Category: Summer 2017

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Emily and her younger brother named Henry. They were the children of Mrs. and Mr. Gorr. Mrs. and Mr. Gorr were the most evil of the most evil of them all. Emily and her brother went to a normal school, but lived an abnormal life.

Dear Diary,

Today was a lot like yesterday. I went to school, got an A+ on my test, and when I came home, my parents didn’t care, like always. I live an abnormal life because, well, my parents get a lot of calls from the agent about something or somewhere they have to be, and it feels like they don’t even care. Instead of calling the cable company to talk about how our T.V.is broken, that is what a normal family would do.

Good night, Diary.

Ding-Dong!

“We are home!” yelled Mr.Gorr.

“Mom and Dad, errr… I mean, Mrs. Gorr and Mr. Gorr, I got an A+ on my test…” Emily said. I am kind of worried about what they will say, she thought.

“That’s great.” Mr. Gorr said calmly.

“So you don’t care. Good night, thanks for talking,” Emily said.

“Honey, I mean Emily, did you finish the chores?” Mrs. Gorr said.

“Yes, I did. I cleaned up the kitchen, the bathroom, and the all the rooms,” said Emily.

The next morning, Emily woke up to the sound of her parents practicing their welcome speech for the agents. Emily walked downstairs to get herself a banana. In this house, there was barely any food, so fruit was the way to go.

Bring Bring.

“Ms. and Mr. Gorr, the school bus is here. Come on, Henry. We don’t have all day!!” Emily yelled.

On the bus, Emily flipped to a blank page of her diary. She stared at her diary and wrote…

Dear Diary,

I am on the bus. What should I do? I really hate how my parents are evil. You might think that is cool, but no, it gets annoying. Here is a secret that I have not told anyone, but I will tell you… my parents are evil, right? I am scared that if my parents get caught and end up in jail, that I would then have to take care of Henry, and I would have to try and save them. Also, today Mr. Burk is giving us a piece of paper, and we have to write about our main goals in life. Since we are in sixth grade, we need to know our lifetime goals.

Thanks for listening, Diary!

“We are at school,” yelled the bus driver.

“Today, class, I want you to write down what is your goal in life. I know this is a strong question, but I know you can do it!” said Mr. Burk. “Here is your piece of paper, and here is your piece of paper, Emily. You can start, class.”

Okay, Emily, what do you want most? I don’t want people to know my parents are evil, but I really want to tell the class. I have an idea.

“Okay class, time to share. First up… Emily!” said Mr. Burk.

“Okay, uhm… so… my goal is to make my parents not be on their… um… phones?!” Emily said.

She ran back to her seat and sat and slumped down.

That night, Emily did her usual diary entry:

Dear Diary,

Okay, so today at school was the worst day at school: 1. We did what we always do. 2. Then it happened. I had to tell the class about what my main goal in life is. That is when bad things happened. I just don’t want to talk about it, okay!

Good night, Diary.

“Emily!” yelled Mrs. Gorr.

“Yes?” Emily yelled back.

“We have a family meeting. Henry, come on. Let’s go. Family meeting,” said Mrs. Gorr.

“Okay, so me and Mr. Gorr have been getting phone calls from the… um… the agent?” spoke Mrs. Gorr.

Uggggghhh, Emily thought to herself.

“Um… well… there is a mission in New York.” muttered Mrs. Gorr.

“WE ARE MOVING TO NEW YORK CITY!!!” yelled Mr. Gorr.

***

“Flight 19675 leaving San Francisco, the beautiful great bay and going to New York,” said the pilot. When they got on the plane, Emily sat with her brother. Mr. and Mrs. Gorr sat behind them. A couple hours later, the flight attendant came by and said the food was coming. The plane had a weird smell, a mixture of new chair smell and fresh sandwiches. When they got their food, Emily got a Coke and a bag of chips, and Henry had a ginger ale and pretzels.

“Hello everyone. We are about to land in New York City. If you’re coming home, welcome home, but if you’re just staying here, then enjoy your trip!” yelled the pilot.

When they got to the new house, it was so much better then the house they used to have. The house was brownstone, had marble countertops and brown cupboards, and in the living room ,there were light gray chairs with a gray couch, and big windows to let in the sunlight. In Emily’s bedroom, there were blue walls to match the baby blue bed covers. She had a white desk with pens, pencils, and paper on it. Emily was a neat person, so everything on the desk was neat. In the backyard, there was a grill for Mr. Gorr and a garden for Mrs. Gorr.

“Mrs. Gorr can I take a walk around the neighborhood?”

“Sure, but grab your phone just in case of emergency.”

On her walk, Emily was listening to her favorite song: Classic by MKTO. While she was walking, she saw a girl on her house steps. She took out her earbuds and walked over to her, and said:

“Hi, my name is Emily and I just moved here.”

“Nice to meet you, Emily. My name is Katie. I just moved here too, from California.”

“Wow, I just moved here too, from California. Do you know where you lived?”

“Los Angeles.”

“Oh, do you know what school you’re going to?”

“Well, I’m going to St. Mark’s Elementary and I’m going into seventh grade.”

“Oh same, I’m going into seventh grade at St. Mark’s Elementary too! Do you know what class you’re in?”

“I’m in Mrs. Patterson’s class.”

“Oh, so am I!”

Katie’s mom came out of the house. “It’s time for dinner, honey! Oh hi, and who are you?”

“I’m Emily and I just moved here from San Francisco.”

“Wow, we just moved here from LA!”

“Mom, she knows!

“Well it was nice to meet you, Emily.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

“EMILY, IT’S TIME FOR DINNER!” Emily heard her mom shout from down the block.

“I’m sorry, I have to go. My mom’s calling me for dinner.” Emily ran back home.

“Honey, who were you talking to?” Emily’s mom said.

“Oh, a girl named Katie. She’s going to the same school as me and we’ll be in the same class.”

At school the next day, they gave her her locker number, number 23. 25… 24… 23.

“Oh, found it!” Emily saw Katie in the distance, who was panting.

“Finally, I caught up to you! Guess what? I’m locker 22.”

“I’m locker 23!”

The bell rang. It was time for class. Emily went to science class and so did Katie. They sat next to each other, not really listening to the teacher that well. “Remember class, we have a science fair coming up. The theme is outer space! Remember, it is on May 23rd from twelve o’clock till two,” the teacher said.

After science class, it was time for assembly. They all gathered up in the gym. While everyone was walking in, the gym was crowded and hot. Everyone was packed in the gym like sardines. All of a sudden, there was a big noise. It was the principal, Ms. James. Ms. James said through the loudspeaker:

“More information about the science fair! It’s going to be on a Friday so you should probably pack a lunch because the cafeteria won’t be open. You guys should be there at 11:30 to set up. You can invite parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and friends. The judges will decide who has the best outer space themed science project and will win the first place prize: a blue ribbon.”

On the bus ride home, Emily felt kind of nervous asking her parents to come to the science fair. Would they be available or would they be on a mission?

“Emily Gorr, Emily Gorr, this is your stop!” the bus driver shouted.

At home, she decided right then and there to ask her parents.

“Hey Mrs. Gorr and Mr. Gorr, our school is having a science fair and parents are allowed to come. Will you guys be able to come? It’s on May 23rd from twelve o’clock until two.”

“Well, let me go check my calendar. I’ll be right back. Start your homework,” Mrs. Gorr said.

When Mrs. Gorr came back downstairs, she sounded suspicious. “Well sweetheart, we can’t make it. That’s the day of our mission and that’s why me moved to New York.”

“Well, do you know if Uncle Sharron and Aunt Mia can come?”

“I’m sorry sweetheart, but they can’t come either. They are about to move to California. Maybe Katie’s parents can come to your station.”

“Sure, but it won’t be as nice.”

Emily went upstairs and started working on her science project. She decided to do a model of the Big Bang. Emily felt disappointed, so she decided to write in her diary.

Dear Diary,

Today Ms. James announced that the science fair would be on May 23rd, and of course my parents can’t come. I’m not surprised. Why can’t they come to any of my projects? I guess the missions are much more important. I remember when I was younger, when my parents did not have the mission job. We went to movies a lot, they hung out with me, and I got to call them mom and dad. I guess my parents’ job is just like the big bang because before the earth happened, there was just a galaxy and before my parents got the job, it was just us. Thanks for listening, Diary. Goodnight.

The next couple of days were not as bad as I thought they would be. The night before the science fair was a hard night. Emily was working really hard. On the morning of the science fair, her parents started putting on all of their gear to go to the mission. They loaded up the car and drove away without saying goodbye or “Have a good day” or “Wish you luck”. She waited for Katie’s parents to come down the block and take Henry and Emily. In the car, Katie, Henry, and Emily were talking about our summer plans. Katie was going to sleepaway camp and Emily was staying home like usual.

At the science fair, the judges were coming around and looking at all of their projects. When the judges spoke into the microphone about who won first, second and third place, Emily started listening.

“In third place is… Madeline Star. In second place is… Chelsea Super. And we have a tie for first place! In first place is… Emily Gorr and Katie Blue!”

“Yay! We both won and got a blue ribbon!” They screamed.

At dinner, Emily’s parents were not really congratulating her on the big win. They were more focused on their mission.

“So Mr. Gorr and Mrs. Gorr, I won first place on my science project!”

“We aced the mission! Everything went smoothly and gracefully.”

“Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Gorr, I can show you some pictures!”

“Before we go into those pictures, let me tell you some stuff about the mission. The new agent is terrible! We need to fire her.”

“Emily and Henry, go straight upstairs and go to bed!”

“But it’s only 7:45 and I want to talk about my science fair.”

“No! I know you want to talk about the science fair but there’s always morning. End of discussion.”

At the next day of school, Principal James started talking about the art fair. Emily had an idea, a really good one. She decided to take a canvas, balloons, paints, and darts. She would fill the balloons up with paint and blow them up, then attach them to the canvas and when she hung up the canvas, you could throw darts at the balloons and paint would come out and splatter everywhere! It was on June 2nd from twelve o’clock to two o’clock. On the bus ride home, she thought about the art fair. She knew her parents would not come. She didn’t even bother to ask but her parents knew all about it from an e-mail.

“Hey Emily, there’s a new art fair coming up, but I’m sorry we can’t make it. We have a meeting with her new agent.”

“Great, again two times in a row you can’t make it. You probably think the missions are more important than me.” She stormed upstairs, slammed her door, and locked it.

“Emily!” shouted Mrs. Gorr. Emily didn’t respond.

“Emily please, I know we haven’t been to any of your school things but we’ll make it up to you in the summer time. I’m really sorry, honey.”

Then Mr. Gorr came in. “Where’s Emily?”

“She’s upstairs pouting in her room.”

“How come?”

“Because we’re not coming to her art fair, and we didn’t go to her science fair.”

The day of the art fair, Emily won first place, no ties. But that night at dinner, when her parents asked her how the art fair was, she didn’t respond. She just went up to her room and said, “I’m going to finish my homework.”

The next morning when Emily came downstairs her parents yelled “SURPRISE!!!”

“But is is not my birthday!?” Emily said, very confused.

“We felt very bad that we didn’t come to your art and science fair and these two things hopefully will make it up: 1. You can call us mom and dad and 2. We are quitting our jobs and now will be high school teachers at the Chapin School!” said Emily’s mom. “We love you so much, Emily.”

THE END

“Wake up!  Wake up!”

My eyes flutter open inside my dark and dismal bedroom. I glance at my clock, one of the last possessions I have left.  We sold the rest. It’s only 3:30 am.

“Get up!” yells my older brother, Jim, who never loves me. “Get up, or by the time we get to the store, the shelves will be empty.”

Oh right, I say in my mind. Ever since Trump’s wall was built, my life has been split in half. I put on my dark, gray coat and get ready to leave. Even though curfew doesn’t end for another hour, we still wait in silence in the sketchy alley behind the store. While we wait behind an oil barrier, I catch a glimpse of the wall. An eyesore, a barren stretch of barbed wire, the wall that keeps me separated from my parents.

It’s been five months since my parents crossed the wall in search of work. They left when you could still cross the border freely. They left in search of food. They left in order to give us a better life. They were in search of the real American dream. I can remember that day; my mom was wearing a khaki coat, my dad was in patched jeans. Even nature knew that was a sad day. That morning, the birds didn’t sing their happy song. Instead, they sang a sad, low song.

Before they left, they gave us 250 dollars, enough to buy one hundred pounds of food. Enough to last until the day that they would return. My parents warned us to save and not splurge. That was the last amount of cash left in the bank. The wall just doesn’t flow between the U.S. and Mexico, it also cuts through the states of the Northwest. To the north there’s Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. To the south, there’s Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada. Leaving my home state of California divided, the wall cuts through my hometown of San Francisco.

As I daydream on, my annoying brother pinches me.

“Ouch!” I squeak. Jim must never have loved me.

“Shhh!” My brother hisses at me. “Stay focused,” he snaps.

Just to annoy Jim, I ask, “Why do we have to wait so early?”

Then he really gets ticked off. Then he says in an annoyed, angered, and mocking tone, “You know why, buster. Because of Trump’s policy, only American goods are allowed for purchase, making a shortage of food.”

As he speaks, I can detect sadness in his voice. I know he’s depressed, not because his parents are gone and not because his life is forever scared, but because his girlfriend, Anne, who he loved more than me, fled across to the North a few months ago. He was planning on proposing to her, but he was waiting on me, who was waiting on my dad, who was waiting on his sister, who was waiting on a baby, who was waiting to come out. But that night, Anne fled with her family across the border with only the clothes on their backs in the tar-black night and only, with the light of the faded stars, to fall and to be shot.

“C’mon, curfew is over. Let’s go line up at the store,” he says.

As I glimpse over at the bleak and life-threatening wall, with the patrols that are ordered to shoot on sight, I ask Jim, “If you had the chance, would you go to Canada?”

Then the slightest bit of happiness is drained from his face. Then he said, “Don’t think about that. Those who get too curious about the divider end up crossing it.”

We walk inside the lifeless store. Up above, I see a faded supermarket ad with a smiling mom with her kids saying, “So many choices, for such a small price!”

I think, Yeah right, the only choice is between white cabbage and napa cabbage. I dump a sack of rice, some napa cabbage, and a can of soda into the shopping cart. As I wait in line at the checkout counter, I see some smuggled mangoes, carefully buried beneath a carton of pasta. But as soon as I look away, the cart is gone. I wonder, if only I could afford some of the juicy, tangy, and sweet mangoes that I crave so much. Then I remember that if I were to buy a mango, that would cost all of the cash we had left. As my brother and I arrive at our apartment, we see the cars that belong to the dreaded secret police.

“Stay calm,” Jim says, in a hushed tone. We were the reason they were here. They were here for two reasons:

1. Our parents’ daring escape to the North.
2. They believed that we were associated with Anne’s escape.

The moment we step into our apartment, we realize that we are correct. There are two officers in the room. The officer with the nametag that says “Ted” asks us, “You two know that we only want some answers that’s all, right?

Before we could respond, he says, “Very well, shall we begin? First question, when did your parents escape to the North?”

Then Jim answers, as clear as a bell, “February  3rd, 2018.”

Then, the second officer, Ben, says, “Have you had any contact with your parents?”

After that, I say, “No…”

But then Ben cuts me off and says, “Shut up squirt and let the older one talk! I didn’t sweat through training to deal with stubborn teens.”

Then, Jim finishes for me by saying, “No, not since the cell phone signals have been cut off.”

“Final question,” says Ted. “Were you involved in Anne’s escape?”

Jim freezes. I try to say something, but I can’t. Finally, Jim manages to choke out the words, “No, I never knew she escaped until a week later.”

The officers look like they don’t believe a word Jim is saying.   

I brace for arrest. I brace for jail. I brace for my life to be over. As soon as Jim says those words, Ted tackles him to the ground, but Jim slides out of the way. Then Ben grabs a lamp and bashes Jim’s head. Blood spews out of his head like water flowing out of the tap. Glass shards stick out of Jim’s head like teepees. The fight continues into the kitchen where Jim is thrown against a glass case of fine plates and cutlery. The glass case and plates explode into a million pieces. Jim grabs a knife and stabs Ben in the chest. Ben falls down and crumbles like a plastic bag on the kitchen floor. Blood seeps onto the floor, full of Ben’s blood. The floor looks like it was washed in blood. After noticing his colleague’s death, Ted gets a burst of energy, takes a frying pan, and whacks Jim in the head. Jim drops to the ground dramatically and gets becomes knocked out. Ted then takes a knife and says in a cold voice, “Come with me or you will end up like your brother.”

I follow Ted into his patrol car while he drags Jim by the legs against the hard concrete. He bangs up and down. I hope he just has a concussion. A few minutes later, Jim wakes up inside the speeding patrol car. When the car zooms by a bleak, dismal, and dark neighborhood that’s near the wall, my eyes meet Jim’s. Could this be the time he would sincerely tell me that he loved me, before we would be separated in jail? I begin to plan out what I will say to him.

But before I can speak, he whispers, “Don’t look back, no matter what.” Before I can respond, he pulls the car door handle and shoves me out of the car.  

At first, I thought he wanted to hurt me, but then I realize he just sacrificed his life for me and saved me.

I don’t know what happened next, but I envisioned this, a man yelling, “Well if I can’t get him, then I guess I have to take you,” and then there was a crack of gunfire. Next, I hear car wheels squeaking and a car coming in my direction. After this, I begin to run toward the wall. I knew that my life here was over, and my only chance was to cross it. I had nothing to lose. My brother was dead, and I had no future here. As I climbed up above the wall, just about to hit the barbed wire, I could see sirens squeaking, speeding patrol cars, and wild dogs swarming me. As I climb over the spiky, barbed wire, I feel something tugging on my leg. Then the tugging gets harder and I look down. It was a mutt, a sniffer, a police dog! I yanked myself free, but while I was dealing with the dog, I was was not paying attention and got tangled in the barbed wire. I then wiggled free of the sharp, barbed wire and land on the floor with sharpened particles in my arm and leg. Unable to walk, I begin to helplessly crawl on the dusty ground, toward the second wall that separates the South and the North. But as I tug myself forward, I hear dogs barking, and sirens wailing after me. All I feel inside me is a desperate need to survive. As I trudge closer and closer to the Northern Wall, a dog starts to grab my leg. I groan in pain. A few seconds later, his owner arrests me. After that, three more guards surround me. One points his gun, and says, “Any last words, traitor?”

Then in a whimpering voice I say, “Is it a crime to act free in your own country? Is it a crime for your own brother to sacrifice his life so you can live freely in another state? Is it a crime to live happily and in tranquility? Are you considered a traitor in your own country because you are going to another state for a better life and to find your parents?”

I’m not scared of the guards, I’m only scared of the fact that I won’t see my parents again. My final thought is that although I did not make it out alive, I am grateful for my brother and I only know this: yes, my brother did love me, he really did. All I can remember happening next was bang! My name is Dominic, and this is my story.

Chapter One: Meeting Extinct Reptiles

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Ben. He never had a good life, and all he wished was to have a better life than this. His parents had adopted him. All they ever said was, “You don’t deserve dinner tonight. You don’t deserve ice cream. You don’t deserve chocolate. You don’t deserve anything, but us.”

One night, they got so angry that they got a ladder and told him to stand right in front of it and to give them a white board. When he realized what happened, he was too afraid, and he had already given it to them, so now he couldn’t take it back because it was too tall.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh! Help me!” he screamed with terror.

He closed his eyes, hoping, no praying not to get hurt. Then he felt as if a magical hoop was going around him. So he opened one eye; he was in a different dimension! He found himself in the middle of a velociraptor home. They had fresh meat in the corner and raw meat in another corner. It was neater than his parents’ house!

“They sort stuff?” he said confused. “Amazing!”

They even made beds out of straw they found in the woods. He suddenly noticed two velociraptors were staring at him. He knew they were velociraptors because it matched all the features of a velociraptor he had read about in the library. They had piercing eyes and gleaming sharp claws. They surrounded Ben. It’s the end, thought Ben. Instead they just sniffed at first, then walked away!

“Maybe it’s because I smell like their home!?” said Ben. Then he remembered something. He dug in his pocket until he dug out a big book. The cover said, The Language of Velociraptors. His real parents had put it his pocket before they died. “Yes!” he said. “I knew I had it somewhere! You know, I should treasure this.”

In Velociraptor language, he asked if he could live with them because his parents were evil to him.

“Of course!” the velociraptors said. “Just let us warn you about something.”

“I’m listening,” said Ben.

“If you see a cheetah, they are against us, so you better run for your life!”

“Got it! It’ll be a piece of cake, I’m a great climber,” Ben said.

“How do you know there’s woods out there?” said the velociraptor.

“It’s a legend in my world,” said Ben.

“Got it,” said the velociraptor.

“Wait, do you have a leader?” said Ben.

“You’ll know the difference. He has wicked patterns on his back.”

“Let us introduce ourselves,” said one velociraptor. “My name is James. And this one right here is my brother, Michael.”

“I want to help hunting,” said Ben. “What do you hunt?”

“Rats and bugs. Also raw meat we find lying around from the cheetahs.”

“I know how to catch the rats,” said Ben.

“How?” asked James.

“You make a contraption that rats can crawl in, but can’t crawl out.”

“Amazing!” said Michael.

“Wait, is there more of you?” Ben asked.

“You’ll meet the others later,” Michael and James said together.

‘‘Can you teach me how to talk at the same time?”

“Sure,” said Michael.

“So let’s go hunting!” said Ben.

***

When they got there, Ben realized that it was more than just the woods. It was an enchanted woods, actually — He could feel it.

“But wait,” thought Ben. “The legend didn’t say it was enchanted.”

That got Ben thinking, Maybe that’s why there are so little live animals. No wonder it’s so gloomy. I wonder how we’re going to find other animals to eat.

“Do you have a stream?” asked Ben.

“Yes, we do,” said James.

“Okay, great! Because I think I’ll only be eating fish.”

“We’ll help you hunt the fish,” said the two velociraptors together.

“If you know how to fish,” said Ben smirking.

“What do you mean?” said James. “First, are you done hunting?”

“Yeah, we are,” said Michael.

“Great! Time to make some fishing rods,” said Ben grinning broadly. “First, can be you get me to a bamboo forest?”

“Definitely!” said James. “It’s the next forest down.”

