Chapter 1

Blue noisily walked down the creaking stairs and into the kitchen. Her short brown hair was a mess, but her hazel eyes were glistening in the morning sunshine. Her body was covered in an oversized soft t-shirt and grey shorts. She had been drawn downstairs by the familiar scent of pancakes that had wafted up to her room. She walked right into the scene of her father dressed in a t-shirt he had received from his college and a pair of Nike basketball shorts. He was dancing to the country music on the black radio, sitting on the shelf and setting the wooden oak table that Blue and her dad had just bought. Blue chuckled to herself as her father, Phil, had started to sing along to the song. Phil turned around to see his daughter laughing at the spectacle of him jamming out to the country. 

“You should see yourself when you’re dancing to music.” Phil said, grinning with his soft hazel eyes at his daughter. “So, I was thinking,” said Blue’s father, “We could head over to the park to shoot some hoops after breakfast. How does that sound?”

“Wonderful!” replied Blue, yawning sleepily as she sat down at the table and placed her napkin on her lap and put her elbows on the table. 

“When do you expect the pancakes to be ready?” asked Blue.

“Pretty soon,” said Phil.

“Will there be enough time for me to change before the food is ready?” asked Blue.

“I think so, if you hurry,” replied Blue’s father. 

Blue raced up the stairs into her bedroom. She looked around and peered at the paintings on her wall. She had made a special trip to the local art store, although it had taken her a little while to find it, as she was new in town, just to find decoration for her previously bare, beige walls. Blue walked up to her black dresser and pulled out her drawer to see the faded photograph of her mother in her teen years, and a tattered photo album. She picked the photograph up and studied it and thought of the little memories she had of her mother. She thought about her soft angelic features and long wavy brown hair that she always kept in a tight, beautiful braid. She recalled the sound of her mother’s carefree laugh. Then she would remember the night she left, as she always did when she thought of her mother. She remembered being bunched up in a ball covering her ears, under her forget-me-not blue covers, hearing her father plead with her mother to stay. She remembered hearing her mother say how boring the town was and how miserable she was, and how she felt limited and held back by the lack of resources in the area. Blue remembered hearing the front door slam and running down the stairs in an attempt to get her mother to stay and she remembered her father wrapping his robust arms around her. She remembered trying to break free from her father’s comforting grip, through tears and sobs and finally getting out of his arms to chase after her mother. But by the time she had run out the door her mother had disappeared into the grey, dreary night. 

“Are we going to talk about it?” thought Blue, as she snapped back to reality. That day was the 7 year anniversary of her mother slamming the front door and leaving for good. Blue wiped away a small tear that had fallen on her cheek and gently placed the photograph of her mother back into the drawer. She had found the photograph the day they moved in, as she was rummaging through the brown, cardboard boxes of things she had stumbled on a photo album that contained an old photograph of her mother. She had pulled it out and hid it in her dresser. Blue took a deep breath and picked out a flowy summer dress with flowers embroidered on it from her closet and put it on. She slipped her opal ring on her finger and put on her favorite earrings and necklaces. She picked up her hair brush and combed out the knots that she had developed in her hair as she slept. Blue then walked to her door and down the stairs to the kitchen.

 Chapter 2

Blue dribbled the ball twice, took a deep breath and shot a free throw. She always did the exact same routine before she shot a free throw, during spring break she had made this routine with her coach. He had said this routine would help her with muscle memory and that when she did her routine with pressure weighing on her shoulders in a game it would calm her nerves and let her focus on the goal of making the basket. She shot and watched as the ball swished through the orange net.

Phil cheered her on then said, “But you need to work on keeping your elbow in, form really does matter. If you stand in front of the mirror and pretend you’re shooting a free throw and see what your form looks like and try to improve it just ten times a day, you can make a huge difference in your form.”

“You say that every time I practice.” Blue said, rolling her eyes.

“Ok, ten right hand lay-ups. I will pass you the ball once you get to the basket.” said Phil.

Later that day Blue called her father into the living room. 

“Dad, come here.” Blue yelled across the house to her father.

“Be right there.” called Phil. He then proceeded to walk in. He was wearing a pair of baby blue denim jeans and a grey button up shirt. He had just taken a shower and his hair was dripping wet.

“I found a great summer writing program. Wanna see?” said Blue. Turning her computer in his direction. 

“Sure, honey.” said Phil, as he sat down next to Blue on their leather couch. 

“So, this writing program is in Soho. It focuses on all the genres I love, and Grace is going to the camp as well. Grace and I want to spend as much time with each other as possible since she is moving to Japan. I was also thinking, since it starts at 10, we can grab breakfast before I start.” Explained Blue.

“Sounds like a plan.” said Phil. “Maybe Grace could come with us to breakfast.”

“I would love that. I will go to text her right now.” Blue said while getting up from the black, leather couch and grabbing her rose-gold phone.

Chapter 3

The gravel crunched under Blue and Phil’s feet as they walked on the driveway to the car. Phil climbed into the front seat and buckles his seatbelt and placed his hands on the wheel. Blue opened the backseat door and climbed on to the grey, plush seat and set her bag on the floor. It contained her laptop, notebook, lunch, and her phone. She buckled her seatbelt and yawned.  

Phil turned his head toward Blue and said, “All set?” 

“Yea, love you.” Replied Blue, smiling sweetly at her father. 

“Love you too.” said Phil. “Are you nervous about getting started at this writing camp?”

“A bit, but I am really excited.” Replied Blue.

Phil then drove out into the cobble hill street, and across the 

Brooklyn bridge into Soho.

Chapter 4

Phil drove through a green light. He turned the radio up and hummed to the melody of the music. Then he turned right onto Spring Street. They drove past Becky’s bakery and An Artist’s Heaven art store on the way up to the location where the writing program was occurring. 

“We are almost there.” Said Phil turning on to the right lane and putting his right turn signal on. 

“Ok.” Replied Blue.

A rusty, pale blue car came speeding in with Evan Monatela at the wheel. Phil attempted to swerve out of it’s path but it was too late and the car crashed into Blue and Phil’s car. The car flipped over and bursts into flames. 

A few moments later

“The Dad is D.o.a, but I think there is hope for the girl. Have we ID’d the body, yet?” said an E.R worker that had arrived when the call about a car accident had come in. 

“No, we haven’t yet.” said the E.R worker’s coworker, helping the E.R worker with placing Blue in the ambulance. 

“The girl definitely has a concussion and possibly some internal bleeding. Although she is in critical condition,  it looks like she will make it.” the E.R worker explained. “I feel bad for her she is going to have to wake up with her world turned upside down. One minute she is enjoying a car ride with her father and next moment she’s in a hospital and her father is dead. I hope her mother is around to support her.” 

“Yea, I can’t even imagine that happening to me.” said the coworker peering at the girl lying unconscious in the ambulance.

Blue was flown in a helicopter to the hospital in Philadelphia. She arrived and her doctors performed surgery on her injured head, and the shattered bone in her leg. Blue remained in a coma for three days.

Chapter 5

Blue woke up and groaned from the pain of her pounding headache and a broken leg. A nurse walked in, with a blue hospital uniform on. Her raven black hair was pulled up in a tight bun. On her feet were small black slip on shoes, that made small tapping sounds as she walked around the room. She was carrying a clipboard and she flipped through it and wrote something down with a blue pen that had the Hospital of Connecticut written on it in silver lettering. The nurse looked down at Blue, realized she was awake and said,

“Good to see you awake, Blue.” 

“What happened?” asked Blue, her voice meek and dry. She was croaking like a frog.         

The nurse sighed and looked at Muracke with poignant eyes and said, “There was an awful accident. A drunk man named Evan Monatela crashed into your car. That man killed your poor father and nearly killed you. You are lucky to be alive, Blue. Evan is currently being prosecuted for his crimes.  I hear he will be charged with vehicular manslaughter and drinking while driving and other things.” 

“You’re lying. It’s not true, go away!” screamed Blue through tears.  

The nurse walked over to the side of the bed and peered at the small fragile girl. She wrapped her long, delicate arms around Blue and held her in her arms, as she wept. The nurse explains what had happened and what injuries Blue had. 

“Your father was sprung from the car and was dead on arrival, someone called 911 and paramedics rushed to the accident and saved you. You were flown over here in a helicopter and you had surgery for your injuries. Your leg was shattered and your head was pretty banged up, but other than that you’re doing well. This is a lot to handle and I know it was a very traumatic experience, so we have a psychiatrist on hand that you can talk to whenever necessary,” said the nurse.

Finally the nurse had to leave and attend to other patients in the recovery ward. Blue was left broken by the news that the nurse had just delivered to her. She wept and wept herself into a restless slumber. She dreamt of wonderful days spent with her father, curled up in his welcoming lap. She dreamt of reading books like Owl Moon and The Lonely Book in bed, snuggled next to her father. Then her dream turned into a nightmare and flashes of her father drenched in blood, dying at the scene of the accident appeared in her mind. She tossed and turned during the night until dawn broke across the grey sky, that was mimicking the feeling Blue had felt inside ever since she found out about the death of her late father. All she felt was emptiness and pure anger at the man who had killed her loving, innocent father. The only person she felt really knew her and loved her. She had friends like Grace, her best friend but after Grace would leave for Japan their friendship would fade away and they would never see each other again. She felt alone in the world without him. Evan Monatela, the man who killed her father, when that name crossed her mind she imagined strangling him. Wrapping her arms around his throat and squeezing as hard as she could but then reminded herself that it would be a terrible thing to do. It would be almost as bad as what he did to her father. 

Chapter 6

The nurse who had told Blue what happened to her parents walked into the room with a tray of food. It consisted of packaged pancakes, hashbrowns and 1% milk. The nurse placed the tray on the hospital’s glossy, wooden side table and hugged Blue tightly and whispered into her ear, 

“It will be ok.”

The nurse pulled up a small tray table in front of Blue and placed the tray on the table. She propped a pillow up behind Blue’s back and helped her sit up. She then said to Blue,

”Eat up”

Blue looked up at the nurse with tears in her glossy green eyes and said, 

“What am I supposed to do? I’m completely alone. My mother left me and my father when I was only five years old and now my Dad is dead. I don’t know what to do. I have Aunts and Uncles but I don’t know, they probably don’t even want me.” It was the first thing Blue had said in a few days.

The nurse’s face softened and showed empathy for Blue, she sat down at the end of the bed and said, “When I was about your age, my parents died in a terrible plane crash. I felt exactly the same as you feel now. I felt alone and even abandoned by my parents, but I pulled through. I pursued my dream of becoming a nurse. You are strong, and you will persevere. I know you will, Blue whitener.”

“I don’t know if I can.” whispered Blue through sobs and incessant tears. Her previously warm, olive complexion was now pale and almost grey. Her long, brown, baby hair now seemed to be faded and aged. Her blanket and cast covered her bony figure. 

“There’s someone here to see you. Her name is Bridgit Tate, she is going to be your foster mother. She’s also a nurse at this hospital, she will take great care of you.” said the nurse as a middle aged woman with sharp, icy blue eyes walked in the door and smiled sweetly at Blue.

