Tag: 10-11

Once, there was a guy named Bub. He made pizza for a living. He loved pizza. He worked on weekends. One time, he went skiing. He was skiing a lot.

Then, one day, there was a giant snowstorm. He needed to go into his house in the resort. He ran into the resort. He couldn’t get to sleep because there was snow and ice pounding on the window like a bear. He thought, I hope nothing breaks.

Then, all the electricity for the hotel went off.  He went under his covers and stayed there for a long time, thinking, This is horrible service.

He made a little hole for air, so it smelled like his room — his room smelled pretty good.

Then, a lot of ice hit the hotel, and the wall collapsed like sand. Bub took an air mattress and a blanket, and he went to the first floor and he under the hotel’s desk.  When the storm finally stopped a few days later, there was nobody else to be seen.

There were a few dead bodies and others he didn’t see.  He was really scared. He was lucky.

He went outside, praying that there would be something useful.

“I hope there’s some way to get out of here and get back home.”

He thought of his friend Bob, who made pizza too.  He wanted to be with him, because he was his friend. Then, he tried to clear his mind because he needed to think about what to do.

Then, he remembered the parking lot. He went and found his car! His car was not working well! Then, when he was near a Ferrari store, his car stopped working! So he got the Enzo Ferrari! He paid with his credit card, and what should have been a seven hour trip was only one.

Then, he watched the Super Bowl on TV. He also invited his best friend, Bob. Then, they they watched the Super Bowl. They watched the Broncos win, there was a big celebration and they were really happy cause they were rooting for the Broncos.

Bub and Bob screamed, “Yes!!” at the same time.

They both made pizza, just as a contest to see who could make the best pizza when they are tired.

Bob almost fell asleep, and Bub smacked him across the face to wake him up. In the end, Bub won. It takes a lot to get Bob mad, but if you manage to, he loses control of himself.

When Bub won, he said, “You look really tired, but I feel more tired.”

Bob said, “Thank God you woke me up, or else my head would have been on the stove.”

Bub said, “What happened? You actually fell asleep standing up? I could never do that. And I’m a very good sleeper.”

Bub felt happy because he won the contest.

Bob was happy for this friend, and he wasn’t such a sore loser, especially since they had many contests and each of them won a lot.

They ate their mini pizzas.  Now it was time for Bob to leave, ‘cause it was late.

When they both went outside, there was a huge thunderstorm. Lightning struck, and one just missed Bob. They went for cover under a tree, but then the tree got struck and it was a flaming torch.  Bob and Bub just jumped out of the way.

Bub said, “Holy cow, that was close!”

Bob said, ‘Run towards the house!”

When they got to Bob’s house, the door was locked, but no one had keys. There was a window that was slightly open, and they crawled through it.

He was happy he survived, and his house was okay. He couldn’t say that was the luckiest he had ever gotten.

Afterwards, Bub decided to get a few lottery tickets. If you won the lottery, you would get 200 million dollars. Bub was just thinking that there was a one in a thousand chance he would get it, so why not go for it.

I have been really lucky, he thought, why don’t I test my luck in the lottery. He’d never done the lottery before, and he purchased a ticket, two for himself and two for Bob just to increase his chances. Just two more dollars for more lottery tickets wouldn’t be bad for increasing their chances for getting two hundred million dollars.

He had no idea what to do with that money.

Bob also had no idea.

Bub scratched off his first lottery ticket. And so did Bob. Then, he let Bob do the second one first, Bob got nothing. There was one ticket left. Bub was scratching off the ticket, and he was really scared and his hand was shaking. It took him a few minutes to take off the ticket. He was right to scratch off the bottom 3. He scratched off two, and there was nothing. One more thing. He was doubting he was going to win, he was still shaking and he was sweating. He scratched off the last one and held up the ticket.  

Bob and him started celebrating when it said on the corner, “Jackpot!”

They were parading around the house, and he ran to the lottery store. When he handed it over to the manger, the manager couldn’t believe his eyes.  

“Okay,” said the manager, “We’ll send it to you in the mail next week, okay?”

Bub said, “Okay.”

Next week, he was standing at the mailbox, and he was waiting for mail. Then, Bub finally got a giant package from the lottery. He knew it could only be one thing. He took it home. He was looking for something to spend it on.  

Bub found a really nice yacht called “Okto” and told Bob about it. He bought it, and he realized that it was even better than it looked in the picture. It looked great in the picture, and standing right in front of it, he felt great owning it.  

Bub went inside. It was such a nice place. As he walked up the steps, he thought, I’m so glad I bought it. He had money left over. What should I spend that on? he thought.

He took it out and set sail a few days later. It was really nice. When he came back, he was thinking of doing something else. He was thinking of sailing around the world. There was a challenge to offer five million dollars to go around the world. He did it with his yacht. He was at sea for many days, stopped in some places, and went through the Panama Canal. There were some nice views, but he got bored of seeing water all the time.

There was a TV, a swimming pool, a hot tub, and anything else you could imagine.  When he got back, he thought, I still got a lot left over.

He thought, There are so many more things I could spend this on. And on top of it all, there’s still so much left. There’s still so many things I could do.

He started looking at Youtube videos, thinking that he’dl find something. Then, he looked at his wallet. His pilot license that he won a while ago was still there. Then, he got a great idea.

I could get a private jet — then, I’d still have a lot of money left over!

He found a really, really good looking, futuristic jet, and he had enough money to buy it from a jet show. He had no idea who the owner was. He got the first one in stock. He needed to find a car that could tow it. The company didn’t have service to do it, so Bub’s private jet was thirty miles away, and his house was five miles away from that. They gave the plane a full gas tank. So he took the plane out.

The plane looked like it could be easily maneuvered and was really fast. Bub had no trouble taking off, but then, a storm approached! The clouds were black. Bub took a weird approach. He went high speed towards the storm. Then, he started getting pushed around by the wind a bit. He was landing the plane, but at dangerous speed.  Then, he shifted to the side of the runway. The wind pushed him a bit, and then, he was completely lined up. He landed, but then, he started to slip around. The ground was so slippery, that his plane wouldn’t stop. He pulled on the breaks. It slowed down, and he still headed towards the edge of the runway.  He was going towards the grass, not at such a high speed because his plane was slowing down. The ground was slowing down. When he was about to miss, he turned the plane, escaped to the side of it, and ended up making the turn off the runway.

Then, another plane was landing after him. That plane landed, and it was going straight at Bub’s plane. Without thinking, Bub put the throttle forward — not too much — it wasn’t going as fast as it was supposed to as there was so much water. The other plane landed and missed Bub’s plane by an inch. He went to his hangar.  

Then, he took a ride home by taxi. It was still pouring, and by the time he got home, the water was up to his ankles. He called Bob to come over. He came over, and together, they just watched a football game. He liked just talking while watching a football game with the rain pounding on the door.

After the football game, Bob and Bub made pizza together.  He and Bob were talking while they were making pizza.

Bub was talking about his adventures, and Bob told him about what happened while he was gone.

Bub was having a good time with his best friend, and he was glad to be home. Bob slept over at Bub’s house just because the water was really high, and he didn’t want to go home in that weather.

By morning, the rain had stopped, but they had to stay inside because there was so much water. So the next day, there were floods in a lot of places. And then, out of nowhere, the water pressure on the door made the door fall over, and water spread all over the house.

Bub was walking from the kitchen to the couch to talk with Bob.

Bub ran and jumped onto the couch with Bob. Then, the couch started to float!

After the flood, they found themselves in an abandoned building. Bub thought it was a nice building, but it needed some fixing. Then, Bub said he liked the building.

Bob said, “Why not call the Mayor to see whose this is?”

They called the Mayor (Bob had his phone,) and it ended up being nobody’s. It was really close to Bub’s house. So, since it was nobody’s, Bub and Bob were allowed to have it.  

Bub had the idea for “Bub’s hotel.” Since their names were so close, Bob agreed.  They renovated the building, which surprisingly cost a lot, but Bub could afford it.  After a lot of planning and hard work, the hotel was finally ready and established. It was the nicest hotel in the area and the only hotel in the area, but it was a nice hotel.

They earned a lot of money on the first day or two, which was pretty surprising. They had so many guests since it was a tall building. The hotel was full for a week, and Bub was really happy because he was making a lot of money from it.

Bub decided the hotel should go worldwide. They established another hotel in New York City, and that was even more successful. Bub was about the happiest man on earth at that point.  He was thinking of maybe even another hotel.

He established one in Hollywood, which took a lot of traveling, which was pretty nice.  That one got even more people, even a few celebrities.

He thought, “I thought this would be hard.”

Bub had a few problems with the hotel, like one time, when somebody brought a pig into the hotel. The pig swallowed the soap bar and ate all of the snacks in the snack bar, including the wrappers. The pig was sick, and they tried to sue the hotel. And then, Bub pointed to the sign that said, “Only dogs, cats, or regular pets allowed.” Then, the people who sued the hotel actually had to pay fines for all of that damage. Bub knew there’d be obstacles. But he was also focusing on a new hotel in Florida that would be perfect. There were always lots of people in Florida, and he would get a lot of natives there.

The hotel opened in Florida, and Bub went there a few times, just to look at the hotel, and to see how it was going before it went out in public. Finally, it opened on the first day, and it was fully booked. It was crazy. Now, Bub was opening one up in every place in Europe.  In Greece, he opened one up near the Parthenon and in Crete. In Athens, he walked on the Parthenon, and in Crete, he was on the beaches. He also drove through twisty roads in the mountains. He felt really nice, especially since he rented a black Camaro convertible.  

He passed by a town every few minutes. They were all old. Then, he went back to the airport. He found a direct flight back to Albany. He got first class tickets. He’d never flown first class before, and he liked it. It was so comfy. They had a bumpy landing, but the plane landed decently. He had a private jet, but he didn’t bring it to Europe. He didn’t think it could fly so far. He wanted to see how business was going in New York City. He took off with his private jet.

He also knew that Bob was staying in New York City for a bit. He meant mostly to bring Bob back from New York to his hometown. It was a lot of work because New York had a lot of airplanes in the air. He was circling around the airport for one hour when he finally got clearance to land. He landed perfectly. He started looking for Bob at the hotel where he found him. He asked the people at the front desk if they knew where Bob was.

“How do you know Bob?” one of the people asked.

“I am Bob’s best friend and owner of this hotel.”

“Oh, you’re the owner? Sorry, sir.”

“It’s fine,” Bub said.

He knocked on the door, and Bob answered.

“Oh, hello,” Bob said.

“Hey, I think we need to go back home. You told me you wanted to go home.”

“Okay.”

Then, he found Bob. So he took off. He did pretty well with the take off. He was always changing where he had to go because there were so many planes. He saw many cool airplanes.

They were headed home because some people were doing bad stuff in New York, and Bob didn’t feel so comfortable. They went to Awesome Town in Ohio.

They went to Bub’s house and made some pizza. Bob and Bub felt happy to be home. No crime, nobody mean, nothing bad. Then, Bub went on a flight. Then, there was a weird sound. Bub checked the controls. The left engine was failing.

He started to descend very quickly. He went from 25,000 feet to 1,000 feet in 20 seconds. Then, he realized he had to turn on the failing engine. It turned on at 100 feet, and then at 10 feet, when he was about to die, it exploded. The explosion boosted it up a bit, and the plane wasn’t in good shape, but was alive. Bub couldn’t believe, it but he didn’t know where he was. He climbed to the top of a tree and saw the airport around a mile away. So he started to walk. It was hard finding his way, but after one hour, he finally stumbled into the airport. And then, they found him right before they were about to launch a search.

Bub thought of something that he never thought of before. He could make his own plane! He got a lot of scrap metal for free and started building up. He made a perfect airplane with two engines in the back that used electricity. He tested it out, and it flew perfectly. He was having a perfect time, and on landing, he realized that the landing gear wasn’t that good. He flew right back up and asked air-traffic control to make a straight path for him. He got onto the wing and attached himself to the door that he closed. He dropped down and started fixing it. There was only a small flaw: he accidentally forgot to make the thing split in half to make an opening for the wheel. He got his pocket knife and slashed through the middle of it. He could be forgetful. After he landed, he made some adjustments with his airplane.

It took him months. He slept at home, and he had a little workshop. It was electric and supersonic. He named it the “Bubflyer II.” He took it for a test flight, and it flew perfectly the whole time. It could do some spins too. The plane was very light, so it did get pushed around by the wind. Afterall, it was considered “ultra-light.” With his new plane, he could go anywhere. When he landed at the airport, he was very happy it worked. Then, he showed Bob. Bob thought it was awesome.

After a week, when Bub was away presenting his idea to the government, Bob got mad. Why does Bub get all the money? he thought, And he names everything after himself. Then, Bob knew what to do…

He went to New York City and found Bub’s hotel easily. He secretly had a bomb. Before he had made arrangements with ISIS, so he had a big bomb. Then, he went into Bub’s hotel and exploded it. The building crumbled down, but Bob didn’t know that Bub was in it. Bub jumped out and seconds later, medics appeared. They didn’t know if Bub was alive or not. They took him to the hospital, and they found out that he was barely alive. The heart rate monitor was barely moving.

National Security wanted to see why this massacre happened. Hundreds of people died. Some survived. One survivor who was on the first floor recalled hearing Allahu Akbar. National Security found out that it was Bob, and Bob was sentenced to death.

Bub went to visit Bob in prison. He was wheeled there in a wheelchair and told Bob, “I never knew you would do this to me, old friend.”

“Sorry,” Bob said.

Then, Bob went to court and explained the whole situation about why he did it. “It was both of our money,” Bob said.

Then, Bub went to court. And he was sentenced for 100 years because the money was supposed to be both of theirs.

Then, Bub argued that he was the one who bought all of the lottery tickets, and that the one who had gotten the jackpot was him.

After that, Bob was found guilty.  

So two days after, Bob was being executed. At the moment when he was about to be executed, Bub went into the court.

“Why is he being executed,” said Bub. “I thought he was going to jail.”

And then Bub started arguing with the people who were executing Bob. In that time, Bob escaped. Bub knew that Bob was going to escape, and he had wanted that to happen.

“Okay, bye,” said Bub.

“That was easy,” the executioners said. And they went to execute Bob only to find that he wasn’t there.

On the street, Bob and Bub saw each other. They were pretty stunned.

“Hello, old friend,” said Bub.

“Hi,” said Bob.  

“One hundred and ten! One hundred and eleven! What! Are you weak! Another one! Now!” screamed Nate’s so-called workout coach, Jacup. He was actually just a muscular guy who Nate paid to help him work out.

The cold sweat dripped off Nate’s face, staining his already sweat-logged orange jumpsuit, but he forced in another push-up. His body was screaming in discomfort. The yellow sand of the prison’s workout yard came up to meet him as his arms finally gave out. Rolling on his back, he looked up at the blindingly hot sun, then pushed himself to his feet.

“Pathetic,” murmured Jacup, pacing back and forth next to Nate. He let out a long sigh.

“Nate, m’boy, how do you expect to win the push-up competition if you can hardly manage 100! See Bill Cask over there.” Jacup pointed to a short-but-sturdy, extremely muscular and tattooed guy Nate had never seen before. “See him? He can do 300 easily. Even your friend Mitchell is better than you!”

Staring at Nate sadly, Jacup turned and walked away, shaking his head. “Go take a water break, son”

Nate stood there silently for a moment, then muttered “Goddamn it.”  He repeated the phrase with growing volume, “Goddamn it! Goddamn it! He can do three hundred goddamn push-ups! And what can I do! Nothing! Zip, zero, nada! Might as well be worth crap.”

Other prisoners had begun staring at him, but he didn’t care. Muttering a few well-placed curses, he gulped his entire water bottle in one sip, and slammed it back down on the bench so hard, a dent appeared.

He looked at the dent approvingly. It expressed his anger well enough. He was about to go do a set of pull-ups when the final bell rang. This symbolized that workout period was over, and that it was time to go back to your cell for bed.

Nate shared his cell with his best — and only — friend, Mitchell. They were both in for the same reason: robbery. But Nate still found himself the righteous one, which he had tried to prove in court (As you can see by his situation, that did not work.)

What had happened was Nate had seen a man being stabbed by another man. Nate had rushed over just as the man with the knife fled, leaving his knife at the scene. Nate grabbed the knife out of instinct, but set it down immediately afterwards. For several hours, he stayed next to the bleeding man. When the cops arrived, Nate was the only one who could have murdered the man, and he had even put his fingerprints on the knife. The deal was set.

Mitchell had done something like that, or so he said.

As Nate walked back to is cell, he heard shouting across the yard. He sighed. Another fight?! he thought to himself. It was the third one this week. With the Push-up Competition coming up next week there had been a lot of betting, and from that betting, more and more fights. He looked towards the commotion with little interest. He didn’t have much patience for the loud-mouthed, big-muscled, little-brained nimrods that usually got into fights.

But the moment he saw who was fighting, his whole perspective changed. Mitchell stood in a fighting stance, circling Samuel Campanelli, one of the most popular and most feared men in the prison. The two stood circling, eyes locked, looking for an open opportunity to strike. It was Mitchell who found one first.

