they started to be more careful. Every day, they had looked for Katie. They knew Katie was the person that the king wanted to join their army.

They were all surprised to see Katie, but there was one animal who looked very polite and gentle and kind, who told her, “Go see the king.” The polite, gentle animal told her, “Just follow one path, and you’ll find your way.”

Katie only walked for five minutes, when she found a person who was wearing armor stuck next to a leafy tree. Katie said, “Hello sir?” He did not answer. She said louder, “Hello sir?!” He still did answer. So she decided to investigate the man carefully!

She saw that he had a dangerous knife through his left leg, so she took it out and his eyes lit open as quick as a lightning bolt. A witch had turned the sword into a magic sword that made him fall asleep for one thousand years.

One thousand years earlier, the man had killed the witch’s sister trying to defend himself. Right before the witch had stabbed him, he heard her say, “The only person who will be able to save you is the person who can kill me.” The man had waited one thousand years for Katie to come to save him. Katie had faced loads of hard challenges already in her life. Once, she got in a big fight with her mother and had gotten abandoned at a store. Another time, she got lost at a playground and had to find her own way home. As soon as the man saw her, he knew Katie was ready to kill the witch.

Katie asked the man, “How come you were stuck next to this tree?”

The man replied kindly, “A witch stuck me here, and I’ve been waiting for a thousand years.”

Katie said, “My name is Katie. What’s yours?”

The man happily replied, “Joe.”

Katie asked, “Would you like to go with me to see the king of this land? Maybe he can do something for you, like help you stitch that hole in your leg up.”

Joe replied, “Okay. I’ll go with you to see the king!’’

They walked for two days straight. Joe and Katie found two pitch-dark paths that looked the same. They didn’t know which one to go to. They went past the first one. It led back to where they had started. They tried the other one. It led to the place where they had started as well. They wondered and wondered how two paths could possibly lead back to their beginning. It was 11:20 at night so they decided to go to sleep on the cold, wet grass.

The next morning, they thought, Let’s go straight on the grass and see what happens, and eventually, it worked! Joe could see the castle with his very good eyesight. They decided to have a snack break because of their hard work. They had delicious grapes and crispy pretzels.

After they finished eating happily, they felt very comfortable. They lay on the wet, soft grass for 15 minutes!

Eventually, they continued on their way to the king. After two tiring days, they arrived at the king’s beautiful, gorgeous, outstanding palace. The palace was made out of solid gold. It had glimmering gems on the roof. They couldn’t believe their eyes, so they quickly ran to the door…  but unfortunately, there was a person wearing solid gold armor guarding it. Every person that went past the guard noticed a sword hanging down his belt and his remarkably ugly horse next to him. People decided to keep their thoughts to themselves because they didn’t want to get into a big fight with the guard.

Katie asked him, “Can we go inside the palace?”

The guard answered rudely, “No. You cannot go inside the palace. It’s the king’s orders.”

Katie responded in an angel voice, “Please?” Katie thought it would be easy because she was used to her mother saying yes all the time, and her mother knew she was spoiled little child.

The guard still responded, “NO! JUST GO AWAY!”

Katie knew it wouldn’t work anymore because she could see the desperation on the guard’s face. He didn’t want anyone to go inside. Katie turned back and asked Joe for help. They walked away to a big, shady tree and hid in the branches so the guard couldn’t hear what they were talking about!

Katie whispered to Joe, “Can you help us to get inside?”

Joe suggested, “Let’s find the keys to the castle.”

Katie thought that it was a good idea, but she asked, “How are we going to find the keys?”

“Let’s hide, and hopefully another guard will tell this guard where the keys are. Then, we will follow that person, and then, when he leaves we will get the keys!’’

It was late at night, so they decided to go to sleep on the branches of a big tree. Finally, early in the morning, Katie saw the guard telling the other guard where the keys were. She couldn’t believe her eyes! She woke Joe up and told him the good news. Joe was glad as well. He had a big grin on his face. They quickly followed the man, and the man put the keys at the back door. They hid next to some hay, and then as soon as he went away, they sprinted to the keys.

Katie asked Joe, “Now that we have the keys, how do we get inside with the guard there?”

This time, Joe was really worried. He didn’t know either. They went back to the tree with the keys. They thought about how they could go inside. After one week of thinking, Katie thought of something. On the last day of the week, the guards noticed the keys were missing. The person at the front gate ran away because he was so scared that he would get fired because he didn’t keep the keys. Katie woke up Joe again.

They were so relieved that after one week, they finally did it. When the guard ran home, Katie and Joe rushed inside. Everything inside was green except for the path. The path was greenish blue. It led to a fancy door. Katie and Joe were really nervous because they were afraid maybe it wasn’t the king inside the door. So they stood there thinking about who could possibly be inside. After two minutes, they thought the only person that could be in there would be the king because they heard him talking.

Katie opened the door, and there sat a fancy, clean man, and that man was the king…

***

The king’s face turned pale when he saw Katie. He basically wanted to faint because she was the person he was waiting one hundred and two years for, and finally, she came! At first, Katie thought that the man wasn’t the king; she just thought he was a stupid, drunk stranger because he had a ridiculous response when Katie walked inside.

Katie asked, “Who are you?”

Before he could answer he dropped on the cold, dusty, hard ground!

Katie stared at the filthy king. Katie was so scared. She burst out with tears.

But Joe realized there was a letter lying by the King, and then he shouted, “Katie, Katie look there’s a letter, and it says it’s to you.’’

Katie stopped immediately. She went to the letter and…

Dear Katie,

Go out of the castle, walk ten miles, and then, you will find two trees, and one will have a key hanging down from it. Take it, then, go to the next one, put it through a hole, and it will take you to me!

Yours Sincerely,

The Queen

As soon as Katie got the letter, she rushed out the door. Joe didn’t want to go with her because he was scared, so he hid somewhere. After Katie walked for two minutes, she realized Joe wasn’t there. She was shocked by this sight. She was now alone again. She wanted to go back home and just forget all about this, but she had to keep on going if she wanted to go back home. So she continued on her journey. It was only the afternoon, so she found a nice, cozy space by a tree and fell asleep!

The next morning, it was raining hard, and Katie knew that she couldn’t continue on her journey. She decided to stay by the tree another day, but ants were crawling around the tree, so she had to go to another tree.

After two minutes, she finally arrived at another tree. She put her head down and tried to fall asleep because it was raining hard, but she felt something hitting her on the neck. She wasn’t comfortable anymore, so she looked behind her, and there was a fancy, golden, precious key. She wondered if it was the key somebody sent to her. She went for the risk and took it. She ran to the other tree as quickly as a cheetah, and she found three holes. She tried one hole. It didn’t work. When Katie took the key out, it just had some branches and tree sap stuck on it .

She was disappointed and said, “Why isn’t this working?” She started to try the other ones, but the more she tried putting the key into the holes, the more tree sap and branches got on it. She threw the key into a hole in the ground, but Katie missed. Katie sat down on the cold, wet grass. She meditated because she was annoyed about missing. Her face was as red as an apple. Her face was on fire. But when she meditated, she felt calmer. The anger came out of her body.

She was ready to try again. She picked up the key. She stopped and looked at the key. She noticed writing on the key that said: Dear Katie, Good Luck. From, The Queen. She felt very special. Katie was energetic once again. She threw the key in the cold breeze. It flew as smoothly as a bird! It dropped inside the hole. Katie’s smile showed it all. Tears filled her eyes. After a long time, she finally did it!

She curiously walked to the hole to grab the key that was glimmering in the darkness. Her arm got caught by poison ivy reaching towards her. She didn’t mind because she was brave enough. She went to reach for the glimmering key, but something pushed her. She wobbled, but she was okay. Then, the wind began to blow. She was struggling to survive. When the wind stopped, she lost balance, and all of a sudden, she fell into the pitch black hole…

As she fell through the dusty hole, she screeched. She was trying to reach for the sky. She told herself she was invisible because she was really worried, and she wanted to tell herself positive things. But then, she landed on a soft, bouncy, cozy bed. She looked around…

Katie realized that she was at the queen’s outstanding, dusty palace! When Katie looked outside, it was scorching hot. She was confused because it was raining heavily…

At the beginning, Katie thought she had gone to another country or land. She was getting annoyed. Suddenly, she felt startled! Light shone on the colorful, dusty, red throne. Out of nowhere, the gorgeous queen arrived…

The queen was wearing an old fashioned robe and a glimmering golden gown. She was wearing silver, sparkly shoes, and she had a colorful crown.

Katie couldn’t believe her eyes. She was shocked by the sight. The queen’s face turned as white as a cloud. Her legs were wobbling. She was biting her nails. Suddenly, the wind was blowing hard. Katie didn’t know what to say to the queen. She backed up.

The queen was confused. She asked, “Are you Katie?”

Katie responded with a trembling voice, “Y-y-yes.”

The queen didn’t know if she was Katie because she expected her to be very confident. She asked, “Are you really Katie?” Katie took a deep breath and stepped forward and bowed as politely as could. The queen looked at her, and she confidently said, “Stand up.”

Katie tiptoed towards the gorgeous queen and kindly gave her the letter from her broken pocket. The queen stood there. She was frozen with the letter. Katie asked, “Hello? Hello?” Still no answer. She tried one more time…

All of a sudden Katie woke up in a shock in her own room on her own bed. She was pale from shock! Katie looked around. There was no queen, no Joe, no anyone. She asked, “Is anyone there?” No one answered. She asked louder and rougher, “Is anybody there?!”

Katie realized it was all a dream: the rainbow trees, the mixed up animals. It was all a dream. Katie’s eyes were watery. She sighed and flopped over to the other side of her bed. Katie wanted to continue on her journey to earn the gold! Katie tried to go to sleep again. She closed her eyes. She tucked herself in and thought that she was in the land she was in before. It didn’t work. She tried again and again. The more she did it, the more it didn’t work. Katie gave up. Because of this, everyone in the land got sick. Every night, she tried and tried to get back. But after a year, she forgot all about it.

All the people in the land started to fade away because Katie hadn’t come back again…

The end [or not…]

Long ago, a group of people were assigned to go on a mission in outer space. Their mission was to try to get past Mars’ atmosphere. But what they didn’t know was, they had visitors on Mars.

The group of people were Noemie, Jeany, Nick, and Jack. On their way to space, they saw the beautiful sun. It looked like looking at a thousand stars and flowers all day long!! There was a camera out of the ship where they could see everything out of the computer. Finally, it was time they were getting closer and closer to Mars!!!

Suddenly, Jack said, “We’re losing contact with earth, man!!!”

Everybody started getting busy. All of a sudden, everybody started pressing buttons and switching switches.They were passing Mars’ atmosphere but they didn’t know it.

It sounded like this, “Vrooooooooooommmm. Beeb, Beeeee, beeb, beeb, beeb, beeb,  beeb, beeb, beeb, beeb.”

They smelled smoke. The smoke smelled like dead meat. The a/c caught on fire, but they put it out before it caused real damage to the computers.

Suddenly, they felt a big bump. Then they stopped doing what they were doing. They landed on Mars!

“YEAH!! We did it, man, we did it,” said Jack.

While they were celebrating, there was a big hole in the a/c. The mother alien quickly crawled in the hole, waiting for her prey. The alien mother was bigger than baby aliens. Aliens have big heads. The humans did not know there was was more than one alien. They also had mouths in their mouths!!!

Noemie, the leader, told Jack to fix the hole in the a/c. Jeany went too. They went together.

Jack looked in the big hole in the a/c and saw a big, humongous, ALIEN!! The alien slowly opened its mouth.

“HELP, MAN!” said Jack. “Help,  help, help, man!!!”

“Hey, Jack, I got the tools to fix the a/c. What do you say we get to work? Jack? Jack? Jack?! Are you playing a joke on me?! JACK!” said Jeany.

“Help!” said Jack.

The the alien zoomed into the pipes leaving a trail of blood!

THE NEXT DAY…

“I’m telling you the truth, Noemie!!! One second Jack was there, the other he wasn’t not! And after he said his last word, ‘Help!’ I saw a trail of blood in the pipes!” said Jeany.

“Stop with your lies. He’s probably pulling another trick on you. And ‘help’ was not his last word. He’s my man,” said Noemie.

“At midnight I did not see him in his bed! You do not think it’s a signal from an ALIEN? People who believe in aliens wrote a book about ‘em. In the book, it said the alien would take a person you care about and eat him/her alive,” said Jeany.

“Hey, guys sorry to interrupt, but we found a dude floating in space. His name is Fernando. Should we bring him in?” said Nick.

“Of course,” said Jeany. “Profile his ID.”

“He has no family. Nothing,” said Nick.

“Can’t be! Nothing at all?” said Jeany.

“Nope. He thought if he went on this mission, he’d get more money. His crew abandoned him in space. They went back to earth without him. He said he saw an alien.”

“I told you that aliens are on Mars, Noemi,” said Jeany.

“He’s lying. Aliens are not real. How many times do I have to tell you this?!” said Noemi.

“Until one of us dies, Noemi. Just wait and see,” said Jeany.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!” yelled Nick. “Something is pulling me into the pipes! HELP!!!”

“Don’t!” yelled Fernando. “If you kill it, it will destroy the ship. It will make a hole in the air container causing us to lose oxygen,” said Fernando.

“Are you crazy?!” said Nick.

“Do you want to kill us all?” said Fernando.

“No,” said Nick.

“The alien has to let go of you at some point. But it will not leave us alone. We have to hurt it once, then it dies by itself. Hit this one ten times. It’s the mom alien,” said Fernando. Then, Fernando shot the mom alien ten times, letting Nick free.

Suddenly, Noemie fell down to the floor. An alien was pulling her in the pipes. Noemi tried to kill the alien, but it was too late. Jeany shot it, but their leader died.

“Who’s going to lead us now?!” said Nick.

“I will!”said Jeany.

“Now let’s let’s go and  kill some aliens!”said Jeany.

“Yeah!!” shouted Fernando and Nick.

So, they ejected into space and went home to earth. The aliens died on Mars. Hooray!!!

Chapter 1

Kateri, Sam, Andrew, and Kasten were watching 3D Zootopia in comfy, leaned back, reserved chairs. Oops, sorry, I almost forgot about Marisa. She is Kateri and Andrew’s mom. She was there too, of course. Sam and Kasten were not part of the Derman family, but Andrew and Kasten were very close and Sam and Kateri had been friends for as long as they could remember.

“That was a good movie,” said Andrew as they walked out of the theater.

“Yep!” said Sam as they crossed the street. Then… vroom! Two cars came rumbling down the street. Thankfully, the group was safe. They had taken a street safety class together. Kateri, Andrew, Sam, and Kasten jumped on one car and Marisa got on the other. The cars kept on rumbling down the road… in different directions! Sam put his face down on the window and stuck his tongue out at the driver.

“What are you doing?!” asked Kateri.

“Distracting the driver,” replied Sam. “Look.” The car veered into an apartment building. The driver called 911. The car stopped and the ambulance came rushing. Kateri, Sam, and Andrew were not hurt, but Kasten had a big scrape on his arm. He burst into tears. Kateri quickly silenced him. “Hide!” yelled Sam. Andrew dove under the car. Kateri jumped behind a nearby trashcan. Kasten sprinted into a hair salon. Sam dove into a trash can.

“Shh,” whispered Andrew to Kateri, who was giggling from behind her trash can. Sam started yelling at Kateri. Andrew caught words like, “nitwit,” “scandal,” and, “stupid.” The police turned their heads.

“They saw us!” said Sam, “On three, run! One, two, three!” They all piled into the car. Then… BAM!

COP CHASE!! The two cars went rumbling down the street!

“I nicked the police belts,” said Andrew. “I’m quite a good pickpocket.”

“Hardy har har,” said Kateri.

“Hey, who asked you?!”

“Myself!”

Sam snatched the police belts from Andrew. He pulled out the police guns. “Nope! I don’t approve of violence,” said Sam.

“Why not?” asked Kateri.

“Because it’s… violence,” said Sam.

“Look, Sam!” said Kasten. “It’s a fortune telling place! Can we go?! Can we go?! Can we go?!”

“Huh. Okay, Kasten. But only very quickly.”

“I want to see if we’ll ever find Kateri and Andrew’s mom,” said Kasten.

They walked into the fortune telling place. It was called The Seeker’s Revelations. Kasten ran into the studio.

“Have fun!” said Kateri.

They closed the door of the studio. A moment later, Kasten ran out of the studio!

“What happened?” asked Andrew.

“You know what she said?! You know what she said?!” said Kasten. “She said she had a revelation. She said that she knew I was a seeker. She knew I was seeking for Kateri and Andrew’s mother. She said, ‘You will find her again, but you might lose her forever.’”

Sam walked out of the store, leading Kasten by his arm. “I don’t ever want to see that hateful woman again!”

Suddenly, a woman walked out of the studio. “Oh, did you call me hateful? Night will come and I will attack when you least expect it!”

Kateri waved her finger by her ear, creating the cuckoo sign.

“Did you hear me? Night will come, and expect attack will— wait, what?”

“Hahahahaha! Let’s go,” laughed Andrew. They jumped back in the car. The cops were getting really close to them.

“Hey,” said Kateri. “It’s my turn to drive!!”

“Okay,” said Sam. “But remember: we’re in a cop chase, so we have to switch quickly. This is not your normal day— whatever,” Sam said as Kateri jumped into the driver’s seat.

Kateri started driving. She drove like she was drunk, even though she wasn’t. The cops were getting really close to them; even closer. Then the police crashed into the beat-up Mercedes Benz.

“Aww…” said Kasten. “I liked that car.”

“Hurry up!” yelled Kateri. “We’re gonna have to jump!!” Sam, Kateri, and Andrew jumped out of the car.

“Run for it!” yelled Sam. “Kasten, hurry up!”

Kasten was scared. He had never jumped out of a moving vehicle before. Sam, Andrew, and Kateri had a lot of experience from their car safety class, but Kasten had been too scared to attend the jumping part. The car went into a tunnel, and Kasten had still not jumped.

“Linda?” I whispered. It was late at night and the storm clouds were brewing.

“What is it, Josie?” she said sleepily.

“I’m scared.”

The thunder boomed loudly. I dove for her bed. I snuggled in and she made room for me. That’s how I spent the night: with my sister.

***

The next day, it was a warm, bright, sunny morning. I listened to the birds chirping their merry tunes as if to say, “Spring is here. Rejoice, oh, rejoice in the glory of spring.” I got ready to throw my frisbee, still listening to the merry tunes, listening to the leaves rustle, and smelling the smell of spring.

I threw my frisbee perfectly, letting it glide elegantly through the air. I got the feeling of being on a roller coaster. In my mind, I was with the frisbee; I was on the frisbee sailing over the green of the park, over the river, past people staring and pointing. I flew through the sharp wind, over stores and restaurants, cars and bikes, towers and skyscrapers. I felt like I was on a roller coaster, gliding elegantly through the air. I was zipping over people, high above city life . . . and then I was back, standing very still in the park, with my eyes watching my frisbee sail through the air.

My sister caught the frisbee. She tossed it back to me. I let it glide through the air. I let it glide over my head, skimming my hair. I let it come to a stop on the bright green grass. I ran to pick it up. I threw it to my sister. She threw it back. She laughed. I laughed. I ran over to her and hugged her tight. She hugged me back.  

“Do you wanna go to the pool?” I asked.

“Do you want to get ice cream and then go to the pool?” she replied, still laughing.

We heard the sound of an ice cream truck and we rushed in the direction of the music. I got a chocolate vanilla twirl and she got strawberry. She paid for both of ours with her pocket money and we skipped off to the pool. We had to finish our ice cream before we went into the changing room.

We both laughed when my sister spilled ice cream on her shoes, because the sole of the shoe said Foolproof. I gave her some of mine. We had fun in the pool, splashing each other until an elderly lady told us to stop. Her mouth was like a lemon, swollen and big. We spent the rest of the time laughing about that.

We decided to go back to the park. While we were relaxing on the green, green grass, Linda got a phone call. I studied her face to see what was going on.

After a long pause, my sister said, “Okay.”

I couldn’t read her face.

She put her phone in the bag, and without saying a word, she began to pack our things.

“Linda? What’s wrong?”

She slowly turned to face me.

She burst out laughing.

“I so got you,” she said, still laughing. We both fell on the grass, laughing and laughing. I felt as free as the frisbee, sailing over the park.

“Who was it?” I asked.

“Mom,” she answered. “She said that we have to go walk the dog.”

This produced a fresh bout of giggles.

Linda had a friend named Peggy. I really liked Peggy. When she came over, Linda, Peggy, and I would go and play. Peggy was a lot like Linda, so you can see why I liked her. She would call me Josie-Rosie and spin around, holding my hands, spinning, singing “Ring Around the Rosie.” It was a lot of fun when Peggy would come over.

I had a friend named Finney. Both of us liked Linda and Peggy. When Linda would have a playdate with Peggy, Finney and I would beg our parents if we could could have one too. One such instance, our parents said no. So I crept up the stairs to Linda’s bedroom, where I knew she and Peggy were hanging out.

I knocked.

No one answered.

I put my ear to the door. They were definitely in there. Maybe I hadn’t knocked loud enough.

I knocked again.

No answer.

I turned the handle. The door was locked. My sister’s door never had a lock. Maybe she got one yesterday; maybe that explains the drilling noise. That confused me. Why would she need a lock?

I ran downstairs to tell Mom, but she just sighed and said, “Your sister just wants her privacy. She’s growing up.”

***

One day, Mom sat us down and said, “Your dad and I are leaving for Spain in a week. We are going to leave you here alone because Linda is old enough to take care of you both for a week. Linda, I’m going to leave money on the table for you to use. Buy food for yourself and your sister. You guys know our phone numbers, so in case of an emergency, you can call us. Do not invite anyone into the house. Linda, we’re trusting you. Josie, behave yourself.”

On the second day that Mom and Dad were gone, Linda broke the rules. And she broke the rules big-time. She invited her gang at school over to have a party in the basement. I rushed to the phone. Seeing me, Linda pulled me aside, her eyes strangely bloodshot and her voice slurred. She said, “Listen up, girl: not a word to Mom, or else . . . ” She let the threat hang in the air. She turned slowly and rejoined the party. I stood in shock. That was not my sister.

At the end of the party, the problem of cleaning up occurred. Linda’s friends pointed at me, jeering, their voices slurred, their eyes bloodshot. The stench of tobacco filled the air. I struggled to breathe.

I ran upstairs.

Up another flight.

I ran past my sister’s room

I ran to my room.

I shut the door.

I sat on my bed.

Crying.

Sobbing.

This was not my sister.

***

The rest of the time that Mom and Dad were gone, every day, Linda would invite Peggy over and they would sit and drink. The smoke from their cigarettes billowed out from under the locked door. Sometimes they would emerge for a snack, stumbling down the stairs, their eyes bloodshot, their voices slurred.

The week without Mom and Dad was horrible. When they came back, Linda got in trouble; the remains of her party still covered the basement. Linda was angry for a week after. She hated me. This was not the Linda I knew. Her room was now off-limits to everyone, including Mom and Dad. They respected that and never went in! Why didn’t they care?

One day, when I knew that my sister was in the bathroom, I crept into her room. Everything seemed normal until I looked under her bed. What I saw made me gasp. Under her bed, tons of alcohol and bags of tobacco and cigarettes were crammed.

Half of me wanted to go tell Mom, and half of me knew that I would get Linda in trouble and she would hate me even more. But I didn’t have to decide.

“What the **** are you doing in my room?” my sister thundered from the doorway. I leapt up. My heart was beating so fast, I thought my chest would burst.

“I . . .”

“Shut up. If you mention a word to Mom, I swear I’ll . . . ” she said. “Get out of my room.”

I didn’t need her to tell me twice. I ran out of her room. I tried to put as much distance between us as possible.

I raced down the stairs.

I sprinted down the hallway.

I bounded down the steps.

I was in the basement.

I stared at the remains of the party.

I remembered my sister and her bloodshot eyes, her slurred voice, the gang jeering and pointing.

I shot out of the basement.

I darted up the steps.

I fled down the hallway.

I scrambled up the stairs.

I tore down another hallway.

I rushed into my room.

I slammed the door.

I cried.

***

A week later, Linda ran away. She left a note. On it, the words, “hate you, not coming back,” were scribbled hurriedly. She took her stash of alcohol, tobacco, and cigarettes with her.

I didn’t know how I felt about her being gone. I missed her old self.

I didn’t know about her new self.

Our house was quiet with Linda gone.

I didn’t really miss her.

That’s a terrible thing to say.

***

The next year passed smoothly and quietly.

I got B’s in most of my classes; I’d never gotten anything else.

Things were really quiet without Linda. My parents were devastated. They constantly blamed themselves for her unhappiness. They looked for her all over. They were still upset even though she took a bunch of money from them. I couldn’t recognize Linda’s room without the constant smoke billowing out from under the door. The house smelt strange without the constant stench of tobacco. It was . . . well . . . different, without Linda.

***

Linda came back on Tuesday, March 17th. She looked really different. She was wearing a simple skirt and top, not at all like the tube top she had been wearing when she left. She looked different without the useless makeup that had covered her face. Now, she had a light covering. She looked more grown-up. Mom and Dad took turns hugging her. She approached me slowly.

I had a horrible flashback of the party; of Linda approaching me slowly with her bloodshot eyes and slurred voice.

I turned and ran.

Up to my room.

I shut the door.

I sat on my bed, crying.

I knew that this Linda was different, but I couldn’t forgive her. I just couldn’t.

The door opened quietly.

Linda came in. She sat on my bed.

For a moment, it was silent. I buried my face deeper in the pillows.

“Josie,” she said. “I am so sorry. I really was horrible to you.”

I ignored her. That was easy to do due to my turmoil of thoughts, each pushing to the front of the line, trying to get attention.

“Josie,” she said again. “I really am.”

I still ignored her. But she should’ve gotten an award for persistence.

“Josie . . .” she tried again.

“Get out of my room.” I hadn’t really meant for it to come out rudely, but it did. Linda got off my bed.

She whispered, “I really am.”

Then she left.

My head was aching for the rest of the day, and the day after that, and so on.

***

About a week later, Linda came into my room with a gift. It was wrapped in the most beautiful wrapping paper, which must have cost her a fortune.

She left the present on my bed. On it was pinned a note: I’m really sorry. I opened her present. It was a camera—the expensive kind that I had begged for on every one of my birthdays.

***

A month later, my thoughts were still in turmoil when Linda quietly came into my bedroom.

“Do you want to go to the park?” she asked.

“No.”

“Do you want to get ice cream and then go to the pool?”

“No.”

“Josie, what do you want to do?”

“Leave me alone.” Again, it came out rudely, but I hadn’t meant for it to.

She left the room.

Ever since Linda had come back, my parents had been treating her like a queen. Well, everyone was treating her like a queen, as if she did something great, running away like she did.

***

One day, I was in the kitchen making myself a peanut butter sandwich when I heard Linda and Mom through the wall. I stopped and crept out of the kitchen. I approached the dining room door and put my ear to it. At first, I couldn’t make out what they were saying, then I heard Mom: “Linda, your dad and I are very proud of you for growing up and coming back. We really missed you.”

“But Mom, I’m not proud of myself.”

“If you’re talking about Josie, she’s just in a shock. She’ll get better.”

“No, she won’t. She has reason to hate me. I’ve tried everything. I even got her that camera that she has wanted for so long. Nothing works. I don’t blame her.”

“Sweetie . . .”

I gritted my teeth.

I sat there for a moment.

Not taking it anymore.

I went up to my room.

It’s wasn’t like I didn’t think she had changed. It was that I couldn’t forgive her for who she was. She seemed different since she’d come back; she seemed more grown-up, not playful, not fun, not the Linda she used to be. Not the Linda I used to love.

I banged my head on the bed. This was not helpful.

Ouch. I misjudged the distance between the bed and the wooden part. Ow.

I hung off my bed, my head almost reaching the floor.
All the blood rushed to my head.

I remembered a warm, sunny morning.

***

It was early in the morning, and I went into Linda’s room. She was sleeping on her bunk. Her bed was like a bunk bed, but it had no under bed. Just empty space.