Chapter 7

“Hello Blue,” said Bridget.

“Hi.” replied Blue, wiping her tears.

“How are you?” asked Bridget. 

“Okay, I guess. I mean I got in a car accident.” replied Blue, weakly.

“Yea, you did. The doctors say you will be up and running in about a week. Then you can come to my house, I’m sure you will love it there. I would love to paint your room hot pink,” said Bridget. She then walked over to the side of Blue’s bed and turned her head towards the nurse, “How much do I get for taking care of her?”

“500 dollars a month, but that shouldn’t matter should it? Blue is an admirable, magnificent human being, and I would be honored to have her in my home even without paychecks every month.” said the nurse, who was quite skeptical of this woman who was supposed to take care of Blue. 

“Yes, I completely agree, but I was just wondering what the amount of money I will get to support Blue is. I would like to know what I should set my budget for her room so that I can get started right away,” said Bridget. Bridget then said, “Well it looks like you are eating breakfast so I will leave you to it. It was very nice to meet you. I am very excited to have you in my home and hope that overtime it will become your home as well. Goodbye, Blue.” Bridget said as she left the room. 

Blue could hear the clicking of Bridget’s heels as she walked down the brightly lit hallway. Then Blue said to the nurse,

”Did you really mean the things you said?” 

“Every single word.” said the nurse, as she flashed a quick smile to Blue. 

“When you go and live with this Bridget woman, keep me posted on how she treats you.” the nurse said. 

“Ok, why?” asked Blue, frowning.

“This woman just doesn’t seem trustworthy. I have learned to trust my gut when it tells me something. I think she should be focused on you rather than the money she gets for taking care of you,” replied the nurse. 

“Ok,” said Blue. She had liked Bridget but thought there was something a little off about her. But she was still not ready for this woman to replace her deceased father, she was barely even ready for her to become Blue Tate.

Chapter 8

The nurse walked into Blue’s hospital room, lit by fluorescent lighting, and brought with her a tray of food. 

“Today is your final day here at the hospital. I am really going to miss you, Blue. It has been phenomenal to get to know you.” said the nurse.

“I’m going to miss you too,” said Blue.

Briget walked in with a purple polka dotted dress, a black shawl and cream colored high heels. She smiled at Blue and the nurse. 

“Nice to see you guys again. Are you almost ready to head home?” asked Bridget, with a smile. 

“I will be ready once I finish with my breakfast. I also have to wait for them to give me my crutches, and I will have to practice walking with my cast and crutches a bit in the waiting room, if that’s ok with you of course,” replied Blue.

“That’s totally fine. I will be in the waiting room if you need me, and let me know when you are ready to leave so I can help you practice and we can go to my car. I parked it right up front so that you would not have to walk far.” said Bridget.                                                                                                                                                     

“Alright.” said Blue as she ate her breakfast of cereal, milk and orange juice. She was dressed in a white hospital gown and on her wrist was a shiny, plastic bracelet that had the hospital’s name written on it. 

Briget left the room and sat down in the waiting room. The nurse then said to Blue,

“Are you sure you are ready to go. I’m sure I can get you permission to stay a bit longer.”

“Yes, I’m sure. Even though Bridget is not that motherly and will never, ever, ever replace my Dad, I think we will be able to form a strong bond. I know you are a bit skeptical of her. I’m sure she is great.” said Blue, hopefully. 

“Alright. If you say so.” said the nurse, sighing. 

Chapter 9

Blue walked with her crutches up to Bridget. They continued practicing and Blue slowly started to get comfortable with her crutches.

“I think I am getting the hang of this,” said Blue.

“Yea, I think you are.” replied Bridget. 

“Ready to go. I really think I am going to love it there.” Bridget said, her eyes bright with excitement.

“Yes, I’m sure I will.” said Blue.

They walked to the elevator and down into the parking lot. Bridget pressed the button on her car keys and a small, white toyota camry beeped nearby.

“There it is.” said Bridget.

Blue and Bridget walked up to the car and got in. Bridget buckled her seatbelt and turned the key and the engine started to hum, she looked back at Blue and saw her struggling.

“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry. I entirely forgot you need help getting in the car. Here, I’m going to go over there.” said Bridget while she unbuckled her seat belt and opened the car door to get out. Bridget assisted Blue into the car and placed her crutches in the trunk. Bridget got into the car and said, “Prepare for the two and a half hour drive to connecticut.” chuckling.

Chapter 10

Finally, Blue and Bridget pulled up to a small brownstone house in the center of a block on Kane Street. 

“This is it. Your new home.” said Bridget, happily as she climbed out of the car.

“It looks wonderful.” said Blue, getting out of the car with Bridget’s comforting help.  Bridget locked the car and opened the house door and led Blue into the house. Blue’s crutches made noises across the wooden floor. Bridget turned on the light to show a brown leather couch and a wooden coffee table with five beer bottles and two wine bottles, thrown on their sides, on it.

“Oh god I am so sorry about that, I did not get to clean up after last night, just please don’t tell anyone about this. I was really nervous about you coming and I should not have had so much alcohol. It won’t happen again.” said Bridget, her face tinted red from embarrassment.

“That was all just from last night.” thought Blue, frowning. 

“Here I will show you your new room.” said Bridget walking towards the back of the house. She opened the door to a small room, which was empty except for a small cot with brown flannel sheets and a small grey dresser, with an alarm clock on it. 

“It’s not much, but it’s something and we will decorate it soon. I wanted you to have complete say in everything, so I only got a small amount of things. You need a bed of course.” said Bridget.

“Thank you so much.” said Blue, as she walked into the room and sat down on the bed. 

Chapter 11

Blue woke up and walked out of bed and out the door. She walked into the kitchen and found Bridget cooking asparagus and BLTs. She was humming and spreading the mayo onto the pieces of brown, toasted bread. She looked up at Blue and said,

“You’re up. That’s wonderful, I’m just making lunch; roasted asparagus and BLTs. I hope you like them.” 

“Thank you so much. I really appreciate what you are doing for me. I honestly don’t know where I would be without you, foster care probably. Just, thank you.” said Blue. 

“Your welcome, I was just so lonely in this house. I don’t have many friends and no significant other and I wanted to help someone so I decided to adopt and sure enough you came along.” replied Bridget. 

They both sat down at the table and ate the BLTs and asparagus. Blue picked up her fork and cut her asparagus and placed it in her mouth. 

“Do you have any hobbies that you enjoy, sports or other things?” asked Bridget.

“I really enjoy playing basketball all actually, I was on my school’s basketball team, along with my best friend Grace. I was even a point guard.” said Blue. “I guess I can’t go to the Blue school. Are there any schools around here with basketball teams?” 

“I am not sure but we can look although I have a niece who went to school around here who loves basketball. We can ask her where she went and if there was a basketball team at her school.” added Bridget. “How is your food?”

“It is delicious. Thank you for making it.” replied Blue. 

Blue put her last bite of food into her mouth and placed her fork and knife on the plate. She wiped her mouth and said, “May I be excused?”

“Of course, Blue.” replied Bridget. 

Blue picked up her plate, rinsed it out in the sink and placed it in the dishwasher. With the napkin in her hand she looked around, looking for a trash can. 

“Where is the trash can?” asked Blue.

“Right behind you actually.” directed Bridget.

Blue turned around and threw her napkin away. Then she walked back into her new room. 

Chapter 12

Bridget walked into Blue’s room and asked, “What would you like to do today?” 

“We could get some clothes.”

“Ok. Before I went to pick you up at the hospital I went to the store and chose some clothes for you. I hope that they will fit you.” Bridget said while she handed Blue a Marshalls shopping bag with three outfits stuffed inside.

“Thank you so much.” Blue said while taking the clothes out of the bag and laying them on the bed. 

“Sorry I did not know what your style was. I tried to pick out something you would like.” said Blue. Blue and Bridget drove to her house.

Chapter 13

Blue climbed into bed and yawned as she drifted off into a deep sleep. She woke up in the middle of the night and looked around at her new room. The walls were cream colored and on the ceiling was a small chandelier, off to the side of the room was a built-in closet with two bronze handles. It was dark and the curtains were drawn but a small amount of moon light was coming. Blue pulled off her covers and walked over to the window and opened the curtains to see a bright full moon in the sky. She remembered her father telling her marvelous stories about the moon. She remembered him pointing up at the moon and his soft, familiar voice seemed to fill her head. Tears fell from her eyes and she wiped them away, but her shirt was now wet and tear stained. She could see a light coming from behind her closed door and could hear the faint sound of the TV in the living room. 

She decided to get up and get a glass of water from the new kitchen. She tiptoed out of the room and peered out the door to see Bridget watching the television and swigging some beer. Blue just walked up to the fridge and opened it to see an abundance of alcohol strewn about the fridge. 

Blue grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with tap water from the sink. She had started walking back to her room when she heard the jumbled words,

“What are you doing?”  

“Just getting a glass of water,” said Blue. 

“Whatever. You know your pathetic. That’s why your mother left you and Dad crashed that car on purpose just get away from you.” said Bridget, walking up to Blue and hitting her. The side of Blue’s was red and stung where Bridget had hit her. “Not one of your aunts and uncles even wanted you.”

“Ok.” Blue said, confused as she looked up at Bridget, scared.

Chapter 14

Blue woke up the next day tired and still scared of Bridget. She got out of bed and squinted at the bright morning sun that was shining in her face. She walked up to the drawer to find it filled with clothing all from the gap. In through the partially closed door came an orange cat that was meowing. She knelt down on her knees and let the cat lick her hand. She sat down with her legs crossed and played with the cat, she even smiled a small smile, for the first time in a while. Finally when the cat lost interest and went to venture off into the rest of the house, Blue went back into the drawer and picked out a yellow romper. She stepped out of the room and endured misery and abuse from Bridget.

***

Blue laid awake in bed devising a plan to escape her misery. She made a checklist of things she would need in her mind. Food, a water bottle, backpack and some clothes, and Bridget’s macbook air. 

“Where will I go? Should I try and find my mother?” thought Blue. “I am going to find my mother.” she finally decided. 

The next day Blue looked up her mother’s name. Immediately, she found a phone number and address. She packed a bag full of the things she needed.

While Bridget was going to the bathroom Blue snuck out of the house and took a train three hours away and then took a bus into her mother’s neighborhood, and then walked until she found her mother’s house. A yellow brick house with blossoming cherry trees in the front yard. She walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. Her mother answered the door with a little baby in her arms.

Blue’s mother stared in shock at Blue and said,

“Hello Blue.” 

“Hello.” said Blue.

Scoot is a red panda. The first thing he did when he left the Prospect Park Zoo was to go on a scooter. He has a secret identity. And the secret identity’s name is Ninajet. He wants to defeat Big Bear. Big Bear is the red pandas’ biggest enemy. 

Finally Big Bear said, “I want to see how strong you are, if you want to defeat me. But you’re not going to beat me. You’re like an old time little loser.” 