Mitchell flung out a fist, slipping between Samuel’s guard, and getting solid impact on his ribcage. A fight-winning blow to a lesser opponent, but Samuel hardly flinched at the strike. Fear flashed in Mitchell’s eyes.

Nate dashed towards the pair, sure that no matter how hard he tried, Mitchell would lose. That would not only be painful, but after Samuel’s success, his cronies would become braver assuming that they could also beat Mitchell. This would be extremely dangerous, and it could put Mitchell at risk of being thrown in solitary, which would be bad for both of them. All of these thoughts whirled around in Nate’s head as he rushed to Mitchell’s aid.

Nate shouldered Samuel Blubb, the prison scapegoat, into the dirt as he dashed through the circular crowd that had gathered around the pair of fighters. He didn’t even have time to apologize.

I’ll do it later, he thought and continued to try to peek his head over the shoulder of Billy L. Jackson, Samuel’s main man, but Jackson kept on pushing Nate back persistently. Jackson finally turned around angrily and pushed Nate to the floor.

“Stoppit, dammit! Stoppit! Do you wanna fight Sam ‘long with Mitch, cause if yeah, I’ll grab you by yer damn, skinny neck and toss yee in there, damn bastard fool. I’ll smack yee so hard yer damned gramma‘ll feel it!” Billy muttered a few unintelligible curses before going back into his rant. “So yee wanna go in there? Issa yes er no, not maybe! C’mon Natey boy, yee damn bastard, whadda ya think, shorty?”

The two fell silent, Billy silently fuming, his phony question dangling in front of Nate like bait for a fish. Billy was asking Nate to go in there, but it wasn’t a question. Nate was going in there whether he wanted to or not. He half opened his mouth, but before any sounds could come out, Billy’s massive hands had picked up Nate by the back of his orange jumpsuit and pushed him into the circle.

“LOOK OUT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” Billy bellowed, making sure everyone in a ten-mile-radius could hear him. “A NEW FIGHTER HAS ENTERED THE RING!” he blasted, as if no one had noticed him pick-up Nate and practically throw him into the ring.

The crowd howled louder, the thought of even more people getting beaten to a bloody pulp whipping them into a bloodthirsty frenzy. People screamed Samuel’s name, booed, and chanted. It was like standing in a sound box. Too much to process. The sand rough against Nate’s hands as he lay on his knees where Billy had dropped him. Mitchell tugging on the back of his shirt, telling Nate he had to get up, that they had to fight together.

“C’mon, get up!” Mitchell was practically shouting, glancing nervously at the approaching Samuel. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! Don’t go into one of your modes now! Why now?”

But Nate couldn’t hear a word Mitchell was saying. He was in his mode. The mode was… the mode. In the mode, the world is an observatory. You don’t move, you don’t hear, you just watch. Watch the world go by, like a lazy drifting river. There were many rules of the mode. Don’t talk, don’t move, don’t think, don’t blink, don’t listen. Only watch. Only watch.

As Samuel moved closer, Nate could only watch. Watch as Sam turned back his head and laughed, spitting out an insult Nate couldn’t hear. Watch him raise his foot back, and swinging it forward as if on a pivot. The solid connection of Sam’s foot on Nate’s temple. Pain lancing through Nate’s body. All Nate could do was watch. He landed back down on the ground from the force of the impact, and Nate’s vision slowly grew dark.

***

It was way too late when Nate opened his eyes. He still lay in the prison yard. Judging from his estimate, it was around 9:30. Not late enough for Nate to be in huge trouble, but he would be in trouble nonetheless. He dashed through the deserted halls, thankful that he didn’t run into any guard, and swung into his cell.

He checked his appearance. Nate had never been that good-looking, but never that bad-looking either. He was German, and had long dirty blonde, hair, which framed steel-gray eyes and sharp cheekbones on pale-ish skin. He was the complete opposite of Mitchell, who was Hispanic, with short, black hair and olive skin.

He sighed and leaned back onto his bed, sore and tired from the rough day he’d had. Taking off his boots and closing his eyes, he sunk into a deep, dreamless sleep.

***

A soft creak woke him from his sleep. He grunted, annoyed at being woken. There was another one, slightly louder this time. Suddenly, there was a crash, a shout, a bang, a curse. Nate jumped from his sleep.

“Did you hear that, Mitchell? Did you? Mitch?” Nate flicked on a light, and his heart stopped. Mitchell’s bunk stood empty, and the cell door wide open, creaking back and forth.

“Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no! Mitchell.”

The name came out hardly a whisper. A ghost of a sound that could be. A word that should exist, but can’t. He backed away until his back was pressed against the wall, and even then, kept on backing up. This couldn’t be real. He was already going into his mode, he couldn’t stop it.

He sunk to his knees, tears dripping from his eyes, muttering the name “Mitchell” until it had no meaning, and was just a sound. Just another sound in the midst of the dark night. Like the sirens that were wailing, the people that were shouting, the footsteps, rushing through the halls. The endless noise. That whole night seemed a dream. Nonexistent.

And through the whole night, he wished to be deaf. To end the noise. The endless horror of noise. He stared at the open cell door, but felt no inclination to go through it. To be with Mitchell. As far as Nate knew, or cared, Mitchell was gone.

Not a person, but a name. Like Bob. Or John. Or Gary. But not a person. Never a person. Never a friend. A friend would take his friend with him. At least say goodbye. And the horrible, bloodthirsty, mad part of Nate, the part we all have but choose to hide away deep within our consciousness pushed its way into his main stream of thoughts. And within Nate’s mind, he secretly hoped Mitchell had died.

He wished that Mitchell had died while escaping. But what did Nate know. If his only friend left him, without a “goodbye,” or even a “see you on the other side,” what was left of him?

He sat there the whole night, crying, letting his emotions disappear in the form of tears till he was nothing but an empty husk, dry and emotionless.

***

He woke up the next morning without ever remembering going to sleep. He stared in the mirror and tried to smile, but all that came out was a strange, open-mouthed, flat expression. Nate dunked his head under the pool of water that had been building up at the bottom of the sink. He combed his hair, brushed his teeth, put on some clean clothes, and took 50 deep, slow breaths.

Nate stepped out of his cell, steeling himself for the day to come. Sure enough, he had hardly taken ten steps when a prisoner rushed up to him. Surprisingly, it was the guy from yesterday, Bill Cask.

“Hey, there’s rumors going around that someone was trying to escape last night. And guess what? They’re saying he made it!” Nate stood there, unsure how he was supposed to feel about this. Happy? Disappointed? Amazed? So he just stood there with a blank expression on his face. Clearly this was not the reaction Bill wanted, so he went on.

“Aaaaand, they’re saying the person who escaped was your cellmate!” Clearly, Bill expected him to go absolutely insane, like he was on some game show.

He did not expect for Nate to turn around, and as he was walking away and say, “Well the rumors are true. Tell everyone: Mitchell A. Warren, cellmate of Nate J. Roosevelt, has escaped from Prison No. 61.”

Decisions

After a long day of being harassed by people who wanted to know what happened the night before, Nate’s bed seemed his only saviour. The day had seemed an endless punishment of questions. Like, “How’d it happen?” Or, “Did you see it?” Once he was even asked, “Who escaped?”

It seemed fruitless to even pretend he knew what happened, so he mostly responded in a grunt or a rough “I dunno.” But the one thing that irked him the most, out of all the things that were occurring at the prison, was that they had cancelled the push-up competition, though he seemed the only one annoyed by this.

Then, one day, seven days after the escape, as he was heading across the rough gravel of the abandoned basketball court, the loudspeaker blared its static message across the prison:

“WILL NATE ROOSEVELT PLEASE REPORT TO THE MAIN OFFICE IMMEDIATELY.”

The loudspeaker flicked off and left the yard unusually quiet, all eyes on him. He walked across the yard, aware that the whole prison had their eyes on him, like guns tracking a target. The moment he left the yard and walked into the prison, he could hear the entire place erupting in conversation behind him, literally talking behind his back.

He made his way through the halls of pale blue marble, covered in stains of who-knows-what. Opening the dark green door to the office, he took his seat at the polished, wood table at the center of the office just as the warden walked in.

Two guards stood by the door, which seemed normal. But other than that, the office was strange, with trinkets perched all about the room; the assorted potted plants tossed about the area and scattered on various desks, stacks of papers which seemed to appear infinitely and placed precariously close to falling off of the edge, seemed to be a degree that certified he was, in fact, a warden.

The warden eyed Nate, scrutinizing every detail about him.

“Hello, Nate. I am not here to share pleasantries with you, and I can assume you are the same,” stated the warden. With his dark eyes, straight brown hair, and square features, he was clearly not one to be messed with. He even gave a cold demeanor, as if an aura of strictness surrounded him.

“I am here to talk to you about what happened the night of June 6th, seven days ago.”

There was a long silence. Nate wanted to speak, but words wouldn’t leave his mouth. Should he tell him? Rat out his only friend? But a true friend wouldn’t have left him alone? A true friend would have taken Nate with him. But should he?

All these thoughts whirled around in his head as the horrible disease that is indecision crept through his body. He took a long, deep breath.

“You want to know what happened on the night of June 6? Fine. But honestly? I think I know less than you do.”

And with that, he told him everything he knew (which wasn’t much.)

***

Many weeks had passed without Mitchell, and soon, the everlasting hunger of loneliness started clawing at his belly. He still had two years left in his sentence, so waiting to get out to find Mitchell was no option. Though there was still the nagging voice at the back of his head, saying “Escape! Go with him! Get out of this bottomless hell-hole!”

Of course, he ignored that voice and focused on his daily routine. (Heh, heh, heh. I make myself laugh sometimes. Yeah, I lied. I lied hard.)

The voice pestered him 24/7, digging its way into his thoughts, dreams, and subconsciousness. Every day, he wanted to do it more and more. He became obsessive, anxious, jumping at the slightest of sounds. Voices pierced his dreams, screaming at him to follow Mitchell. Every night, he watched the scene, the escape, and every morning, he awoke with a cold sweat. His heart beat out of rhythm, and instead, his fingers tapped at a fast pace. He could not stop the beat, whether the tap of the foot or finger; it seemed endless. His mind could not think. All he saw was Mitchell’s face laughing at Nate, endlessly. He was officially insane.

He needed to escape. He needed to escape! He needed to escape!

But how?

The question of “But how?” is one of the biggest and most challenging questions the Earth has ever faced. We wanted to make a teleporter. But how? We wanted to build a time-travel machine. But how? We wanted to build a super awesome deathray. But how? How? If we knew the answer to the question of “But how?” the world would be a very different place. And Nate was just about to find that out.

***

Nate sat on the small, wooden chair his cell came with, leaning back on it very precariously. He had given up his tapping habit, and was now completely focused on finding a way out. As simple as it seemed, it proved exceedingly difficult. It was not that hard coming up with ideas on breaking out. It was just that every time he did, he immediately thought up a reason why it wouldn’t work.

Cursing his own pessimistic personality, he got up and walked over to his bed for an evening nap. He had never before taken naps, but he found being well rested helped him think. He glanced over at Mitchell’s bed. He had not touched it since the day of the escape, and dust sheeted the unmade blankets.

Just as Nate started to get comfortable, a sudden thought struck him like a hammer blow to the temple. Leaping to his feet, he shot across the room and began rummaging through Mitchell’s blankets.

If Mitchell escaped with a tool of some kind, he might have left it on his bed!  Nate thought, his heart racing.

But as he continued his search, his hope slowly left, leaving him dead inside. There was nothing there! Nate’s eyes began to narrowed and his teeth clenched together.

Wait! Nate thought Maybe it’s under the bed! He searched relentlessly, trying to find anything, but all he found was a stupid comb. Fury built up inside of him. He threw the comb down so hard it shot halfway across the room, but he didn’t care.

“AAARRRGGGG!” Nate shouted. Disappointment seeped into his veins. He knew it wouldn’t happen, that of course Mitchell wouldn’t have left his tool there. But it had been his only hope, and getting your hope crushed makes you mad. And Nate was no exception. Every inch of his body was on fire with with hot rage. He stared at the wall, and then and there, punched the wall. Blood spurted from his knuckles, and his anger was now seconded by pain. But this only made him angrier.

He punched the wall, both fists drilling against it, blood splattering everywhere, until it looked like murder scene. Tears fells from his eyes, and time had no meaning. He could have been there for minutes, seconds, hours, years. But he would never know. All he remembered was passing out. His limp body falling to the floor.

Then, the darkness consumed him.

Escape

Nate woke up, the cold stone floor pressed against his cheek. Dried blood crusted his knuckles, and dried tears crusted his eyelashes. He was too tired to even yawn. He forced himself to his feet and began stumbling over to the sink.

Suddenly, before his slow feet had time to react, he felt something slide out from beneath him. He was unceremoniously tossed forward, his forehead bashing on the sink in front of him. Landing flat on his face, he struggled to roll over.

Reaching up, he felt his forehead. A large, goose-egg-sized bump was planted smack at the center. Cold blood slid down his face from a heavy nosebleed he’d gotten. Nate let out some words even he didn’t understand. He just wanted to say something offensive to whatever god did this to him.

He cleaned himself up, then bent down and started examining the floor where he tripped. He wanted to find the thing that had made him fall and make it pay. He knew he couldn’t make an inanimate object pay, but he didn’t care.

It was probably the comb I threw away earlier! Nate cursed.

He reached under the sink and let his fingers run wild over the surface of the floor, searching for anything that might cause him to trip. His fingers ran over something unusually cold, and he grabbed it and pulled the object into a better light.

He stared at it with wonder, his eyes glowing. A polished, silver key laid in his palm, sparkling in the warm light that the small window in his cell provided. It was small with a smooth edge. There was a little, round hole located in the corner, as if it was once attached to a ring of keys.

Rolling the key around in a closed fist, he realized the ingenuity of where the key was placed. It had been located between two pipes that formed almost a box around it. It was also smartly balanced against a wall, to block off one place in which it could be seen. Nate had found it out of sheer luck.

He glanced at the barred cell door, tilting his head. Cautiously, he got to two feet, approaching the cell door the same way you might approach a wild bear. Holding the key pinched between two fingers, he slid it into the lock. He took a deep breath, and turned the key. A soft click echoed through the prison.

Excitement built up in his chest. He gave the door a soft push, and it creaked open. Nate wanted to scream, dance, and sing at the same time. He had found a way to escape! But he needed to think. If he left now, he would be caught and the key confiscated.  

He needed a plan.

***

Locking the door so he wouldn’t arouse suspicion, he walked over to his bed, then to his sink, then to the door again. He repeated the walk for over 3 hours, but couldn’t think of a strategy. It was clear that he had to do it at night, to limit the guards’ vision, but he didn’t know anything else.

At last, he decided to make a map of the prison, so he could sneak out. Nate already knew his way around the prison, but he had to know more: where the security cameras were, where the entrance and exit to air vents were, what the guards’ shifts were. He had to know the prison inside and out.

***

For weeks onward, he made it his mission to map out the prison. He used paper and a pencil that were supposed to be used for writing letters to your family. Nate laughed at their stupidity. He had no family. He was an only child, he never met his father, his mother had died at birth, his mom had gotten into a fight with his uncle so he had never met his uncle, and his grandparents had died before he was born. It was fine though. You couldn’t miss something you never had.

Soon, he had a large and detailed map of the prison. Nate unfolded the map and laid it on the miniscule desk in the corner of his cell. Hunching over it, he began to devise a plan.

On the night of December 24, six months after the escape of Mitchell A. Warren, and the day before Christmas, Nate J. Roosevelt planned to escape from Prison No. 61. Nate had chosen this day specifically, because 1) No one expected it, and 2) The guards would also be partying and getting drunk.

Picking up the key from under his bed where he hid it, Nate scanned the area. On his left, a guard stood, although he was facing the other way and leaning on the railing of the second floor stairway. The man’s head lolled to the side, and he seemed pretty relaxed.

To his right, stood nothing but a dead end.

Unlocking the cell door, he slid out of his room and silently crept toward the guard. Nate had a plan, though he wasn’t sure it would work. At the guard’s side, a gun hung loosely in a holster, not strapped down by anything. It was probably just a mistake of the guards ignorance, but it proved greatly helpful to Nate.

Standing right behind the guard, Nate realized how easy it was to sneak up on him. Then, he realized the guard was asleep! He pulled the gun from the man’s holster, then suddenly put the officer in a chokehold. Weaponless and half asleep, the guard easily submitted and fell unconscious.

Stripping the guard of his uniform, Nate put on the officer’s outfit and gave the officer a prisoner’s outfit. In the dim light, Nate looked no different than the guard he had just knocked out. Checking his badge, he was now Officer Jasper H. Parkins.

Not a bad name, Nate thought.

He reached into the outfit’s pocket and found a large ring of keys. Putting them back, he moved the body to the bottom of the stairway. He had to play this off right.