***

On the way there, they didn’t get bored because they were chatting about how fun it would be to defeat those cheetahs. When they were about halfway to the bamboo forest, James said, “Hey look! There’s the rest of the clan. I knew they were hunting!”

“Uh oh,” exclaimed Michael. “I just realized we were supposed to take care of the baby velociraptors. We’re in big trouble.”

“Hide,” Ben whispered while shouting.

***

They scrambled up trees while the others came. James and Michael were shivering like icicles just about to fall off a porch. “What if they find us!” said James.

“If we stay quiet, they won’t find us. So quit it!” said Michael.

Ben suddenly worried about something. “What if I lost the smell I got from their house? The velociraptors won’t trust me, and they’ll eat me!”

Now Ben knew he had to scramble up the tree. “No!” He knew he had to distract them. He had to save James and Michael. He slowly came down… slow as a sloth. Finally, he got down right in front of Clan Espyon. (He found out what clan it was from the legend.) The clan went to him and sniffed him like James and Michael did. The clan backed away and circled Ben. I can tell. I think it’s best to talk to them now, Ben thought shaking.

“Hello?” said Ben. “I met James and Michael, so please don’t hurt me.” They stopped circling and stared at him. Then said, “Follow us.”

“I’m sorry, but I need to go to a bamboo forest to make myself fishing rods,” said Ben.

***

“We’ll take you there,” the chief said.

“No that’s okay. Michael’s taking care of the babies and James is with me.”

“Oh, got it,” said the clan chief as he left.

***

“See you soon,” said Ben, making sure they were completely gone. “James, Michael, you guys can come down now!”

Both of them peeked from each of their branches and came down.

“Quick! Michael go to the cave before the rest of the clan does, and be safe!”

Michael speeded like a jet towards to clan’s cave. “I hope he makes it in time,” said James.

“Me too,” said Ben.

“We should go to the bamboo forest now,” James said after a while.

“You are right, let’s go.” Soon enough they reached the bamboo forest. The first thing Ben noticed in the distance was a panda chewing on a bamboo stick.

“How many animals are supposed to be in this legendary world?” Ben asked.

“Four,” said James. “They were hunted down by cheetahs in case you were wondering.”

“And what would these two more animals be?”

“Dodo birds, which have their own island so they don’t get hunted down by cheetahs, and red kangaroos.”

“We also found another species… ”

“Wait… really?! What species? Where?”

“Introducing, the panda,” Ben said, showing where the panda was. When Ben looked at James he saw he was speechless. James could only say one thing: “Incredible.”

SSSHHHHHHH went the bushes, rustling as if there were wild bees fighting in there.

“What was that?” said James. “I think they’re here,” said Ben. “The cheetahs are here.”

Chapter Two: The Impossible War

Slowly, eyes popped out from every bush; soon, they were surrounded.

“I’ll climb up the tree and you run. They’ll be distracted by me and you’ll be able to run away,” said Ben.

“On the count of three: one, two, three!” Ben jetted up the tree and then for the split second, back to back to a tree.

The cheetah army looked up at him, and James had time to escape.

“Get theeeeem!” yelled the cheetah general in fury. Ben gracefully went from vine to vine in the trees, and the cheetahs followed but weren’t as lucky, as ten clumsily fell from the trees. There were ten left chasing James on the ground, but the rest of the army went to help the ten that fell from the trees. As the other ten who were chasing James hit trees, James quickly dodged the trees. Ben then slid from a vine to the ground and ran with James.

Ben suddenly said, “We should tell the other velociraptors about this.”

“You’re right,” said James. Five minutes later they got to the cave where Michael was, and immediately the velociraptors said, “Hey James and Ben!”

“Hi, but can we talk to chief?”

“What is it?” the chief asked, walking through the crowd.

“First, follow us.”

James and Ben went to the back of the cave with the velociraptor chief. “The cheetahs are coming!  We need to get the rest of our army, quick,” said the Chief.  “Everyone, get into your hiding spots, and the army can come with me!”

Chapter Three: The War Begins

The minute they got out of the cave, they saw the army waiting for the victorious yell of the leader, hopefully within the minute.  “ATTACK!” yelled both generals.

Ben decided to distract some cheetahs so he went into the trees, and the general yelled, “GET THAT BOY!!!”

James and Michael saw Ben’s plan so they followed the cheetahs that followed Ben   Slowly, one by one, the cheetahs chasing Ben disappeared because of James and Michael.  Soon there were none left, and Ben went back to get some more.  

“There he is!” said the general.  “Get him!  More this time!  Put twenty of you to get that boy!”

Still he went back, so he put more and more.  Soon there were only ten left against the velociraptors.

“WE GIVE UP!  We’ll do whatever you want!”

“Whatever?” said the general, looking at James, Michael, and Ben.  

“From now on, work for us!” said James, Michael, Ben and the general.

And they all lived happily ever after

THE END                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

For a while, there was nothing. But then I could feel my brothers and sisters and my mom licking me. I loved the taste of my mother’s sweet milk. Then, as quick as there was darkness, there was light. I saw my beautiful mother, and my pink and squirming sisters and brothers. In my house, there were two people. They came in every day to give my mother great-smelling food. They would not give it to us though. I wanted the food badly. My brothers and sisters were very playful. I learned my mother was called Buttercup and my brothers were Max, Bobby, and Cubby. My sisters were Samantha (who I loved the most), Coco, and Rose.

They called me Cassie, and my female owner always said, “Cassie Cassie Cassie! Come!” I learned that that meant to go to her. After playing with Samantha everyday, my owners started to give me my mother’s food. I liked it, but it wasn’t as good as milk.

Then one day, my owner said, “Cassie! You are going to be adopted! Your new owners will call you Cleo!”

She said it with such joy and happiness, I wagged my tail and barked.

After I woke up the next day, two playful boys came in to see me. They radiated their love for me! I didn’t know why, but I immediately got attached to them and their mother called “Mom.” They then brought me into a big, metal thing called a car, and they stuck me in a smaller metal thing called a crate. I sniffed it, but I was tired so I drifted off into a cozy sleep.

When I woke up, I smelled a whole new place. My boy took me out of the car. I was still in my metal crate. He carried me up these bumpy pieces of wood to my new house as I soon realized. Once Mom opened the door, the boys rushed in and put down my crate. The door opened to my crate. This place had tasty air, but I missed my family. I missed Samantha. I was thirsty. The boys let me lick their hands and they tasted good. I wanted to play with them, but I didn’t know how to get out over the metal bar that was in front of me. When I finally got over the bar, I was so happy.

Two minutes later, I was curiously sniffing my water bowl and licking the boy’s face. This boy was called Nico, and Mom called the other boy Jacob. A few minutes later Mom left with an old man. It was just me and Jacob because Nico went upstairs. Jacob stayed with me, and I felt calm when he cuddled me. I fell asleep in his bed. I woke up a few minutes after Nico came downstairs.

He said, “Hi Cleo!” and he took Jacob’s position by cuddling me. I fell asleep for the rest of the night.

In the morning, Mom woke me up and put me on a mat. I relieved myself, and Nico praised me by saying, “Good girl!”

I wagged my tail because I was so excited! Then I realized I was hungry.

Then Mom said, “Let’s get you some food, puppy wuppy.”

I curiously sniffed the air as I smelled the food they gave my mother, Buttercup. I ate all of the delicious food. Then I went on the porch. I loved it so much. I smelled the birds and plants. As soon as Jacob brought me in, I had a huge desire to go out again.

I tried to get out in every way. I jumped at the door, I sat by the door, I pushed the door. None of them worked. I even barked at it.

I’m never going to get out, I thought.

I decided to devise a plan to escape.

I decided to make a Rube Goldberg machine to open the front door.

I hope this will work, I thought.

I knocked over a line of treats that went directly to my water bowl and nudged it a little. The stick in the water bowl fell over to knock the leash that was tied to the cabinet. The cabinet swung open and hit a (very squeaky) orange and green tennis ball. The tennis ball rolled all the way into the living room and bounced off a table leg. The tennis ball rolled to a vertical shoe, which fell on a seesaw made out of a bed resting on a toy. The doggy shampoo, which was on the bed, flew up and started rolling to the stick with a fork at the top, which I hoped would turn the key when the shampoo hit it…

The doorbell rang. I started barking and yelling in my mind, Who is it, who is it!?

I ran to the door just as the shampoo was about to hit the stick… You won’t believe me when I tell you that I accidently knocked over the stick!!!

NOOOOOOOO!!! I thought angrily. My plans are ruined! I will never be able to go out! I am trapped!

Then Nico came downstairs and opened the door. I rushed out joyously. I was free!!!

The person asked, “Can you sign for this package?”

“Sure.” Nico said, cheerfully.

I will never be trapped again! I thought gleefully.

From then on, I always got to go out onto the porch, and Mom and Nico took me to the park very often. When I went there, I always got to play with my friends. I decided I was sure about one thing; I loved the great outdoors.

I remember it like it was yesterday…

The Great Escape

You’ve heard the other stories, I bet. Somebody makes a gingerbread man, he runs away, and he eventually gets eaten. Well, my story isn’t like that. Maybe it’s the dough I’m made of, or maybe it’s my raisin brain, but I survived.

Chapter One

The first thing I can remember is entering the oven. I couldn’t move, and it was getting hotter by the second. I braced myself for incineration. Why must my life end before it has truly begun? But just before the baking heat took me, I was lifted away. My savior was a large woman (she seemed large to me, at least). But before I could thank her, her voice boomed:

“Marigold! Dessert’s ready!” I froze. Surely she didn’t mean…

Before I could make a decision, a hand reached out towards me. Had I been a second later, it would have been crumbs for me. I leapt off the table and came down hard on the floor. I could have been hurt badly, but the plush carpet cushioned my fall. Then I ran. A huge oak door loomed up in front of me. I stopped. Behind me, the monster was getting closer and closer. I turned around and slid under the door. I stood up and looked around.

Over by the wall, in a little nook, I saw another gingerbread man. I gasped and walked towards him. He was cinnamon brown, with raisin eyes and an icing mouth and coat. I reached out to touch him, but pulled back, because it seemed rude. He did the same.

“Hello?”

He didn’t respond. Then, I saw the monster coming up behind him.

“Look out!” I yelled, and jumped out of the way. I looked behind me — and there was the monster. It was then I realized that the other gingerbread man was only my reflection. But there was no time to mourn my friend that had never existed. I dashed between the monster’s legs and out under another door.

But in front of me was my greatest challenge yet: the steps. I hoisted myself down a few, my breaded muscles straining. But then I had an idea. I pulled myself up to the railing, just as the door opened and down I slid, holding on for dear life.

“Ah!!!” I screamed.

After a terrifying descent, I finally reached the bottom. Squeezing my eyes shut, I slid down on the end of the rail. The door creaked open. Shoes clacked through the hallway. I slipped through the door just before it closed. The sights and sounds of the outside world greeted me. Dogs barked, people yelled, and commotion was everywhere in the big city. I timidly crept into the street and was immediately knocked over. I crawled behind a plant and dusted myself off.          

Chapter Two

I didn’t know what else to do, so I ran. Dodging huge shoes left and right, I darted through the crowd of feet. I was infinitely relieved when I burst out into the sunlight. Grass and trees surrounded me, bigger than I ever thought anything could be. I wandered around aimlessly, staring up at the beauty that surrounded me. There weren’t many people around; it seemed like paradise. But just then I saw a flash of orange in the bushes. I looked in the bushes, but saw nothing, and decided to ignore it.

I came to a river. The roaring floods frightened me, but I went up to the water and dipped in my toe. It stung worse than any pain I had ever felt before. I quickly pulled it out and looked around for a mode of transportation across the river. But I saw nothing. Just then, I felt hot breath on the back of my neck.

I turned around. There stood a fox, with an evil gleam in his eye.

He said to me, “I can carry you across this river on my back, if you would like.”

But I knew his true intentions. “Not on your life, mister!”

Then I ran. Away from the fox, away from the river. I heard his paws pounding on the ground behind me. But I didn’t look back. A moment’s slowness could mean death. I dived between two large roots of a tree and dug frantically with my hands. Just as the fox reached me, I had dug a hole deep enough so his snout could not reach me. Plastered against the end of the hole, I waited. I don’t know for how long. But when I finally stepped outside, it was dark and the fox was asleep. I carefully tiptoed past him. Then I ran, again.

I looked around for any sign of life, but I saw nothing. I would have to brave the streets again.

 The End

In the year of 2007, there was a mass murderer somewhere in the state of Michigan. Alban McCluskey was on a journey with the orphanage, visiting the Great Lakes in Michigan.

One night, Alban, a.k.a. “Al,” woke up in the middle of the night looking for something to eat or drink. He saw a shadow with a crooked, sleek, body zip across the door. Al had a quick response to duck down under the counter. He heard a very faint metallic scrape of a rope. Almost like the sound you hear while going on a zip-line from the rope. Then he heard a faint slice and a disgusting sounding squish.

Then Al remembered! He had seen it on TV that morning. In the state he was in, there was a person killing children! He immediately remembered that he was in the same state. He knew he didn’t know how to fistfight or defend himself (assuming the intruder was holding a weapon and was dangerous).

Two of his friends abruptly screamed, and ran down the stairs, and behind them was a creepy, sleek woman in a black jumpsuit. She came down and swiftly, with what looked like with no hesitation, stabbed both boys at the same time. She took scissors out and snipped all four ears off the boys.

Al was scared to death. Then from behind him, he saw one of his friends opening the freezer behind her, and Al, knowing this was life or death, pushed her in and slammed the freezer door. They held the door very tightly until the slamming and crashing against the door had stopped. When the police arrived, they all agreed it was unsafe to let her out of the containing box which was the freezer. They took the whole freezer out of the house that the orphans were staying in. They all were overjoyed they had defeated the woman, but at the same time, they had lost three lives.

Ten Years Later…

One morning, Alban McCluskey was waking up to a rainy, overcast, and stormy morning. He slowly climbed out of bed, craving the warm covers but knew he had to get to work. He worked at a magazine company. He pulled up his tie and set off for work at the magazine. He had left his car he liked in the garage and forgot to tell the people to take it out so he took a taxi.

In the taxi, he took out his iPhone and looked at his Facebook feed. He thought he was hallucinating. He saw on his emergency alerts that Kassandra had broken out of jail and was on the run. He immediately clicked on the article and saw that for the past two years in her jail cell, she had been screaming and yelling about “Mojo” and “PureChi.” Then one day, she just screamed as if she were being tortured and just bent the bars of her jail cell. She ran off, screaming the name McCluskey. When she broke out she said, “Al will die.”

He went to work and was scared to death, as if he were a child. He didn’t go anywhere by himself. During the night, he went to his “colleague’s” house to see the atmosphere while he was working at home. Really, he just didn’t want to be in the dark by himself. Al didn’t remember much from his childhood, but the one thing he remembered, like it was the day before, was the night where his two best friends were stabbed right in front of him by this horrible woman.

Then he saw a message in his inbox on Facebook. It was horrible. He remembered that night the woman cut off the boys’ ears! Then, there they were. Those ears. In his inbox. He knew what he had to do. He had to face her. That night, he ran home, stretching and stressing himself out. Then he had dinner fast. He went in the mirror, but he screamed when he saw that it looked like a dark shadow of Kassandra was right behind him. He twisted his body, thrusting all of his weight into his face to crush Kassandra’s ribs, but he swung right through her. He knew it! It was his reflection…

He was having another flashback. His story wasn’t over yet.

Chapter One

Hi, my name is Ornette. I am 11 years old. I have 17-year-old twin sisters, named Chelsea and Sarah, and 8-year-old twin sisters, named Violet and Maya. My parents are journalists, and we keep moving from place to place. My parents keep going to different places for work, so we come with them. Right now, we just moved into our new home in Hawaii. I didn’t want to, but I had to. I just wanted to stay in California.

My mom just called us for dinner, and we went to eat. My mom cooked chicken and rice, and we ate it. Everything felt different, and I wanted to go home. New house, new food, new neighborhood, new school. It was much busier here.

“We might move to a new place. We just want to tell you so that you know. If the conference call tells us to go somewhere else, we have to. Be prepared,” said mom.

I shrugged.

“Already?” asked Violet.

“I want to go to bed,” I whispered as I quietly walked to my room.

I felt the wind blow through the new house and the floor creak as I walked up the stairs. As I lay on my bed, I remembered all the friends I had at my old school, before I left. I wish I could’ve spent more time with them. It made me feel upset. I really missed them. I remembered my first day of school was tomorrow. I felt very scared, but I had moved from place to place before, so I knew how to make new friends. As I told myself this, I fell asleep.

Chapter Two

The next morning, I woke up and I walked down the stairs again. They were still creaking. The sun was out today, and it was very hot. At breakfast, my mom showed me pictures of the school and all the classrooms. They looked a little like my old school! I got really excited and started to eat faster. I accidentally spilled cereal on myself because I was eating so fast.

“Brush your hair and teeth, and then it is time to go to school!” said mom.

I brushed my hair and teeth very fast. I was still very excited. My mom took me and my sisters to school. As we walked, I saw lots of children, and I felt more excited than ever. I was so excited to make new friends! When I saw the school, I froze. It was full of lots of children. I had never seen a school this big before, or this many children in one building. I was so scared I was going to get lost. My mom said goodbye to all of us, and my big sisters walked me to my classroom before going to theirs. The teacher met me at the door.

“Welcome to the class. My name is Ms. Fish. What is your name?” she asked.

“My name is Ornette,” I said.

The teacher led me to my desk and winked at me. The girl next to me turned.

“Are you new here?” she asked.

“Yes” I responded.

I felt like she was going to be my new best friend.

“I moved here from Kansas last year, and I had a really good experience,” she said, “My name is Isabel!”

“My name is Ornette” I said, “I moved from California, and I keep moving from place to place.”

“Oh, do you think you’re going to move again soon?” asked Isabel.

“Maybe, I don’t know,” I replied.

Then, the lesson started. As the lesson began, I looked at the schedule. I saw it was time for math.

“Math at this school is really fun, you should be really excited,” Isabel whispered to me.

We got into partners, and we got to pick them. I picked Isabel. We played math games that we were assigned to play.

After math, it was time for reading. We started reading picture books, and the teacher assigned levels for us to read at. The levels went from one to eight. I got level seven. I was really proud! Isabel got level seven too.

At recess, we went up to the rooftop. I saw a really big jungle gym there. It was really tall. It had hundreds of slides on it and lots of things to climb on. There was a twisty slide, and I ran to try it out. It made me very dizzy. Then I saw Isabel playing with a few other girls. I went over to play with them. The other girls’ names were Sadie and Rose. We decided that we wanted to play tag. I had so much fun!

After school, Rose asked me, Sadie, and Isabel to come over to her house. I said yes, and we left together on the school bus. I found out that we lived next door to each other. When I got out of the school bus, I told them I had to ask my mom first. I went back home, and I asked my mom. She said sure. I went back to Rose’s house. When I came in, I saw there were hot cookies on the table and glasses of milk. Rose, Isabel, and Sadie were all eating the cookies. I started eating the cookies too. They were chocolate chunk cookies. They were really good.

After we ate the cookies, we started to play Monopoly. It went surprisingly fast. Sadie had played Monopoly a lot and was very good at it. She won!

“How do you like school?” Sadie asked.

“It’s fun,” I said.

“What would you do at school if you could?” asked Isabel.

“I would want to take a field trip to California and stay there for two months,” I said.

“That would be cool!” said Rose

“What would you do?” I asked

“I would write a thousand books!” said Rose. “Sadie?”

“I would eat cupcakes for lunch.” said Sadie. “Isabel?”

“I would make a medical class,” said Isabel.

“By the way, I am having a karaoke birthday party. And you are all invited!” said Rose. She gave us invitations with pink bows on them. After that, I went home.

Chapter Three

A week later, on Saturday, I went to Rose’s birthday party at a karaoke place in our town. My mom drove me and my two big sisters. They both had another birthday party to go to on the way.

When my mom dropped me off, I saw the building. It was super tall. My mom parked the car and brought me to the 10th floor. I said goodbye to my mom, and I saw Isabel. She was eating a chocolate dipped strawberry. Then I saw the giant stage that Rose was singing on. She was singing a song that I did not know. Isabel came over to me and offered me a chocolate strawberry. I ate it, and it was the best chocolate strawberry I had ever had in my life. After Rose finished her song, we had pizza and cake. The cake was a chocolate ice cream cake. Then, I took a picture in a photo booth with Rose, Isabel, and Sadie. After that, the party ended.

Chapter Four

When I was driving home from the birthday party, I saw many signs that said “MISSING” on it, with a picture of a girl. Her name was Scarlett Rover. The girl had glasses, short black hair, and lots of freckles. It said she was about my age, and she was last seen at the airport. When I got home, I started to sketch the girl on the posters. When I finished sketching, I called Isabel and told her to meet me at the park in half an hour.

When she met me, I started to tell her about the girl on the posters. I stared at one of the posters in the park. Then I went and grabbed it.

“Why do you want to find this girl?” asked Isabel.

“I’ve wanted to find something big for a long time,” I responded.

Isabel nodded, even though I don’t think she knew what I meant. My mom drove me and Isabel to where she was last seen, the airport. I told my mom there was a historical plane we wanted to look at. My mom really likes history, so she agreed to take us. It took 45 minutes. When we got there, I took out the poster and asked the flight attendant about the girl.

“Yes, she was here about two hours ago. I was on her flight when it took off but when I went back to check on her, she was not there,” said the flight attendant.

“Do you know anything about the girl?” I asked.

“Yes, I do. I am her grandfather, and she comes here a lot” he frowned. “I really miss her, and I would really appreciate if someone could find her.”

I nudged Isabel.

“This is our chance!” I said. I turned to the flight attendant.

“We are here to help!” I said. “Do you know where she lives?”

“Yes, she lives 45 minutes away, on 81st Street. It’s a brick house with three windows on top and nine in front. There is a big staircase that leads up to the door. You can’t miss it!”

“Thank you!” I said.

We left to find the house.

Chapter Five

We found a house that matched the description that the attendant gave us. We walked up the big staircase. Then we knocked on the door. It did not open right away, but a woman came out a few minutes later. She looked really dizzy and almost sick.

“What are you here for?” she asked.