“Come on, Linda. Wake up.” She stirred in her sleep. “Come on, Linda.”

“Okay, okay, I’m up.”

“What should we do?”

She sat up, a twinkle in her eyes.

“Let’s swing.”

“We don’t have swings.”

“Let’s make them.”

“How?”

“Grab a blanket.” I got a blanket.

“You can tie it to my bed, like this.” She showed me how to tie the ends of the blanket together to make a swing. She got in hers. I got in mine. We swung, laughing, giggling. We swung higher and higher, laughing, giggling.

***

That was it. I remembered no more.

Another memory took its place.

***

It was about to rain. Linda dragged me outside.

“Let’s build a fort,” she said.

The twinkle was in her eyes.

We grabbed chairs, raincoats, some food, and umbrellas. We finished our fort just as the rain started to fall. It had a bedroom and a food storage area. It even had a playroom! Our bedroom began to leak.

“Come on,” Linda said, a twinkle in her eyes.

We ran inside, laughing. We grabbed an umbrella and ran back, laughing, getting soaked. We repaired our fort. We ran outside, getting wet. We ran through the rain, laughing, dancing in the rain. We were soaked to the bone.

***

Another memory.

***

It was snowing. We built a snowman together, and an ice wall surrounding him. We went inside and dyed water with food coloring and splashed it all over our snowman and ice wall, laughing.

Linda had a twinkle in her eyes.

We went inside and had hot chocolate with marshmallows.

Linda had a twinkle in her eyes.

***

I missed that twinkle. I missed it a lot.

That was it. No more memories came to me. That was it.

I missed that twinkle.

I wanted to see it again. I needed to see it again. I had to trust Linda; it was the only way. I needed to see that twinkle.

I ran to Linda’s room.

“Come on, Linda. Wake up.”

She was up in an instant.

“What’s wrong? Is everything okay? Is everyone okay?”
“It’s just me, Linda,” I said.

She just looked at me.

“Can we go to the park?” I asked.

October 12, 2015

Dear Diary,

My name is Sarah, and this is my first time writing in a diary. I’m twelve years old, and I live in Malibu, California. I like California a lot, but my parents told me that we’re going to move to Florida. They told me this yesterday. It was the same day I got this diary. When they gave it to me, they told me I might not like the changes, and it might make me feel better to write my feelings and whatever I want in this diary. That still did not make me feel better. Moving to Florida means that I can’t be with my friends anymore or surf the big waves they have here. It also means I’ll have to go to a new school. Anyway, the reason my parents and I are moving is because they invented a new video camera for people’s houses. The video camera is called V.C.A. (Video Camera App). You can check the camera from the app (the app is also called V.C.A.). Wait a minute! Just because they invented a video camera doesn’t mean we need to leave California! Maybe they’re hiding something! I’m going to ask them! I’ll be right back!

***

Okay, so, nothing good happened. They told me no one in California would invest in their product, but a big company in Florida did! Today has not been a good day at all!! Right now, all I want is to read a book and then go to sleep. See you tomorrow, Diary.

October 13, 2015

Dear Diary, today is a Monday morning. (A school morning! Ugh!) Today, I’m going to tell my friends the news. I have two super close friends at school. Their names are Emma and Jessica, and we’re all in sixth grade. Emma’s really funny and athletic, and Jessica is very fashionable and smart. Both of them are also super nice. Oh my gosh!!! It’s 7:47 and school starts at 8:00. Bye! I have to go!

***

I’m back from school, and my friends didn’t like the news either, but they told me we could make a group chat. That’s the same thing as regular texting, but with more than one person — Jessica told me about it. Unfortunately, I have a flip phone, which doesn’t have text, and my friends have the Apple iPhone 5. The only way I can talk to them is over the phone, but I can’t talk to them both at the same time. Emma and Jessica told me that I should beg my parents and if I do something nice for them, maybe I’ll get an iPhone 5. But today, I’m not any happier about the situation, so that will have to wait at least ‘til tomorrow or later today. Give me a minute; I hear a knock at the door.

***

It was my parents. At first, I was hoping they were going to tell me we aren’t going to move. Unfortunately, that was not it. They just told me dinner is ready, and I’m starving!! So I’m gonna go.

October 14, 2015

It’s a Tuesday morning. Last night, I read a lot of my book, so I’m going to write a small part of it down so I don’t forget:

Peyton ran from her house to her grandma’s house every night because she didn’t have her own room, and at her grandma’s house, she did.

I’m still not sure why she didn’t have her own room to sleep in or why she wouldn’t let her parents know. Well, her parents could have gotten into a fight with Peyton, but I’m still not sure.

Wait a minute!! That gives me an idea! Tonight, when my parents fall asleep, I can call the company on my dad’s phone and tell them my parents actually don’t want to create the V.C.A. anymore! I’ll just have to talk in a deep voice, like my dad, and find his contact book. This is risky, but I hope it works, and you know, maybe the companies in California will change their minds and invest in the V.C.A. WOW!! My parents haven’t called to tell me it’s dinner yet, and it’s 7:37, and we usually eat at 6:30. Finally, they are calling me, and I’m starving!! And wow, what great timing that was!!

***

Dinner is finally over!! That took forever!! I don’t know why my mom made so much food, but it was really good!! Twenty-seven more minutes until I sneak into my parents room. It’s 9:42 right now, and everyone must be in bed by 10:00.  I also think I should wait five extra minutes.

***

It’s 10:27. That’s because I was so nervous, so I waited a lot of extra minutes. So, first, I have to find his contact book, and then his phone, call the company, and talk in a deep voice!! I don’t know if this is a good idea now. It’s risky, and I could be in BIG trouble, but on the other hand, I could stay in California and be with my friends! Ummmmmm… I have made my final decision, and it is that I will take the risk! Wish me luck!

***

Wow! It took forever just to get my dad’s contact book and phone. Now, I have to look through the contact book and call the company… found it!! My dad made it easy for me to understand, which is a good thing! My dad named it “INVESTED COMPANY FOR V.C.A.” Okay, it’s time time to call!

***

I called! Wow, that was scary!!! I hope I sounded like my dad! Anyway, here’s how the call went:

Company: Hello, this Marc. How can I help you?

Me: Hi, this is Jack [my dad’s name]. I wanted to cancel my product-making and your investment in it.

Company: Okay, but first I’m going to call your wife, since this is major, and tell her a code. You are going to have to tell me it so I can make sure this is really Jack.

Me: Okay.

I totally freaked out!!! I had no idea what to do, so I just ended the call and hid the phone and the contact book in my laundry bag, right next to my bed. I made sure to hide them both under clothes. Then, I turned off my light and went to sleep.

October 15, 2015

It’s morning, and I really hope my mom never heard the phone ring! I also hope my dad isn’t awake yet and looking for his phone, because if he is, I’m in big trouble, and my mom can call him and find where his phone is!! However, Marc still may have called my mom! I never should have done this, but right now I have to go eat breakfast and my parents always eat with me!! I just need to act like it’s a regular morning. Okay, I’m going. Wish me luck!!

***

That was, like, the longest breakfast of my life!! My parents never brought up anything different; all they said was that they are so excited about the V.C.A. and asked me if I was packed for school. I don’t think they noticed anything that happened. Oh well. It’s off to school for me! I just wonder when I should put my dad’s phone back. I can’t do anything now because he is in his bedroom, getting ready for the day. Wow, I have to go! School starts in twelve minutes. Bye!!

***

Okay, so, school was fine. I just got to my room… I hear a knock at the door. Give me a minute.

***

It took me so long because my parents somehow found out what I had done!!!  Apparently, Marc never called my mom. All that they know so far is that I took my dad’s phone, and it wasn’t because it rang. It was because, apparently, since my parents created a video camera, they have video cameras all over the house, including my room!! So then, my parents forced me into a time-out for thirty minutes and then had a talk with me for ten extra minutes. It’s already so bad, and they don’t even know that I called Marc or anybody!! Today has not been a good day… I hear another knock at the door and I know this time that it’s my parents, not my friends. Whatever they have to say will either take five minutes or five hours.

***

This keeps getting worse!! They asked me why I stole the phone! I’m still not sure why they didn’t ask that the first time they talked to me, but either way, it doesn’t help. Apparently, since my dad has an iPhone 5, he can see who I called, but before I knew that, I told him that I heard it might flood so I needed a phone to call the police in case I needed to know what to do. Now, I realize that was a really bad response. However, my dad asked me if I was telling the truth, and I said yes. And then, he said, “But I thought you had your own phone?”

Then, I said, “I couldn’t find it in the dark.” Then, he asked a good question — for him!!! Well, pretty much all of his questions for him have been good. Anyway, he asked me how I could’ve found his phone in the dark.

Then, I just said, “I don’t know.”

My dad had then said, “Well, it seems to me that you have told many lies.” Then I was thinking, how did he know? I wanted to fight back, not asking how, but I couldn’t. It just burst out of me!

I questioned, “How did you know?”

My parents said that there’s a button called “Recents” to see who you last called. Then, I knew I was so not going to get an iPhone 5 if I asked anytime this month. Anyway, that has nothing to do with this. I only had a few more seconds before I was punished. This is because my parents started to call the company that I called last night. Then, somebody picked up. I was hoping Marc wouldn’t pick up, and he didn’t! I was glad… until his friend told us he had to leave to do some other job he had there, and also said he would leave us with somebody else. And guess who that somebody else was? It was Marc!!! Marc introduced himself and asked for my parents’ names.

They said, “Jack and Paula.”

Marc said, “Oh, yes. Shall I call Paula and tell her the code?”

My parents asked, “What code?”

Marc told them, “The code to close your business and end our investment in it.”

My parents shouted, “What?” Then, they said, “No, no. That was a mistake. Someone else had the phone.”

Marc then just said, “Okay. Goodbye, and have a nice day.”

My parents stared at me and then, said, “Go up to your room.” So, my plan didn’t work out. Not one part of it. If my parents want to talk to me, I’ll either be asleep or almost asleep. I’m so tired from worrying and stressing out about that situation. Bye, Diary.  

October 16, 2015

It’s another school morning, and I can already tell today is not going to be good. Anyway, I have nothing else to write right now. I’m going to go to the kitchen. I hope my parents aren’t going to say anything too bad.

***

It was a regular day at school, except I was even sadder… except for this one gift that Emma gave me. But first, let me tell you about what happened before this. I told Emma and Jessica about what happened. They told me I was determined to try to stay in California and I tried my best. They also said that they hoped I liked the gift that they were giving me. It was a small bag with a red ribbon that tied the handles together, and tissue paper inside. After you lifted all the tissue paper, there was a small box. When you opened that small box, there was an iPhone 5 inside!!! That was the best thing that happened to me all week! Emma told me it was her old one and she didn’t need it anymore because her parents got her the new iPhone 6. I really didn’t care what type of number my iPhone was. Just the fact that I had an Apple iPhone was awesome!! I thanked Emma and Jessica. I mean, even though it’s not really from Jessica, I knew Emma made Jessica a part of the whole thing, so I just went with it. They also told me they already charged it, and Emma’s parents got me my own phone number, so the phone is totally under my control!! Emma told me that Jessica would help me create passwords and show me how to do the basics and make it as easy as possible for me to use to use it. I do already know a few things, since both of my parents have Apple iPhones, but I definitely could use some pointers. So Jessica is meeting me at my house and should be here any minute now… oh! The doorbell literally just rang, but I’m going to let my parents open so they don’t think I planned this whole thing out without telling them. Which I didn’t, because I didn’t know I would get my own iPhone!! Oh, Jessica’s right outside my room with my mom. I’ve got to go.

***

I had no idea learning everything about the iPhone took two hours! Well, really, it only took one and a half hours, but telling my parents about it took thirty minutes. I was so relieved that my parents accepted the gift. For a minute, I thought they would tell me that I cannot accept it. But the minute after that, they were totally fine with it, as long as I didn’t use too much cellular data per month. After Jessica showed me how to use everything on my phone, my parents helped me set up passwords, and then, my Apple iPhone 5 was complete!

October 17, 2015

I can’t believe it! I only have about one more week before we move to Florida, and I’m switching schools in the middle of the school year. Another disappointing thing is that I won’t be able to write in my diary that much, or at all this week because we have a big test on Wednesday, and that is the day before we leave for Florida. Anyway, I know my parents are still really mad at me about the whole me-taking-my-dad’s-phone situation, so I’m going to have to do a lot of nice things for them since they approved Emma giving me her old Apple iPhone. So, I decided even though it’s going to be super hard moving to Florida, I’ll be nice for them and not complain about moving to Florida. Wow! It’s getting late. I’ve got to go to school now.  

October 25, 2015

Oh my gosh!! I cannot believe I’m writing in my diary on the plane! I’m super nervous! I can’t believe I’m going to live in a new house and go to a new school. And yet, all of that is going to happen in a new state!! The plane ride just started. We are in the air and have four and a half hours left, so I have a long time on the plane. I’m sitting in between my mom and my dad, since we are in the same row. When we were in the airport, I was texting Emma and Jessica. At school, I said goodbye to all of my friends and teachers. Then, it was off to the airport. The night before, I packed the last of my things. We are shipping the rest of the stuff. We shipped most of our furniture. The rest of the furniture, we gave to people who don’t have so much money. Anyway, to pass the time, I’m going to watch a few movies.

***

I’m in my new room, which is empty! This room is huge, and I like it! My parents’ bed and my bed should be here by now… and now, the doorbell just rang. I bet my parents are getting the door. Give me a minute. Someone’s knocking on my door.

***

My bed just came, and apparently, my parents already got bedding. My bed is really soft.  Right now, I’m going to check out everything in my new room and what it has in it.  

***

I like my room. It definitely needs some decoration. But all my furniture is coming tomorrow, so I’m going to go to sleep because I’m so tired.  

October 26, 2015

I just remembered that my teacher would e-mail me my grade from the test. I’m going to check it right now.

***

I got a 97! I’m going to tell my parents right now!

***

My parents were proud, and also told me that my furniture and all my stuff came, so they helped me move my furniture up, so now it looks like an actual room. I’m going to spend the rest of my day putting in the extra stuff in my room.

October 28, 2015

I’m super nervous about this new school, so my mom is going to take me early. I have to leave now. Anyway, I hope today is going to be good! By the way, my room is complete and looks nice.

***

Wow! My school is only five minutes away by car! School was good. I made one new good friend named Alexia, who is coming over in five minutes. Anyway, my teacher is a girl and is super nice. Florida isn’t so bad after all. I think all this new stuff is not such a bad thing.

Where in the World Are We???

I closed my eyes, hoping it was a dream. I opened them again. It was not.

“Zoe, do you know where we are?” I asked, praying that she would not take it badly.

“How should I know?!!! We are stuck in the middle of passing time, and there is no logical way to get out!!!”

I hunched back. She was right. “I’m sorry, just thought I might ask.”

She glared at me. “What’s the big deal?!!! Every time I say something, you get so mad at me!!”

That’s when the argument started. “I did nothing wro –”

“You are saying that!? Are you kidding m — ”

“You are just being sensitive.”

“Am NOT!!”

“ARE TOO!!!”

“UGH!!!”

***

Finally, the argument stopped. We both looked at each other and attempted to walk away. But sadly, since we were still floating in the middle of passing time, we could not. We spun in circles and couldn’t stop after that. We had been there for hours and hours, but it only felt like ten minutes, and by each passing minute, it had been an hour in the real world. I decided to say something to cut the silence.

“Do you, by any chance, know any other spells or sayings that can help us get out of this?”

She glared at me, and I plugged my ears, protecting them from any screaming. All I heard was mumbling, and then she stopped and turned around. I kept my ears plugged just in case, and I saw her close her eyes and hold up the watch to the sky (that is, if there was any sky). All of a sudden, everything was spinning. There were all kinds of clocks spinning around us. All of a sudden, we started falling, faster and faster and faster until we thudded onto rock-hard ground.

“Now do you know where we are?” I asked Zoe, one more time. There was no response.

Back into the tree… or not.

“Zoe,” I called out, hoping there would be a response. She came out of nowhere, just standing there, completely silent.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she said. “Time for me to ask a question. Do you know where we are?”

I stood there, silent, just as she did before, and I looked around. “I can take an educated guess?”

She once again glared at me. I stepped back, just to make sure nothing was going to happen, and then her eyes went back to neutral.

“Maybe we’re inside the tree?” I guessed.

She looked at me in a confused way, then started thinking about something. “That’s impossible. If we were back inside the tree, that means we must have gone back in time. But the clocks were spinning clockwise, so that means we must be going to the future, so that would make no sense.”

I thought about that theory. She was right once again.

“I guess you’re right,” I said. “But what if they were just tricking us?”

Zoe looked at me in her confused look again. “How can clocks trick us?”

I had no answer.

“Uhhh,” I said. “Not exactly sure.”

She looked at me, and then walked around to make sure there were no traps or creatures lying behind us or in front of us. “Well, this place seems to be completely harmless, so why don’t we take a walk around to see if anyone can tell us where we are?”

I thought about a place where someone might be. That reminded me of something that I saw when we were falling from the sky, or from wherever that white place was.

“I think I may have seen a village while we were dropping from wherever we came from,” I said, trying to see how useful I could be, but Zoe was already one step ahead. She already had a map out, and she was wandering around, looking where to go.

“I think we need to go north and past that river, and I think that village you were talking about might be there.”

I looked over to where she was pointing. “That’s kind of a long walk.”

Zoe turned back and gave me an annoyed look. “Do you want to go home or do you want to stay here? It’s all up to you.”
I felt pressured when she said that, so I didn’t know how to answer it.

“W-well, I think that if we find out that this place is actually just on Earth, and it’s a normal country with villages and towns and cities, I think it would be best to stay here instead of getting into so much fuss about getting home.”

Zoe was surprised at the answer that I just gave her, but she nodded along with me. But I wasn’t done talking. “But if this place isn’t a normal country, then I think it would be best to go home no matter what turns we have to take. I just want to make sure we don’t go too far from the plan that we made.”

Zoe disagreed with that comment. “I think that we should try our best and not worry about how dangerous our plan is. If it means getting home, it means getting home.”

I didn’t want to start another argument, but I knew that if we didn’t we would get into serious trouble.

“You know, Zoe, if we take too many turns, we will get into very dangerous situations, and that is not something that I want to happen right now. All-”

Zoe cut me off. “You have to! It’s our homes. Don’t you want to fight for that?”

She had a good point, but it wasn’t worth getting into trouble. “Please, Zoe, just listen. We can’t get into another argument. We might attract someone here that we don’t want to see right now.”

She completely ignored what had I just said and kept yelling and screaming. We spent about twenty minutes there, just yelling and screaming at each other, and I was right. We did attract someone there. I saw a shadow lurking behind a tree.
“Zoe, look! There’s something there.”
“Is it a unicorn?” she said sarcastically.

“I’m not joking!”

“Sure, sure. Come on, you see shadows all the time, okay? It’s not that big of a deal.”

“If you say so,” I whispered to myself. Sadly, she heard.

“Come on. Let’s just go north, okay? It’s the best thing that we can do right now,” Zoe suggested.

“Fine,” I said, and rolled my eyes in disbelief that it was the best. “But I’m still keeping an eye on that person… or creature.”

“Okay,” Zoe said. “But really, it’s nothing.”

I ignored her comment and kept my eyes peeled for anything on our walk north, but every few moments I could still see him.

“There’s really something following us…”

The Shadow Man (Don Don Don)

We walked as far north as I could remember. We’d been walking for days and the river was still days ahead.

“Can we please stop to take a break, Zoe? I can speak for both of us when I say that our legs are very, very exhausted right now.” Zoe knew that was true but she didn’t admit it.

“NO!! My legs are not tired,” she said.

“Oh, COME ON! I know they are.” She gave me an evil look. I didn’t say anything after that for a long time.

“Are we there yet?” Zoe annoyingly said. I did not answer. We kept walking, no breaks, food or water.

“Zoe, you go on. I really need a break.” She completely ignored me and kept on going.

***

I sat on an old tree stump and waited for a long time. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was waiting for, but I was waiting anyway.

“Zoe!” I called out. She turned around in confusion. “I think I may have seen the man again.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “You didn’t, because he doesn’t exist, and also, come on. We’re gonna be late if you don’t follow me.”

I didn’t listen to her and stood up. I walked the opposite direction, seeing if I could prove to her somehow that this man was actually real. She didn’t even notice me walking the opposite direction, but she didn’t care even if she did. Then I saw him again. This time he was out in the open and walking straight towards me with something sharp in his hands. I screamed, but noticed that right after I did, he vanished into thin air. I turned around and he was standing a little ways away from me. I stepped back and I noticed that there was a tree blocking my path to going any further, so I had to run. I ran past the deep forest and back into a wide meadow so there was no way to hide behind trees there. I just had to keep running. Zoe noticed me gone, and she saw the man chasing after something, so she chased after him. We all ran past the meadow and through a deep hole and up a giant hill and finally, we made it to the ocean. I had no choice but to take one of the boats that I saw out there and sail it across the ocean. I saw Zoe running, and I hid myself under an old tree that had just died with no leaves on it, just branches. I tried my best to keep myself hidden. The shadow man ran right past me and into the boat, thinking that I was already on one. She laughed when she saw the shadow man sailing out.

“Zoe, now do you believe me about the shadow man?” I asked.

She couldn’t lie this time. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

“Thank you,” I replied. “Now let’s go find a village so we can get something to eat. All I’ve been eating is nuts and leaves.”

“Disgusting,” Zoe whispered to herself.

“Come on, let’s go,” I said, pulling her toward the top of the hill. But as we managed to reach the tip, we saw the shadow man standing there, ready to throw something, but we weren’t exactly sure what it was.

A Way Back Home! Yay!!! Let’s Go Home!!

I stood still while I was staring into the blob of air that was standing in front of us.

“I thought you were on the sailboat,” Zoe said, very confused.

“I was,” he said in a raspy voice.

Zoe and I looked at each other, wondering why he spoke in such an awkward tone.

“Do you have a sore throat?” I asked him.

Zoe slapped her forehead. “No, that’s just how ghosts talk!” she said, as if I should have known that by heart.

“Well, how do you expect me to know?” Zoe glared at the ghost and then back at me. The ghost stepped back, knowing that this was not going to end well.

“You should know because everybody knows what ghosts are and how they talk.”

The ghost made a growling noise. We both looked up. He grinned, knowing exactly where to take us. I probably walked behind the ghost as he took us down the forest. On the other hand, Zoe was laying her feet down on the ground and dragging them.

“You need to go faster, Zoe. You’re taking way too long.” Then, I stopped. I looked at her then, and asked her, “Where’s your clock time-freezing thingie?” She gasped. It wasn’t on her neck.

“It must have fallen off when we were in the middle of passing time.” Zoe looked at me strangely. “Whatever happened to trying to find your brother?”

I gasped. “I completely forgot about him. He could be here or there, who knows.”

We ran the other way. The ghost chased both of us down to the same valley we passed earlier.

“Why are you taking us to the same spot?”

“Lyra, this is the same spot that we dropped to when we fell out of the sky.”

I smiled. “Then that means we might be able to get back in the tree and save my brother, and the entire world, if that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Zoe nodded. “That is.”

“Can we find a way to send us to a certain spot in the tree, or do we just get sent anywhere?”

Zoe thought about that. “I think there’s a chance that we can navigate a way to get to a certain place.”

I smiled, trying to keep my hopes up that she was right.

“I think we fell about thirty feet north from here.”

I fell on my back.

“More walking?” I said in a very tired and exhausted voice.

Zoe knew that it would be hard for me, but she couldn’t let my brother down.

“Maybe we can freeze time,” Zoe suggested.

I reminded her that she didn’t have her clock.

“Okay, so maybe freezing time isn’t the best idea, but we have to find some way to do it.”

Zoe held up her watch that looked almost exactly like the clock, and she said the same line that she did earlier, back when we were time travelling. I held onto her and I screamed. Everything turned white again. We were in the same position as before.

“How do we get out of this again?” I asked Zoe.

She remembered how we got out the past time that we did this. “You have to dream about where you want to go, and want it bad enough that you just fall right into that place.”

I looked at her, astonished. “Does that mean that you dreamed to be in the forest with that ghost?”

“No. I dreamed to be at a beach with my Grandma’s ghost, not an evil shadow man person.”

I looked at Zoe sternly. “Dream as hard as you can to get back into the tree.”

Zoe looked glum at me. “You have to do it too, if you actually want this to work. It’ll only teleport one person. Whoever’s believing it will teleport. So that means if we are both believing, then we will both teleport. We just have to try together.”

“You do mean-”

Zoe stopped me,  “I mean both of us. We both have to try, okay?”

I sighed. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

We both dreamed of being in the middle of Candyland inside the tree, and we both dreamed of lying on the whipped cream valley. Then, all of a sudden, everything spun around faster than it had before, and we landed right where we dreamed: smack in the middle of the valley covered in whipped cream and frosting.

“It worked!” I screamed so loudly that a flock of bird flew past us, angry that the noise got louder.

“Sorry!” I yelled to them, but they didn’t even squawk back.

“Isn’t this where I found that weird alive map that one time?” I asked Zoe.

“Yes. Yes, you did. Maybe it’s still here, and maybe it can help us.”

I smiled and looked around. I remember when she held it on her way out, when she was vanishing. It dropped in a puddle of melted chocolate. I stood up and ran south, exactly where she was standing.

“Why are you running over there?” Zoe screamed. Finally she added all the ends together and she realized that that map was the map of the tree, and that my brother was hidden east, and that meant that we had to go to the night time side of the land.

“Lyra, we have to go to the night time.”

I looked back at her, pretty much thinking exactly what she was thinking.

“But what about the map?”

“You dropped it in the puddle, so I’m trying to look for it over here. Can you help?”

“Okay, the truth is, Lyra, I dropped the map on the way there. I made a fake hologram of it to make you jump into the puddle.”

“Why? It’s just a chocolate puddle. I would just lick myself off, like a cat.”

Zoe sighed, because she was afraid to tell me the truth. “Because Max is actually hidden at the bottom of that puddle, and I thought if you would find him… you know what? Never mind.”

“Well, why don’t we start eating a bunch of whipped cream around the puddle, and then it would make a bigger puddle for both of us to jump into?”

I did feel betrayed that Zoe had hidden something so important from me, but I knew that she was just trying to help me, so I decided to let that one pass.

“I didn’t tell you, because there was so much on our minds and I knew that you didn’t trust me very well back then, and I knew that if I told you, it would just hurt your feelings even more than I already have.”

Zoe was right, and it was the right thing for her to do, but now that we both knew where my brother was, we had to get to it faster. We both stuck our fingers in the whipped cream and licked it. It tasted better than we both thought it would.

“Are you ready?” said Zoe.

I smiled the biggest smile that I almost ever had. “Let’s get licking!” I yelled.

We both stuck our faces into the whipped cream and licked as if it was the last thing we would do.
“Keep licking!” I kept yelling, and, “Don’t stop! Don’t stop!”

Zoe was panting. She almost sounded exactly like a puppy, tired from playing catch all day. “We’re almost there! I feel the chocolate on the tip of my tongue.”

I smiled and started helping her with all of my might. We licked and licked until we could only taste whipped cream, no matter what we ate.

“I’m starting to think we made this puddle for a baby shark,” Zoe said jokingly.

“Let’s just jump in no matter what creatures we’ll find! Who doesn’t want to swim in chocolate?”

We both held our noses and jumped in. We opened our eyes to see that we could actually breathe under it, and that our eyes didn’t hurt our get covered in chocolate.

“Look, those are memories of Me and Max riding on my favorite roller coasters in the best theme park.”

Zoe smiled. “Those are some of my memories of my old parents before I found the tree.”

We kept going deeper and deeper. “Come on, let’s try and see if we can swim just a little bit faster.”

I smiled to hear that I heard Max’s voice down below us. Zoe knew I was smiling, and she followed my action.

“Come on, just a few more feet and we’ll be there!”

We swam all our mights down to as far as we could. Soon enough, our heads banged on rock candy ground.