Suddenly, Nate started shouting “Dear God! What happened! There-There’s a body on the stairwell! Oh Lord!” and stuff like that. Of course, Nate knew exactly what happened. He just needed needed to make at least one guard came over.

Sure enough, Nate soon heard footsteps rushing towards him. A group of three guards came rushing over and stopped in front of the body.

“Dear God, what happened! I see now why you were screaming…” the shortest of the guards assembled said.

Trying to sound as shocked as possible, Nate responded “I was just s-standing there, doing my job, when I heard a-a thump at the bottom of th-the stairwell. I go down to investigate, and this i-is what I find,” all the while shaking his head back and forth.

“Damn.”

“I’ll go tell the warden,” one of the guards volunteered.

“Not yet!” the short guard interrupted, “We need more details! Who is this prisoner anyway?” He said crouching over Jasper’s body. “He looks kinda familiar.”

Nate, sensing danger, immediately stepped in. “That’s because this fellow is Bill Cask!” The small group assembled all turned to look at Nate, blank expressions on their faces. “Oh, you probably don’t know that that’s his name, but you’ve definitely seen him before. He’s not too smart, not too funny, not too buff, but he’s just there.”

The other guards seemed to be okay with this explanation, but the short guard wasn’t having it.

“What’s his number?” Shortie inquired.

“212!” Nate blurted out.

“Isn’t that the number of that Mitchell kid?”

An erie silence seemed to spread almost cancerously about the area, until Nate finally broke it with a nervousness-filled word of, “No.”

No one bought it.

“No, I think that that is the escapee’s number. We’ve only been hearing it for the past 10 months!” This time, it was a taller, pale-as-the-moon guard who was talking. “I would know that damn number in my sleep.”

The small group laughed uneasily, but it only grew the tension, the guards becoming more sure that something was off.

Suddenly, Nate burst out laughing.

“Oh, you idiots!” he let loose another burst of giggles. “Once Mitchell got out, they switched around the numbers. Now a random kid, Nick, I think his name is, no Nate, is number 212!”

This explanation made absolutely no sense. Shortie was the only guard who seemed to have picked up what a BS answer it was, but the other guards were already laughing along, saying it was their bad, that they should have known.

“Go to the warden and ‘report the incident’ man,” the tallest guard said, as if it was a joke they had shared before. But Nate just laughed along, even though he had no idea what was so funny about that sentence. Nate just smiled, waving over his shoulder to say goodbye.

He walked through the prison at a measured and calm pace, walked to the exit, searched through the ring of keys till he found one labeled Exit Key, fit it into the lock, opened the door, and walked out.

He kept on walking away from the prison, shocked at what had happened. He had escaped so easily. It wasn’t mission impossible. But now, he had nothing to do. What was he supposed to accomplish with his life?

The answer came to him like a wave crashing onto the beach: Find Mitchell.

Mitchell had once told Nate his address: Brooklyn, NY 4th Street 1123. After asking a slightly rushed man out getting late Christmas gifts for directions, Nate was off.

After several hours of walking through the dark streets of Brooklyn, he was there. Standing in front of the house, Nate took a deep breath.

“Mitchell.”

The word echoed across the night, shooting about the universe. And then and there, Nate knew, that somewhere, on some alien planet, a far away alien just heard the word “Mitchell.”

It’s crazy that every single fairy tale begins with those four tiny words: Once Upon A Time…

Once upon a time, there was a little girl. She lived in a land called Yaoi. Her name was Lin. She had three siblings: Soa, Tao-pay and Yerin.

One summer day, Yerin wandered off into the wind waters. There were rumors going around that a ghost was haunting the lake. The large, silver body of liquid was surrounded by a sakura blossom forest. Tiny, pinkish-red petals with a white inner circle fell upon the unusual water. Tao-pay had gone with the little girl, but when he came home with the moonlight covering his already pale face, Yerin was not there with him. Tao-pay claimed that a glowing iridescent spirit had pulled the defenseless girl under, and she sank below the swaying waves.                                                                                          

As Soa was the oldest, she didn’t believe poor Tao. So, after the night passed, she left the house with a shivering Tao-pay. Lin insisted that she stay home and keep watch for anything out of the ordinary. Just as Yerin had, when the jet black blanket of twilight fell, Soa returned without Tao-pay. She told the exact same story that she herself had not believed was true. But, unlike her siblings, Lin was clever. Even though she was overwhelmed with the pain of losing two of her siblings, she created a plan that she prayed would bring them back.                                                      

The next morning, at the crack of dawn, Soa and Lin walked down to the wind waters. But instead of letting herself be seen, Lin hid nearby behind a sakura tree. Soa swam in the silver currents, singing and swimming innocently, acting utterly oblivious.

When the beautiful moon came, after hours of waiting, a glowing spirit shaped like a woman emerged from the lake. Soa screamed. Lin wanted to yell at her. This was not part of the plan! The spirit reached out a glowing hand to grab Soa, but Lin jumped out of her hiding place armed with… A-a-a flashlight!

With it, Lin shone the white light at her sibling’s captor, and the spirit let out a gut-wrenching scream and dissolved into tiny droplets. Suddenly, Yerin and Tao-pay surfaced near the sand. They both coughed up decent amounts of water and then launched themselves into Soa and Lin’s arms.

“You saved us!” Yerin cried.

“How did you know to use the flashlight?” Soa asked Lin.

“Because she only came out of the lake at night.” Lin replied. Then, all four of the siblings walked home, together.

“Okay, okay! I’m awake!” I shout. My brother is shaking me.

“It’s time for school,” Calvin says.

I jump out of bed. “I slept that late?!”

I yank my clothes on and run downstairs, grabbing my backpack and the piece of toast that my mom holds out to me as I speed out the door 100 miles per hour.

The bus shoots fumes into my face as it pulls away from the curb. I scream, then trudge back inside.

”Mooom, I need a ride to schoool,” I call.   

“Ride your bike, honey.”  

“Do I have to?”  

“Yes. I’m about to leave for work, and I can’t drive you.”  

I hate my bike. It’s three sizes too small for me and covered in Dora the Explorer stickers from when I was five, I gripe to myself as I roll my bicycle out the door and off the curb. I hop on, but my knees are almost up to my chest.

When I finally get to school, I toss my bike into a hedge. I don’t want anyone to see it. I run as fast I can into school, hoping I’m not late. In the main hall, I check the clock on the wall, but it is already 8:30. I am 20 minutes late. I walk into the main office to get a late pass. As soon as the lady behind the desk hands me the doom-promising slip of yellow paper, I walk back out. As the damage is already done, I take my time making my way up the three flights of stairs to my classroom. Although I go as slow as a sloth, I still pant for breath outside my classroom door.

***

I’m sitting at my tan desk in the classroom. The teacher, Mrs. O’Hara, is talking, talking, and talking about math strategies. I hate math strategies. I’m staring out the window, looking at the clouds changing when something big, brown, and feathery with a wingspan bigger than Mrs. O’Hara’s afro flaps against the window.

It’s an owl! I almost say it out loud, but then realize where I am. Suddenly, the owl flies up and perches on the edge of the window where it’s open. Nobody else seems to notice it. All of the sudden, it shakes its wing and out falls an envelope. I jump up and run over to the window. The owl flies away, but I pick up the creamy white envelope off the floor.

Mrs. O’Hara calls over, “Isabella! What are you doing?” I shove the letter into my pocket.

“I… I was just picking up some garbage that I saw on the ground.”

I dig in my pocket for something, anything that can stand in as trash. Finally, in the bottom of one of my jeans pockets, I find an old piece of ABC (already been chewed) gum. It’s nearly bursting out of the wrapper, and it’s stuck to the bottom of my pocket. I yank and I yank, and then finally, it pops out. I hold it up to show Mrs. O’Hara.  She looks disgusted.  

“Alright… come throw it away. But I’ve got my eye on you.”

I hurry to the trash can. Once I’m back at my desk, I try to focus on Mrs. O’Hara and her boring math lesson until I can’t stand the suspense of the mysterious letter anymore. I slip the envelope out of my pocket and carefully rip open the seal inside my desk. I slide out the letter and unfold it. It is written in fancy cursive.

Dear Isabella,

Come to the largest oak in Acorn Wood  

Someone will meet you there.

You are destined to become friends

and do great things together.

The two of you are so different, yet, the same.

The Wise Owl

“Oh. My. Gosh.”  I murmur.

The light was blinding as Athena stepped out of her small, cramped tent of a home into the sun. It was time to try again.

“Dad, let me back in. Please. Think of Mom and what she would do!”

Those were the words she repeated every single day ever since her mom died and her dad kicked her out of the house.

Athena knew it would be the same. Her dad would just slam the door in her face and walk away. She ran across the street to her friend Lily’s house. Lily’s dad would drive them to school.

“How did it go this time?” she asked.

“Same as usual,” Athena replied.

Lily was the only person who knew her story and understood Athena’s problem.

***

The afternoon light peeked out over the high-rises as Athena and Lily approached the hill where they resided.

“Wanna crash at my house?” Lily said.

“Sure. Beats having to go back home,” Athena said back.

As if I have one, she thought.

Lily’s house was always very inviting, and every time she came in, Athena felt like she was in a fancy hotel.

The next day was basically the same. Except for one thing. Her dad didn’t slam the door, he closed it gently and gave her a sad look.

Maybe he’s had the slightest change of heart, Athena thought, He just needed some time to himself.

But that idea was quickly vanquished because her dad had all the time in the world to himself. He had been alone for 2 years.

When Athena tried the next day, her dad spoke to her for the first time in a long time. His voice was dry and raspy.

“I’m not your father,” he said.

***

Athena stormed into her house and sat down.

“You owe me a very long explanation,” she said angrily.

Her “dad” started to say, “You probably won’t — fine, I’ll tell you. Your mother was a doctor. Emmeline Carenlater. She was working late one night when a call came for a patient going into cardiac arrest. Emme got into her car and started driving, but a drunk guy slammed into her car. Then — well, you know the rest. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you how she died. You were only eight then.”

Silence.

“But if you’re not my dad, then who are you?” Athena said quietly.

“I’m your… your uncle.”

“You were hesitating. Tell me the truth!”

“Fine. I’m not your relative. Your mother, in her will, she entrusted me to you.”

Athena was slow to answer, “But who is my father?”

“You didn’t have one.”

The shock was too much for Athena, and she ran out the door, tears streaming down her face.

Hi, my name is Emma, and my life isn’t the same as others. You see, my mom won’t let me go to certain things without protection. So here is how one very special sleepover actually changed my life.

Chapter 1: My Life

Ever since I was in second grade, I’ve gotten invited to many sleepovers. This is what happened every single time I asked:

“Mom? I got invited to another sleepover. Can I go?”

“You know what our answer is. NO.”

Ugh, my parents are so overly strict. This had been happening every single time I asked. Until now: fourth grade.

Chapter 2: What Happens Every Single Time

“Mom! I got invited to another sleepover! Another tally mark to add to my notebook of how many sleepovers I can’t go to!” I screamed.

“I’m sorry, honey. You know that I have changed my mind, but your father doesn’t understand!”

“Alex, honey. Emma got invited to another sleepover,” my mom said to my dad while walking into their room.

“Oh great, I’m on the last page of the notebook!” I said as I drew the tally mark. I took out my diary and wrote:

Dear diary,

I got another invitation to another sleepover. I don’t understand why I never get to sleep over at my friends’ houses. Although I did have a sleepover with my cousins. But my mom, dad, and brother were there with me. I also have sleepovers at my grandparent’s house, but they don’t count at all. An actual sleepover is when you sleep over at someone else’s home by yourself without your family there with you. I just hate it when they say no! It’s like the only word that they say. No, no, no! I’m just so sick of it.

“Emma, dinner’s ready,” my mom said.

“Coming Mom,” I replied.

Chapter 3: Breakfast Talk

Beep, beep, beep. My alarm from my phone rang at 5:49. As I got out of my pig P.J.s and mask, my younger brother Evan came rushing in.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Emma, happy birthday to you!” he sang.

“O-M-G!”

I can’t believe that I forgot my own birthday! As soon as I got out of bed, I got dressed and called my friends. Sniff, sniff. I smelled bagel.

“Breakfast!” I screamed while heading downstairs to the dining room.

“So Emma, you are now ten years old. What would you like as your birthday present?”my mom asked as I sat down in the lumpy seat with the scent of roses in the air.

I replied, “Do you want to know what I want? I want you to stop saying no and start saying yes!”

I screamed. There was a long silence…

Chapter 4: Shopping

An hour later at Andy’s Shoe Shop with Jojo…

“Happy Birthday!” Jojo said.

“Thanks,” I replied, “Now let’s do what we came here to do.”  “SHOPPING!” we said at the same time.

***

“That was awesome,” Jojo said.

“I can’t believe that almost every single thing that we bought was the exact same thing,” I said.

“Today was fun. I have to get to play rehearsals. See you on Monday,” Jojo said.

“See you on Monday,” I replied as we walked our separate ways.

Chapter 5: The Information

When I got home, this is what happened. It was dark. The only light that was on was the light above the dining table. When I heard my brother snoring, I realized that my mom and dad had to talk to me, so I walked to the dining table and sat down.

“We have news,” my mom said.

”We talked to your aunt, and she said that you could sleep over at her place on Friday with Anna,” my dad added.

Once he finished his statement, the main lights turned on. I looked at where the light switch was located, and there was my brother standing there. He agreed to this only because he would get our room for one day.

I went upstairs to my room and sat down on my bed with my diary in my hands. I wrote….

Dear diary,

My parents actually let me have a sleepover at my cousin’s. Now that I’m hearing that word ‘cousin,’ I realize that’s family. It’s at least a step closer with my friends. What are my chances. I just hope my first sleepover will be a great sleepover.

Chapter 6: The Sleepover

I sat in the car with my mom, dad, and brother, going to my cousin’s home to play for a little bit. After that, my parents and brother were going to leave me alone to have an actual sleepover. Just then, I realized that I had a lot planned out and needed a lot of energy. So I decided to take a nap until we got there so I could play and stay up all night.

***

I woke up to the sound of our car coming to an abrupt stop. I was still feeling a little drowsy; I looked up and realized that we were there.

“Finally,” I said as I yawned, “Time to get this party started.”

When we got there, there was already food prepped for us. About one hour later, my parents and brother finally left.

The first thing that we did was make a lot of musicals, games, and other internet stuff. While we were playing downstairs, dinner was being prepped.

Sizzle, sizzle went the pan.

As soon as we came upstairs, diner was ready. We had delicious chicken nuggets with mac and cheese on the side.

“Yummm!” I said, “This food is super good.”

“I agree” replied Anna.

***

“Do you want to make up a dance with me?” I asked.

“Sure” she replied.

So we worked on our dance till 10:02, bedtime. Before we went to bed, we had a pillow fight.

Chapter 7: In The Night

“Psst, Emma,” Anna said.

“What, Anna?” I replied in a sleepy voice. Yawn.

“Let’s go downstairs and get some candy,” she whispered, “We got a bowl full of candy.”

So we tiptoed down without making a sound. We opened the dark brown cabinet and saw the bowl full of candy. Anna took a Kitkat, and I took a Reese’s peanut butter cup and ate it without leaving a piece of evidence behind. After finishing our candy, we went back to bed.

Chapter 8: In The Morning

“Good morning, Emma,” Anna said.

“Good morning,” I replied.

We walked to the dining table where there was breakfast already prepared for us.

“Good morning, girls,” my aunt said in a pleasing voice.

We had donuts and ice cream for breakfast.

Chapter 9: Pickup

During the middle of the day, my parents came to pick me up.

“Mom!!! I don’t want to go!!!” I said.

“I’ll give you twenty bucks,” my mom said.

Right away, I changed my mind.

I actually couldn’t believe that I had an actual sleepover at my cousins by myself without my parents or brother. When I got home, I wrote

Dear diary,

Last night, I had an actual sleepover at my cousins, without my mom, dad or brother! I just can not believe that the sleepover actually happened. Maybe this is the next step to friends sleepover. What are my chances?

Chapter One: Harmony

Ugh, today is off to a bad start.

First, my BFF Wilma has been kidnapped by the evil (in my words) Jade, who is “BBF” (Booty, Butts, and Fabulousness. In her words not mine.) E.J. (Evil Jade!!!) has cursed Wilma to think that I’m the mean girl, and that she’s the one who should stand up to me to protect everyone.

So I am going to tell the headmistress. She looks like a woman with long, flowing hair that’s golden blonde, and a dress made of water and plants.

She’s really good at magic, and she’s also one of the few fairies who can breathe underwater. We have to try to see if we can breathe underwater, and I’m #1837402, but there’s only two more people in front of me. Wilma’s behind me and the thing is that we already know we can breathe underwater so I tell her.

“How do you know?” she sneers at me.  

I say, “Because before Jade cursed you, we were playing by the river. Then, you fell in. Without thinking, I jumped in after you and didn’t take a breath, and we could breathe and talk underwater!”

She’s surprised, so I tell her the truth about E.J. and she remembers me being her real friend. Poof. The spell is broken.