“I would like to figure out what happened to your daughter,” I said.

The mom waited for a few seconds before speaking.

“I’m not her mom. I am her aunt. Her mom disappeared along with her, and her dad is on a long trip. He won’t be back for a couple of months. My name is Lora. I came here because I was supposed to watch over their house while they went to visit her dad,” I thought for a second.

I thought about how that wouldn’t make sense, because she went to the bakery.

“Thank you,” I said, and then I left.

Rose looked embarrassed and upset. We went back to the park.

“What do you think, Rose?” I asked.

Rose pulled me to the side.

“My cousin is missing too!” she whispered. “She has been missing for two months!”

I started to listen closely.

“I last saw my cousin going to the airport, and she was going far across the country. She sent me a letter every day, until I heard from someone else. He had messy handwriting, and didn’t spell things correctly. He signed the letter “the man,” and he said that I would never see my cousin again. On the back of the letter, there was a little spiral.”

“Maybe that is the same man who captured Scarlett Rover!” I suggested.

It was getting dark, and I had to go home.

Chapter Six

On Sunday, I went down for breakfast and ate all of it. I asked my mom to go back to the airport, and we drove back. We saw Scarlet’s grandfather.

“Can you show me the plane your granddaughter was on?” we asked.

He nodded.

“We will have to wait, because it is coming back from Scarlet’s destination,” he said.

We waited 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, and then the place came in. He led me and my mom onto the plane. He showed me where Scarlett Rover was sitting. I started to look over and under the seat. There was a little carpet on one side that said “plane” and had a picture of a plane. I heard banging under it, so I took off the carpet to reveal a little door. It was small and narrow but it looked like at least two people could fit through. While my mom was looking around, I decided to look at what was in the trap door. I went through lots of twists and turns, and I finally came to a little door at the end. I opened the door and found a rope. There was a messy knot, it even sort of looked like how Rose described the man’s handwriting. The rope looked like it had been cut with something sharp. On the rope, there was another poster that said “MISSING” with a picture of the same girl on it. I heard my mom calling for me, so I went back up.

Chapter Seven

My mom was sitting in the seat across from the secret passageway. She looked very curious. Of course I had to tell her about the trap door. After I finished, we said thank you and drove back home. I asked my mom to stop at Isabel’s house for a minute.

When I arrived, I knocked on the door. Isabel answered.

“I need to talk to you with Rose and Sadie!” I said.

I took her by the hand and took her to Sadie’s house. I said the same thing to Sadie. I took both of them by the hands over to Rose’s house. I just gave Rose a wink. I took them all to the park.

We sat on a bench, and I told them about what happened on the plane. I told them about the trap door, the messy knot, and the sign on the door. I told Sadie and Isabel about the man, and I told them everything. After I finished, I started to talk with them about what could happen next, what the man could do, and where he could have taken the girls. Sadie and Isabel looked confused. There was a silence.

“Can I help with this mystery?” asked Sadie.

I nodded. Then I looked at Isabel, and she nodded.

“I would like to help too!”

We all winked at each other and agreed to meet at the park the next morning, before school started.

Early the next morning, I set my alarm clock for 6 AM. We would spend about an hour to plane before the bus came. I left a letter for my parents:

Dear family,

I left early to go talk with my friends about something that is happening. We would like to talk privately. I will get to school safely on the school bus. I do not want you to worry about me.

Signed, Ornette.

As we walked to the park, I spotted more and more signs of Scarlett Rover missing.

“What are we going to do?” asked Sadie.

“I don’t know,” I replied.

“Isn’t it really quiet?” asked Rose.

I gave her a dirty look. I thought for a second. I realized – it was really quiet! The town was usually really busy. Even at 6 AM, you could usually see at least 50 people and 30 cars on the street. But today, we only saw 20 people and 10 cars.

“Maybe everyone in the town knows about the man and that’s what scared them away to another town!” I said.

Sadie, Isabel, and Rose nodded. Suddenly, there was a loud thump. I looked for Rose, but she was not there. I was scared! Then I heard two more loud thumps, and I saw that Isabel and Sadie weren’t there. Then, I heard the biggest thump of all. I was unconscious.

Chapter Eight

The next thing that I remembered was that I woke up in a big, dark garage. I saw lights flash. I couldn’t see so well from being in the dark for so long. I tried to get up, but I found out I was tied to the ground. When I could see well enough, I saw a shadow creeping around, in front of me.

“WHAT IS GOING ON?” Isabel screamed.

I looked at Sadie. She was awake. Rose looked like she couldn’t see well.

“Did Isabel wake you up?” I asked.

They both nodded and yawned. Then a man came into the light. I knew it, it was the shadow that was swinging around before I saw the light.

“I am the man, also known as Killer!” he said, “I am trying to take over the town, and I want you to help me.”

Rose screamed and froze in her spot. Killer glared at her with an evil look, and she fainted.

“You started to get onto me, and it got in my way. It became a danger to my plan. I want all six of you to help me take over the town!”

“But there are only four of us,” I said, “Who are the other two?”

“Scarlett Rover,” he declared as a light turned on from the ceiling.

There was Scarlett, tied down the same as us, trying to escape.

“How long have you had her?” asked Sadie.

“Four days and 12 hours exactly,” Killer replied. “I need Scarlett because she can trick her parents and give me access to the ink industry. I’ll be rich!”

Just then, Rose woke up again. Rose saw Scarlett.

“We found Scarlett! We did it!” she said.

We all frowned at her. Then, Rose spotted a dark figure in the opposite corner.

“Who is that, in the opposite corner?” asked Rose.

“So glad you asked. It’s Chantel Brook!” said Killer as another light turned on.

Chantel was tied up too, sitting on the floor. Chantel had short blonde hair, looked very tall, and was wearing a fancy white dress. Rose gasped. Chantel looked up and saw Rose.

“ROSE! Why are you here?” Chantel asked, surprised.

“Long story,” said Rose.

Chantel nodded.

“SILENCE! Chantel’s mom is the mayor, so if she wants to move, they will move. If there is no mayor, I can take over!”

All of the girls were very scared.

“I will give you one hour to decide if you want to be on my team and take over the town with me, or you will be locked up in here forever!” Killer said as he left.

Rose took her arm out of the rope and pulled out a pair of scissors.

“If I’m going to be here, I should maybe cut my hair while I can!” she said.

I looked at Rose.

“You’re a genius!” I say.

“Where did you get those scissors?” asked Scarlett.

“Oh! Scarlett!” I said.

“I just kind of took them from my house” said Rose.

“Okay, you can use the scissors to cut your ropes,” I said, “And then cut our ropes too! And then…”

“Guys! Look at that bird over there!” said Isabel.

I looked at the window.

“Great! I forgot what I was saying!” I said.

Chantel looked at me, and then Rose, and then at the walls.

“Oh wow! A window!” said Chantel, “I’ve never seen that before!”

“Why don’t we try and climb out through the window?” asked Scarlett.

“How?” asked Sadie, “It’s too tall for us to reach!”

Then, we all noticed a big pile of wood, and Rose had an idea. She looked for her backpack, and she found glue. She picked up the wood, and started to glue pieces together so it looked like a ladder. She pushed the ladder to the window so she could climb up and get out. Then, she spotted a small, brown rock.

Chapter Eight

Rose picked the small, brown rock up and took it up the ladder. When she got to the top, she used it to break the window. She dropped the rock to see how far it would be. It was very far down. She did not know how to get that far down without hurting herself.

“What’s the matter?” asked Scarlet.

“It’s too far down for us to jump, and there is no way to climb down!”

“YOU HAVE HALF AN HOUR LEFT UNTIL YOU DECIDE!” said a speaker on the wall.

We all jumped a little. Scarlett picked up the rope from the floor.

“The ropes Killer tied us with are long enough to use to climb down. We can tie it to something up there and use it to get down!” she said.

Sadie was very quiet.

“I’m not gonna do that!” said Sadie.

“Just try it,” I said.

“How are we going to keep the ropes steady?” asked Chantel.

Sadie looked crazy.

“Maybe we could glue the wood to the window frame and tie the rope to it!” suggested Isabel.

“Great idea!” I said.

Everyone else nodded.

“Fine.” Sadie said, though she looked like she was going to cry.

I went first. I thought it went well. Then Isabel, Chantel, Rose, Scarlett. We were all safe. Then Sadie. When Sadie got halfway down the rope, it started to break a little. As she went down, it broke a little more. We were all calling her to jump. Sadie started to sweat. The rope broke fully, and she had no choice but to jump. As she hit the ground, she looked very excited. She was still holding most of the rope.

“I just faced my biggest fear!” she said.

We looked around. We saw lots of grass and some cows. In the distance, there was a little town. We looked back and saw that we just escaped from a white box. Chantel motioned for us to follow her, and so we did. Chantel lead us to the front of the box. There was a garage door and a mat in front.

“I remember that when I was first here, I saw Killer put keys under this mat,” Chantel said.

She started to look under the mat and found the keys to the garage.

“If we lock the garage, there is no way he can get out!”

Chantel locked the garage door and put the keys in her pocket. Scarlet saw a car, and they all went to it. We all got in it, and Scarlett started to look for the key.

“Where do you think the key is?” asked Rose.

We looked everywhere in the car, but we could not find it. Chantel decided to look on the keychain she found under the mat.

“Guys! The key was here the whole time!” she said as she held up a key labeled “car key.”

“Does the car have GPS?” I asked.

My mom’s car has GPS, and I know it can tell us where we are. Scarlett put the key in, and a GPS system turned on with the car.

“There we go!” said Scarlet.

She put her address in, and it said we were 5,000 miles away. We were so surprised! We drove for 5 hours, until the car ran out of gas.

“Okay, what are we going to do now?” I asked.

“There’s nothing for us to do but walk!” said Scarlett.

We started to walk. It started to get dark. We saw the town in the distance, but it was very far. We found a pond with some blackberry bushes. We settled down and made a fire.

“I’m hungry and tired!” said Sadie and Isabel.

We went over to the blackberry bush, and we all picked berries. We sat next to the fire. I yawned. Isabel blew out the fire, and we all went to sleep.

We woke up and got right to walking. Day after day, the same thing happened. On the fifth day, we reached the town. The first thing I saw was that there were more signs than ever. I also saw signs for us! People who were walking by saw Scarlett, and went over to ask her questions. Scarlet was overwhelmed. After Scarlett answered all the questions, we walked back to her house. Her aunt was really pleased to see her. She pulled Scarlet in for a really tight hug and did not let her go. When she did, we went to the police office to tell them about what happened. After that, we all went home. When I got home, my mom was cleaning the pots and pans.

“Ornette, is that you?” she asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

She ran to the door to hug me. Then, I went back to my room and laid on my bed. I thought about how all my other friends’ moms reacted, and that made me fall asleep.

Josh Ricky, brown hair, five years old, brown eyes. His nose was small.

Josh Ricky woke up from his bed one morning, and it was his birthday. His mom gave him a Samsung phone. She threw it at his face, and he caught it right in time. Josh Ricky was so excited, he burst from his bed, got dressed, brushed his teeth, and all the other things he had to do. He sent some messages on his phone, took pictures, and listened to music. He was crying the whole time.

In the afternoon, in the middle of cleaning his car, his dad gave Josh a computer from the Samsung company. He tossed it in the air, and Josh got it by sliding under and catching it.

Josh was so excited that he almost fainted. Everybody else gave him other stuff from Samsung company. Then his cake came. It was a chocolate cake frosted with vanilla frosting and S’s for the Samsung company made out of cookies on top.

In his bedroom, he had the computer and phone from the Samsung Company. One day, he was using his phone and his computer. His desk was very close to the window. He rolled a big marble on his desk towards his computer and phone. The marble was gigantic, as big as your garbage can at home, and it rolled onto the computer and phone. They dropped outside from the 40th floor (which was the highest floor) and crashed onto the hard, hard floor. He saw tiny little pieces of metal and glass. He made a terrible face. He was crying because his mom and dad gave him that computer and phone, and now they were gone and broken. He tried to tell his mom and dad to force them to get a new one. He tried to tell his mom and dad, but he was too scared. But Josh’s computer and phone were broken, and he talked to them.

His mom and dad were mad at him. Very mad. They kicked him out of their family for one whole night. He snuck through the house and grabbed the sleeping bag from his room. He slept in the sleeping bag in the backyard. He felt scared. He was scared of darkness by himself. He just put his covers on and just fell asleep.

In the morning, he went back in his house. His mom and dad were crying. They felt bad to leave their little Josh alone all night. In the morning, Josh’s mom bought a Samsung phone! And his dad got Josh a Samsung computer!

Then his grandmother forgot to give Josh a present, so she gave him a Samsung TV. She was a strong grandma. She was fat, and she exercised a lot. She tossed the TV in the air. Josh caught it with his right foot by balancing on his left foot with his hands out in front.

Then he decided to watch the TV. He got the remote. Then, some TV show came on. He did not like it. He switched the channel to 888. He did not like it. He switched the channel to 718. He did not like it. He switched the channel to 248. He did not like it. He switched the channel to 249. He loved it. It was Tom and Jerry. It was about a cat and mouse. The cat did not like the mouse. The mouse did not like the cat.

He watched TV for ten hours. His mom came in and got the remote and shut it off. She screamed with anger. Her little Josh watched over ten hours. He was sick. His eyes were red. She had to take him to the doctor. The doctor told him he would need surgery on his eyes, and an x-ray, and two teaspoons of medicine every day. After the doctor, he was kicked out of the family for one night again.

Josh felt worse. He was in trouble so many times. He thought it was his fault. He was scared in the dark, alone again. He just forgot about the night and put his covers on and went to sleep.

The next morning, he and his camping mat went into the house, and Josh put his mat away in his room and got some cereal for breakfast. His mom and dad got up from bed. His parents felt okay about kicking Josh out of the family.

His uncle also forgot to give him a present, so he got a couch. It said Samsung on it because it was a Samsung couch. His uncle was very weak, so he slid it over really slowly, and Josh sat on it.

His mom took Josh to get his ears pierced at Claire’s. Josh’s earrings had a Cinderella princess on them. He went back home, he told his dad, and his dad loved them. Josh loved them too. He was happy to hear that his dad loved his earrings. His mom was happy too. She loved her son’s earrings.

As I ran and ran, with the wind blowing in my hair and the sand sticking to my wet feet, I was thinking of all the people and fights that I was leaving behind. A comfortable life where I didn’t have to go to school, or be tutored at home, would all be thrown away. This was going to be a new start to my life, and I had no idea where I was going. All I knew was straight. I could smell the salt stinging my nose and the ocean stretching miles long. The waves crashed right next to my feet, sometimes soaking them in the sand. I looked back at the faint wedding. My dad hadn’t noticed that I left yet. As soon as I turned the bend, I stopped for a rest and took off my shoes. My feet were in so much pain. I ran almost a mile in high heel shoes. Never will I do that again. I threw my shoes in the ocean and kept on running.

When I got to the road, I called my friend who was sixteen and told her I needed a runaway car. She knew that I had planned to run away from one of my father’s weddings and told me she would be my car. I couldn’t bring myself to do it during the first seven, but the eighth? A year after my mother died, my dad remarried for the first time to someone he didn’t love. They divorced within a month. This happened six more times, but my father still hadn’t learned his lesson. My friend drove me to the airport, and we said goodbye for a long time.

The airplane was cold, and I was barefoot in a wet and sand-covered, ripped flower girl’s dress. The people on the plane probably thought I was crazy. I looked out the window. The idea that kept coming into my mind was, how am I going to make a livelihood? I had no profession or special talents, and I was only twelve. I pushed my problems to the back of my head and tried to fall asleep.

When I woke up, the flight attendant was saying that we might be coming in for a rough sea landing. I freaked out. I shouted and screamed. The flight attendant came running towards me and over my screams I could hear another flight attendant call on the loud speaker for a doctor. A woman in her mid-twenties slid into the seat next to me. The person who once sat there had slid out of the seat when the doctor came. The doctor tried to calm me down by telling me her name, and a little bit about herself, but I didn’t register that information. The only thing going through my mind at the moment was a picture of me drowning in the ocean.

The doctor repeated her name again, and this time, it registered. Her name was Catherine. A beautiful name. She really knew what she was doing. I could tell because it worked. I stopped screaming and looked up just in time to see the flight attendant leading the lady who was once sitting next to me into Catherine’s old seat. The lady kept looking back at me, and as I looked around the plane, I thought to myself, Oh my, of course everyone would be looking at me. I had had a panic attack.

The same flight attendant that had called for the doctor told everyone over the loudspeaker to get in position for a crash. I opened my mouth to scream as I spotted a girl about three years old who was in position. She didn’t look scared, just calm. At that moment, I realized how stupid being scared of a crash in 2017 was, when no one else was. Everyone was calm, and I just had a panic attack. I got in position, and the doctor rubbed my back and told me to stay calm. Over the loud speaker, I heard a count down.

“Ten, nine, eight — ”

I hugged the doctor, and she hugged me back.

“Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.”

I closed my eyes waiting for the impact but none came.

The flight attendant told everyone to stay in position and that the countdown was a bit early. She started another. At around four, the crash came and the impact was harder than anyone could have expected. My head hit the seat in front of me, crushing the doctor’s hand who was protecting my head. Her fingers were bleeding and so was my head. Many other people on the plane had injuries, and they were all very serious.

Water was now to the top of the plane, and no one could breathe. Everyone stayed in their seat for another minute. By that time, we should have been straining for breath and turning blue, but we all seemed to be able to breathe. Was this a miracle, or the after life? The water was as clear as air and it felt like we were breathing air.

The flight attendant called over the loudspeaker. That still worked too. “I will go out of the plane and explore, does anyone want to come?”

Nobody did so she went alone. About thirty seconds later, we heard a muffled scream through the water. The pilot went out to check on the flight attendant, and when he popped his head back into the plane, he told everyone to take their luggage and file out. I had no luggage, but I saw that it wasn’t easy to swim with soaked luggage. When we got outside the plane, there were an escort of sharks, all different kinds, waiting for us. They looked scary and imposing, but the leader was talking in a friendly way to the pilot like they were old friends. Nobody seemed to think that this was odd. They all just went with the flow.

All of the people who could were trying to pop open the bottom of the plane to get all of their checked bags. I had a feeling we were going to need them.

The sharks took us to an underwater city that was lit up, like in the movies. They took us around the back of the city, like they didn’t want us be seen. We went through a tunnel to the back of a shop. It smelled like seaweed. The water was thinner and cleaner around the city. It was also more easy to breathe in. It looked more bluish, and we couldn’t hear the waves as much.

A woman with a tail entered the shop from the front. The sharks dived down and so did the rest of the passengers from the plane. The woman was dressed in a sky blue tail with jewels hung around, like lights on a Christmas tree. She had on a blue bikini top, which was the same color as the tail. Her hair hung behind her. It was long, brown, and straight. She swam up to the cashier’s desk.  The woman demanded a fancy tail for the mer-prom. The mermaid behind the cashier’s desk swam to a rack of bejeweled tails. There were rainbow ones, plain ones, and ones in all different combinations of colors. When the mermaid finished paying for the tail cover, we came out of our hiding spot. The cashier took out what looked like a phone and called two mer-people.

Around fifteen minutes later, two mermaids entered the shop and the sharks didn’t dive down, so neither did we. One of the mermaids had blonde hair. It was wavy and it had a pink streak in it. Her tail was the same color as the pink in her hair. The other mermaid looked just like my mom. It couldn’t be, I told myself. Her hair was jet black and her tail looked like it wasn’t connected to her.

My mother had died in a plane crash, so it was impossible for it to be her. They locked the door behind them and put the “Closed” sign out. I got scared. Were they going to hurt us? Was this a trap? While they were doing this, they looked scared, like they were worried they were going to be caught in the middle. They looked around.

“Hello guys! My name is Molly and I died in a plane crash just like you!” the girl, who looked liked my mom, said.

When she spotted me, her mouth dropped wide, and her eyes blew up to the size of tennis balls. She swam towards me and gave me an embracing hug. At that moment, I couldn’t think of anything except for what was going on that second. The last few hours of my life flashed right in front of my eyes. I saw myself running away from the wedding, the plane crash, and the sharks. I couldn’t believe that I was hugging my mom. This never happens, I think?

We stood in that hug for what felt like hours, with everyone else looking at us, but those hours were spent well. I could tell my mom was happy that I was with her, and that the after life wasn’t how we used to imagine it.

When the hug was over, my mom introduced me to every one of her friends. They told me they had heard a lot about me. My mom told everyone, including me, about the mer-people. They hate humans, and every time there is a plane crash in these waters, the sharks come and save them. Then, they bring them here and put fake tails on them so they can fit in. The only rule in this world is that no one is allowed to go to the surface, and if a human is near, hide. If Mom and I go up to the surface and find Dad, this could be my only chance to ever get them reunited. I needed to tell Mom.

“Now I would like an update of what is going on in the human world,” my mom said.

Other people told her about what was on the news and everything, but I told her about Dad and his marriages. She was furious and kept mumbling to herself. I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but it wasn’t something nice.

We put fake tails on and dyed parts of our hair. I looked so different and I liked it. Mom and I went back to her house, and we talked and caught up. I told her everything about running away and she told me we would have to go notify Dad to tell him I was okay. I agreed, but asked her how we would if we were not allowed to the surface, and she said it would be alright. We just needed to take our tails off. Just then, a huge and loud bugle rang.

My mom rushed me out and into the crowds of mer-people. A big jeweled carriage arrived.  My mom told me it was the queen and we had to do what everyone else did. She told me the queen was vain and selfish. She always has a wig on and wears so much mer-makeup. I had heard about queens like this in stories, and they scared me. Now, I was witnessing it for real.

“Honey, tighten your tail quick. If the queen sees it loose, you’re dead and so am I.”

The queen looked around and all the mer-people seemed so uptight and scared just like in stories.

When the ceremony was over, Mom and I went back to her house and got ready to go up to the surface. We pretended to go shopping in the tail store but really went through the tunnel that I came through. We swam as fast as our tails would let us. When we got to the surface and stuck our heads out of the water, we couldn’t breathe. Our mouths or noses wouldn’t take the air in. My mother led me away from the surface and she showed me to a dark cave. We entered and my mother had a nervous look on her face. When Something moved in the back of the cave, my mother squeezed my hand and I realized that she wasn’t an expert at this like I thought she was at everything. Have you ever felt like someone knew everything, and was always a leader to you, but then one action that that person does changes everything? It was, all of a sudden, and I was scared.