“Max, are you here?” I asked. There was no answer.

“Max!” Zoe yelled. Soon we saw two hands emerge from below us. “Max, is that you?”

We each grabbed one hand and yanked it up. It was Max, and he was covered in dirt and had cuts all over.

“Max, what happened to you?” I asked, while we were all swimming back up.

“I was forced to be locked up down past the rock candy ground, and forced to be there in the dungeon. The good news is, I found a way to escape the executioner.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re safe.”

When I said that, almost all the chocolate drained out, and we were just standing in a giant hole. We were all one foot away from the top.

“What do we do now?” I asked.

Zoe already had an idea. “Let’s grow a lollipop tree!”

I thought she was crazy. “THAT WOULD TAKE FOREVER!!”

Zoe smiled. “You’d be surprised.” She took some seeds from her pocket and planted them in the rock below us. We waited and waited.

“Can we just find a better plan?”

Zoe shook her head. “Keep waiting.”

She stomped on the ground, and a lollipop tree grew beneath, so I grabbed it, and one by one yanked Max and Zoe up out of the hole.

“Well, now that we’re all safe,” Zoe said, “We should get you two back home.”

Zoe’s clock was now hanging on her neck again.

“Come on. I remember the way. I’ll never forget it,” I said, hoping they would actually follow me. They did, and we all got safely back to the same willow tree.

Zoe held up her clock, and it looked like she was scanning it onto a little box next to the bottom of the tree. All of a sudden, a little door opened, and all three of us crawled through. I stood up proudly next to Max to see that our house was in the same state as we left it in, except for the fact that our Mom was frantically looking for us.

“Mom!” Max screamed. She turned around.

“Lyra! Max! Where have you guys been? Some of your friends told me that you were in Tokyo, visiting the emperor.”

“No, we went through more of an adventure than that!”  I smiled, and my mom smiled back.

She turned to Zoe. “Who is this?” she said sternly.

“My name is Zoe Tamal.”

My mom gasped. “My real last name is Tamal! My sister had a child, and then one day she vanished!”

Zoe was shocked.

“Lyra, that means you’re my cousin! Same for you, Max!”

We ran around squealing and laughing.

My mom said something.

“You can move into my house until I find your mom. Lyra, Max, take Zoe up to the bedroom and get her settled into one of the rooms.” We took her upstairs and into our bedroom…

The End

We all got our water and went upstairs to our bedroom, and my mom came and gave us good nights.

“‘Night, Mom,” I said, not even trying to go to sleep.

“‘Night,” Max said, already half asleep.
“Goodnight, Aunt,” Zoe said, getting ready to sleep. We all closed our eyes, except for me. We all were about to go to bed, until I screamed:

“HELP!”

 

The Scary Night

Day 1. January 23, 2010

I just moved into a new house. The house has three floors, including the one under the house (a.k.a. the basement). But… um… the outside of the house looks creepy. It looks abandoned; it sort of looks haunted, but my mom said that it wasn’t, and I believed her. When I went inside, everything was beautiful. The walls are white, and the floor is made out of shiny wood, and the stairs are made out of crystal. I went on every floor, even the attic. The attic looks okay, except I heard a creepy noise, and the same thing happened in the basement. The basement is interesting because whenever we turn on the light, I always feel wind, even when it is sunny outside. It’s dark now. I have to go to sleep. I’ll write how it was for the first night here.

Day 2. January 24, 2010

OMG, I just noticed that today’s my birthday. I wonder what my parents got me. So, yesterday I slept good, except I heard somebody whisper to me, “Be careful.” I got scared, so I quickly went to sleep. But when I woke up, I saw my dad on the floor. I quickly went upstairs to tell my mom. But my mom was unconscious. I called the ambulance. My parents were taken to the hospital. I was left alone. Then the same thing happened to me when I was about to go to sleep.

I heard someone whisper to me, “Haha… you don’t know what just hit you, little girl.”

I felt dizzy, and I fell on floor. The floor was hard and cold. I felt like I was dying. I felt like I was about to die, but I didn’t die. One hour later, my mom came back from the hospital. She found me on the floor. She carried me to my bed. That was the worst birthday ever.

Day 3, January 25, 2010

Yesterday was weird. I really don’t know why I fell on the floor; I just literally collapsed. I think that ghost got to me. My dad hasn’t come back from the hospital. I hope he’s not badly injured. Anyway, my mom is going to visit him again. So I’m going to stay home alone again.

One hour later

Okay, I’m home alone now, and weird things are happening already, and I’m already creeped out. All the lights went out. And something grabbed my foot and dragged me down the stairs. I ran as fast as I could when it let go. I ran into my room. I felt lightheaded; I felt like I was going to die. I locked the door.

Then, again, I heard someone whisper, “You’re gonna die, little girl.”

I screamed and screamed, but it didn’t go away. My mom is coming back tomorrow, which means I have to stay home alone for the night. My auntie lives nearby, so I’ve decided I’m going to sleep over there for the night…

Okay, I finished packing. I walked out the door… but as soon as I walked out the door,  something grabbed me, and I started getting burned up.

I screamed, “AUNTIE, IT’S ME, KAREN! HELP ME PLEASE!!!”

I started to cry because the ghosts were hurting me. I tripped over a piece of wood. I fell and hurt my head. That’s when I heard my aunt coming. Everything was blurry. The ghosts let go. My auntie took me to my bed. I fell asleep.

Day 4, January 26, 2010

My hands were sore. My head hurt. My mom, auntie, and dad were right beside me. I felt safe, but I really wasn’t. I stood up and looked at them. They told me to rest, but I didn’t want to. I looked at my hands. They looked burned and bruised. I looked at the blood, and everything that I went through came back to me, and I fainted. I woke up again. This time, I didn’t see my family members — I saw a priest. He asked me what happened.

I said, “ I was home alone, and these weird things were happening to me, and I don’t why.”

The priest went outside to talk to my parents, and he told me to try to rest. As soon as he closed the door, I heard someone whisper. After that, I felt something go in me. And my mom told me that I was getting possessed. My eyes were turning black, and my body was getting lifted. The priest and my family came in the room once they heard me hit a wall. The priest commanded the demon to put me down… it did, but when the demon dropped me, blood was coming out of my mouth. The priest said I had to leave the house or things would get even worse. Then, my parents told me to pack up, and I did, but they said it in a frightened way.

 

One day, when Cookie Dough’s owner was at school and his owner’s parents were at work, Cookie Dough wanted to get some exercise, so he ran on his wheel, but he went so fast that he flung out of the cage and flew into his owner’s upstairs bedroom.

He luckily landed on the bed. Everything was light pink, purple, and magenta. Cookie Dough started jumping. He bounced so high, he almost touched the ceiling.

Cookie Dough stopped bouncing. He turned around. There was a huge bear. Cookie Dough backed up. He was confused, but then he realized that it was a teddy bear. He snuggled up with the teddy bear and fell asleep.

When Cookie Dough woke up, he started exploring the room again. There were dolls, and more stuffed animals, and a dollhouse. He went to explore the dollhouse. He went into the living room of the dollhouse, then the kitchen, then the dining room, which had hamster-sized food on the table. Then he went to the bedroom. Cookie Dough loved the little dollhouse. He jumped out the dollhouse window and onto the bedside table.

Cookie Dough was having lots of fun exploring the bedroom. He went onto the bed and bounced again. Then, Cookie Dough heard someone open the door. He hid behind the teddy bear. Then he heard someone walk up the stairs.  “Cookie Dough,’’ called the voice. “Mom, I lost Cookie Dough,’’ said the voice. He heard the person walk down the stairs.

“Don’t worry. We can get another hamster,’’ said another voice.

“But they won’t be as tiny or as fluffy or as cute. I love Cookie Dough,” said the first voice. Then Cookie Dough realized that it was his owner. He jumped off the bed and slowly went down the stairs.

“Cookie Dough!’’ yelled the owner. Cookie Dough’s owner grabbed Cookie Dough and put him in his cage.

Cookie Dough felt happy that his owner found him. Cookie Dough had a long day. He lay down and fell asleep.    

The Adventure of Christian and the Ancient Tour Guide

Once upon a time, there was a guy named Christian, who was pretending to work at Writopia. Writopia is a camp where kids have fun doing writing activities. Christian was pretending to be a good writer and was pretending to work at Writopia. Christian was a guy who wanted to become a tour guide, like the ancient tour guide in the legend. He had very crazy hair. It was big, curly, blonde hair that went around everywhere, his skin was light, and he really liked Star Wars… or did he? Maybe he was just pretending to the kids that he liked it. But nobody knows that for sure. It’s his mind.

One day, after Writopia camp, he set off to be taught by the ancient tour guide. Legend says that he lives on a very tall mountain above the clouds, and the top of the mountain touches space. It is a secret, invisible, and very tall mountain. The legend says that the ancient tour guide lives there. Christian set off to the mountain. He walked and walked. He walked past Arizona, he walked through Mississippi, and he swam the Atlantic Ocean up to Bulgaria.

There, in the middle of Bulgaria, he found the mountain of the ancient tour guide. He had anti-invisible goggles, so he could see the mountain. So he set off. It was a long journey to the mountain, and Christian had packed a lot of stuff. Sleeping bags, food, a tent, and a walking stick, and a few toys (a big, fluffy teddy bear and toy cars and toy trains) and books (mystery books and legends about the ancient tour guide, of course, and books to log his progress and draw and take pictures), and a computer to send messages to the Writopia camp. But that was so they would not know his secret identity. Secretly, he was trying to turn Writopians into his tourists when he finished with his training.

He walked for many days, and he slept and ate. It was very tiring, and Christian was always complaining and mumbling and whining to himself. Finally, he got to the ancient tour guide. The tour guide was just an old man who was standing straight, very still against the sunset. He looked creepy to Christian, and Christian soon realized that the tour guide was a thousand years old. He realized because he was very good at seeing how old people were using his magical power that he was secretly hiding. He knew how old all the kids and adults were in Writopia, and he wrote that in his log. His log, because he was walking so much, was getting as big as the mountain, and he had to knit a backpack out of grass for it.

But then, a big bear came out. The bear was just going out to pick some blueberries, but then Christian started running, which was very bad. (You shouldn’t run when a bear comes because the bear will think you’re food. You should just walk away slowly, without looking it in the eyes.) Christian started to run, even though he shouldn’t have. The bear thought he was food, so the bear started running after Christian, and Christian was very freaked out, but it was a good thing he was with the ancient tour guide. The bear almost gobbled him up, but the ancient tour guide put a net over the bear, and it made the bear’s mind think that Christian was a predator that was going to eat the bear. The bear was so freaked out, that he ran all the way up the mountain, to the top of space, where he couldn’t breathe, and the bear ran all the way down the mountain.

Then, the ancient tour guide started teaching Christian. But Christian was a very bad student. He was very noisy, and he didn’t pay attention, and when the ancient tour guide said, “You should go slow, not fast,” Christian went really fast and bumped and put his head in a crater. A piece of Mars had dropped down when the moon hit Mars once, a very long time ago, which did not really happen, but in this story I will use it.

Anyway, Christian vowed he would overcome the obstacle. After many years of training, Christian became a very good student. He worked very hard, and he was trained by the ancient tour guide. He went slower because of the bad jokes that he had to tell to become a tour guide, and walking backwards while talking (especially telling bad jokes,) he learned to be slower so his crowd could stay together and focus. Of course, his crowd was Writopia.

He also was trained to know lots of things. He had to know about everything on his tour, so the ancient tour guide helped him memorize everything by taking him on a little tour. The ancient tour guide dropped lots of books on his head once when he didn’t participate, and that’s another reason why he got to be a better student, because it hurt him. Luckily, Christian had very puffy hair, so the books didn’t hurt him that much. But also, for Writopia, he was the tour guide of everywhere in Bulgaria, especially the big, invisible ancient mountain, which lots of people have bumped into because it is invisible.

So, as Christian walked, he stumbled upon a rock, and I’m sorry to say this, but he fell down and broke his leg, and it hurt a lot. But he was carried to a hospital by birds. The birds were Australian ostriches in Bulgaria, and because Christian was very heavy, it took thirty Australian ostriches to carry him.

While he was recovering, all the time he was thinking, No, no, no, I have to get back to Writopia. No, no, no, I have to be taught by the ancient tour guide. I have to keep on going with my life. But, in a few months, he recovered and he went back to Writopia. He got back to Writopia because the thirty ostriches carried him back across the sea. The thirty ostriches could walk on water. The ostriches were gray and brown with very long necks and very, very, very long feet, and their feathers were all puffed up, like a peacock.

When Christian got back to Writopia, his hair had gotten even more wild. He met lots of friends at Writopia, and one of the friends here is telling this story. Anyway, he kept on walking, and when he got there, he pretended to type, but actually it was an invisible bug who typed for him. He just pretended to type the keys, because he didn’t actually know anything about writing or typing. He was just sitting there eating Goldfish.

Then at lunch, a bunch of Christian’s buddies at Writopia went around him and made up nicknames for him. But he actually needed the nicknames to make his tour guide name. His nicknames were Banana, Cucumber, Fried Eggs, Humpty Dumpty, Pineapple, Kiwi, Tidal Wave, Cherry, Pickle, Broccoli Head, Younger Blonde-Haired Billy Joe, and, the best ever, Charles! His tour guide name was CucFriEggHumDumPinKiwTidWavCherPicBrocHeaYouBloHaiBilJoeCha, otherwise known as Charles Brocky. At lunch, he always had to take a carrot, a chip, and a pretzel for the story. He made a story out of fruits. This had to do with his tour guiding, to make up bad joke stories.

Then, after Writopia was done, he started changing the kids’ minds with his magic power that the tour guide gave him, changing all the kids’ and grown-ups’ minds to become tourists. The tour guide gave it to him, actually, by dropping the books on him. He looked like a Hawaiian hula dancer when he was spreading the power.

And those were his years at Writopia. There were actually only two years, and his last week was the week that I’m writing this all. At the end, on Friday, he took us to the mountain. Christian told us all that he was going to take us on a tour, and we couldn’t say no, so all the people at Writopia had to go.

So, at first, everybody was like, “Oh, this going to be a terrible tour! I don’t want to go. This is such a big mountain.”

We all got to the mountain by the thirty ostriches that made babies, so now there are ninety-nine ostriches. There were not that many people at Writopia, but Christian was very heavy. So we started off. We had to pack a lot of stuff, and Christian carried most of our stuff with his magic tour guide powers. He raised his hands in the air, all the bags went into the sky, and he told the bags to follow us as we go, and the bags did it. So that made us all think that Christian was actually very talented.

Christian started walking backwards and looked at his tourists (us, Writopians). He first started with saying bad jokes.

Christian said, “Listen up. You must all call me Charles Brocky!” And we did.

Christian told us about the moon that hit Mars a few years ago, and made a piece of Mars fall down as we passed the giant crater. We (Writopians) thought that Christian was very talented and worked very hard.

As we walked, he talked and gave bad jokes and told us all about the tour and all about his training. But still, we disliked his lack of reading. He couldn’t read very well. All the kids, one day, told him to tell them a story, but he couldn’t read, so he didn’t tell them the right story, and all the kids knew that story, so he got very bad credit. We decided to teach him how to read. But, once the ancient tour guide dropped books on his head, Christian was a very good student.

At night time, at 6:55 PM, we taught him how to read. He learned to read by 7:52 PM. Then, we all woke up at 6:45 AM. We reached the ancient tour guide at 9:56 PM, but we got too tired, so Christian actually told us a good story. The story lasted sixty seconds, because he read it so fast, like a rap, and we enjoyed it and that made us very tired.

Then, Writopians said, “Hey, Charles Brocky, when you go back to Writopia, can you teach us how to read a story that fast?”

“Sure.”

We found Christian cleaning a spill at the camp tent. This made us think he was helpful, and we learned every detail about his life. We learned that he liked to clean up spills, and he liked to spill them too, then clean them up. We looked at the floor. It looked so shiny after that.

Then, the ancient tour guide came in the tent when Writopians were still asleep, but Christian was still awake because tour guides don’t sleep a lot. He said, “Good work, pupil. Or should I say, Charles Brocky?” Then, the ancient tour guide said, “CucFriEggHumDumPinKiwTidWavCherPicBrocHeaYouBloHaiBilJoeCha, good work. Very good work.”

In the morning, Christian took us all to meet the ancient tour guide, and he told us his legend, and he did a whole tour about the ancient tour guide, and we all shook hands with him. We started going back home, very happy and thinking Christian was the best ever and thanking him for letting us go on his tour and giving him lots of money. He gave us another tour on the way down the mountain on the other side. We saw he was very good at walking backwards. He walked backwards down the mountain without bumping, and told lots of bad jokes. His jokes were even worse than last time.

Once, it was dinnertime, and we had soup. There was a fly in one of our soups, so the person from Writopia said, “Christian… I mean, Charles Brocky… what’s this fly doing in my soup?”

Then, Christian said, “Looks like the back stroke.”

Everybody laughed so hard that the soup came out their noses.

When we got to the end of the mountain, Christian was telling so many bad jokes that he slipped on a rock right at the bottom of the mountain. He was a perfect tour guide, but right when the tour ended, he slipped, and we had to all catch him in our tent.

Christian was so embarrassed that he turned all red and he ran all the way up to space in a second (because the top of the mountain touches space, I will tell you again).   Christian was so embarrassed, he jumped off the tip of the mountain and he started flying. He ended up at his house, but he couldn’t fly anymore after that. He got the flying power from too much embarrassment; when you’re so embarrassed, you can do amazing things.

Then, Christian decided, That doesn’t matter. I will do another tour again, but I will never work at Writopia. I am too embarrassed. And they will stop calling me Charles Brocky. That’s it.

What will Christian, or Charles Brocky, do next?

Once, there was a piece of paper named Pointy who wanted to go to Italy so he could get his favorite Mozzarella Ice Cream. But somebody kept trying to cut him into pieces, because he was jealous of Pointy, because Pointy could drive. He didn’t know where the airport was, because he was only a piece of paper. He decided to go to the subway station, where he could look at the map. When he got there, everybody was surprised to see a walking paper. The security guard came and took him to the dungeon.

“No live paper allowed!” he said.

“Why not?” Pointy asked.

“Because you will scare people.”

Pointy was very scared. When he got to the dungeon, he had to hold his nose because it smelled like rotten eggs. He was in a very small cage, and his head kept flopping over. Then he realized he was very thin, so he wiggled out of the bars. He went back, and made a friend named Mo. Mo was a turtle.

“I have a map,” Mo said.

Pointy was relieved. He took the map, without the security guard seeing him. He studied it carefully, and went to the airport, by driving in his mini car. He had arms and legs, so he could drive. The thing was, he hadn’t passed the driving test, so he was zig-zagging down the bicycle road. Luckily, nobody saw him except a bicyclist.

“Move out of the way!” he said.

“Why?” Pointy asked.

But the bicyclist already had zoomed ahead. Pointy got to the airport. He suddenly felt scared, because he had to go through security. Instead, he decided to hide in a woman’s  purse. The woman went through security. The purse smelled like dirty coins. He thought the woman should hurry up. When the security guard saw a paper with legs and arms, he threw him away. He heard the woman say, “I didn’t put it in there!”

Pointy made his way out of the garbage can, and snuck into a man’s purse, though he wasn’t sure the man was going to Italy. He noticed a sign that said Italy plane to the left coming in 5 minutes. Pointy walked to the left, and counted to sixty, five times. He followed a bunch of people that were walking on a plane. He sat in a comfy seat in the very back. Unfortunately, the man who wanted to cut him up was there.

“Yay!” the man exclaimed. “Pointy is here to cut up!”

Fortunately, the security guard took away his scissors. Pointy was terrified because he didn’t know. He ran, and buried himself in the pilot’s pocket where he would be safe. When the pilot went on the runway, Pointy folded himself up so nobody would see him. He did not know how long the plane to Italy would be, and he thought it would be about two minutes. When Pointy discovered it was not that long, he was so sad, because he really wanted Mozzarella Ice Cream. When they finally got to Italy, Pointy was so happy, because Mo was there!

“Hi! It was a long trip,” said Pointy.

“I had to sneak to Italy. I didn’t know you would be here,” Mo said.

“I came here to get Mozzarella Ice Cream,” Pointy said.

Pointy was so happy because he didn’t spend any money. Mo was so slow that Pointy felt he was running, when actually he was walking.

“Wait!” Mo said.

Pointy looked back.

“Sorry, I’ve got to go. I have to admit, you are the slowest friend I’ve got,” Pointy said.

“Okay,” Mo said,

And he tried to run up, but was so sad, he hid in his shell. Pointy pushed him up the hill. When Mo got out of his shell, Pointy said, “Sorry, Mo.” And went up the hill.

Mo was very sad, but Pointy didn’t care. He had to get Mozzarella Ice Cream. He did not care about Mo at all, though he could hear him crying behind him. Pointy could not find the Ice Cream Shop. His arms were tired from pushing Mo up the hill, but Mo had already plopped himself into the lake. Pointy saw lots of people with binoculars, but he didn’t hear anyone saying that they were going to an Ice Cream Shop. Pointy felt hopeless, when he remembered he had the map in his pocket. He looked at it, eyeing every word, but he realized there was nothing that said Ice Cream Shop. He felt upset that Mo gave him a map that didn’t mean anything to him. He felt that Mo should have it. Even though it was lighter than a feather, he felt it was as heavy as a sunflower seed. He threw the map in the lake, and hurried on. Pointy saw Mo get out of the lake. Mo looked much happier, and it seemed he forgot about what Pointy said to him because he said, “Hi, Pointy, I am so happy to see you!”

Pointy was sure he had a memory problem.

“Where’s the map? I need it,” Mo asked.

“I threw it in the lake,” Pointy said.

“Why?” Mo asked, but Pointy had already run ahead.

“Wait!” Mo wailed, and he cried all over again.

Pointy thought that he could find a shop by himself, because Mo was too slow. Mo was really trying to catch up to him. Pointy thought it was funny, so he ran so that he couldn’t see Mo, because he didn’t want Mo to have the Mozzarella Ice Cream. Pointy didn’t like him anymore. Mo knew that, so he was asking for somebody to pick him up and bring him to Pointy. Pointy was so mad at him that he ran back down and scared him so much, he went in his shell, and so nobody wanted to pick him up. Pointy saw a place with binoculars. He thought they would help him see an Ice Cream Shop.

“Can I have binoculars?” he asked.

“No,” the man said. “But you can go sightseeing.”

Pointy was disappointed, but he agreed to go with the man, whose name was Bob. Bob took him around some Italian restaurants, and showed him around where he lived. Pointy thought it was fun, watching all the different birds. Bob helped Pointy put Mo in the garbage can, because he was following them.

“Then,” Bob said, “The Ice Cream Shop with Mozzarella Ice Cream is around the corner.”

Pointy nearly swore he heard the garbage can rustle, but he didn’t say so. He was too excited about the Mozzarella Ice Cream. Bob said that sightseeing was over. Bob gave Pointy a map of where everything was that he showed him— including the Ice Cream Shop. Pointy was so happy. He had traveled to Italy to get this Ice Cream. He went around the corner, and saw the shop. He went in. It was cold, and there were so many different flavors, but when he got to the Mozzarella section, he was so angry because Mo was there. He quickly darted in line before him. Mo was speechless, and he started to cry, again. Pointy pointed out that Mo cried three times in his adventure to get Ice Cream. When the shopkeeper heard his story, he agreed to let Pointy skip Mo in line. Mo was heartbroken. He didn’t know what to do.

“I want the last scoop of Mozzarella Ice—”

“Noooooo!” Mo wailed. “I wanted that.”

And he started to cry again.

“I see what you mean,” the shopkeeper said.

Everybody in the Ice Cream Shop turned to look at Mo. Mo’s cheeks turned red, and he burst out of the shop.

“I am not happy!” he said, and ran off without looking back.

Pointy repeated himself for the shopkeeper.

“I want the last scoop of Mozzarella Ice Cream,” he said, and he was very pleased to say it.

The shopkeeper got him Mozzarella Ice Cream, and he was delighted.

The End

I hate myself.

Well, I don’t hate myself— I hate the way I dress. I hate the way I look.

The girls at school always make fun of me. They say that my clothes are irrelevant. They try everything to break me. But it won’t work. I love my personality; I just hate the way I look. I get taunted. Tortured. I can’t do anything.

I really want to change. I want to dress well. Nothing looks good on me, though. I just want to have something that I can rely on. I want to look pretty. I really do. The truth is, I’m just scared to look pretty. I’m afraid I’ll still be taunted. I don’t think that I could be pretty if I tried.

All the girls seem so confident. I’m just that shy kid that sits in the back. I have friends. But I’m quiet, and my friends don’t seem to know who I am. They think I’m like them. But I’m not. I’m creative and amazing and I want to be something that I know I’ll never be if I tried. Don’t tell anyone, but I have a burning passion for art. I just want to paint my life on that canvas. But I never will.

I have all these feelings bottled up inside, ever since the first day of eighth grade. I’m a ticking time bomb, counting down the minutes until I burst. The second hand on the clock is ticking. It’s matching the beat of my heart. The time’s about to be noon— when all the kids get up and leave.

11:59.

12:00

Coming from room 301, there is a girl who screams louder than a car honk, going on for one full minute. That girl is me. Emily Dixons.

***

How did I end up here?

How did I end up in the guidance counselor’s office?

Why did you scream?

Why are you angry?

Is something wrong?

I was distraught by her stress ball. I was getting my anger out. I squeezed, and squeezed, and soon, in a matter of time, the stress ball popped open, the white foam oozing out into my hand, onto the floor into a big puddle.

The guidance counselor told me to leave right after that.

***

I saw a therapist a week after that. He gave me pills.

***

I felt the same. Cold-stone Emily Dixons, master of ugly.

After my morning OJ, I felt different.

I picked out my nicest clothes. I organized everything in my backpack.

I got an A-plus on my homework that day.

Best of all, Aviva Goll didn’t torture me that day. I felt confident.

***

When you feel good about yourself, you feel good about others. You trust them. You feel them. I was nice to people. I was getting A’s. Everybody liked me.

Aviva Goll did something that really got on my nerves, though. She stood up on the lunch table, and screamed something so ballistic and wrong into the air.

“Emily Dixons wets the bed! She peed on my backpack last year!”

What?! I didn’t! I got really annoyed. So I gave up. I let her have it all. Why try to be something you can’t be? I tried to be like Aviva. I really did. But she has it all. The friends. The clothes. The social acceptance. Aviva has everything I desire, however, I’m sure she’s not into sharing.

Then I had my second glass of OJ that morning. The world had turned upside down. The OJ tasted a bit different. It had a bit of a bland taste. Oh, well.

Then a third glass of OJ at lunch.

I was a completely different person.

***

I had a smile as long as a piece of gum when you stretch it out.

I was nice. I was starting to dress differently. This kept going. The Magic OJ was working. I always made sure to drink my two glasses of OJ before I went to school.

I was getting comments like these:

“Nice shirt, Em!”

“Love your backpack!”

People were noticing me. I was the exact thing that Aviva said I wouldn’t be. I was the shining star; the whole thing the school looked forward to seeing. The Magic OJ was doing it all. The Magic OJ could do no wrong.

I was finally the person who I wanted to be.

***

My bucket list— yes, I have a bucket list:

Emily Dixons’ Bucket List of Magical Adventures

• Dress AMAZING
• Head of Student Council
• Make the School PURPLE
• Rule the jazz band

***

This is my chance.

I’m completing my bucket list!

This is Emily Dixons’ Rise to Stardom. This is the day where I start completing my dreams. I’m finally going to rule the school. This was my chance to show everyone that I can do as much as them. I dress nicely. I’m nice. I have totally amazing beliefs. I, Emily Dixons, promise to make the school fabulous in any way that I can.

I started with the student council. I was easily elected in a landslide. It was me versus Snotty Nose Sammy. Nobody wanted a snot-ruled school.

My first order of business was making the school purple, which is my favorite color. I declared the following day Purple Day. I bought purple ribbon, purple streamers, purple construction paper, and just about everything purple that I could find at the craft store.