Chapter Two: Harmony & Jade

“It’s such a wonderful day! Ouch! Who did that… Jade!”

“What? You don’t have to scream to get me here, like, that’s so rude, and like, what do you want from me, because like, you always torture me. You took away my only BFF who liked me, and you are so mean, and everyone but you is like, nice to me. Like, you’re trying to take my prince away now!!!” she sneers.

“No, I’m not, Jade! First of all, I only have a crush on Jake, and maybe I do really like him, but that’s none of your business! Second of all, he didn’t like you anyway, and third of all, I never stole Jake from you!!!”

Then, Jade stiffens.

“You scared or what?”

I’m surprised that she doesn’t react. She seems to be staring at something behind me, so I turn around to see Jake!

He is blushing, and he says, “Hey Harmony, can we talk please?”

Chapter Three: Jake & Harmony

“Um, hi Jake. Sure, we can talk. What time? Or now?”

“Uhm, after school, I guess. Is that an okay time Harmony? Is it okay if we meet at the fairy fountain?”

“Yeah, sure Jake. I just have to tell my mom where I’m going. I’ll give her a tweet.”

“See ya later.”

OMR (Oh my ra) I am going to talk to Jake, but it looks like Jade is fuming. You should see her. It’s hilarious. Even my club members are snickering. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I have a group that follows me around, and the great part about that is that they used to be a part of E.J.s group. They dropped it because E.J. was like, so cruel to them.

After school, I go to the fairy fountain, and you know what I see? I see Jake and E.J. kissing. Yes, I am serious. Let me spell it out for you: K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

I was about to run away with tears in my eyes when Jake caught a glimpse of me and said, “This isn’t what it looks like, Harmony! I can explain!”

“No, you don’t have to explain. I can see the whole truth right here. All you have been doing is using me! I never want to see you again or talk to you again!”

Chapter Four: Harmony’s Rage

I can’t believe it. Jake told me to talk to him, but what he really wanted me to see is that. He has been dreading me ever since I arrived at school. You know what, I’m going to ignore him in the halls whenever he tries to talk to me.

***

Grrrr!!! I hate everything and my whole life!!! (Except for Wilma and my group.) Jake, that no good ex-best boyfriend or ex-boyfriend, keeps on bothering me about how he’s really telling the truth, and how Jade was forcing him, and he didn’t want to k-i-s-s  E.J.

You know what I said in return?

I just wish I could be the girls in my favorite song, Black Magic by the Little Mix. I’m just gonna practice my magic for the rest of the afternoon. But first, I have to get my books.

Chapter Five: Jade’s Evil Plan

Mwa ha ha ha!! Finally, something unexpected happens! See here, you pile of dirty trash! I took Jake’s letter for Harmony about making out in the fairy bakery! Now I’ll go instead and spy on Jake!

(Little does Jade know she is being watched by someone named Wilma.)

Chapter Six: How Harmony’s Going to Deal with this Mess

I’m just sitting here and letting everyone spoil my life, but now I’m not going to, and I’m going to make a spell to make me a person who will not be who I was before, and I think I might have found it…

Chapter Seven: Wilma’s Plan

“Where’s Harmony, Jake?” I say nervously with a tone of anger in my voice.  

“I…I… I don’t kn-kn-know,” Jake says, his voice sounding shaky.

“What happened to you? Also, I want to know why my best friend just ran past me saying you’re a big, fat, lying, flying toad-rat!!!”

But Jake just sits there mumbling something I can’t hear, but it kind of sounds like, “I never ever want to love anyone but Harmony. Where’s her reply?”

As I leave, I think, Didn’t I see Jade holding a letter that had the initials H.D.? Wait a second, those are Harmony’s initials. Gasp! Jade took harmony’s letter from Jake!!! It’s time for payback, slime time!

Chapter Eight: Jade’s Rage

“Like, I need to change form and turn into stupid Harmony. So Jakey poo will think I am her, and then when he proposes to me (which he will in the future,) I will reveal myself. I bet he won’t even notice it was me the whole time!” I say cruelly to her magic mirror.

While I am learning how to change in my dorm, Willow, or whatever her name is, is spying on me, and I don’t even know, and what happens next is unbelievable. I open my closet to find the perfect dress to match my form, and then all of a sudden, almost permanent squishy slime comes pouring down on top of my beautiful hair.

The headmistress comes in and says, “ Why, uhm…Jade!! What are you doing in that slime? It will take forever to wash off. Your punishment is that you must clean yourself up, and since you’re already dirty, clean and plant new plants in the garden because this sort of slime is good for plants.”

When I finally see Wilma, she is slyly slipping out of my room, giggling. I will get revenge tomorrow!

“Jade, since you seem so excited, let’s have you do it until you’re done with your learning here,” said the headmistress.

Chapter Nine: Restoring Harmony Back To Normal (With the Headmistress)

“Harmony! Harmony! I got Jade, now you can have some time with Jake without getting interrupted!”

“Hey Wilma, who’s Jake?”

I am so shocked when I hear that!

“Harmony, don’t you remember Jake? He’s your crush!”

“Wilma, what are you talking about?”

Then, I see it. Her spell books are all open. The floor is a mess, and on the spell book table, is the forgetting spell. Almost irreversible! I have to get her to the headmistress right away!

“Headmistress! Harmony did the forgetting spell on herself!”

“Wilma I’m glad you told me as fast as you can. Please step out of my room, I will restore Harmony back to normal as fast as I can. Before this is permanent.”   

Chapter Ten: Harmony’s Back

“Wilma, I am so sorry!”

“Harmony, are you okay! What were you thinking!”

“I am so sorry. I just thought that if I forget some things, then life would feel better! But I just felt like a puzzle with the pieces of my picture missing.”

Then, all of a sudden, in comes a boy who has black hair with sky blue highlights and a pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt that says “Jake.”

“Harmony! You’re okay! Jade is gone from our life now, and we can all live in peace and Harmony!”

“I am so glad Jake, but why were you kissing Jade at the Fountain?”

“I was under a spell she cast on me, and I couldn’t stop following her orders, like “Love me forever.” But what she didn’t know is that if the person under the spell sees their true love, then the spell will be broken.”

“Now that’s the whole truth. We don’t have to worry any more!”  

Andy woke up one morning. He saw the stars over his head. For the first time in his life, they weren’t animated. His family had been on the camp’s waiting list for exactly 12 years: his entire life. The day had finally come, and he was camping. This was the only place left on Earth with greenery. The rest of Earth, besides anything historical, was either a factory, hover lane, or skyscraper.

There was no need for water, since the great reservoir had been put on the moon in 2159. His great-grandpa had actually worked on it too. It was something he had always bragged about to his friends, but now, he was regretting that he did. Because of that reservoir, all the farms were put on Mercury so that there could be more space on Earth. There was no need for plants on Earth, with water coming to Earth from the Moon and oxygen generators which were invented in 2239. But some botany activists worked their butts off for years trying to save this old piece of land, or as it was known as a few hundred years ago: the Amazon rainforest.

Andy lived on what was known as Halley’s Comet about 200 years back, but now it was a huge city, or one huge, glass building surrounding the comet completely. His house was newly connected to Earth by the flexible spaceway from the comet. His dad took the hover car to work every day. He was always really busy, especially now with his new invention of teleportation. This was known as teleX and was now in beta testing.

But Andy was here now, and he had two more nights left here at this camp, which didn’t even have a name. Well, it did, but the makers wanted it to be be as peaceful as possible, and they thought a name would hurt that in some way. Andy did not understand any of that. But really, he did not care. However, from the second he got there, he just called it “The Green Place.” A spinoff of the oldest ever recorded history of what historians called television. Anyway, the show was called “The Good Place” and he loved it. All 17 seasons.

Andy was depressed because he was going to go back to the comet early. Something had gone wrong with beta testing on teleX. They had to cut their trip short by one day. Something had gone wrong with the dark matter core on the planet x-38stv, a deserted planet where if the core exploded, there would not be that many problems. It had a direct tap of hot water from the moon’s reservoir to star in x-38stv’s solar system. This was because if the dark matter exploded, it would freeze the star, as his dad had told him as a joke, “That might not be that good.” But Andy had a feeling that he might not be kidding.

Later, he asked his science teacher about it, and she said that it could possibly cause a black hole only 1,934 million miles away from humans’ only intelligent life form connection. That could suck a planet into a black hole. This planet was inhabited by the alien species Qatari from the planet Quart. There were thousands of discovered life forms, but the most intelligent one resembled the Earth’s ape species and had shelter in trees. The Qatari had a highly advanced society, but was on shaky terms with Earth and were highly superior in technology. If the star froze and the Quart was destroyed, it could spark a war with the remaining colonies of the Qatari.

Andy had tried to talk his dad out of this invention, and even got his older sister Steff, short for Steffany, on board. Steff almost always disagreed with Andy. But his father assured both of them that there was nothing to worry about. However, his eye twitched, and Andy knew that his father’s eye twitched whenever he was lying.

Andy knew he had to get some information, and he had to act fast. The next day was a weekend, but his dad still had to work. Andy hid in the trunk of his dad’s hover car and flew down the spaceway to Earth. At Interstellar Labs, there were two soldiers guarding the entrance to the garage. They were going to check the car. He heard footsteps slowly advancing closer… and closer… and closer.

His dad was very high ranking at the company, so he had just gotten out when the guard opened the trunk. But they found nothing. He slammed the door of the trunk. The valet worker drove the car to the garage, parked it, and stepped out and walk away. As soon as he heard the worker leave, Andy crashed to the bottom of the trunk with a loud thump. He had managed  to cling to the top of the trunk and hold the position for five minutes. He lay down and dozed off for a short nap. He woke up in the trunk at 2:54. His holo watch informed him that he had been asleep for almost five hours.

Andy hopped out of the car and crawled out of the garage. He ran into the elevator and went to the 284th floor. This was in the middle of the lab building. He ran into his dad’s lab, hid in a closet, and looked through a crack in the door. It was 17 minutes before his dad came back with two astronomers in bright white coats and three military escorts with what looked like the chief of the Earth’s military behind them. Andy took out his new recorder download he got from his dad for his birthday. How ironic, he thought, with a smug look on his face. He then pressed the button and started recording.

The two astronomers were telling, fact after fact, about the location of the possible black hole and how in 1.263 seconds the planet Quart would be sucked into it. They also said that there was a 89.35% chance of teleX freezing the star, which the General heard and grinned at. After all the information had been spoken, his father simplified it and told it to the General. The General nodded and asked how quickly could they get teleX operational. He said they had new intel that the Quart we’re planning on attacking Earth in 17 days, and the Earth’s military, he said, would lose that battle.

Then, the General asked if they could plant an explosive in teleX to make a 100% chance that the star would freeze. One astronomer said that would be impossible. An explosion would cause the star to overheat and explode, creating larger damage, but in a smaller radius that would not affect Quart at all. The general nodded and said to start operation IAA in 15 days and come up with a plan B if it failed. With that, he stormed out with two of the three guards, leaving one to secure the area. His father then yelled over the loudspeaker that there were 12 hours till launch.

Suddenly, the guard pulled open the door and grabbed Andy by the shirt.

“Andy!” his father yelled.

His father was up against the glass opening in the door.

His father yelled, “You are not going to tell anybody. Do you understand?”

“Of course I am!” Andy angrily yelled back.

“You are not leaving this room until you realize what you’re doing,” he yelled and the lock clicked shut.

He stormed off and a guard walked in to take his place.

There were four minutes left until TeleX was turned on. After that, the army would release them to tell the public what had happened. But they were not there to say the truth. Instead, they were to lie to the world, say that they had no idea of the possible outcome of teleX, and that they would like to deeply apologize to the Quarti and blah, blah, blah. The speech was already written, and his father was probably memorizing it.

Andy suddenly hated his dad. He did not care about any of the good his dad had done. Rage slowly filled his body, engulfing him in a fire fueled by the hate for his father. It had been hours since that door was opened, and he was shoved inside. He knew he had to escape, and he set his mind to it.

He quickly assessed his surroundings. There was an air vent on the ceiling and a table in the corner. That was it. A plan had started to form in his mind. Inch by inch, he quietly moved the table to the spot right below the air vent. He then climbed on the table and took his lightweight, metal wallet out of his pocket. He got it for last Christmas. He threw it as hard as he could at the grate, and eventually, the grate fell into his arms. He hopped up and climbed through the grate system. Then, after what felt like hours of climbing downwards, the ground suddenly fell out under him. He fell out. He was falling for what felt like eternity, but he actually hit the ground in less than just two seconds. The grate exit was on the first floor.

He got up and could feel the deaths of millions of innocent Qarti; it shook him to his core. He knew that the best thing he could do to avenge them was to let the truth be told to the world. With that, he ran with his head held high to the news building.

As he reached to the news building, a reporter had his holoscreen on and was typing while walking home. He ran up to him and caught a glimpse of what the reporter was typing. The reporter had almost nothing written down, but the title was standing out to all willing to read it.

“Planet Destroyed,” it read.

This reporter was desperate for information. Andy could see it on his face.

Andy said, “I know what happened to planet Quart.” The reporter’s ears perked up. And with that, Andy told his story.

Penny, September 9th

Beep! Beep! Beep! I rolled over and threw my pillow under my bed at the alarm clock. As usual, I missed. Groaning, I got up and crawled under my bed where I kept my alarm clock. I felt around in the dark trying to find it. I found more than few long-lost library books and then my shrieking alarm. I whacked it.

Then, I stood up and started for the door, bumping my head and getting a giant bruise in the process. My tangled, brown hair was covered with dust bunnies. I went down the stairs walking almost zombie-like. I sat at the still brand new table and started on the bowl of Cheerios.

“So!” my mom said while spreading jelly on her eggs (She’s a horrible multi tasker.) “Are you excited for your first day at Lincoln?”

I shrugged. In August, my family had moved to this small town in Pennsylvania. Today was the first day of my new middle school.

After breakfast, I grabbed my stuffed (and really heavy) backpack and ran out the door. The bus was just leaving. I ran after it, waving my arms up and down. The driver looked at his mirror and suddenly stopped the bus with a screech. The doors opened, and I stumbled inside.

As I walked towards the back of the bus, I noticed a pair of striking blue eyes staring at me. I put my head down and walked to the nearest empty seat. I sat down and opened my book.

“Hi!” said a perky voice.

I jumped. Next to me was a girl with short, red hair and green eyes.

She looks like a talking Christmas card! I thought.

“My name’s Lila! It’s really nice to meet you. Are you nervous? I’m not. If I was nervous, I would be talking fast. Oh no! I’m talking fast, aren’t I?” She paused. “Hi! My name is Lila! It’s really nice to meet you. Are you–”

“I actually am sort of nervous. My name is Penny. I’m new here,” I interrupted.

“Oh cool! What grade are you in?”

“Sixth.”

“I am too!”

Nice! I thought. Maybe this school won’t be so bad after all!

***

I had managed to find my way through the crowded hallways and found a seat next to my new friend Lila. We were in the same homeroom! (Room 305)

“Okay, class! My name is Ms. Hicks. Today we will be reviewing some four-digit long division.”

The class groaned.

“But first, we have a surprise for you!”

Everyone exchanged glances. What was the surprise?

“We are going to have ballroom dancing lessons!” Ms. Hicks said.

This was followed by more groans.

“Allow me to introduce you to Miss Willow, your ballroom dancing teacher.”

Miss Willow? I thought. Ballroom dancing? What century is this?

A woman wearing a bright yellow skirt that blended into the classroom walls and a cherry-colored shirt walked into the room.

“Okay, everyone,” Miss Willow said. “Let’s move these desks.”  

Once the screeching had ended, Miss Willow began to speak.

“Today, we will learn the first few steps of the merengue,” Miss. Willow said. “But before that, I am wondering if anyone has any questions.”

“I do!” The same pair of blue eyes glanced at me. “Uhm, I was–I was wondering if we would have uh, uhm, partners.”

Some girls started to giggle. Miss Willow raised her hands for quiet.

She looked at a piece of paper in her hand.

“Yes, Timothy.” So that’s his name! I thought. “We will have partners but they will not be permanent. We will choose your real partners later. Any more questions? No? Okay. Let’s get started!”

After everyone stopped giggling and screaming whenever they were told to dance with someone, the class actually went pretty well! Miss Willow was a kind and silly teacher. (The best kind!) In the class, she made sort of half-jokes to help us learn.

Once, when she was teaching us the positions, she said, ”Never touch the lady’s hips. Her father will come and get you!”

Of course, that set the gigglers off again. A lot of partners made faces at each other. Lila stuck her tongue out at me. I waved.

My partner, Timothy didn’t do any of these things. He just smiled and chuckled instead. I tried to say something cool or interesting. In fact, I wished that I could have just said anything! Even just a “Hi!” would have been nice. But no. My throat was so dry that my “Hi!” turned into a coughing fit. Great first impression, Penny, great.