“Well, you’re the one older than me,” Scoot said. “It’s almost your death day. So you might just need… good luck.” 

“I don’t need good luck, you do.” Big Bear growled. 

Quickly, Scoot grabs his secret magical white sword and starts fighting. 

Big Bear was like, “What? How did you get that sword?” His mouth was open and stretched and you could see all the teeth going together and his mouth was open in a big circle/oval. And finally the sword hit the middle of his neck and bum bum bum… blue glitter came out of his neck. And his soul said, “You killed me now get ready for your DEATH!” 

They battle and of course, Scoot wins. He has his magical sword, which is the strongest weapon of all. The soul died just like its body. “Cool!” Scoot said. The big bear was easy to kill. No one ever tried to chase it because Big Bear started posting links acting like he was “strong.” But really, he was real weak and mad weak. Even his soul is weak. Souls are supposed to be as strong as light. 

Just then, a yellow plane flew over his head. It came down with a transforming thump! It transformed and came down feet first. It came down into the forest in China. The plane’s name was Donny, Scoot’s personal best friend plane. 

“You won over Big Bear,” said Donny. 

Chapter 1 Taco Man 

A guy eats a tomato taco. A guy eats a lettuce taco. A guy eats an egg taco. A guy eats a beef taco. A guy eats a bison beef taco. A guy eats just a taco bread taco. A guy eats a rice and beef taco. A guy eats an ugly hard boiled egg taco. 

This guy’s name is Taco. He lives with wife, Ms. Taco, and his little baby taco Jr. Taco goes into outer space so he can shoot tacos at people who want to eat them. He throws tacos at people. His salary is $1,123 per second because it’s really hard to aim tacos at people’s head. Right now he wants a better life because his salary is only $1,123 per second and he wants a salary of $2,908 per split second. Ms. Taco is old and has alzheimer. 

Mr. Taco goes on the computer to try to get a new job. 7hr5847n nhcv. His computer turns into a hologram. The computer becomes evil, hacks a government computer, and releases an atomic bomb on Mr. Taco. At the time, he is searching for a new job called Sauce eating to see how much sauce he eats. If he eats five truck loads of sauce, he gets a trillion dollars every hour and every hour after that. Every time he does that, after that, he gets one less minute so he gets money easier. But then, he gets hit with the atomic bomb so he dies.

Ms. Taco also dies, sadly. Taco Jr. didn’t get hit because the stroller protected him. Taco Jr. lost half of his whole body. He lost his right arm, right leg, and half of his right face. He gets a mechanical replacement for that part, which is basically computer-infused with lasers. But then, an evil computer hacks it and the computer wants to destroy Taco guy who right now has somehow came back to life as a ghost who is found by taco Jr {aka hologram hacked taco Jr} blasts Mr Taco with a Laser Gun labeled Ingenita Terra BE Mr Taco saw it was an alien gun “what the hell are you doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Taco Man got blasted back and started to fade away then an unknown knight armored being blasted a red blue beam of light at taco Jr then the knight said in a familiar voice “I am here to warn you about how to kill that half robot half human.”                               

Chapter 2 Lottery

Soon Taco Man saw a glimpse at something on the back of taco Jr’s robotic half it said 2405 7hr5847n nhcv “weird the year is 2393” he said. Then they teleported to a graffiti filled alleyway he asked the knight “what is going on” “I won’t tell you at least not yyyeeetttt”screamed the knight after a flash of red light.

Chapter 3 How You Die

Taco Jr. shot the knight with a laser gun which killed him supposedly. Then the ghost of Taco Man shot taco Jr. with an ice laser. Taco Jr. stumbled backwards and fell into a black portal. The ghost of taco Man also went into the black hole. Taco Man blasted taco Jr. with another ice laser, but this time taco Jr. activated a gadget and reflected it. But taco Jr. lost his balance and fell into a deep dark hole. But they were still in the black hole, but Taco Man doesn’t know that he’s the one who is making everything happen. Whatever he’s thinking about is what happens. He made the deep dark hole when he was thinking about trapping taco Jr. Then taco Jr shoots a bunch of knives while he was still trapped in the hole. Taco Man didn’t know that was going to happen, so when he got hit by the knives, even though he was a ghost he still got stabbed by the knives since they were coated with poison. Then the ghost saw he was turning into a human again. Then he started coming down because he was still floating and his black hole started to disappear. Then before they knew it, they were both people teleported into a coffin. They were pushed against the walls. There wasn’t enough space for both of them. They teleported above an ocean next to the sun next to a meteor shower into the Sahara. Then they stopped in the sky. That’s the last time they teleported. Then they fell. They were screaming. 

Chapter 4 The Truth 

Taco Man and the Mysterious Knight teleported to an unknown city. Taco Man figured out that it was the future. He found Mrs. Taco. Then, they instantly teleported back to their time. And then they realized it was actually the past. Then they saw a Brontosaurus. And then they teleported back into the Sahara. Then, Taco Man realized that other places they teleported were places that Ms. Taco went to. And then Ms. Taco surprised him from behind and said, “So you figured it out.”    

Chapter 5 Revive

Mrs. Taco says, “I was the one who hacked the computer in order to live longer”

“Why”said Taco Man. 

“I was born in 98718,” said Ms. Taco. 

“What?” said Taco man.

“I teleported backwards,” said Ms. Taco. 

Chapter 6 Finish Line 

“Well, goodbye…

“Nooo,” said the Knight.

Chapter 7 Into the Void 

 Then, they disappeared. They saw so many colors. They were in the Void of Time.   

We were sitting in the classroom talking about how we wanted to do the athletic ability class, but my mom said no. We wanted to do it because Grace isn’t that good at running, and I enjoy it. It would be a win win! After that, we just talked about our weekend plans.

 I then started to smell smoke. I glared over at my best friend Grace. She has been my best friend for over 10 years. Grace stared back with her eyes WIDE. 

She said to me, “Chloe, the smell is getting really really strong. Should we say something?” 

The smell was getting really strong. I said back to her, “No, let’s wait here until further notice.” Little did I know that I had just made the biggest mistake of my life.

 Just then the fire alarm rang. Everyone in the school rushed out of the building just like we practiced in our fire drills, except this time it was much more chaotic, like our lives depended on it, because they did. I heard a scream and automatically recognized that the scream was Grace’s. 

I ran back into the building, even though my life could have ended right there. I saw Grace surrounded by fire as she let out her final screech. 

I yelled to her, “Never forget that I love you!” 

I ran out of the building screaming for help. Once I was outside, I watched the school burn from a distance. Many were crying. The teacher called attendance to make sure everyone was here and safe. She called:

“Henry?”

“Here.”

“Ben?”

“Here.”

“Chloe?”

“Here.”

“Dan?”

“Here.”

“Kate?”

“Here.”

“Rina?”

“Here.” 

“Zachary?”

“Here.”

“Grace? Grace! GRACE!!! WHERE IS GRACE?”

I knew. Tears were in my eyes. The firefighters came with an announcement. I could hear my heartbeat echoing through the pure pressure of myself understanding what was about to happen. They stated that they found a dead body inside of the treacherous fire. They described the body and asked if anyone knew the person they described so they could call her parents. I told them what I saw and the firefighters tried to calm me down as I sobbed. Grace’s parents arrived at the school bawling. 

“If only I just agreed to leave with Grace earlier.” I said to myself, trying to hold back tears.

Every day felt so empty without her by my side. All the hours were unexciting and lonely. All the minutes were filled with grief. I could never replace her. EVER. The world needed her. I needed her.

TWO YEARS LATER

  My life was surrounded by that day. The day of the fire. December 19th.  Every time someone said Grace’s name, my heart skipped a beat. Today is Grace’s second yahrzeit. I’ve gone to therapy every other week preparing for this day, so I wouldn’t have breakdowns or asthma attacks. Therapy was working fine although it was hard not to cry on December 19th. This year, I prepared a list of inside jokes, handshakes, ideas, art projects, dreams, and most importantly, our talks. I passed around the list for everyone at the gathering to see. Only me, my parents, Grace’s parents, and Grace’s siblings were at the gathering.

I made it out of the gathering without any asthma attacks or breakdowns. I was really proud of myself for being strong. I teared up, although not too badly.

When I got home, I heard some strange sounds. I peeked out of my bedroom door and noticed my mom talking on the phone. She was talking discreetly. She had no idea I could see her. She then said the words into the phone that changed my life. “I did it ok! I did it! I set the fire!”

I yelled at my mom so hard while wailing! She immediately got off the phone. She explained everything to me. She told me that Grace was always doing better than me in school. 

“SO YOU KILLED HER!?!?” I screamed. I was confused, how did my mom know she would die?

The words spiraled around in my brain. My mom told me, “When I first had the idea two years ago, I immediately started planning. I know that Grace is a slow runner. So I didn’t support your athletic ability classes. If I did, Grace would become faster and would have survived the fire. You recognized the huge scream of Grace and ran for her.”

 It all made sense now. I called the police and they took my mom away while I cried. I have no one. No one.

  In school the next month, I was completely productive. I was trying to be more available and open since I noticed I really hadn’t been. I realized that I am grieving however, that can’t take over my entire life. I still need to live it and fulfill the dreams both Grace and I forever wished would come true.

 And they did.

THE END.         

Hi I’m sally. I am 8 years old. One afternoon, I was walking home from camp like I do every day and I passed by a forest I had never seen before. I started walking in the forest. Then I stopped. I saw a big unicorn, so I hid behind a bush. 

The unicorn started coming closer to me. Then I realized that the bush had food on it. I tried to run away but she had already swallowed me whole. Inside the unicorn’s stomach, I was sitting in a swarm of rainbow wet stuff. It smelled like cotton candy. 

So I had been in there for a few hours. I got hungry so I tried the rainbow stuff… it tasted amazing! My cell phone rang. It was my mom. I picked it up. My mom said, “Sally where are you!!???” 

“I’m stuck inside a unicorn!” I said.

My mom laughed. “There is no such thing. GET HOME!!!

I said, “I’m in a forest. Come and get me!!!”

“Ok.”

Mom walked in the forest and stood there. The unicorn came close to mom. She just stood there and she got eaten by the unicorn. Splash. Mom fell in the unicorn’s rainbow stuff.

I told Mom to try it. Mom hated it. She said it tasted like barf… Mom’s phone rang, it was dad.

He said “Where are you??? I made dinner!!!” 

“We’re in a unicorn!” said mom. “Come and help us!”

Dad said, “Where are you?” 

But mom already hung up. So dad just used his tracking device. So he got to the forest and looked around. Mom and I climbed up the unicorn’s mouth. We saw Dad so we pulled him in. We fell and splash! 

Dad said, “Why did you pull me in you could have got out!!” 

“Well it is too late now.” 

Dad said, “I can’t believe I had made dinner!! It’s probably cold now!!! 

“Well it’s your fault you made dinner for the first time!”

“I’m hungry,” said Dad.

I said, “Have some rainbow stuff.”

“I love it!!” said Dad. Dad called his brother Uncle. 