We did it! We purplefied the school. One by one we made the walls the sweet shade of the most detailed lavender, the bulletin boards displaying mountains of purple construction paper. I don’t think a lot of the kids liked it, though.

“YOU GIRLY-ED UP THE SCHOOL!” I was told by all of the boys. They didn’t think my work was too good.

That got me down. But, when I got home, all I needed was a glass of the magic OJ.

***

I did it myself.

I got home, grabbed the thick plastic bottle of OJ, and poured it into the cup.

I did it myself.

I drank it all in 30 seconds.

I did it myself.

I felt nothing? Why did I feel nothing?

Because I did it myself.

***

My lightning bolt of power did not reach my body.

It didn’t work. I did it all myself. My newly-born motivation. I did that myself, right? No. I didn’t.

“Mom, the Magic OJ didn’t work!” I whined to my mother.

“WHAT! I haven’t given you OJ since yesterday!” My mother yelled, with a burning passion that was still elegant but fierce.

“I poured it myself,” I replied, calmly.

“Oh, honey. It’s time we tell you about the pills.”

That’s what led to the great Emily Dixons Fall of 2013.

***

I could do this myself.

All I needed to do was walk in there and be a leader. I convinced myself I was motivated to do this.

However, I wasn’t motivated until I had the Magic OJ.

I’d just lost my life.

***

Mom gave me Magic OJ this morning. This was the magic stuff. The pill stuff.

I wish I could handle my own battle. I wish I could do this myself. It’s like I’m standing in a black hole and there are steps but I would have to be hoisted up to reach them. I’m standing in a black hole with nowhere to go, nothing to say, nothing to do, just waiting for someone to mystically help me accomplish what I wanted to do myself.

Wishes are complicated things. Even though you know they’ll never come true, you want it so bad to the extent where you would murder someone for it. You still have that little sliver of hope, locked away inside the safe you call your heart where nobody could find it even if they tried.

It’s hard to fight yourself. It’s hard to believe you would ever come to a disagreement with yourself. But you do. Your brain is defying the logic, saying, “I CAN, I CAN, I CAN!” Only to be let down with failure.

Failure is complicated, too. It’s hard to accept the fact that you’re wrong. After all the work you’ve done, your certificate of achievement is that what you did was a waste. A waste of time, a waste of energy. You’re a waste in life. You’re a failure.

Yeah. That’s what you think until you get your kryptonite. Your Magic OJ. The thing that brings you back.

That’s the secret of humanity. Bounce back.

That has me thinking.

***

I walked in there on Monday with a serious face. That could at least make me think that I could handle this.

The band room was right there. Room 435. I made sure that Mom packed me more Magic OJ just for this. I grabbed it out of the side pocket on my backpack and drank it all in 3 gulps.

I grabbed a saxophone and a book. I learned everything in what felt like a minute. In ten minutes, I could play five songs.

I led the jazz band. We played my favorite songs, like Miley Cyrus’ new album, and Katy Perry’s new album.

I don’t think anybody liked it, though. They all said I was doing pop songs and that we needed classic jazz songs, like Louis Armstrong. Who the heck is Louis Armstrong? I had not heard of him before. Was he like Elvis Presley? I think that’s who my parents listened to when they were my age.

People were getting really angry. I had to pull out my secret weapon. Katy Perry’s “Roar.”

So I did. That’s how I ended up being the only one in Room 435, surrounded by instruments screaming to be played.

I spent last period emptying spit valves.

***

I had a secret weapon.

I’ve always wanted a place where I could just scream. I could get all my emotions out with a good ‘ol scream. So I started the Emotion Center. Room 436 was vacant, so I asked the principal, and she said I could transform it.

But people weren’t using it correctly. I wanted it to be a scream center.

They were using it to cry and to whimper. I demonstrated like so: “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

I was in the guidance counselor’s office again.

***

Who are you?

***

I thought I could do it.

I could rule the school.

But I didn’t.

People have personalities. People are who they are. People may try to change who they are, but it’ll never work.

I can do things. I can. I may never rule the school, but I’ll always be here. I can do things. I can draw. I can make things with my hands. With my brain. I have a purpose in this world.

You do, too. You have a purpose. You can do something, too. You can. You really can. You have to just go and find out what it is.

Maybe you’re good with animals. Go volunteer at the animal shelter. Do what you need to do to make you happy. Whatever it is. Just do it. That’s what I did.

***

It was so fast.

They welcomed me quickly, while still keeping elegance and class. The Art Club was so nice.

Anias, shy but friendly. She was so talented, making the most intricate patterns.

Jeffrey: his people-drawing skills were flawless. He drew a sketch of me in five minutes and it was incredible. He didn’t miss anything. Even my mini-pimple on my forehead.

Samantha, whose environment paintings were incredible — she could capture every speck of a star in the night sky.

Iggy, who could do no wrong with her detail. She drew my plastic water bottle and I thought for a minute it was a photograph.

And me, Emily Dixons, who was the happiest person on earth. I could finally be who I wanted to be: an artist. I never thought I could, though. I can do anything and everything I wanted.    

I came at the November mural project. Nobody knew what the mural should display. I knew exactly what that mural should state.

Glitter. Markers. Crayons. I was so happy. I was doing what I’ve always wanted to do. It doesn’t matter about looking pretty, or having the newest thing. It matters that you feel good about yourself.

I rose up. I had a bit of stardom.

I fell down. I was something I wasn’t.

Do what makes you happy.

Epilogue

“That was my rise and fall,” I said to Mrs. McKinley, the eleventh grade English teacher.

My final essay was complete. Now everyone knew who I was. The pills I take in the morning. The clothes I wear. When I found out who I was destined to be. An artist. They knew my well-being was artificial — that I was depending on cold stone medication. I’m happy about that.

I got home only to find a nice, fresh glass of Magic OJ sitting on the counter. Eleventh grade was finally over.

One morning, I woke up to the dim light shining low on my hot pink curtains. Time for a new summer, I thought. I went to open my porch window. I was happy summer had arrived, so there was no doubt about it. I had plans. My mom and dad weren’t the type of parents who stay at home all summer. They worked at their office all day, so my dad brought me to my friend Sofia’s house.

Sofia waved to me. “Hi, Audrey! C’mon! I have something to show you! C’mon!” Sofia yanked me in. My friends, Leora, Chase, and Alexandra were there. Sofia sat us all down. She held something in a yellow wrapper.

“So, what is it?” I asked, eagerly.

“Yeah, tell us!” Alexandra squealed.

Sofia opened the package. It was a delicate, triple-chocolate fudge cake with a pound of the finest, darkest spoon of vanilla that seemed to make everyone’s mouth agape. Sofia’s cake had a golden shade of too-sweet sugar that could water anyone’s lips constantly. I gasped in awe.

A feeling came over Leora. She grew so envious that her mood seemed to darken. Why should Sofia get that precious cake? Leora kept staring at the cake. She wanted to take the rest. She wanted to go and steal the chocolate cake so she could eat it. However, the multiple times Leora tried to take it, when she had to be thinking up plans to snatch it, run, and hide, her friends kept holding her back. So, Leora could only think of one thing. She planned to trick her friends, especially Sofia, and lie with a good excuse, to finish up her plan once and for all. But how?

Meanwhile, I was giggling with Sofia and laughing at Alexandra’s jokes.

“That’s a funny dance, Alexandra. Show us some more!” I told her sweetly. Alexandra hooted and did some more moves.

I called out, ”Oh. Leora, what are you doing? I hope you’re over that cake because — ha, Alexandra… It’s fun. C’mon. Show us some disco dance moves!” I blubbered in laughter.

Leora shook her head, plastering a fake and sweet expression on her face. I shrugged and turned away. Leora was just about to snatch the cake when — ”Leora!!!”

Oh no. Sofia was glaring at her, crazy mad. ”Grrr… What were you thinking?! You had to think that you should steal the cake?! It’s mine. And I wasn’t about to even think my BFF would steal it,” Sophia shouted. “Stop it. Okay?”

“I’ll stop.” Leora said. But guess what? She had her fingers crossed! Sofia turned away.

I saw the others glare at Leora constantly for what she had done. I frowned. That plan was mean. Why did she want to do that? This was like the “Cake Crime.” OMG, I could see the headlines now: “Girl Robbed a Special Cake,” “Girl Arrested in Jail.” “Brrr…”

I glared back at Leora. This was terrible. Sofia would probably not be friends with Leora anymore! Oh no! I had to fix it.

Apparently, I was right! Sofia refused to be BFF’S anymore with Leora. So Leora started to hesitate about her plan. She didn’t want Sofia to not be her friend! Oh no. No. She had to get her BFF back.

This wasn’t worth it, Leora thought.

Leora went over to Sofia, and she apologized, “Sorry for stealing your cake, Sofia. I don’t know what got into me.” Sofia just glared at her. Leora explained, ”I shouldn’t have tried to trick you into letting me steal it.”

“Are you kidding me?! You weren’t even thinking about me, or the other people who do wish they had the cake, did you? Also, why would you stoop that low? You’ve lost the specialty that made me even want to become your BFF in the first place!” Sofia growled.

“But I really, really loved it. And the way it looked, the cake was so sweet and scrumptious… and truly bewitching.” Leora mumbled.

“Stop it! I’m not your friend, okay?” Sofia argued, now furious. Leora stomped away.

***

THE VERY NEXT DAY…

Sofia yawned heavily. Ever since Leora had gone home, she’d been having nightmares! She even unfriended Leora on Facebook.

Cake eater, she thought. Cake stealer. How could she? How? The cake was from the finest bakery, for goodness sake! Golden’s Bakery, a bakery that only the wealthiest people can afford. $123 for a lick of homemade, rich, caramel ice cream, $673 for the greatest taste of pecan pie, $231 for a sip of a pink, apricot, and delicate strawberry smoothie! A cake was $879!!!

Sofia hadn’t even even saved up all her allowance to purchase it! She had to combine all her family’s money and cherished treasure to buy it! Yes! It was that expensive!

“Leora will be sorry when she sees what she missed!” Sofia muttered.

And so, tension rose up between Sofia and Leora as they argued. Sofia’s heart raced. She was trembling. She’d never lost a friend. Not one. She thought miserably, I need help. She sighed. Who can help anyway?

“I can.”

“Huh? Who are you?” Sofia asked.

“I am the Narrator. I help tell all the stories.”

“I can talk to Narrators?!” Sofia asked.

“I guess you can.”

“I don’t get it. Why me?” Sofia asked.

“For one reason: you really need help, and when someone needs help, I have to make my voice visible to people.”

“Oh. Can you help me? I really want Leora to do something with that apology because I know Leora crossed her fingers when she said she wouldn’t do that again. So I didn’t believe her, then she got mad, and I felt worse, and then, I decided to be nice to her even if she’s not my friend,” Sofia blurted out.

I nodded, clearly wise and understanding. “I know. I can’t help at every moment because that’s illegal in the rules of a Narrator, but I suppose I can tell you that Leora may be mad at you only because she wants you to be her bestie again. So, do you want to be her friend again?”

Sofia squeezed her eyes tight, holding back tears. “Not quite. I don’t know what to do. Because she wanted to stab me in the back and steal my cake, I’m not going to be.” Sophia opened her eyes slightly now. “And now I feel horrendous,” Sofia sobbed.

I became invisible. “Sofia, but Leora is just the same way! Think about how sad she’ll be that you don’t want to be her bestie anymore.” Sofia’s eyes darted over to the window.

She sighed and shook her head. “I am not her friend, still. But thanks for your help, Narrator.”

I faded away. Sofia sobbed. Would this be any worse? Could Sofia ever reunite with Leora?

***

Meanwhile, Leora was fuming mad. She tried to say sorry, but how dare Sofia turn her back on her! She cried herself to sleep.

In her dream, a calm voice actually entered and said, “You can’t turn your back on Sofia. She’s your friend. Get her back.”

Leora awoke with a start. Who would dare interfere with her friend issues?

I felt really bad for Sofia and Leora. That storytelling magic is the most powerful magic for a Narrator to achieve. If only I could do it. Okay, here it goes: “The ice cream truck comes toward 22nd Avenue. Just as I said, an ice cream truck comes toward 22nd Avenue. I did it! Now, to save the day.”

I transported myself to Sofia’s room and flew to the top of the writing desk. I whispered, “Sofia and Leora are friends again.” The room whizzed and whirled.

“Did I do it?” I asked, eagerly.

“Okay everyone.” Sofia sat them all down.

“Well, what is it?” Leora asked.

“Yeah, tell us!” Alexandra squealed.

Wait a minute. This is the day Sofia showed her cake. Oh no! I whizzed them back to the past! The beginning of the story has been copied!

I gulped. I was so in trouble. Sofia was going to be sooo angry at me if she found out. I panicked. If anything changes now, then the “future” is going to be altered! Hey, wait a minute. I can still keep them as BFFs! All I have to do is keep them from fighting! Yes!

I watched as Leora began to get envious with pride. I flickered away to the cake and inhaled. Time to do this.

Okay. Sofia and Leora are BFFs permanently. Leora’s mood lightened. I’m doing it! Sofia and Leora then joined Audrey and Alexandra who were laughing again. Looks okay so far… Leora kept on laughing and talking to Sofia. Yes! I fixed the past! I did it!!! The cake isn’t going to be stolen, and everything is fine once again.

It was a great day for Leora and Sofia, as they played in the setting sun. They kept on laughing with Audrey and Alexandra. The leaves were now turning a light shade of orange, and people were smiling delightedly. The sun was shining, and the wind was blowing gently. I was so proud of saving the story, I decided to enjoy it too.

THE END

           

CHAPTER 1

Hello from Donut Land! My name is Terry, and I like to say I’m brave. But I’m not because in Donut Land, we have just been attacked by the vicious popsicles. They stole all of our topping armor. Now, my donut army and I are planning a comeback.

“When should we attack?” asked Frank.

“Tomorrow afternoon,” said Pete.

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I know they are going out to lunch to celebrate their victory,” said Pete.

“Oh,” I said.

“So, we go to castle first. Then, we find. That’s the plan?” asked Thomas

“First, we sneak into the hall for our topping armor. Then, we raid the castle for anything we like. BUT, we have to leave at 5:00 because that’s when they’re coming back. So that gives us five hours.”                                     

CHAPTER 2

After the plan, we all went to bed.

“Terry,Terry! It’s time to wake up!” said a voice.

I slowly opened one eye, and then slowly opened the other eye. I looked at my clock. “12:30!!!!!!!!!!!!” I shouted.

I sprung out of bed, quickly dressed, and went down to the hall to where the others were. Everyone was there except Frank.

“Where’s Frank?” I asked.

“Oh, Frank went up to wake you up,” answered Pete.

“Oh,” I said, embarrassed. “Oh, and here he comes now.” I looked at my watch. It read 12:48. “We better get going now,” I said. “It’s 12:48.”

“Yeah, but it only takes us five minutes to get there,” said Pete.

“But then we’ll have extra time,” I said.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” said Pete.

CHAPTER 3

As we all started walking to the castle, I said, “So we take whatever we like?’’

“Yup,” said Pete. “BUT we first need to find our armour.”

When we got to the castle, we snuck around to the back door where Pete knew there was a secret entrance. He’d been to the castle many times before because he helped make it back when he was friends with the popsicles. But first, we had to say a password. The password was “Pop.” The ground started to shake, and a door formed in the side of the castle. As Pete opened the door, it creaked a little. Inside were a few spiderwebs, and as Pete stepped, the floorboard creaked and groaned. It was dark, and there was loads of air conditioning. The donuts shivered a lot.

We passed an old chest and then turned a corner. Pete stepped on something, and the next thing I knew, he was gone. I heard a voice coming from below. It was Pete. He had fallen down the trapdoor. I knew exactly what to do. I turned the corner and looked in the old chest. There was a rope, and there was a potion for night vision inside. I quickly took both of those things. I hurled the rope down to Pete. I threw down the potion of night vision so that he could see. It landed on him with a smash.

He said, “Who threw that at me?”

I said, “I did. It’s potion of night vision. It said so on the bottle.”

Pete said, “Wow. Thanks. It really works. I can see loads of things now.” He grabbed hold of the rope and climbed up. He said to everyone, “Step over the trapdoor. It’s really deep.”
We came up to another chest. This time, Jacob opened it. He said there were some toppings in there. He gave it to Pete, and Pete’s app said it was my armor.

CHAPTER 4

I put my armor back on. It was warm.

“No fair,” said Frank. “I want my armor back as well.”

Pete said, “We’ll find it soon.”

And then, we carried on walking until we came to another chest. There were two chests this time. Inside, they had loads of night vision potions. We all smashed them on ourselves. In the next chest, we found a sword. It was Frank’s sword. The sword was made of gold with an iron handle and diamond on the end.

“Yay!” said Frank.

And then, everyone else said, “No fair. We don’t get a sword.”  

We carried on walking and walking and walking. But no other chests came. We came to another hallway.

Pete said, “We might need to split up now.” He split us into groups. He said, “Terry, Thomas, Zack, and Frank, go right. Jacob, Luke, and I will carry on straight.”

In Pete’s group, Pete said to Jacob, “I wonder where this place goes. I hope it doesn’t lead to another trap door.”

Meanwhile, in my tunnel, I found a chest. Everybody crowded around and looked inside. There was only one type of thing: some swords.

“Let’s see whose swords these are,” said Terry.

“Well, I know who this one belongs to,” I said. “It belongs to me. And this one might belong to Thomas. And this one might belong to Zack.”

So everybody got their swords except for Pete’s group.

CHAPTER 5     

Meanwhile, Pete found a chest. Pete opened it. Everyone crowded around to see what was inside. There were armor and swords. Pete sorted them.

“So this armor’s Jacob’s, and this sword is Jacob’s, this sword is mine, and this sword is Luke’s.” Pete checked his watch. It read 3:35. “Oh, great,” said Pete.

“What is it?” said Luke.

“It’s 3:35,” answered Pete. “So the only thing we can hope for now is the end of this tunnel.”

“And meeting the others,” said Luke.

“And that,” said Pete. “So who doesn’t have their armor?”

And Luke said, “I don’t. And you, Frank, and Thomas don’t have your armor either. We still need to find them.”

Meanwhile, in my group… I kept walking and walking, but nothing came. Our group started to get worried because they thought we were going the wrong way. Then, something came into view. There was not a chest. There was daylight.

I said, “Everybody, we should turn back. This is the wrong way.”

So we all ran back because we needed to find the others. We kept running and running in the same direction. Then, we came up to the hallway split. We turned right. I checked my watch. It read 4:00.

“Oh no!” I said. “The popsicles are coming in one hour.”

So the others and I ran as fast as we could down the hall until we came to a chest.

“Don’t look in that chest,” I said, “because Pete’s group has already been here so it will be empty.” We saw more chests but we didn’t open them.

We kept running until we saw something moving.

CHAPTER 6

I thought, Phew, we caught up to them. But then, I thought, That can’t be them because there’s only one thing moving.

When we came up to it, it was a robot programmed to fight anything that was like a donut. As soon as it saw us, it started kicking, but we ran right past it. When we looked back, it was running after us.

I shouted, “Keep running everybody!” Then, I saw three people in the distance, and they were moving. I knew it had to be Pete and his group. I screamed, “Run! Run! There’s a robot chasing us!”

Thomas screamed, “There’s a robot chasing us!”

Pete looked behind us and saw the robot chasing us all. He started running as fast as he could. We came up to the chest. I didn’t stop running, but looked inside it. I saw a blur of something that looked like a slow potion and a gun.

I said to the others, “Pick up what’s in that chest. Quickly! Trust me, I think there is a gun and some slow motion potion.”

Thomas picked up the gun. It was a machine gun. And Luke picked up the potion. He threw it at the robot. The robot started going really slow. We all slowed down and came to a stop. Then, we started shooting at the robot. The robot’s arm came off. Then, its other arm came off. Then, its legs and head. It died.

We started walking. Everybody was panting because we’d been running really fast.

“I need a break,” said Pete.

But I said, “No, we can’t take a break now. It’s 4:30. They are coming home in half an hour, and we still have armor to find. We also have to find swords.”

CHAPTER 7

We kept walking and walking. Then, we saw a door at the other end of the hallway. I opened it. There were two flights of stairs. So we started walking up them. And we saw a chest. Let’s see what’s inside it?

What we saw is that there was only one thing. A sword. It belonged to Thomas. Then, Thomas said, “Yay! I finally have my sword.”

We walked up the other flight of stairs. It had a marble floor and paintings on the side of the walls. It had a very high ceiling.

Pete said, “We’re inside the main castle now. Now, we really need to try and find the rest of our armor and swords.” “

I checked my watch. It was 4:45. They were coming in fifteen minutes. We had to find our armor and swords now.

“We have to start running. We can’t walk anymore,” I said.

Then, something caught my eye. In the far right corner, there was a chest. I started running towards it. Everyone ran after me in a pack. I opened it. There was all of our armor. We took it all.

CHAPTER 8

I checked my watch. 4:58. “Guys! We have to go now, it’s 4:58!”

“Let’s go!” said Pete.

We ran out the door and to our castle.

As we approached our castle, we heard a voice. I looked behind me. It was a popsicle. “Hey, wait up,” he said.

We stopped. Pete said, “What is it?”

The popsicle said, “We’re sorry for stealing all your armor, we just wanted to protect ourselves from melting.”

“Oh,” said Pete. “Well, I think we can help you.”

“You can!?”

“Follow us.”

We walked back to our castle and walked up to to the top floor. We opened the door. Inside was our armor maker. We asked what armor he and his friends would like. He said, “Gold armor please.”

“Coming right up,” said the computer.

“Can I have twelve gold armors, please?” said the popsicle whose name was Mate.

“Okay,” said the computer.

After all the gold armors were made, Mate said, “Thanks so much for helping me!”

And that’s how the donuts and the popsicles became friends again.

In a small town in California, there was an evil man named Dr. Ricker. He looked just like a regular doctor, wearing an all-white outfit. He was making a potion to poison the drinking water of the town. This potion would make everyone very sick — they would throw up and grow weak. He always dreamed of ruling the world, so he started with this town. By making everyone weaker, he would grow stronger and be able to take over all of California. This was his first time trying out a plan like this because he didn’t want the townspeople to know his strengths and weaknesses and be able to defeat him. His biggest strength was how smart he was. His biggest weakness was that he couldn’t run fast, and he wasn’t very good at tricking people.

In his big lab at the town’s hospital, he finished mixing his last batch of the potion. He put paint, red pills, and purple liquid moss into a great mixing pot and mixed it for two hours.

“Okay! Let’s get this into the water supply!” He laughed.

Later, he went to the supermarket where they kept the canned goods that needed tap water to be made, like canned and frozen orange juice that needed hot water. He told everyone who walked by how canned goods were more nutritious these days because doctors had figured out a way to pack them with healthy ingredients. A gigantic crowd swarmed in front of the whole display and began buying all of the canned goods, completely wiping them out. When he came out of the market, he started laughing tremendous, evil laughs and walked back to his lab.

Meanwhile, a poor, homeless man named Chris decided to peek up and watch the television in the house he was hiding under. The little boy who lived there was in his wheelchair in front of the TV. He had big glasses, freckles, and straight, brown hair. Chris had always seen little kids teasing the boy, and Chris really wanted to show him that even with his disability, he could still be a hero. He saw a news reporter talking about this weird color in the water that had come out of nowhere and was harming the townspeople.

Even though Chris was just a poor townsperson, he wanted to destroy what was harming everyone and become known as a hero for the little boy. Because doctors usually gave the information to the scientists at the hospital, he knew he had to go there to begin searching for answers.

He walked down the block and turned right to arrive at a police station. He felt very brave, knowing he was on a mission to save his whole town, and he marched over to a police officer.

“Can you give me a ride to the hospital?” Chris asked.

“Why?” The police officer asked, confused.

Chris told him how he needed to find out more information about why everyone was getting sick, and the police officer agreed. They started driving toward the hospital, and whenever Chris looked out the window, he saw people throwing up and everyone growing weaker and weaker with every footstep. Chris felt sad and sorry for the people. He knew what it was like to feel sick.

Chris and the police officer stopped at the hospital and waved goodbye to each other. Chris walked into the hospital and asked the man at the front desk if he had any information about why everyone was sick.

“Follow me,” the man told him.

Chris followed him down to the basement. On his way, he saw a case full of sharp knives. The front door man led him into a dark, cell-like room with no windows.

“Stay here,” the man said calmly.

“Okay,” Chris agreed, uncertain.

The man shut the door and walked quickly up the stairs to a red button on the wall. He punched the button.

“Ahh!” screamed Chris, when he noticed that he was tied up. He was scared, but then, he realized it was the same type of rope he had used to tie up his belongings every night and every morning to make sure they weren’t stolen. The knots tied in the rope were usually very weak because it was such a cheap rope. Chris had a pocketknife in his pocket, but he couldn’t reach it. He noticed the blade was sticking out a bit. He scrunched himself into a little ball until the blade touched the rope. He squeezed a little bit more and cut the rope that was tying his hands. He cut the rest of the rope and quietly took off the sweaty blindfold. Then, he thought about the case of sharp knives, so he ran down the corridor and opened the glass case.

He thought to himself, Now, no one will overcome me. He took off, searching for someone else to help him. Then, he noticed that he hadn’t gone upstairs yet.

The first room he saw was Dr. Ricker’s lab, where the evil doctor was pouring his second-to-last batch of the potion. He walked into the room and knocked over a bottle of purple liquid by accident. There were bottles of purple liquid going up a tube and into the mixing bowl.

Dr. Ricker turned around. “Whaaat… are you doing here in my lab?“ Dr. Ricker said, hiding his potion behind his back, hoping Chris wouldn’t notice.

“Are you the one who’s been making this liquid that’s been harming the townspeople?” Chris asked him. Dr. Ricker knew this was going to happen, and he was prepared. He told him that no, he wasn’t, and he tried to change the topic.

“Have you heard about the scratch ticket that was worth three trillion dollars? I won! And I’ll give all the money to you.” Dr. Ricker knew Chris was homeless just by looking at his rags.

“Then, what is that purple liquid behind your back?” Chris asked.

“A drink I bought from the store,” Dr. Ricker casually replied.

Chris stuck the knife out from his belt and said, “Are you lying ?” The room seemed to get hotter every time they breathed in air.

Dr. Ricker said in his evil voice, “You really want to fight?” and stuck out a long dagger that glimmered under the light. They took two steps forward, and each started hitting the other’s knife, trying to hit it out of each other’s hand.

Clang! the swords went. One of the doctors outside heard the noise and told the other doctors. They followed the sound and reached Dr. Ricker’s lab. They saw the potion drop out of Dr. Ricker’s hand and decided to call the owner of the hospital.

The man from the front desk had also heard the noise, and he quickly ran up. He saw the fight and took the longest dagger from the case he had walked past earlier. He went back to the lab and started fighting on Dr. Ricker’s side. Chris was nervous, but he stayed brave because he was saving the whole town from the bad guys and their potion. He wouldn’t give up because he wanted to be known as a hero for the little boy and save everyone.

Just as Chris started losing grip on his dagger, the owner of the hospital ran in and yelled, “Stop!”

The other doctors told the chief all about how they saw the same liquid in the tap water. They tested it out on one of the unaffected, and he started throwing up and falling down. The owner of the hospital called the police to take Dr. Ricker and his sidekick to jail.

When the police came, Dr. Ricker shouted, “You’ll still see me here, but in another world.”

Everyone said, “Pff, who cares? You’re going to jail!”

The mayor of California and the President of the United States of America awarded Chris the medal of bravery and had a big celebration in the town square.

The little boy in the wheelchair came up to Chris and told him that he had really taught him a lesson because now he knew that even though he had a disability, he could still be a hero.

Chris said, “This all happened because I saw other kids bullying you. I decided to prove that even if you are different from regular people who have some money, you can still be a hero.”

As for the sick townspeople, the doctors examined the potion and started to think about a pill that could solve their sickness. Then, they finally got an idea for a pill. Finally, they told the messenger boy to bring the packets to all the houses in the town in California.