***

After the class, I went to English. There was no teacher in sight. On the whiteboard in big, bold letters were the words: “Read independently. I will back soon. – Mrs. Brown”

I happily plopped down in a chair. I looked around. Lila wasn’t in the class. Timothy was. I saw him and moved over a desk so he could sit next to me. He saw and sat down in it. He smiled at me. He had very white teeth. I giggled. He heard and smiled again. I blushed, then stuffed my nose into my book.  

We sixth graders have the earliest lunch in the school. It’s third period. In fifth grade, I had a sixth period lunch. Weird, right? Today, we had an even earlier lunch because at third period, an electrician was coming to fix the lights in the cafeteria. Anyway, I had just ran from English class to here. (The situation with Timothy had gotten worse.)

“Hey Penny!” called Lila, “Over here!”

I plopped down in the seat that Lila had saved me.

“What happened to you? Your face is as red as my hair!”

Chocolate milk spurted out of my mouth.

“Oh, uhm. Nothing,” I laughed nervously.

“What do you mean nothing? You can tell me. Come on.”

“Well, I–”

Luckily, my sentence was interrupted by–well, guess who?

“Hi, Penny! I, uhm, I was wondering if you wanted to come to my party on Sunday,” Timothy said.

I felt my face go red.

“Uhm, okay, uh, sure!”

I took his invitation with shaking hands and stuffed it into my pocket. He smiled, then went back to his table of loud boys. I turned around to Lila making kissing noises.

“Hey!” I said.

“What?” Lila said, “You can’t deny it.”

Penny, September 15th

I looked at the blue dress, then the red one. Then the blue one, then the red one. I had just woken up  and was trying on different outfits to wear to Timothy’s party. (It’s today!) I sighed then reread my invitation.

Come to My 12th Birthday Party!

Where: 233 Oak Street

When: 8:00 to 10:00

Activities: Dancing! Games! Fun Stuff!

-Timothy

Even though I was super excited to go to the party, I needed major help. Then, I remembered. Lila had given me her phone number! I picked up the phone and dialed the number. Ugh. Voicemail. I tried again. Nothing.

That was strange. I thought. Lila always answers my calls. Maybe she was abducted by aliens! Or was attacked by a creature with seven legs! Or–

Then, I remembered that she was on a plane to California to visit her Uncle Joe. Oops! It was going to be a long morning.

***

Once I had decided on a dress (the blue one) and brushed and curled my hair and ate breakfast and brushed my teeth about five times and ate about a thousand breath mints that smelled like cherry soda,  I was ready to go. I bought a present for Timothy, then climbed into the car with my dad.

“So Penny!” my dad said. “Is this Timothy a friend of yours or maybe a boy–”

“Dad! Shut up! I–”

“Hi, Penny!” Timothy was outside the car window waving at me.

“Bye Dad!”

I ran out of the car and followed Timothy into his house.

***

Timothy’s house had velvet chairs and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It did not seem like a place where loud music and flashing lights would be, but there they were. I joined in the the dancing. Timothy came over.

“Uh, hey Penny,” Timothy said.

“Hi,” I said.

“Uhm, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“Uh, no–nothing. Why?”

“Well, I was wondering if–”

Timothy was interrupted by a weird looking boy with long, red hair and dozens of freckles.

“Hey Timothy! Is that your girlfriend?” he said.

My face turned beet red.

“Shut up, Frank,” Timothy muttered.

“Is she? She better not be. She’s a total dork. And her friend Lila, don’t even get me started.”

“Frank!!!” Timothy screamed.

He turned around towards me, but I was already out the door.

***

I ran through the now pouring rain with rivers of tears streaming down my face and questions running through my brain.

What was Timothy trying to ask me?  What if I really was as dorky as that boy said? Why had Timothy stood up for me like that?

I turned the corner and found what I had been looking for. A huge, brick building towered above me. The library. I climbed up the moss-covered stairs and slipped through the door. The inside was musty, and the chairs were breaking, but it was the safest place I could think of. Soaked and panting, I collapsed into a chair.

“Hello, Penelope!” a nearby librarian chirped.

“Hi, Beth,” I said quietly.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?’

“It’s nothing,” I replied.

“Well, all right. If you need me, I’m always willing to listen.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Beth smiled, then went back to stocking books.  

Penny, September 16th

Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!

“Fire drill!” yelled Ms. Hicks, “Everyone make your way to the door!”

A horde of kids began to push their way to the door. I tried to walk forward while being jolted around, but it was almost impossible. I sighed, then made my way back to my desk. After the rest of the class had filed out of the classroom, I peeked around the doorway. The coast was clear. I finally ran out of the classroom to reunite with my class.

I tumbled down the stairs, then across the hall to the main door. I yanked at the door but it didn’t budge. I pulled it again. Nothing happened. Starting to panic, I ran across the hall to the other door. It didn’t open. Desperate, I ran over to the windows and try to pull one open. It didn’t move. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. Clearly there was no way out. I’d just have to wait until my class came back and explain then.

As I sat in front of the door waiting for the drill to end, something strange happened. I began to smell smoke.

Timothy, September 16th

I watched Ms. Hicks as our worried looking history teacher whispered something to her.

“Oh my god!” Ms. Hicks exclaimed. “Uhm, okay everyone, I uh, need to take care of something. I’ll be right back.”

I looked around for Penny. I wanted to talk to her about last night. She wasn’t there.

That’s strange. I thought. Where’s Penny?  

I tried to remember when I last saw her. Well, I remembered seeing her in the corner of the room standing there when I left…OH! Why am I so stupid? While Penny patiently waited for all of us to get out of the building so she could leave, Mr. John (our principal) locked the door behind us. I sighed. Now she will never talk to me.

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, I saw a cloud of smoke rising from the school.

“Penny!” I screamed.

Everyone looked up, then began to scream and cry. It was chaos. Teachers started to herd kids away from the school. I ran to our science teacher, Mr. Ross.

“Penny’s in there!”

His eyes grew wide, then he raced towards the fire, pushing though students and teachers. He unlocked the door, then cautiously pulled open the door.

“Stand back,” he warned.

As the door creaked open, an ash-covered hand poked out. I grabbed it, then gave a mighty pull. Out came Penny, covered in dirt and ash, but fine. She looked at me gratefully, then began to cough up tons of ash. Stunned, I stumbled backwards. Soft but strong hands catched me, then turned me around.

“Let’s go,” Mom said.

Nodding, I let her lead me back to our car and put me in my seat. I stared out the window looking at the familiar buildings that we drove by, but only thinking of the beautiful, brown eyes, covered in dirt, but shining like diamonds.

The Toy:

I was made in Japan. My name is Red Warrior, and I live in the middle of Japan. The store is a very big store called Toys in Japan. I am the only Red Warrior left in stock because no one wanted to buy me. It is mostly yellow everywhere in the store. My life is boring because nobody likes me because my head was supposed to light up, but instead, my toy maker made a very big mistake when he connected the wires to the batteries. He connected them in the wrong place and lost all his right-hand fingers, and caused parts of me to look droopy (some plastic, of course, melted.) And of course, I can’t light up now. I am tall for a toy, about a foot tall. My armor is red, and I have plastic samurai armor on my shoulders. I am wearing an oversized samurai helmet, and I have two long plastic swords in each hand. My swords are bent and twisted, and my horns on my helmet look like dripping wax on a candle.

The Toymaker:

My name I have forgotten a long, long time ago. I forgot it around the time I lost my left hand fingers due to a fire because of a bomb explosion down my street. The thing is, I can’t remember when I lost my left hand fingers either. I’m only sixty years old, so it’s strange. I have a bad memory already, especially for things a simple as my name. It might have been connected to working for all those hours in the sweatshop that I began to lose my memory. I only make a dollar an hour, and my mom and dad died when I was a baby because of working in unsanitary conditions which led to them getting diseases. Ever since then, I’ve lived with my grandparents. But my grandma and grandpa died two years ago because of a violent gunfight at store during a bombing raid.

The Boy:

I sat in the speeding, blue, old, dented car my uncle owns. I turned around and looked out the back of the car.

“Ahh!” I screamed.

“What!?” My uncle yelled back, then turned around.

“Oh my god!” he said, then asked me if I had recently been to KFC.

I was like, what is wrong with you (of course, I didn’t say that out loud. If I had, he’d have tried to throw me out the car). I replied that yes, I had been to KFC.

“Did you get the new Diet Diet .3701547382425 fifteen Letter Coke Bottle?” he asked me again.

Did his beer finally get to his head? I thought to myself.

“Of course uncle, that’s what everyone drinks.”

“Then, did you, by any chance, graffiti M. Feeny’s dog again?”

“C’mon uncle, I stopped doing that last Halloween.”

“Uhh, last Halloween was last night?!” he replied.

“Oh right, forgot. Really, I swear I didn’t do it,” I said back.

“Boy, one thing. After you go to KFC and get the new Diet Diet .3701547382425 fifteen Letter Coke Bottle, note that you are not yourself. So I would not blame you for painting Ms. Feeney’s dog bright orange.”

“Hey, the dog sunbathes in the middle of the road, I was just trying to help the dog survive by making him visible to the drivers. I swear, once that dog fell asleep on the top of Ms. Feeney’s speeding car, she didn’t even notice until the animal abuse truck pulled up next to her. Really, I swear I didn’t paint her dog.”

“Then, why is she playing ‘Thriller’ in her car and chasing us two hundred miles per hour — I really hope that’s not a machine gun she’s aiming at us right now,” my uncle replied.

“Hey! It might just be a really long, black can with small, golden chicken nuggets shooting out.”

“Son! You think way too much about chicken. By the way, don’t interrupt me. I’m in the middle of dialing the asylum so that they can pick her up.”

This is going to be a long drive to that toy store, I thought to myself.

I decided not to go with my parents to Egypt because right now I was  in my toy Warrior obsession phase. I had all the Warrior colors except for red.

The Boy and the Toy:

It was a bright, cold morning, but it wasn’t just any morning. It was the first morning a customer had come in three weeks! An old looking, blue car screeched into the paved drive, and a man and a small kid wearing a baseball hat that covered his eyes walked into the store, the adult hanging behind as the kid rushed to the aisle where all the plastic warriors were.

His eyes scanned the plastic, dimly-lit shelves for a Red Warrior. When he found it, he didn’t know what to say. His eyes opened wide, and a thin smile spread across his face.

I wonder why nobody wanted this? he thought to himself. He may be a little melted and scratched up, he doesn’t light up, but it doesn’t matter. In fact, it’s good; it shows this warrior has been through a lot. He has. It shows this guy has actually been through battle. Unlike any of the other guys I have, this one is a real, brave warrior.

He picked up the warrior from the aisle and showed it to his uncle to see if he could buy it. His uncle looked at him as if it was some sort of hilarious joke.

“Why, would you want a broken piece of junk like that?” he asked.

The boy scowled and responded, “It’s not a piece of junk.”

“Fine,” his uncle replied and handed him five dollars.

The boy went to the counter, beaming, gave the tired looking man at the counter $5.00, and walked out the store to his uncle’s car in the parking lot, his uncle trailing behind him. This was one of the happiest moments for both of them, the boy and the toy. The toy would be loved, and the boy would be happy. The hour long drive back to the boys house went by in a flash because the boy was having so much fun with the toy, flying it, making it battle imaginary dragons, and finally bringing it home. The car scraped into the drive, little stones grating under its wheels. The uncle rang the doorbell, and an elderly lady with a white apron opened the door into the two-story wooden house.

As soon as they got home, the boy picked the toy up and rushed with it up to his room so the toy would be able to meet all its brethren and have its first battle against the Blue Dragon, the boy’s favorite toy monster.

The Boy And The Battle:

I set up all of the seven Warriors. There were two rows of three, and in the front, there was the leader: The Red Warrior. And facing them all, was a clear blue, snarling dragon (their enemy.) This dragon had the power to freeze people.

Five years ago,the nuclear bomb fell on Hiroshima, killing most of my friends and family. Even if you survived the explosion, there was a good chance you would die of radiation poison before the doctor could make it through the glowing rubble to your house. The only reason I didn’t die was because I was living in Hawaii, where I grew up.

I remember my Japanese mother and father came out of a P.O.W. (Prisoner of War camp) after the bombing of Pearl Harbor which happened when I was two years old. As soon as he came out, he said, “Our Warriors will always fight strong, but this time the Dragon won.”

We spent a month living frightened in Hawaii. After that, my parents booked  themselves, me, and my baby sister, who is now in Egypt with my parents, a plane trip to Tokyo so that we could check on our relatives who had survived the bomb on Hiroshima in the hospital. I still remember the sound of young and old people crying, and faded, acrid smoke. I remember the sad, corrupt faces of my grandparents and uncle lying, shaking in blood-stained, white hospital cots within a plain, grey, brick building in the middle of a confused, screaming city which was more like an asylum for people gone shell-shocked and crazy than a physical hospital. The chipped, grey walls reminded of a prison.

 Since then, I had been living in Tokyo. I always thought the Dragon was America, but Japan also killed many people at Pearl Harbor. What America did to Japan was one of the worst things they could do.

So there was no Dragon. Each side thought they were the Warriors.

“Hello class,” says Ms. Johnson.

Oh hello, I’m James. I’m at school now. Usually, people hate this school. You will know why.

“Everyone, say hello to Mr. Petey,” says Ms. Johnson.

“Guess who’s back!” says Mr. Petey in a thundering voice. “So today, we have a bit of light classwork. You have 1,000 pounds of classwork and 100,000 pounds of homework, so this should be an easy day for you.”

“Wow, you are loud,” says a kid.

“Ten hours of after-school detention for you!” yells Mr. Petey. “What are you waiting for? Work!”

Soon, another kid asks, “Mr. Petey, may I please go to the bathroom?”

“No bathroom talk in class. Five hours of detention for a whole month!” says Mr.Petey.  

After the agonising class, I go to lunch. In the hallway, the principal barks, “No colorful lunchboxes! Three hours of detention for you, and no more home lunch for you for three months!”

Then, the principal snatches my lunch box and walks away.

I walk into the lunchroom. Good thing the lunch lady is serving really bad food instead of terrible food.

“Here is your vomit-colored trash soup,” thunders the lunch lady as she dumps the slop on my tray.

Now it is time to go into my secret stash. As I take my candy bar out of my pocket, the lunch lady barks, “No more food for you for ten months.”

Well, now you know why this school is the worst school ever. We tried to stop the principal from making the school worse, but the principal found out before we ever started it.

BRRRING! Oh, that was the bell that just rang. Oh great, it is time for recess. It is the second worst period today.

As soon as I walk outside and step on the doormat, I hear the recess counselor yell, “You just broke rule number 3,749,446. This means one month detention! Oh, now you broke another rule! Another month of detention!”

***

Finally, after the agonizing day, I start to head home. You are probably wondering why I don’t tell my parents. Well, apparently, my parents signed a contract that I have to stay in this school until I finish 12th grade and that the school is the “best school in the world.” And my parents don’t know because whenever they come, the teachers act like this is the “best school in the world.”

The next day, as I am walking to school, I see a kid walk next to me. I ask, “What school do you go to?”

The kid replies, “Dinkleburg school.”

I tell the kid, “That school is horrible. The nicest teacher gave a kid ten hours of detention.”

The kid replied, “Oh, I forgot to tell you. My name is Donald. Also, I know how to get the teachers afraid of the students, but it will take a week.”

***

Finally, our plan is ready.  

“Hey scums, get to wor— hey who pulled my pants down? You’re going to pay for this,” says Mr. Petey as he walks to me. But Mr. Petey is so surprised that he does not see a string, so he trips over the wire and his face plants into a pie.

“I am going to the bathroom,” announces Mr. Petey.

A video of what is in the boys’ bathroom appears on the board. “Hey, I got ketchup on my underwear!” yells Mr. Petey.

Then, when Mr. Petey walks back into the room, nobody is there. Mr. Petey reports it to the principal. When the principal comes in the room, everyone is back in the room.

“You’re fired, bub,” yells the principal.

“Bu-bu-but they were not here a minute ago,” says Mr. Petey.

The whole class laughs out loud. Everyone knows in less than ten seconds. Soon, it is time for second period. It is Mr. Peter Peterburg’s class. Everyone usually calls him Mr. PP.

Mr. PP yells at the very top of his lungs, “Everyone, you are going to run 100 miles in ten seconds. If you don’t, you will have detention for ten hours every day for ten years. Okay, so what are you waiting fo— Ahhh, oh my god! Not again! Now, everybody knows I pee my pants. Oh no! Class is cancelled, and everyone, don’t tell anybody I have a pacifier— oh, come on.”

It goes on like that for the rest of the day. Soon, the principal fires everyone, including himself.

NARRATOR: Well, as you can see, that school was not amazing experience for James. Then the school shut down, and everyone lived happily ever after.              

The end

Well, everybody except the the teachers of the school lived happily ever after…

Epilogue

We are sorry to tell you that there is no epilogue because the writer quit and sang the “Frozen” song for the rest of his life.  