Dad and Uncle never had a great relationship. They are always bickering. Uncle picked up his phone. He said, “WHAT DO YOU WANT???”

Dad said, “Sally, Mom, and I are stuck in a unicorn.”

“I don’t believe that,” said Uncle. 

Dad said, “Do you want me to send you pictures?”

“A swirl that is rainbow and the unicorn is cute,” Uncle said. “Ok I believe you. I’m coming to get you.” 

He went into the forest and saw the unicorn. The unicorn saw him and walked away. Uncle was mad. So he climbed on the unicorn and the unicorn yawned so he went in its mouth. Uncle was in the rainbow stuff.

Dad said, “Did the unicorn eat you?” 

“No,” said Uncle.

 I went in its mouth. “Seriously. You could have got us OUT!!!!” 

“Ok,” said Mom. “Don’t be rude.”

“I’m hungry. My wife didn’t make dinner.” 

Sally said, “Have some rainbow stuff.” 

Uncle had some. He absolutely hated it, but not bad. Aunt likes old fashion things. She didn’t have an iPhone. She was 50 years old and I thought that was very old. So Uncle called her. 

“.futreukiutrce5ujy6usa6wedtfc64esdfbtrycbetrtgh itduiykdv6tj??” said aunt.

“Go put your dentures on,” said Uncle.

Aunt kinda ran to get them. She screamed she realized that a tooth was missing. For some reason, she got tired and just sat on the couch and watched the news. The people in the unicorn got fat because they ate too much rainbow.

THE UNICORN EXPLODED!!!

Chapter !

Julia and Lucia are sisters. They live on a couch. They have one maid to bring them food, clothes, and a potty. 

Julia said, “Bring me some chips!”

Then the maid said nicely, “I’d rather not because I brought you food 20 minutes ago.”

Lucia needed a pencil so she yelled at the maid, “BRING ME A PENCIL!!!” 

Then the maid said, “You need some exercise, so your mom and dad are going on a business trip and I am going to ask if I can get off haha. They are going to be gone for 8 months, and I will be off 8 months.” 

Julia said, “I will make a stove on the couch.”

The maid yelled, “Who is going to get the stove?”

 Then Julia said, “Oooooooooooo!!!!”

 So their parents got on the plane and the maid went to Paris, so they lived for 3 months so far, then they got really hungry!!! So Lucia gave up. She had to get up because she was starving and thirsty.

Julia would not get up. She said, “I will stay here until I die.”

Lucia said, “But I do not want you to die. Remember we are immortal.”

“WHAT! We are immortal?” 

Lucia yelled, “Ooooopppppppppssssssss! I was not supposed to tell you that.”

Julia got so so so so upset that they were immortal. They were immortal, but they still aged. It was a little weird. They still got taller and got fat. 

The maid did not know that they were immortal, so when the maid was back from her vacation she did not believe that Julia stayed on the couch for so so so so so so so so so so LONG. So the maid was like thinking in her head if she actually stayed on the couch for that long, and plus she didn’t switch positions. She thought and thought, but she could not figure it out, but she longed to know what was going on. Julia was still shocked about the immortal thing. 

But then Julia screamed out, “I do not want to be immortal!”

Then the maid heard everything.

Lucia said, “Noooooooo! The maid heard!”

That day they wondered where their parents were, then they saw the news on tv that there was a plane crash, but they did not survive. The girls were devastated because their parents died and they had to live with a rude maid for their lives.

The maid said, “I quit.”

“YES!” said the girls. They were really happy. 

While Lucia was jumping up and down on her bed, Julia was still sitting on the couch. The maid was going to leave the next morning because the maid was like their mom. The maid rushed to the airport, then Lucia ran outside and screamed, “Do not go!”

Then she broke into a random car [the keys were in the car]. She had good driving skills and she got the maid in time. The maid agreed to stay. They went back to Lucia. They lived a nice life then dun dun dun.

Lucia mentioned that their parents were immortal, so they did not die. Julia thought that they were on a fancy island. The sisters did not care as much now because they know that their parents are safe, and that is the story of the couch girls [Julia is still sitting on a couch]. 

Chapter !!

Remember us? The sisters Lucia and Julia. We used to live on a couch, but we quit it. So we are going on a quest to find our parents, with our maid obviously.

“We gotta find them!” Julia thought that they were at a secret island. “We are going to search the world just for them. We are leaving tomorrow. The maid told us that she used to be a flight attendant.” 

The pilot sold the plane to her for very cheap, like 1000 bucks. Then the maid took a flight lesson, then she was a pilot. She thought it was too much, so she went on the Internet, found a job that said maid, and that is the story of most of her life.

The sisters got packed and ready to fly. They were a bit scared because she had not controlled a plane in 10 years. She was nervous too, but nothing could stop them from finding their parents, so they set off on their 10-hour trip. They got on the plane. They kept asking each other how much longer, but at least there were movies on the back of the seat.

“Ahh!” they screamed. 

“There is a bit of turbulence!” the captain/maid said. 

Then crash! The plane fell in the water, but thank god they were close to an island. They swam until they reached the island. Finally, they reached it. 

They were so happy they were immortal, however the maid was not, so she drowned. 

The girls did not like that they were on their own. The island was like a big forest. There were berries that they could eat and the salt water they could drink. They did not really want to drink the salt water, but then they remembered that they were IMMORTAL!!! YAY!!! 

So they still starved, but did not die. There was a coconut tree on the island. They cracked it open and water came spilling out. The sisters saw two people on the island across from them. They headed over there, but they were two bandits so they took a run for it then they ended up on a different island. 

Then they saw their mom but no dad. They hugged each other. 

They asked, “Where is dad?” 

Mom said, “He passed on the plane crash.” 

“I thought dad was immortal?” 

“No. He was not.” She asked Julia, “How did you know that we are immortal?”

“Ummmmm.” Then she pointed to Lucia. 

Lucia put her hands up. Mom was not disappointed because she had to find a way to tell Julia because she always wanted to live but not be immortal. Then they started crying. They really missed Dad. They thought he was immortal, but he was not, so it was very devastating.

They got on a pirate boat and got to the house. There was a lot of seasickness that I do not want to explain. It took a week to get home, but they made it.

They walked through the door and Dad was a ZOMBIE!!!!!!!

 Chapter !!!

Julia and Lucia were terrified!! Their father died! Ok, they got over that eventually, but they would never get over that their father was a ZOMBIE!!!!!

Zombies usually look like they have been beaten up, but he was dressed in a nicely tailored  suit. Mom shouted how much money. Dad was not normal. He was see-through and he had mental issues now sadly. We are lucky to even have him here right now.

“Dad!!!” Julia said, sitting on the couch but not forever anymore.

Dad was going to the park and killing the kids there. He has super strength now, so he suffocates the kids with his hands. Then parents started calling the police.

“Ooooh nooo.” Julia called Mom and Lucia. They came as fast as they could, but they did not make it in time. 

He was already handcuffed and in the police car.

They went to the police station the next day and tried to explain that Dad has issues and he is a robot. They lied about the robot because they wanted to take him out of jail, but it did not work, but it was reasonable.

Then the officer said, “If he is a robot, why do you need him?”

“Umm BECAUSE HE IS MY DAD.”

The officer said, “You lied. You said he is a robot and that is illegal.” 

Yay they were in the same jail cell as Dad. 

So they were trying to escape out of the window with Dad’s super strength. They were secretly going out, but then lunch came early. 

Then they had no lunch and no food for the rest of their lives, but they were immortal so they will live. Then they tried a different way to escape. Then Dad unlocked the lock on the door, but there was someone at the front desk, so that did not work .

The third time, they went on a trip outside for fresh air. But the police was guarding them, but he was dumb and he was on his phone, then he started sleeping. Yay! That policeman took their wallet and used all their money, then revenge! 

They took his wallet then went to the most fancy restaurant ever. After that, they went on a luxury vacation. They flew first class each 8,000 dollars. So all in all, it was 32,000 dollars. The vacation was to the Carribean. They were sitting for 5 hours when they got the food from the stewardess. It was pasta with tomato sauce on it with a side of cheese. The dessert was lemon pudding with chocolate sprinkles. Lucia and Julia went around the plane asking for second lemon puddings, then the flight attendant said to sit down if there is turbulence. The first time they ignored her, but then the plane was shaking, then they were scared. They went to their parents, but they took Dramamine to make them fall asleep. Then a flight attendant walked by.

It was the maid.

They started yelling, “Maid maid!” 

The maid fainted. The girls were shocked about the maid. They thought she was dead. Then she woke up and she passed them. The pilot on the plane fell asleep, and the plane rushed down to the ground.

The pilot woke up when it fell on the ground. It was a long way from the airport, and it was a lot of nausea. The sisters threw up a few times.

And that is the end of my story. They learned that they should always listen to the maid. 

When your day gets completely turned upside down, finding out you have a spy in your household is not that big of a surprise. Having a second spy, ok that is a little kooky, but having a third spy, that is a monkey????? Now it is going way too far. First Violet, then mom, now Leland. Ok, well let me start from the beginning. It all starts in Florida…

4 Weeks Previously 

Mom was cooking dinner in the kitchen of our small condo- apartment. It was spaghetti and meatballs, but it didn’t smell like that at all. Me and my sister Violet were playing spit on the dining room table, and the twins (Luca and calvin) who were both one and a half were fighting over a bubblegum wrapper. Suddenly, the phone started ringing.

“Hey mom?” I called “The phone is ringing!” I didn’t pay that much attention to it. The phone rang a lot. I stroked our pet monkey named Leland and watched her slowly walk over to the phone, her face pale. This was very unusual of her. She never did things like that. Now that I noticed, Mom had actually been acting like this our entire vacation. Panicked, stressed, and nervous. I looked away from Mom. Violet seemed to have noticed it too, because she had dropped her cards on the table, very unusual of HER. Even the twins had stopped screaming, and were staring at Mom open mouthed with spit dripping down their chins. What was happening? I saw Violet stand up and walk over to mom. She picked up the phone before mom could. 

  “Hello?” She said. It only took 1 second for her usual smile or grin to turn into a look of complete seriousness. She nodded at mom, then hung up. 

 “Experiment 124679830” She called, looking directly at Leland. He turned his head to face mom. 

“Take action.” As soon as the last word came out of her lips, Leland started scampering around the house, as though he had been programmed to. My jaw dropped. The twins managed a simple

“Ohhhhbegubidaga” Before mom scooped them up and put them in the stroller. Violet was running around packing, like Leland seemed to be doing, and so was mom.

“MOM!” I shouted so she could hear me over the noise of the packing “WHAT IS HAPPENING??” I could make out a quick “I will tell you on the way! We have to hurry! Violet knows what to do! Follow her!” Wait, so Violet knew about this too? My mind was filled with a jillion questions, but I only had one thought.

Follow Violet.

I ran with my bags across the street, barely keeping up with V and my mom with the twins in the stroller and Leland, who I think is a spy robot monkey now.