A weird looking mermaid came out from the shadows. He looked ghostly and faint. There were no vibrant colors in him. He seemed mean and when he talked, he did so in a strict manner. His tail was black and plain. My mother spoke quietly when she said,

“We were hoping you would help us and make us human again.”

The guy teased us for a bit and kept tricking us by being nice, and when we said “Really?” he would shout “No!”

But finally, he agreed. When he did, he said we would have to pay a price. We asked what that was, and he said we needed to work for him for five days. The next couple of days were torture. He made us work so hard. When his friends came over to his cave on the fifth day, he had more help with demanding things for us to do, and my mother kept reminding me that it was the last day.

I kept reminding myself that this may be my only chance to get my parents reunited. It used to just be one or the other, and this may be my only chance. The next day we went and told the man that it had been five days, and he said he would make us human again. He said okay in a sad tone and looked at us with a soul-piercing stare. The next second, I couldn’t breathe and neither could my mom. We swam as fast as we could and the last thing I knew, I blacked out.

When I came to, I was on the sand and my mom was on top of me with a worried look on on her face. She hugged me when she saw my eyes open and started to cry. I shook her off, but her crying didn’t stop.

“Mom, let’s go,” I said, but she didn’t move.

All she did was sit in a shaking puddle.

“Mom, come on,” I said, kind of in an annoyed voice.

She wouldn’t move, so I sat down next to her and embraced her in a tight, loving hug. Her shaking stopped, and her crying did, too. We let go of the hug slowly and I looked straight into her eyes. Then I whispered, “It’s okay, I’m alright. Now let’s move on.”

She nodded her head slowly, sniffled, and got up. I held her hand, and we walked to the end of the beach.

We were already in the Caribbean since the plane crashed less than halfway through the plane ride. We drove to Dad’s house just in time to see him in his first fight with his new wife. Mom sighed when she saw this.

“Just like you said,” she told me.

“I know,” I muttered.

She parked the car and got out. When we knocked on the door, my dad fainted. I guess he knew I was on the plane ride that crashed. When he came to, the questions were too overwhelming so we told him to quiet down so we could tell him our story. Then he could ask questions. He agreed and it took about an hour to finish our story and questions.

Mom, Dad, and I sat down with each of our books and read for the rest of the day. By five o’clock, I finished my book. That is one of the most comforting things to me. My dad and mom hadn’t finished their books. I told them I was going to find Kayla. Kayla is my best friend and I’ve known her since I was in preschool. My dad told me that he had told her that I was dead, so she might faint.

I ran to her house which was only down the block. When I got to her house, she didn’t faint. So I told her what happened. We had a great time together. When I got back for dinner, my dad’s new wife was over, and I guess he told her that he wanted a divorce. She didn’t take it well, but I didn’t care. My dad had a cut on his forehead. It was deep from where the ring hit him when the eighth wife stormed out of the house. My mom fixed up his cut and put a bandaid on it when she was done. My dad went down on one knee and took the ring off my mom, then put it back on her and asked if she would marry him. She said of course, and they kissed on the lips.

We decided not to have the wedding by the beach because now, that is my biggest fear. I went with my mom to get the dress and with my dad to get the suit. I helped them plan the wedding, and the process was very fun.

On the wedding day, I couldn’t stop crying. This was the only thing I had been hoping for my whole life. When my parents kissed, I had a flashback of when I was younger. It was when my dad took me for the first time to Coney Island. That was my fifth birthday present. He had gotten out of his third marriage just a week before. We had so much fun, and we went on most of the rides that I could go on three or four times. He threw up because I kept making him go on the curvy rides. Then I thought about my fondest memory of my mom but none came. When they opened up from their kiss, they pulled me in with them.

This was the best feeling ever. There was nothing else to say about that.

OSCAR

I am a boy named Oscar, an undocumented teenager, and my family is also not documented. And as I entered home after a “great” day at Cayden Bay Community High School, I saw a flyer about a URV competition, also known as an underwater robot contest, that could give you a scholarship at a technology college. So the next day, when I went to school, I went to the computer printers, and I printed out flyers.

And while I was handing out flyers, I saw the substitute science teacher, Mr. Hamilton, and said, “Can I make a club to go to this competition? But we have to consult with the principal to make sure.”

FRED

I am a boy named Fred, with the same story, but I don’t need a competition. I am one of the kids who knows how to code, and I am good with technology. I went to a computer and was doing homework, but got shoved off by a bully.

He went to play video games on it, and I said, “I can hack it so you will be invincible in the game.”

Wow, he is actually going to fall for this, I thought.

I hacked it, and I shut down the game and the computer, so the bully couldn’t play his game anymore. And then, as I ran up the stairs to safety, I saw a teenager like me handing out waivers. I received one, and I thought for a second and said to myself, “I can be a part of this, and I could get into a great college!”

So I decided to go to the meeting. When I got there, I saw another teenager named Lorenzo. I was just a bit shocked because I never thought that this many people wanted to come. These people all looked Mexican, and so was I. I asked them why they wanted to come, including my friend and another teenager I didn’t know.

OSCAR

“So we have to build a robot,” the boy named Fred said. “We need PVC pipes and motors, cameras, and more.”

“Dang. That’s a lot of money we are talking about to get those motors.”  

I really didn’t think that we were going to be number one, but at least we were going to beat some colleges. All the other colleges were huge, and they had a lot of money.

“Well, guess what? If you guys want to win, you have to raise money,” the teacher said. ”We will get disqualified if I fund you with money so…”

So I went with them to a store to see what we needed to get. We got the four motors, camera, a lot of PVC pipes, claws, and a liquid extractor, according to the competition.

”You are still $403 dollars and 95 cents short. What do you want to do?” said the store clerk.

“We don’t need an underwater camera. I have a plan,” said the group leader, which was the teacher.

“You are still $195 short.”

“We don’t need a professional camera. We should get a bit of a cheaper one.”

“Yep, that cuts it. You are now free to buy with nothing to owe.”

YES, WE GET ALL THE STUFF WE NEEDED!!!

So now I went with them on a bus, back to the school, and in an empty classroom to try to build part of it.

The Next Day..

OSCAR

So after the rest of the team and I went to sleep, and went along with the school day, we saw what we had to build with and what to do.

“So I still have to manage the battery box and program the motors to a controller,” Fred said.

“The other teenager we finally know the name of,” Alex said. ”I will build the frame of the robot and make sure it’s waterproof.”

The substitute teacher, George Hamilton, said, “I will plan and figure out how many days we have until we have to travel from Arizona to California.”

Lorenzo said, “I will go and organize our place in the competition, and help Alex with the battery box and the motors.”

“My plan with the camera is to make an underwater seal, so that we fit the camera between the PVC all around it,” said George.

“How are we going to see though?” I asked.

“That’s what I was trying to say, Oscar. We put a glass, and seal it on the side the camera is facing!”

At the end of the day, we found each other, made another meeting, and then called it a day.  

Wow, we actually beat an obstacle that other colleges probably would not beat with the money.

The Next Day…

Lorenzo announced, ”CONGRATULATIONS! WE GOT A PLACE IN THE COMPETITION!!!”

Alex, Fred, George and I all cheered and continued to work on the battery box and constructed it all together.

Fred realized something and said, “Where will our power for the battery box come from? We need to calculate the length of the wires, and we have to make it waterproof.”

Fred said, “I’m on it, but I need money to buy it!”

George said, ”We need to make it a bit quick, because we only have a week, and we need to get the wire and test it all.”

So, after a day of waiting for Fred to get the wire, we got the wire working. So, we had five days to get there and test it.

The Next Day..

Now, we were a bit stressed out. We needed the school’s van, and we needed permission to test it, but there was a problem. Water leaked into the battery box!

“We need something to absorb the water.”

“Ummm…”

“Sponges!”

So, they finally got it working and celebrated because we could get scholarships for colleges, since I am still in high school. So later, the gang and I went to the principal and asked for a van, and after a bit of a painful conversation, debating whether or not she would give it to us, she finally said… “Yes!”

“YESSSS!” We all yelled in celebration.

We had three days until the competition, so we immediately got into the van.

In the Van…

We were finally on our way. We slept in the van and looked out the window, all surprised and excited. We knew we were not going to beat or even get close to first place. We all looked out for the signs of the college and California as George drove. We went to a sponsored hotel with free rooms and food. I was especially happy because I come from a poor family. So, I ate all I could have.

At the Preparation Area…

We stood under our tent as we watched all the other colleges’ awesome UR’s, comparing it to our ugly robot named Stinky, because it smelled a lot. After the robot test was an oral test. But we had a problem. Alex was one of the kids who did not really know the material. He just came to help and to be in the competition, so we looked at him.

Alex was a problem. All of us needed to teach him. So after the preparation day, we brought our robot back to test it in the private pool the hotel offered. We then realized that the sponges helped a lot. We did an absorbing test, found out that it absorbed a lot of water and barely got wet. Fred came to us and exclaimed this, and was in a rush to put it in the battery box sitting on top of the robot.

At the Hotel Room…

We started teaching Alex what density was, what we did, how we did it, how much money we needed, and how much was funded. According to George, our group leader and teacher, he couldn’t fund the group so we just kept on teaching him and making sure he knew everything. For the competition, we needed uniform t-shirts, so we all got “AWESOME” t-shirts. My friend, who supported me and worked at a fashion store, customized them. We later went back to our party tent to store our robot and we saw all the other robots walking past. All the other people just looked at our ugly robot Stinky, boo, and showed looks of disgust.

At the Competition…

We walked into the pool, to our tent, with our robot. Then, the loudspeaker went off with the judge’s voice:

“WELCOME TO THE URV COMPETITION!!! THERE IS AN OBSTACLE WITH TASKS YOU HAVE TO PASS! YOU MAY SKIP EACH TASK BUT WILL HAVE TO GO AFTER IT AT THE END!! THERE ARE 5 TASKS YOU HAVE TO PASS AND THERE WILL BE A TIMER FOR EACH TASK!”

Virginia Tech went up to the judges to show off their robot. “VIRGINIA TECH WILL GO FIRST!”

Virginia Tech did not complete all the tasks but ended up getting 80 points.

WOW we so far need to beat that.

“But remember guys, we still have the oral test. If we all succeed, we will get 30 points!” said Fred.

MIT walked up and disassembled part of the robot which looked so professional.

”Damn, that looks so good.”

They ended up with 85 points. Then, Cornell went up, showed their robot and ended up with 85 points ALSO. All the rest of the major colleges averaged about 70 points, but one other one got 80 points. None of them got the last task done to give them 40 points.

But then, the loudspeaker announced, ”NOW IT IS TIME FOR CAYDEN BAY.”

“BOOOOOOOOOOO,” the crowd said.

We showed the robot and the judges, kind of, got disgusted. We walked back with our controller and made sure everybody was ready.

“Five… Four… Three…. Two… One… GO!”

“ALEX, PUT STINKY IN THE WATER!”

We activated the robot and went down into the water.  Alright, everybody, engage motors! Check. Press the red button engage claw. Alright, come on, come on. Fourteen seconds left for the task! Fail. Minus five points for Cayden Bay! The diver will open it. Now, identify the sub, I write down 1944 U-BOAT.

“DING”

Ten points for Cayden Bay!

We moved on to the “move and replace,” and we had to take away the bell and replace it.

“Alright, team! Engage, claw, and close!” We successfully took it, but it dropped to the floor. But we still got half credit for picking it up, so we earned 15 points. We tried again, and then it fell again.

“Alright, move on to the next task, and navigate through currents.” We successfully did that. It gave us 30 points, which meant 45 points total.

“Forty-five points guys, doing good! We have to disarm the torpedo.”

“There are different colors! We should of gotten a color monitor!” Fred exclaimed.

We disarmed the wrong one, minus one point. We went to the last task, to extract the liquid, but we had some trouble. Our camera was knocked out and barely showed where we were. We barely had enough room to do it. But, luckily, we were a bit aligned, and we successfully filled the balloon holding the liquid. We came back and we earned 35 points. Eighty points. Fourth place, but we had the oral test.

“Aw man,” we all said.

But George told us that we beat around six colleges, and we were in high school. So, we cheered up. We went back to our hotel room, and we then put our robot away and reviewed the components. We told Alex to repeat all the answers. We walked up to the college, and then walked to the waiting room while I went first. They asked how much money we used. They asked about density, and mass, and propulsion. Alex told us the answers. Him, Fred, Lorenzo, and I all got happy, and we walked back to our hotel all excited for tomorrow. We got back and celebrated that we beat about 6 colleges, a bit, which was awesome.

“YES!” I yelled. We jumped up and down as we celebrated.

The Next Day…

In the morning, the rest of the group and I put on our shirts and George, no surprise there, woke up last, sleeping on a matress on the floor because there was no space for him to sleep on our bed.

We put on our nicest clothes and walked down the road into the college, and we entered the party room. There was a huge party where the awards and winners would be announced. We went to eat the cake, and then met all the teams and talked to them. Then, the judges start talking about how surprised they were about the winner and that they did not expect it. They started the awards.

“The winner for the cheapest robot in price isss… CAYDEN BAY!”

We stood up and celebrated. I went up first to hold the award first, and I jumped up and down. Then, the other awards went to MIT and other colleges. Then, after a couple of hours, they started announcing the winners. Fourth place gets a medal. Third, second, and first place gets a trophy.

“For fourth place is Virginia Tech!”

“For third place is Cornell!”

“For second place is… M….I….T!!!”

Louder cheers went for this college, and one thing caught my mind. Every time you earned a trophy, you had to announce how much money you used for the robot. And I thought, That robot they build ain’t no poop. It had like a crap ton of technology, and coding, and wires, and all that awesome stuff.

ALEX

One of the team members repeated the same thing they said to the oral test judges: $18,563 dollars.

$18,563 used just to get second place?

“Now, it is time to announce the most historic moments in robot history. These people took their genius brains to beat the number one college, MIT. For first place, give it up for… C…A…Y…D…E…N BAAY!!!”

Omgod is this actually happening?

We all looked at each other in amazement, and then slowly rose from our seats and jumped up into a group hug.

“Oh My Goddd! We actually did it! The Oral Test!

THE ORAL TEST! THE ORAL TEST!

We all walked up. I jumped up, pumped my fist in the air happily, and then we all raised the trophy. A judge questioned me about the money funded. After everything, I broke away from the group, walked up to the judge, and said, ”Thanks for not disqualifying us from the competition. Why did you not disqualify us? We can’t be funded!”

“Who said you cannot do that? Of course you can do that!”

“My coach said you couldn’t.”

“Well, maybe he was just being cheap!”

“Well, thanks.”

I laughed for a second, and I felt a bit sad that he lied to us and made it into a joke. I stayed in place and looked at him until he looked at me, and I nodded my head left to right multiple times and he cracked up. He lifted his piece of cake, as in asking if I wanted some, and walked and joined them to take photos. We walked back to the hotel room carrying George in our arms, as well as some scholarships to MIT and the trophy, and we celebrated all night long. That’s the end of the true story that actually happened with kids who actually beat MIT.

I walk to my classroom slowly. I don’t mind being late because I almost always am. Let me tell you something about me. I am Emily Johnson. My best friend is named Annie. I met her in kindergarten, and she’s the best friend I could ever have. She’s funny, generous, and determined. Now, we’re in third grade. I walk into my classroom and take a seat at my desk. My teacher assigns partners for an art assignment that we’re doing. I cross my fingers, hoping that I get partnered with Annie.

“Emily Johnson! And Lydia Green!” calls the teacher.

Annie gets partnered with Lyla. Lyla and Lydia are best friends. Me and Lydia start working on the project. I hear giggling from Annie’s table.

“What’s going on?”

Annie says, “We were just talking about the playdate we had last night. We’re going to play together at recess.”

“What?” I say. “But you always play with me!”

“Sorry, I wanna play with Lyla!”

“Ugh,” I say.

And I finish the project with Lydia. After lunch, it is time for recess. I walk over to Annie. Annie senses what I’m going to say.

She says, “Sorry, I already asked Lyla if I could play fairies with her. Maybe next time?”

“Can I play too?” I say.

“Sorry, only two people can play!” Lyla says.

And then, she goes and asks Sarah and Amy to play fairies with them too! After school, I grab Annie by the arm.

“Come over to my house!”

“Sorry,” Annie says. “I’m going to Lyla’s house.”

And then, she asks Lyla, so I know that Lyla didn’t tell her before!  

And then I yell, “Hey! At recess, you said that only two people could play! But then you asked Sarah and Amy to play too! And then, you said that you were going to Lyla’s house, but asked her after! What’s up with you?”

“Uh, sorry. I just wanted to play with Lyla.”

“Alright,” I say.

And then I go home.

My mom asks me, “Want to bake cookies?”
“No, thank you,” I say.

“Hey? What’s up?” She asks.

“Nothing,” I say.

“Well, then, look at your English homework. It’s preposterous! And I found it in the trash can!”

“Uh…” I say, and then run up to my room and close the door.

I feel my cheeks burn. I had thrown it in the trash can, because it was not good.

The next day, I’m by my neighbor Mrs. Shelton’s house. I see Annie and Lyla walking to school together. Me and Annie ALWAYS walk to school together.

I say, “Hey Annie! We always walk to school together! Why can’t you walk with me today!”

“Because…” Annie starts to say, but Lyla cuts her short.

“Annie’s always telling me about how clingy you are, Emily,” Lyla said, turning her gaze to Lydia. “And Lydia, you always wait for me to do this, me to do that, me to choose. Gimme a break.”

Then she and Annie walk off. Then we reach school. It was a terrible day. At lunch, Annie sat at Lyla’s table and didn’t even come near me. And whenever we had a free period, she would always play with Lyla. And then I look and see Lydia. She looks sad. Maybe it’s because Lyla is her best friend.

I go up to her, and I say, “Look at Annie and Lyla, it’s like THEY’RE best friends, not even looking at us!”

She nods her head. And then she says, “Why don’t we form a team? It’ll be like a friend-fight!”

“Too dramatic,” I say. “But alright.”

So, when school is over, Annie, of course, goes to Lyla’s house. I don’t object. Me and Lydia have a plan. They walk home, and we follow behind them.

Lyla’s mom sayd, “Before you can play with your friend, you have to tidy up the yard. It’s a disaster!”

“I’ll help too,” Annie says.

After they’re almost done, Annie goes to the bathroom. So Lyla follows her to show her the way. While they’re gone, I make the mess even untidier than before, then run back just in time.

When Annie and Lyla come back, they say, “What?! We almost finished it! It looks even worse than it was before!”

Balls were everywhere. A jump rope and bicycle were tied together and on the ground. Coats, and hats, and scarves, and bits of snow were scattered around. And then, the minute they turn back, Lydia makes snowballs and throws it at them. And then we leave, giggling happily.

The next day, at school, I tell Annie, “I have to talk to you in private.”

“Finally,” she says.

“What?” I say.

“Just come on.”

Then we go to the janitor’s closet.

I say, “Why are you doing this? Why do you always want to be with Lyla, and why doesn’t she want to be with Lydia?”
“Because you’re always so CLINGY and want to be with me all the time! It’s so annoying, and that’s what it looks like with Lyla on me!”

“I am NOT!” I say.

“Yes, you are!” She yells.

We don’t realize how loud we are. The art teacher comes and gets us in trouble. I glare at Annie and walk away.

The next day, Annie comes smiling. I take a seat.

And then yell, “Ouch!”

There is a needle that was sticking up on the chair. I look at Annie, and she is still smiling. I guessed it. She had put it there. She guessed that we had thrown the snow and messed up the yard. We lock eyes. She grins. I don’t.

When Lydia and I walk home from school, I say, “Okay, what’s plan B?”

“I dunno,” said Lydia. “Maybe we could… no, that won’t work.”

And then I say, “They’re going to Annie’s house.”

Both Lydia and I have been to Annie’s house. When Annie and Lyla get to Annie’s house, Lydia and I follow them in, through a back entrance. Annie’s mom is in the bathroom. They’re eating cookies. I sneak up the stairs and grab Annie’s diary. I run back down and sprint outside just before Annie’s mom gets out of the bathroom.

The next day is Saturday. I ask Mom, “Can we go to the mall? I have my tooth fairy money.”

And I get the exact same diary as Annie has. That way, I have the key. Just as soon as we get home, and I’m about to open the diary, I don’t. I realize I shouldn’t. But I was going to keep it. I grab it, and hide it deep, deep, deep in my closet. And then, I make pancakes.

The next day is Sunday. My dad is coming home from a business trip.

“Daddy, Daddy!” I say, as he opens the door.

“Hi!” He says. “I brought presents!”

“Yay!” I say.

“Oh, and I met Annie on the way here. She says that she wants you to come to her house.”

“Annie?” I ask.

“Yes, Annie. What about that? That’s not surprising, is it? She says to come now.”

So I run out the door.

Annie says, “Hey. Did you take my diary?”

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.”

We both know that counts as a yes. She scowls and stalks off. I stare at her. That’s what she wanted? Well, I was not going to give it to her.

Everyday at school, we change jobs. Annie was the plant waterer.

Lydia says, “When she’s done filling the vase, I’m going to drain it out!”

And she does. When our teacher walks in, she says, glaring, “Annie! You’re the plant waterer, I don’t see a SINGLE drop of water in the vase. You always remember, what has gotten into you?”

Annie gives me a questioning look. I just smile. Lyla whispers something into Annie’s ear. Then they both giggle. My smile turns into a frown. And then, I focus on the work. But I think. Let me tell you something. Lyla is NOT nice. She doesn’t like anybody, or anything. So, I think basically she just wants to pick on me and Lydia. During break, Lydia and I sit down. It’s time for Plan C: Ignoring. We won’t listen to them. Anything they say, anything they do, we’ll pretend they’re not there.
Lydia says, “Sounds good.”

And then we play jump rope. When Annie purposefully says, “BYE, EMILY! I’M GOING TO LYLA’S HOUSE.”

I walk right past her, pretending she’s not there. Lydia does the same. Then we high five.

I say, “Let’s go to my house and bake sugar cookies.”