Luma was lying on her bed, her nose buried in a book and her hair spilling out every which way on the comforter.

“Luma, come, come!” Her mother called from down the hall. “Adam is here!”

Oh, awesome! Luma thought. Adam is my favorite cousin because he’s so reckless. Maybe I can learn something from him. She quickly put a bookmark in her novel and laid it on her bed. She jumped up and ran to the front door to greet her cousin.

“Hey, L!” Adam happily said. “I’m so glad I got to come here.” He unclipped his helmet and hung it on his bike handle just a few feet from their house.

I wish I was more like him. Luma sighed, yearning to be more like the daring Adam. Always going on adventures on his bike, climbing everything in his line of vision.

“So, I was thinking maybe you can show me how to ride a bike?” Luma asked, embarrassed.

Adam laughed. “You? No offense, Luma, but you don’t seem like the type who can ride a bike.” He looked at the slightly hurt expression on her face and quickly added, “But I can teach you. If you want.”

“Jeez, Adam!” Luma sighed. “Just teach me! I want to be….” She trailed off.

“You want to be…?” Adam asked. “Tell me.”

Luma looked down at her shoes. “Okay, I want to be more like you. I mean, you’re so fearless! You go on these explorations! And here I am, reading books and typing words for stories. But you won’t get it. It’s just who you are.” Luma looked at Adam. “There. That’s what I wanted to say.”

Adam looked at her, bewildered. “You want to be like me? Wow.”

Luma looked surprised. Why is he so confused? “Wow, what?”

“I always wanted to be like you!” he laughed. “I’m always wasting my time going out and about but never focusing on my homework or grades. You make it look so effortless to be at the top of your class. How do you do it?”

Now it was Luma’s turn to be confused. Him? Wants to be like me? It was like she was in some alternate universe. She had never thought in a million years that Adam — her carefree, crazy cousin — would want to be like her.

“Okay, I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll help you with your schoolwork,” Luma explained. “And you will help me be the zany person I’ve always wanted to be.”

Adam thought about it for a while. “Okay! I’m cool with that deal,” he grinned. “Now let’s go to the bike shop and teach you how to ride a bike!”

***

“Ahh!” Luma wobbled unsteadily on a dusty bike from the rental store, going so slow that a turtle could beat her in a race.

“Sit in the center of the seat!” Adam instructed. “Pedal more forcefully!”

“I’m trying! I’m trying!” Luma said, exasperated. “This is harder than I thought!”

“Keep your hands tight on the handlebars!” Adam shouted. “This is only the start of being bold. Get used to it.”

Luma processed this thought. “You’re doing this to be bold,” she mumbled. “To be bold.” With each chant, she gained speed, just a little. Soon, Luma was riding around the park, steering the wrong way a couple of times but, overall, doing very well.

Adam smiled as Luma removed her helmet. “You are doing so well. I’m proud of you.”

“Hello, Mr. Cheesy McCheesy,” Luma playfully teased. But really, Luma was satisfied by how much progress she made.

“Okay, what’s next?” Luma kicked up the kickstand of the bike.

Adam looked around the playground, thinking of what training to give to Luma. Then he smiled. “Obstacle course.”
Adam made up the course as he went. “Okay, so climb up the ladder, but with no hands. And instead of crossing the platform, go along the very edge and crab-walk to the slide. Go down on the rim of the slide, try not to fall down. Then, sprint to the mini-slide and walk up it to the bar over there, climb up there, jump down and you’re done! It might seem overwhelming, but it’s easier than you think it is.” Adam took a breath. “I’ll time you.”

“Okay. I’m ready.” Luma stretched out her hamstrings and rolled her neck around.

Adam set a stopwatch and counted down from five. “Five… four… three… two… one… Go!”

Luma dashed off, jumping and climbing and running and sliding all over the place. She had laser focus and did not think of anything other than finishing the course. When she finished, Adam had a stunned look on his face.

“Fifty-four seconds!” he said a little too loudly. “How?”

Luma laughed and wiped the sweat off her forehead. “Well, I guess the bike ride inspired me.”

“If you keep it up, you’re gonna be way better than me!” He punched Luma playfully.

An ice cream truck chimed nearby. The cousins rushed over to the vehicle, eager to get a cold, sweet treat.

When they got there, the man in the truck greeted them. “What would you like today?” He pointed to the various options on the side of the truck.

“I would like a strawberry ice cream in a medium cone, please,” Luma asked.

When the man handed her the delectable cone, she handed him the money and sat down at a nearby bench. Adam repeated Luma’s transaction, but his flavor was triple fudge.

Adam walked over to the bench and sat next to Luma. He took a few licks of his ice cream and then turned to Luma.

“OK, L. I held up my end of the deal for today — now it’s your turn. Once we get home, let’s hit the books!” Adam laughed with Luma.

But secretly, Luma was having a very important discussion inside her head with herself. I’ve never been a “mentor,” per se, she thought. I might teach him the wrong things, or make it too easy or too hard. He might be learning different things in his class, or I might teach him the advanced subjects…. The more Luma thought about it, the more the worries rolled in like big, salty, scary waves.

Luma could not show that anxiety. Adam would be suspicious, and that would be a disaster.

“Yeah. Hit the books,” Luma said weakly.

***

When she got home, Luma hung a sign on her door:

*Attention!*

VERY important study session proceeding inside this room.

If it is an absolute emergency (or it’s dinnertime),

PLEASE KNOCK! DO NOT BARGE RIGHT IN.

Thank you for your cooperation.

— Luma & Adam

After hanging the sign, she turned and shut the door. “Okay, Adam, let’s do this. I’m returning the favor. So, I took the time to gather books from my own collection and from the library on numerous subjects.”
Adam was blown away. Stunned. Shocked. Luma had done all of this for him? Really? His heart filled — just a bit — at how much effort his cousin had put into his tutoring.

“Adam? Is something wrong?”

He looked up, frightened in the slightest, at Luma. I can’t show my gratefulness. I’m the cool one, after all. Despite these thoughts, Adam couldn’t push aside his urge to thank Luma for all her effort. You can’t. You need to look like the “no big deal” kind of guy.

“Ugh. I’ll just do this myself,” Adam angrily said to himself.

“Adam? Are you ready?” Luma tapped his shoulder.

“Oh. Uh, yeah, just, thinking about something…” Adam plastered a fake smile over his face to make it seem all okay.

“What were you thinking about?” Luma cocked her head to the side in curiosity. “You looked very deep in thought.”

“Um…” Adam searched frantically for a topic to say he was “thinking” about. “Um, ice cream.” He looked briefly startled by his sudden outburst. “Yeah. Ice cream: all the flavors… chocolate, vanilla, rocky road, peanut butter chocolate.” He once again faked a smile. “Yum, yum!” He said, too enthusiastically.

“Okay…” Luma said, slowly. “Very, um, interesting, topic. But enough talking. Which one first: algebra or history of Asia?”

“Algebra,” Adam said confidently. Math was the only subject he was decent at.

“Okay, here are all the books. Let’s go through every single one.” Luma put a huge stack of books in front of Adam. He started to sweat. Luma’s words echoed in his head.

Every single one.

Every. Single. One.

Every. Single. One.

“It’s going to be a long, long night,” Adam sighed under his breath so that Luma couldn’t hear. “A very, very, very long one.”

***

By that time, they had gone through countless books of completely boring and long equations and numbers, filling out — as Luma had promised — every single page. And when he thought he had done all that he could to master math, Luma happily placed in front of him a tower of worksheets.

And then, when Adam had finally thought he was finished, Luma chirped, “Time for history of Asia!” And put a large book in front of Adam’s face.

He just groaned.

Then, when the impossible became possible, the duo finished all the books Luma had in store, plus the worksheets, plus the pop quizzes Luma had somewhat cruelly put in store for him.

“Adam, I am very proud of you. You got algebra down super quickly, and you’re making progress in ancient history of Asia!” she smiled. “I know this is absolute torture for you, but you made it through. For today.”

Adam smacked his forehead. Oy, why did I agree to this? But even he had to admit, it was kind of — dare he say — fun to learn something new. Plus, Luma told him, this stuff was advanced, and if he could get that down, then the things his class was going over was going to be super easy.

Finally, after what seemed like hours and hours, dinnertime arrived.

Rap tap rap. Luma’s mother was knocking on Luma’s bedroom door. “It’s dinnertime,” she said. “I made chicken pot pie, Adam’s favorite!”

“Ooh, yum, chicken pot pie!” Adam jumped up, all too happy for dinner.

As Luma and Adam walked to the dining room, Luma commented on how he was going to be so ahead in his class.

But Adam, once again, was having an important meeting in his head. The thing is, he worried, I’m really afraid that I’m going to forget everything I learned today. Then I’ll have to do all that studying again, just because I forgot all the work I did. I cannot tolerate the misery I went through today, he thought, exasperated.

When the pair arrived in the dining room, the adults bombarded them with millions of questions.

“Luma, I heard you learned how to ride a bike! That’s great, but why, sweetie?”

“Adam? I saw some heavy books in your backpack. What’s the meaning of that?”

“Adam, you’ve never been interested in studying.”
“And I thought you never cared for going outside, Luma.”

“What is going on?”

And much more.

So, the cousins had no choice but to tell all about their deal: Luma telling about her bike ride, Adam telling about the torturous indulging study session.

The adults laughed and “awww”-ed as the cousins told their somewhat intriguing tale over chicken pot pie.

After dinner, Adam and Luma said goodbye to each other.

“Hey, L… maybe in a week you could come over again? Because that would be great.”

Luma’s mother, standing nearby, happily nodded. “That seems like a great idea! I’ve always been forcing Luma to go outside, but now that she finally has a desire to, I’m more than happy to let her over! I remember when Luma blah blah blah…” Luma’s mother went on about some sort of childhood memory that, personally, no one cared about.

Adam half-listened. Sheesh, he griped internally. When did Luma’s mom get so chatty and annoying? He laughed to himself. And when did I get so sarcastic?

Five long minutes later, Luma’s mother came to the end of her speech.

… and that’s why I will never buy chocolate from the man down the block!” She laughed. “Oh, sorry, Adam, I got a little carried away.” She smiled apologetically.

“Uh-huh,” Adam said, still partly paying attention. But then he realized someone was actually talking to him, and snapped back like a rubber band. “Very nice tale, Auntie Holly!” he said, as if he had actually been paying attention (he’s full of baloney).

“Really? Well, I’m glad you liked it.”

“Yeah, well, I’m going to ask my mom to go home now. I had a great time! Bye!” Adam went off to find his mom.

“Luma,” her mother asked. “I’m just interested — why do you want to be more adventurous?”

“I don’t know,” Luma lied. “I just want to.” She started to play with her hair.

“I know you’re lying,” her mom said. “You always fiddle with your hair when you lie. C’mon, tell me.”

“Fine,” Luma sighed, annoyed. “But let’s go to the sunroom.”

“Sure.” As the mother and daughter walked down the hall, Luma noticed that, out of all the pictures of her, there were no pictures of her being active. The pictures looked still and bleak against the mahogany wall with just her sitting there, reading a book or writing on her computer.

The woven-rope carpet seemed to cut against her feet as she thought of her wasted thirteen years of keeping her nose in a book instead of going outside, or playing soccer or even just going on her front lawn.

When they reached the sunroom, Luma took the hanging seat with orange pillows and her mother took the rattan couch with matching orange pillows across from Luma.

“I’d just like to become more adventurous, because everyone at school thinks I’m the smart one. I mean, that’s great and all, but now my best friend Kacee joined the basketball team and, ever since, she’s been drifting away from me. Suddenly, she’s ignoring me.” Luma looked down.

“Oh, hun, it’s great that you treasure your friendship with her. But if you feel that you’ve become more daring and she still ignores you, maybe it’s time to find new friends.”

“Thanks, Mom.” She hugged her mother, and at that instant, as Luma gazed at the infinite night sky, she saw that even through the thunderstorm clouds, the rhythm of life would continue on.

***

“How was the chicken pot pie?” Adam’s mother asked.

“Great, now can we go home? I already said bye to everyone,” Adam asked.

“Sure, just lemme say goodbye to Auntie Holly.”

His mom walked out of the dining room for a couple of minutes and then came back.

“Okay, let’s go.” They opened the door, saying goodbye once more as they walked out, and headed down the path and got in the car. The sky was a beautiful purple and midnight blue, and it seemed to shine triumphantly

“Adam,” his mother said in a tone that Adam knew she was going to ask a question. “Why were you studying with Luma? And why did you have War & Peace: Starter’s Edition in your backpack? You’ve never wanted to study. All you wanted to do was ride on your bike or jump off everything. I’ve been constantly urging you to study because your GPA has dropped over time. But nooo, you always were out and about.” She sighed. “What’s your new and crazy plan now?”

“I’m just… changing my act.” That was partially true. He was changing his act; he was being more studious. But there was always more to the truth.

“Adam, just tell me,” his mother said, tired.

“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you. So a couple of weeks ago, Carter got a glimpse of my math test scores. He had every right to be mad — I always made up excuses to not go to his ‘study sessions’… I said my grades were great. But now, since he’s found out, he’s been ignoring me, and it’s so annoying. I just want him to be back to normal. I asked him how I could make it up to him, and he said by raising my grades. He’s being a nice friend, but in the weirdest way. I just want Carter to be my friend again.” Adam hung his head.

Adam’s mother smiled. “Adam, you’re doing the right thing. I get it. And also, you’re making me a very happy mom. This is a win-win situation!” They both laughed, and at that moment, looking at the outstretched road in front of them, they realized that even though there was traffic and confusion and annoyance in their lives, the road of life moved on.

***

A few months later, the hard work Luma and Adam had done paid off.

Luma joined the basketball team, and Kacee apologized for being so exclusive. Now, Luma plays basketball like she’s been doing it since she was born — thanks to Adam.

Adam’s grades, after many lessons from Luma, had gone through the roof. His teachers praised him endlessly and Carter returned to normal and atoned for his harshness towards Adam’s GPA. Adam even aced the English exams and said they were “a piece of cake” — thanks to Luma.

But, of course, the two had to stay true to their former identities.

Luma still read and wrote like crazy, but not as much, and now she knows when to stop and go outside. Adam, on the other hand, still accomplished ludicrous feats of danger, but never put that before school and academics.

The cousins were glad they were exposed to the other person’s life.

They didn’t know what kind of problems were in store for them, from friends to homework, but they promised they would help each other.

Additionally, if they ever had a dilemma, Adam and Luma would hold a Quadruple C: Cousin Conflict Conference Club for whenever they had an issue.

But, whatever they went through, they knew that life would always go on.

Leigh was an ordinary boy. Red hair, green eyes. Every day, his mom packed him a sandwich and water. But when he got to school, he had pasta, sparkling water, and a cheesecake. As the years passed, he got more food from his lunchbox: pizza, cakes, Coca-Cola, and silverware.

Then, lightning sprouted from the air and put a golden crown on his lunchbox, and it started to float. Leigh grabbed his lunchbox and followed it up to the air. Once they were at the top, they were in Lunchbox Land. Lunchbox Land was basically made of lunchboxes: lunchbox houses, lunchbox playgrounds, lunchbox floors, lunchbox everything. Leigh was shocked. He fell onto his back, pretending it was a dream.

Then, his lunchbox grew legs, then arms, and then a head. So you understand me? Even eyes! And then he said, “Hello, Leigh.”

Leigh was confused. He had no idea what was happening. Leigh rolled his eyes and said, “Where did you come from?”

“I am magical,” his lunchbox replied. “My name is Shake Your Booty. How may I help you?”

“I am good. Who are you?”

“I am Shake Your Booty. Oh, then, I will go to my castle.”

“What castle?”

“That castle.”

“Oh! Can I go in?”

They walked and walked until they got to a huge mansion. They opened the lunchbox doors. As Leigh stepped in, he saw a beautiful table, giant golden lunchbox stairs, and best of all, a sculpture! “Is this me?” He asked.

Shake Your Booty cried, “Yes, this is you! You are my boss. I like you being happy. Other kids don’t have the luck that you have.”

As he entered, Shake Your Booty said, “This is your room. Enjoy! You have it for one week.” Shake Your Booty yelled, “Bye!” and shut the door.

Leigh accidentally wobbled and pressed a red button on the floor. The whole room was about to explode. It exploded, all right, but with human stuff. A bed, clothing, a bathroom, and a rug appeared. Leigh ran all the way to the end of the room and tucked himself into a ball. And all of a sudden, he could fly.

“What the lunchbox?” Leigh said and fell asleep.

The next morning, Leigh found a giant cake in his room and Shake Your Booty too. He was singing, “Shake your bootay! Shake your bootay! Na, na! Baby this is how you do it!”

Leigh rolled his eyes. What was happening to him?

Leigh tried to break the floor to get home. It wasn’t possible.

Shake Your Booty said, “Hellooo! Do you want the big cake or not?”

“Oh, no, thank you,” Leigh replied. Then, they tried looking for another lunch box that came from the earth. But they were so hard to get into one of the holes. Then, he went up to the room. He found The Guide Out of Lunchbox World in his drawer. It had appeared with the room.

So, first, he needed a hammer of Lunchbox Zitia. But, it was at the top of the mansion. So he took the elevator and got the hammer. Then, he needed to find out where he came out of. So he went to Headquarters. He asked, “By any chance, do you know where I came out of?”

“Name of your lunchbox?”

“Shake Your Booty.”

“Where do you live?” asked Building, a lunchbox that worked in Headquarters.

“Plastic Street.”

“Okay. Follow me.”

So Leigh followed Building to where he came out of. He crashed to the ground. Then, he jumped in the hole and landed on his roof. The hole closed. He was safe!

Shake Your Booty was ruined! He decided to send his spy to look for Leigh.

Then, he said to his spy Tupperware, “You shall find Leigh. You can use the tools in that box. If not, you are banished from Lunchbox Land.”

So Tupperware set foot. On the way to Leigh’s house, he broke the ground. There was Leigh’s house! He jumped off the floor and onto the roof. And then he slid down and walked through the door. He had a smile on his face, and he was cartwheeling on the floor.

“I don’t know. I just held onto my flying lunch box, and I was in another dimension!” said Leigh.

“Okay. You are grounded. Go to your room!”

“Okay.”

Then, Leigh went into his room. There was his old lunchbox!

“Ha, ha. Get ready to become a lunchbox!”

“No!” Leigh ran to his mom. They both shook in terror.

“So, this is your lunchbox?” said his mom.

“Yes!”

“Run for your life!”

“The bomb.”

“What bomb?”

“The bomb that I hid in the yard this morning. I can make it explode, and my crazy lunchbox will get destroyed.”

“Do it.”

Leigh hit the red button.

BOOOOOM!

The ground shook. Dirt and stone flew up into the air. And in the hole, lay the two dead lunchboxes.  

On a place called Tropical Big Island, there was a superhero named Nacho Cheese. He defeated bad guys with his nacho cheese sauce powers. He also had some signature moves such as the Nacho Fist Punch, Nacho Chip Projectiles, the Wet Nacho Willie, and best of all, the Big Nacho Cheese Powder Fart. However, he was now saving the day by running for president!

In the town square, Nacho Cheese crashed into Bob the Builder.

“Who are you?” Nacho Cheese asked.

“I am Bob the Builder,” said Bob.

“I am Nacho Cheese,” said Nacho Cheese.

Bob was old, had gray hair, and couldn’t stand straight. Meanwhile, Nacho Cheese had a Mexican mask and a unique mustache.

“What are you doing here?” Nacho Cheese asked again.

“I am here because I want to know what Eve Vil would do as president,” Bob said.

“Well, if you want to know, go to Eve Vil’s speech,” Nacho Cheese said.

“Well, okay,” said Bob. “Hey, what are you even doing as president?”

“I will create a foundation where I will help the poor and hungry,” Nacho Cheese said.

“Why, thank you, superhero,” Bob said.

“You’re welcome,” said Nacho Cheese.

At the election, Nacho Cheese had met his rival candidates: Eve Vil, Violet Blick, and Camilia Higgins. Violet Blick’s cover as an adult was blown, and she was eliminated. It turned out Blick was a child when her stilts and makeup were gone.

Just because he was a superhero, the voters decided not to vote for Nacho Cheese, and Eve Vil won the election. Nacho Cheese was saddened by this. But then, Eve Vil caused chaos around the island! But don’t worry, Nacho Cheese was here to save the day! He did his Nacho Fist Punch and launched his Cheese Sauce to hold off Eve Vil. He then told the citizens to go on a ship for a little while. Vil freed herself from the cheese sauce and tried to find Nacho Cheese. Nacho Cheese then found her and used all his powers. When he found out they didn’t work, he had to do his most special move yet: the Big Nacho Cheese Powder Fart. Vil couldn’t stand the smell and was defeated. The voters realized they were wrong about Nacho Cheese, and he became president. He repeated his speech and did what he had to do to become president.

“Hello, it is me, Nacho Cheese. I may be your average everyday superhero, but now, I am running for president! I shall now tell you what I will do as president. I will start a foundation that will help the poor and hungry. I want justice for what the bad guys did to me. And finally, I will always save the day, even if i’m president. And now, I will be the president of Tropical Big Island!”

Nacho Cheese and the citizens of Tropical Big Island lived happily ever after.

“Wait a minute!” exclaimed Nacho Cheese, “I forgot about Camilia Higgins!”

“That’s right!” said Higgins herself, “You forgot about me!”

“You know, you’re perfect for the role of the president,” said Nacho Cheese.

“But why?” asked Camilia Higgins.

“All those things I said at the speech, I can also do those things as a superhero,” Nacho Cheese said. “So you can be president.”

Since the voters hated it when Nacho Cheese put his arms up and yelled “Nacho Cheese!” Camilia Higgins was president instead. Even though he didn’t win, Nacho Cheese started his foundation, and everybody lived happily ever after.

THE END

     

Mr. Toad

Gretchen and I do not get along. Gretchen, the dumb “know-it-all” parakeet that lives with Owner and me, is sooo annoying!!! She only cares about herself, and worst of all, Owner only cares about Gretchen! It’s like I don’t exist! Life was perfect until she came along.

“How was life before she came?” you might ask. Well, that’s what I’m here to tell you.

I was sitting in my box when Owner came to me. “Hey, Mr. Toad,” he said. “Wanna play?”

Of course I do, I thought.

“Let’s go!” Owner took me out of my box and put me on the floor.

“Want to have a hopping race?” he asked.  I nodded my head. We started leaping across the floor. Then, I felt my stomach start to rumble, and I realized I was hungry. I hopped back into my box and hopped around in circles. That meant that I was hungry. Owner went into the other room and got my food. I was sitting in my box when Owner came to feed me.

“Today is a big day,” said Owner. “I am getting a bird.”

A bird? I thought. What’s a bird?

“A bird,” said Owner, as if he was reading my mind, “is an animal with big, yellow wings and clawed feet.”

This bird sounds scary, I thought.

Owner gave me a couple of grapes and a snail for breakfast. Then, he went out of the room to eat his breakfast. I liked the snail, but not the grapes. I went to my cave to sleep after breakfast. When I closed my eyes, I heard the door creaking. Owner must have left to get the bird. I fell asleep.

I heard Owner walk into the room holding a big cage with a yellow thing that had wings. That must be the bird, I thought.

“Okay, Gretchen, welcome to your new home.”

Wait, new home? Gretchen’s staying? I thought she was just visiting!

“Squack! New home! Squack!” said the parakeet.  Then, she snapped her beak and flexed her talons. I was a little scared. I ran into the cave in my box and hid. I woke up and realized that it was a dream. I was still scared of a parakeet coming, but at least I hoped it would have a better name than Gretchen.

“Squawk! New home! Squawk!”

I had heard that before. The parakeet must be here. I was scared, really scared. I went back into my cave and hid like I did in my dream. A big, metal cage was set down next to my box.

“This is Mr. Toad,” I heard Owner’s voice say. “He is your new roommate.”

Roommate? I thought. She’s living in here? Oh no!

“Squawk, Mr. Toad, squawk!”

“Ribbit!” I let out a croak.

“Mr. Toad, this is Gretchen,” said Owner.

Oh no, that is her name, I thought. I didn’t like her already.

“Here, Gretchen, have some food,” said Owner.

Gretchen’s food looked tastier than grapes (which I hate,) but definitely not as good as snails (the absolute best food EVER!!) You really should try snails.

Anyway, I decided to try some of the birdseed to see if it tasted anything like snails. So if your Owner gets birdseed, heed my strong advice: DO NOT TRY TO EAT IT!!!  Seriously though, birdseed is even worse than grapes.

Now, back to the story.

Gretchen ate her food.

“Well, Gretchen, Mr. Toad, I have to go to school. See you soon!”

I heard another voice come from another room. “Alexander, you’re gonna be late!”

“Coming, Mom!” yelled Owner.

He walked out the door. I turned to Gretchen in disgust. “Parakeets are not welcome in this house.” I felt kind of guilty for saying that, but I knew that I wouldn’t be the number one pet anymore while she was around.

“That’s a very unfriendly welcome for a very…” She blinked her long eyelashes. “…a very friendly toad.” Gretchen winked. Oooh, how I hate that bird! Gretchen’s pale blue eyes flashed.  

“By the way, your food tastes worse than grapes!” I croaked. “But it fits you perfectly.”

“Oh yeah?” Gretchen squawked. “Watch this.” I gulped. “Squawk! Hungry! Squawk!” She flapped her wings up and down frantically. “Squawk!”

“Oh, here’s some birdseed, dear,” said Owner’s mom as she fed Gretchen.

I hopped around in circles. That meant I was hungry. Nothing. “Hey! Why am I not getting any food?” I asked Gretchen.

But she just shook her head. “Mmm, mmm, mmm.”

“Hey! Not fair! How did you even do that?”

“’Cause parakeets can talk. Toads? Mmm, mmm, mmm.” I just huffed and went to sleep.

But when I woke up the next morning, Owner and Gretchen were already awake. Playing. Having fun.

“Squawk! Fun! Squawk!”

“Yes, Gretchen. Fun.”

“Squawk! Happy!” I couldn’t believe my eyes. They were rolling snails, hopping in circles, doing all the things that Owner and I used to do when I was his. But it got worse. Gretchen kept glaring at me.

Then, Owner said something. I didn’t understand it, but it sounded like, “Okay, Gretchen, I have to use the bathroom.” That’s when Gretchen pushed me out the open window.

Okay, look, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, but here goes nothin’!!! Ooh, look at that store over there! I wonder what it sells… Hey! What’s this? Some kind of joke? No, wait, it’s… it’s… a mini snail! Now, let’s do a taste test… Blech!! WAAAAY too sweet! But it’s — delicious! Ooh! Here’s another! And another! Yummmm! All these mini snails!  

What will I ever do? Hey! Stop it! Wait! Aaaaah!

Dark. Lonely. Trapped behind bars. I’m too young to die! What was this place? Nothing there but food, water, and a lot of other animals. There were cats, and dogs, and this fat, pink thing that smelled like Owner’s bacon, and a really creepy red and green parrot that kept yelling, “Squawk! I’m a macaw! Squawk!” He reminded me too much of Gretchen. It was dark, noisy, and moist in there. A dog barked at me. A cat hissed. I shuddered. I ran, but there was no cave to hide in. Just this stupid, empty cage. But at least Gretchen wasn’t there.

Owner’s voice echoed in my head. Welcome to your new home. Your new home. New home. Would I be here to stay? I didn’t want to find out…

Yep, still here. I wonder where I am. I wonder how Owner’s doing, partying all day long with Gretchen. Having fun. I wonder if he misses me, or even notices I’m gone. I miss him. I just hope he misses me…

Gretchen

“Where’s Mr. Toad?” Owner cried. “I miss him!”

What was up with Alexander? He’d been like this all week! I didn’t think he’d miss Toad so much.

“Squawk! Bored! Squawk!” I wanted to cheer him up. But he only kept on moping. I almost felt sorry for him… No. I made a choice. I had to stick to it.

Mr. Toad

The next day was a big day for me at the animal jail. A tall, skinny man with a small beard walked in. He took me out of my cage and held me in his hand. I squirmed and tried to wriggle out. I was scared. Real scared.