“Where, are, we, going?” I gasped

“To the train!” My mom shouted. “I will have to leave you guys there! Again, Violet will explain everything!” We had reached the train. Mom gave us each quick but tearful goodbye hugs. I blinked back tears. I had never left my mom before. Not even for a sleepover. I was honest to goodness very very scared. Mom gave Violet the stroller, and Leland jumped out of my arms and onto Violet’s shoulder. We entered the train station just as the train pulled up. It was all going so quickly, and none of it seemed very real. It was all like a blurry dream. The doors opened. Violet pushed the stroller into the train. I quickly looked back to see if Mom was waving goodbye, but she had disappeared. The train doors were starting to close, and Violet had to grab me and pull me in. It was much nicer than I had expected. The seats were leather and there was an old woman with a frilly dress with a cart filled with food parading up and down the train. Violet sat down and motioned for me to sit too. I was hesitant at first but then I gave in. She took the twins out of the stroller and put them on her lap, bouncing them gently. She was nine years older than me and I was only 7. She turned to face me. 

“Okay,” she said. “Now I have to tell you the entire history of our family. It all started when I was 10 and you were just 4. Mom knew that this day would come someday.”

“But what do you mean ‘this day’?” I interrupted. She glared at me and I shut my mouth. 

“The day when the spy attackers would come, or as Mom would call them: SNAKE. I don’t know what it stands for but it sure does sound awfully important.” She paused and stared out the window dramatically.

“She told me this, and I am going to tell you. First off, Mom works for a spy institute where they look into the future and this little monkey,” she motioned to Leland, “is a spy too. And not just any spy, a world class detective.” 

My mouth dropped open. But after all that happened today, this wasn’t that surprising. 

“So she is sending us off with a monkey spy, we don’t know where he is taking us, and we don’t know when we will see mom again?” I asked her, my arms crossed over my chest. Violet nodded. I sighed in frustration. I grabbed Leland off of Violet’s shoulder and put him in my lap. He squirmed to get away, but I held him tight. I started to feel drowsy, and shortly after I had fallen asleep. 

Chapter 2

 I blinked my eyes open. Why were we on a train? Then I remembered it all. My cheek had prints from Violet’s coat on it, and I had a little crusty drool on the corner of my mouth. I wiped it off with my sleeve. 

 “Are we there yet?” I asked Violet drowsily. She shook her head.

“Leland said there are 12 more stops.”

“Wait, Leland can talk now?” I asked. Everything was so confusing now. I just wanted to go back home.

“Monkey Translator. Duh.” Violet looked at me like I was the crazy one. I tried to roll my eyes, but I could really only go halfway. I was glad I had brought my book. 12 more stops seemed like an eternity to a 7 year old. I unzipped my bag that I had been hugging to my chest and pulled out my favorite book of all time: SPACE CATS Into The Spacevolution. I also pulled out my worn out, beat up, patched stuffed animal. Flufster McFlufferson went straight into my lap. I leaned onto Violet again, and curled up with my book.

10 Stops Later

Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Nothing to do. I read my book 4 times, I lost at cat’s cradle 16 times (and won once) and I braided Leland’s hair until he screamed and bit me. Violet said it was my fault, but I think that Leland has cabin fever too. I could tell the twins wanted to go home. They were fighting over the last Annie’s Bunny Gummy. I had the urge to scream at them. 

“Violettttttttttt” I whined. “How many more stopsssss?”

“FOR THE LAST FREAKIN’ TIME, THERE ARE TWO STOPS LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. Everyone on the train went quiet and stared at her. She turned beet red and giggled nervously.

“Umm, heehee sorry Ruth,” She said in almost a whisper. 

“I like the color of your face,” I said as I poked her on the cheek. The train pulled to a stop and the doors opened with a swishing sound. I sighed in relief. Only one stop left. So did everyone else including Leland who kind of smiles because his mouth turned up in the corners a little bit. 

Ten people started taking their bags and getting off the train. There were only twenty people including us, so it was a lot less crowded and claustrophobic. Leland said in his monkey translator which is basically a speaker on his chest “Our stop is in ten minutes. Start gathering your things.” His voice was metallic and scratchy and didn’t sound at all like I imagined a monkey’s would sound like. I literally jumped up on the seat and started doing my happy Snoopy dance. Violet shot me a glare and pulled me down. I looked around at the seat and noticed all my things were scattered everywhere so I had to take two trips to my backpack which weirdly enough was ten feet away. I shoved everything in there and zipped it. I didn’t do a very good job zipping it so I dragged it back to my seat–or attempted to– but everything completely fell out again. I groaned. Violet was putting her stuff back in her bag and trying to comfort the twins at the same time. I put everything back in hastily and zipped it up correctly. I continued to drag it to the seat before Violet saw me and rolled her eyes. She walked over and picked it up with one hand, ONE HAND, and walked over to our seat where she rolled her eyes a second time.  I watched as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. She groaned in anger. 

“Stupid Battery” She mumbled under her breath. I shook my head. She was becoming a teenager more and more each day.

Chapter 3

I walked back over to the seat and sat down, only to spring up 2 seconds later. The doors opened, and the intercom crackled with life.

“This is NYJ airport. I repeat, this is NYJ airport. Please clear a path for the closing doors.” I grabbed my bag and ran out of the doors. I looked around. So this was an airport. I wanted to go home, where I didn’t have to wonder if things were fake.

 I marveled at the sight of everything. So clean, so shiny, so new. Then I remembered that I was supposed to stay with Violet and the twins. Oh, and Leland. I swiveled to look behind me for them, only to collide with a tall man with a black suit and tie, and tan skin. I was so short I could only see the bottom of his chin at the highest, and with that only by craning my neck so far I heard a snap. I heard the sound of the stroller on the tiled floor. The man looked behind me. I closed my mouth, just noticing that my mouth was a big O. 

“Are you Violet, Ruth, Luca, and Calvin Perolline?” A gravelly voice said. It was the man. I stepped back and huddled closer to Violet. How did he know our names? Violet narrowed her eyes.

 “Who’s asking?” She said, her teeth gritting. I decided that if Violet was mad, I was mad too. I put my hands on my hips and tried to look as angry as possible. Leland seemed to be very suspicious of this man. He was baring his teeth, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. 

  The man cleared his throat.

“I am Sir Cleve-” He screamed a manly scream. I didn’t know why until I saw Leland attached to Sir Cleve’s face. He pinched as hard as a little monkey spy could, and at that point I knew. We could trust no-one. This man was disguised as our friend, yet Leland thought he was an enemy. Nothing was simple now. No black or white. Life was a million shades of gray. Before I had finished my totally deep thoughts, Violet had my arm firmly clenched in her hand. She started running and so did I. We ran and ran until I didn’t know if I could run any more. My legs were the wind, and my heart was my spirit. Carrying me on. (This was probably in a famous book or something) Violet stopped suddenly, and I crashed into her butt. Ouch. I looked for Leland, then realized he was on my shoulder. I was scared. Very scared. I was gasping for breath and wheezing for air. I needed my inhaler. I pulled it from my jeans pocket. I put it in my mouth and sucked up ten breaths of air. I stopped weezing. Then I looked up. We were stopped in front of a mangy-looking motel with the red and black sign hanging off of its hinges and the small double door caked with mud. I stared at Violet with my eyebrows raised as if to say, “This is where we are staying the night?”

Violet shrugged and said, “It’s the least costly.” I opened the door and Violet pushed the stroller in the door. Inside, there was a small desk, with a young teenager with earbuds in and her phone out. That was all. No couch, no TV. Nothing. 

“Um, excuse me?” Violet said. The girl didn’t look up. “Excuse me,” Violet said, her voice a little bit louder. The lady looked up and pulled out an earbud. 

“We would like to stay for one night.”

The lady took out both of her earbuds and hung them around her neck. “How many beds do you need?”

“Um, two please,” Violet said, doubtfully. 

The teenager widened her eyes in disbelief. “Two?! That’ll be fifty dollars per person.” 

Now it was Violet’s turn to widen her eyes in disbelief. “For this tiny little shabby motel?” 

The teenager looked offended and shoved her earbuds back in. We stormed out. 

Chapter 4

I woke up the next morning STARVING. Where were we anyway? And why did I have something wet on my face? I slowly blinked away sleep from my eyes and saw that I was on a couch, with Luca and Calvin  sleeping on top of me. I identified the wet thing as Calvin’s tongue. Gross.  

I slowly pulled the twins off of me and onto the couch itself, not my shoulder and getting off it when something hit me. Where was Violet? And Leland? I looked around the room. It was really fancy. It had I bed, but it was small, and the velvet couch we were sleeping on. Violet was snoring softly in the bed, with Leland curled up in her arms. I saw a big window on the side of the hotel room. It was covered by velvet curtains, the same ones the couch was made of. I walked over there, but discovered that the floorboards were SUPER creaky, and started tip toeing. I peeked through the curtains, and saw that it was still dark out. The sun was beginning to rise, but still dark out. I pulled it back and creeped over to Violet’s bed. I shook her. 

“Violet. VIOLET. WAKE UP!!!!!” I whisper shouted. She sat up in bed quickly and then, seeing that it was only me fell back in bed and groaned.

“It’s too earlyyyyyyy” She whined. I pulled the blankets off her. She moaned into her pillow.

 “Get up!” I said. She sleep walked off the bed. And fell. A muffled groan came from her, but you could barely hear it because her face was mashed into the velvet carpet and her butt was sticking in the air. I rolled my eyes. I quickly undressed out of my clothes from yesterday and into a fresh green t-shirt and blue jeans. I tried to braid my hair like Katniss in the Hunger Games but it turned into a giant knot of hair so I gave up. All the while, Violet was slowly getting ready and dressed. We opened the blinds so light poured into the room, waking up the twins. They started crying.

“We should probably go on a walk. Get some fresh air.” Violet said while putting the twins in the stroller. I didn’t have a better idea, so I nodded and started to put on my velcro hello kitty sandals. About 10 minutes later, we were walking along the block. The weather was perfect. It wasn’t too cold, or warm but it was crisp. It was a perfect day for a walk, but sadly, everyone was ruining it. The twins were screaming. Violet was on her phone, and I was trudging along, ten feet behind. Violet apparently had enough of it and put her ear buds in, listening to music as she walked through the park.

 Then her patience broke. She put her fingers in her mouth and whistled as loud as she could. Now this is a thing you would only know if you were Violet’s sister. She whistles loud. And I don’t mean PE Teacher loud, but loud loud. Loud enough for the president of the United States to hear if he listened. Although I doubt he would be. Loud enough that if WWIII was happening they would pause to listen. 

So, imagine how loud that would be if you were standing right next to her. All of a sudden, we heard a pounding on the ground. Getting  louder. And louder. What was it? And Violet didn’t know either judging from her expression. Then it was ear splitting we had to look up. 

Bad Idea.