And the rest of the day was great. That night, I dreamt of Lyla and Annie. They were saying sorry. And Lydia, Lyla, Annie, and I became friends again. When I woke up, I realized, it was not the simple. But deep down, I knew it actually was. I know what I needed to do. I need to go to someone who understands. I need to go to Mom.

I tell Mom, “I need to tell you something.”

“What is it, sweetie,” she says.

“It’s Annie, Lyla, and Lydia. Well, Annie and Lyla stopped playing with me and Lydia. And they were playing mean tricks on us.”

“Who started playing tricks?” says mom.

“Us…” I say guiltily.

“And do you know why Annie was not playing with you?”
“Yes. She said that I was being too clingy. And I wasn’t! So we both got mad.”

“And so let me get this straight,” says Mom. “Annie was not hanging out with you or playing with you, because she thought you were being to clingy. And then you both got mad at each other. And then you started playing tricks on them?”

“Yes,” I say.

“Well, here’s what you’ve got to do: you’ve got to go up to Annie, and tell her it’s not nice what she’s doing and that you’re sorry that you were playing pranks, and that you were being a little clingy.”

“Can you come with me?” I ask her.

She says, “Alright.”

And that’s exactly what we do.

Annie says, “Well… um, I’m sorry too, that I was playing pranks, and um… not hanging out with you.”

“Friends?” I say.

“Friends.” She says.

Mom smiles, and then goes to work.

The next day at school, I go up to Lydia and say, “Here’s what you have to do.”

And then I pour out all the stuff that Mom said. She listens. And then does it.

Lyla just stares, as if saying, “what are you? An earthworm?”

Well, that might change their friendship, but that’s not gonna change Lyla. But anyway, that’s Lydia’s problem.

And then we all play together. Lyla and all.

The next day Annie walks over to me.

“Here,” she says. “I made this  for you.”

She hands me a bracelet that says best friends forever. I see she made one for herself.

“Thanks” I say.

We both smile and walk to school together.

Once, in the house of Huncars, there were two identical twins named Emma and Sophia. One was interested in music, drawing, and relaxing, and the other was interested in soccer, basketball, and swimming. Emma was interested in the school band named Rock Music & Jazz. She really wanted to play in the band and had been preparing for auditions all summer. Sophia spent the rest of the summer trying to figure out how to dribble a basketball on her head, which Emma didn’t understand, since you’re supposed to dribble a soccer ball on your head — not a basketball.

One day, before middle school began, Sophia convinced Emma to play soccer with her in the park. Sophia scored so many times because Emma was too busy reading her book in the goal.

“That’s 52 – 0,” Sophia sighed.

“Yeah, but who’s counting?” Emma responded, still reading her book.

“Did you know that we’re going to Wetland Middle School?” Sophia asked her.

“I know we’re going to Wetland Middle School. You told me ten times already,” Emma said.

After the score was 100 – 0, Sophia and Emma finally stopped their game. Their friend from 5th grade, Olive Wrights, welcomed Sophia to go to her house for a last minute game.

After Olive and Sophia left, the doorbell of the Huncars’ house rang. Their mom, Elers, decided to answer it and found Emma’s friend, Maddie, at the door. Emma hurried back home and said, “I am finishing War and Peace.”

“Just to tell you,” Maddie started to say. “Auditions are starting next week.”

Emma looked at a flyer on their fridge.

“Does it last two weeks?” she asked Maddie.

“No, it lasts three weeks!” Maddie answered.

Then, Sophia appeared with her friend, Olive. Both were covered head to toe in dirt and mud.

Maddie asked Olive, “Have you been wrestling with Sophia??”

“We did not wrestle, we went splashing through the mud near the park,” Olive said, right as Sophia splashed into the room.

Miss Elers looked at Sophia and said, “You better take a bath!”

“But we haven’t played the pogo-stick jumping game yet!” Sophia whined.

“Well, you can play it tomorrow. Now, get in the bath right now young lady!!!” Elers yelled.

Sophia stomped her feet all the way to the bathroom.

***

The next day, after they took the big, shiny bus, Sophia and Emma arrived at Wetland Middle School. There was a very tall lady waiting for them at the door. She was wearing blue sandals and had brown hair dyed pink on her bangs.

“Emma, you are in room 3B,” she said. “And Sophia, you are in room 1B.”

“Emma!” Maddie squealed, hugging her while their friends, Ivy and Lily, walked toward them.

Lily had brown hair and a bright red t-shirt paired with a brand new necklace from Costco. She was also wearing red flower earrings to match her shirt. Ivy was wearing a green shirt with a fake ivy vine crossing in front like a sash. On the bottom, she wore green and white jeans and sneakers on her feet. Maddie had just dyed her hair yellow for their first day of school. She also had blue eyes and was wearing a pink shirt, with the heart emoji on it, blue flip flops, and giant hoop earrings. Emma was wearing hot pink with a long, white dress over it with pink flip-flops that had diamonds on them. She also wore large, stud earrings and was finishing her books for period one at her locker.

“See you soon!” Emma called, as the first period bell rang.

They trampled over to the staircase leading to the second floor. After Emma left, Sophia caught up with her friends, Olive and Caitlin.

“Ready for period one?” Sophia asked, gathering her music books.

Sophia had nine periods in school. School ended at 6PM, even though they got there at 8 in the morning. Sophia had music for first period, social studies for second period, reading for third, math for fourth, then lunch and recess, then gym, health, safety, and all topped off with a movie at the end of the period. Finally, she was able to relax a little in the school’s indoor swimming pool before taking a bus back home. Emma took a taxi home because she needed to watch a musical to find some songs and record the songs on her phone.

Emma was planning to audition for America’s Got Talent. She wanted to use half her winnings to get a Yorkshire puppy and the other half to buy a ton of books and a TV for her room. This way her neighbor, Andie, wouldn’t drool on her shirt.

Just then, a girl named Mackenzie popped out of the doorway and asked Emma, “Hey, are you coming to first period or not?”

But Emma wasn’t listening. She was too busy daydreaming about getting a Yorkshire puppy named Cupcake. She was so deep in thought, they had to shout to her in order for her to pay attention. Emma was thinking about what she would do with the puppy: she would watch the puppy become a mother and have five puppies of her own, then she would sell one of them for $100 and spend the money on an awesome loft bed, a matching green dress and hat, and tickets to a fair where she would be the center of attention. She loved attention.

Emma finally left for first period music, but she was not performing jazz today. She performed jazz every Sunday, and she had Saturday to relax and maybe meet Maddie for playdates. Her mom was planning to adopt a puppy, but she switched to thinking of adopting a goldfish after their father, whom Elers was divorced from, did not approve since he would have an allergic reaction every Sunday, when he visited. Emma pleaded with her mom, saying she would keep the puppy only in her room, keeping her dad from having an allergic reaction. Elers agreed that if Emma got an A in music, she would be allowed to get a puppy and a kitten all to herself. If she got an A+ , she would get a supercomputer, that could do almost anything, a  storage for snacks under her pillows, her own bathroom in her room, and a lock for her room. Sophia was not interested in these treats because she just wanted to go outside every weekend.

When they finally arrived at music class first period, they discovered they had a new Rock Music teacher named Mr. Dude. His real name was hard to pronounce: Mr. Dudeshivaki. So he went by Mr. Dude for short. They wrote a book called Mr. Dan Dilbert.

After music class was over, Emma asked, “Why do we always have to make comics? Why can’t we just do books without pictures?”

“I don’t know,” Maddie replied, crunching on some leftover fried rice from home.

Ivy opened one of her fortune cookies and took a bite. Lily opened her celery wrapper and took a crunch of the celery.

“My mom says I can’t have celery, but I eat it anyway,” she said, stuffing some in her mouth with cabbage.

Emma took an edible gumball out of her bag and put some sugar on it. She stuffed it in her mouth and started chewing, then took out some Lifesavers and Cheetos. The group of friends sat down together by the snack bar.

“I wonder what Sophia is doing,” Emma wondered.

Just then, Sophia ran over to the snack bar, looking very embarrassed.

“What’s the matter? Didn’t you love jazz?” Emma asked.

Sophia shook her head.

“No, no, no, no, no!!! It was horrible. I was totally embarrassed. When I was writing the jazz cartoon, I accidentally slipped over a stick and landed on the radio, switching the station to rock. The radio broke, the computers broke, bubblegum wrappers were flying in the air, crackers were shaking, tables were breaking, windows cracked… then everyone fell down. The lamp broke and fell on the table, which shattered.”

Caitlin said, “It was a total disaster.”

“How did you trip over a stick?? How did a stick get in the room?” Emma asked.

Sophia answered, “The stick came in through an open window.”

RRRRING! The first five-minute bell rang.

“See you at lunch!” Emma called as she walked away down the hallway. Emma gathered her books back at her locker. She was going to gym.

Maddie took one glance at Emma’s face and whispered slowly, “Repeat after me… gym rocks.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “I can’t say that, I would be lying.”

Maddy giggled, “I know, but you might like gym!”

Emma crossed her arms and explained, “Last summer, when I was playing soccer, I fell down five times and got a bruise on my knee. Is that reason enough for you??”

“You might want to try it one more time,” Maddie replied.

“Fine, one more try,” Emma agreed. “But I’m still taking Rock Music & Jazz.”

The two girls headed for recess. Normally, when it was sunny outside, they would’ve had gym outside.

“Alright, line up,” Coach Tangara ordered. “Today we are going to play soccer.”

Emma’s stomach lurched.

“Soccer??” she gulped.

“Take a deep breath,” Maddie soothed, as Coach Tangara took attendance.

When Coach Tangara shouted, ‘Emma Huncar!!!’ Emma tried to take a deep breath, but she swallowed some saliva and ended up choking instead. Emma glanced at the soccer ball.

“Oh boy, looks like it’s going to be a looong period,” she sighed.

“Three laps around the field!” Coach Tangara yelled. “Now!”

Everyone took off running, but Emma just stood there like a deer caught in the headlights. Laps? Field? She thought to herself. Running???

“I’ll never make it,” she said to Maddie.

Maddie caught her as she made it to one lap.

“Come on, Emma, it’s just laps! We’re only jogging, not running,” she encouraged.

“I guess I’ll try,” Emma said as she took off jogging.

The first two laps went well, but when she was almost done, she tripped over her feet and landed near the bleachers. A face popped up — it was Mackenzie.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to!” Mackenzie sang sarcastically.

But Emma could tell, when she looked into Mackenzie’s beady eyes, that she was lying. After the class completed their laps, Coach Tangara spent the rest of the time thinking about how they could improve. She finally sighed and shook her head.

“It’s time for plan B,” she said to Coach Robert.

She gathered all the students and declared, “We will have an assessment here next Tuesday. Whoever doesn’t score seven or more out of those tests will have to enroll in a Healthy Ever After program every single afternoon. ”

All the students groaned.

“You are dismissed,” Coach Robert said finally.

As Emma was leaving, she gulped. I have a bad feeling that I’m doomed, she thought. Suddenly, she heard a group of kids laughing. She turned to see Mackenzie with her group of sassy kids.

“Hey Emma! I just wanted to say that I can’t wait to see your face when you get a six or a zero out of those tests,” Mackenzie teased. “You’re stuck up. I, on the other hand, will be perfectly fine. I can’t wait to make the L-sign at you from the bleachers.”

“That means loser, loser,” one of Mackenzie’s friends added.

Mackenzie walked up to Brandon, another boy in the class, and started to say, “I just wanted to tell you that Emma copied my moves in the field, and I think you shouldn’t be friends with her. If I can beat her and go to Rock Music & Jazz, you can’t talk to her ever, and you have to sit with us at lunch. And do whatever I say. Tell that to the rest of Wetland Middle School — post what I said on wetland.com.”

With a toss of her hair, Mackenzie looked at Emma and said, “And I’ll make sure that the rest of the school makes you eat alone, including your snobby best friend, Maddie. They would not talk to you if you lose, trust me. I’ll be typing all of this on wetland.com. Not Brandon, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

And with that, she sashayed away.

Emma ran straight to the bathroom and cried for the rest of third period. She missed her second favorite subject, Arts & Crafts. She sat with nobody at lunch because she was so upset.

Then, Mackenzie strutted up to her once more.

“I already posted the notice online and started a Stop Emma club. It already has ten followers — make that fifteen, including my friends.”

Just then, Mackenzie’s best friend, Jessica, approached.

So half of the cafeteria could hear, she yelled, “Mackenzie, I just wanted to let you know that I would like to sign up for the Stop Emma club. It’s going to be suuuuper fun,” she taunted Emma.

“Yeah, we’re going to taunt Emma because of all the bad things she does,” Mackenzie added.

Sophia heard this, but was so far away, she couldn’t comfort her sister. Emma doesn’t deserve this, she thought.

After school was over, Sophia saw her sister. She looked pale and frightened, like she’d just seen a ghost.

“What’s the matter?” Sophia asked. “Is it Mackenzie?”

Emma just nodded her head and turned the other way. Before joining Maddie, she looked back at Sophia, wiped a tear away with her sleeve, and walked away.

Before Maddie could say anything, Emma said, “Let’s move away from Sophia, she’s not much help.”

But before Emma could drag Maddie away, Maddie said, “I got this designer iPhone for you. I also got you a iTracker so you could always track down where Mackenzie is.”

Emma looked down at her gifts and said, “Maddie, you are my best friend. So are Ivy and Lily. You guys are my only friends. Also, Chloe is coming over to my house tomorrow. You should come over too. I have a surprise idea in my room, but it has to be private.”

“Why not Sophia?” Maddie wondered.

Emma glanced at her sister and shot her a mean look. She then whispered something to Maddie, and Maddie gasped. Maddie stepped back in shock and pulled Emma into the bathroom. Before Sophia could stop herself, she rolled her eyes.Then she stuck a note on  Emma.

When they were in the bathroom, Maddie asked, “She was teasing you?”

Suddenly, Mackenzie appeared in the doorway.

“Just to tell you, Sophia will tell you why she was bullying you,” Mackenzie sneered, and disappeared just like that.

After Emma got home, she was pretty upset, so she went into her room without even washing her hands. Ew. She slumped on her bed when she heard a knock on her door.

“Emma, I need to tell you something,” Sophia called through the door.

“Go away,” Emma replied.

But Sophia ignored her sister and opened the door anyway.

“Emma, Mackenzie bullied me into ignoring you today.She convinced me to be mean to my own sister,” Sophia explained.

Emma looked up.

“This is about Mackenzie and something else,” she said. “I can’t go to Rock Music & Jazz because I am definitely going to fail the gym test.”

“Oh, you poor thing,” Sophia comforted, “we have a lot to discuss.”

Then, Emma said, “Why were you following Mackenzie’s orders? You didn’t have to be mean to me. You didn’t follow her orders like back when we were in preschool.”

An image appeared in Emma’s mind. Years ago, Mackenzie ordered Sophia to not follow her sister to the fluffy, bouncy castle when they visited the carnival, but Sophia didn’t listen. But flash forward to now, and Sophia seemed much easier to convince.

Finally answering Emma, Sophia said, “Um, Emma, I was so interested in sports, and Mackenzie is too terrific at sports. I really wanted her to teach me so I can improve. So I couldn’t help it, I became a follower of Mackenzie. I couldn’t stop doing whatever she said.”

Slumping further on her bed, Emma replied, “But why didn’t you help me out? You always gave me lies about sports so I could fail. Why did you do that?”

Sophia responded quietly, ashamed of herself, “Because Mackenzie ordered me to.”

“Ok,” Emma said forgivingly. “But next time, you can’t be a follower of Mackenzie.”

Sophia wrapped Emma up in a big hug with a big smile on her face.

“I just figured out a solution to your problem,” Sophia told her sister.

“Really…?” Emma asked, unsure of Sophia’s intentions, since she was 99% sure there was no solution to her problem.

“I can be you for gym tomorrow!” Sophia said simply.

“But what if we get caught, like last time?” Emma cringed, recalling a memory from Olive’s birthday party last year.

They traded identities for fun, and everyone was completely fooled, until their mom arrived and ruined their little joke right before Olive’s karaoke debut.

Sophia rolled her eyes.

“Do you want to do Rock Music & Jazz or not?” she asked.

“More than anything!” Emma cried.

“That’s what’s important to you, Emma!” Sophia said, suddenly gripping tightly onto her sister’s arm. “The Olive incident was a party prank. This is serious!”

Suddenly, Emma remembered how passionate she was about Rock Music & Jazz. She also wanted to tell Sophia a little secret, but knew she couldn’t yet, as it related to Rock Music & Jazz. If she didn’t pass the gym test, she would never get to tell Sophia.

Finally, she gave in to Sophia and said, “Fine. Just this once.”

“Yay!!! That means I have no math tomorrow!” Sophia cheered.

“Why don’t you want to do math??” Emma wondered.

“Because,” Sophia started, “Mr. Mosely is so strict, and I can hardly remember any of the concepts. He didn’t even describe how to solve the problem 197+128!!”

Emma was in shock. “

You don’t even know what that problem is?! You should’ve remembered it from second grade! Do you even know how to convert a decimal to a fraction?”

“No… I don’t,” Sophia cried.

And since she drank too much apple juice with dinner, her tears were made from apple juice.

Suddenly, their little brother and sister, Theo and Brianna, opened the door and said, “Mmmmm, tasty!” They opened their mouths and put their face below Sophia’s chin so the apple juice tears could fall into their mouths.

“Ewwww, disgusting!” Emma yelled, “Those have eye tears!”

But the twins kept drinking the juice-tears.

“Try it!” They urged, trying not to gag.

But the truth was, it was super disgusting. Brianna couldn’t help herself, so she vomited all over the floor, which Theo then slipped on and fell. Sophia tried to catch Theo, but accidentally kicked Emma in the process. Screaming in pain, Emma knocked down a huge portrait of a panda they saw on a family vacation to China… and it fell with a clang. CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG. Portraits kept falling from the wall.

“Look what you’ve done, you little brat!!” Emma screamed at her sister.

She dodged her way through more falling portraits and eventually caught an entirely glass portrait of their great-great-grandmother. She finally caught one of Brianna’s pigtails and pulled it tight.

“That’s what you get for detention, missy!” Emma yelled.

Holding back tears, Brianna yelled back, “Let go of me! I’m sorry! I’ll give you all of my money!”

She handed Emma a small pink purse with $30 in it. Emma pocketed the money and gave Brianna’s hair one last tug as hard as she could.

“OWWWWWW!!!!” Brianna screamed.

Emma finally let go, but she wasn’t done yet. She grabbed a huge pair of scissors and cut a tiny diamond from Brianna’s pink purse.

“That’s what you get, missy!!!” Emma screamed at the top of her lungs, running to go tell their mom what happened.

Luckily for Emma, their mother was on her side and grounded Brianna for three weeks. Emma and Sophia began the cleanup process, starting with putting the portraits that fell in a big box, both hoping there would never be a portrait incident ever again. The twins then began cleaning Brianna’s vomit, transferring it from the floor to a plastic bag, which they threw in the trash.

“Let’s get back to serious business,” Emma said, as she put Theo in the bath.

Theo needed to borrow Emma’s bath, as he and Brianna’s bathroom was covered in sticky, slimy gum Brianna chewed and left on the walls. She even drew on the gum, making them look like pictures. Then suddenly, Emma’s focus returned to the gym test.

“Wait, you can’t just look like me. You have to act like me too!” she whined to Sophia.

“I got it!” Sophia said with a grin.

She grabbed a tube of toothpaste and started blowing in it, imitating how Emma plays her flute, although she was humming off-key.

“Hold on, I need to play my piano,” Emma said. “Otherwise I will fail my audition for Rock Music & Jazz. I need to concentrate on my audition and the gym test.”

“First,” Sophia said. “You do me.”

With a thoughtful expression, Emma waved to Sophia’s invisible schoolmates.

“Hey! Did you check out the game today? Man, you totally rocked it.”

Ending her impression of her sister, Emma said to Sophia, “Pretty good, huh?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Sophia answered happily. “Now we must get to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.”

Emma made a face.

“It doesn’t sound very healthy to go to sleep without brushing your teeth all day. You didn’t even brush your teeth in the morning or after you finished three Pez holders. Even after you had three fruit snacks or the giant lollipop! What is wrong with you? I brushed my teeth about four times today, very carefully,” Emma replied, disgusted.

“I can’t stop eating candy!” Sophia insisted.

“Well, you should go to sleep,” Emma replied. “Your breath smells disgusting. Did you smoke today? Principal Wilkins found a cigarette under your lunch table between you and Caitlin’s seats.”

“No, of course not!” Sophia responded, insulted. “William, the 8th grader, must have dropped it.”

Now Emma was tired.

“Alright, alright. Enough talk. Let’s go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

SLAM. The door closed quickly, and Sophia walked downstairs to her room. Sophia’s room was the same size as Emma’s, but it was much more empty. All it had in it was her bed, a table, and a plastic chair. She also had bookcases filled with books about sports, plus tennis rackets, basketballs, soccer balls, and baseballs. Sophia walked over to her bed to find a little message written under her pillow. Huh? She wondered.

The message read: Tmrwyulmetm.oooyuilee.Totally confused, she went back upstairs and showed it to Emma. Emma wrote it on her iPad, which helped decode the message.

It said, “Tomorrow you guys will meet me in the abandoned junkyard where you put your little sister’s vomit. You don’t know me now, but you will later. Signed, TGF.”

“We’re not going there. TGF is a stranger, and it might be another one of Mackenzie’s pranks.” Sophia reacted.

“How do you know that?” Emma asked.

But just then, she looked out the window of her room to see Mackenzie’s long, red hair standing at the junkyard across the street. She was telling a group of people something strange.

“Not getting involved sounds good to me,” Emma finally agreed, not wanting to get involved with Mackenzie’s tricks.

So the twins finally went to sleep.

***

The next day, the twins kept giggling between bites of cereal.

“I’m glad someone is feeling better this morning,” Elers remarked as she glanced at the girls.

Emma was wearing a long, fashionable shirt and a little skirt with roses popping out of it. She wore her blue flip flops from Bloomingdale’s on her feet. Sophia wore her usual outfit: jeans and a t-shirt, but with sneakers instead of boots. She realized today wasn’t the best day for boots, so she wore her Sketchers. After finishing their cereal, the twins rushed out the door, not even leaving time to brush their teeth — some surprise, huh?