“Here you go, ma’am”, he said cheerfully. He gave me to a young, blonde woman.

“Thank you, sir!” she said. “I’ve always wanted a toad.”

“Okay, Mr.  Toad,” the woman said as we went home. “My name’s Annie. I’m yer new owner. I’m 28 years old, and I play the guit-tar and the trom-bone. I ain’t got no husband, but I do got Peter. You’ll meet him.”

When I got to her house, I saw something wrong immediately. Right there, lying on the floor in front of me, was a… a…

I don’t really know what it was, but it had big, scary, yellow eyes, and it was black and white with white whiskers.

“Rrribbiiiit!” I croak when I’m nervous.

I expected it to pounce on me, but instead, it just said, “Whazzzup, brother? Heard you were comin’. The name’s Peter. Whazz ur name?”

“Umm, Mr. Toad. H-hi, P-peter. Yeah. Hi.”  

You’ve probably realized that I’m scared of a lot of things, but this really gave me the heebie-jeebies. Would Peter be my best friend? My worst enemy? Again, I did not want to find out…

Yesterday when I woke up, Peter was staring down at me. “Hey, pal!! Wanna play?”

“Um, okay.”

“Sweet! Whatcha wanna do?”

“Uh, dunno. What do cats do?”

“We play the trombone!” He ran to the other side of the room and got a big yellow thing from its stand. He blew on one end, and a noise came out of the other end. The noise was bad at first, but then, Peter played a song on it.

“Cool, man!”

“I know, right?”

“Hey, can you help me with something?”

“Anything for you, brah.”                     

Gretchen

Toad is running through the woods. He has a big black and white thing running next to him. I am sitting on my windowsill, watching. Toad leaps onto the windowsill, so does the big black thing. I jump back. Toad leaps onto me. I scream in fright! I fly into my cage, but Toad is hanging onto my tail. He’s stuck in my cage with me. He sticks out his long tongue into my face, and my eyes widen as it hits me between the eyes. I let out a long, high wail, like “Ahh!”

I woke up and realized it was just a dream, but I had a hunch that it might be real.

I had to warn Alexander! I flew out of the cage and into the living room. I saw Alexander sitting on his chair, crying.

“Alexander, Alexander! Mr. Toad’s coming back with the giant black and white thing!”

Alexander kept crying. “Yes, I know you’re hungry, Gretchen,” he said. “You have plenty of birdseed.”

“No, I’m not hungry! Mr. Toad’s gonna try to come back to get back at me!”

“Gretchen, go away…” Alexander moaned.

Why is he so upset? He doesn’t play with me anymore, he just sits on his chair and cries.

“Why did Mr. Toad leave me? Everything was perfect until he left.”

Wait, he misses the toad? Naw. I went back to my cage to have a quick rest.

Mr. Toad

“This is the house where Owner lives.”

There had to be a way to get back at Gretchen. And what better way to do it than with a cat on my side. But how?

“We gonna have to jump in there,” said Peter. We had a plan. We’d run across Fifth Avenue and jump through the window.

We ran across the intersection, jumping across cars. Full disclosure, I was terrified. At a red light, a navy blue car stopped right in front of Owner’s bedroom window. Now was the time! I hopped on it and then hopped up to the window.

I just missed the window! The light turned yellow. A few seconds and I drove away on the car!

“Peter!” I yelled, “Help me get up there!”

“Here, climb on my back,” said Peter. I jumped on Peter’s back, and he hooked his claws on the brick wall just as the light turned green, and he started climbing up the wall.  I looked down. We were two stories above Fifth Avenue. If I fell, I would fall into thick traffic.

Peter grabbed the window sill of Owner’s window and pulled himself up. I hopped through the open window and into Gretchen’s cage.  Gretchen was asleep but when she heard me hop in, she let out a loud, long wail, like “Ahh!!!”

“Squawk! My dream came true! Squawk!” Gretchen flew out, leaving the door of her cage open. I hopped out behind her and hopped into the living room, with Peter behind me.  

“Owner! Hello, it’s me. Mr Toad! Hello?” I was surprised to find Owner sitting in his chair, sobbing. “Owner? What’s wrong?”

Owner turned around in his chair.  “M-m-Mr. Toad? I-is that you?”

“Yes! Yes! It’s me!” I wailed, “Why won’t you notice me?”

“Mr. Toad, you came back! I thought you hated me.”

“Squawk! It’s my fault! Squawk!” said a bird-like voice from the bedroom.

“What do you mean, Gretchen?” said Owner.

“Squawk! I pushed Toad out of the window! Squawk! I’m so sorry.”

“Gretchen? You would never do that…” said Owner.

“It’s true, he never wanted to leave you. Squawk.”

Owner scooped me into his hands and hugged me. He said with a tremble in his voice, “Never leave me again.”

“You’re forgiven, Gretchen,” I whispered from Owner’s arms.

THE END

       

Part 1

“Jake! Wake up! You have to go to school today,” my mom called from the kitchen.

“I don’t want to go to school. No one is going to want to be friends with me. I’m going to be a social outcast,” I moaned, still in bed.

My mom came into my room and opened up the window shades. I moaned and covered my eyes.

“Close the windows.”

“Honey, I told you that’s not going to happen. I’m absolutely positive that you’re going to make good friends. You are going to be completely okay.”

“Mom, I told you to knock before you come in.”

“Okay. I will be downstairs when you are done getting set.”

I took a quick shower and walked to the closet where I took out my burgundy uniform that had a touch of navy blue on it.

Uh-oh, I need to comb my hair, I thought. My hair was long and spiky at the top with gold color in it, like always. I started to think that the one thing I was happy about, which was that I would not be made fun of for being fat, because I was tall and skinny.

I went downstairs to eat the breakfast that my mom had prepared for me. I took my oatmeal and sat on my orange La-Z-Boy couch in the living room.

“Eww, this oatmeal tastes so bad,” I called to my mom.

“Jake, if you go to school looking that depressed, you’re going to start to look like something that you’re not,” my mom called from the kitchen in a voice so annoying that I couldn’t stop myself from saying what I did.

“Mrs. Fiona, or should I say Miss Fiona, can you please stop nagging? You’re going to drive me crazy. This probably why Chris is not here anymore,” I said in the most official voice that I could muster. Chris is my dad who died in a mysterious accident.

“If you mention that name again, you’ll wish that you could not talk at all.” Mom was absolutely pissed at me.

“Okay. Okay, just don’t hit me.” I was scared because when I had called her that before, she didn’t yell at me like she’s doing now. I knew that I should not have mentioned Dad’s name. She was super emotional when someone said his name in disrespect.

“Well Mom, I’m off to school,” I called, slinging my backpack over my shoulder and leaving in a rush before she could drag me back into the kitchen to scold me.

***

Woah, this school is massive, and it’s pretty cool-looking too.

I looked up at a castle-looking building. It had two humongous gates with a brilliant red carpet leading to them. It had two towers that looked like places where people sat to defend the the castle. There was an archway of trees lining the red carpet.

I was told that the school was named Excalibur. That was a pretty weird name. There were also pretty weird characters here. The students were bringing unusual looking animals in through the school gates. All of the students were wearing black robes with white stars on them. One of the male students had a animal that looked like a griffin. Others were bringing in animals like owls, parrots, and more animals that should not be there.

That’s when I saw it. A monster that seemed to be made out of a gas surrounding the other students. I saw it quickly change its direction to face towards me. When I saw it notice me, I started to run, knowing that if that horrifying beast were to catch up to me, I would most likely die. I thought that I was running so fast that I mostly looked like a maniac.

When I got inside the school, I was desperately gasping for my breath. What was that thing? It looked like a demon!

That’s was when I first stepped into the Underworld, but I didn’t know it at the time.

I looked around me and saw another monster around the people in the school. I said in a loud voice, “You guys need to get out of here. There are demon-looking monsters everywhere.”

For a moment, people started to evacuate. Though, when they saw nothing outside, they started to come back. It seemed like only I could see the monster.  

Everyone was annoyed that I wasted their time. They started to push me, yell at me, and punch me. I ran to the library to get away and hide while it calmed down outside.

What’s going on with this school? I said to myself. Now, I have to deal with both making so-called ‘friends’ and trying not to die while doing it!!!

As I walked to take a seat in the library, I saw a book in the library called The Demons Of The Real World. The book was pretty dusty, unlike the other ones in the library. It was a book made out of leather that was fading away.

Huh. Well, it seems like it will be interesting enough, I thought.

In the real world, there many unworldly creatures that could not be seen with the regular human eye. The only ones who can see them are the descendents of the original phoenix family. The monsters feed on the souls of mortals. They normally flock to places with groups of humans. The only time that a mortal can see them is when they’re on their deathbed, or when the person who sees them is a noble warrior of the race. These people are the chosen ones, who can slay them. If you see someone with a pentacle on the back of their hand, they are an ally.  

The rest of the book was completely unreadable. It was like someone did not want the reader to know more. Maybe I would be able to read the rest of the pages over time.

I hid the book in my uniform, so I could take it to read it more. I tried to show the book to some of the other students, but they all thought that I was a crazy man. They all said that there was nothing in my hand.

Shatter!

All the lights went out. That was when I saw it again it, but this time it was not after me. It was one by one eating the unsuspecting students. All of a sudden, I felt my body lift up and go out the window…

“AH! Let me go, Let me go,” I said. I was absolutely terrified at that moment.

“Ha, I knew that we didn’t need this little brat. After all, they have me,” said the person who was taking me away.

“Also, I didn’t know that the prince of our family could scream like such a girl,” he said in a deeper voice than before.

End of Part 1

One day Justice and her best friend Kimberly were working on their science project about cats, because they loved cats. The only thing that they wanted in the world was a cat.

They were almost done with their project when all of a sudden, a trash can tipped over and fell on Kimberly’s head. Justice stood up to see if anybody was in the classroom, but she did not see anybody. So, they rushed to the bathroom to get all the stuff off of her. The teacher came in the bathroom and told them that they could go home.

As they were walking down the street, they saw the same man that they saw every day in the candy store talking to the merchant. But as they were crossing the street, they saw the same man in neater clothes. They also heard people saying that he was the richest man in the city. Kimberly and Justice were so confused.

They opened  the door to Kimberly’s house and went to her room to get ready for their sleepover. After they ate dinner, they worked on their project. There was good news and bad news. The good news was that they completed their project, and the bad news was everybody in the city was sick with a stomach virus.  But, Kimberly and Justice were not sick.

Kimberly and Justice went for a walk. They noticed that the cat adoption center was closing down. They went inside to see what was going on. They asked the storekeeper why he was closing down. The man said that he was sick and all of the cats were gone.

For two minutes they were staring at eachother. They asked why the cats left. The storekeeper said they did not leave. They were stolen by the most wanted person in the world. His name was The Black Dove.

For a moment it was silent. The storekeeper also said that everywhere The Black Dove went, he would put a curse on the city with his magic wand. Justice told Kimberly that they had to go and find The Black Dove. At first, Kimberly said it would be too dangerous, but after a few minutes, she changed her mind. They went to their houses, packed everything they needed, and went off to find The Black Dove.

As they were walking,  they found out that they were in a swamp. Kimberly said, “OMG, it smells like a  mix of rancid mayo, pickles, and a local dumpster, rotting in a hot garbage bag in July.”

Justice actually liked the smell of the swamp. A few minutes later, they were in the in the deepest part of the swamp. Halfway out of the swamp, there was a note on a strange rock that looked like a plate of cheese. The note said, “BEWARE OF TRAPS PLEASE.”

This could not be true. They took the note with them anyway. As they were crossing a very old, long log, the two girls got caught in a net. It must have been one of the traps to stop them from finding The Black Dove. They looked in their bags to see if they could find anything to get them out of the net.

“This is all your fault, Justice!” said Kimberly.

“My fault? What did I do?” asked Justice.

“If you did not want to come here and get your stupid cats, we would not be stuck here,” Kimberly said.

“STUPID? I thought you loved cats,” said Justice.

They were fighting for fifteen minutes. After they were done fighting, they continued looking for things to get them out of the net. Kimberly decided to turn back and go home but Justice chose to keep on going.

Before they could leave, they had to get out of the net. They found a rope in their bag. They cut the rope in half, cut the top of the net, and wrapped the rope around a tree. They used the other half to slide down the rope.

So, Kimberly went back home and Justice went to find the lost kittens. Justice was really scared and felt bad that she had no one to encourage her. She started to get so scared that she almost thought of turning back. But she had to save those kittens. As she was walking, she found herself in another city. And there she saw the same man in the candy store talking to the merchant. She went inside to get a closer look at him. She noticed that it was The Black Dove, because she remembered that the man in the cat store said that he pretends to be someone he is not. So, she thought that he was pretending to be poor, so he could fool the merchant and steal things.

Justice said to herself that she should just follow him, and maybe it would lead her to the kittens. She followed The Black Dove and he lead her to his hideout. While The Black Dove  was sleeping, she found the cats and took them back home.

Everybody was well,  and it was all because of Justice. She called Kimberly and said that she was sorry. And they became best friends again.

But, all of a sudden, The Black Dove came for the kittens. Kimberly went up to him. She looked at him. She was the first one ever to scare away The Black Dove. He had a black outfit. His face was half white and half black. And he had a curly mustache. Just by looking at him, The Black Dove got scared and ran to his hideout. Justice felt really upset that she did not scare The Black Dove, but she felt happy for her best friend because she helped the city.

Everybody was safe, and Justice and her best friend Kimberly finally got their cats that they wanted. And they lived a happy life.

THE END

        

Chapter 1

Hi This is Me

Hi. I’m a dollar bill. I’m here to tell you the story of how many homes I travel to. I travel to at least one hundred homes every week! This is the cycle: I go from the MINT, to the floor, to someone’s pocket, to someone’s house, to the store, to someone’s house, to the floor again, and so on. No one could ever find a way to keep me. That’s when I visited a bank. Oh, somebody finally found a way to keep me, and I couldn’t get out! I heard that person’s mom call her Imali. When Imali put me in the bank, I was so happy I finally didn’t have to get thrown around everywhere! I kept on getting folded so I could fit in someone’s pocket. I feel loose now. When I got folded for the first time, I cried. I was so scared that I was gonna die and I was gonna leave my mom, the ten-dollar bill and leave my dad, the twenty-dollar bill, and my brother, the five-dollar bill. Besides, I was the youngest. The one-dollar bill. It’s the one that gets used the most. It’s the one that gets lost in five seconds. It’s the one that no one cares about — except Imali.

Chapter 2

Wow!

Imali is the one that loves one dollar bills. I have a lot of friends now. I’m with them right now. Their names are Washington, Sasha, and Buck. They are also one dollar bills. We usually play robot with the buttons inside the bank. But we still get moved from time to time because some of those buttons that we push aren’t good. I love the bank, and Imali comes to visit us every month to put more one dollar bills in the bank. She has over 250 dollars in one-dollar bills. Not all of them are nice, but I still play with Washington, Sasha, and Buck.

Sasha is my best friend, but Washington and Buck play with us too. When we play robot Buck’s usually the robot, and we push him against the wall playfully. Buck is always the first one to volunteer to be the robot. Washington is more of a learning type, so whenever he plays robots it’s usually just to see what the buttons do, but at least he’s playing. Whenever Imali comes she doesn’t know that we’re alive, she just thinks we’re little pieces of paper that pay for stuff, but we know the truth. Imali still treats us like we’re alive. We can tell she thinks we’re not alive. From the books we’ve heard her read, we’re aliens to her. I’ve heard that aliens are green, and we’re all green. I heard aliens were from space though, we’re from the MINT.

Chapter 3

Not Fair

For Washington, he didn’t get thrown around, he didn’t do the money cycle. He just got put straight into Imali’s hands. He tells us stories all about it. Once he said that he was given to Imali. None of us believed him though, and he always tells us that the guy that gave him to Imali was named Benjamin, and I told him that Benjamin was Imali’s dad’s name. Right then and there I had a plan. I was going to write a letter to Imali to ask her if her dad worked at the MINT. Then Sasha told me there was no way to get paper or pen.

Then Buck said, “We’re money. We’re paper.”

Then Sasha said, “But, smarty pants, we don’t have a pen.”

Buck said, “Right, we don’t have a pen! How are we gonna get a pen?”

I said, “I have a plan. When Imali comes next month she’ll probably have a pen. All banks have a pen. Then when she puts some more money in I’ll reach into her shirt pocket and take out a pen. Is there any possibility of anything bad happening?”

Washington said, “Let me calculate that.”

Washington thought for five minutes.

Then he said, “Yes. I’ve thought of at least ten things that can happen badly.”

Sasha said, “Okay, then tell me.”

Washington said, “So one, Imali might not have a pocket on her shirt. Two, even if she does have a pocket on her shirt she might not have a pen on her shirt. Three, if she does have a pocket on her shirt still she might not have a pen there, she might have a pen on her jeans pocket. Four, she might not be wearing jeans, she might be wearing shorts. Five, her mom might put the money in the bank.”

Then Sasha said, “Stop. Her mom definitely has a pen in her purse.”

Washington said, “You just interrupted me. Six, her mom might not be wearing a purse. Seven, you don’t know for sure that her mom’s gonna have a pen in her purse. Eight, even if her mom does have a pen in her purse, how are we going to get in her purse? Nine, even if we can get in her purse we don’t know where she would keep a pen. Ten, we don’t know how long it’s gonna take for either to get the money. They might get up too fast, and we might get stuck with them!”

Chapter 4

Why are you so Negative?

I said, “Why are you so negative? All of those have a chance of happening, but that’s because you always say stuff that’s just too worrying.”

“I’m just trying to be safe. You asked if anything wrong could happen, and I told you. Now if you want to do this plan we need to sleep. We’ve stayed up for months.” Washington moaned.

I said, “Okay. Let’s go to sleep. See you next month.”

They slept for months and months even though they meant to sleep for one month they slept for five!

When I woke up I saw Imali and she looked way older than she had before. Her mom was singing happy birthday. And after she finished singing that she said she was 11 years old. The last time I saw her she was only 10 and 7 months. And now she’s 11?!

“We must have been sleeping for more than a month,” I told Washington and Sasha.

Sasha said, “Is Buck still sleeping? He’s usually the first one up to play robot. He must have stayed up for years!”

Then Sasha woke up Buck. She said, “How old are you Buck?”

He said, “The same age as Imali. Ten.”

Washington said, “Actually Imali is eleven.”

“What?!” Buck exclaimed.

Then Sasha said, “Today is Imali’s birthday, and we’ve been sleeping for five months.”

Buck said, “Wait, so Imali is older than me?”

Then I said, “Yeah.”

Washington said, “What’s the longest you’ve stayed up for?”

And Buck said, “Why do you need to know?”

“Because you’re usually the first one up, and you were the last one up,” Sasha said.

Buck said, “Okay. The longest I’ve stayed up was seven years.”

Then Washington said, “Seven years? The longest we’ve stayed up was one year! What have you been doing for seven years at night?”

Buck said, “Playing robot.”

“For seven years straight? That’s crazy!” I said.

“She’s right,” Washington said.

Buck said, “Whatever. We need to take the pen and make the note before Imali and her mom leave!”
“Wait that’s not Imali’s mom! That’s her dad.”

Washington said, “And that’s Benjamin!”

Sasha said, “Yay that’s good! Now we don’t have to struggle to make a letter. We know that Benjamin is Imali’s dad and works at the MINT. And we also know that that’s how you didn’t do the money cycle. If you didn’t go through the money cycle how come we all did?”

Washington said, “Because I was the first piece of money Benjamin touched at the MINT, and he knew that Imali loved one dollar bills, so he gave me to her.”

Sasha said, “If you knew that then how come you didn’t tell us the entire time?”

“Cause you never asked,” Washington replied.

“So exact,” Sasha said.

“Do you think that’s why you’re so smart?” I asked.

“Yeah! Because my brain didn’t have to go through the money cycle it’s fresh.”

Chapter 5

Imali’s Dad

Sasha said, “I’ve been watching Imali and her dad, and they haven’t left yet.”

I said, “I’m the best at hearing humans, let me hear what they’re saying.”

I listened and I hear Benjamin saying, “I need to take the money. My daughter wants a Fisher Price small car.”

The bank manager said, “Oh! One of those cars that kids can drive themselves?”

Imali said, “Yeah except I want one for big kids.”

“Yeah,” Benjamin said. “She wants a convertible. All the kids in her school want them, and now she has a chance to get one. She thinks it’ll bring her lots of playdates.”

The bank manager said, “Yeah it sure will. My daughter wants one of those too.”

“She has $300 in there,” Benjamin said.

The bank manager said, “That sure is a lot of money for a ten year old. Alright I’ll give you the money.”

Imali said, “Yes! I finally get a car!” And she did her victory dance.

Benjamin said, “Hold on, you didn’t get it yet. We’ll go to the store right after this.”

Then I saw the bank manager walk toward us. I told Washington, Buck, and Sasha to hide behind the buttons, and I jumped to the bottom of the pile of money. I saw the bank manager pick up all the bullies and I felt so relieved. I saw him reach for the last bit of money, and I was getting scared.

Chapter 6

The Attack

I jumped out of his reach to where Buck, Washington, and Sasha were. I saw them folding themselves as small as they could and squeezing themselves into the buttons. I was the one that got folded the most and I fit the smallest. The bank manager looked towards the buttons, but he didn’t see us. He just pushed one. That was the one that Buck was in. Buck zoomed back with the button.

Washington asked, “Why is Buck zooming back? And why is the button zooming back with him?”

Then Sasha said, “Finally, something I know and you don’t! Because the bank manager pressed the buttons too hard.”

Then Washington said, “Hey, just because I’m smart and fresh from the mint doesn’t mean I know everything.”

“I know,” Sasha said.

They heard Buck screaming for help. They heard him saying he was in a different bank account with one-hundred-dollar bills. And they were all mean.

He heard them saying, “Why’s a one-dollar bill in here? You don’t belong in here, we’re one-hundred-dollar bills? You’re a one-dollar bill! My owner doesn’t want one-dollar bills! He only wants one-hundred bills! And if he sees a one-dollar bill in here, he’ll be mad!”

Buck said, “Well, I didn’t wanna be in here! The bank manager just put me in here.”

A hundred-dollar bill said, “You don’t even know the bank manager’s name? How about this. I’ll give you a hint. It sounds like Larry. Except with an H. And it ends with an I.”

“So, is it L-A-H-R-I?

The hundred-dollar bill said, “Yes.”

Another hundred-dollar bill asked, “Why did you give him such an easy hint? You practically told him how to spell it!”

Buck said, “Whatever. I don’t care. I just want to get back to my friends, Sasha, Washington, and Sika.”

Then, a one-hundred-dollar bill said, “What kind of name is Sika?”

Buck said, “It’s an African language, Akan.”

A hundred-dollar bill said, “How long have you known this girl Sika?”

“Since I went to the bank for the first time. And that was nine years ago. Since she was two. I’m ten, Sika’s twelve, Washington’s thirteen and Sasha is eleven. And our owner’s name is Imani.”

The hundred-dollar bill said, “Why are so many of you named money?”

“What do you mean?” Buck said.

The hundred-dollar bill replied, “Well, you’re named Buck. Buck is one dollar. Washington is on the one-dollar bill. Imani means money in a European language, and I know her dad, and her dad’s name is Benjamin, and Benjamin means a hundred dollars. And the bank manager’s name is Lahri, and that means money in an African language. And Sika means money in Akan language, like you just told me.”

Buck was stumped. He wanted to know too. So he just said, “My friend Washington would know, he’s the smartest dollar ever.”

The hundred-dollar bill gave him a stern look.

Buck said, “But you’re very smart too. You knew that all of those names meant money.”

The hundred-dollar bill was actually liking this guy and wasn’t being mean anymore. Washington, Sika and Sasha didn’t hear him screaming anymore, but they were still thinking of a plan to get Buck out of the other bank account.

Chapter 7

The Plan

“I’ve got a plan,” I said after a long four hours of  thinking. “One of us can get a rope and one of us can hold the rope while one us gets Buck and then when one of us gets Buck one of us can pull them back.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Sasha said.

“Yeah,” Washington repeated.

“So who wants to get Buck?” I asked.

Sasha screamed “Me!”

“Okay. I guess that means I’ll hold the rope,” I said.

“Where are we gonna get a rope from?” Washington asked. He paused and said, “Ohh yeah! We can get a rope from the back of the bank account. Lahri always keeps a rope in there in case of a robber.”

Before you could say “Let’s go,” Sasha had the rope and was running down the place that Buck went down.

When she got to Buck she yelled “Pull!” and I pulled them back.

Chapter 8

It’s So Scary   

“Yay! They’re back. We missed you so much,” Washington said.

“We’re so so happy you’re back!” I said.

“I’m so happy I’m back too because those hundred-dollar bills are kind of mean.”

Sasha me tooed him. None of us noticed the bank manager talking to angry Benjamin.

Benjamin was saying, “My daughter wants that car and she is going to get it, because it’s her birthday. I still need four more dollars.”

Lahri said “Sir, I tried to get all of the money.” Benjamin gave Lahri a look. “But I’ll check again, sir.”

Lahri saw the last four dollars and he didn’t wait a second to get them. The four friends were getting picked up and and they were scared. Two big hands twice the size of them were squeezing them so hard they could throw up. Lahri hands the dollar bills to Benjamin and Imali screams of joy.

She says, “I’m gonna get a ca-ar! I’m gonna get a ca-ar!” Then, they leave the bank and go to the car shop. While they’re going to the car shop, Sika was saying all the reasons why she wanted to stay at the bank. “Reason one: I want to stay at the bank because I’ll be safe from doing the money cycle. Reason two: because I like playing robot. Reason three: Because I won’t ever be able to see my friends again after we’re in the cash register. Reason four: I won’t be able to ask Buck how old he is. Reason five: Sasha won’t be able to say ‘Smarty Pants’ to Buck.”

Then, Washington said, “Why do you have to be so negative? We don’t know that we’re never going to see each other again.”

Then, Sasha said, “How about we do something to keep our minds off of being spent? How about we play robot in the wallet with credit cards?”

And then Buck said, “I want to be the robot!”

We all said simultaneously, “We know!”

Then Buck said, “I was just making sure.”

When we got there, we knew that we were only getting spent for Imali’s birthday, and we were happy for her. She chose a blue convertible and one of her friends was at the shop, too. Her friend asked her for a ride home and that was it. We were going to go through the money cycle again. We were going to get folded again too, but hopefully someone puts us in a bank again, and hopefully that’s a kid, because kids are the best money owners. They’re the most fun.

The End

One late November morning, after catching a rabbit, Bramble trotted into a hollow log so she could eat it alone. She started to get tired, and fell asleep. When she woke up, she heard a gunshot and a human yelling “Fox!” Bramble dashed out of the log. When she looked back, the log was on fire. She didn’t stop running. She had to find somewhere to hide. Just then, she saw a hole. She crawled inside, and she heard more yelling from outside. Then, a bullet landed right next to her, and she decided to go deeper into the tunnel.

Bramble sniffed the air. It smelled as if another fox, specifically a juvenile male fox, was digging the tunnel. As Bramble went further, she saw another fox lying down in the tunnel. He was weak, and he lifted his head up.

“What are you doing in my tunnel?” he growled.

“Humans are outside,” Bramble barked.

“Who are you?” he growled again.

“I’m Bramble. Who are you?”

“I’m Rufus. The humans chased me so I dug this tunnel.”

Rufus stood up, and slowly walked to the entrance. Then he crouched. Bramble stood up and did the same. There were no humans outside. Bramble placed the rabbit she had caught right outside. They trotted out, and soon they heard another gunshot. The tunnel that Rufus made was destroyed. As soon as Bramble grabbed the little bit of rabbit meat that was left, Bramble and Rufus ran away from the humans that destroyed the tunnel. Soon, they were in a clearing. Rufus looked around. He saw a big grayish green machine that had a star on the side of it. There was a long horizontal tube that was sticking out of the upper front. Then, a bullet came out of the tube, and Rufus realized that it was a gun. Bramble started sprinting for the forest.