  Chapter 5

When I looked up, I had to run to avoid getting trampled by the thousands of feet that were galloping, bounding, and scurrying towards me. Thankfully, my staying alive instincts deflected the worst injuries. I ducked behind a trashcan to watch the parade/stampede. I scanned the crowd, which was gazelles, giraffes, elephants, and zebras. Oh, and snakes-for my sister and brothers. No sign of them. I was getting a cramp in my thigh, when the stampede stopped. Stopped, miraculously, in front of Leland, who was standing on his back legs waving his arms frantically in front of him and squawking monkey nonsense. Oh right. My pet monkey was a world class detective. He motioned for me to come over. There was a part of me thinking “Why the HECK are you following a monkey’s instruction? Are you CRAZY?!?!” (Which yes, I was) But the bigger part told me to just do it. 

I crept out of my hiding spot and crawled towards Leland. I saw Violet and the twins huddled next to Leland. Suddenly, we heard huge stomping. Like BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!!!!! And there, in front of me was the shortest, fattest man I had ever seen. 

“YOU!! Vy you vuin my plan?! You vuin evevyving!! MY plans! All my plans!!” He said in a strong french accent. “WHY????” He said and broke down sobbing.

   This was the bad guy? This short man with a suit? Who is kneeling on the ground sobbing? Ha. But, there had to be a twist. There was always a twist. And of course, there was. He stood up, grabbed hold of Leland by the neck  and killed him. I heard the crack. I saw him go limp. I heard myself scream. And then I launched myself at the man, half screaming half crying. I didn’t have any reason to believe he was still alive. I was angry. So ANGRY!! I had done everything I could to stop it from happening, and it did. Leland was dead. And I tried to hurt him for how he had hurt me. But I couldn’t. There was a wall. Made of glass, through what I could see from my eyes that were clouded with tears. The mysterious man with the monkey blood on his hands was smirking on the other side of the wall. And then I just couldn’t anymore. So I slid my back against the invisible wall, and tucked my head in between my knees. Was Violet dead too? What about the twins? But I couldn’t just stay here. I had to help them. I couldn’t go home now. I didn’t want to, with all the wait on my shoulders. So I stood up, and put my hands on the barrier. I slid them on the smooth surface until I found a crack, as I had expected. I pulled it and it shifted slightly, and I slid to the other side. The man on the other side looked unamused. I ran up and grabbed his shirt. 

“Where are my siblings?” I seethed, spit flying into his face. He just smirked again and whispered harshly:

“Where your faith crumbles.” I dropped the shirt and he vanished, leaving a puff of smoke behind him and the smell of lingering ash. 

The End

Oceanus attended a school for training to fight in the Roman army. Oceanus was born in Rome. He was 18 years old, in Rome his father was a bladesmith. The Roman army had drafted because since his father was a bladesmith. Oceanus was good with a sword. He had to join the army. The year was 206 BC and Oceanus was training at the school with his friend, Maximus. He wasn’t sad because he wanted to become a centurion. The general himself was going to graduate them.

Oceanus woke up in the middle of the night because the alarm bell was ringing.

“What is going on?!!” asked Oceanus.

“It’s just a drill, keep your hair on,” said his commanding officer. 

“A drill in the middle of the night?” The officer shrugged. 

The next morning Oceanus got dressed and went down to the mess.

“Hey! Oceanus over here!” yelled a very excited Maximus.

“Hi,” Oceanus said as he got to his table. “Did you hear the drill last night?”

“I slept right through it!”

Oceanus rolled his eyes. Maximus could sleep through a fire and he gladly would.

“I figured as much,” mumbled Oceanus.

Fifteen minutes later he was practicing on top of the shallow river. He and Maximus were practicing with their swords.

“Aren’t you excited we’re going to graduate in two days! And then we can-”  Oceanus stopped the sentence by knocking him with the handle of his sword which knocked him on his back in the mud.

The next class was archery.

“So when we graduate will you join with me?” asked Maximus.

“I just want to go home,” answered Oceanus.

“Excuse me, but will Maximus and Oceanus please shut up!” said the teacher with a glare so cold Oceanus felt like the temperature dropped 10 degrees celsius.

“Sorry, sir we’ll be quiet,” Oceanus said and gave Maximus a dirty look. The next class was advanced weaponry which was where you learned how to fire a large crossbow, at least Maximus wasn’t in this class. During lunch Maximus kept trying to convince him to join. Finally after the twentieth time Oceanus gave in.

“Fine I’ll join!!!” yelled Oceanus. 

“Jeez, okay, I’ll stop.”  

The next day was a blur, packing and walking around the campus for the last day. The next day they graduated but there was a surprise.

“You are all joining the army,” said the general, “your instructions are on your bunks.” He turned around and left the whole grade in complete confusion. 

Then five months later he and his group were scouting the approaching army. They had been sent very close to a very large lake which led to the ocean.

“Are you sure that that’s the army? The other scouts said that there were about one thousand others?” asked one of the other scouts.

“I guess that they were off,” said the leader with a shrug.

“Off by one thousand?” asked another scout.

Their leader just shrugged again. “I don’t know.”

“Hey, I think that I see the general!” said another scout.

“No you don’t, he’s over there,” said the leader pointing to the far side of camp. 

When they got back to the camp they filled out a report and wrote how the army was smaller than expected. That night, as Oceanus slept he thought and he felt lonely yet he was in the middle of a heavily guarded fort manned by thousands of soldiers, but they were deep in enemy territory hundreds of miles from the closest border of the Roman empire. Oceanus drifted to sleep.

DONG DONG DONG DONG!!! Oceanus woke with a start as the alarm bell rang.

“We are under attack, this is not a drill!!” His commanding officer’s voice cut threw the words of panic coming from Oceanus’s tent. “Get your gear and get out there you will receive further instructions there!”

Oceanus grabbed his sword and armor and ran towards the nearest exit. He put on his armor and ran towards the gate.

“You there get over to the catapults!” A rough hand grabbed his shoulder “NOW!!”

Oceanus didn’t have time to argue. He left and went to the catapult crew. They told him to release the trigger so he did. The machine fired onto the approaching army but the enemy archeries open fired on them killing all of the crew but sparing Oceanus and one more, six were dead. The camp was burning and the gates were being rammed down, arrows flew and injured soldiers called for medics who they might never see. Just when it looked like they were winning, loud war cries that sounded like a tiger about to pounce on and kill  his prey sounded from the hills from the left and right. They were surrounded. 

In Front, there was the main body of the army to the left, there were about 500 enemies to the right, there were 500 and behind them was the river. Oceanus was thinking about how quick he could run maybe he could run just fast enough to the lake and get on one of the ships and hide. A loud command cut threw his thoughts.

“You go fire the catapults,” said a centurion who had blood on his uniform.

Oceanus went to the catapults and loaded the large heavy rock on the hull of the catapult with six others. Then the commander aimed the catapult at the gates towards the approaching army but the shot would take some of their own soldiers.

“Wait that will take some of our own men!” said a very concerned Oceanus.

“Some people are made to be sacrificed,” was his reply. And he fired the machine. The sound of the rock hitting the ground followed by the sound of crunching bones was enough to drive someone crazy. Oceanus was running. The Centurion mistook it as an act of desertion so did the other five.

“Hey, you traitor-” His words were cut off and so was his head. Oceanus ran. There were five enemies on his tail and he ran faster. 

They chased him, he ducked inside the armory. It was mostly empty because of the battle going on. He grabbed a crossbow off the shelf and aimed it for the door. The door opened and the enemy got a greeting. Three arrows in his chest he collapsed. Oceanus reloaded the crossbow and shot the next enemy. Then an enemy spear came and hit a rack of shields, they came falling down onto Oceanus. Oceanus ducked and protected his head as they came falling down on him. Somehow he wasn’t crushed, he was hiding under the shields and an enemy entered shield raised he lowered his shield and looked around. Oceanus leapt from his hiding place and cut the ropes that held a door. The door shut as the enemy dove for the other side the gate slammed shut. Oceanus was left in the cold dark room. He looked around the room and took the nearest torche off the wall and looked around the room. Where the rack used to be was a hole.

“What was that?” thought Oceanus. He went down the corridor. He took five steps and then he saw two paths left or right.

“It’s a trap don’t go either way go back it’s a trap,” said a voice in his head. He went left. He crept down the hall. He walked down the hall for about 10 minutes before he came to an end. There was dirt completely around him except for behind him. A dead end. Oceanus stood up and smacked his head on the roof.

“OOOOW!!” He suddenly realised that he had hit his head on wood not cold soft mush dirt, hardwood. He pushed upward and a trap door sprung open and a ladder dropped down. Oceanus pulled out the crossbow that was strapped to his back and fired up into the hole that had just opened. No answer. He climbed the ladder and pulled out his sword. Someone attacked him. Oceanus grabbed his attacker’s sword hilt and smashed the sword onto the other person’s face. 

“Oceanus?” said his attacker. 

“Maximus?” 

“Yeah, follow me.”

Oceanus followed Maximus to a stable. There were seven other soldiers there, the highest rank was a captain which was three ranks below centurion.

“Let’s go,” said one of the soldiers.

They all hopped on a horse and rode away from the battle towards the nearest fort to get reinforcements. The soldiers had told Oceanus that the rider sent reinforcements was captured so they had been sent.

Five months later 

Oceanus strolled down the wooden stairs of the fort. He was thinking about what had happened five months ago as they had ridden to the fort. They had been riding when one of the riders grunted and fell off his horse with an arrow in his side. Oceanus pulled the crossbow from his back and steadied it. Twelve enemies had come running through the woods with spears and swords. Oceanus fired his crossbow at one of the enemies. 

Dead. The captain had told him and Maximus to go ahead. They had rode ahead and had gotten reinforcements. They had arrived in time and had won the battle but the death toll had been high for their side. The other riders had never been found. Him and Maximus had been promoted to centurion. Oceanus hadn’t been as excited as he thought he would be. He was just regularly happy, not as happy as he had been when he had realised that Maximus was not dead. Seeing a battle can do that to someone. 

Ben Joy loved his siblings. They were so nice to him and he was the youngest of them. His brother Zach, his 2 sisters Lila and Yasmin. The only thing that he hated was the fact that he was starting school. And today was the first day of school. His brother Zach drove him to school and Ben got prepared for torture. 

Two weeks later

Now my prediction is right, third grade is horrible. The worst part is, let me tell you, the substitutes  they love to yeeeeeeeeeellllllll. 

Everyday this is what happens: 

Where is your notebook? 

It’s right here. 

Where is your work?

It’s right here. 

Get out your notebook

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllll 

They are so mean. Here is a list of substitutes: 

Mrs. B: most annoying.

Mrs. L: most likely to yell. 

Mrs. K: she has red hair. Some classmates think she got red hair from getting so mad, her hair went on fire. Me and my friends made our own club called the Sub Society and do wars against subs. 

One day, our substitute Mrs. B was really annoying. By that time, we were voting for class president and she kept asking us what we were doing and we said, “We were voting.” 

Our teacher, Ms. Abreou, saw us going around to different tables and she asked what we were doing. We were all silent and then suddenly, out of nowhere, Ms. B said that we were voting and we got in trouble for the rest of the day. 