Emma suddenly took a deep breath at lunch.

“What is wrong with you?” Maddie asked.

But Emma was too busy rushing, spilling her soup, and leaving before eating her dessert. Suddenly, she crossed her fingers and ran into a bathroom stall.

To read what happens next, you will have to listen to Emma’s recorded journal.

EMMA:

I crossed my fingers and ran into a bathroom stall. I waited and waited for my sister, Sophia, but she never arrived. I peeked under the stall and saw Mackenzie giggling.

Sophia walked in and said, “What are you doing, Mackenzie? Shouldn’t you be at your table?”

Mackenzie disappeared as she said, “As you follow me, you will have to sign into the Stop Emma club.”

Then she snickered and ran to her best friend, Jessica. Ignoring Mackenzie, Sophia ducked under the stall I was in and asked, “Ready or not?”

“Here we come,” I replied.

So we started to switch clothes at a fast pace. Sophia gave me her jeans. I gave her my designer shirt. Sophia gave me her t-shirt. I gave her my skirt. We changed outfits completely until we looked like each other. I buried my watch inside Sophia’s bookbag. Sophia groaned when she put my bookbag on her shoulders.

“What do you have in here, a whole library??” she asked sarcastically.

“Maybe,” I replied. “I do have a lot of stuff in here, and it weighs almost 50 pounds.”

Sophia groaned, “Well, you might have some magical power to carry such a heavy bookbag.”

“See you after 5th period,” I said, giggling slightly.

After the twins switched places, you might have assumed, Oh no! They’re going to get caught! Well, in fact, the twins were very careful and avoided getting caught by the principal or any other mysterious staff member. Emma walked down the hall. She was careful to avoid Mackenzie, especially when she was going to taunt Emma. But Emma realized she probably wouldn’t taunt her today, as she was disguised as Sophia. She was walking the whole way, not letting Mackenzie and her sassy friends, the Fashion Police, catch her alone.

Then, suddenly, it was 5th period. RING RING RING RING RING. The bell sounded, and Emma raced to math. As soon as she sat down at her desk, she heard a voice say, “Excuse me!” in a British accent. Emma looked up to see Will, the 8th grader, staring at her in a not so friendly way.

“Hey,” Emma said, laying back casually on her chair, even though she was feeling the opposite of relaxed.

It took Emma a second to realize what was wrong. She was sitting in her usual seat for advanced math instead of Sophia’s. Apparently, that was Will’s seat this period, not where her sister sits. Emma mumbled an apology and quickly got up, to see Olive sitting in the back row. Whew, she thought.

Olive hissed, “Where have you been??”

“Uh… bathroom,” Emma replied, which was thankfully the truth because she was a horrible liar.

Suddenly, Mr. Mosely asked the class, “Can anyone tell me how to convert a fraction to a decimal?”

Olive’s hand immediately shot up.

“Olive, please come up and whisper the answer in my ear,” he said.

Olive whispered something, but Mr. Mosely shook his head.

“Nice try, Olive.”

Olive slumped back to her seat — she hated being wrong.

Suddenly, Mackenzie raised her hand.

“I know exactly the right answer,” she grinned, giving Emma the evil eye.

She whispered something into Mr. Mosely’s ear, and he looked shocked.

Snapping his fingers, he exclaimed, “Not even close! Detention for you, Mackenzie.”

Mackenzie looked grumpy and asked innocently, “What did I do?”

“You said you were the greatest at math. You said you were in group C for math — the advanced math. But on your chart, you’re not even close! You are in group A, the lowest group.” Mr. Mosely continued, “And you get at least three questions wrong every day, but you’re bragging. Will is actually the greatest at math in this class. Now go to the principal’s office. Ms. Lata, will you take her?” he asked the assistant teacher.

Ms. Lata nodded. She was a very tall woman with long blonde hair she kept tied up in a ponytail.

She took Mackenzie’s hand tightly and said sternly, “Come with me.”

They walked to the principal’s office, which was on the cafeteria floor. Back in the classroom, Mr. Mosely was getting frustrated.

“Does anyone know how to convert a fraction to a decimal??” he practically begged.

Finally, turning to Emma, still pretending to be Sophia, he asked her.

As Emma whispered her answer, Mr. Mosely’s face lit up as he exclaimed, “You got it!! One point to the back row.” Moving into a new topic, he continued, “Now this is the easiest question: does anyone know the pattern between 5, 14, and 23?”

Immediately Emma shot up her hand and called out, “Nine!”

“Correct!” Mr. Mosely cried. “Another point to the back row!”

Meanwhile, the back row was in the lead, even though there were only a few people sitting there. Emma answered most of the questions, getting seven right in a row because she was quick and thought first before raising her hand.

Once upon a time, ther–

“Hey! Stop narrating. I can hear you.”

As I was sayi–

“I said STOP!”

Onceuponatime,therewasashee–

“No one knows what you are saying.”

I am trying to narrate here.

“And I’m trying to stop you.”

Just igno–

“Don’t ignore me!”

It’s impossible to ignore yo–

“Good!”

Can I narrate now?

“Obviously….”

Good!

“Not. :)”

What!!!

“It’s true. At least, you can’t narrate on your own.”

What’s that supposed to mean?

“I’m going to narrate with you. Duh.”

Do you even know how?

“Of course I do. I just need to check the handbook…”

Let’s just start already.

“Yay!”

Once upon a time, there was a sheep —

“His name was Bob!”

No! That’s not in the script!

“Bleh. Who cares about a script and its lines?”

I do!

“La, la, la. I can’t hear you.”

Yes, you can!

“Let’s just get on with the story already.”

Bob the sheep loved to eat grass.

“This is boring.”

No! You just don’t appreciate the finer arts of storytelling and narrating.

“I quit!!!”

Finally!

Bob ate and at-

“And you don’t get to narrate anymore! HA HA HA HA HA!”

Why?!?!

“I’m not telling you!!”

What?

“No. This story is over. No, complaints.”

Bu–

“No, buts. This story is done.”

Rain pounded on the windows. Lightening flashed. Kara sat by the windowsill. Tears slid down her face. Her heart raced. Where was her dad? Then, she felt her phone buzz in her denim pocket. Kara took her phone out only to find her dad calling. Of course. Never here.

She answered.

“Darling, are you okay? I’ve been held up at the police station; there was a robbery,” said her dad.

Kara stifled a sigh. He was never there. She knew ever since her mother died he had been trying his best, but of course there was a problem. Money.  

“Yes, don’t worry. I’m fine,” Kara replied.

“Great. If there are any problems, call me. Also, stay away from the windows. This storm has just turned into a hurricane. Be careful. I love you. Bye.”

“Bye,” she muttered.

There was a problem. They both knew it. The one thing Kara wanted most. Her dad home. His comforting voice and reassuring comments. However, Kara ignored his warning and still sat near the window.

New York City was lovely at night. The view was stunning.

No sirens.

No shouting.

Only peace.

Suddenly, Kara heard a crack. She looked around the room to see if there was a leak. With her back turned, the window broke, shattering sharp, jagged pieces of glass all over Kara. She fell to the floor in pain.

“Help,” hollered Kara, “Someone, help me. Please.”

The Next Day – 11:00 pm

“Vanilla or chocolate pudding?”

“Chocolate, please.”

“Coming right up. If there is any way for me to be of more assistance, let me know. The doctor, Dr. Perkins, will come in again to check on you. For now, just relax,” said the red-haired nurse.

Kara lay in an uncomfortable bed. Tubes were in her arms, full of blood. Her hand and leg were in a cast. She absolutely hated the hospital. Ever since her mother died from trusting her life in a doctor’s hand, she’s been terrified. Her mother had had a heart attack, and the doctors tried everything but couldn’t save her. How she missed her mother. Someone she could always rely on to be there for her.   

From last night, the only thing Kara remembered was sitting near the window, and then, all of a sudden, she ended up in the hospital.

Suddenly, her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she started shaking uncontrollably.

“Stabilize her!” someone yelled.

“Check her heart beat.”

“Dr. Perkins. Her heart beat-”

BEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPP.

BEEP. BEEEEP. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPP.

“NO! We lost her,” said Dr. Perkins. “Does she have any family members?”

“Yes, Doctor, but he has recently been taken hostage with a couple of other police men.”

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.    

“This is a miracle!” Dr. Perkins cried out.

“Dad. Dad.” Kara muttered. “Where is he?”

“Honey, please just rest.” Dr. Perkins said.

Kara felt a needle go into her skin. Then, the world went black.

2:00 am

Everything hurt. The pain was unbearable. Kara attempted to stand up but fell to her knees.

“Have to find Dad,” she groaned

Clutching her stomach, Kara crawled over to the metal door. She stretched her hand up and grabbed the handle.

Click.

As soon as the door was the slightest bit open, alarms sounded. People flooded into the hall. Eyes stared at her.

“Umm… hi.” Kara said.

Think Kara. Make up an excuse.

Then it hit her.

“I have to umm… use the restroom.” She said.

“Oh,” said the red-haired nurse she had seen earlier. “Get in the wheelchair.”

“Okay.”

While she was being escorted to the restroom, thoughts stirred in her head.

Think of a plan. What if there is a window? No. Maybe I could escape by–? No. Not good enough. Uggh!!! What to do. Wait, what if I just asked the nurse where he is? I should have thought of this earlier. So simple.

“Excuse me. I never caught your name,” said Kara.

“It’s Jenelle,” said the red-haired nurse.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kara.”

“I know,” Jenelle said coldly. “I also know your dad, Officer Zamora.”

“Oh. Speaking of my father, do you know where he is?

“Ha. Don’t worry, honey. He couldn’t make it. Held up at work.”

Jenelle definitely hit a sore spot. Kara scowled at the mention of the fact that her dad couldn’t come.

“Nevermind,” Kara uttered.

“Now, hurry up,” snapped Jenelle.

Ring ring.

Jenelle took out her phone and glared at Kara. It was a glare that meant: Com’n. I don’t have all day. Don’t you think I have better things to do?

Kara stood up and swung open the bathroom door. When she was inside, she pressed her ear against the flimsy door.  

“She doesn’t suspect a thing about her dad,” said Jenelle into phone.

“Good, we don’t want her to find out that her dad has gone missing. We don’t need more problems. A missing father and angry daughter,” sneered a muffled voice.

“I know. However, there is a problem: I don’t know how to talk to the daughter of the man I dated in college. It’s really awkward. She is a spitting image of her mother, and it only brings back bad memories,” said Jenelle.

“Don’t worry. By the end of the day, everything will be figured out, I hope.”

Kara started to bubble with anger. She threw open the door and yelled, “What about my dad? Tell me. Now.”

“Were you eavesdropping? How much did you hear?” Jenelle questioned as her cheeks turned a vibrant red.  

“Who cares?”

“I do or I wouldn’t be asking.”

“Ugh. Don’t lie. What happened to my dad? I want the whole story. Also about you and my da — Never mind. Also, if you lie I will know because… YES, I was eavesdropping.”

“Okay, okay. Your dad was at the police station, and then the power went out. In a few minutes the lights came back on; however, your dad and two other policemen had gone missing. They searched everywhere, but with still no luck. Later that night, they found a note. It said:

If you wish your officers alive, deliver 10,000 dollars at the south end of the pier by thursday at 10 pm.

Okay, now you are all caught up.”

“Thank you. When did they receive this note?”

“Two days ago.”

“So on Monday. The day of the hurricane. My dad warned me to –. Never mind. That gives us until tomorrow,” said Kara, flustered by all the information.

“What do you mean by us? I gave you the information, I’m done,” responded Jenelle.

“Oh. Well, then I need one more favor.”

“What?” groaned Jenelle.

“I need you to come down with me to the pier and watch while I give them the money.”

“Say what? First of all, you don’t have that money. Second of all, it’s super dangerous. Third of all, you’re injured. Fourth of all, you have to be released by the hospital. In other words, you can’t leave. Would you like me to go on?”

“No thanks. I know it sounds silly, but trust me. Don’t worry about my injury. With a little Advil, I’ll be fine. But you have a point about the whole hospital thing.”

“I know. So forget the whole thing. Now, just let the adults handle the problem,” replied Jenelle with a worried expression.

“Yeah… no. I need you to lie for me and make sure the doctor releases me from the hospital,” responded Kara

“Say what? No. Just forget it.”

“Please… with a cherry on top.”

“Okay. Fine.”

“Thank you. Thank you.”

“Whatever. Just hide in a stall in the bathroom. I should be back in five to ten minutes.”

Jenelle left the hallway and then entered a room.

She approached Dr. Perkins and said, “Hi. Sorry to interrupt. I was talking to Kara. The girl with the injured hand and leg. She almost died.”

“Oh yeah. I remember. What about her?” Dr. Perkins asked.

“She has requested to leave the hospital and go home. I know that’s not normally allowed, but she’s probably really homesick and worried about her dad, Officer Zamora, a policeman. I will happily volunteer to take care of her.”

“Okay. You are the top nurse. I will send you with some supplies. Give me a second.”

“I hate policemen,” muttered Dr. Perkins as he dove behind the marble counter and reappeared with a large black bag.

“What?” Asked Jenelle.

“Nothing. Inside this bag are the supplies you need to take care of her. Also, her phone and clothes are in here,” said Dr. Perkins.

“Thank you. She will appreciate it.”

Jenelle left the room and made her way into the restroom.

“Kara? It’s done. You can come out now. I’m taking you home. I’m going to take of you.”

A stall door creaked open and Kara came out.

“Thank you so much Jenelle.”

“You’re welcome. Now, let’s go.”

“Okay.”

As they walked home, Kara asked, “Are you in?”

“In what?”

“The plan to rescue my father and the other policemen. All you have to do is watch.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but fine. I’ll go with you,” Jenelle said with a slight smile, as a memory came back to her. She, Mark (Kara’s dad), and Violet (Kara’s mom) succuried back to their dorm rooms. They had snuck out past curfew to get an actually decent meal because the cafeteria food was awful and disgusting.

“Great. We will leave the house at 6:00 pm,” interrupted Kara.

“Okay,” muttered Jenelle

Kara grinned as a plan began to unfold in her head.

Thursday – 5:00 pm

Today was the day that Kara’s dad could be saved or killed. First, she had to tell Jenelle the plan.

“Okay, I filled this bag with junk.” Kara said holding a up a small black duffle bag. “No money at all inside. I have a kitchen knife and a pair of handcuffs in my backpack just incase. Also here are some binoculars for you to keep watch. Now let’s get going. Wait, I need food for the hostages. Okay, now we can go.”

“Thank you. We can do this, Kara,” smiled Jenelle for the first time. “I know you can.”

They walked through Central Park. It was beautiful, surrounded by so much green. Some people walked their dogs. Others exercised. Kara took this time to think.

What would she do when they arrived at the pier? Would the hostages even be released at all? What if her dad was already dead. Stop thinking negative Kara. What if I fail?

“Kara. Kara. KARA!!!” screamed Jenelle.

“Umm… yes,” she said coming out of her trance and almost walking into a trash can.

“We’re here.”

“Oh, great. Okay. See that bush over there,” Kara pointed out, “I need you to hide there. I’ll leave the bag of money and stay there waiting until this mysterious person shows up. If anything bad happens and I get caught, alert the authorities. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Let’s go.”

Jenelle headed toward a bush and crouched down. Thoughts swirled in her head.

Why was she even doing this? She got nothing out of it. Her life could be at stake right now.   

Kara headed towards a wooden bench and dropped the bag of “money” on the bench. She waited. Then, a hand covered her mouth and dragged Kara away. Jenelle was in shock for a second, and then, she immediately called 911. Suddenly, Jenelle felt like she had to follow the person who kidnapped Kara. She creeped out of the bush she was hiding behind and began down the pier in the direction where the person carried Kara off. Jenelle approached a broken down shack where she heard muffled cries  

She knocked on the wooden door and said, “Excuse me. I’m umm… lost.”

“What?” someone said inside.

“Um. Can I come in, please?”

“No. Go away,” grumbled someone.

“Open up,” Jenelle growled, “Now.”

“Got to go.”

“Fine, I’ll leave.”

Jenelle counted to three. 1… 2… 3. She kicked the door open and grinned.

“I’m coming Kara,” whispered Jenelle.

She tiptoed downstairs and found Kara with her dad and the other policemen. Blood dripped down Mark’s (Kara’s dad) face. Rope bound their hands and feet. She spotted Kara’s backpack, which she grabbed. Then Jenelle took out the kitchen knife and began cutting at the rope. First, she freed Kara but was then attacked. She wrestled herself away from the person. Kara jumped up, and kicked, and punched as Jenelle freed her dad. He stood up shakily and joined the fight. Soon, the other policemen were free. The person was out numbered. Then, they unmasked him. It was Dr. Perkins.

“It was you all along. Why did you do this?” said Jenelle.

“I wanted revenge,” Dr. Perkins sneered.

“Why?”

“I hate policemen. That’s why my father is in jail,” said Dr. Perkins.

“But, he did a bad thing,”

“He was my father and my only family. My mother died right after giving birth to me. My father had to steal for us just to survive. I don’t even know why I’m telling you this. Whatever.”

“Dad,” Kara cried, “I missed you. Also, there is a pair of handcuffs in my bag. Could you get them please?”

“That’s my prepared girl.”

He grabbed the handcuffs and put them on Dr. Perkins.

“You are under arrest,” Mark announced.

“Are you even a real doctor?” Jenelle asked.

“No.” said Dr. Perkins.

“Arggh,” responded Jenelle.

“Hi Jenelle. How are you?” Mark asked, surprised.

“Good. I haven’t seen you in a long time Mark.”

They smiled at each other as if the past didn’t matter anymore.

Kara wrapped her arms around her dad.

“I thought you were gone,” Kara said.

“It’s okay. Now don’t worry,” her dad replied. “Everything is alright now.”

Kara knew she would have to sort things out with her dad, but for now… everything was perfect.

The End

CHAPTER ONE: The Tree

Lilly and Anthony were twins who slept in the same room, and every night, their father would tell them a special story about the mysterious tree before they went to sleep. This is how it went:

One summer day in New York City, one boy and his neighbor were practicing for a baseball game they had tomorrow. They were both 12 years old and were best friends for all of their lives. One boy named Daniel, who was the pitcher on his baseball team, was playing with Nathan, who was the first baseman on the team. There were dogs and cats playing, cars honking, and everyone was having a great time. Daniel threw a curveball at Nathan, who then blasted a home-run.

Daniel yelled at Nathan, “Nice hit!”

The baseball rolled and rolled until it hit this small golden rock. This rock rolled down the hill until it reached a tree. There was a small hole at the bottom of the tree, and the rock rolled in. The boys crawled into the inside of the tree, never to be seen again. Some say the tree is just fake, and there is just a hole under the tree where victims fall in, but some say the boys are still in the tree today. Personally, I think the tree is magical. Many daring people have tried to go in the tree, but none of them have returned. Today, there are security guards stopping people from going into the tree.

“Good night, Lilly. Good night, Anthony.”

Lilly and Anthony both were fake sleeping but right when their father stepped out of the door, they got up and planned and planned all night. They always wanted to go inside the tree, but now they were old enough. They planned to get inside the tree and see what was actually in the tree.

CHAPTER TWO: The Portal

The next morning, Lilly and Anthony heard their father coming upstairs, and they raced to their beds to pretend like they were sleeping all night.

“Good morning, Lilly. Good morning, Anthony.”

“Good morning, Dad.”

“Wake up. You have to go to school. Make your own breakfast because I have to go. I have a meeting in an hour, and it is in New Jersey. Walk to school by yourself today.”

Lilly and Anthony’s dad told his children that he was a busy, but successful, businessman who had little time with his children because he was so busy.

As soon as their dad went out the door, Anthony and Lilly wolfed down their breakfast and set off for their journey to the tree. There was no way they were going to school today because they needed to see this tree.

They arrived at the park, and they could see the tree and all the security guards in the distance. Since they planned overnight, they knew exactly what they were going to do. They were to climb the tree next to it and jump into the tree from above, since there was an opening at the top.

They were climbing and climbing, and, suddenly, a big chunk of the tree fell and made a loud boom. Luckily, none of the guards heard, except for one who turned around and saw nothing. The guard looked somewhat familiar.

Anthony whispered to Lilly, “Phew, that was close!” They jumped all the way to the tree and saw a glowing portal. Anthony and Lilly jumped in and…

CHAPTER THREE: No Going Back

Anthony and Lilly both said at the same time, “Where are we?”

They looked around and saw a rainbow, and waterfalls, and fruit trees. and flowers, and everything looked beautiful. But they looked around and saw people. However, there were two kids that first caught their eye. One was holding a ball, and one was holding a baseball bat. They were the boys that their father told them about. The boys that played baseball and hit the golden rock!

They looked around and saw some other random people. There were some old and clumsy people who must’ve fallen in the hole on accident. There were also some adventurous looking people. Lilly told Anthony about how their father said some other people also went into the tree and never returned. But the more they looked around, they realized that all of the people had frowns on their faces, and they were all looking down. They all looked so sad. Lilly and Anthony wondered why because this island looked wonderful to live on. They decided to go home and tell their father about this place and how it isn’t as bad as everyone thought. But there was one problem. They couldn’t. They looked around all over the island and asked everyone how to leave.

Everyone they asked said as if it were obvious, “We are all stuck. There is no possible way to leave.” They couldn’t find another portal to lead them back. They were stuck there forever! That’s why all of the people there were so sad.

“Dad where are you?” Lilly shouted, nervously. There was no answer.

Anthony then said, “I guess we’re stuck here for…”

Then, they heard something from a fruit tree behind them.

“I am mumble, mumble, here!” As they got closer to the tree, they could hear it more and more clear. “Anthony and Lilly, right here!”

CHAPTER FOUR: Thank You, Dad!

“I’ll explain,” their dad said. “I was the security guard who turned around when the bark fell when you guys were climbing the tree.” Anthony and Lilly were speechless.

“I thought you were a businessman!”

Their dad explained how he told them that so they wouldn’t be worried about him. “I saw you when I turned. However, I was curious to see what you guys were going to do. When I saw you jump in the tree, I was so surprised. But I care about you children, and I jumped in and tried to save you.”

Anthony and Lilly were so confused.

“Enough with that, let’s go home,” Lilly responded.