Fine, fine. But I don’t have a lot of time. Well, anyway, here it is: my life story. Oh, and don’t expect me to include all the sappy details. Can’t believe I’m doing this. Sigh! Well, here it is: WARREN’S WELFARE! Yeah, yeah, it sounds epic, but don’t set the bar too high. Just sayin’.

It all started when I was born. My parents being the king and queen of the Utopians, I was automatically the prince. Also, I was naturally my parents’ prized possession (and that’s saying a lot.) Well, anyway, being the prince, everybody had high expectations of me. The bar was so high, that my chubby, little, baby hands could barely reach it. And soon, the bar slipped out of my grasp, and I began my slow descent. My parents were disappointed. They expected more from me. Also, they felt as if I (that’s right, I) was giving them a bad reputation (and again, that’s saying a lot.) While all the nobles looked majestic in their fancy clothes, I looked like a slob in stained T-shirts and khakis.

Right when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, the war started. First, we ran out of fresh water while our nemesis city, Dystopia, thrived and had extra fresh water. (I wonder how that happened.) Then, we hit them back. We took all their fishing supplies. I know, I know, that might not sound so bad. But when you live on an island in the middle of an ocean, fishing is pretty much your only way to get food.

Now that we had both struck, we went into all out war. There were many casualties, including (collective gasp) my parents. But there were also great casualties for the Dystopians. The casualties were so great, that they surrendered and went into hiding. I felt like I only had one choice: to kill everyone that was responsible for my parents’ death.  

First, I had to acquire the Zyzerath blade. It was my only hope if I wanted to get revenge. I heard of a wizard who lived in Dystopia, and that she was also a Utopian. The reason I needed to find the Zyzerath blade was because it was the only blade strong enough to break through the five-foot thick metal surrounding the Dystopian society (otherwise, I would just nuke it, but meh.) Then, once I had the Zyzerath blade, I’d cut a small hole in the back of the fortress. After that, I would have to find the Utopian wizard who was feeding us information. Finally, the wizard and I would kill them all.

Let’s go back to reality for a second. Right now, the only thing I knew was where the Zyzerath blade was located. Drum roll please! The cavern of despair. Kazaa! Poof! Magic dust! Okay, well, let’s cut the drama now.

I began my journey by looking for wisdom on the island of 1000 souls. Even in the noon-day sun, it was still dark and gloomy. That’s kind of a bummer, but meh. On the bright side, giving people advice gives them a purpose in life. I was pretty much covered. I still remember my first step on the island. The temperature must have dropped 30 degrees. I could feel the life trying to escape out of me to join its companions.

You would not believe what happened. Well, I guess they have to rename the island “the Island of 1002 Souls,” because apparently, my mom and dad qualify to be one of the oh-so super important souls that get to spend the rest of their days in mindless despair. So great, I know. As I was walking through the paved, bone roads, that’s when I saw them.

I looked into their eyes, and they said to me, “You are a disgrace! How could you let this happen?”

I was too shocked for words, so they just carried on.

“Let me guess, you’re looking for Zyzerath blade so you can get revenge for us.”

My mouth gaped open. I started to say, “How di–”

My mom said, “Well there’s something I gotta tell ya about the Dystopians. We are the Dystopians, and they are the Utopians. I know, right. Gasp. We are just as bad as they are.”

With that, they walked away, with me still trying to process everything they told me. Then, I noticed a glimmering, metal object peeking through the dead grass. When I picked it up, I instantly knew what it was. THE ZYZERATH BLADE! Well, I guessed all I needed to do is break in and see if they were good. Luckily, it wasn’t that far from our island to theirs, so I just rowed over there in a canoe.

Once I got to the dome, I quickly sliced away some of the metal, so I could have a peephole. As I did, the sword felt one with my hand, and I could feel its voice entering my mind. The legends were true! The sword really could talk to you!

“Ay! What’s up my homie? Thanks for waking me from my deep slumber.”

“Good.”

Once that was all cleared up, I put my eye right next to the little hole. I almost jumped back and fell off the island when I saw that a little eye was staring back at me. Then, the alarm sounded. I quickly tried to jump back and run away, but then they were on me. They knocked me out, and next thing I knew, I was in their prison cell.

“No, no, no, no!!! How could this have happened?!”

“Shhh! Do you want them to come back?”

“Er, no.”

“Good”

“What is your name?”

“Mine’s Samantha, what’s yours?”

“My name is Warren. So, what did you do to get here?”

“Long story short, I worked for the Utopians, they found out, and yeah, I’m here. ”

“Where are you?”

“Er, are you blind? I’m literally right next to you.”

Warren turned his head to his left. Nothing. Then, he turned to the right. Two large eyes stared right back at him. He jumped and stumbled backwards. But then, he noticed something peculiar. She was floating in the air and had a ball of fire in her lap. Warren gasped. He just realized who he just met. This was the wizard. The myth. The legend. Samantha Odd.

“O-M-G, it’s you, Samantha Odd!!!”

“Yes, Warren, I’ve been waiting for you a long, long time!!!”

Chapter 1:

“Lilie, are you sure that this is safe?”’ I asked.

“You can trust me, Rose.”

Lilie was my best friend, but I still thought her idea was a little sketchy.

“Look, Rose, I am a full two minutes older than you. Believe me. This is completely safe.”

Getting on a canoe illegally, sailing to a random place, and setting up camp for the week was a good idea?! You see, Lilie and I went to camp together, but it was awful! Like totally awful. Really bad, awful. Well, anyway, the camp stunk, so Lilie and I decided to run away. Because it stunk. And I know you are thinking that I’ve made myself clear about the whole camp-stinking thing, but I am making it clearer. So there.

So, we ran away from the terrible camp and stole a canoe. Did I mention that the camp stunk? Of course we had to rob much more than a single canoe. After packing, we had to rob the kitchen of the awful camp, but we didn’t take much, because the food stunk, too. I told you the camp really stunk. So, when most of the old counselors were asleep, we got up and ran to the lake and past the boundaries into a sandy beach, packed with dry seaweed at the top.

And that brings us to where we are now.

I took out the flip phone my mom got me as a gift for camp.

I texted her, “Hi, Mom! About camp… one word. It stinks! And so, maybe me and my twin ran away from camp and stole a canoe and food, so maybe you have to come pick us up past the boundaries of camp…We send out love! Lilie and Rose, your loving daughters that you never get mad at.”

Of course she immediately wrote back, “Hey Lilie. From Mom. You are so grounded when you get home!!!”

Lilie laughed out loud. “She always says that.”

A bell rang in the distance. Rising Bell! It was 4:30 p.m. already?!

“Lilie, into the boat now. With the stuff. Where’s the plastic bag??”

“Woah, Rose, slow down! It”s only 2:00 p.m..”

“No!!” I screamed. “It’s 4:30!!! We have to get out of here!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll take the luggage, and you take the food. God, dont freak out like that.”

Once we were loaded, I jumped out of the boat and pushed it in the water. Go go go! I was swimming by now. Go go go! Now, we were deep in the lake. I got back in the canoe, took off the muddy, wet clothes and changed into pajamas.

I hadn’t slept for the past week because I was planning. Not that I would get any sleep anyway. After some servant work (serving and cooking) for our counselors that lasted until one, they threw you into your “Child Home” (awful name!) AKA your counselor’s musty cellar full of moth-holed blankets. How did they make it look so cool on the website?! I took out a graphic novel. I was gonna make shelter out of the tent that I was required to bring for overnights, also known as mortal peril. I’ll get to that later. Lilie handed me her bow. Mom had bought them for us before we left for camp. Mine was a Rose and Lilie’s was a Lily (duh.) I put in my bag. I took mine out too. We never wore them while we were sleeping. I guess we both were gonna sleep for awhile. An island appeared in the distance. We were leaving camp for good! And then, nothing.

Chapter Two:

I opened my eyes. Looking around, it looked like an aquarium. But no. I was in the aquarium. No. I was in the water. It can’t be. I was breathing. What the…?

“Lilie!!!!” I screamed. “Where the heck are we?!”

I heard a gurgle from somewhere near by. I swam to some shreds of a canoe.

“Lilie?”

“Rose,” came a voice. Lilie’s voice.

“Lilie!” I giggled.

She was using a dying voice, almost as if she was sick. I pulled her limp body from the scraps of the canoe.

“Rose.”

“Stop it, Lilie. It’s not funny anymore.”

“Rose.”

“Stop it! You’re not going to die. I know that you are faking it.”

But deep down, I knew it was real. Suddenly, Lilie’s eyes glowed. She spoke again, but it was not Lilie’s voice.

“To cure your friend, you must bring the one into the cave. The one your sister loves.  And sometimes, love means sacrifice.” Her eyes dimmed. Her body sunk to the ocean floor. For once, I was glad to be under the water. No one was there to see the tears running from my eyes. Because I knew what I had to do.

I took the bows from my bags. I stared at Lilie’s bow. Then, I noticed something. There was a note on one of the petals. It read: Give it to Rose. What? What did she want to give to me? Or, what did she need me to have?

I turned the bow over and saw a little red flap. Strange. Mine didn’t have anything like this. I pulled the flap and something giant appeared in front of me. It was enormous and seemed as if the inside was made of–air? I screamed and swam. I never noticed how beautiful the ocean was. Soon, I forgot all about being chased by a giant water monster and stopped to look at some fish hiding in some coral. Look at that bright color! Pinks and blues and greens and yellows surrounded me. And blacks. Blacks? Oh no.

Once fresh water was revealed to my eyes, I tried to swim. But something held me back. I looked behind me and saw the monster again! Why did Lily want me to have this thing? But suddenly, the vicious creature transformed into a small blob. It curled up into a small spear.

God, I wish I had a cage to put this thing in. What if it transforms again? I thought.

But then, there it was. Instead of a small, air-ish looking ball, there was a cage. What the?

“I realIyyy waaanntttttt aaaa saaaaanndddwiiiiiiicchhhhhhh,” I said, very carefully and slowly. And there was an airy looking sandwich. I bit it, but it tasted like one thing. Air.

“I wish I had a bag.”

An airy bag appeared in front of me. It was time to have some fun.

“Make that a pocketbook with unlimited space for any object.”

The airy bag changed into a pocketbook with sparkles. Now to test it. I swam to an enormous chunk of coral with the pocketbook and opened it. I jammed the opening of the pocketbook on top of the coral and it fit! I put the pocketbook on and set off in the direction of Lilie. My twin. My only sibling. Who I wasn’t going to lose.

Chapter Three:

The body of my sister still lied at the bottom of the pool. I felt so alone without her. Seeing her, I was reminded of that voice. I knew the voice. And I realized. It was Dad’s voice. But Dad was gone. Or so we thought. Five years ago, Dad left for a trip at a lake. This lake. He went camping each year with his friends. I remember it all,

 “Dad, don’t leave!” I screamed.

“Yeah Dadda. Can’t you just skip one year?” said Lillie.

“Sorry Lilliekins. Daddy’s gotta go. It’s only for six days.”

“But Dadda. Six days is almost eleven monfs! Dat’s a lot!” I said.

“No, it’s not, Rosie. It’s almos free years! You were way off,” said Lillie.

“Rosie, it seems like nothing,” said Dad.

“Fine,” I whined. “But you have to bring back the crackers and chocolate with sticky sweet stuff. Peas, peas, peas?”

“Okay. One for Rosie, one for Lil-lil, none for Mom. And twelve for Daddy,” he said.

“Twelve! Add two more and its a million gazillion a hundred a million seventy-two!” I said.

“Yeah! That’s almost as old as Mommy!”

“I gotta go, girls. Benjamin is here to pick me up!”

“Bye, Dad!”

He hugged Mom and Lillie. Then, he hugged me.

I was only five when it happened, but I remember it so clearly. Maybe it was because I haven’t seen him since? Three days later–or seven million days–Benjamin called. Five-year-old me didn’t know what was wrong, until Mom started sobbing. Then, she broke the news to us. The boat had sank while they were fishing. And Dad had sunk with it. But what if Dad was here? Under the water, in this lake? I tripped on something and fell on my face. The thing I tripped on was cold, not like the coral in the reefs. I looked at it. It was a body. A dead body.

This is what will happen to Lillie if I don’t save her soon, I told myself. The body shook. And suddenly, it swam up. Millions of bodies, old and young, flew up with it.

“Rose Wentell.” they said in unison, “Goodbye, Rose Wentell.”

Before I was covered in dead, cold bodies, I saw a sign. Sea of the Dead.

To be Continued…

‘Twas two days before Christmas, and Tommy was grumpy and definitely bumby. Tommy didn’t get a present because he didn’t have much money. But he wasn’t grumpy or bumpy by Christmas Eve… Here is the story of how it happened:

“December by the fire, what a stupid month that has bloody Christmas with the New Year. It’s all stupid in its own way and wasting money on presents… It’s all wasted money, disappointment, and all things cheery!!! Mom, I finished my homework! It’s all incorrect. I don’t have the bloody time to do it again, baa humba,” Tommy said.

“Tommy, come help decorate the Christmas tree!!!”

“No!!!”

At that instant, Tommy fell asleep. Three spirits appeared before him: one of past, one of future, and one of present. This was actually reality, though Tommy thought it was a dream. The one of past stepped forward with a suspicious smile. She introduced herself. She was also wise and kind.

She said, “Come with me and see the past Christmases.”

Tommy was freaking out. He thought he was seeing things, and he was shocked. The spirit took him.

When he was five, he jumped on the Christmas tree and made it fall. When he was seven, he ripped up everyone’s presents, spoiling the whole holiday. When he was ten, he threw everything Christmas-like away.

The spirit said, “Fix your attitude, or the Ghost of Christmas Present will not approve of you.”

Then, the Ghost of Christmas Past disappeared. Tommy was pretty creeped out at this time.

The Ghost of Christmas Present was literally dressed as a present, and she whacked Tommy with a huge candy cane, saying what would happen on Christmas morning. His family would be disappointed in him, and he would be kicked to the curb. Literally. Kicked to the curb. Ghost of Christmas Present disappeared quickly.

The Ghost of Christmas Future stepped forward. Honestly, she looked like she had black and blue hair, a black robe, and a giant candy cane.

She said, “In the future, we’re in the world with big candy canes and we mind-text. Oh, you thought I was gonna hit you with the candy cane? The Ghost of Christmas Present plays cleanup on our softball team. About two years from now, you will be living in a box with no tree, no decorations, and no job. You must learn from the lessons that the other ghosts have taught you. Fix your attitude before Christmas eve or else, as Christmas Present told you, you will be kicked to the curb.”

He had been asleep the whole time until now.

Tommy changed his attitude, he bought a present for his sister with all the money he had, and laughed down the street. He thought he was doing the right thing, and he liked it.

”I love Christmas! It’s fantastic and marvelous.”

And so, Tommy fixed his attitude with Christmas and he had a merry, merry, merry Christmas.

Author’s note:

The lesson of the story is that you feel happiness when you do things for others, like when Tommy bought a gift for his sister.

Once there was a guy named Paul.

He had a Maserati.

Paul was driving the Maserati so fast, that he couldn’t stop the brakes.

Then, there was a robbery at the bank, and the guy jumped up on Paul’s Maserati. His face was almost falling apart, and his skin was going turbo.

The Maserati was going too fast, and there was a big ramp.

The robber, who was robbing the bank, fell on the ground. The police were chasing after Paul, and the police were chasing after the robber.

While Paul was driving the Maserati, he had to go to the gas station, but the Maserati was going too fast. So Paul lowered the window down, and he took the gas station pump, and he climbed out of the window. He went to the gas filler, and he took the gas, and he put it in for 100 hours.

Then, the police were ambushing. There were 1,000 police people. The chief called a meeting with all of the policemen. The policemen surrounded Paul, but the Maserati drove right through them and there was blood all over them. The policemen were going to taser Paul, but that did not work so they just left Paul, and he went to Hawaii.

But, he felt guilty. So he went to the police station.

“I was the person who killed the 1,000 policemen.You can take me to  jail.”

So the policemen did.

THE END

“Jake! Jake! Come on, you have to go to school,” my mom called from the kitchen.

“I’m not going. No one is going to be friends with me. I’m going to be…” I moaned.

Mom came into the room and opened up the window shades. I moaned and covered my eyes.

“Close the windows,” I said.

“But wait, isn’t Kyle going to be going to the same school as you?” she asked me, as I got up from bed.

“Nah Mom, he went with the rest of the bunch to Madeline Niles school,” I said, trying to act cool.

“Please treat me with respect,” she scolded, “I am your mother after all.”

“But Mom, I don’t know if anybody will like me.” I said.

“Honey, you know that will never happen,” she said.  “You are going to be completely okay.”

“Mom, I told you to knock before you come in.”

“Okay, I will be downstairs when you’re done.”

I took a quick shower and walked to the closet where I took out my burgundy uniform that had a touch of navy blue on it.

“Honey, don’t forget to brush your hair,” she said.

I paid no attention to it for once.

Hopefully the school does not have any bullies, I thought, just as I started to go down stairs.