A story about Mrs. L: One day, we were surprised that Ms. Abreou wasn’t here and that we had Mrs. L as a substitute. We got into class and started doing our morning work. There was an announcement over the loudspeaker. It said, “All third grade teachers bring your students down to the cafeteria.” 

Mrs. L didn’t do anything. We told her what the announcement said, but she kept saying that the announcement said, “All third grade teachers come down to the cafeteria.” 

We kept arguing with her, but she still said no. That’s how we didn’t get to eat lunch. 

A story about Ms. K: 

You know how I said earlier that some of my classmates believe that her hair was red because people believe that when she got so mad, her hair goes on fire. Well, we had her today. She seemed pretty calm. The thing I forgot to tell is that sometimes in class she curses. I was sharpening my pencil and one of my classmates, Xavier, said to me “Jasper! Your pencils are already sharpened!” 

The substitute saw him and said, “Shut up and put your hand down!” 

Present: 

Well, me and the Sub Society, which includes my friends Irving, Victoria, Audrey, and Clara, were all discussing how we were going to make a trap.

“First,” said Irving, “We need to write this all down on a piece of paper.” 

So we got started. “We’ll make a trap door inside the classroom floor with a can of hot water underneath. We will tell the sub that we need help and lead her in the direction of the trap door. She will fall inside it, but we still have to be prepared when she gets out, so we will run to the stairs and get heavy cans of metal blocks and put it on top of the stairs. When she comes up the stairs, we will throw down the metal cans, and then it will crash into her. And for the last trap, when she gets to the main part of the school, we will pour a foot of hot water and pour it on her.”

Chapter 1

Swallows are special birds. They build their nests on the sides of old buildings, in the gaps between the roof and the exterior walls. The foundation is made mostly out of little bits of mud. The inside is lined with grass and old feathers. The entire painful process may take months, even whole seasons.

The Thompsons were an ordinary family living in a very, very old house. There was Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, their three children, and Mrs. Thompson’s mother, the kids’ grandmother. Victoria was the oldest child at the age of thirteen. Gregory, who was about to turn eleven, was the perfect example of an aggressive, obnoxious, video-game-obsessed middle child. Then there was Jamie, the youngest, who had just turned nine. Jamie was quiet and thoughtful, and was therefore a big disappointment to Gregory, who had always wanted a rowdy, competitive little brother to play rough with.

The children’s grandmother had lived with the Thompsons for as long as anyone could remember. Her husband had died of cancer right before Victoria was born. She was a strong and energetic woman for her age, and usually the peacemaker of the family.

 The older members of the family were glad Jamie hadn’t turned out like Gregory—with two Gregorys in the house, it would be a miracle if the roof didn’t come crashing down on the family.

Mr. Thompson worked in a small town nearby, where the kids also went to school and did their shopping. Their father drove them to school every morning, and their mother picked them up in her car at the end of the day.

It was a regular Tuesday afternoon. Victoria was clothes shopping at the mall with her girlfriends, and Gregory had gone to a classmate’s house to check out their birthday loot, which included the latest Mario Kart and a virtual reality set.

Jamie was the only one going straight home. As usual, he went straight up to his bedroom to do his homework.

Some time passed. He heard the screen door slam, a sure sign that Gregory was home.

There was a faint chirping noise outside. Jamie looked up. It was an old barn swallow gathering mud for its nest. Fascinated, he observed it for a while, then went back to work on his math problems.

The nest was finally ready. It had taken so long.

The female swallow, after careful consideration, had decided to build hers right outside a dusty brick house on the outskirts of a small town near a huge lake. The lake was a perfect water source for making mud pellets. The nest was hidden under the roof directly above a second-story window.

After gathering materials for the final touches, the swallow returned to the nest. Her mate was already there. He was painstakingly lining the edge of the nest with grass and old feathers. He had to be very careful—there were four tiny white speckled eggs sitting in the center, due to hatch in one week.

The female added the last bits of mud to the nest corners. Being careful not to move any of them around, she sat on the eggs. Until they hatched, she wouldn’t be able to leave again. Abandoning the nest for those last ten minutes had been extremely risky. 

It was going to be a long week for the two swallows.

Chapter 2 – one week later

The female swallow and her mate silently watched their babies push their way out of their eggs. The nearest one already had its beak sticking out of the shell.

The new parents bent forward to help crack the eggs. It was hard work.

Twenty minutes later, it was done. Four tiny baby swallows were resting in the nest with their eyes closed. They had all survived.

Jamie was doing what he did every afternoon—homework.

He heard cracking sounds and glanced around. Nothing. He looked behind him, in front of him, above him, and even went downstairs to make sure it wasn’t just Gregory breaking something. It wasn’t. He went back upstairs.

More cracking sounds.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t pinpoint the source of the sound. Eventually it stopped and he decided he had imagined it.

His mother called him down for dinner—spaghetti and meatballs. Jamie sat across from Victoria, who was staring at her food like it was an alien from another planet, and next to Gregory, who was busy violently stabbing his meatballs for no apparent reason.

“Vicky, eat,” Jamie’s mother prodded.

What’s new? thought Jamie.

Victoria took a deep breath, as if she was about to say something very important, and cleared her throat. “Mom, I’m… I’m going vegan.”

Mrs. Thompson groaned. “I spent so much time on these meatballs. How long will you be doing this?” 

“As long as I can..?” Victoria trailed off, seeing the look on her mother’s face.

Jamie’s grandmother spoke up, turning to her daughter. “ Samantha, let Victoria do what she wants to. She’s old enough to know what’s good for herself.”

Victoria gave her grandmother a grateful look.

Mrs. Thompson looked lost for a second. She glanced back and forth between her daughter and her mother. Even Gregory, sensing the tension, had stopped stabbing his meatballs.

“Fine,” Mrs. Thompson relented.

“I’ll eat your meatballs,” Gregory volunteered.

Victoria transferred her meatballs to Gregory’s plate one by one. “As long as you eat them instead of pretending they’re your enemies in a video game, go ahead.”

“Wrong. They’re my opponents on the race car track. You’re allowed to knock out your opponents.”

“Whatever. Same thing.”

“Whaddaya mean same thing?” Gregory stabbed his meatball so hard, Jamie jumped in his seat. “They’re completely different, Vicky!”

Victoria rolled her eyes. “Don’t call me Vicky.”

“Mom does.”

“Well, she shouldn’t either.”

“Stop arguing, you two,” Mrs. Thompson ordered. 

“But Moooom, he’s the one being annoying…”

“Yeah, well, I’m allowed to talk about video games, Mom…”

Jamie listened to his siblings bicker uselessly. He wolfed down his food, excused himself, and sat on the sofa to read a book. It wasn’t enjoyable to be the youngest child. In fact, ever since he had started fourth grade, his life seemed to be a cycle of school, homework, eat, sleep, repeat. He couldn’t remember the last time he had experienced anything really exciting. He wanted something interesting to happen for once.

Chapter 3

Two weeks had passed. Being in charge of four baby chicks wasn’t an easy job. The swallow and her mate had to take turns finding food and bringing it back to the nest every half hour.

At the moment, she was staying with the chicks and her mate was looking for food. They had opened their eyes only a few days ago and were now hopping about. The new parents had taken careful precautions to build up the sides of the nest so the chicks wouldn’t walk off the edge.

Suddenly a crash resounded from inside the house and the wall shuddered. The nest lurched sideways. The mother swallow let out an alarmed chirp, followed by her chicks. The world tilted.

Bit by bit, the nest was crumbling away from the exterior wall.

It took some time for the swallow to realize what was happening. In a flurrying panic, the mother swallow flew out of the nest. She had no way to save her chicks. She let out one more distressed chirp.

The nest, her beautiful nest that she had worked so hard on, broke apart from the wall and fell, her precious chicks along with it. The nest landed on the ground with a thump.

The mother fluttered down to the broken remains of the nest, fearing the worst, and almost collapsed with relief. All four of her chicks were frightened but alive.

The nest, on the other hand, was a problem. It had shattered into tiny pieces.

The swallow stared at the rubble in shock. What was she supposed to do now?

It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. Jamie, Victoria, and their grandmother were playing cards in the den. Gregory, who wasn’t blessed with the ability to sit still and pay attention, let alone “stare at numbered pieces of paper,” as he put it, was swinging his plastic club and pretending to be a ninja. Their mother’s china vase sat on the window.

Victoria scanned her cards. “It’s my turn. Jamie, Give me your Jacks,” she said. 

“Don’t have any. Go fish.”

Victoria took a card from the deck. “Gram, what’s Mom making for dinner tonight?”

“I have no idea. It’s my turn… Vicky, give me your sevens—”

CRASH.

The whole house shook. The three card players glanced up to see a guilty Gregory leaning on his club with shards of china littered all over the carpet.

Gregory frowned. “Oops…”

The children’s grandmother stood up. “Jamie, Victoria, clear out,” she said slowly. Her voice was low and dangerous.

Jamie scrambled out of the den after his sister, shut the door, and ran up to his bedroom, which was directly above the den. He would be able to hear the conversation below with no problems.

He closed the door and then pressed his ear to the carpet. His grandmother was busy chewing Gregory out. She was on a roll. 

“…don’t you realize how expensive that vase is? You just wait until your mother finds out, Gregory! You have to be more careful! This was nobody’s fault but yours…”

Just then there was a faint thump. Jamie felt it more than he heard it. It seemed to come from outside. Jamie heaved himself up, opened his window, looked down, and drew in a sharp breath. He didn’t believe his eyes.

Chapter 4

Mr. Thompson was enjoying a peaceful afternoon snack all to himself when his youngest son barreled down the stairs three at a time, yelling at the top of his lungs. “Dad! Dad, oh my God, you wouldn’t believe what just happened – it’s crazy, you have to see this—”

“Is everything alright? I heard a crash in the den,” Mr. Thompson said worriedly.

“Yes, Gregory broke Mom’s vase—”

“What?”

“-but that’s not important- Grandma has it under control—what you really need to know is that there’s a fallen swallow nest outside, Dad, come see, c’mon…”

Mr. Thompson followed his son out of the house with one last anxious glance at the den door. Jamie led him around to the back, below his bedroom window. “C’mon, Dad… right here, look…” 

Mr. Thompson looked over his son’s shoulder, awestruck. There were scattered pieces of a swallow nest in the dirt, and huddled together in the middle of it all were two swallows and four baby chicks.

“What do we do, Dad?”

Mr. Thompson bent down to observe the chicks. “I don’t know.”

“Hey, Dad…” Jamie thought for a minute. “What if we make them another nest?”

Jamie’s dad frowned. “How? We can’t piece these mud pellets back together.”

“Like… we could use a box. Or… something.” Jamie realized he hadn’t really thought it through.

“Actually, Jamie, that could work! I could nail it below your window.”

“Below? The old nest was above. That’s why I couldn’t see it until it fell down.”

“You’ll see. Jamie, I’ll be right back…” Mr. Thompson re-entered the house.

He returned a few moments later lugging a tool kit and a small cardboard box in one hand and a long maintenance ladder in the other.

“Dad, I didn’t know we’ve always had a giant ladder in the house!”