“We can’t!”

“What do you mean?” Anthony answered.

“Ummmm, there is no portal or door to lead us out.”

“Surely, we could make one.” So, they gathered all the sticks and fruit and flowers on the island, and they worked all day, and finally they made it.

Anthony yelled, “One, two, three, jump!” And they did.

CHAPTER FIVE : The Secret

The next thing they knew, they were back home. Lilly was so happy, and suddenly she had an idea.

“We could tell everyone and make millions. Also, we could save everyone who’s stuck.”

“NOOOO!” Anthony and his dad both yelled.

“Why not?”

“Because no one would ever believe us, and if you look out the window, the park added more guards covering the whole tree. There is no way to go back,” Anthony explained.

Then, their dad said, “It could be our family secret, and we will never ever tell anybody.” And they never did.

Once, there was this fairy, and her name was Clara. She lived in a hollow tree, and she made her own house. She lived there with her brother, Jim. Clara and Jim lost their parents in a fairy train crash, and now, they had nobody to take care of them. They had nobody to fly them to fairy school, and nobody to tuck them into their bed made of plastic bags, and broken markers, and tin cans, and other garbage at night. They had no one to take them to the library under the bush, the one where the librarian made books from tiny pieces of paper. The library was where Clara wished she could go most. Her parents were supposed to take her, but they died the day before.

One day, Clara was playing tag, with a magical ball of light, with her friends, Alicia, Grace, and Ava. Then her friends stopped flying around.

“Who is this picture of?” Grace asked, pointing to a flipped over photo in a frame.

Clara’s eyes started to water.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said as she secretly wiped her tears.

Clara ran to the bathroom to wash her face, and the girls flipped the picture over.

When Clara came back, she cried, “What are you guys doing?”

“Nothing,” they replied at once.

But Clara knew that the picture had said, “R.I.P. Clara’s mom, Sophia, and dad, John, to be remembered.”

“I have to go get my mom a present to get her a little happy,” lied Grace.

But this was an excuse. She really wanted to go gossip about Clara’s family to everyone.

“My mom and I have to do some homework,” said Alicia. “I have to go.”

But she didn’t really have to do homework. It was just an excuse.

“I feel so sorry that your parents died,” whispered Ava.

Clara felt a tad better that Ava said that because Ava didn’t usually speak very much.

“You should tell Alicia and Grace’s moms what they did. I know that they will gossip to everyone.”

As Clara flew Ava home, she felt sad and left out. But she also felt a little happy not to talk to them because her friends were being bullies to her and looking at her secret, private stuff. She wasn’t sad when they had left.

Ava said to Clara, “It would be okay if you and Jim stayed over at my house for a while, until you go to an orphanage.”

Clara felt happy and got all of the stuff out of her mind. She felt brave and ready to stand up for herself.

They picked up Clara’s brother, Jim, and left the hollow tree that was their old home and went to an apartment in Ava’s magic tree, which was on the fifth floor. The wallpaper was sparkling like a silver diamond in the sky. The bathroom was shiny purple. There were shimmering, blue shells hanging from the ceiling. It was like walking into a rainbow. Clara loved it. Ava’s mom said they could live there and not go to the orphanage. Ava’s mom, Carina, was so nice, and she gave them fairy delicious ice cream with fairy dust sprinkles for dinner.

Then, right after she ate the ice cream with the fairy dust, she got a little tired. When she woke up, she was back outside of her treehouse. Maybe I went to the wrong house, thought Clara. Clara heard people talking inside the house. It sounded like her mom and dad. She looked in the window, and she saw them. It felt like her stomach was on a really, really fun roller coaster. All she wanted to do was open the door, but it was locked and her key didn’t work.

She tried knocking, but they didn’t hear her. Clara was confused.

“Mom! Dad!” she yelled through the crack of the door. “I’m over here!”

But they still didn’t hear her. She tried climbing through the window, but that didn’t work, either. Wait, she thought. Those are my parents, but they aren’t answering me. Why can’t they hear me? Clara started to cry. She shed big, star-shaped fairy tears and let out long wailing squeaks.

When Clara woke up in the morning, she was one year younger, eating breakfast with her parents. She was so surprised. This must be a dream, she thought. Are these fake people, or are these real people? Clara wondered.

She ran up to them and hugged them, and they hugged back! They weren’t holograms. She was so excited, she wanted to scream. Her mom smelled like pretty perfume.

“Oh my god!” Clara screamed. “I never even knew that.”

“Why are you hugging us?” asked her mother.

“We’ve been here the whole time,” laughed her father.

Clara kept pinching herself to see if this was just a dream.

“Ow!” she cried.

Clara knew that this was real because the pinches really hurt. Clara wanted to tell Ava that she saw her parents, but it was one year earlier, and she didn’t know Ava then. She couldn’t tell her because she ate the magic fairy dust that was in the fairy delicious ice cream that made her go back in time.

Finally, her wish came true to go to the library. She held on to her parents hands tightly, not ever wanting to let go.

THE END

Chapter 1

Hi, I’m Rockstripe! I think that you shouldn’t be here because you don’t want to get into this battle, and because it’s very confusing, and you don’t want to know. But forget that, just listen to the story.

It was a cold night, and everybody was snuggled in their moss dens, and suddenly, the ocean made a loud CLANG! Cries of surprise filled the camp, then suddenly, the ocean pack came to war.

I jumped on the high rock and yelled, “Graysky, help!”

The ocean pack rolled into the clearing, and then I saw my friend, Skycloud, falling from a cliff while engaged in battle with an ocean pack. Skycloud was falling toward the rapid clang of the ocean.

I yelled, “Nofurs are gonna kill us with that spiky thing! Watch out, mouse brain!”

My friend caught a branch, but he slipped toward the green, oozing liquid. I jumped after him. I landed on the tree. The other warrior, I realized, was another apprentice because it was too tiny. I couldn’t believe what I was about to do. I jumped on the cliff, and I yelled down from where I was standing on top, “I’ll get help from the helping dog!”

Then, a ginormous warrior slammed into me. I kicked upward and sent him off the cliff, but I fell over too. I didn’t want to touch that green stuff. My friend rolled into the ocean. I didn’t want to touch that green stuff even more now. I caught a branch between my teeth. It snapped. But luckily, a wave came and slapped me upwards, and I managed to grab onto a cliff. I didn’t know where I was… I was in cave pack territory! I was gonna get killed. I had to move it so I could get back. I ran as fast as I could, and woah! I was hurdling toward the ocean. I skimmed the waves and sank. I swam furiously, and I was on a sandy beach.

Uh-oh! I was on the ocean pack camp. That was gonna get me in the most trouble! Foxdun! I thought, hmm I can jump on that cliff, and I’ll be back in my territory. But if I miss, I’ll die. I jumped, and I caught a cliff two feet above the one I meant to jump on, but I caught it with my ear instead of something that I could grab it with. I fell but onto the right ledge. I managed to jump up into the middle of the battle. Uh-oh! I jumped on top of… Oooops… extra oops! I jumped on top of Oceansky, the ocean packleader. She looked so startled that she jumped. She fell over the side, knocking me to the ground.

Then the battle was over. I couldn’t see anything. Then I thought, wait, Oceansky left… what’s this? It was green… the liquid. Uh-oh, I know what this is. It was the two-legged Whatchamacallit. Oh, I remember. They called it cereal milk? I knew this wasn’t good. If it was green, it must be rotten… A lot. I didn’t know what to do, so I decided to bring it to the leader, Raysky. She would know what to do, but she didn’t know what patrols to send out to the camp. She really needed someone to tell her that she needs to protect us.

Wow, my ear hurts. And my foreleg. Then, I saw the impossible.

In front of me, I heard the helping dog, Cloudedsun, say, “You need spider webs.”

I thought, wait, what? We don’t have spider webs around here. Then, I realized the helping dog had green liquid in her ears. She probably didn’t know what was going on. I was freaking out. This green liquid was doing weird things to dogs. We needed to get rid of it, now! Then, Raysky came stumbling out of her rock den with green liquid in her eyes.

She stumbled into a rock and said, “I can’t see! I can’t see!”

I didn’t know what to do. Our helping dog was deaf, our leader was blind, what do we do?! I looked around and saw more dead dogs than there should’ve been. I realized we needed to get this out fast. How were we going to do this? If we didn’t know of anything to do, what would we do? I didn’t even know what I was saying. Then, I saw a sprawled body at the bottom of the cliff. I raced to the bottom of the cliff and saw… My friend, Sunmoon! He was covered in the green liquid, and it was dripping from his mouth. I looked to see if he was breathing. He wasn’t. He was dead. I didn’t want to touch him and get that green liquid on me. I decided to call the deputy and the three senior warriors because they would know what to do. I was only a new warrior. I couldn’t do anything major. Then, I saw a two-legged trap. I didn’t know what it was though. I didn’t know what to do. I stepped in, and when I opened my eyes again, I was in a cage. Next to me, I saw my apprentice.

I yelled, “Circlepaw!”

Chapter 2

Then, I saw a huge hand. It had no fur or no pads. It had two-legged hands! I squirmed to the back of my cage and hissed. The two-legged quickly brought back their hand, and there was a small, white thing where the two-legged had their hand. I was suspicious. I saw my apprentice licking it, and then he fell. I didn’t know what was happening, so I did the natural thing. I bit the cage. It was made out of rope, and that was what the two-legged called it. It looked like a butterfly cage, like a cocoon. When I bit the cage, it easily gave way. I sprung out into the air. I was falling into an open air. It was all black around me. I saw a small shape. It was creepy, I didn’t see anything familiar. I thought, wait… this isn’t good. Then I saw a tree. I landed with half of my head sticking out of the tree and my body splayed over the tree. I hobbled to the bottom and ran up some cliffs and found my camp, surprisingly, untouched.

Except, there was only one dog there other than me. This dog was an ocean pack dog. This dog was called Linebug. I jumped and rolled and bit until the dog left. Then I looked around for everybody. I smelled a scent. I followed the scent of my pack to a sheltered cage in the middle of an island, in a little stream.

I yelled, “Well, you can come back now! I drove the scary dog out. What are you all so afraid of?”

I knew the senior warrior, Ladydog. I didn’t think Ladydog would stop, then I saw an unmoving body, and I froze. It wasn’t Ladydog, if that’s what you think. It was an unfamiliar dog, and Ladydog was crouching over it. I didn’t think it was gonna harm us, but then, its nose knocked Ladydog backwards. It roared, and I realized it wasn’t a dog. It was a lion!

We ran.

And I yelled, “Avoid traps and green bottles!”

When we got back to the camp, there were only three dogs left. This was not good, and I did not know what to do.

Narrator talking now! On that happy note, we’ll transfer to the ocean pack and see what’s happening there!

Chapter 3

Hi! I’m Oceanfly. Now, so you know, we were having a tiny bit of trouble with fishing. Particularly, one apprentice’s fish. In particular, my apprentice’s fish, so it was my fault. Well it all started when my apprentice came running over to me saying, “I caught six fish!”

“Let’s add them to the fresh kill pile,” I said.

And I knew that something was wrong also, but I didn’t think so. I was happy for apprentice. Then, it came time for meals. I picked a squirrel, not wanting to test my apprentice’s fish. The elders came rolling into the clearing with green eyes. I knew they’d had four of the six fish. Then, two more dogs. I saw the leader and the deputy came rolling into the clearing with green eyes. I knew that our pack had problems. I needed help from our helping dog, Butterdog, who started life as dogy dog. I needed to! Because I was senior warrior, and I didn’t want to lead the clan. It was too big of a responsibility for a dog with only ten moons. One moon is one month. I knew I had to do something. I was scared. Then came the attack from cliff pack, who could jump down cliffs, land on their backs, and not break any bones- and jump up thirty feet cliffs and land at the top! That was good for them, but bad for us. The biggest tabby warrior, I realized, the deputy, I side-stepped and jumped. He kicked over, and I couldn’t see! I was covered by fur. The next thing I saw was that I was lying in a mossy nest, next to an empty place that smelled like sickness. The elders’ den. It was usually the medicine dog’s den, but it was used as the elders’ den when there wasn’t a medicine dog. Where was the medicine dog? Where was Darkenedmoon?

“We need help! We got attacked by cliff clan!” I yelled.

Then Lightpaw came running into the den.

“I’m an apprentice medicine dog! Maybe I can help.”

Then Blackear said, “You can’t help us! My ear is torn, and you can’t fix that!”

Then Whiteear said, “My brother’s right! You can’t fix my twisted ears!”

Blackface yelled, “My jaw is broken, you can’t fix that!”

By then, Lightpaw had hurried out the door and came back with a bundle of herbs. Lightpaw ran into the den and walked over to Blackear. She carefully put daffodil for soreness and spider webs for bleeding into a bracken nest and carried them to her den.

“Do you need help, Whiteear?” she asked.

I said, “I need a little help! I got thrown, and my eyes aren’t working!”

My eyes stung. Quickly, I got a poppyseed and fell asleep. When I woke, I didn’t know where I was. Then I thought I saw a shimmering image. Then a dog appeared in front of me. This dog had a white face with black fur all around their face.

I didn’t know who she was until she said, “I’m Whiteface, the founder of Ocean clan. I bring a warning. The green bottle is your biggest problem, but you want to watch out for other things too. I can’t tell you because you’ll have to find out for yourself. I’m pushing it by telling you that much.”
I said, “But what green bottle? I didn’t see a green bottle in our territory, but I did see a green liquid oozing into the ocean yesterday when I was on rock pack patrol. It didn’t do anything. In fact, an apprentice licked it, and she was perfectly fine.”

The warrior ran through this weird forest with branches so low to the ground that they were lower than my feet. I chased after Whiteface. A branch snapped me upward. I couldn’t feel anything. I was flying through the air, and then I woke with a start. Suddenly at my feet, I saw branches, and I saw Lightpaw. Lightpaw was quivering. I ran over to her.

Lightpaw said, “I got a prophecy from sky pack.”

“What is it?” I said.

“Before peace, green will ooze, and silver will gleam in a bad place, not a dream,” Lightpaw said.

“We have to double the patrols! I’ll go on one on the cliff pack territory to make sure they stay in their territory.”

A few minutes later, I was running on the side of the cliff pack border, when a dog came plummeting down. It was cliff pack.

“It will kill you,” said Blackeye.

I leapt off the ground, and the dog hit the floor. I didn’t recognize this dog. It was black and white with a brown face. It was thin with thin, straw like fur. It looked very old. But still, when it jumped at me, I fell to the ground, and the world went black.

Chapter 4

Hi, I’m Clifffall! When our hostage came into camp, I examined her. I guessed she could make a good warrior if we taught her properly, although maybe she would kill herself while learning. I heard the crunching of leaves, and I thought it was intruders. I was going to jump. I was just flying through mid-air, off a 30-foot cliff, and it was perfectly normal. Ahhhhh! Squish. This was squishy. It was sticky, too. And my paws were dirty– what’s this? Ahh, I can’t get this thing off me! It’s annoying!

“Help!”

I didn’t know what this sticky thing was, but it was really getting on my nerves. I mean, really. I was just gonna jump up this 30-foot cliff, and it was perfectly normal. Oh, what about that hostage? I wondered if she summoned help by now. Oops, I better go make sure I’m on guard. What was this sticky thing? It was so annoying. Mmmm, it tastes good. Squishy? Tasty? Hmmm… food? I shot up through the air and landed on top, and it was perfectly normal, except for one problem. I landed on my head.

I got up and said, “That’s perfectly normal.”

Then, Oceanfly came bolting out of the camp and jumped on me. We fell off the cliff. That was NOT perfectly normal!

Then, we fell on something new. It was water! And a plastic thing… what was this? My paws were wet. This was NOT perfectly normal! We rolled and rolled and rolled and rolled and rolled until we– “mooooooo!”

“It’s a cow!”

“What’s a cow?”

We were arguing about what a cow was until– “oink!”

“It’s a pig!” I said.

Oceanfly said, “What’s a pig?”

Then, squish!

“It’s a sandwich!” Oceanfly said.

I said, “Ahhh! Scary! It’s a witch made out of sand!”

I ran across the plain. I was being very smart. Yeah, right. That’s my friendly enemy that decided to invade our camp, Oceanfly. Gotta go! See you next time!

Chapter 5

“Hi, I’m Caverock! Don’t call me Cavey, I’m not going to deal with you right now.”

Sorry about that, that was Caverock. He’s a little mean when he’s on guard duty. Once he nipped my ear because he didn’t know I was coming. Why does Cavesky put him on guard duty? It’s annoying.

I’m Cavefinder. I got the name because I found our place here. So, let me tell you what happened when our problems started. They happened about cows. One day I was out on patrol on the Rock Pack border. Then, I heard– “mooooooooooooooo!”

“The Cows!” Nocave screamed and ran.

That was very helpful…

STORY ONE

PROLOGUE  

Once upon a time, there was a hill. Through summer, winter, and spring, it was an ordinary hill, but in the fall, pumpkins dug themselves out of the dirt and lived on the sides. When they did this, it was called Pumpkin City. A sport played by the pumpkins was to roll down the hill. However, the pumpkins could not roll from the top of the hill because there stood a great, big willow tree.

The willow tree loved to squeeze pumpkins to their deaths. So it was natural that the pumpkins would not go to the top of the hill. Until…

CHAPTER ONE

One fine morning, Joe Bob was looking at the top of the hill, longingly.

“I wish I could go up there and roll down that hill,” he whispered to Stan Fluff, his best friend.

“You can wish all you want,” replied Stan, “but that tree is not going anywhere.”

“IT IS SO INCONVENIENT!” yelled Joe. “Why does he have to guard the top of the hill 24/7 and whenever… ”

He did not have time to finish. For, at that moment:

“LEAVE THE HILL NOW, AND NO HARM WILL COME TO YOU!”

“What?” asked Joe.

He saw at the bottom of the hill stood millions of trees. The trees were assembled in straight lines. Each one of the trees had a shovel.

“I wonder what they are doing.” said Stan.

“I have no idea.”

“If you do not leave in five hours, we will plant ourselves”.

CHAPTER TWO

Joe and Stan ran to the bottom, where their friend, Twig, was planted. Twig was a sapling that had befriended Joe and Stan.

After they had explained their position to Twig, he talked to the trees.

“Fellow trees, this hill is no place to plant yourselves. No sunlight gets through here, and you will not grow.”

Finally, they agreed to go. However, the holes they had made remained. Joe and Stan argued with the leader of the trees, but they refused to put the dirt back in the hole. So, the two pumpkins were forced to do it.

CHAPTER THREE

As Joe and Stan finished putting the dirt back in the hole, a strange figure appeared.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” he said, fake purring. “My name is Evil Mister Fox, but some call me E.M.F. Now where is my house?”

“What house?” asked Joe.

“Look, I bought this city for a bag of gold,” he snickered. “And so now, I demand that you hand over your house and everyone else’s.”

“Ah, but have you seen the top of the hill?” asked Joe, coming up with a plan.

“No, I have never seen the top. Why?”

“It is beautiful up there. I’ll show you. Follow me.”

As they climbed up the hill, Joe said, “Phew, I need a rest. Why don’t you go on without me?”

“Er, okay.”

A few minutes later, Mister Fox was in the air, flying the exact same way he came.

“He will not come back in a hurry,” murmured Stan. “Once you’ve been hit by willow, you have had it.”

“Speaking of Mister Willow…”

CHAPTER FOUR

The two friends climbed up the hill. Joe was shaking as they approached the tree. Finally Joe spoke.

“Mister Willow, will you be our friend?”

Mister Willow looked down on them. At that minute, they heard a loud chop, and the tree gave a yowl of surprise. Out came Evil Mister Fox with an axe in his hand.

“You tried to kill me, and now it is time for revenge!” he cried as he ran for Pumpkin City.

Joe Bob looked at where the tree was but, to his surprise, he did not see a thing. Then he looked down the hill, and there was the old tree rolling down the hill.

“He will run over Mister Fox!” yowled Stan Fluff. “Then let us achieve your goal by rolling down the hill to watch.”

So they rolled down the hill, but to their surprise, the fox was rolling behind them.

“Thought you could fool me, eh?” he sneered, but it was the pumpkins who got the last laugh.

The next minute, the tree came crashing into him.

“Ouch!” he cried.

And for a little bit, all was well.

STORY TWO

PROLOGUE

Joe Bob was bored. It had been weeks since there had been any action in Pumpkin City.

“Good gravy!” shouted Stan Fluff from his house. “You did what?”

“What’s the matter?” asked Joe as Stan ran by.

“My mother sold my encyclopedia to a traveling merchant for FIVE gold coins.”

“What is so important about an encyclopedia?”

“It had twenty gold coins in it… and I had been saving up to buy a ticket to the rolling championship game!”    

CHAPTER ONE

Joe had been away from home for a day now. It was his first night on his mission to reclaim Stan’s encyclopedia.

“Should I go to sleep or just keep walking?” He wondered.

He decided to just keep walking.

“Why did I volunteer?” he wondered. “Because I am his friend, and Stan would have came if he hadn’t gotten sick.”

“Hullo.”

Joe spun around.

“Are you a tree?” He asked cautiously.

“Why, yers, I am.”

“Have you seen a traveling merchant?”

“Uh nope! Just a guy with an encyclopedia.”

“Which way did he go?”

“That way.”

“Thank you. I will be going now.”

As Joe ran along the forest, he saw a big house. He ran toward it, but as he got close, he heard a noise.

“Okay, Sam, ready to cut the pumpkin?”

Joe’s heart jumped. He was at the cutter man’s cottage!   

CHAPTER TWO

As Joe approached the cutter man’s cottage, he saw a boy who was leaning over a table with a long knife. Joe did not need to see what was on the table. He already had heard stories about this house. Story had it that these cutters carved pumpkins’ faces with knives. So, obviously, he was very fearful of being caught, but he had to search for the traveling merchant.

At that moment, suddenly, he saw a tail. However, it went out of sight before he could speak to it, but he did get a glimpse of an encyclopedia.

“The merchant has evacuated.”

He ran, hoping that the cutters wouldn’t spot him. As he got out, he felt relief flow over him, but he kept running.

CHAPTER THREE

Joe walked up the stream. He spotted Evil Mister Fox’s lair. Maybe he would know the traveling merchant.