I went downstairs to eat the breakfast that Mom had prepared for me. I took my oatmeal and sat on my orange Lazy-Boy couch in the living room.

“This oatmeal is rotten,” I told Mom.

“Jake, if you go to school looking that depressed, you’re going to start to look like you’re suicidal,” my mom called from the kitchen in a voice so annoying that I couldn’t stop myself from saying what I did.

“Can you stop nagging? You’re going to drive me insane. This is probably why David and Dad left us,” I yelled.  

“If you mention them in that way again, you’ll wish that you could not talk at all.”

She was absolutely pissed. She’s not normally like that. The mom I knew was kind and never yelled like that.

“Okay. Okay, just don’t hit me.”

I was worried, because when I said their names before she didn’t yell at me like she did now. I knew that I should not have mentioned Dad. She was super emotional when someone said their names in disrespect.

“Well Mom, I’m off to school,” I called, slinging my backpack over my shoulder and leaving in a rush before she could drag me back into the kitchen to scold me.

Even though I always say this, I really do wonder where he, no, they, might be. I thought to myself. Mom and I almost never get into arguments. It’s only only us in this world and nobody else. They all…

“Woof-woof”

I turned around to see what the racket was about, only to see a pitbull right behind me. As I saw this wild beast called a dog, I started to run all the way to school, because it was eating a pair of overgrown legs.

As I ran, the huge dog chased me.

* * *

Pant pant! That dog really got me working. As I walked through the archway, I was stunned.

“It is beautiful,” I barely managed to slip the words out of my mouth.

I looked around to see what else this school had in store for me. There it was, a brilliant red carpet that led to the entrance. The entrance was huge with a set of castle doors. There were a set of towers, which looked like they were used to defend the place. There was an archway of Sakura trees outlining the carpet into it.

Excalibur. I liked that name, I thought as I walked in.

As I looked around, I saw all of the school’s dignified students, walking elegantly into the school.

The interior design of this place seemed to be meant for the kings.

“Ding Dong Ding Dong,” the bell went for a moment.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no, I got to go!” I said, as I made a break for the entrance.

What class do I have to go? I thought, as I started to search for my schedule. It’s not there, why is it not there. It must of fell out of my pocket when I ran out of the house. Oh man, I’m totally going to get in trouble. This had to happen on the first day, this obviously means that I’m going to have a bad rest of the year.

I ran through the velvet hallways with a multitude of boards decorated with posters on it, to tell the First Years to join their clubs. I stopped in front of the board. I frantically searched the board to see if they would have a place for someone to go if they lost their schedule. Then, this one poster caught my eye.

“Thank God!”

I should have checked if I had the thing before I left the house.

Just as I was about to start looking, I saw a man walking through the hallway. I went to go talk to him, to ask if I was going the right way to the library.

“I suggest you don’t go that way if you truly value your life,” he said in an intriguing way.

When he said that, I glanced over to the area where he was walking towards, but all I saw was the burning glare of the sun coming down on the dazzling carpet. It was as if he just vanished in thin air.

I put my hand on the wall for a second to rest, for I felt dizzy but, only to see the most dazzling girl I ever seen. The sparkle in her light blue eyes suddenly made me get up and start walking to her unconsciously.

That man’s advice echoed in my mind as I kept on walking towards her.

“Ahhh,” I pinched myself to see if I would lose myself of this trance that was abruptly placed upon me.  

As soon as I did that, the girl turned around, and I made eye contact with her. Her eyes were opaque. Kind of like someone who had just died. The sparkle in her eyes was gone and was replaced with something more sinister. She started to come closer.

What are you doing here, leave now, I thought. Maybe it’s not too late, to turn around before she can come any closer.

But, it was too late, she had come too close.

“Help,” I shrieked, as she knocked me down and slowly took shards of my flesh with her.  

Game Over

WARNING: Highly packed with violence, guaranteed.

Prologue

Whoosh. There was a scream. Slowly, Mark came closer and closer to the door, his top hat wobbling on his head. There was another scream. Mark saw blood through the crack in the door. Would you think this would happen in 1999? I didn’t think so.

Mark closed his swollen eyes and pushed the door open. A woman was lying on the floor, blood gushing down her lap. Her left eyeball looked like it was about to fall out. Her hair was as hard as bricks and her right leg was not attached to her body.

“Ha!” said Mark. “Serves her right. Don’t ever mess with my dad again!”

Mark checked her heartbeat, she was dead.

Mark picked her up along with her detached leg and carried her and walked for miles and miles, until he came to a halt in front of a cave. Mark put her in the cave and piled rocks in front of the opening of the cave. She stayed there ever since.

Chapter 1: Kidnapped

There was a myth that started ten years ago with a guy named Mark, who killed a woman who had gone missing. No one knew if the myth was true, or if Mark was alive or not. Ten years later, in the 2000’s, very few people in the town remembered the myth of the guy with the top hat.

A guy named Mike, who was twenty-seven years old, always wore a top hat to work. He even wore it when he showered or went to bed. His wife, Clarissa, moved to Greece to study the Greek language, so it was only Mike. No kids or pets.

People who knew the myth of the guy with the top hat always were suspicious of him. The people who were suspicious of him being a murderer were right.

One dark night, Mike was walking along the street. He saw a girl around the age of five about to walk into a closed store. This was his chance! He ran and grabbed her and kept running. When he got to his home, he handcuffed her and pushed her on the couch. She was crying so hard that soon, there would be no more water left in her body.  He went into a cabinet and pulled out a handgun. He pointed it at her.

“You have two choices.” said Mike, “You can either stay here for the rest of your life and not try to escape and not see your family again, or I can kill you right now.  The choice is yours.”

The little girl snapped her fingers, and she turned into a full grown adult. Mike was so surprised, his top hat flew off his head, and he dropped his handgun.

“Hello again, Mike.”

“Who are you?” asked Mike, his hands trembling.

“You don’t recognize me? I am your wife. I flew back from Greece yesterday, and I turned into a little girl to spy on you.  I always thought you had an urge to do something criminal. You would always stare at kids when they didn’t have parents around. But I would have never thought you would actually do it. Poor kids. While I was away, did you kidnap or kill anyone else? Be honest.”

Clarissa took off her handcuffs and handcuffed Mike.

“If I see you kidnap anyone ever again you’re going to have to deal with me, kid.”

Clarissa turned back into the little girl, gave him an, “I am watching you” look, then vanished.

“That woman has skills,” said Mike.

Mike only learned that Clarissa had powers two years ago, but he still was in awe when she did them in front of him.  

Why do I have the urge to kidnap kids? thought Mike.

Chapter 2: Exploring The Dead

After Mike’s little chat with Clarissa, he was very cautious when he saw a little girl. Mike was under a lot of stress from the chat, so he decided to take a walk in the woods near the park.

He was walking in the woods, the leaves crunching under his shoes, then he came to a halt right in front of a huge bramble. Beside the bramble, there was a whole field of dead people who had almost disintegrated. As you might think, Mike was in heaven. Even though he had the little chat with his wife, that still didn’t stop his criminal urge. He touched one of the dead people’s arms. Their arms felt like noodles. Really weak. Then he picked up one of the bodies and was about to walk away from the bramble, until the dead person fell out of Mike’s arms and turned into Clarissa.

“Caught you at it again!” said Clarissa.

It was windy out and Clarissa’s purple hair was flying in her face, but she was still staring at Mike intently.

“I knew that after our talk you still wouldn’t quit. I can’t believe I am still your wife. Which reminds me, I want a divorce.”

Clarissa gave him her ring, while she was staring at him rudely.

“But that doesn’t mean I am still not going to watch you. In fact, I am going to watch you more than ever, so don’t take advantage. Now, I have to go but don’t you think you’re going to get away with anything else.”

Clarissa snapped her fingers, and all the dead people disappeared. Then, Clarissa vanished.

Chapter 3: City Life

Mike pondered the scene in the woods in his head over and over.

“God, I wish I didn’t have the urge to do something so wrong.”

A fraction of a second after Mike thought that, a tall figure appeared in his room. He couldn’t make out what it was, because whatever it was, was too bright.

“Who are you?” asked Mike.

It wasn’t a person, but there were words written on the wall with blood.

The writing read, “Count On Blood.” The words didn’t disappear. Mike didn’t know what that meant, but he pushed the memory in the back of his head and started to think of what he was going to do.

Mike decided to go to the mall to go shopping for new guns. Now you might be thinking after two chats with Clarissa, he would probably stop. But his urge was too strong.  

As he was going to the gun store, he stopped by a store that had a variety of mannequins. As you might expect, Mike went into the store to steal the mannequin, when the mannequin he was about to take turned into Clarissa.

“You are such a nuisance,” said Clarissa. “Every hour of every day you either steal, kidnap/murder, or kill. I don’t know why I ever thought you were a good husband. I think I made the right decision to divorce you. But you need a punishment.”

Clarissa handcuffed Mike and turned herself and Mike invisible.

Clarissa transported Mike and herself to a cave that was days away from the mall. Mike and Clarissa walked into the cave. There lay a women on the cold floor of the cave who had a detached leg and dried blood all over her.

“Sit down,” said Clarissa, “There are some things about your family history that only I know and that you don’t.”

“Why do you know and not me?” asked Mike.

“That’s not important at the moment,” answered Clarissa.

“You know that top hat of yours? That was passed on for generations of men. Get ready for this. You know the myth about the guy named Mark who killed a woman who had gone missing? Well, one, he killed the woman that is lying in this cave right now. And two, Mark is your great- great- grandfather. That’s probably why you have the urge to do illegal things. The reason Mark killed that woman was because she put a curse on Mark’s father. The curse was to make him forget everything. Forget who he was, his children, his wife, and everything and everyone that he loved.

So,Mark and the woman were both criminals. But the funny thing is that Mark and the woman were husband and wife. The wife didn’t like Mark’s father. Then, Mark and the woman divorced. That’s when Mark killed his ex-wife.”

Mike was now lying on the floor next to his great-great-grandmother.

“Wouldn’t she have disintegrated by now?” asked Mark.

“No, because the dried blood has a reaction with the soil to prevent her body from disintegrating.”

“Now, can you tell me since when did you know all this information, and how did you get the information?” asked Mike.

“Fine,” answered Clarissa, “Your dad told me all of this. I swore to him that I would not tell a single soul about what he said to you, but here I am now. Your dad told me right before he died. But I thought it was the right time to tell you. Can you change Mike? Can you fight off that urge? Try to be a better person. Try, just try.”

There was a long uncomfortable silence between the two. After about an hour of silence, Mike spoke.

“I have something to tell you Clarissa. I barely remember this, but I remember one thing. When I was eight, a curse was put upon me when I was walking in the forest. Some figure popped out of a tree and placed something on the ground. I wasn’t looking and then bam! The curse made me do really bad things or want to. When I was fourteen, I tried to fight it off but it was too strong. Without the curse, I am a good-hearted man.”

“Okay,” said Clarissa. “If you really are a good-hearted man, then when we get to your place, you are going to throw out all of your guns and handcuffs. I am going to watch you.”

“Of course you are,” murmured Mike.

Clarissa transported Mike and herself back to Mike’s home.

Chapter 4: Good Hearted Man

When Clarissa and Mike got to Mike’s home, she said, “So are you going to throw the guns and handcuffs out or not?”

“Well, I was hoping you would forget that,” said Mike.

“Stay here,” said Clarissa, “I am am going to research how you lift the curse. Maybe that’s what we have to do, rather than trying to push through it.”

A few hours later, Clarissa came back in excitement. The whole time Mike was sitting on his couch worrying about whether the curse could be lifted.

“I know how to lift the curse! All you need to do is drink this!”

Clarissa was holding a cup with red liquid in it.

“What is that?” asked Mike.

“It’s blood from the dead people!” said Clarissa.

“Wait, I remember!” yelled Mike.

“What?” asked Clarissa.

“There were words written on my wall that said ‘Count on blood’. That’s what it meant to lift the curse!”

Mike took the cup from Clarissa and drank all of it in one gulp.

Two seconds after Mike finished the drink he said, “Wow, I feel awesome! I can help you clean up the mess on the floor!”

“Great!” thought Clarissa.

From then on, Mike always helped babies find their lollipops, or helped old ladies across the street, or helped find a missing dog.

His kids were angels, and so was his wife, Clarissa.

Hi, I am H.P.H. (Helen Patrick Human.) I am not a girl or a boy.  Here is my story:

I was born on February 6, 2003 at 8:57 P.M., and the first thing the doctors who took care of my mother did was to identify what gender I was, like they do to everyone. All tests made were unsuccessful. I was always 50.555555% girl, 50.555555% boy. So I was a half boy, half girl human.

My mom and my dad, the doctors, my grandma and my grandpa, my aunt and my uncle, my sister and my brother, and everyone that knew me or my mom decided that I would get to choose what gender I would be considered as when I got older. So as soon as I could speak, I was given a choice: girl or boy?

My mom wanted me to be a sweet little girl, and my dad wanted a sporty boy. I did not know what to chose, so now, as a 13-year-old, I am still known as the genderless person.

So, now that I am a mixed-gender person, what is my name? I have no middle name, my first name is Helen Patrick, and my last name is just simply Human. But most people just call me HP.

Since I am a mix between two genders, what clothing am I supposed to wear? I just wear solid color shirts of blue, green, or orange. My pants are usually tan or black, nice and loose. If I need to wear a jacket, I just stick with blue or green. Perfectly reasonable for a girl or a boy. My hat is a white fox.

So, what does my room look like? Well, it is blue, again. I have no posters, and I have a boring, blue bunk bed with a blue T.V. and a blue table with a blue sofa in front of it. I keep most of my things just blue, so no one would call me a boy or a girl.

So, another way you would probably identify if someone is a girl or a boy is by how they look and how long their hair is. My hair goes up to my shoulders, and is able to be a boy’s hairstyle or a girl’s. My face makes me also look like a mix because of my hair. That is technically how I look like.

So, now that you know a lot about me, don’t feel sorry. I have friends. Two of them are girls, two of them are boys.

So here is one day of life: I wake up at 6:30am as a person. I eat breakfast, brush my teeth, and wash my face. Then, I am off to school. I walk into my classroom and sit down. We have math, science, reading, and then lunch. My day is normal. I am a human, after all. After lunch, I have science, and gym, then bye! School is over. I go home, do homework, and watch some T.V. Then, I brush my teeth and go to sleep. Like I said, I am a normal human. When I wake up the next day, my day repeats. And that is just life.

So, I was just walking home from school one day, and I was greeted by my mom at the doorstep, which is not often. She is usually just working at her art studio as an artist. She is very good.

Anyway, she said, “HP, answer me! You must make a choice, a girl or a boy? You are almost fourteen now, you can’t be two genders forever. You hear me? CAN NOT!”

“But mom! I have been a cool person all my life, how long do you think it will take for me to adjust to being ‘not double gendered?” I added, offended, “What about friends? What about my life? What about everything in life? Mom, listen, I don’t want my life to change. So understand me.”

“H.P.!” Her voice was furious.

“You understand me!”

Then, she collapsed into a small, sad ball. My mom had never been like this before.

“Okay, Mom. I’ll think about it,” I added quickly.

“Thanks, Helen Patrick. I knew I could count on you.”

Chapter 1                                                                                                    

Once upon a time there was a beautiful city in America. The city was called New York.

I woke up this morning feeling happy. It was a beautiful day in NY, the sky was clear, the sun was shining, and I was happy!

But it was Monday. Moody Monday. I brushed my teeth, took a shower, and ate my food. Then, I ran to school. First period was English. We started with a test, and I felt confident. I had been studying for this test for weeks. The class started. Finally, time was up. We passed our papers to the teacher. My test was going to be returned by the end of the day. I had third, fourth, and fifth period. After third period was lunch. For lunch was pizza! Yay! After lunch, I had two more periods before I got my test back, and I could go home. The second to last period was math, and the last period was history.

Before I went home, I dropped by my English room to get my test back. I looked at my score and… No! I got an F. A big, fat, red, F! I looked at my pink and grey sneakers. Then, I walked to my apartment with my feet dragging behind me. I opened my colorful backpack, took out my books, and started studying for my math test, eager to get an A on my math test. I looked at my test again, then I looked at the name bar and instead of my name, I saw the biggest loser’s name in the name bar. This test paper was not mine! The next day, I went to school, went straight to the English room, and I saw Dud, the biggest loser in the class. He was copying down my answers on a piece of paper that looked just like the real test, except this wasn’t. I was speechless.

Right then the teacher came in and asked, “What are you two doing?!”

Dud answered quickly, “Emily told me to copy down answers for her next test or else she’ll get the whole school to go against me!”

I said in a loud voice, “No, I did not!”

Instantaneously, my teacher said in a slow whisper scream, “Emily detention. Now.”

I was in shock, but I managed to squeak out, “I did not do anything!”

The teacher said, “Emily. Detention or Expelled.”

I quietly walked out of the room without another word.

Chapter 2

Detention was awful. They made us sit quietly without saying a thing. The gym teacher made me do seventy-five push-ups while doing my math homework in my head.