“We’re not safe!” Bramble yelped while dodging a bullet.

Rufus followed Bramble, and after a while it started to get dark. They slowed down as they got deeper into the forest. Bramble dug a neat den, unlike the one Rufus built. Then, they ate the little piece of rabbit that was left, and went to sleep. When they woke up, It was raining. Bramble and Rufus were cold and shivering. They huddled against each other for body warmth, but the rain didn’t stop, and after another day of rain, Bramble became sick.

Rufus walked further into the forest. Then, he spotted a few tents. He went back to Bramble and he carried her on his back to the tents. He dropped her off near the tents.

“I’m going to get some food. You dig a den,” Rufus quietly barked.

Rufus poked his nose under the side of the tent. After he sneaked into the tent, he froze. There was a gun lying on the floor, and it was pointing towards him. He moved to the side, and crawled under a little plastic table. Then he smelled something. When he looked at what was on the table, there was a big, brown, non-bloody chunk of meat. He put his paw on it and it was warm. He sniffed it, and he smelled different herbs and spices. He grabbed the piece of meat with his jaws. Then, a large round white platform came crashing down and broke to pieces. Rufus was so startled that he flung the chunk of meat across the tent.

A human with a dark green and gray uniform came storming into the tent. He glared at the cracked platform and then at the lump of meat. He walked back to the entrance of the tent, turned to stare at the meat one more time, and stomped away.

Once the human was out of sight, Rufus grabbed the meat and dashed out of the tent with the meat held firmly in his jaws.

“I got food,” Rufus barked once he got to the entrance of the little den that Bramble dug at the base of a tree.

Just then, Bramble crawled out of the little den and sat up, looking at the proud little den that she had just created. Then, she felt a little vibration, and she lay down on her back and rolled back. A small explosion blew up her den. Bits of dirt went flying all over the place. Bramble growled. She was furious. She started brushing all the dirt around while lying down with her front paws and tail. Soon she uncovered some wires. She bit at the wires a little bit, and sparks came flying out. Rufus lept beside her and nudged her to the side. Rufus grabbed a long branch and put out the little fire that had started.

Rufus carried Bramble slowly walked to another spot near the tents.

“Dig.” Rufus barked.

She started to dig her den there. Rufus dropped the meat off to the side and helped dig the den. Slowly but surely, the two foxes dug a small den, just big enough for both of them to fit along with the meat. As Bramble crawled inside, Rufus used his nose to push the lump of meat into the den. Once they were both inside, Bramble helped herself to a big bite of meat. It did not taste like anything Bramble had eaten before. After they halfway finished it, Rufus brought it outside and buried it. Then Rufus came back into the den and they both fell asleep.

When Rufus woke up, Bramble was coughing. She had inhaled a lot of smoke from the bomb, and from the fire. Rufus trotted outside to get water. Once he found a small pond, he sprinted back to the big mass of tents. He sneaked inside a tent, and sniffed around. Then he found a odd-shaped hollow rubbery object with strings on it. He brought it outside, and suddenly he heard a human say “Where’s my boot?” Then, he ran all the way to the pond. He threw it into the water while still gripping tight onto the string. When he pulled it up, it was full of water. He dragged the water-filled boot right outside of the den. He motioned for Bramble to come out, and when she did, she was still coughing. She thrust her head into the water and spilled some while she was drinking, but she was definitely looking better.

After a few days, Bramble was fully healed and was ready to move on.

“The humans are coming closer,” Bramble slowly growled mysteriously. That convinced Rufus.

After walking for some time, they reached a hole. Bramble cautiously sniffed around it, and it smelled of mouse.

“Copy me,” Bramble quietly ordered.

Bramble lay down next to the hole. Of course, Rufus did the same. Bramble closed one eye, and left her tongue hanging out of her mouth. Rufus followed. After a while, a mouse came out. Thinking that the two foxes around him were sleeping, the mouse slowly tiptoed out. Without warning, Bramble pounced on the mouse and swallowed him whole. Then Bramble stepped to the side, and let Rufus try. When Rufus pounced on the next mouse, it was too fast and dashed back into it’s hole. Rufus tried again, but did not succeed. Soon, Rufus was so busy trying to catch the mouse that he did not notice another bigger, older, oranger fox sneaking up on him. Then, the older fox pounced.

Rufus snarled. He pounced on top of the older fox again, and knocked the older fox onto the ground.

“Who are you?” Rufus growled.

“ The real question is who are you?” the other fox growled back.

“I’m Rufus,” Rufus growled sounding annoyed.

“Call me Ken,” Ken growled in response.

“Now!” Rufus barked loudly.

Bramble jumped off a small tree and landed directly on Ken holding him to the ground.

“What do you want?” Ken snarled.

“Let us stay here,” Bramble calmly barked.

“Only over there,” Ken barked as he pointed to the space in between nine trees. “No hunting, fishing, trashing, or making noise beyond those trees.

“Fine.” Rufus barked.

They walked to their territory space that they had earned. They sniffed around. It wasn’t too bad, considering that there was some rock, a whole pond, a rabbit hole, mouse holes, and quite a few trees. Rufus decided to mark his new territory. He put scents on the trees all around their territory, and then helped Bramble dig a nice large den. Then they hunted for turkey and when Bramble got tired, she went to eat berries.  

The next day, Rufus woke up to a howling sound. He peeked outside, and there was a coyote. He dashed back into the den. He nudged bramble to wake her up. Bramble peeked outside. There was a coyote. He was prowling around. Then, he sniffed the air. He smelled a strange scent. He started sniffing the ground. He started coming closer and closer to Rufus and Bramble’s den, when a bullet came out of nowhere and knocked the coyote onto the ground, unmoving. A human came running. “Bingo!” he said. As he bent down to pick up the coyote, he turned his head and saw the hole. He picked up his gun and aimed it into the hole, but before he could shoot, Rufus snached the gun from the human’s hands and brought it deep into the hole. The human was confused. He reached into the hole with his arm, but Bramble bit his hand. Then, he screamed and ran away.

For a few days, Rufus’ territory was peaceful, but that didn’t last long. Rufus woke up to a strange noise. He peeked out of the den and he saw a strange bird. It was dark green and gray and it had a thin black wing growing out of it’s head that was spinning around in circles. It had long talons, with only two claws on each talon. It’s tail was long, with a little feather on the end that was also spinning in circles. When it started to get closer to the ground, Rufus realized that a human was sitting on this bird. Then he realized that it was not a bird at all, It was a flying machine. It came closer and closer to the ground. As it came closer, there was more wind. Soon, the entrance of the tunnel was blown away from the wind. Then dust started blowing into the tunnel so much, that the tunnel became very small. Rufus and bramble frantically dug and dug, but there was no success.

“Follow me,” Rufus gently growled.  

Rufus rubbed the dust from the ground onto his back. Then, he rubbed some of the mud right at the entrance of the den on his back. They were the same color as the flying machine. They crept out of the den, Rufus in the lead. The flying machine was not flying now, and the human was busy planting a brown thing connected to wires in the ground.

Rufus and Bramble climbed onto the flying machine. Then, he hopped onto a small ledge that was slightly padded. Bramble hopped onto the other one. On the ledge, he could see a platform with round things that were sticking out. Then he turned. The human was walking back now. When he saw Bramble and Rufus his walk turned into a run. Bramble was so frightened that she lept onto the platform with round things that were sticking out.

Suddenly, the machine started going up. The human was far below on the ground. The machine was going higher and higher. When the machine went above the tallest trees, Bramble got scared. She put her paw on another circle. Then the machine stopped. It was hovering in mid-air. She had to remember that the big red circle was stop. She tried pressing another circle, but a human’s voice appeared. “Copter seven,” the human’s voice said. “Have you set off the bombs yet? I repeat, Have you set off the bombs yet?” then, the voice became unclear. “H-a-v-v-e y-y-o-u s-e-e-t o-o-f-f b-b-o-m-b-s-s y-y-e-t? I re-re-peat — ” then, the voice got cut off.

“Don’t step on that one again,” Rufus yelped.

Bramble stepped on a different one. A giant black thing came out of the front of the flying machine. The black thing landed on a tree. Then there was a loud explosion and when the smoke cleared, all that was left of the tree was a big black stump. Bramble decided to press a different one. She stepped on another one, and that made the machine fly forward, and higher. Then she leaped onto the big red one. The machine stopped. Bramble decided to press another one. At least one of them must be down! The one that she stepped on seemed to not do anything. She was impatient. She pressed the same one again, and suddenly the floor slowly opened. Then, the padded ledges that Rufus and Bramble were sitting on changed. Very light puffy things got strapped onto the foxes’ backs. Then the padded ledges tilted. Rufus and Bramble fell off the machine. Above them, the machine flashed red, and it started to fall.

Bramble kicked and pushed, but could not get the puffy thing off of her back. Suddenly the puffy thing exploded, and Bramble started to fall very slowly. Rufus did the same. When Rufus and Bramble looked up, there was a big white flat thing above their heads that made them fall slowly. Those straps were actually helpful. Soon they were near the ground. They smoothly landed on a tree. Rufus pushed off the white flat thing, and climbed out of the basket he made with the straps. As he climbed to Bramble, he realized that not only had she also made a basket with the straps, but she had fallen asleep in her basket. He crawled under the white flat thing and pushed it off Bramble. Then Bramble woke up. She shook herself off, and started to climb down the tree. They stopped at a long branch with a hollow hole in the tree for the night.

The next day, when they woke up, they realized that they were sleeping in the same hole as a squirrel, except the squirrel was deeper into the hole that Rufus and Bramble. Rufus cornered the squirrel, but when the squirrel woke up, it immediately dashed in between Rufus’ legs. Rufus explored deeper, and there were more squirrels deeper in the tree. He managed to catch one, and he greedily ate it up. When he climbed out of the hole, Bramble was there waiting for him. She looked at him, and when she saw that he had eaten a squirrel, she looked at him smartly, looked down, and jumped off the branch into the water. Bramble was so fast she caught a fish when she dove down. Rufus rolled his eyes at her and made his way down the tree. When they got to the bottom, Bramble had caught four fish. Bramble ate one of them, but since she was so hungry, she ate two instead. Bramble and Rufus started wandering around the forest.

It started snowing. As Bramble and Rufus kept walking in the snow, they saw a clearing. It was the same clearing that they had been a month earlier. As they looked around, Rufus saw the giant gray and green machine with long oval tires and the star and the gun. When they walked further, Bramble saw the flying machine that the humans called a “Copter” lying sideways on the ground. After they walked even further, Rufus saw the tents, except some of them had fallen down. Bramble saw the place where her old den that got exploded by the bomb was. Then, they walked past their old territory with the coyote rotting away in the snow. The forest was now peaceful, and this is how the Foxes’ war ended.

 

Epilogue

Soon, Bramble and Rufus got used to the forest. When they were exploring the area around their newly built den, they came to a giant hollow tree. They peeked inside. Inside of the hollow tree there were two little fox pups. They looked scared. Rufus cautiously sniffed them. There were no scents on them. That means they were probably abandoned. Bramble placed her tail around them as a blanket and one of them made a purring sound. Then she tore off a bit of fish and placed it in front of them. The second one ate it up. Bramble gave the whole fish to them. They finished it in no time. Then, Rufus went to go get more food for them, while Bramble stayed to watch them. Once Rufus was back, he had caught a chipmunk. He placed it in front of the fox pups, and they gobbled it up. Then, Bramble came out. She had dug into the tree so the tunnel could be deeper. Then she gently picked up the fox pups and brought them into the deepest part of the den. It was getting dark, and snow was falling, so with the fox pups huddled around them for warmth, they went to sleep.

 

Chapter 1: Day #1

I was so not ready for this. Hi, I’m Sophie. Today was my first day of middle school, and if you’re poor, living in the projects, that means it’s the worst day ever. My mom didn’t understand that I, Sophie, plus “poor” and “middle school” equalled “bad.” So here I was, almost literally swimming in a pool of my own sweat.

The bus finally came after what felt like forever. I picked a careful spot in the back. Don’t want to make the first mistake on the bus!!!

I was now at the front of the school. Hashtag so nervous! I closed my eyes and went into the school. I almost immediately felt like I made the wrong choice. I looked down and quickly went to my class. I got a seat in the back, so l wouldn’t get noticed that much.

“Hello, class!” said the teacher. “I’m Ms. Tom. I will be your homeroom teacher. Now, here are your locker numbers that you will be using.”

Everyone went to the lockers. I also went, but I kept my head down. I was walking to my locker and somehow tripped over my own foot. I could hear everyone laughing. I was pretty much the biggest dork in school already. I hurried up and went to my locker.

Then, I ran straight for the bathroom. I took a deep breath to cool down. By the time I got out, the bell had already rung. I had science for second period. I walked down the hall to the science classrooms. I felt pretty happy that it was a few rooms away, cause if it wasn’t, I would have exploded.

Science class was pretty boring. If you want me to show you how boring it was, then here’s exactly what the teacher said, “Blah, blah, science, blah, blah, archaeologists, blah, blah, dinosaurs, blah, blah, listen, blah, blah, pay attention.”

See what I mean? I was pretty excited that science was over, because art class was next. I love to color, and I want to be an artist when I grow up. When it comes to art, I listen to everything the teacher says. Today, we were trying to paint self-portraits of ourselves. I pretty much had the best one. After art class, I was pretty bummed that it was over.

Then, after art, we had lunchtime and recess. And now, here’s another part where I had to be careful where I went, because I could make the second biggest mistake of my life. During lunchtime, I tried to stick to sitting where everyone truly likes art. Tried to stick to my own kind. But as soon as I tried to sit down at the table, other people came crashing down, and I had to sit somewhere else. But then, something caught my eye. I saw three girls who looked like princesses, and they had so much makeup on for some reason. Then, I found someone sitting next to me.

She said, “Hey, I’m Carol. Those girls over there, the one in the front is named Missy, the one on the left is named Brianna, the one on the right is Mia. They’re already basically the most popular girls in school. And Missy’s parents are basically the richest people in the world.”  

“Oh,” I said. As soon as Missy saw me, she immediately came over to talk to me.

“What are you wearing?” she said. “You look like a homeless person who lives in the woods.”

I could not believe she was talking smack about me in front of my face. I was about to say something, but I kept my mouth shut. Missy walked away.

I said, “I immediately hate her, especially the way she walks. She waddles away with her high heels and her diamonds. I especially hate the way that people run after her, admiring her hair and stuff.”

“Right? She is so annoying.”

“Yeah, she’s awful.”

Instead of worrying about Missy, I had to worry about where I was gonna sit for lunch. I found an empty table, so I went straight to it. Carol sat with me too. After lunch and recess, I went straight to writing class. It was so boring, again with the “blah, blah, blah.” I couldn’t wait till school was over.

After that, we had sports. Sports was pretty much the worst thing at school, besides lunch. We played dodgeball, and I can’t tell you how much I hate dodgeball. For some magical reason, I always got hit with the ball. It hurt really bad because we played with bowling balls. Anyway, this was how much it hurt, and this was how much I hate sports. And the warm up was the worst: We had to do fifteen pushups and run a lap five times, and that was just the first course. Then, we had to do pull-ups and hang there as long as we could while they timed it. I honestly only did it for two seconds. After sports was over, it was time to go home. Hallelujah!

 

Chapter 2: Day #2

Basically, it felt like I was having deja vu. The same thing happened, we got the same “blah, blah, blah” science stuff and art. But today, we had music. I have the worst singing voice ever. But this time, I was actually surprised that my voice sounded… better.

After music, I was out of breath, but the bad thing about that, was that after music, I had sports again. Sometimes, I think that teachers and principals like their kids being tortured, so they torture them for a funny show. Well, it’s actually not funny. It’s heartbreaking.

Today, the only good thing that happened was that my mom made breakfast. Her famous pancakes. They were good, but sometimes you have to watch out because they say a message. If there are pancakes, my mom’s in a good mood. If there are pancakes and bacon, my mom got extra tips from the store because she’s usually not able to afford that. If there are pancakes and bacon and strawberries and blueberries, that means something horrible has happened.

“We got some news today. Grandpa Muffin is moving in,” said my mom.

I practically almost spat out my cereal. “Nooooooooooooooo!!!”

I went to school grumpy.

Why do bad things always happen to me? I said in my head. It’s not fair.

I was grumpy until I realized I was going into art. A smile stretched across my face. Just what I needed to cheer me up. After art, I found Carol again, and we went to the cafeteria. Good thing I had brought my own lunch.

“The cafeteria ladies are witches,” Carol said. “They put poison and fart spell in the meatloaf. Never eat the meatloaf!”

“Got it.” I took my grilled cheese sandwich, Oreos, apple juice, fruit snacks, and Fruit Loops. Mmmm.

And then, I saw Missy. I could not believe what Missy was eating. She had a fancy butler serving her steak. Fresh steak!!! I got so mad and jealous!!

“Ugh!! Missy. I have a plan!!”

Worried, Carol said, “What are you up to?!!!”

     

Chapter 3: Day #3

I made a plan to spill pudding on Missy at the right time. First, I convinced my mom to let me bring pudding. When Missy went to the bathroom, I followed her. While she went to the stall and started doing her business, I put all of my pudding in my mouth.

“Blargggh!!!” I pretended to throw up.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!” she screamed in a high-pitched voice.

“Missy?” said Mia and Brianna. They rushed into the stall to help, but as soon as they saw her, they were disgusted. “Eww!!! What is that?!”

Missy passed out on the floor. The pudding covered her whole body except her diamond crown. Mia took the crown.

“Crowns are only for clean and pretty girls. Queen Mia forever!!!”

Missy was mad about earlier. She thought it was me, which was true. After second period, she put a note on my locker that read: Hey loser, I know that you spilled pudding on me. You’re going to regret that. It’s on!!

Missy was so… evil!!!

I tried to avoid Missy, but that’s hard to do when someone threatens you. So I just went to class. After that, it was pretty much a normal day.

After school, I had to go home and meet Grandpa Muffin. I don’t like when he visits  because he’s so bossy and boring and grumpy. He’s always yelling at us to get a cup of root beer and basically everything for him.

Since I was already bad at school, this was gonna make everything even worse. When I came home, thankfully, Grandpa Muffin wasn’t home. I dropped my backpack and found my mom in the kitchen. I started to groan.

“Why does he have to come today?” I didn’t really wanna tell my mom what was happening at school. I just wanted to lay my head down, but I couldn’t do it because somebody was visiting.

Finally, Grandpa Muffin came. I tried to greet him, but he dropped his humongous bags in my arms. What did he even keep in this stuff? Weights? I was about to scream, but then my mom looked at me, so I had to keep all the anger in. When I finished greeting Grandpa Muffin, I went to my room and screamed into my pillow. Why does the bad stuff always happen to me? What did I do? I just lay down on my bed, and to cheer myself up, I finally got a piece of paper and started coloring.

At first I just wanted to scribble, but I knew that wouldn’t help me, so I drew a world where everything happened perfectly, just the way I wanted it. This was a world I wanted to be living in, but instead, I was living in this world, the opposite of that world, where nothing happened perfectly. I kept on groaning in my pillow, but then, I fell asleep because of my anger. I mean, there was nothing better to do.

 

Chapter 4: Day 4

This morning, I hurried up trying to get to school because I did not want to run into Grandpa Muffin. I didn’t even know what happened yesterday, but Grandpa Muffin was NOT sleeping in my room. I got breakfast and started tiptoeing out of the door, when suddenly, Grandpa Muffin screamed at me.

“Where are you going?!” he yelled. I jumped up out of surprise.

“I’m going to school.”

“Before you go to school, get me a root beer.”

“This early in the morning?”

“Just give me the beer, child.”

I went to the fridge and started talking to myself. “Grandpa Muffin is the worst. I have better things to do than give him beers all day.” I gave him the beer and hurried at once to school. Right now, I almost thought that school was way better than Grandpa Muffin. School was basically the same thing every day: I went to science where the teacher “blah blah”d every day, I went to art and made the best drawing, I went to writing where the teacher “blah blah”d again, I went to sports and got hit with dodgeballs, and then, I went home.

But the twist to my new routine was that I had to give Grandpa Muffin beers in the morning and right after school. Grandpa Muffin was like one of the teachers at my school. They thought they were doing us good, but it was actually heartbreaking. Then, I just did my homework, and tried to avoid Grandpa all day. I was so glad when my mom came home, so I asked her the one question I’d been waiting to ask her.

“Where is Grandpa Muffin sleeping?” That’s when it got dark. My mom sighed for a few seconds and took a deep breath.

“Sorry, but Grandpa Muffin is sleeping in your room.” I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

“Why can’t Grandpa Muffin sleep in the guest room?! It’s not fair!!” Just when I had thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did.

My mom said, “Sorry, but life isn’t fair.” And all I could think was that for me, life was never fair. I stomped into my room, went to my pillow, and screamed approximately 1200 times. At first, I thought that this was my fault. In my head, I wondered why I was such a pushover, why I let everyone control me. But then, I realized it was everyone else’s fault but mine.

 

Chapter 5

One day, the teacher asked if anyone wanted to sign up for a baking session. At first, I wasn’t considering it, but then, the teacher said it would give you extra credit on your progress report. Then, I thought, my progress report is probably just straight Fs, except for art class, so maybe I could earn some extra credit to boost up my progress report. Because if I didn’t get at least a B or C, my mom would be so mad, and I would be sooo grounded. The teacher said that it started tomorrow, so I had to wait a whole day, but that was fine by me. And the baking session might give me some time away from Grandpa.

When I got home, Grandpa Muffin asked me to turn on the TV. The TV was right in front of him, two feet in front of him, but he didn’t want to turn it on. Ughh, old people are so lazy.

I asked my mom for her cookbook and said I had to borrow it for a baking session. She gave it to me because she thought it would keep me from screaming into my pillow because of Grandpa.

“I’m so glad you’re gonna put your screaming behind you and do something different.”

“I mean, I’ll still keep screaming, but I’ll scream less, and it will at least give me some time away from Grandpa.”

“That’s good enough for me.”

I took the cookbook and started looking for a recipe for tomorrow. First, I looked at chocolate chunk cupcakes, but then, I flipped passed them because my teacher was allergic to chocolate. Then, I saw blueberry muffins, but I wasn’t trying to make muffins, because then, Grandpa Muffin would eat them. Then, I saw chocolate chip cookies. I thought about them for a while, but eventually skipped them. Then, I saw butterscotch cookies, and after thinking about them for awhile, I decided to go with butterscotch. I started baking. I had my mom try the first batch, but she said they were too hard. The second try, my mom helped me, and they were just right. I put the cookies in a special place so no one could touch them. It was a good thing that the baking session was first thing in the morning.

 

Chapter 6

I went straight to the baking session the next morning. There was a teacher trying out the cookies. I couldn’t believe people got paid to eat cookies. She must have had her life planned out perfectly. I wanted to be paid to eat cookies!

Turns out, I came in second place, so I’d have to find something better than butterscotch cookies. You would never believe who came in first place… It was Missy! She probably paid some cafe guy like $1,000 to bake something delicious so she’d win.

“Tomorrow,” I told my mom, “we have to bake something perfect, so I can rub it in Missy’s face.”

We looked at the cookbook, and I found a brownie cake. I remembered the teacher who was judging tomorrow was only allergic to peanut butter, so I tried the brownie cake. I baked the cake, and my mom tried a small piece. She said it was perfectly fine, so I decided to use it tomorrow.

The next day, I met up with Carol. She was reading the newspaper. I found out that there was a school dance, but I wasn’t really interested. When I went to class, I heard that I got first place!!! Missy was there, and she was so mad. It was a perfect show for me. I just love when my plans come together. Then, I went to my locker, and something squirted out and landed right on top of me! It was sticky, sticky yogurt. I bet it was Missy; she was probably just jealous I had won something with my own work.

All the parents got a flyer for the dance. My mom got excited because she thought I would go, but I told her I wasn’t going because I wasn’t interested. My mom convinced me to go, but I asked her how she would get the money to buy me a dress. My mom said that we could have a bake sale! I could use my cooking skills and use cakes and cupcakes and cookies to buy a new dress and heels. So my mom and I started baking, and we baked and baked and baked and baked so much, that for the first time ever, I saw Grandpa Muffin turn on the TV himself and get himself a root beer. If my mom wasn’t here though, he’d have made me get him his root beer and turn on the TV for him, even if it was two feet away. See how terrible he is?

My mom and I baked all the cupcakes and cakes and pastries that we needed and started selling. Carol was our first customer, but then, she decided to start helping us sell everything. Soon enough, we had about thirty customers. By nighttime, we had about $180, enough to buy a dress, heels, and maybe some new earrings. The night of the dance was two days away, so I had to start getting ready. We decided to do a bake sale one more time to get some money for a new necklace, and so that I could get my hair done. For the first time ever, it would be untangled. We did the same thing over and over again for two more days until something finally changed.

On the night of the dance, after school, my mom took me to do my hair and get ready. She dropped me off in a taxi, and I walked in. The first thing I saw when I walked in was a disco ball and a red carpet. It turns out the carpet was only for Missy, but I was determined not to let her ruin my night. So I went up to Carol and talked to her. She introduced me to some of her friends, and we all went to the table to get some snacks. Then, Missy was talking into the microphone.

“Hello classmates! Welcome to the dance that I created.”
“You created?” I said. “I’m pretty sure that the teachers created it. Just because you’re rich and famous doesn’t mean you have to lie.”

I had already made a plan because I knew Missy would be on stage. I went behind the stage and pulled a rope. There was a big bucket of pudding where she was standing, so I released the rope, and the bucket fell right up on Missy’s head! There was so much pudding. I went back to my seat, everyone was laughing, and I was whistling innocently, but Missy knew it was me.

“You ruined my night!!” she said.

“Your night?? It’s everyone else’s night, too! Not everything’s about you.”
Missy ran after me, but then, I tripped her, and she accidentally stepped on the skirt of her dress, and it got ripped off. Everyone was laughing while Missy ran away. What parents would even let her inside of the car? She ended up having to walk home, and I, Sophie, never had to worry about Missy again. I finally realized that if something bad is going on in your life, you can’t just complain, you have to do something about it.

 

BOOK IV

Boom boom!!!!

“What is that sound? It is loud!’’

Boom boom  

“It’s the volcano. Run!!!! Run RUN,” said Papa.

Papa and Daisy kept on running!!!!

(Pause: Hi! My name is Daisy. If you watched my other stories, I moved to NYC but I wanted to hang with my grandpa (Papa), so my mom and dad said that for the summer I can stay with my papa! Papa lives near Pompeii. Back to the story.)

BOOM BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They swam and swam and swam! The lava got closer and closer… It was right behind them. Papa ran out of breath. He stopped for a second, but the lava was right behind him. He didn’t know what to do, so I picked him up and ran! I ran out of breath.

Haaaa haaaa haaaaa haaaaa I did not know what to do… The lava got  closer… my breath got more and more heavy…

I ran as fast as I could but i could not run any more.

“Hot dogs.’’

“who said that?’’ I said. I looked in front of me. There was a island. I ran to the water side and I swam. Me and my papa swam as fast as we could.

We got to the island. We never in 1,00,00,0,00000,0000,0000,000,9999,99999,555,5555,5555,555,44 years knew about this island. We walked around and looked for the hot dog guy. There he was right in front of us. “Free Hot Dogs!” he said.

He looked like an alien. He had five eyes and a small mouth. His eyes were gold and he had a unibrow. He was very short. He was as short as a dog. I went over and asked, “Why do you have a unibrow?”

He said, “Hello to you too. I will tell you a story. Before I tell the story, would you like a free hot dog?”

I said, “No thank you. Tell the story! Tell the story!”

“Here I begin, I was three, my brother was trying to teach me how to do a unibrow. I didn’t know how to. I wanted to prove to people at school that they were wrong and that I could do a unibrow. Everybody laughed and made of me because I was so short, so I went to school the next day and I showed everybody. That night I tried to do it again. I lifted up one eyebrow and I did it. The next day I went to school and I showed my friend who always made fun of me because I was short. Then I showed him my unibrow. I could not re-do it. And that is the end of my story.’’