Mr. Thompson grinned. “Well, I finally have an opportunity to use it. It’s been in the downstairs closet all this time.”

They got to work. Jamie picked out the strands of grass and feathers that had lined the old nest and set them in the new one. Then, with some difficulty, he and his father placed the baby swallows in what would be their new nest. The swallow parents instinctively flew in too to stay with their chicks.

Mr. Thompson unfolded the ladder, set it up under Jamie’s window, and climbed onto the top step. Hands shaking, Jamie lifted the cardboard box and handed it to his father. He fingered the hem of his shirt anxiously and watched Mr. Thompson nail the box to the wall. He hoped the new nest would hold up better than the old one. 

The hammering stopped. It was done. The nest was now firmly attached to the wall. Jamie suddenly realized why his father was putting the new nest under his window instead of above—he would be able to see it from his bedroom without any difficulty, and he could keep an eye on the swallows.

Mr. Thompson made his way down the ladder. Jamie helped his father bring the tool kit inside and put the ladder back in the closet. As soon as they were finished, he ran up to his bedroom, opened the shades, and looked out his window. The swallows were safe and happy. Jamie smiled to himself.

That night at dinner, Jamie recited the entire story to the family. They listened without interrupting him and seemed impressed—except for Gregory, who couldn’t care less, despite having caused the crash that was the most likely reason the nest had fallen in the first place—but Jamie didn’t mind. He was happy and content. With Mr. Thompson’s help, he had saved a family of swallows. He felt very proud of himself.

So you know how there is the super mean and snobby super popular girl with 2 best friends in all the movies and books and shows? Well, that’s Jessica Martinez, Abbigail Streffer, and Flora Nightingale. And you know how there is that super cute and popular boy that every girl has a crush on? Well, that’s Rafa Abascal. He has been my best friend since the first day of first grade. I don’t have a crush on him but Jessica does. And she wants to spend every second that she can with him.

My name is Theora Frincey and I love basketball. I’ve played it all my life and was trained by Stephen Curry because my mom knows him. Anyway, I’m going to tell you about one time at school.

I was at basketball practice when Rafa came up to me.

“Hey, your three-pointer is on point! Could you teach me how to get better at mine?” he said.

“Sure,” I replied. “I’m always happy to help a friend out.”

We both laughed at that because he has been asking me that since third grade. And we’re in eighth grade now.

Right then, Jessica, the leader of the J.A.F. crew came up and interrupted our conversation.

“Why not I teach you, I’m much better anyway.” She said snobbily.

So I got really mad because she always steals the people I want to teach how to shoot. So I did something I wanted to do for five years and threw the ball I was holding straight into her stomach. Really hard. Like as hard as I would throw if I was shooting from the other side of the court hard. She fell to the ground and slid all the way from the hoop, to the half court line. She looked stunned for a second. Then she started bawling.

“Coach Jenkins! Theora threw a ball at me!” she yelled.

Coach Jenkins came over and looked back and forth between me and Jessica with no expression on her face. Then, she smiled and gave me a high five. I was shocked. But not even close to as much as Jessica.

“COACH JENKINS! THEORA THREW A BALL AT ME! WHY ARE YOU GIVING HER A HIGH FIVE?!” she yelled, still crying.

“You are a snobby, annoying, GIGANTIC-egoed, BRAT. I PRAISE Theora for throwing that ball at you. I would do that if I could. Nobody likes you, you know that, right? Not even your friends. They hate you! They are only your friends because if they weren’t, you would get SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO mad and your parents would probably sue their parents.”  

I looked around and everyone was shook. Nobody knew that Coach Jenkins could be so honest to a student. Some boys were shouting, “Whoo!” “Yes!” “You tell her!” and other stuff like that. 

“I also don’t even understand how you could think that you are better at shooting than Theora. You know for a gosh darn FACT that that is a straight up LIEEEEEE!”

“Oh. My. Gosh. I couldn’t say it better myself, Coach Jenkins. There’s nothing left to say except…” I gestured to my friends a gesture that we made up so we could all know to say… “YOU. BETTER. BACK. OFF. HATER!!!” we all said simultaneously.

That was the story of how Coach Jenkins was the best teacher ever. In conclusion, Jessica became popular for being roasted by a teacher so she left the school, and the J.A.F. crew was over.

The End

PART 1:

Dirk at birth…

What a strange baby he was. Even though he was seconds old back then, he had already sprouted his infamous Trump-like orange hair. And he already had a beard, of all things! The doctors decided to examine him for study briefly. Since the parents did not especially care for him, after what he looked like and how many problems he had caused for his poor mother during the pregnancy, they said okay.

It turned out that Dirk (pronounced like “Dirt”, except with a k at the end, then Chepe pronounced like “chape”) had off the charts testosterone levels, and he needed to be treated immediately. So every single day of his life, he would have to inject a part of his lifetime supply of fluids that the doctors gave him in the first weeks of his life.

Enough of that testosterone stuff. Let’s talk about Dirk’s emotions as a baby. Even then, when he was born, he had severe anger management problems. (Now, he isn’t as mad all the time, since he kills and/or severely injures at least 10 kids a week in his toddler skiing “lessons,” or “massacres,” you can pick which you’d like to call them.) Back then, whenever his parents put broccoli on his plate, or anything he didn’t love, or basically anything that wasn’t applesauce, he would throw a temper tantrum that only his mom could calm down, and even that took at least four hours. But it certainly wasn’t just food. There are too many things that he hated to list here, but here are some of the major things:

1. Food, of course.
2. Any moment that his parents weren’t holding him.
3. When he was trying to sleep without his mama.
4. When he was trying to say his name but it came out like Dirt! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…
5. When everyone else in the world seemed to be holding back laughter if they weren’t already laughing when they said or saw his name.

There shouldn’t even be military school for two-year olds, but there was. And Dirk was such a bad boy, that tearfully, his parents had to send him there.

 PART 2:

Military School

It was very hard for Dirk to adjust to military school, since he missed his parents so much. But it toughened him up, once he finally acclimatized. However, his parents would have never believed this when they sent their darling Dirk to military school, but military school probably impacted their son to kill young skiers…

At the age of eight, Dirk was a skilled fighter, one of the best in his class. When he was fifteen, he was a tall, lanky, muscular boy who could have been an American Ninja Warrior. He never attended a college of any kind. When he was twenty, he joined the military.

In his teenage years, he was quite popular with the girls. Bethany even married him. Except eventually, she would get into a lethal skiing accident.

A year after joining the military, he made a drastic career change and decided to become a professional skier. He thought this was the best decision he had made in his entire lifetime. Others, especially his future students, some dead, probably didn’t…

 PART 3:

Dirk Chepe, Professional Skier

Dirk made a pretty decent pro skier, at least for the skiing part. He preferred it over other contact sports like football or wrestling, because on a flat ground, his opponent would just fall down. But on a steep, icy, snow-covered black diamond, the opponent(s) would bump down the hill, screaming and falling head over heels. It was even better on moguls! Since he did so much contact, he was sometimes disqualified from competitions for life. He didn’t care unless it was the Olympics, that he cared about. By the end of his skiing career, on much more than one occasion, he pushed many people into the trees, mostly in hit and runs. He loved doing that on moguls especially. It was so delightful to see people bumping and crashing, especially when no one on the course, or anywhere except him knew that it was him, except for him.

Then, he was even more handsome (at least according to the girls he dated) than in his teens. Eventually he had eight wives, excluding Bethany. Here they are.

1.   Emily married him when he was 21. One day, they were skiing out together. The previous morning, they had a fight about Dirk’s aggressive skiing and Dirk pushed her on the moguls. Emily snapped her neck as Dirk said:
   1. “So now you know what competitive skiing is like now, huh? Hahahaha!”And for the rest of the day, the snow there was stained pink.
2.   Amelia married him when he was 22. Somehow, the ski lift that she was on didn’t meet current safety standards (it was very old). She fell off the lift and broke all of her ribs, one patella, one humerus, her skull, her lower lumbar, two wrists, two ankles, one radius, seven metatarsals, and 30% of what was still not broken in her body. As you could guess, she died.
3.   Wendy married him when he was 24. They went to the same mountain where Amelia died. Wendy’s chair lift didn’t meet safety standards either, and when she was supposed to get off at the top of the mountain, the lift sped up to 20 mph. When Wendy tried to get off, she broke all of her ribs. During emergency surgery, she died.
4.   Audrey married him when he was 25. She needed to tighten her ski boots, but Dirk pushed her down the triple black diamond and she died.
5.   Margaret married him when he was 26. She said, “I love you Dirk.” Dirk said, “YoU CaLlEd Me DiRt?! HoW DaRe YoU!!!!!!” Dirk punched her in the forehead and Margaret immediately died of brain injury.
6.   Sophia married him when he was 29. Dirk had no idea she was a terrible skier, so he put Sophia on a slalom course. Sophia went too fast and died.
7.   Sally married him when he was 33. She was a daredevil, and eventually she did a ski course too difficult…
8.   Winona married him when he was 34. She was a very cautious skier prone to psyching herself out, however with good skill. But then one day, Dirk forced her to do a double diamond, and she had a panic attack and died.

(Please know that no one wanted to anger a professional skier like Dirk, so not even the owner of whatever mountain the death happened on dared to anger the possibly honorable skier Dirk Chepe. Everyone in the skiing world knew of his aggression, and knew that if they tried to report him, they would be a victim of Dirk’s homicide as well.)

PART 4:

Ski Instructor, Dirk Chepe

At age 42, Dirk retired from being a pro, and sought a job in teaching toddlers how to ski, thinking that maybe, just maybe, toddler screams would be even more appealing to him than grown people’s screams. He easily found a job at Whiteface Mountain, NY. After all, he was over half of his life; he might as well enjoy it every winter day on the mountain. And every summer day? He spends his time at Cerro Chapelco, a ski mountain in Argentina, where summers in the US are winters there, and winters in the US are summers. Sometimes, down in South America, when he feels like it, he plucks llamas off of the hills, strangles them to death, takes them home, butchers them, and eats them for dinner. My ski sketch is a good example of what a ski lesson with Instructor Dirk is like. (Also known as torture and/or a massacre). Dirk’s grand total of injured and/or dead skiers right now is 127,489. (I will update the casualty count every time I visit this doc).

In 2018, Dirk started a ski resort on Annapurna, Nepal in the Himalayas (also known as the deadliest mountain in the world), just so that when he had the time to visit, he would always see people looking like idiots trying to ski down the 26,550 summit and slip on the vertical rock face. Luckily or not, Dirk’s resort still made enough money to pay all of the death expenses, though the brochure that advertised his resort did say that skiers would ski at their own risk, and pay all of the medical bills if necessary (which, if you could not assume, was always necessary). After all, paying the bills WAS why Dirk started his resort. Shh!

So, it looks like we have reached the end of this biography. I’m pretty sure that me and the reader can conclude that the skier Dirk Chepe is a terrible person, and unfortunately, that will not change. Oh well. Not all stories have to have happy endings. And neither does this man.

The End.