The next day, I went to Dud and told him, “You have gotten me in a lot of trouble, and now it’s time for me to get you back.”

Dud looked horrified.  Then, I walked to Wendy, my best friend. I started telling her about Dud and detention.

Wendy said, “Let’s make sure during lunch when the entire school’s there, we insult and embarrass Dud so he’ll be sorry.”

Chapter 3

During lunch, I got everybody’s attention.

I stood on the table and screamed out, “Dud wears underpants to school that have pictures of his own face on them!”

Everyone started laughing.

Yes, mission accomplished, I thought.

I felt kinda bad for Dud, but I knew I got him back, and the school was against him. After lunch, the school was teasing and mocking Dud by calling him “Dud on the butt.” Dud was even more gloomy and depressed than usual. During classes, he wasn’t raising his hand or doing his usual Dud things, as in raising his hand or participating.

Now, I was actually starting to feel bad for Dud, a.k.a. the biggest liar in the world. I don’t think I should have embarrassed him in front of the school. Instead, a better choice would have been talking to him and the teachers personally and figuring things out. But, it wasn’t too late to have a conversation.

So, the next day, I asked the teacher if I could talk to her about something with Dud. During the conversation, I told the teacher that I didn’t tell Dud to cheat. I apologized to Dud and told him I felt terrible for embarrassing him in front of the whole school. The teacher was proud of me for putting in an effort to figure things out between Dud and me.

Chapter 4

Now, all that was left to do is have a conversation with Dud a.k.a Dud on the butt. I asked Dud if I could have another conversation with him.

He said, “Sure, whatever.”

We met at recess, and had our very important conversion. I asked him why he copied down my answers. Dud told me his parents were divorced, and he lived with his dad. His dad was really strict and expected him to get an A on every single test, quiz, or assignment. He also told me that his mom had died from an asthma attack one year ago.

The most surprising thing he told me was that his real name was Dudley. I asked him why he did not use his real name at school. He said his name was a mistake, and that when he was applying for school here, his name got misspelled. Then, the teachers started calling him Dud, and then, the kids started calling him Dud. I told Dud a.k.a Dudley that I was really sorry for him.

Suddenly, the bell rang and it indicated that we had to go to our next class. I told him how nice it was to finally have a conversation with him and figure things out. Dudley smiled.

Chapter 5

Finally, the end of the year had come along. I was feeling good about next year, knowing Dudley wouldn’t be giving me the evil eye all year. We were saying our goodbyes to our friends and teachers. On the last day, I said goodbye to Wendy, my best friend, to Dudley, to my teachers, and to everyone else. Dudley and I made eye contact and went our own ways.

Once upon a time, there lived someone named Puppet 3. He was always scared. The thing that scared him the most was the witch. She lived in a cave in a forest.

One day, Puppet 3 got chased into the woods by a lizard that was only one inch tall. On he ran and left Puppets 1 and 2 behind.

On the way, he got frightened and almost fell in poop! While Puppet 3 was off, the witch caught Puppets 1 and 2. She carried them off to her cave! Puppet 3 was still on the hike. He checked his lunch box to see if there was any food.

“No,” said Puppet 3, “I forgot to pack myself food!”

He kept going on the trail, but he still didn’t find any food or houses.

Puppets 1 and 2 were now working for the witch, and then, after one day, she planned to eat them up. Puppets 1 and 2 were not scared. They were brave! Then, she locked them in a cage. Puppets 1 and 2 were really scared now.  

After 100 minutes, it was nighttime, and in the night, the cave looked even scarier because there was a statue on top that glowed green and looked like a bear! Meanwhile, Puppet 3 got to the cave. Then, he got frightened by the green statue and he almost fainted. Puppet 3 went inside to look for food. Then he saw Puppets 1 and 2 in a cage.

He asked, “What happened?”

Puppets 1 and 2 said, “A witch locked us in a cage while you were away!”

Puppet 3 asked, “How can I get you out?”

Puppets 1 and 2 whispered, “You need to get the key.”

Puppet 3 asked, “Where is it!?”

“I don’t know!” shouted Puppet 1.  

“Shhh,” said Puppet 2.

Puppet 3 went deeper inside the cave until he saw a small office. And inside it, there was the key. He tried pulling the door, but it was locked! After ten minutes, the witch came inside her office. Then, he remembered he found a gold coin on the hike. He put it next to the window so the witch could see it, and he hid by the wall.

The witch went out of the door and said, “This is my little day! I found a gold coin in my cave! I’m going to put it in my collection.”

Then, she left, but she left the door open. When the coast was clear, Puppet 3 went inside, he got the key and ran to the front door step.

He said to Puppets 1 and 2, “I got the key!”

He unlocked the cage and Puppets 1 and 2 got out. Then, the witch came running out.

“Hey! What are you doing with my dinner! I was just about to eat it.”

The witch got angry and she made the statue come to life. It turned into a big bear with horns! It was forty feet tall.

“Hey!” shouted Puppet 3 to the monster. “I heard that you’re the fastest monster that can run in circles. I don’t believe you. I don’t think you can do it.”

“I can,” the monster said with a grunt.

“I don’t think so,” said Puppet 3.

“I’ll show you,” he said.

And he ran in circles ten thousand miles per hour. Before the monster was running in circles, the witch had gone inside. She didn’t see what was happening. He ran for one hour.

Then, the monster said, “I need to sit down.”

And he thought the witch’s cave was a stool, so he sat on it and broke everything!

Puppet 3 said, “I also heard you can jump through the sky into outer space. And I don’t think that’s true, either.”

“I can do that!” and he jumped all the way to outer space.

But then the witch came back to life!

She was so angry!

Then, the monster came falling down from outer space because he was too heavy to float. The monster crushed the witch again. The witch was so tired that she fell back asleep.

She said, “I’m so tired, I’m going to sleep for ten million years!”

Then, the monster tripped over a ten foot boulder and crashed into one hundred trees. Then, there was the biggest tree in the world that was ten million feet tall. The monster touched it with one finger and it broke and fell on his head.

Puppets 1 and 2 asked Puppet 3, “How did you do that?”

Puppet 3 said, “I didn’t do anything. I only tricked the monster into running in circles and jumping into space.”  

They walked back home as they talked about the day they had!!! They lived happily ever after…The End. Or is it?

***

Once upon a time, there lived someone named Puppet 4. He was very lazy.  He spent most of his time sleeping and never helped anyone out! His friends, Puppets 5 and 6 once went on a road trip.

They asked Puppet 4, “Do you want to help us get the car?”

Puppet 4 said, “No,” with a grunt.

Puppets 5 and 6 did not know what to say, so they just went and got the car by themselves. They felt sad. They went on the road trip without him.

On the way, they called Puppet 4. Puppet 4 didn’t even bother to pick up the phone. He got up, walked slowly to the refrigerator, got some yogurt, and went back to bed. He turned on the TV. He watched “The Baby Dora” show.

While Puppets 5 and 6 were on the trip, they found a diamond. Puppet 4 was fast asleep and spilled his yogurt on his head and on his blanket. He had put cherry in the yogurt and the stain wouldn’t get out of his bed.  

Puppet 4 woke up and said, “Oh no! My blankets! My bed! It’s covered in cherry stains. I’ll go to the store later and get the stain remover. Actually, I’ll ask my friends.”

But he couldn’t reach the phone, so he just stayed in bed.

Puppets 5 and 6  were still in the car trying to call him. Finally, they just gave up. While they were driving, it was nighttime, and Puppet 4 was still fast asleep. Then, the car lights went black and they couldn’t see anything. They saw green glitter in the air going by really fast above them. Then blue, then red, circling above them. They heard a whoosh. They didn’t know what it was. They switched the car to autopilot and looked at the glitter, but autopilot broke because they were driving too fast. They crashed into a really big tree and some bushes, and they flew out of the car all the way to a tower.

“Hey, where is the diamond that we found?” asked Puppet 6.

But then, ropes came out of the sky and tied them up. They didn’t know what to do. Then, Puppet 5 had an idea.

He said “We can use that spiky plant to cut our way out.”

They pulled the plant out and cut the ropes open. And then, they walked a little bit closer to the tower. But then, a chain came out of the ground and held them. Puppet 5 took out his phone and called Puppet 4 again.

Puppet 4 shouted, “Stop annoying me when I’m sleeping!”

“But we’re stuck in chains,” answered Puppets 5 and 6.

“I’ll rescue you later,” said Puppet 4.

But then, the towers doors opened and three witches came out. Then, in the tower, they saw a blue light for one second. Then, they saw one of their really sharp car parts on the floor. They cut the chain with it. Puppet 6 ran. Then, two witches grabbed Puppet 5 and locked him up way way way up on the 100th floor of the tower.

Puppet 6 was still running around. The third witch tried to find him. Finally, the third witch caught Puppet 6 and locked him up too. After thirteen minutes, Puppet 4 got up and started sleep walking. He made himself some snacks and banged himself against a wall. Then, he opened the door and got out of the building. He ate his snacks and rented a car. He drove and drove and drove.

After eighteen hours, Puppet 4 finally got to the tower! He snuck into the tower on the first floor. One of the witches was making potions. Then, next to her, there was a diamond. She put the diamond into the pot. While she was stirring the diamond in the pot, he quickly and quietly ran up the stairs. When he got to the second floor, he saw an elevator button. He pressed it and then, he heard the doors open on the third floor. So he walked up to the third floor and got into the elevator.

He said, “I wonder what’s at the 100th floor.”

He pressed the 100th floor button and the elevator went up 4, 5, 6, 7, 8…100. The doors opened and Puppet 4 got out of the elevator. Then, on the floor, he saw a potion, and he quickly put it in his pocket. He lifted his head up and saw two witches walking by. He hid behind a wall, but then, the witches turned around and saw him.

They pointed their wands at him and they turned him into a dolphin. At the same time, he also shot his potion onto one of the witches. That made the witch disappear. Then Puppet-Dolphin (Puppet 4) jumped up and grabbed the third witch’s wand out with his mouth. He turned the third witch into a microscopic animal. Then, he pointed the wand at himself and turned back into Puppet 4. He went into the witch’s office and grabbed the key and unlocked the cages. Puppets 5 and 6 got out of the cage and got into the elevator with Puppet 4. They pressed the button for the third floor and went down, 100, 99, 98…..3.  

They went really quietly down to the first floor. The witch was still there making a potion. Puppet 6 went down to the floor and crawled to the pot. Luckily, the witch didn’t see him. Puppet 6 took the potion pot and held it with all his might. He dumped it on the witch’s head. It covered her whole body. Then, the witch slowly got bigger and bigger and bigger until she was 1,000 feet tall. Puppets 4, 5, and 6 ran outside the building. The witch got so big, she was too big to fit into the tower. Then, she crushed the whole tower, and it fell into pieces. Then, Puppets 5 and 6 saw the car pieces on the floor from when their car crashed, and then, they found the engine of the car. They climbed onto the engine and turned it on.

The engine roared. It went super fast, but Puppets 4, 5, and 6 were too scared, so they jumped off. The engine went so fast, it ran into the giant witch’s leg. She wobbled and fell to the ground. She crushed a lot of trees. Then, Puppet 4 took the potion out of his pocket. He had a little bit left. He zapped the witch and the witch disappeared. The witches were never heard of again. Finally, Puppet 4 woke up.

He asked Puppets 5 and 6 “Where am I?”

They said, “You were saving us.”

None of the puppets figured out how Puppet 4 got there. They lived happily ever after…

Prologue

I hug my knees to my chest. I’m probably the most bullied fairy in Crystal Hills. What most people don’t know is that being a fairy isn’t just totally about having powers. It’s also about what power you are born with and if you can control them. If you have one to two powers, then you are just fine. If you have three powers, you are in the “popular group,” or, as I know them, the “bully group.” The most popular powers are fast flying, underwater breathing, shape shifting, and healing. I have seven powers: invisibility, shapeshifting, frost (like my name), psychic abilities, and fire and water control. My last power is unheard of, forbidden. My name is Frost Winterstorm, and I’m here to tell you my story.

It all started when I was around two. All I remember was the fire that was enclosing my swaddled body. I heard my parents running outside. Every time I think of them, I see their faces close to my own, and then this black arm takes them away. Later, I found out that I was taken to the orphanage by an old woman. They found a note under me that I still have now. It has a picture of my parents and it says:

Dear whoever found our bundle of joy,

Her name is Frost Winter Fall. She should be taught well for she is really smart. When she is of the age of 16, she can go out and try to find us. Our names are Cas and Lago Winterfall. Tell her to please find us soon.’

~ her mom & dad

Chapter 1

Right now, I am in an ice-rink. Sort of. Since I have psychic, water, and frost powers (and I can fly), I can make a floating ice rink. I have been skating ever since I was three. It’s finally summer vacation.

“Frost!” I hear a voice call. Looking down, I see my best friend, Nightstorm. She flies up.

“Sup,” she says.

“Wanna skate?” I ask.

“Sure.”

One thing you should know about Nightstorm is that she is a girl of few words. She gets bullied a lot for being a quiet nerd. We both are in the same area. I had been giving her lessons on ice skating. Now, she can skate awesomely.

I start to daydream. In a week, it’s going to be my 16th birthday, and I may or may not get a new power. What am I going to do now? What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go now?

My concentration breaks when I hear Nightstorm skate up to me. Looking up, I see her eyes full of concern. Since one of her powers is mind-reading, she probably read my mind.

“Frost,” she says softly, pulling me up. I follow Nightstorm. We fly across town until we get to a hut on the border of the forest. This is Nightstorm’s house, where she lives with her mom, dad, and grandma.

Motioning me to stay outside, when she comes back, she is holding a book in her hand that says only one word: History. Nightstorm pulls me up to the little play house we made together when we were five. She points to the title.

“This book tracks everyone that ever lived,” she says. “It also says where they are now. Maybe it can find your parents?”

“Yeah, but how would we find them? There’s so many people in the world!”

Nightstorm is flipping through the book until she stops at a page. My mouth drops open as I see a picture of them. My parents. Nightstorm looks at the map closely.

“They’re in… in… in… you know where! Oh you know where, on the towers of thunder that were once owned by a rich businessman named Earl Gray,” she says.

Earl was caring and kind. There was one room in his tower that was forbidden to go into. One day, he stepped into that room. The next day, he was found on the floor sleeping. He was sort of in a coma but his eyes were open, full of fear. The curse spread through the house, everyone falling under a spell. Whoever entered the castle immediately fell under what is now called the phantom’s curse.

If my parents are there, how will we get them out?

Nightstorm taps my shoulder.

“Your birthday,” she says. My eyes light up.                                                                                           

“I could get a force-field power that might protect us from the phantom’s curse,” I say. My eyes then look like a candle that got blown out. “But what if I don’t?”          

Chapter 2 : A few weeks later

Well, today is my birthday. Wahoo. Right now, I feel overcome with pain. Every year, when I get a power, I get overcome with pain first.

Nightstorm comes over and helps me sit up while I listen to different songs on my Night phone. I stay completely still. If I try to move, every part of my body will hurt. Nightstorm comes in with some soup… and a neatly wrapped box in metallic blue. I look up at her expectantly. Nightstorm just puts the box down on the very tip of my bed so it touches my feet.

Opening the box, I see small, orange ears poking out of the box. I stare in shock as I see a furry face poke out of the box. It’s a fire-fox!!! They are a really rare type of fox that can be over 2,000 dollars. And pups are even more expensive!

“What, where, when, how?!” I stutter, wanting to know where she got the tiny fox. It comes over and crawls under my hand.

“Where? Under a box. When? About a month ago. I think she was terribly abused by her previous owner,” she says, beaming at my face that is lit up with joy and excitement.

“Don’t do anything. It’s night time, so you should sleep,” Nightstorm says, covering me with a blanket. I soon fall asleep with my new pet right beside me.                                                                                                                                

A few hours later (epilogue)

I stretch my hands up to the ceiling. Finally. The fire-fox jumps up and climbs on my hair. Without realising it, my hair turns red and orange. Nightstorm walks in holding a bowl of oatmeal.

When she walks in, the oatmeal nearly drops on the floor, but I summon a plate under it. She stares at me with a blank expression before jumping up and yelling.

“Frost, Frost, Frost, Frost, Frost!” she says. “YOUR NEW POWER IS SUMMONING! AND YOUR HAIR! YOU’VE REACHED YOUR MAX POWERS!!! YOU HAVE TO TELL ME THE POWER!!!”

When we first became friends, I told her that when I reach my full power, my hair would turn red and orange, and I basically turn into a “mini god.”

Looking over at her, I hesitate and take a shuddery breath and say, ”Teleportation.”

She walks up to me and hugs my trembling body.

Then, I break down crying because I was reason that my parents got taken away. Because that power is like if you killed someone. My parents sacrificed themselves for me.

So I cry, feeling depressed as Nightstorm leads me to my bed. I eventually cry myself to sleep with the fire-fox curled next to me.

As I am sleeping, Nightstorm mutters, “Well… she is nothing but different.”