“Who is there?” asked Mister Fox when Joe knocked on the door. “Oh, it is you. Come in.”

As they walked through Mister Fox’s collection of books, Joe noticed that there was one book that didn’t belong. It looked just like… Joe couldn’t place it. All of a sudden it hit him: STAN’S ENCYCLOPEDIA.

“Did you buy that from the traveling merchant?”

“Oh no, I did not,” Mister Fox snickered. “I bought it from Stan’s mother.”

Joe gasped. “So you are the traveling merchant?”

“How right you are,” growled Mister Fox, pulling out a sword. “But you will never get to tell Stan.”

Joe grabbed a book from the shelf and whacked Mister Fox on the head. Mister Fox dropped the sword in his hand. Joe grabbed the sword, closed his eyes, and swung.     

He opened his eyes just in time to see Mister Fox’s arm hit the floor. Mister Fox screamed in pain.

“You ruined my arm!” he yelled as he ran.

Joe took the encyclopedia off the shelf and headed home. Half of him was happy, for he had completed his quest, yet part of him knew that he had not killed Mister Fox and that he would be back for his revenge.

When Joe reached the hill, where Pumpkin City laid, he saw Stan running toward him.

“You are back with my encyclopedia. I’ve always believed in you.”

Joe gave the encyclopedia back to Stan, and the two pumpkins rolled down the hill over and over again.            

Chapter 1: The First Battle

Once upon a time, there was a world of animals with no pollution, and everyone lived in peace. But as people got more advanced, we started polluting. There was a world that people could not see, but all the animals could. And a giant war between the animals started. There were four sides: the cows, the horses, cats, and dogs. They all wanted this land because it was untouched by humans. But they feared if they all lived there, there wouldn’t be enough space for them to live in peace again. There were lots of trees on the island, there was grass and flowers, there was no pollution, and there was lots of food. And so far, there were only rodents on the island.

The cats did not clip their nails, the dogs sharpened their teeth, the horses took fitness training, and the cows tried to be faster because they usually wanted to eat. The first cats, the bravest, took one of the two-legged boats and started to row to this land. The dogs, since they were great swimmers, started to swim to this land. The horses started to board cars that were going across this bridge that was going over the land and they jumped off, and the cows, since they were so heavy, took giant trees. They started to bonk into them so they would fall over to make a giant bridge. And once the cats and dogs reached the land, they started to fight. The cats climbed to the tallest trees, the dogs ran to the lowest hills, and the cats jumped down to the lowest hills, and the dogs got out of the way, so they would just fall. Then the dogs climbed up to the top of the hills and jumped down, and the cats got out of the way, so the dogs just fell down.

And then there was a cow driving a silent electric car across the bridge, and then the cow reached the land, and then he started driving all over the place. And then one of the cats looked down the bridge to see an army of cows marching up. Then a dog looked up on the higher bridge, that the two-leggeds made, to see a bunch of horses trotting on the cars. When they looked a little closer, they saw one of the horses is jumping down from the bridge. Then they noticed the horses and cows have been fighting, too. When the first horse came down, they noticed it had a big bruise on its forehead. And when the cow noticed he wasn’t that good at driving and got out, it had a big cut right above his hoof. Then the cows started to charge toward everybody, because they had been working on speed. But then a cow caught up with one of the cats and bonked into it, and the cat went flying out into the water. But the cat would never give up…
The cat rose and lifted its claw and said, “My name is Skydiver! You killed my sister! Prepare to die!”

And then it scratched the cow in the face. This cow had been bonking down a tree for fun and he didn’t notice, but Skydiver’s sister, Seaswimmer, was resting there, and the tree fell down on her. The cow started running around like crazy. And then he didn’t notice he had just jumped into the water and swam down to the very bottom. He was gone forever.

Skydiver said, “Farewell, old cow!”

Then Skydiver ran to his base. There was a newborn cat. They named the cat Snowjumper. The cat started to crawl around. The cat started to climb a tree. The cat started to sit down. The cat started to look around. The cat started to ask for milk. The cat started to climb down.

The cat said, “Meow! Meowww! MEOWWWW!”

The cat started to scratch the tree. The cat started to grow over time, until the cat was a big, strong cat. And then Skydiver went up to him one day. Skydiver was very old now.

He said, “You are the cat that will save all cats.”

“Really? Me? Are you sure it’s not that one? And are you sure that we’re gonna win?” said Snowjumper.

“Yes. I’m sure,” said Skydiver.

Chapter 2: Snowjumper Saves the Cats

Snowjumper was sitting at Seaswimmer and Skydiver’s graves. He looked at Skydiver’s grave and said, “I will try.” Then Snowjumper set off to fight. He was sad. Then he set off to the battle. When he went there, a horse had decided to drive the electric car. The horse laid down on the tops of the seats and drove on a dog. A couple of dogs brought the dog off to their home to make a grave.The cows were evil, the cats were good, the dogs were bad, and the horses just wanted to fight.

The cats got there first, and then the cows wanted it, and then the dogs decided they wanted it too, and the horses wanted to fight. One of the horses put on armor. One of the dogs picked up a spear. One of the cows picked up an orange, and Snowjumper picked up a poisonous mouse. The horse started galloping. The dog started charging. The cow threw the orange. It landed on a dog. And Snowjumper ordered the poisonous mouse to bite the horse. It bit the horse, and the horse got very sick. The horse jumped in the water to help its wound because there was no medicine anywhere, but it couldn’t swim, so it drowned.

When the sun shone, a prophecy was heard.

“Skydiver’s angel from the dead will help Snowjumper before the sun goes red.”

And when the sun went away again, a ghost appeared from Skydiver’s grave, and the ghost gave the cats a secret weapon: a bomb! All of the cats were ordered to take shelter, and Snowjumper sent the bomb up to the sky above the fields and was held by the ghost. And just when every animal jumped and noticed it was there, he dropped it.

It blew up, and almost all the animals died. But there were two from each animal except for the cats. Every one of them was there (except for 10, which died in battle) and they were all very determined animals. Both dogs barked like a wolf, the horses started to squeal, and the cows started jumping like crazy. And all the cats went out for battle, picking up other poisonous mice. They ordered four of them to the dogs. One of them died and the other one surrendered. And once he surrendered, all the other dogs came back to life and surrendered. They sent five to the horses. One of them died and the other one surrendered, and then all the horses came back to life and surrendered. Five of the cows came back to life. They all jumped in the water, and then they saw the cow from the beginning who was still alive trying to come out. The reason all these animals were coming back to life was part of the cats’ magic.

A giant sailboat that was driven by a pig came, and pigs were all over the ship. The pigs claimed that this was their land. But then the horses and dogs jumped aboard and drove the ship out of the way. The pigs didn’t know where the island was because they were turned around, so they went to another island.

Every animal surrendered — except for the cows. And all the cows that were in the water climbed out, and they all in unison screamed, “MOOOOOOOO!”

And Snowjumper looked in the cow’s eyes and said, “Bye-bye, cowies” and went in the electric car. And then he started driving, and the cow didn’t see. The cow ran right into the car. He didn’t know that the car was about to run into him. And then the rest of the cows surrendered, but they stayed on the island. The cats threw a bomb at them. Once the cow that killed Seaswimmer died, Seaswimmer came back to life. Snowjumper asked, “Who are you?”

“Well,” said Seaswimmer, “I was born in the sea. Swimming is my best talent. But I didn’t pass the test to be in this tribe. So I was sent to another tribe for foster. Then when I was ready, I took the test again and succeeded.”

Chapter 3: As Time Passed

Over time, all the cats lived in peace again. And Snowjumper and Seaswimmer got married and had a little kitten, and they named it Skydiver. They started to befriend the squirrels, and they planted a magical tree with magical fruits and leaves and animals and vegetables. This became their life supply. And they became vegetarians. The poisonous mice did not bite them. The poisonous mice were loyal to the cats.

The horses found Chincoteague Island where horses ran wild and ran free. And the dogs found excellent owners. And the cows had fun ruining clown shows. And at the Museum of Natural History, there was a statue with all five animals: pigs, horses, cows, dogs, and cats. And there was a little box that said, “These animals were fighting for a beautiful world, and they all found a happy spot, but only the cats got the island.”

Chapter 4: The Pigs

Did you wonder what the pigs were up to? The pigs wanted peanut butter sandwiches, but the person at the peanut butter sandwich store wouldn’t give them sandwiches! Now this person could speak pig, and said,

“If you spy on the animal war in New York City, then you will have peanut butter sandwiches.”

So, the pigs set off to New York City on a pig ship. If you can’t imagine this boat, imagine ten pigs on a sailboat going to New York City. When they got to America, they decided to jump into the water for a bath, and two of them swam to the very bottom to get a mud bath. Then, they got very dirty and came to the top, but when they got to the top they were clean because they were in the water. When they got to the Hudson River, they sailed up to Mount Marcy and then sailed down to the George Washington Bridge. Then, they started to swim to the nice green island. Then, they started to pop their heads up to look at the war. When they looked up, they saw a horse driving a car, blue nails on cats, poisonous mice scampering everywhere, dogs running around and barking, and barking more, and scratching, and scratching more, and cows squirting grape juice everywhere. They also saw a cow jumping into the water and swimming to the bottom, cows throwing oranges, horses wearing armor, dogs riding bicycles, and cats jumping down from trees. But what really caught their eyes were the amazing apples, even though they weren’t peanut butter sandwiches. When a pig got out of the water, a cat saw it. This cat was see-through and was flying. This cat had wings, and this cat looked like it was just a reflection from the sun. The pigs wanted to tell the peanut butter sandwich person everything in order to get their peanut butter sandwiches. They rode a pig plane this time! They told the peanut butter sandwich person everything! But, he said,

“Not enough information! We need to know who wins. What weapons are they using other than spears?”

The pigs were determined to get the peanut butter sandwiches, so they went back on another pig plane. Then, they went to LaGuardia and took a pig uber. They went to look at the war some more. They didn’t see any other weapons, but they saw other tactics. So they went back to the peanut butter sandwich person and told them everything, but the peanut butter sandwich person still wasn’t happy. He still wondered who won. It was obvious that the horses were gonna win, but the pigs went back. They were so tired of pig planes, but they took one. They watched the war a little more. They saw the angel-like cat drop a bomb, and everybody died, and everybody came back to life and went to get a sailboat. They went there because the cats won, and they couldn’t allow that. They sailed towards the island on the boat, and they made a big speech.

“We are the pigs of Britain, and we demand this land. If this land isn’t ours in thirty minutes, everyone shall die! The horses and dogs couldn’t allow this, so they jumped on the boat and turned it around. The pigs couldn’t find the island, so they went to Manhattan and everybody lived happily ever after, except for the pigs who didn’t get their peanut butter sandwiches. They went to the person and told him the cats had won, and finally, after what felt like a thousand years of spying, they got their peanut butter sandwiches!

THE END   

Chapter 1

There were three weapons that were forged by the king of dragon warriors. He was invincible with the sword. He was so powerful that he was able to destroy a whole army with one strike on the ground. Two strikes, he destroyed 60 armies. And with nine strikes, he could destroy 90,007 armies.

One day, he was battling when someone stabbed him in the back with his darkness sword. Sixteen years later, his son took his father’s sword and went to the darkness land of destruction. It was a big fight but Drago won.

A hundred thousand years later, a lady and her husband had a baby. They had no idea that the dad was related to Drago. But the mom agreed that the dad should name the baby. The father named the baby Dragano. When he was fifteen, he was walking in the woods with his friends, Marthur and Druth. They both were princes. They were all walking but got split apart. They were all upset, but at the exact same time, they all found special weapons forged from their ancestors. And then, they went to their mothers to tell them all about it. And then the mothers told their sons to go to the temple, where they could get trained and nobody would hurt them.

Chapter 2: Training Begins

Their fathers found out, and they thought that their fathers wouldn’t find them. And then their fathers were all so mad, that the light power became dark power. The fathers exploded and turned into devils. The sons were right about to enter the temple. They got into the temple, but then they heard a voice.

And the voice said, “If you want to be the master of the sword, pass these three tests and you will become so powerful, not even the darkness will be able to beat you.”

Meanwhile, robot devils were in a maze. The sons were upset, so Dragano got so frustrated, he let out a big, energy surge that destroyed all the robots and the boss robot.

Chapter 3: The Devil’s Revenge

They finished the first and second challenge. And now the third challenge: the teleporter. The teleporter brought them to a robotic general. There were three generals. Dragano and his friends could help each other with their matches. If only one finished, he could help the other two. So now came the test: Go fight!

A big bang, a big boom! So much power was coming out of the generals. Dragano was the warrior of Dragons, the Dragon Sword. He would win. And he was winning. Special attack! Fifty hammer power strike! Then the devils wanted to destroy the boys.

Chapter 4: The Hidden Power

When they were finished, the devils were extremely upset! After defeating all the challenges, the boys were walking back home, but the devils said, “Fight us, and we will destroy you and win for what you’ve done to us! Let the battle begin.”

It was a fierce battle. But it was a scary battle for them. Then the light was shining bright from the weapons. And then a big boom. And it was big!                                                                           

Chapter 5: Aaaaaahhhh!

The boys ran to their village, and no harm was done, but out of nowhere, a bunch of villagers were running after them, and they knew them.

Then the boys yelled, “Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!”

Then more people came, but a lot of them had crushes on them. So they just wanted to say, “Aaaaaahhhhhh!!” but they just went into their homes. Then they all came out with their weapons and scared them.

Chapter 6: The Scariest Terror Story

On Halloween, there were spirits walking around the village. Dragano was wondering why there were so many spirits around. And this was why. They were all people that lived, but one of them had a horror story.

“One hundred years ago, your father was destructive. Your father was a devil.”

Olivia went to the pool next to her house, saw how much fun everyone was having, and she jumped in.

“Cannon ball!’’ she shouted as she jumped into the pool.

But as soon as she touched the water, she couldn’t figure out what to do. She’d seen how much fun everyone else was having and wasn’t thinking about what she was doing when she jumped in. Luckily, she jumped in the shallow end of the pool, so she didn’t drown. But she got so embarrassed that she ran all the way back to her home.

‘’Why don’t I know how swim?’’ she complained to her mom. “I mean, all my friends know how to, how come I don’t?’’

‘’Well,’’ her mother said, ‘’you didn’t learn how to when you were young because you hated water.’’

“Well, why did I hate water?’’

“Your father used to put pictures of sharks on the television. Your older brother, Noah, loved sharks, so he had a 3D picture of a shark in his room, and it was right next to your bed. So I guess the poster scared you because whenever we went to the beach, you would always stay at least five feet away from the ocean.”

I can’t believe that I was scared of water, Oliva thought.

After a few minutes, she ran up to her room and sat on her bed, just thinking about what she just heard. She stayed like that until the next day, which was Thursday, her favorite day, because she got to hang out with her old friends. But she didn’t want to go. She wanted to learn, but who could she learn from? Then she recalled her mom saying there was a sports sleep-away camp for 10 year olds. It was called something like The Sporting Camp.

So Olivia started packing, but then she recalled something else. She had never been to a sleepaway camp before. So she felt really nervous. She was thinking about what it was going to be like without her parents. She always relied on her parents. But now she was going to be on her own, and she had to be independent. So she went on a walk, and then she blurted out to a random stranger, an older kid who looked like she was in high school, about how she was feeling all emotional. Then, the older girl with dyed black hair and black clothing, started laughing at Olivia because she hadn’t been to a sleepaway camp, and she didn’t know how to swim. Then, she started crying and ran back to her home.

Her mom found her sitting on the bed, crying. Her mom tried to console her by saying, “Who cares what  that person says?”

Olivia replied, “But I still don’t know how to swim!”

Her mom said, “Who cares if you don’t know how to swim?”

Her mom went back to the kitchen, and Olivia felt a little bit better. She kept thinking about what her mom said to her, and then she finally thought that she was too self conscious and needed to be more confident. She went to the camp anyway because she wanted to learn how to swim. Not because other people thought she was weird, but because she wanted to know how to swim.

***

Olivia got off the bus. Then she saw the scenery in the camp. It was really nice because it was in the countryside. Behind the camp, there was a forest. If you stood really high, you could see the mountains. So she got her luggage, and she waited to find out which cabin she would be going to. When she heard her name, she went to the cabin and was feeling a little homesick already. She saw some new kids, and she tried to say “hi” to them, but she was too shy. Fortunately, the kids were not that mean to her, and she made some new friends: four nice girls who were all in her cabin, except for one. It was all of their first times at sleepaway camp, and they lived around the same area as her. Even though she was a really bad swimmer, her friends still liked her.  She learned that day that she could rely on her friends.  

The next day, Olivia went to the lake. When no one was looking, she tried to swim. But then the lifeguard spotted her, thought she was drowning, and he dived into the lake. He brought her out onto the grass. Now everyone knew that she couldn’t swim. As soon as she got onto the grass, she ran back to her cabin because she was so embarrassed. Then she hid under her bed and cried until lunchtime. By then, she felt less emotional, and by then, everybody forgot about the incident.

So she went to her friends, hoping that they would still hang out with her. When she got to the table, her friends didn’t laugh or point, in fact, they even told her to go their table and eat with them.

“You still want to be my friend?”

“Of course!” they said. “Why wouldn’t we?”

“Well,” Olivia replied. “Because of what happened today. When I almost drowned in the water.”

“We would always want to be your friend. Unless you betray us,” said one of the girls from the other table.

“Yeah right, like I’ll ever betray my friends.”

After that, it was time for some other sports. First she played some soccer, then some archery, then basketball, then baseball, then kickball, until she got tired. By then it was bedtime. She was too tired to even eat dinner, so she just went to bed, planning to go swimming the next day.

When she woke up, she was in a good mood, but the moment she looked outside the window, her smile turned upside down. They closed the pool because it started raining.

“WHY DOES IT HAVE TO RAIN TODAY!!!” she screamed and shouted.

Then she started screaming into her pillow so no one would hear her. For the rest of the day, she was so miserable that she didn’t want to play kickball or baseball or soccer or volleyball or football or hockey or any other sport. In fact, she didn’t even want to get out of her cabin at one point. All I wanted to do was swim, but it had to rain, she thought. When it was time for bed, she hoped she would feel a little bit better, but the next day didn’t get any better. Because of the rain from the day before, the pool flooded, and no one was allowed to swim.

“AGAIN!!!” Olivia shouted with anger. “When will I ever learn how to swim?! If I don’t learn how to swim tomorrow, I am going back home to Connecticut!”

Then she started looking at a picture of her and her dad. Olivia was holding a fish, and her dad was holding the rod, and in the background, there was a canoe in the water. And she thought, when are you going to come back, Dad?

After that, she went to the cafeteria to have some breakfast. Maybe my friends might help me calm down, like my old therapist. Wait! she thought, I recall bringing my diary to camp. I can just write in that! But first, I will talk to my friends, she thought.

Then she quickly ran, without spilling any of her food, to the table that her friends were eating at. And then blurted out, “Why can’t I swim?! Yesterday I couldn’t swim because it rained. Today I couldn’t swim because the pool flooded. WHEN WILL I SWIM?!!!”

All her friends just stared at her, and so did everyone else. And then Olivia started crying and ran back to her cabin. Her friends followed her. One of her friends, named Samantha, tried to calm Olivia down.

“Take deep breaths,” Samantha said to Olivia.

“Thanks,” Olivia replied.

Then Olivia told her friends everything, about why she wanted to swim and why she was feeling all emotional. That night, when she went to bed, she thought about her dad. That same night, it started to rain even more, so when Olivia woke up, the whole camp was flooded. But when she woke up, everybody had evacuated and were on buses. She was stuck in a flood, by herself, not knowing how to swim.

Luckily, Samantha spotted her in the cabin while she was on the bus. “Look everyone! Olivia is trapped in her cabin. We’ve got to help her!” Samantha shouted. “Olivia! Try to swim!”  

“I can’t,” Olivia said. “I don’t know how to!”

“Here! I will help you!” Samantha shouted.

So Olivia tried to swim.

“I am doing it!” Olivia shouted.

“Good job!” Samantha cheered.

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I’m drowning!” Olivia screamed.

“Don’t worry I will save you!” Samantha shouted.

So Samantha jumped into the water and rescued Olivia.

“Thank you so much! Not only am I saved, but I am even more encouraged to learn how to swim. And I don’t care what people think about me. I want to do what I want.”

When Olivia got back to her home, she told her mom about what happened at camp. Her mom told her that someone new was moving next to her house. It was Samantha. Olivia and Samantha became best friends, and Samantha taught Olivia how to swim.

The End

One day, there was a cat named Sam who was black with white stripes. He could speak English and was not too dumb, but not too smart. Sam had a brother named Bob, and Sam wanted to get their favorite fish, flounder,  for dinner for the both of them.

Bob said, “Can I go fishing with you?”

But Sam said, “No, you’re too young. You might get caught by the fisherman or you might drown!”

Bob felt a little disappointed but was happy he would get fish for dinner. So, Sam went down to the sea and, because he had seen fisherman do it before, he remembered he needed a fishing pole. So, he went to find a huge stick and string and tied them together. He found worms to use as bait. Then, he got a bucket to put the fish inside. There was no fisherman there, so he quietly crept to the place where he could fish. It was near the sea where it smelled of salt.

He tried putting the worm on the string, but couldn’t because he forgot to use a hook. He had to run back home and grab a hook to put on the string. He felt a little bit silly for forgetting. He was a little scared of being near the sea, in case he fell into the water, but was looking forward to fish for fish. After he put the hook on the string, he put the worm on the hook, which wiggled a lot and felt slimy. Sam put it in the water, waited for a few minutes, but nothing came.

A fisherman came, but didn’t notice Sam at first. His footsteps sounded like thunder. When the fisherman sat down, Sam saw him, and his fishing pole started wobbling, and his teeth kept on chattering.

He said to himself, “Oh no, I might get caught! I better move to another place.”

So, he quickly packed up all his things and started to move. But suddenly, he slipped and fell, and the fisherman saw him.

The fisherman shouted, “Look, there’s a cat! I’m going to catch him!”

The fisherman did not want the cat to get all the fish. Sam quickly got up and ran away, but the fisherman was right at his heels. Sam jumped up and climbed a tree. The fisherman couldn’t catch him any further. Sam waited for a few minutes, then looked down, and the fisherman was gone.