Papa couldn’t really speak. His eyes were wide open. I think I could see kind of his brain. In my own brain, I saw him doing that exactly.

Then we said “thank you.’’ Then we left. We got a boat and started to sail. We saw this girl. She looked quite like my mom. I called my mom, nobody picked up. So we sailed over to the island that looked familiar to me and we walked through it. “We are home!’’’ We feel so happy to be home.

 

BOOK V

 

5/3/16

Dear diary,

Today at school we got a script for a play. I am so excited. The play is ’’Into the Woods,’’ and I did it in ten minutes. I know it’s crazy, but I am so good at it. I have one sentence memorized. I have one month till the show! I am so excited! I am bad at writing in a diary, but at least I know I am bad. I got you last summer with my grandfather, so I finally decided it was time to starting writing! I love it! My grandfather is here ’cause of Pompeii, but in the end, I loved him here! Each day he picked me up from school and we went to the ice cream store!

The Hair got my prince and at the end we will get married! We talked about it at lunch! I am way more excited than him! But tonight before bed I am going to practice one  or two more times. My dad said to go to sleep when mom or dad turns out the lights I have to go to sleep. But just this once I’m going to practice!

 

5/10/16

Dear diary,

Today at school we got to practice five times, and it was so cool! Tomorrow night I am going to see Hamilton! I am going to wear a glittery dress that has a rose on it. I have a writing class and I do not want to go. But I have to. 🙁

 

5/11/16

Dear diary,

Today I went to Hamilton, and it was…

Cool

Scary

Funny

Fun

Long

Sad

Awesome

And very very sleepy at one part!

 

5/12/16

Dear diary,

Today at school my teacher said we are moving the date of the play to May 27th. I said “NOOO!’’ It was so bad! :0 I stuck out my tongue in my mind. :p So tonight I practiced so many times!

 

5/27/16

Dear diary,

I did the play. It was so fun! I got a trophy! It was so fun!

 

Once upon a time, there was a world full of candy. It was currently a Saturday night, and all the candies were coming together for a party, as they always did on Saturday nights. There were many different types of candies, like gummy bears, jelly beans, gummy worms, and many other types of candies. At the party, there was cake, games, drinks, and many other things to do. Everyone always had so much fun! The gummy bears hosted this one, and everyone always loved when the gummy bears hosted the parties. The party was coming to an end, and everyone was leaving to go home. They were getting ready for the next night where they would be getting together with their own candy.

There was a little gummy bear called Gum-Gum. He loved movies about time travel, and he wanted to show the gummy bears the beauty of time traveling. He’d always been dreaming of time traveling, but he didn’t want to do it alone. He wanted to show them so that he could go with someone or some people, so that he would have an adventure with friends. He would be hosting the gummy bears’ party tomorrow night.

He started to make a list of what he would need for all his friends, and his relatives, and all the other gummy bears. He picked a movie they would watch, made sweets, hung up pretty posters, and set up some games, until he was satisfied with the work he had done. The gummy bears split from their family when they are three years old, because they can take on the world then, so he lived alone.

The next day, it was time for his party. Everybody was having so much fun, then he called everyone to come watch a movie. The movie was called “GUMMY IN TIME” and it was about a gummy bear who went back in time to see many beautiful sights, meet many different people, and have an adventure. At the end of the movie, it was time for dinner. At the dinner table, they were talking about going back in time themselves. In their home they weren’t able to travel anywhere, except for where they were. They didn’t have airplanes or time machines or anything like that, so they wanted to build a time machine so they could go to different places, to different years, to different months, to different days, to different weeks. They then started making plans for where they were going to go.

Monday morning, all the gummy bears were all still at Gum-Gum’s house, yawning because they stayed up so late talking. They started to think about building the machine, and some bears started to go out and get some parts.

“How about we go tell Alaboo, the ruler of Candy World, about our idea?” asked Gum-Gum. Everybody cheered in agreement. Gum-Gum and two of his friends, Gummy and Gumby, went off to tell Alaboo.

“Sir Alaboo,” said Gum-Gum, “We have a message from the Gummy Bear Community.”

“And what is that message you have for me?” asked Alaboo.

“We watched a movie last night at the Gummy Bear party about time travel, and we want to try it!” said Gumby enthusiastically.

“No way! You’re staying right here in Candy World!” yelled Alaboo.

“We shall time travel,” replied Gummy.

“No!” yelled Alaboo.

“Yes!” said Gum-Gum.

“No!” replied Alaboo.

“YES!” screamed Gumby.

“Definitely not! I declare war on the gummy bears!” said Alaboo. “Guards! Send them out!” The bears decided they had to tell the community, so they rushed home, full of fear.

They held a Gummy Bear Community meeting, and decided to put aside the time travel project in favor of preparing for the war. They went to get some weapons, because nobody in the stores knew there was a war yet. They decided to tell some candies about their time travel idea, and they joined their team. Some candies did not like the idea, and went to joined Alaboo’s team. They built shields, and took self-defense classes. They wrote a night guard schedule, and went to sleep with the night guard on duty.

In the middle of the night, all the gummy bears were woken up by a bell. The other team had started to attack. Everybody ran out of their houses, grabbing their shields and weapons. The night guard had already started to fight a gummy worm. It was shot by the night guard, and it fell to the ground. Everybody on the other team looked, because they did not expect to get taken down this early. In this moment, the gummy bears took down two more worms. Alaboo was watching from his castle, and was very disappointed in his team. Gum-Gum accidentally shot a bullet, and took down a jelly bean. They had taken down a good part of Alaboo’s army. Even though Gum-Gum had shot a jelly bean (on accident), he was having quite a hard time holding the gun.

“Gum-Gum!” Gum Gum heard his name being called.

“Gum-Gum, watch out! There’s a bullet coming at you! You’ve got to limbo it.” So Gum Gum limboed the bullet. The other team was trying harder to win. Gum-Gum needed to change this. He picked up his gun (even though it was very heavy) and shot it. He took down a Sour Patch Kid. So the other team was starting to get mad. They were starting to lose. They wanted to try harder. They shot and they took down one gummy bear. But that was only one of them. So Gum-Gum shot three bullets randomly in three different directions and each bullet got down another candy. One of them got down a gummy worm, one of them got down a jelly bean, and the last one took down a gummy bear that went to the other side (because he didn’t want to time travel). People started high-fiving Gum-Gum.

“Get back to work,” he said. “If we want to win, we must stop high-fiving each other and get back to work.” And then everybody started shooting randomly and each one took down five gummy worms except for Gum-Gum, who took down three jelly beans and two gummy worms.

“Watch out, Gum-Gum,” Gum-Gum heard Gumby saying. “There is a gummy worm coming toward you!” Then Gum-Gum jumped into the air and shot his gun towards the ground and killed the gummy worm.

There was another one coming towards him. He jumped up into the air again and killed that one. From the side there was a Sour Patch Kid running towards him. He shot that too. Finally, the other team surrendered. Then all the gummy bears went inside to celebrate winning the war. But then Gum-Gum said, “Why didn’t Alaboo want us to be able to leave candy world? Why doesn’t he like us traveling?”

Then Gumby said, “Yeah, why?”

Then a gummy bear called Gamby said, “None of us know!”

“Then we shall figure it out,” said Gummy. Gamby says, “But first we shall get back to our project.”

“No we shall not. We have to figure this out first,” said Gum-Gum.

“When the war was happening, this is what Alaboo felt like (to the Star Wars theme song) gum gum gum gum gum gum gum gum gum gum gum gum gum gum gum gum gum guuuuuuuuum,” sang Gum-Gum!

“Gum-Gum, let’s get back to work on figuring this out. It’s your question,” said Gamby.

Then a gummy bear called Gumby said, “Everyone knows that I used to work for Alaboo, right?”

“Yeah, but it is not time to brag about it,” said Gamby.

“No, that’s not what I am saying! He has a diary!” said Gumby.

“So what!” said Gamby.

“It might say why he didn’t want us to leave candy world!” said Gumby.

“Great idea, Gumby,” said Gum-Gum, “But who will go?”

“We’ll have to figure that out,” said Gumby.

Then a gummy bear called Glamby said “I’ll go.”

“Me too,” said Gum-Gum “but we need one more gummy bear to come with us.” Then a gummy worm slithhhereddd in without any gummy bears noticing…

He shouted “I WANT TO…”

“AAAHHH” screamed all the gummy bears. Then they got their weapons and hid.

Then the gummy worm finished his sentence, “I WANT TO TIME TRAVEL WITH YOU! I killed a Sour Patch Kid, a jelly bean, and a gummy worm. Oh, and by the way, my name is Okoh!”

“Okay Okoh, but before we start making our time machine, we have a question for you: why didn’t Alaboo want to let us leave Candy World?” asked Gum-Gum.

“Oh, that’s because he wants to have the power over you, and if you find a better place that you like more than Candy World then he won’t have the power over you, ‘cause he’ll be here and he’ll have the power here. If you’re somewhere else, he won’t have the power over you.”

“You have to give us a reason why we should trust you, ‘cause you’re a gummy worm,” said Gum-Gum.

“Well I wouldn’t have told you that information, and I wouldn’t have killed those three candies if I wasn’t trustworthy, and I have the candies that I killed to show you that I’m trustworthy so you can believe me that I killed them. So here you go,” said Okoh.

“Okay, we can believe you. And also, you have to put those dead candies into your bag again! It’s a little creepy,” said Gum-Gum. “Okay, now we must show you our time machine we built and start going back in time.”

“Yay!” said Okoh.

So everybody piled into the time machine and Gum-Gum pressed the buttons randomly and it ended up that they went back in time to 1780. (Oh and by the way, the year they were in was 1932). WHOOOSSSHHH went the time machine.

“WELCOME TO 1780,” said the time machine. Finally they landed. Then the time machine said, “You have reached your destination. The time in 1780 right now is three o’clock. So everyone turn your watch to three o’clock.” Everyone did.

“I love this time machine,” said Okoh, “Now how do you open the door?”  

Gum Gum wasn’t close enough to the door to open it, but he said, “There’s a password on the door to open it. Press red, then green, then yellow, then red again, then green three times.” So Okoh did that and the door opened.

“WHOOOAAA!”

“Does 1780 look amazing?” said Gum-Gum.

“That’s not what I’m WHOA-ing about,” said Okoh.

“Then what are you WHOA-ing about?” said Gum-Gum.

“How you open the door!” said Okoh.

“Can’t you just get out already?!” said Gum-Gum.

“It’s a little squishy in here,” said Gumby.”

“C’mon, give him some time to WHOA,” said Gamby.

“Okay Gamby,” said Gumby.

“Does my dress look good for this time period?” said Gamby.

“No” said Okoh.

“Really?” said Gamby.

“Really,” said Okoh.

All the women had their legs and arms covered. The men were wearing very fancy suits, like crazy fancy. Everyone groaned, ‘cause the women gummy bears were wearing very short tank top dresses and the men gummy bears were wearing black tank tops and white pants.

Then Gamby said, “Y’know I said we should give him some time to WHOA — let’s just get out of here already!”

“I need a new dress. We all need new clothes,” said Gum-Gum.  So everybody just pushed by him and ran to stores to buy new clothes. The gummy bear men bought very fancy suits. The gummy bear women bought very fancy dresses that covered their legs and their arms. Everybody met together in the end and planned what they were gonna do in the year 1780, but nobody really knew a lot about 1780 (such as myself).

“How about we go meet George Washington!” said the twins Uku and Bom Bom. They were Sour Patch Kids who came to the gummy bear side. So everybody ran off towards his house, which was very near.

“I heard he had over fifty dogs in his life!” said Uku.

“You don’t have to brag about what you know,” said Bom Bom.

“This is boring,” said Gum-Gum. “I thought time travel was gonna be fun! Let’s just get to George Washington already to make it fun.”

“Yeah!” said Gamby, and so did Gumby. “I heard he never went to college. Maybe we can teach him a little bit about what you learn in college!” said Gamby.

“Stop trying to brag about what you know, Gamby. Let’s just go meet George Washington already!” said Bom Bom.

 

Two days later.

“I thought you said it was gonna be a quick walk to George Washington’s house, Gamby,” said Gum Gum.

“Come on, we’re almost there, I cannot even see it!” said Gamby.

“Well then, can you see it already? You’re the only one who gets to walk without carrying the time machine.”

“Well I can’t even see it already, we’re so close I can’t even see it! And I told you that a million times. Actually I only told you three times. But who cares! I told you millions and threes of times.”

“This is not very fun time travel. Now, I see his house already! Yay!” said Gamby. Then, she started running.

“I’m getting so annoyed! Where’s Okoh?”

“Right here,” said Okoh, sticking his head up from under the time machine.

“Oh no! He’s under the time machine! Everybody pick it up!” And then Okoh came up from under the time machine, and then everybody piled in with him. He closed the door with the password that he loved doing and then they went back to 1932 in Candy World.

“I wonder how much fun Gamby’s having in 1780 with George Washington,” said Gum-Gum.

 

Meanwhile…

Gamby was with George Washington, leading him out to meet her friends, when she saw that everybody had left and the time machine was nowhere.

“Oh no! They went back to 1932! Can you help me build a time machine to go back to Candy World in 1932 with my friends?” said Gamby.

“Only if I can come with you,” said George Washington.

“Okay, you can, but I just need help! I want to get back to my friends.” Gamby and George Washington went to Candy World while Gum-Gum went to Alaboo’s castle and told him that he was right all along, and that time travel wasn’t fun, because it was boring and he liked his cozy bed more than other time periods.

Alaboo revealed that he had stuck a video camera into Gamby and he said he wanted to time travel because Gamby looked like she had so much fun. When they were gone, Alaboo had made his own time machine and he had stepped into the time machine and went off time traveling.  

George Washington and Gamby came back. Everybody hugged Gamby and said hi to George Washington.

“He’s very nice,” said Gum-Gum to Gamby.

Then everybody had a party together because it was Saturday night. Without Alaboo.

 

Chapter 1

One day, Zoe asked her parents if she could go see the wizards. They said “Yes” and asked her if they could go along.

“Sure, you can,” said Zoe.
“We’re here!” said Zoe, ten minutes later.

“Hi Richard. Hi Bob. Hi Coco, and hi to seventy six more of you,” Zoe said to the wizards, who all return her greeting.

“This is my mom, and this is my dad. I think you can remember them,” she continued. Her mom tried not to freak out, so she took a deep breath in and out. Her dad shook a wizard’s hand. Zoe’s mom was nervous that the wizards would harm her daughter, but her dad told her to calm down.

“If they try to hurt her,” he muttered, “remember, I used to take karate classes. I still know a few skills.” He tried to do a backflip while kicking, but he fell right on his face.

“Are you okay, sweetie?” said Zoe’s mom. Zoe started to laugh.

“What are you laughing at?” her parents asked simultaneously.

Chapter 2

When they got back home, they ate dinner and got ready for bed. When everyone was in bed, Zoe blew up a balloon and put it on her pillow. Then, she put the covers over the balloon so it would look like she was sleeping under the covers. She snuck out the window went to the wizards.

But, on her way, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around but didn’t see anything. The footsteps got louder and louder. When she turned around again, she saw someone with a black mask on. He picked her up and put her in a van.

Chapter 3

He put tape all over her except for her hands and arms. When he left the room, she remembered that she had scissors in her pocket. She cut the tape off her and ran home. She slammed the door and put her hands against the wall, panting loudly.

She has a lot of questions in her head, like “Why was he trying to kill me? Why? Does he only kill kids, or adults too?” Then she ran to the wizards.

Fifteen minutes later, she arrived at their dwelling. “Wizards! Can you please give me a potion that makes someone fall asleep?”

“Okay,” the wizards said. And then she asked if they could give her a potion that would make someone change their personality so that they stopped kidnapping and killing people. Soon after, when she found a cup of coffee with a lid (so that it would look like normal coffee), she poured the personality-changing potion into it, because she knew that the guy loved coffee –– she had seen him dancing and bobbing his head while drinking five cups of coffee.

Chapter 4

Zoe knocked on the door of the van and placed the cup of coffee in front of the van door. Then the man opened the door and saw the coffee, but he didn’t know it contained a potion.

She went to the other side of the van so that he wouldn’t see her. That’s when she saw in blood letters the words “BE CAREFUL I’M DANGEROUS.”

Nonetheless, he drank the potion and fell asleep. Then, he woke up and noticed that he was a different person. He felt like a nice guy –– not a killer or a kidnaper. He danced all around and was heading for Zoe.

Chapter 5

Zoe took a few steps back. She was afraid he would try to kidnap her again. However, he came over and gave her a hug, but she was still scared so she ran to her house.
Zoe went to bed and tried to forget about what had happened. She couldn’t fall asleep. She felt very confused. She picked up her phone and called 911, and she told the person on the line that there was a guy who tried to kidnap her.

She saw a timer and realized that it said “five hours left until this potion will expire,” which meant that in five hours he might try to kidnap someone else. She wanted him to go to jail immediately.

Five hours later, the man said to himself, “What am I doing behind bars?!”

Zoe said, “Oh, maybe someone called 911. I wonder who did.”

He replied, “You did it!!!”

 

Book One

 

1

Louie, a fluffy, white Maltese with his tongue always sticking out, was having a nice nap in his room on the S.S.L. cruise ship. He liked the beds even though the boat rocked a lot.

“Louie, wake up! It’s breakfast time! We’re gonna go soon!”

He woke up, feeling hungry. “Well,” Louie yawned. “Breakfast, then home.”

Louie ate fast (as usual!), and his owners took him home by plane. The cruise was in Florida. He came in from New York, and he was going to his new home in California. He chased his tail which meant he wanted a walk. He liked chasing his tail better than saying “I want a walk,” even though he could talk.

 

2

The main thing that Louie’s owners had to remember was to make sure Louie did not see water towers. He had a huge fear of them after he heard that a good dog got locked in one for no reason. His owners knew that Louie had a fear of them because he told them. Louie only talked when he wanted to, and he only did it whenever he felt it was necessary or he just wanted to say a little something. His owners bought their new house while they were on S.S.L., so they didn’t know the city too well, and they didn’t know that a water tower was only ten blocks away from their home. Unfortunately, the owners went that way on Louie’s walk.

Louie was in the middle of having a chat with a pug. He was telling the other dog about his fear, when the pug said, “Really? You’re afraid of water towers? There’s one right behind you!”

Louie screamed, “AHHHHHHH! WATER TOWER!!!!” Louie ran so hard, that his collar broke off of him. He ran into a forest that had known many dangers, and no one who went in came out alive.

 

3

Louie’s owners were running behind him shouting, “LOUIE! COME BACK! YOU DON’T KNOW THE DANGERS OF THIS FOREST!”

But Louie was too far ahead, so he really didn’t hear them. As soon as Louie couldn’t see the water tower anymore, he thought, Phew, I’m safe! But what he didn’t know was that there were poisonous plants everywhere, a deadly sea monster in the lake, rattlesnakes, and black widow spiders. Or at least that was what people knew. Louie walked a little bit forward and then, looked down to see what he had just stepped on.

He thought, Hm, a little smooth, but why do I want to chew this? I’m gonna look at what this is. He looked down and he jumped up above the trees. It was a skeleton!

 

4

“AHHHHHHHHHH!!! SKELETON!!!” Louie screamed as he ran farther into the forest. Soon, Louie saw huge spider webs with giant black widows on them! And rattlesnakes! Louie was horrified! He ran back while avoiding poisonous plants.

He thought, Oh yay, I’m almost out, I’m safe! till he saw…

 

5

“A SEA MONSTER!!!” The monster was the most dangerous part of the whole forest. The sea monster was green, with huge claws and five eyes (one on his head, one on each arm and one on each leg). Its teeth were very sharp and were twenty feet tall. Its mouth was so big, it could swallow a whole public bus in one swallow without chewing it. It had four humongous horns on the top of its head that were so sharp, that it was sharper than a spear. Louie trembled in fear, and the monster gave a huge “ROAR!” Louie started to fight the monster for a little bit and realized that his weak spot was his right shoulder — he kept on swallowing when Louie was closer to his right shoulder. Louie realized that if he jumped just the right height at just the right place, he could maybe kill the monster.

Louie delivered a bite into the monster’s shoulder which started to kill him.

The monster said while he was dying, “Oh no! I am what made this forest dangerous, and I loved it when the forest was so dangerous!”

The monster died, and the forest was no longer dangerous. The skeletons became people, and there were no black widows or rattle snakes. Louie ran through a field with plenty of plants that aren’t poisonous by the touch to his owners, like dandelions, wonderful grass, even a little bit of some strawberries, apples, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, and tomatoes (for some reason there was a lot of food!) His owners saw him running to them, so they had their arms open as he ran towards them.

 

6

They got Louie a new collar and learned where the water towers were. They always kept a blindfold, but he rarely used it.

Louie knew that the forest was now not dangerous anymore, but he still didn’t trust it. He thought that maybe there were some poisonous things left, so his owners never went that way.

They were very nice, and since one was a chef, she brought Louie’s favorite food home. His favorite food was chicken, waffles, eggs, French toast, and for dessert, he loved the biggest ice cream sundae that they made with his favorite flavor, chocolate chocolate chip.

Louie thought, It’s been a long day, and I’m sleeping late tomorrow!

 

7

Ever since he had gone into the forest, Louie was a little bit less scared of water towers and never used the blindfold much. He realized that the forest was much scarier than the water towers. Before, water towers looked like they almost wanted to eat him, but after the forest, he saw that they weren’t that scary looking, and he mostly got over his fear.

Besides, now Louie knew that the water towers had a lot of water in them, and Louie liked to swim. If he did ever get locked in, because he had made it out of the forest, everyone promised that they would give him food for the water tower. After he had gotten out of the forest, he also became a bit of a celebrity because no one had come out alive before, and it was always dangerous. Louie had made it out unharmed, and the forest was no longer dangerous since it was under the curse of the sea monster, which he killed with a bite.

 

Book Two

 

1

It was good that Louie was tiny, so if he thought that people and dogs were getting out of control, he could just squeeze out of the crowd.

After he got fame, he befriended Marnie the Dog.They liked to go on doggy trips three times a month, where they got to go to doggy spas, but they went to the dog spas very rarely, since Louie did not like them, and Marnie only liked it once a month. Louie didn’t like the chances of getting a poodle cut because he thought that he’d look silly with all of that fur, especially with all of the bald spots he’d have. He also thought he had to wear bows if he got one, and he would only wear them if they were bowties, and he only liked to wear them two times a year.

Louie’s owners weren’t always happy about him being famous, especially when his fans came into the house, unless it was only Marnie. When the fans came in, usually they made a mess in the house, and they would usually be there for about an hour. Maybe a little bit less, maybe more. But they liked Marnie because she was small, and she was a very sweet dog. Oh, and she didn’t have the problem of making the house a mess.

Louie was in love with Marnie, but he didn’t want to tell her right away. He waited about a month after they had gotten one doggy spa treatment together, then he told her.

He said, “Marnie, I’m in love with you.”

Marnie replied, “Really? Then let’s get married as soon as this is over!” After that happened, they held paws more, but they didn’t kiss, they nuzzled (they thought it was gonna be too gross if they kissed.)

 

2

Louie still had some fears left of water towers, but it only came up whenever he saw the one near the forest in person. Sometimes he was there at bad times, like when he was getting an interview for Pup Magazine. He was being silly a little bit, by barking instead of answering, which made everyone crack up, and chasing his tail when he was asked how he told his owner when he wanted to go for a walk. The reporter didn’t know what he meant when he chased his tail.

He went slightly crazy because of the water tower. He was jumping up and down and whimpering and shaking. His paws were in front of his chest, and he soon calmed down when the reporter took him to a different place. It was right in front of Louie’s house, which Louie’s owners were not very happy about. Marnie wasn’t happy either, since they were almost trampling her.

It was many hours later when some of Louie’s really big fans came in and yelled at Louie about his fear of water towers.

One said, “You can’t be afraid of water towers!”

Another said, “You can’t because it’s such a weird fear!”

That made Louie feel sad. His tail started to droop, and his head dropped. Even his tongue looked like it had drooped. Marnie got very mad at this, and she started to bark, growl, and scratch, and chased them until they left.

Louie was still feeling upset about what they had said, so his owners and Marnie comforted him. They gave him hugs, Marnie nuzzled him, and they told Louie that it was totally normal to have a fear of anything, and that there were some people who were afraid of knees, and there were some people who were afraid of books (these are fears in real life). After Louie heard this, his tail started wagging again, his head perked up, his tongue didn’t look droopy, and he had a big smile on his face. Soon, it was time for bed. Louie walked to his owner’s bed, Marnie jumped up too. Their owners got in bed, and they all fell asleep.

 

3

That night, Louie had a nightmare about his fans chasing him and then eating him. Louie didn’t get a very good sleep that night because of his nightmare. The next morning, more fans had come to complain about his fear. Louie decided to put his house off-limits to fans. Even so, they climbed up the side of his building, and one even gave him poisoned chicken because he didn’t like the fear so much. Louie then said how he was only scared of them and only afraid of one water tower, and he had to see it in person.

Louie decided that it was time for a doggie trip, but he never told anyone except for his owners and Marnie. Louie didn’t have a private jet or anything, so he used a public airplane to go to Ecuador. Louie knew they thought it wasn’t too obvious that he would go to Ecuador. He knew that his fans thought he would be going to China or Florida. He knew that they weren’t going to think about any other countries or states since Florida was the most likely place, and he was pretty sure people would think he was going to China. But he also thought about how people think about that and assume he’d go to the most obvious place — Florida. He knew that people would never think he’d go to some place like Ecuador.

He stayed there for about a month. By then, he knew that everyone had forgotten about his fear of water towers and realized that he was only afraid of one. Just in case, he took the long way back, which took him another month. Luckily, he made no stops in China or Florida, and none of the planes crossed North America or Asia, until he got back home to California.

 

4

By then, everyone just forgot about him even being afraid of water towers. In fact, no more articles about Louie were involved with water towers anymore. However, Louie had been in Ecuador for too long, and he was required to go back and move there. Otherwise, he would only be allowed to stay in North America. This was a very tough decision for Louie because he didn’t want to go back to Ecuador, but he didn’t want to not be able to leave North America. He and Marnie loved to visit France! Marnie and Louie would be so sad if they couldn’t go together to those places that were outside of North America.

 

5

Louie had just moved into a new home, only three months ago. His owners weren’t even finished unpacking yet. He didn’t want to move again, even farther from Florida. Besides, he knew that where he would stay, there would be a water tower literally in front of his house. This was the biggest water tower in Ecuador, and he knew that some people said that no one would actually give you food, no matter how big of a celebrity you were. No matter what promises you had on you.

Louie checked out the house, and he knew that even though it was an amazing house, no one would allow Marnie in the house, only because she wasn’t hypoallergenic. Most people who lived there were allergic to dogs.

Louie really didn’t want to lose Marnie. Marnie had been with him for almost two months now! He just couldn’t bear being away from her. He knew he was going to have to make the hardest decision of his life. Louie needed to know if that was the only house that was left. Luckily, he was also able to buy a whole hotel. However, they couldn’t let him. They said that hotels were too dirty, and that celebrities only deserved the finest. They probably didn’t understand that Louie was a dog! Louie decided that he would go to Ecuador, but he was sneaky.

 

6

He said he’d lived in the house, but he took Marnie in his suitcase. Of course, Marnie got out when they were doing the bag detection. So all of them went, but as soon as they found out that Marnie was there, they got extremely mad.

The truth was, they didn’t know that Marnie was actually hypoallergenic in secret. But like I said, it was secret. Marnie actually never knew it, but after they had spent about a week with Marnie, Marnie hadn’t even shed a hair on the ground, and none of the people were getting allergies from neither her or Louie. Louie and Marnie knew what that meant when they found out — they could stay together!

 

7

Since they couldn’t live in California anymore, the one owner who was a chef got a new cooking job, and the other one got another new job as a lifeguard on the beach.

Louie and Marnie loved running around on the beach, and they both knew that they had made the right choice to move to Ecuador.